Tony Camillo

 

 

Greetings all.

I thought we’d get the week started with something smooth, and a little bit funky.

‘The Black Motion Picture Experience’ LP, credited to the Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds has long been a crate diggers staple, packed as it is with rerecordings of early 70s Blaxploitation soundtrack heavies.

As popular as it is, the LP has continued to elude me in the field. However, a few months back I was out digging and what should I turn up, but the 45 you see before you.

The big question for me, was always, who is ‘Cecil Holmes’?

The answer, as it turns out, is someone who had little or nothing to do with this record.

The Cecil Holmes that gave the record his name was a record executive (prominently for Casablanca Records).

There were a few different projects released sporting his name in the early 70s, including the Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds, and the Cecil Holmes Orchestra.

What both of these groups have in common, beside the lack of any direct musical involvement by Holmes, is the guiding hand of Tony Camillo.

Best remembered for his 1975 disco/funk hit ‘Dynomite!’ (credited to Tony Camillo’s Bazuka), Camillo was a NY/NJ-based composer/arranger/producer.

‘The Black Motion Picture Experience’ LP was recorded and released in 1973, featuring a band of East Coast studio heavies.

The track I feature today is their version of Curtis Mayfield’s theme from ‘Superfly’.

Camillo and band take the track, smooth it out and open it up just a bit, turning up the bass and giving the drums plenty of room to snap.

Naturally, things suffer from the absence of the mighty Curtis, but the sounds are still groovy.

There was one more LP by Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds, the slowjam collection ‘Music For Soulful Lovers’ (also 1973), again featuring Camillo.

I hope you dig the track, 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).

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

One Response to “Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds – Superfly”

1. jb says:

   November 30, 2014 at 1:05 pm

   Interesting as always. Thank you sir.