Life & Death
If it feels good it's alright
Occasionally, a single song has the power to overshadow the entire album, carrying it to new heights. Such is the case with Chairmen Of The Board’s funktastic four-part suite, ‘Life & Death.’
Featured on the band's fourth and last album on the Invictus label, Skin I'm In. The song is not only the centerpiece of Side 1; for me, it is their finest moment. For the band’s most devoted fans, it’s also arguably the most divisive track on an album that singer General Johnson referred to as “a trampled flower.”
Skin I’m In is an anomaly in the Chairmen’s more harmony-driven R&B catalog; nothing before or after sounds quite like the album. Indeed, most tracks on Side 2 are entirely different in sound and vibe from the ones on Side 1.
Several of the album’s songs were recorded in 1972 and released as singles. The record, however, was officially completed and released in December 1974. The album stands out, in part, due to the collaboration between producer Jeffrey Bowen and arranger Donald Baldwin. Bowen & Baldwin aimed to infuse the Chairmen Of The Board's more polished and commercial sound with their deep admiration for the hipper, funkier sounds of Sly & The Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic. Bringing in Funkadelic members Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, Tiki Fulwood, and Billy Bass Nelson as uncredited session musicians, Side 1 essentially becomes a long-lost Funkadelic treasure. Its most precious gem is the four-part ‘Life & Death’ suite. The monster track clocks in at 9.5 minutes and eventually erupts into a seismic, earth-shattering sonic experience.
Written by Sly Stone and recorded by Joe Hicks, ‘Life & Death in G & A (Parts I & II),’ was initially released as a single on Sly’s Stone Flower label in 1970. The original is a textured and fragmented drone accentuated by blurts and bleeps of organ, drum beats, wah-wah drenched guitar, and accented with slivers of harmonica.
Joe Hicks - Life and Death in G & A (Original Version, 1970):
On the Chairmen Of The Board’s, Skin I’m In record, the Funkadelic members breathe new life into the Sly Stone composition and pack it with their brand of highly combustible, explosive energy. With producer Jeffrey Bowen giving the musicians the green light to have fun, they unleash a cataclysmic musical assault on the listener’s senses. The tectonic rumbles of Billy Bass Nelson’s volcanic fuzz bass on ‘Morning Glory’ give a warning for what soon lies ahead. Bernie Worrell's keyboards and mellotron roar like a progressive funk rock tsunami wave flooding the song. At the 2 '20 mark, the track transitions into the reverberating drums of ‘Life & Death (Part I)’ and Nelson’s rapid-fire atomic fuzz bass bursting out of the amp as General Johnson’s soulful vocals enter. The track seamlessly shifts gear into ‘White Rose (Freedom Flower)’, returning us to where things started on ‘Morning Glory’. Eventually, Worrell takes us even higher into deep interstellar Moog and mellotron territories. The music spikes, swells, and vibrates into cosmic space before it segues into the thunderous ‘Life & Death (Part II),’ where the band truly lets rip. Eddie Hazel’s wah-wah guitar ripples throughout like traveling shockwaves. Tiki's hypnotic drum beats and percussion echo the heartbeat of the Earth, and Worrell's vibrant Moog synthesizer dances and illuminates the musical space like a shimmering shooting star. Eventually, the three musicians clear a path at the 2 '28 mark for Nelson to come in and drop some of the phattest, thickest, fuzziest, and grooviest bass licks ever committed to tape. It’s the musical equivalent of a supernova, obliterating everything in its vicinity and creating a perfect moment of pure musical bliss. The uncredited session musicians not only took over Side 1, but they also made damn sure to leave their artistic DNA on every track.
Chairmen Of The Board’s ‘Life & Death’ suite is music you don’t just listen to; it’s music you feel deep into every fiber of your body.
Turn the volume up, feel the earth shake, and ENJOY!
I've been holding off on commenting until I can really sit down with this on headphones, but I'm giddy thinking about it and can't wait much longer.
The Chairmen and the Funkadelic men score big time on the funk meter with this one.