Fire (Remastered) Ohio Players

• 1 Fire 04:33
• 2 Together 03:06
• 3 Runnin From The Devil 04:49
• 4 I Want To Be Free 06:51
• 5 Smoke 06:01
• 6 It's All Over 04:14
• 7 What The Hell 05:38
• 8 Together / Feelings 01:13
• Total Runtime 36:25

Info zu Fire (Remastered)

"Fire" ist das sechste Studioalbum der Ohio Players und das zweite, das über das Label Mercury veröffentlicht wurde.

Ihr Mercury-Debüt „Skin Tight“ war ein Klassiker. Was dann kam, war sogar noch besser, als Fire Ende 1974 auf Platz 1 schoss. Der abgefahrene Titelsong sicherte sich ebenfalls den Spitzenplatz und das langsame, aber funkige I Want to Be Free bescherte diesen Spielern einen weiteren großen Hit. Ein Klassiker!

„Nachdem die Ohio Players mit „Skin Tight“ ihre Sichtbarkeit erheblich gesteigert hatten, wurden sie mit „Fire“ noch sichtbarer – einem unvorhersehbaren Meisterwerk, das mit so explosiven, bläsergetriebenen Funk-Juwelen wie „Smoke“ und dem süchtig machenden Titelsong aufwartete. Die Players waren schon immer die bekanntesten für ihren scharfkantigen Funk, aber in Wirklichkeit steckte in ihrem Vermächtnis noch viel mehr. „I Want to Be Free“, das fast unschuldige „Together“ und das reumütige „It's All Over“ zeigen, dass ihre Balladen und ihr langsameres Material es konnten sind erstklassige Soul-Schätze. Der Einfluss von Gospel-Bildern und der Erfahrung der schwarzen Kirche hatte sich auf Skin Tights „Is Anybody Gonna Be Saved“ durchgesetzt und tut dies erneut auf dem intensiven „What the Hell“ und dem Hit „Runnin‘“ Vom Teufel. „Ohne Frage war Fire einer der größten Triumphe der Ohio Players – sowohl kommerziell als auch künstlerisch.“ (Alex Henderson, AMG)

James „Diamond“ Williams, Schlagzeug, Glockenspiel, Percussion, Lead- und Hintergrundgesang
Billy Beck, Klavier, Orgel, Fender Rhodes-Klavier, Clavinet, ARP, Percussion, Lead- und Hintergrundgesang
Marvin „Merv“ Pierce, Trompete, Flügelhorn, Ventilposaune und Hintergrundgesang
Marshall „Rock“ Jones, Fender-Bass
Leroy „Sugarfoot“ Bonner, Gitarre, Percussion, Lead- und Hintergrundgesang
Ralph „Pee Wee“ Middlebrooks, Trompete, Posaune und Hintergrundgesang
Clarence „Satch“ Satchell, Baritonsaxophon, Tenorsaxophon, Sopransaxophon, Flöte, Schlagzeug, Lead- und Hintergrundgesang

Digital remastered

Ohio Players
Formed in music hotbed of Dayton in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables, the group initially included members Robert Ward (vocals/guitar), Marshall "Rock" Jones (bass), Clarence "Satch" Satchell (saxophone/guitar), Cornelius Johnson (drums), and Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet/trombone). When Ward, the group leader, broke the act up in the early 60s, the remaining members reformed with additions Gary Webster (drums) and the auspicious young guitarist, Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, and later added trumpeter Bruce Napier, trombonist Marvin Pierce, and keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison.

The Ohio Players signed with the Detroit-based Westbound label in 1971 and began a string of three successful albums, each punctuated by a loose, funky sound and erotic album covers that brought added attention. They hit with the single "Pain," and became an R&B staple. However, upon their signing with with Mercury Records in 1974 and the addition of keyboardist Billy Beck and drummer James “Diamond” Williams, they reached new heights.

This lineup created a series of memorable songs and albums over the remainder of the decade, including "Funky Worm," "Fire," “Skin Tight,” "Who'd She Coo," and their biggest hit, "Love Rollercoaster." The Ohio Players were perhaps the biggest R&B band in the world by 1976; but their fall was quick. Drug usage among the group members gutted the creativity and work ethic of the members, and charges of tax evasion robbed them of the wealth they had created over the decade -- and they never fully recovered.

The group fired leader Satchell (who ended up spending time in prison for his role in the tax case) and signed with Boardwalk Records for the minor 1980 hit "Try a Little Tenderness" (a cover of the Otis Redding classic), but they never again achieved the heights of their earlier years. The group split in the 80s and reunited several times in various forms., and both Satchell and Middleton died in the mid-90s. Williams and Bonner led a revised version of the group, but after Bonner suffered illness in the late 90s, his spot in band was no longer available. He went on to form an alternate version of the Ohio Players.

Williams’ Ohio Players released the album Trespassin' early in the new century, their last full studio album. For several years after, two versions of the Ohio Players tour the nation, one led by Bonner and one by Williams, always playing the basketful of memorable hits from the group's heyday.

Death has taken members of the group over the years. Satchell and Middlebrooks died in the 90s, Sugarfoot Bonner passed of cancer in 2013, and Jones, the last of the original Ohio Untouchables, died in 2016.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet