Otha Nash (May 9, 1948 – January 15, 2003) – Do It Right Now (1976)
One of Kool & the Gang's all-time funkiest songs, this motivational anthem was mostly written by their unsung mid-seventies trombonist.
View most updated version of this post on Substack
Search our full archives
Otha Nash was a trombonist and songwriter who played with Kool & the Gang for a brief period from 1975-77 and appeared on four of their studio albums.
See our earlier posts on saxophonist/keyboardist and primary songwriter Ronald Bell, drummer George “Funky” Brown, multi-instrumentalist Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, lead vocalist J.T. Taylor, and producer Eumir Deodato for more on the group’s history.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Nash attended Sunday school at Oak Street A.M.E. Church, which he later joined. He went to public schools in the city and played in the school band during junior high and high school, when he also played the tuba in the Baltimore Park and Municipal Concert Bands. He got a music scholarship to Norfolk State University and graduated in the early seventies. Before long, he was hired as the trombonist for the Stylistics’ backing band.
Nash joined Kool & the Gang in early 1975, just in time to play on their sixth studio album Spirit of the Boogie which was released later that summer and hit #5 on the R&B album charts. Its title track went to #1 R&B and remains one of the best-known cuts they released during the mid-seventies, featuring Nash on trombone and vocals.
One of his first international performances with the group was early that year when they travelled to Cannes in France for the 1975 Midem music industry trade show. They performed several of their biggest hits including “Hollywood Swinging,” “Jungle Boogie, and “Funky Stuff,” plus the beautiful jazz jam “Wild And Peaceful” (which starts around 5:33 in the below clip).
Nash and Ronald Bell co-wrote the beautiful, socially conscious title track to Find A Friend (1976), the second album by Kool & the Gang’s protégés the Kay Gees. It opened and closed the album, split into a “(Prelude)” and “(Conclusion),” featuring backing vocalists Something Sweet and Tomorrow’s Edition.
None of us should ever think we’ve heard all of the Gang’s funkiest tracks, because there’s likely another one waiting to be discovered. Case in point, for their Love & Understanding LP, Nash was the lead writer on the phenomenal motivational anthem “Do It Right Now.” It was co-credited to the entire group as most of their songs were, and he played trombone on the track and was featured on vocals. Love & Understanding came out in March, 1976 and also included the super funky “Cosmic Energy.” The album peaked at #9 on the R&B charts.
He went on to appear on two more of the group’s studio albums, Open Sesame which came out in October, 1976, and The Force, released at the very end of 1977.
Nash left Kool & the Gang right before they recorded their disastrous Everybody's Dancin' LP in 1978. It was the worst-selling album in their catalog and left the group at a crossroads, looking for a new direction and sound that they would soon find courtesy of new lead vocalist J.T. Taylor and producer Eumir Deodato. But many consider the group to have been at their creative and technical peak in the early to mid-seventies, and Otha Nash was a part of that moment.
Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Otha Nash.
Further info:
“Otha L. Nash,” obituary, March Funeral Homes, January, 2003.
#soul #funk #disco #KoolAndTheGang #OthaNash