Spirit of the Boogie

Spirit of the Boogie is the highly successful sixth studio album released in 1975 by Kool & the Gang. It can be seen as a follow-up to Wild and Peaceful (1973); The instrumental "Jungle Jazz" uses the same basic rhythm track heard in "Jungle Boogie", but lets the players improvise on their instruments (saxophone, trumpet and flute). References to earlier works can be noticed ("Ancestral Ceremony" contains the line: "making merry music...", which was the name of a song from their 1972 album, Good Times). "Spirit of the Boogie" features Donal Boyce, who was rapping on "Jungle Boogie". Some African influence can be felt, and the band even play in a West-Indian style on "Caribbean Festival", another instrumental track, with once more much room for improvisation.

Spirit of the Boogie
Studio album by
Kool & the Gang
ReleasedAugust 1975
Recorded1975 at Media Sound Studios, New York City, New York
GenreFunk, R&B, soul
Length42:33
LabelDe-Lite
ProducerKool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang chronology
Light of Worlds
(1974)		 Spirit of the Boogie
(1975)		 Love & Understanding
(1976)
Singles from Spirit of the Boogie
  1. "Spirit of the Boogie"
    Released: March 13, 1975
  2. "Caribbean Festival"
    Released: June 1975
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]
BBC(favourable)[2]
Spin(favourable)[3]

The LP cover mistakenly lists "Cosmic Energy" as track 4 instead of "Sunshine and Love". "Cosmic Energy" was actually released on the next album, Love & Understanding.

In one of the songs in the album, entitled "Jungle Jazz", the repetitive drum beat that is heard after the drum fill at the beginning has been sampled in over 50 songs, including "Don't Walk Away" by Jade and "Pump Up The Volume" by M/A/R/R/S; it can also be found as a sample in FL Studio's files.

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Spirit of the Boogie"Bayyan, Boyce, Kool & the Gang4:52
2."Ride the Rhythm"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang2:55
3."Jungle Jazz"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang4:43
4."Sunshine and Love"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang3:46
5."Ancestral Ceremony"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang3:39
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mother Earth"Bayyan, Brown, Kool & the Gang5:38
2."Winter Sadness"Bayyan, Smith, Kool & the Gang5:04
3."Caribbean Festival"Bayyan, Kool & the Gang9:26

Personnel
  • Ronald Bell – arrangements, vocals (1), acoustic piano (1, 2, 5, 7, 8), clavinet (1), ARP synth bass (1), tenor saxophone (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8), percussion (2, 3, 5, 6), ARP synthesizer (5, 7, 8), kalimba (5), alto flute (7)
  • Ricky West – vocals (1, 2, 5), clavinet (2, 3, 5), acoustic piano (6), Moog synthesizer (6)
  • Claydes Charles Smith – guitar (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8), arrangements (8)
  • Kevin Bell – guitar (2, 6), arrangements (8)
  • Robert "Kool" Bell – bass guitar (1-8), vocals (1), arrangements (8)
  • George "Funky" Brown – drums (1-8), vocals (1, 2, 6), percussion (3, 5, 6), acoustic piano (6), arrangements (6, 8)
  • Dennis "D.T." Thomas – alto saxophone (1, 2, 3, 6), vocals (1, 2, 5, 7), flute (3), percussion (3, 8), arrangements (8)
  • Otha Nash – trombone (1, 2, 3, 6, 8), vocals (1, 2, 3, 6), arrangements (8)
  • Robert "Spike" Mickens – trumpet (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8), vocals (1, 2), percussion (2, 3, 5, 8), arrangements (8)
Additional Personnel
  • Don Boyce – vocals (1)
  • Something Sweet – backing vocals (5, 6)

Production
  • Producers – Kool & The Gang
  • Recorded and Mixed by Harvey Goldberg
  • Overdub Engineers – Godfrey Diamond, Alec Head, Ray Janos, Terry Rosiello and Ron St. Germain.
  • Mixed at Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA).
  • Artwork – Frank Daniel and Diane Nelson
  • Photography – Henry Arvinger

Charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
US Top LPs & Tape 48
US Top Soul LPs[4] 5
US Top Jazz LPs[5] 18

Singles
Year Single Chart positions[6]
US US
R&B		 US
Dance
1975 "Spirit of the Boogie" 35 1 —
"Caribbean Festival" 55 6 -
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References
  1. Hanson, Amy. "Kool & the Gang: Spirit of the Boogie > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  2. Easlea, Daryl (2012). "Kool & The Gang Spirit of the Boogie Review". bbc.co.uk. BBC.
  3. Green, Tony (November 2003). Essential Funk. 19. Spin. p. 62.
  4. "Kool & The Gang: Spirit of the Boogie (Top Soul Albums)". Billboard.
  5. "Billboard Best Selling Jazz LPs" (PDF). Billboard. November 8, 1975. p. 34.
  6. "Kool & The Gang > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles at AllMusic. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
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