Running

I didn't know about the Chicago soul band Baby Huey & The Babysitters (or Baby Sitters? I keep finding it both ways) until this year. What a find! They only released one album, with only eight tracks, as Huey himself (born James Ramey), a four-hundred-pound heroin addict, passed away due to a heart attack in 1970, at the age of twenty-six. The record, called The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend, was released by Curtis Mayfield's label Curtom Records, to which the singer (but not the band) was signed, following his death. It's been released three times on CD, so it's very easy to find. Huey was replaced on vocals by "Queen of Funk Soul"-to-be Chaka Khan shortly before the Sitters disbanded.

The track I'm writing about today is called "Running", and it was, in fact, written by the great Mayfield (of The Impressions--as if you didn't know). I'm not sure if Mayfield or anyone else ever recorded it. For me, this track and others I've heard on Legend represent a perfect link between soul and psychedelia at a level that even Jimi Hendrix didn't quite manage to reach, in my humble opinion. Just listen to this thing. It starts out with a funky, echoey organ intro, gives us a moment to prepare ourselves, turns on a bass groove and then waylays us with horns. Huey's vocals aren't far behind, and the passion behind them and behind every instrument played is palpable.

Is YouTube playing in stereo now? I didn't realize. The stereo mix on this track is perfect, but Mayfield produced the album, so that's no surprise.

I'm hoping to get this album soon (maybe for Christmas). I just thought you should know about it, too.