With
a series of innovative, stylish and critically-acclaimed albums that he
recorded throughout the seventies, multi-talented singer, keyboardist,
producer/songwriter Leroy
Hutson has been responsible for creating his own musical style, a style
and sound that have made classics of his works. He is also well known
for his contribution as co-writer of Donny Hathaway’s masterpiece, “The
Ghetto”, and his participation as lead singer
for the legendary “Impressions” when he replaced Curtis Mayfield.
Leroy”s
music continues to live today having been sampled by such renowned acts
as Erykah Badu, Rapper Too-Short and Bones, Thugs-N-Harmony. Of all his
albums ‘Hutson’ subsequently
known as ‘Hutson 1’ is widely considered as his greatest. The full
production with string and horn sections make a perfect complement to
the songs and his seductive voice. Every track on the album is worthy of
note, but especially ‘Lucky Fellow’ and ‘All Because
of You’ which rank amongst the best songs that he has written or
recorded. Hutson 1 was his third solo album, he went on to record a
further four albums for Curtom in the 70’s, before recording one for
Elektra and fading into obscurity.
Interest
in Leroy’s work was rekindled in the ‘Rare Groove’ era in the late
80’s/early 90’s, when his albums began to get the full appreciation that
they deserved. “I was truly
honoured when I found out, ” he comments. “I greatly appreciated and
liked the idea that there was longevity to my music. People in Britain
were getting excited about records that were ten to twelve years old, so
of course, it was very flattering.” Leroy was
also known for his production work most notably the two superb Natural
Four albums, Voices of East Harlem and Arnold Blair’s two step classic
‘Trying to get next to you’.
And
it is perhaps the production, arrangement and orchestrations of the
songs on this album that make it still stand out as such a special
record nearly thirty years after it
was recorded.
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