The song "Lucky Fellow" was written by Charles Boyd and Gerald
Dickerson who were members of The Creations who later became
Contributors of Soul.
The song was originally recorded by Maurice Jackson in 1971. It came
out on two labels, initially on Candle Light (the only listed release
on the label) and then on Lakeside in 1972 (one of only 3 singles on
the label). Jackson's original version was arranged by one Donny
Hathaway.
Jackson then joined The Independents whose members included Chuck
Jackson, Helen Curry, Eric Thomas and Marvin Yancy and the song was included on their second album "Chuck, Helen, Eric, Maurice" in 1973. The Independents version was produced members Chuck
Jackson and Marvin Yancy who went on to write, arrange and produce for
the likes of, most famously, Natalie Cole and Phyllis Hyman.
The next version came in 1975 on Leroy Huston's third solo album
"Hutson". It was only released as a single, at the time, in the
Philippines on Warner Bros., the album was on Curtom which was
originally distributed by Buddah until around 1974 and then switched
to Warner Bros. Leroy Huston replaced Curtis Mayfield in The
Impressions in 1971 and left for a solo career in 1973 and his
material is revered in rare groove and modern soul circles.
There have been several reissues in various vinyl formats over the
years a Curtom UK 12" (2000), an unofficial Curtom 12" (2013), Acid Jazz 7" (2018) and on various albums and compilations over the years.
The final version, that I know of (if you know of others then spill
the beans) is by London percussionist and DJ Mark Cotgrove under the
alias of Snowboy, who rose to fame in the acid jazz era in 1991. The
vocalist on Snowboy's version is the very recently deceased Noel McCoy.
NOTE Strangely when I put the playlist below together a couple of
days ago Maurice Jackson was available, but is no longer. It was
reissued digitally by Mad About Records in Mar 2021. I'll leave it in
the playlist in case it re-emerges but have had to post it from
YouTube.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
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