Song:Walking In Rhythm
Album:Happy Music: The Best of the Blackbyrds
Walking In Rhythm was the biggest hit for The Blackbyrds. But I think most hip hop guys can agree that their influence has been great as their music is constantly sampled. The Blackbyrds were assembled in 1973 by legendary trumpeter Donald Byrd while he was an instructor at Howard University in Washington, DC. Byrd was looking to reinvent himself as a funk artist. The Blacbyrds were jazz student and their original purpose was to support Byrd. The members of The Blackbyrds were sax & flute players Allen Barnes & Steve Johnson, guitarists Barney Perry & Orville Saunders, keyboardist Kevin Toney, bassist Joe Hall, drummer Keith Killgo and percussionist Pericles Jacobs Jr. So they backed up Byrd and other artists and also recorded several albums for Fantasy Records. They had several R & B hits in the 70s but Walking In Rhythm reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. Barney Perry wrote the song. They also produced the soundtrack for the 1975 film Cornbread, Earl & Me. The Blackbyrds split up in 1980 but their music has been a huge influence on a generation of black musicians and their music is regularly sampled by hip hop guys. This 2007 comp is a good intro to their music. Kevin Toney and Allen Barnes have had significant solo careers and Barnes leads a version of The Blackbyrds today. In fact, here's Allen Barnes & The Blackbyrd Revue performing Walking In Rhythm in Detroit.
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