James Gadson (born June 17, 1939) – Good Vibrations (1972)
The legendary session drummer's second single as a solo artist was this beautiful, funky love song which he co-wrote and produced.
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James Gadson is a legendary session drummer who has played on hundreds of gold records, and also a singer/songwriter who released several of his own singles in the early 1970s.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, James Edward Gadson realized at a young age that he liked to sing. In a 2012 interview, he recalled how he got his start performing live:
“I think I was about ten or eleven years old, I would crawl out the window at night when my parents were asleep and go down to the nightclubs and sing. I went up to the band, told 'em I wanted to sing, and they laughed at me and let me sing, and the people loved it.”
He and his brother Tom formed a doo-wop group called The Carpets, with James as lead singer and songwriter. He had yet to learn to play drums, although his father was a drummer. The duo released “Why Do I” on Federal in 1956 after successfully auditioning for famed producer and talent scout Ralph Bass who also discovered James Brown.
The Carpets never struck gold, and after high school Gadson joined the Air Force. He later returned to Kansas City and began drumming with jazz trios. In 1966 he moved to Los Angeles and a friend introduced him to Charles Wright, whose group was then called the Wright Sounds. Gadson drummed with Wright for several years as the group became The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, writing some of their songs and featured on lead vocals.
When the group broke up in 1971, Gadson released his first solo single on the small Los Angeles-based Cream label, the upbeat love song “Got To Find My Baby.” Its B-side was the superb jam “Let The Feeling Belong To The One That Turns You On,” which might have been a hit if it had been the A-side instead.
Most of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band’s rhythm section soon became Bill Withers’ backing band, who Wright had managed for a very brief period right as his own group was dissolving. This included Gadson, who drummed on Withers’ classic second album Still Bill (1972) and his followup LP, +'Justments (1974).
In 1972, Gadson released his second single as a solo artist, the beautiful, funky love song “Good Vibrations,” which co-wrote and produced, with the soulful slow jam “Just To Love You Girl” on the flip. His co-writer on “Good Vibrations” was blind former Seattle DJ Gordon DeWitty, who was also a songwriter and arranger and had moved to Los Angeles. It was arranged by Ray Jackson, and featured Melvin Dunlap on bass, both former Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band members.
Further info:
“In the Pocket with James Gadson: An Essential Mixtape,” by Oliver Wang, KCET.org, August 14, 2012.
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