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Mandrill's debut isn't half the album it could've been, since the band's talented musicianship and desire to experiment were often subverted -- by ambitions of pop success as well as a dry, over-serious approach to music-making. The three Wilson brothers, though masters of over a dozen instruments, still hadn't mastered the added burden of songwriting; "Warning Blues" is perfunctory (as is the vocal performance) and "Symphonic Revolution" is a bland summer-day soul song with cloying strings. The group sounds much more confident getting into a good groove and allowing room for some great playing; the band's self-titled song, "Mandrill," is the best here, featuring great solos for flute and vibraphone. Mandrill also loved playing with different musical forms: "Rollin' On" moves from an average rock song to a torrid Latin jam and climaxes with a testifying gospel session. Most ambitious of all is the five-part, 14-minute suite "Peace and Love," but the intriguing concept is negated by a few bizarre pieces, one of which sounds like a parody of a Vincent Price reading over a Santana jam. The band would soon learn that experimentation and stylistic change-ups were a means, not an end. ~ John Bush
Recorded at Electric Ladyland Studios, New York, New York in December 1970. Includes liner notes by Mark Marymont.
Mandrill: Louis Wilson, Richard Wilson, Carlos Wilson, Omar Mesa, Claude "Coffee" Cave, Fudgie Kaem, Neftali Santiago.
Mandrill Songs | 1. | Mandrill | $0.99 | |
| 2. | Warning Blues | |
| 3. | Symphonic Revolution | |
| 4. | Rollin' On | $0.99 | |
| 5. | Peace and Love (Amani Na Mapenzi): Movement I (Birth) / Movement II (Now) / Movement III (Time) / Movement IV (Encounter) / Movement V (Beginning) | |
| 6. | Chutney | |
| 7. | (Untitled) - (hidden track) | |
| 8. | (Untitled) - (hidden track) | |
| 9. | (Untitled) - (hidden track) | |
| 10. | (Untitled) - (hidden track) | |
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Mandrill Review
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Purchase Mandrill CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Mandrill Is CD (1972)
Mandrill
 $10.69   
Apparently learning from the mistakes of its debut, Mandrill crafted a follow-up with fewer stylistic detours than the first record, but much more energy and greater maturity. The two singles, "Ape Is High" and "Git It All," are unhinged performances from all involved that have the sense of musical invigoration so key to a funk band -- and so sorely lacking on this band's debut. "Children of the Sun" is a somber, flute-led piece, much more assured and better-conceived than anything on its first record (it also showed how well Mandrill could've done soundtracking a blaxploitation film). The guitars are much more prominent on Mandrill Is; in fact, both "Git It All" and "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" have passages almost reminiscent of metal's heavy riffing. The first two compositions from Claude "Coffee" Cave are big successes, "Cohelo" being a traditional Latin form and "Kofijahm" a tribal funk piece. Not everything works, however: the spoken-word piece "Universal Rhythms" is a tad over-ripe, with a raft of unpoetic, pseudo-mystical nonsense over backing from an angelic choir. ~ John Bush
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York between December 1971 & March 1972.
Personnel: Omar Mesa (vocals, guitar, percussion); Carlos Wilson (vocals, saxophone); Lou Wilson (vocals, ...
| | Mandrill Composite Truth CD (1973)
Mandrill
$11.59 
Composite Truth is Mandrill's most successful album, commercially as well as artistically. Although the band's sense of freewheeling experimentation had been tempered, its gradual transition to a straight-ahead funk band was made perfect with two of the biggest hits of its career: "Hang Loose" and "Fencewalk." "Hang Loose" is all over the place (in a good way), moving from a grooving funk jam to mid-tempo guitar skronk and back, all part of an impassioned call to peace. "Fencewalk" also had several transitions, with a crooning chorus and an extended middle section powered by heavy brass and a screaming guitar solo. Elsewhere, Mandrill turns in a very convincing impression of a salsa band ("Hágalo"), breaks into killer loose-groove funk ("Don't Mess With People," with a splendidly undecipherable vocal), and stumbles only with the long, rasta-fied San Francisco tribute "Polk Street Carnival," featuring a bass part that would make even a student smirk. (For such a strong band, Mandrill's basslines were often uncharacteristically weak.) In the main, the songs on Composite Truth were catchier than on its first two albums, and the band never appeared subservient to the sense of experimentation that had troubled it before. Even if on Composite Truth Mandrill sounded more like other funk bands of the time, no one could argue with the fact that the results were more exciting and consistent. ~ John Bush
Recorded at Electric Ladyland Studios and The Hit Factory, New York, New York in December 1972. Includes liner notes by Mark Marymont.
Personnel: Carlos Wilson ...
| | Mandrill Just Outside Of Town CD (1973)
Mandrill
$11.69
It lacked the delicious hooks and tight funk of Composite Truth, but Just Outside of Town was as solid and confident a piece of music-making as the band ever accomplished. The single "Mango Meat" is a tough Latin funk number with some inspired group harmonizing, and Mandrill stretched out with a pair of love songs, "Never Die" and the aptly titled "Love Song," the latter beginning with a few minutes of atmospheric bliss that boasted unrealized cinematic/soundtrack possibilities. "Fat City Strut" moves back and forth between blasts of brass-powered funk and the sweet seduction of Latin percussion and a vibes solo. The distorted funk monster "Two Sisters of Mystery" is another classic, one that later enticed producer Gary G-Wiz to sample it for Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get to Arizona." The last two songs were very uncharacteristic for Mandrill, one a bluesy/country song with a pop gloss, the other an ambling instrumental led by an acoustic guitar and including a few out-of-place synthesizer shadings. It certainly wasn't Mandrill going out on top (for an album, or for its period at Polydor), but it certainly summed up the promise of one of funk's most courageous bands. ~ John Bush
Recorded at Electric Ladyland Studios and The Hit Factory, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Mark Marymont.
Personnel: Omar Mesa (vocals, guitar, percussion); Carlos Wilson (vocals, saxophone); Lou Wilson (vocals, trumpet, percussion); Claude Cave (vocals, keyboards); Ric Wilson ...
| | Grand Funk Railroad Live: The 1971 Tour CD (2002)
Mandrill
$8.85
Recorded live between April 29 & July 9, 1971. Includes liner notes by Steve Roeser, David K. Tedds.
This Grand Funk Railroad concert recording from Detroit, Chicago, and Shea Stadium on the band's enormously successful 1971 tour captures them in all their mega-stadium excess. Extended beyond the breaking point versions of "T.N.U.C." (nearly 18 minutes), "Inside Looking Out" (over 15 minutes, including a pro-pot intro), ten minutes of "Into the Sun," and nine minutes of what has to be the most plodding version of the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" ever recorded for better or worse portray this trio in all their over-the-top glory. In concert, the least funky band ever to have the word "funk" in their name pounded out tough, workingman rock with as little subtlety as possible, aiming to please the fan sitting in the last row of the stadium. While that may have made for an invigorating concert experience, having to endure this music without the live stage show as distraction is a headache-inducing chore. The sound, while acceptable for 1971 standards, is still brittle and harsh, and Mark Farner's wah-wah-heavy guitar is exactly what Spinal Tap had envisioned with their amps that went to 11. Since this was recorded in the band's earliest period, none of the more pop elements that gave them the hits that softened their sound are in the set. That leaves this as the definitive live document of these years. It's not nearly as listenable or eclectic as 1975's Caught in the Act, which they recorded as a quartet, but does depict the group in all its uncut power, glory, and volume. Brash, noisy, and abrasive, Grand Funk Railroad earned their money by giving the people what they wanted in a show full of raw energy and blistering hard rock. In retrospect, its appeal is limited, but if ...
| | Grand Funk Railroad Survival CD (1971) Bonus Tracks; Remastered
Mandrill
$8.85
By the time Grand Funk Railroad came to make Survival in January 1971, Cleveland Recording had moved to new quarters, and the group had become a national phenomenon, its last two albums Top Ten million-sellers. They spent a relatively luxurious six weeks or so on the record, and the results showed; Survival was the best-sounding and the best-played album they had yet made. Such assessments are, of course, relative, however. The group's playing remained rudimentary, especially in the rhythm section, and its sense of song construction was simple and repetitious. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Farner sang in a strained, limited tenor lyrics that yearned for basic satisfactions ("Comfort Me," "I Want Freedom"), then led the lengthy instrumental passages with either simple guitar patterns or simple organ patterns. The band's choice of covers, Traffic's "Feelin' Alright" and the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," indicated taste (and that they were short of material), but their interpretations were inferior. This may have been Grand Funk's first real studio album, but they still sounded like they hadn't quite figured out how the studio differed from the stage and what added dynamics might be necessary to make a recording successful. ~ William Ruhlmann
The cleaned-up production and general absence of sloppiness is the first thing you will notice upon hearing Survival. A surprisingly good album, Survival contains a number of standout cuts, including a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter." With the devotion their fans showed toward them, it seemed that Grand Funk could do no wrong, and here, they ...
| | Cannabis Corpse Blunted At Birth CD (2007)
Mandrill
$11.39
Attention all death metal pot heads:CANNABIS CORPSE is a new project from LANDPHIL of MUNICIPAL WASTE! It combines old school death metal in the vein of (CANNIBAL CORPSE,DEICIDE,SUFFOCTION ) with tounge in cheek lyrics about stoned zombies,skull bongs and other bong fueled ...
| | Singing News 30th Anniversary Collection CDs (1999)
Mandrill
$16.29
This two-disc compilation presents songs that rose high on the Southern gospel music charts between the years 1970 and 1999 -- and in many cases remained there for years. Singing News 30th Anniversary Collection chronicles male quartets like the Oak Ridge Boys and the Inspirations, on through the family groups who became more popular in the '80s, such as the Speers, the oldest group in Southern gospel, and a second generation of Hinsons, 1996 chart-toppers the New Hinsons. Also included: a few tunes that were crossover hits in the contemporary Christian music such as the Greenes' 1995 hit "Jesus' Rockin' Chair," which finds Wendy Bagwell amusing a congregation with a story about the ...
| | Faith & The Muse Annwyn, Beneath The Waves CD (1996)
Mandrill
$13.89
Faith and the Muse stick with old-world traditional music for an enigmatic second album, Annwyn, Beneath the Waves. Playing with elements of neo-classical, experimental folk, and goth rock, Annwyn is vibrant with literary works spanning several centuries. Monica Richards' vocalic beauty is unreserved yet sometimes polite, but not unassuming when it comes to the music's spiritual life. Songs such as "The Silver Circle" and "Rise and Forget" blaze Richards' bold vocal textures of clinging dark visions of social interaction, and "Cernunnos," featuring William Faith, spirals with heavy gothic riffs for the album's hardest edge. Annwyn, however, does feel uneven. There overall composition isn't entirely tight regardless of Richards' vivid lyrical tales, and those too, allow a listener to get lost. It's charming, but a bit dragging. The Faith and the Muse compose something sophisticated and alluring, and Annwyn indicates the next phase of the band's career. It's a bit indulgent for a second record, similar to the abrasive Kate Bush album, The Dreaming. Monica Richards and William Faith will shape such dark ambience into something moving and inquisitive, but such ...
| | Charles Schillings & Pompon It's About CD (2002) (Import) France
Mandrill
$17.15
Charles Schillings has been one of the leading DJ's of France & Belgium for the last 10 years and has helped make acid jazz a growing part of the ...
| | DJ Jagz Diesel Groove's: All In One Megamix CD (2002)
Mandrill
$6.89
| | Governor Son Of Pain CD (2006)
Mandrill
$7.69 
Southern rapper-cum-mogul T.I. took a chance by signing Governor to his Grand Hustle label in 2006 (home of Young Dro, P$C, and Breezy), but the R&B singer fits better on the roster than anyone would think. Governor's rawly emotional vocals and incisive, honest lyrics--evoking the best spiritually charged soul music of the 1970s--mesh well with the computerized beats, samples, and other elements of hip-hop production, as evidenced on the album's first single, "Blood, Sweat & Tears." And he is never afraid to be completely himself, whether it's courageously dressing down gangsta bragging on "Be Yourself" or asking for acceptance for his foibles on "Forgive Me."
Recording information: Atlantic Coast Recording Studios, Clinton, MD; Azaura Recordings, Sherman Oaks, CA; Blakeslee Studios, N. Hollywood, CA; Fortress Studios, The Bronx, New York, NY; Larabee Studios, N. Hollywood, CA; ...
| | Gentleman Callers Hand-Me-Down Songs CD (2006)
Mandrill
$14.79
The Gentleman Callers are a rocking four piece outfit from Lansing, MI. They are deeply rooted in the sounds of traditional country, with a rock and roll edge and attitude. All that matched with pro gear and an unquenchable thirst for Beer, make them the rockinest honky-tonk band in mid-Michigan. ...
| | Serge & Nivo Rahoerson Tough Choices CD (2007)
Mandrill
$16.45
“Tough Choices”? You can’t go wrong selecting from among this group of timeless beauties.The Serge Rahoerson Group brings World Music inspired jazz to audiences across the globe, to venues ranging from Paris to San Diego, Cornwall to Antananarivo, and Washington DC to Monaco.Equally brilliant in multiple modalities, Serge and Nivo present a sampling of styles to you on this CD. Here, you will find impeccable instrumentals ranging from the straight-ahead swing jazz of Swing Kely, to the contemporary smooth style of the title track Tough Choices, and the ...
| | Lower Lights Burning CD (2008)
Mandrill
$14.79
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