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by Cold Blood
1973, Warner/Reprise Records
the sound: From the funky opening guitar riff that starts this album, listeners find themselves drawn into the sounds of the East Bay area of Oakland and San Francisco. The sound reflects the rich diversity of the area—a soulful gumbo of funk, blues, gospel, Latin and jazz. The grooving rhythm section of Raul Matute on keys, Michael Sasaki on guitar, Rod Ellicott on bass and Gaylord Birch on drums blend seamlessly with the powerful horns of Max Haskett and Peter Welker on trumpet and Skip Mesquite on saxophone and flute, lending burning support to the dynamic vocals of Lydia Pense. The ensemble carries listeners on a joyously funky ride through six covers and one original song. Several additional horn players and the Pointer Sisters on background vocals add muscle to the well-crafted arrangements, which include a straight-up funk version of Jerry Ragavoy’s “Baby I Love You,” a lowdown groove on “Feel So Bad,” a soft bossa-nova version of Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” a gospel-tinged version of The Band’s “Sleeping” and a funked out version of Bill Withers’ “Kissing My Love.” On the latter song, Pense exchanges some lively scat work with Mesquite’s gritty saxophone. Packaged in a retro cover depicting a takeoff on 1940s movie thrillers, complete with a back cover made of off-the-wall advertisements that used to adorn old comic books, the music on this album burns from start to finish with nary a weak cut.
the background: Cold Blood was part of the first wave groups from the Bay area to emerge in the late 1960s, along with Santana, Tower of Power, the Sons of Champlin and Quicksilver Messenger Service, to name a few. Unfortunately, Blood never achieved the type of national exposure that Santana or T.O.P enjoyed, mostly due to continually fluctuating personnel and the music industry’s dismissal of Lydia Pense as a Janis Joplin clone. With all due respect to the late Ms. Joplin, Pense was—and still is—a more diverse and well-rounded singer. She can belt out a soul or blues tune with powerful authority and then wring heart-wrenching emotion from the softest of ballads. Check out her work on the arrangement of Boz Scaggs’ “I’ll Be Long Gone” on this album and you’ll hear it for yourself.
the significance: At the time, this was a singer and band that deserved much better treatment from the music industry than they received. Between 1969 and 1976, Cold Blood released six albums, “Thriller” being the fourth. It is considered by many critics and fans of soul/funk music to be the band’s masterpiece recording. But all the band’s recordings are seriously well done. Cold Blood remains active to this day, playing gigs around northern California and the northwest region of the country. Most importantly, Lydia Pense still fronts the band with her remarkable vocal work. She recently appeared on the newest recording from Doc Kupka’s Strokeland Super Band, called “Bumped Up to First Class” (available at strokeland.com). —Alan Chase
For more info on Cold Blood, visit www.lydiapense.com.
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