Skin Tight

by Ohio Players

Product Description:

Ohio Players: Leroy "Sugar" Bonner (vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion); Clarence "Satch" Satchell (vocals, saxophone, flute); Billy Beck (vocals, keyboards); Jimmy "Diamond" Williams (vocals, drums, percussion); Marvin Pierce (trumpet, trombone, percussion); Ralph "Pee-Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet); Marshall Jones (bass).

Recorded at Paragon Studios, Chicago, Illinois.

Along with George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic mob, The Ohio Players were the epitome of '70s funk. SKIN TIGHT was the band's breakthrough release (followed by two even more successful albums, FIRE and HONEY), and a scan through the track listing takes one back to the glorious mack-daddy days of afros and fringe jackets. Burbling, elastic bass lines, punchy horn arrangements, a thick tapestry of percussion, plenty of wah-wah guitar, and soulful, often theatrical vocals flesh out the Players' down and dirty sound.

The syncopated rhythms and ascending horn part of title track give way to the sly, snaky groove of "Streakin' Cheek To Cheek." Such lights-low ballads as "It's Your Night/Words of Love" and "Heaven Must Be Like This" contrast the warped, slo-jam of "Jive Turkey" (arguably the best track here). While SKIN TIGHT may not be as well known as FIRE and HONEY, it is still one of the Players' great efforts and a classic early '70s funk album.