REUBEN WILSON — Got To Get Your Own (review)

REUBEN WILSON — Got To Get Your Own album cover Album · 1975 · Funk Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Rokukai
Reuben Wilson has played it straight for the majority of his career--the exceptions being his 1971 psychedelic soul/funk album "Set Us Free" and 1975's gritty, urban "Got to Get Your Own" (which lists his band as "The Cost of Living", essentially a revolving door of awesome musicians). One of the few souljazz organists to make a dent as a leader in the Blue Note stable, Wilson specializes in mellow, slightly funky renditions of popular tunes, sprinkling his own compositions onto his albums to showcase his songwriting skill.

Wilson has only one partial songwriting credit on "Got to Get Your Own", but it's difficult to imagine his own songs could improve this set. It's brash, funky, and loaded with soul. The only cover of a well known song is the Chi-lites "Stoned Out of My Mind", which is given an uptempo, slightly disco reading. "Stoned Out Of My Mind" and "Together (You and Me) are the only songs you'd expect from Wilson, and the only tracks which prominently display his Hammond B-3. The rest (except "In the Booth, In the Back, In the Corner, In the Dark") sound like they could easily be at home on an Ohio Players record.

"In the Booth, In the Back, In The Corner, In the Dark" has, after hundreds of spins, become my favorite song on the album and ranks as one of the catchiest soul songs I've ever heard. It would be a fabulous record without it--with it, "Got to Get Your Own" is a true classic. Track this one down at all costs.
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