Lou Wilson (October 25, 1941 - January 7, 2013) – Ape Is High (1972)
This high energy funk jam was Mandrill's masterpiece track off their classic second album Mandrill Is, co-written by the Wilson Brothers who founded the group.
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Lou Wilson was a supremely talented multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and one of the co-founders of the legendary soul/funk group Mandrill. He was one of the band’s primary creative forces and helped compose many of their songs.
Born in Panama, Wilson was the eldest of five brothers. His parents came to the United States and settled in Brooklyn when he was eleven years old. His father played the guitar, and expected each boy to master one instrument, which is how Lou learned to play the trumpet by the time he was five. While in high school, the Wilson brothers began rehearsing together at their mother’s beauty parlor on Marcy Avenue, near the Marcy projects.
Lou studied psychology at Long Island University and worked various jobs after college, including as a taxi driver, dental assistant, and caretaker at a psychiatric institution. All the while he was dreaming of a career as a musician.
In 1968, he and his younger brothers Ric (on saxophone) and Carlos (on trombone) formed the group the Wilson Brothers, later re-named Mandrill, whose music seamlessly blended soul, jazz, funk, rock, and Latin rhythms. In a 2012 interview given shortly before Lou’s January, 2013 death, he and Ric described the origins of their polyglot funk sound as the “melting pot” of music from all corners of the world that the brothers heard while growing up in Panama.
All three brothers shared lead vocals, and other original members were Claude “Coffee” Cave on keyboards, bassist Bundie Cenas, Omar Mesa on guitar, and Charlie Padro on drums.
The group’s new name came from drummer Charlie Padro, who visited the Bronx Zoo one afternoon. While walking past the Mandrill habitat, he read about how how they were the most colorful of all the apes, plus highly evolved and intelligent.
For two years they played clubs around Brooklyn and the rest of New York City, until they were discovered by two producers in 1970 and wound up signing with Polydor Records. Their self-titled debut LP was recorded at Electric Lady Studios and released in April, 1971. It hit #27 on the national R&B album charts, propelled by its funky title track and other superb cuts like the message song “Symphonic Revolution.”
Mandrill became the first funk rock group to play Carnegie Hall when they appeared live on October 24, 1971, and according to Lou’s wife Gloria Dulan-Wilson, “they packed the house and turned it out!!”
Their second album dropped the following year in April, 1972. Mandrill Is was one of the essential funk records of the 70s, dripping with great cuts like the mellow jam “I Refuse To Smile.” The phenomenal psychedelic closer “The Sun Must Go Down” sounded like a missing Strawberry Alarm Clock track off Z-man's party mix from the Beyond The Valley of the Dolls soundtrack.
Another highlight was the epic spoken-word poem “Universal Rhythms.” After a brilliantly deceptive intro depicting a little girl playing with her dolls, Mandrill explored the meaning of life as they broke down the cycles of the universe, all explained by the Enchanting Wizard of Rhythm. The track's central message was a timeless reminder for us all - “Higher levels of consciousness demand rhythms of peacefulness.”
One of the album’s funkiest cuts was the stellar workout “Git It All,” which was written and arranged by the entire group. It became a staple of their live sets guaranteed to get audiences jumping, and was eventually performed on Ellis Hazlip’s public television show Soul! in 1971 and during the group’s appearance on Soul Train in 1973. Released as a single, it reached #37 R&B.
On an album full of them, the masterpiece track on Mandrill Is was arguably its high energy opening cut, co-written by the Wilson Brothers. As soon as the needle hit the groove, “Ape Is High” unleashed an eargasmic blast of funk. Like the rest of the LP, “Ape Is High” was arranged by Mandrill, who co-produced Mandrill Is along with noted jazz and soul producer Alfred V. Brown. Bassist Frederick “Fudgie Kae” Solomon replaced original bassist Bundie Cenas on the album, but otherwise the rest of the lineup was unchanged. The LP went to #24 on the R&B album charts and crossed over to #56 on the Billboard 200.
Mandrill’s next album was the group’s breakthrough. Composite Truth was released in January, 1973 and featured a new drummer, Neftali Santiago, and their biggest hit “Fencewalk,” which cracked the R&B top-twenty at #19 and made it to #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. The LP hit #8 on the R&B album charts.
Their fourth LP Just Outside Of Town was released later that year in October, 1973 and peaked at #6 R&B. Its superb jam “Fat City Strut” was later featured in an episode of Good Times, and the funky opening cut “Mango Meat” was issued as the album’s lead single.
In 1975, they switched labels to United Artists and moved to California where they released two LP’s that same year, Beast From The East and Solid. They then moved to Arista Records, and put out another four albums between 1977-79, including the soundtrack to Muhammad Ali’s first biopic, The Greatest (1977).
In 1979, Mandrill contributed the track “Echoes In My Mind” to The Warriors soundtrack, which was also released as part of a 12” promo EP on A&M Records. Only heard for seconds in the film as a record being played by Lynne Thigpen’s character the radio D.J., it was nonetheless one of the best cuts on the soundtrack.
Although Energize (1982) was their last studio album for nearly forty years until they released Back In Town in 2020, Mandrill kept performing on a regular basis. Sadly, Lou passed suddenly on January 7, 2013, gone too soon at the age of 71. Back In Town was dedicated to him, and before his death he contributed to every song on it.
Rest in Power, Lou Wilson.
Further info:
“A Different Sound Out of Brooklyn,” The New York Times, June 24, 1973.
“Celebrating and Remembering Lou Wilson of Mandrill, the Love of my Life on His 72nd Birthday,” by Gloria Dulan-Wilson, Eclectically Black News, October 25, 2013.
#soul #funk #Mandrill #LouWilson