Mother's Finest
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Mother's Finest is a funk rock band founded in Atlanta, Georgia by Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock in the early 1970s. The group charted with the singles "Fire" (#93 Pop Singles), "Baby Love" (#79 Black Singles, #58 Pop Singles), "Don't Wanna Come Back" (#54 Black Singles), and "Love Changes" (#26 Black Singles) in the mid to late 1970s.
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History
Mother's Finest are notable partly because they are an "interracial" rock group from the US South. Their music was a blend of funky rhythm, heavy guitars and expressive rock singing. Their debut album Mother's Finest from 1976 today is a rare collector's piece and contained with the ironic song "Nigizz Can't Sing Rock'n Roll" (although they were criticized for it by an important religious leader and dropped it from their live concerts). In the summer of 1977, they opened for The Who in their laser lit tour through Canada. An unusual choice of opening acts, they impressed with their performance and choreographed stage show. In 1978 they were guests in German broadcast Rockpalast and with one concert they gathered a cult status in Europe which lasts until today (this concert appears on the DVD Mother's Finest - At Rockpalast).
In the late seventies they produced more soul-oriented albums and at the beginning of the eighties some heavy rock as on Iron Age. In the nineties they were back with Black radio Won't Play This Record, a funk metal album, and their most recent CD is Meta-funk'n-physical from 2004 which is more hip hop- and electronic beats-oriented.
They are led by rock singer Joyce Kennedy.
Mother's Finest was well respected within the southern rock musical community. Their fellow Epic Records label-mates The Stranger (band) would play "Another Mother Further" as their introductory music.
Most recently, Joyce Kennedy was seen on the international Daughters Of Soul tour along with Sandra St. Victor, Nona Hendryx, Lalah Hathaway (daughter of Donny Hathaway), Indira Khan (daughter of Chaka Khan), and Simone (daughter of Nina Simone).
Members
Original members
- Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals
- Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals
- Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar
- Barry "B.B. Queen" Borden – drums
- Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass
- Mike Keck – keyboards
1993 world tour members
- Joyce Kennedy – vocals
- Glenn Murdock – vocals
- John Hayes – guitar
- Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass
- Deion Derrick – drums
- Ace Baker – keyboards
Circa 2004 members
- Joyce Kennedy – vocals
- Glenn Murdock – vocals
- Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar
- Kerry 'Lovinggood' Denton – drums
- Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass
- John Hayes – guitar
- Johnnetta "JJ" Johnson – backing vocals
Discography
Albums
- Mother's Finest (1972), RCA
- Mother's Finest (1976), Epic
- Another Mother Further (1977), Epic
- Mother Factor (1978), Epic
- Live (1979), Epic
- Iron Age (1981), Atlantic
- One Mother to Another (1983), Epic
- If Looks Could Kill (1989), Capitol
- Black Radio Won't Play This Record (1992), RCA
- Subluxation (1993), RCA – live album
- Baby Love (1998), Kiosk
- Meta-Funk'n Physical (2003), UTR Music
- Right Here, Right Now: Live at Villa Berg (2005), MTM Music
Compilations
- Rock Your Soul (1996), Sony Special Products
- The Very Best of Mother's Finest: Not Yer Mother's Funk (1997), Razor & Tie
- Definitive Collection (1998), Sony International
- Burning Love: Best (2000), Cedar
DVD
- At Rockpalast (2004), Ard Video