Charlie Wilson has gained a great deal of popular acclaim in the last decade as a solo artist known as Uncle Charlie-a contemporary electro soul balladeer in a manner similar to Ron Isley’s Mr Biggs character. Following his 90’s era struggles with addiction and eventual homelessness, Wilson had already made a huge name for himself with his brothers Ronnie and Robert in the Gap Band. Their grooves such as “Oops Upside Your Head” and “Burn Rubber On Me” were enormous P-Funk inspired classics in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Many admirers of the bands music often think of this peak period of popularity as the beginning of their career. In reality,it was really their commercially fortunate mid point.
Forming in 1967 as the Greenwood Archer And Pine Street Band in their native Tulsa Oklahoma, the Wilson brothers’ first big taste of fame came in 1974 when they joined Leon Russell as backup musicians on his Stop All That Jazz album. Later that year,Russell’s label Shelter signed the rechristened Gap Band and released their debut Magician’s Holiday. At the time the group was a septet consisting of the Wilsons,percussionist Carl Scoggins, drummer Roscoe Smith,guitarist O’Dell Stokes and a horn section consisting of Buddy Jones,Chris Clayton and trumpeter Tommy Lokey. It was Lokey who wrote the groove I’m talking to you about today entitled “Tommy’s Groove”.
The jam gets a stone cold start with a thick,fast paced mix of wah wah guitar and Clavinet duetting together in tonal unification. This along with bursts of organ as a percussion life effect. The horn section leads the melody into the a fan faring chorus that begins on the same theme-both separated by a powerful funk break. As the rhythm section lays the foundation,the horns serve to carry the vocal parts of the song. Then a powerful gospel/soul organ solo gives way to another horn fanfare taken at a somewhat higher octave than the first. After a straight replay of the original theme,the song fades out on composer Tommy Lokey’s jazzy trumpet solo.
Primarily Charlie Wilson is known as the Gap Band’s lead vocalist-his fruity and somewhat idiosyncratic Southern drawl laying the groundwork for the vocal approach of the new jack swing genre of the late 80’s and early 90’s. Even during the groups prime hit period however,Charlie was still their keyboard player as well. Since Total Experience’s Lonnie Simmons wanted to showcase his vocals, it was up to early instrumentals such as this to showcase Charlie’s talents as a musician. Here he’s a unified participant in heavy duty jamming in the united funk era. His strong organ solo and Clavinet riffs showcase what a gifted keyboard groove master Charlie Wilson actually is.
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