Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on THE ONE: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove.
Featured in Part 1 of this two-part series: Glenn Murdock, co-founder and singer of the groundbreaking funk-rock band Mother’s Finest. With a lineup that could seamlessly and authentically swing from guitar-fueled riffage to bass-driven grooves to soulful R&B, sometimes within the same song, Mother’s Finest notched three consecutive gold-selling albums in the late 1970s. Fronted by fiery singer Joyce Kennedy (Murdock’s wife), who also enjoyed solo success in the 1980s, the band’s assortment of fantastic songs included “You’ll Like It ‘Hear,” “Give You All the Love (Inside of Me),” “Baby Love,” “Truth’ll Set You Free,” “Can’t Fight the Feeling,” “Don’t Wanna Come Back,” the hit ballad “Love Changes” and the controversial “Niggizz Can’t Sang Rock & Roll.”
In the process, the group became famous worldwide for its ferocious live shows. Mother’s Finest has continued to deliver knockout shows up the present day, and also released new albums in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and most recently in 2015. The intense funk-rock force of Mother’s Finest — a daring band that stuck to its guns with an exciting blend of genres despite the many obstacles cast in their path through the years — continues to shine brightly as we head into 2018, a fact of which we should all feel very grateful.
Along with Mandrill and the Meters, Mother’s Finest is one of the most underrated of oft overlooked funk-rock innovators of the 1970s. Here, Murdock goes into great detail about the band’s origins, struggles being musically pigeonholed and confronting racial barriers, hard lessons learned along the way, and his philosophical outlook.
Recorded January 2018