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January 4, 2006
Redneck in a Soul Band
> Latimore - There's a Red-Neck in the Soul Band
I have to admit to some difficulty in putting this post together. Let's face it, the title is corny, the lyrics are predictable, the vamps are canned and it's singer looks like a cross between Teen Wolf and Barry Gibb. 
But I try to be honest with myself, and I've been moved by movies on airplanes; you have too. Latimore emerged in the late 60s on the Miami soul circuit under the Glades label, making a name for himself nationally in the mid 70s with the #1 R&B charting "Let's Straighten It Out". Were it not for songs like it and "Keep the Home Fire Burning," in which Latimore exhibits a vocal depth and a grit that gives him a degree of credability, he might as well have been the Gibb brothers long lost black cousin.
"There's a Red-Neck in the Soul Band" which appeared on Latimore's creatively named third release in 1977, "Latimore II," is to me the palateable mid-point between soul and disco that Marvin Gaye's I Want You legitamized. I can't say what my reaction to the song would have been had it not been for Marvin, but the song has its moments of depth; 2:40 seconds into the song he starts rambling Isaac Hayes style about his family tree and by the end of the song you kind of get the sense that what you were just inadvertently tapping your foor to was a Red-neck soul band. Yah, that's right.
Posted by pd3000 at January 4, 2006 5:58 PM