Artist:Larry Graham & Graham Central Station
Song:My Radio Sure Sounds Good To Me
Album:The Best Of Larry Graham & Graham Central Station Vol. 1
Larry Graham went from being bassist for Sly & The Family Stone to leading his own funk band and then a crooner. He was very good at all that stuff. He was born Aug. 14, 1946 in Beaumont, TX and grew up in Oakland, CA. As a teen he played in his mom's group Dell Graham Trio and backed up other acts while attending college. He joined Sly & The Family Stone in 1968 and established himself as a legend of the slap bass and his baritone voice was featured. When Sly & The Family Stone disintegrated in 1971, Graham formed Azteca with Santana guitarist Neil Schon. Schon would start Journey and Graham took a band he was planning to produce called Hot Chocolate and turned them into Graham Central Station. The band was David Vega on guitar, Robert Sam & Herschell Kennedy on keyboards, Patrice Banks on percussion & Willie Sparks on drums. The music of GCS was exuberant funk like Sly and the group had a lot of success in the mid 70s. My Radio Sure Sounds Good To Me is a doo wop influenced song from 1978 and features Larry's wife Tina Graham on vocals. When GCS split, Graham was even more successful as a soul crooner with hits like One In A Million You. This comp covers both periods. Graham would be less active by the late 80s mostly working on sessions. He reformed a version of GCS in 1993 and Prince produced a GCS album in 1998. Larry Graham still tours today but there's no question he's a legend of funk. Here's Graham Central Station performing Release Yourself on Soul Train 1974.
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