The Magnificent Men – Peace of Mind / Just Walk In My Shoes
The Magnificent Men
Listen/Download The Magnificent Men – Peace of Mind
Listen/Download The Magnificent Men – Just Walk In My Shoes
Greetings all
The tracks I bring you today are a perfect example of how you can hear about a group, circle them warily for years – suspecting lameness – and then finally giving in and discovering how wrong you really were.
I do not recall when I first heard of the Magnificent Men, but I suspect that I saw one of their albums while digging in the NJ/PA area, where their vinyl is plentiful.
Back in the day, what I saw was a bunch of straight-looking white dudes recording soul music, something which set off my (poorly calibrated) bullshit detector, and in the absence of a portable turntable, remained dollar-bin flotsam and jetsam.
Then – as these things often go – a few years back someone whose taste I trust posted a track by the group, and my large ears finally unfurled to the goodness of the Magnificent Men.
Had I dug a little bit, I would have realized that the Magnificent Men, formed as the Del-Chords, hailed from the unlikely soul music hotbed of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (the Emperors, Intentions, the Soulville label).
Led by vocalist Dave Bupp, the Magnificent Men were a lot more than your run of the mill “R&B-influenced” white band of which there were so many at the time.
They were first and foremost self-contained, i.e. vocalists/musicians capable of writing and performing their own (excellent) material.
They played many of the best known black venues of the day (including the Uptown in Philly and the Apollo in NYC).
Between 1966 and 1970 (by which time their sound had changed considerably) the Magnificent Men recorded three albums for Capitol and one for Mercury.
The first two, ‘The Magnificent Men’ and ‘The Magnificent Men: Live’ are the ones to look out for.
The tracks I bring you today come from that first, self-titled LP.
The first track, the original ‘Peace of Mind’ is one of the great blue-eyed soul tracks of the 60s, a great harmony showcase for the group.
Dave Bupp has said that ‘Peace of Mind’ was written with Walter Jackson in mind. Considering how evocative the record is of the Carl Davis/Okeh sound, this makes a tremendous amount of sense.
Though ‘Peace of Mind’ wasn’t a hit, its high quality is testified to by the number of cover versions of the tune. There are versions by Skip Jackson (on Capitol), Jerry Butler (Mercury), The Players (Minit), and the Royal Five (Arctic) – all of which can be heard on Youtube.
The second song – ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’ – was a recorded by Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1966 and is rightly hailed as a classic of dance floor soul.
Written by sisters Kay and Helen Lewis – two jazz/pop singers who also wrote tunes for Marvin Gaye, the Miracles and Edwin Starr, as well as recording a pair of their own 45s for the VIP label – ‘Just Walk In My Shoes’ is delivered with a lot of verve by the Magnificent Men, and I think it stands up well next to the original.
Oddly enough, as well-remembered as the Magnificent Men are (especially amongst soul fans), they seem to have made their mark mostly as a live act. Their chart impact was minimal, and almost exclusively in the mid-Atlantic region. They never hit the R&B charts (at least nationally).
They had the good fortune to have had their album arranged/conducted by Horace Ott and Sonny Sanders, and I think their music holds up remarkably well.
All of the Magnificent Men albums can be picked up on iTunes, and – if you’re digging in the Northeast, anyway, most of their vinyl is fairly easy to come by.
I hope you dig the tunes and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!
The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.
They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).
Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).
Blue Eyed Soul, Chicago Soul, Cover Songs, Digging, Equal Opportunity Soul, Funky16Corners, LP tracks, Northern Soul, Soul
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Blue Eyed Soul, Funky16Corners, Northern Soul, Soul
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I grew up around these guys in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. They, like many of us, were moderately multicultural back in the day. We listened to James Brown, the Temptations, Garnett Mims and the Enchanters, Stax, Motown, etc. These guys were a real blue eyed soul band because that’s what we all listened to. Ultimately, they played at the Apollo.
I forgot. The cuts that were most popular along with Peace of Mind were I Could Be So Happy and Stormy Weather.
Thanks for the memories BigTimeJones!
Nice soulful music. They sound like a precursor to the Philly soul sound. Thanks, Larry.