Eugene Booker Record
(23 Dec.1940 - 22 Jul. 2005) would have been 81 today. He was the lead
vocalist for The Chi-Lites between 1959-76 and then again between 1980-88. In the interim he recorded three solo albums for Warner Brothers, "The
Eugene Record" (1977), "Trying To Get To You" (1978) and "Welcome To My
Fantasy" (1979). When he re-joined The Chi-Lites in 1980 all releases on
20th Century were billed as The Ch-Lites featuring Eugene Record.
He was the main song-writer for the group who had released several
singles in the mid 60s which failed to chart until they were signed to
Brunswick in 1968 by Carl Davis where they had their first chart entry
with "Give It Away" in 1969. They achieved eleven top 10 R&B hits between 1969-74 and two top 10 Hot 100
hits with "Have You Seen Her" (#3 1971) and "Oh Girl" (#1 1972) which was Brunswick's
only #1 pop hit in the R&B era.
Brunswick were in legal and financial trouble in 1976 and their records
weren't being promoted so Eugene Record left in frustration and joined
Warner Brothers and The Chi-Lites signed to Mercury where they released two
albums in 1976-77 and had three minor hits with "Vanishing Love" (a song
written by Sam Dees and previously recorded by John Edwards of The Spinners
in 1974) and two Phil Hurtt penned songs "My First Mistake" and "If I Had A
Girl".
Record released three albums and eight singles on Warner Brothers between
1977-79 with only the first single "Laying Beside You" making any impact on
the R&B chart reaching #24. A lot of the material was disco oriented which, sadly, hasn't stood the test of time.
His next single "Overdose Of Joy" though was
a gem picked up on by the UK modern soul scene which now commands three
figures. There are only two currently for sale on Discogs with $250 being asked for
a near mint copy.
There is no playlist as the only tracks available on Spotify are on his
first album and a link to the album is provided below. I've found links to all of
his singles, however, "Take Everything" and "I Don't Mind" is the medley on
the flip to the 12" version of "Magnetism" (which doesn't appear on any of his albums) rather than the two individual sides released
earlier.
Albums
1977 - The Eugene Record [Warner Bros. #BS 3018]
Full Album
HERE
Laying Beside You (4:38)
Danger! Love Under Pressure (3:46)
Here Comes The Sun (4:11)
Overdose Of Joy (4:16)
Trying To Watch The Wind (5:54)
Mother Of Love (4:12)
Love Don't Live By Sex Alone (5:34)
Putting It Down (To The Way I Feel About You) (5:41)
When We Pull The Shades (6:22)
1978 - Trying To Get To You [Warner Bros. #BSK 3097]
Trying To Get To You (3:55)
Come To My Party (3:27)
Time (3:22)
We Belong Together (3:20)
I Want To Be With You (4:55)
Love And Fun (3:57)
You Are The Star Of My Show (4:03)
I'm So Glad (4:47)
Share My Life (5:27)
1979 - Welcome To My Fantasy [Warner Bros. #BSK 3284]
Where Are You (7:35)
Dreams Come In Colors (3:57)
Pain For Pleasure (3:39)
Welcome To My Fantasy (6:00)
Fan The Fire (6:58)
Sweet Insanity (3:53)
Help Yourself To Love (5:01)
Singes
1979/05 - *Take Everything / I Don't Mind
[Warner Bros. #WBS 8836]
The following video is a later live recording of their #1 hit "Oh Girl"
with three of the original members Eugene Record, Robert 'Squirrel' Lester and Marshall Thompson who is still a performing member of the group.
No comments:
Post a Comment