A superb ballad I stumbled across yesterday by
Con Funk Shun. It doesn't get much better than "Make It Last" which is a 70s sweet soul ballad written and sung by
Felton Pilate from their 1978 "Loveshine" album. Why this was never released as a single is anyone's guess.
I think perhaps Con Funk Shum were overlooked and underrated this side of
the pond, possibly owing to their name, as over here the majority of those
on the rare soul scene disregarded funk and assumed that's what their
sound would be? Their only impact on the UK chart was with "Burnin' Love" in 1986 which reached #68 and they released only one further single
before disbanding. During their time they achieved twenty six R&B
chart entries (eight in top 10) but only four crossed over to the Hot
100.
Their profile has been raised by the recent cover of one of their B
sides, "Loves Train" by Silk Sonic. They were formed in 1969 as
Project Soul by school friends from Vallejo, CA, Michael Copper
(vocals/guitar) and Louis McCall (drums). By 1971 they were seven strong
and included Cedric Martin (bass), Danny "Sweet Man" Thomas (keyboards),
Karl Fuller (trumpet), Paul "Maceo" Harrell (woodwind), Felton Pilate
(vocals). In 1972 they relocated to Memphis and were the backing band for The Soul Children. Whilst there they came to the attention of Stax co-founder Estelle Axton who owned Fretone records and recorded "Organized Con Funk Shun" and "The Memphis Sessions". They were asked to change their name and chose Con Funk Shun after a 1970 song by The Nite-Liters (aka The New Birth) that they played. All songs on those two albums were actually outtakes of recording sessions they did for a studio who made them sign a contract to pay for their studio time, so technically it is not Con Funks Shun only the their rhythm section. They have released fourteen studio
albums, eleven of them for Mercury between 1976-86.
Michael Cooper went on to a solo career and Felton Pilate went into
production producing MC Hammer. They and another original member, Karl
Fuller, got back together in 1993 and tour as Con Funk Shun and released their first album in almost 30 years, "More Than Love", in 2015.
Rather than just posting "Make It Last" I may as well post the full
"Loveshine" album which was one of their biggest selling, reaching #10
R&B and '32 Billboard 200.
| Rating: | 8.4 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | 70s Soul / Funk |
| Format: | Album |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 1978 |
| Price: | £8.91 |
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