Day 313: Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band – Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
It’s Friday night, you know what time it is: it’s disco time, this time in the form of a bit of sophisticated disco fusion. I’d never heard of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band before, but a bit of big band and swing-influenced disco sounds like just what I need tonight.
Album cover courtesy of RCA
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band was formed in the Bronx in 1974 by Stony Browder and his half-brother August Darnell, who later became known as Kid Creole from Kid Creole and the Coconuts. They were joined by singer Cory Daye, drummer Mickey Sevilla, percussionist Don Armando Bonilla and vibraphone player Andy “Coati Mundi” Hernandez, who they apparently recruited by making him fill in a questionnaire asking about “his political affiliation, his taste in women, and his feelings on the prospect of wearing tight pants”. He got in, despite only scoring 48/100.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1976 and it features their biggest hit, "Cherchez la Femme/C'est si bon". The album was certified gold and earned the group a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist at the 19th Grammy Awards. It was produced by Sandy Linzer, who was also a prolific songwriter and co-wrote wrote classic tunes like “Native New Yorker” by Odyssey and “Working My Way Back to You" by the Spinners.
The best way to describe their sound on this album is sunny. It’s a joyful and light album with a tropical vibe that would be a good option for people who aren’t necessarily into disco music that’s thumping or in-your-face, it’s comparatively pretty elegant. And it’s an album that lends itself so well to sampling or remixing, it’s been used on many hip hop tracks by artists like Ghostface Killah, M.I.A, De La Soul and Will Smith.
But while it’s a fun listen, there was nothing on it that’ll make me want to spin it more than once – it’s good, but the lasting power wasn’t there for me. I’m giving it a reasonable 7/10 – I enjoyed it, but I prefer my disco thumping and in-your-face.