James Epps (March 30, 1947 – September 11, 2000) – Night People / Lies Divided by Jive (1976)
The Fantastic Four lead singer co-wrote this epic disco-funk title track to their 1976 LP, produced by Al Kent and mixed by Tom Moulton.
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“Sweet” James Epps was the lead singer of the Detroit vocal group the Fantastic Four, who began recording singles in the mid-1960s and released several full-length albums on Westbound Records during the disco era.
The Fantastic Four formed in Detroit during 1965, led by lead vocalist Epps alongside original members Wallace “Toby” Childs and brothers Ralph and Joseph Pruitt. They underwent several lineup changes and released a series of singles, breaking out in 1967 with the heartfelt song “The Whole World Is a Stage” on Ric-Tic Records which went to #6 R&B and was destined to be their biggest-ever hit.
Ric-Tic was bought out by Motown, and their next few singles came out on its Soul subsidiary. They recorded more than enough material for a full-length album, but it remained unreleased until 2015 when it was issued on Kent Soul as The Lost Motown Album. The group went on hiatus in 1970 and stopped recording.
Five years later, Westbound Records owner Armen Boladian (who George Clinton alleged had faked documents in order to gain control of his music rights) signed them to his label. Their debut LP on Westbound Alvin Stone (The Birth and Death of a Gangster) was released in 1975, produced by Al Kent with a superb funky Trammps-flavored title track.
For their follow-up album Night People (1976), Epps and fellow member Cleveland Horne along with songwriters Albert Hamilton and Curtis Colbert co-wrote the epic disco-funk title track medley “Night People / Lies Divided by Jive.” The LP was again produced by Kent, and mixed by Tom Moulton.
Epps and the great Funk Brother guitarist Dennis Coffey co-produced most of their next album Got To Have Your Love (1977). Along with fellow members Horne and Joseph Pruitt, Epps co-produced the stellar love jam “Mixed Up Moods And Attitudes,” written by the three of them plus original member Wallace Childs.
Other highlights included the funky cut “Cash Money” which Epps co-wrote with Coffey and Horne and co-produced with Coffey, and the LP’s superb title track, co-written by Epps, Coffey and Lawrence Perry and co-produced by Coffey and Epps.
Happy Birthday to the late great “Sweet” James Epps.
Further info:
“Westbound Records: The Sounds Of Detroit,” NPR, May 4, 2009.
“The Fantastic Four; The Lost Motown Album (Kent),” Soul and Jazz and Funk, July 12, 2015.
#soul #funk #disco #FantasticFour #JamesEpps