Rick Holmes (April 21, 1936 – August 21, 2015) – Remember to Remember (1981)
This epic, funky Black history lesson was produced and co-written by Roy Ayers and the legendary radio DJ who gave voice to Nat Adderley's Soul Zodiac LP.
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Rick Holmes was a Los Angeles-based jazz radio DJ who contributed spoken word vocals to several notable records during the 1970s and early 80s.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Holmes served in the U.S. Navy before moving to Los Angeles. There he went to broadcasting school and was subsequently hired by KBCA-FM, where he was on air from 1967-70. During the early seventies he started a long running jazz show called “Rick’s Affair.” Writing on the KCRW blog in 2017, DJ and producer Tom Schnabel shared a memory from that era:
“I used to visit the original KBCA location with a jazz-nut friend. We went at night and caught deejay Rick Holmes, working like a busy short-order cook at the Miracle Mile location, juggling vinyl, ad carts, reel-to-reel tapes. We were blown away and it ignited in us a desire to be a deejay someday.”
In 1970, Holmes began collaborating with brothers Julian “Cannonball” and Nat Adderley on Love, Sex, and the Zodiac, the first of three jazz albums with spoken word narration they recorded together, all produced by David Axelrod. Holmes wrote and narrated the lyrics for the LP’s introduction plus twelve tracks, one for each of the zodiac signs. Adderley’s quintet provided the music, with Cannonball on alto sax and Nat on cornet, plus Hal Galper on electric piano, Walter Booker on bass, and drummer Roy McCurdy.
George Duke wrote “Aries: Damn Right” and played clavinet and ARP synthesizer on it, and pianist Jimmy Jones also made a guest appearance on “Gemini: Ecstasy” which he co-wrote with Cannonball.
Although the sessions yielded solid tracks, the album was not released at the time. But in 1972, Holmes, the Adderley brothers, and Axelrod came back together in a more ambitious attempt to bring the concept to life for Capitol Records. This time twelve new tracks were spread over the double album Soul Zodiac, credited to Rick Holmes and the Nat Adderley Sextet, presented by Cannonball Adderley.
Its aims were laid out by Holmes during its cosmic introduction. “You name it, we’ll explain it!” Besides the Adderleys and Holmes, Booker and McCurdy also returned, with Mike Deasy of the Wrecking Crew joining them on lead guitar, Ernie Watts on sax and flute, and George Duke on board for the entire album playing Fender Rhodes piano.
Standout signs were the Hendrix-flavored guitar jam “Aquarius” and the laid back meditation on what it meant to be a “Cancer.” Holmes’ own sign “Taurus” was an epic psychedelic funk rock jam that his confident, sexy vocals fit with effortlessly, and the longest track on the double LP at nearly fourteen minutes. It could have done without its overly long intro, however, which can be skipped by starting where the vocals kick in at 2:25.
Soul Zodiac was a commercial success, landing at #11 on the R&B album charts and #75 on the Billboard 200. In its wake, everyone rushed back into the studio once more to record a quick follow up, Soul of the Bible, co-produced by Axelrod and Cannonball. Released in late 1972 on Capitol, it did not sell nearly as well as its predecessor. But they nonetheless cut a deal with Fantasy Records who two years later put out their 1970 sessions as Love, Sex, and the Zodiac (1974).
Holmes’ jazz show changed its name to “Rick's Family Affair” in 1975. He later worked for KJLH-FM, the Los Angeles station owned by Stevie Wonder, where he hosted a similar evening show called “Holmes in your Home.”
In the early eighties, Holmes worked with Roy Ayers when they co-wrote and recorded the epic Black history masterpiece “Remember to Remember,” which encouraged us all to “Pass the information…extend the knowledge!”
Produced by Ayers, it was released as a 12” single in 1981 on Gold Mink Records, a short-lived subsidiary of Ayers’ own label Uno Melodic Records. Its B-side was a beautiful, wisdom-soaked message song addressed to the children of the world from their parents, titled “To The Unknowledgeable One.”
Happy Birthday to the late great Rick Holmes.
Further info:
“Two Obscure Albums You Need to Hear,” by Bill Kopp, Musocribe, September 28, 2012.
“KBCA 105.1 FM: A Slice of L.A. Radio History,” by Tom Schnabel, KCRW, January 2, 2017.
#soul #funk #spokenword #zodiac #BlackHistory #RoyAyers #RickHolmes
'Soul Zodiac' is a wild trip. The Adderley brothers, George Duke, Rick Holmes, and David Axelrod make it a groovy affair. The album could only have been recorded in the '70s when creativity and experimental risk-taking (and probably a lot of cocaine!) were overflowing.