Song:Soulful Proclamation
Album:Soulful Proclamation
Here's a slice of obscure 70s funk that was rediscovered in recent years to the point that the band's only album has been released on CD by the British label Jazzman. Soulful Proclamation seems to be Messengers Incorporated's best known song as it turns up on a couple of various artists comps. Guitarist Charles Burton and his singer wife Barbara Burton are the leaders of Messengers Incorporated. They grew up together in Tulsa and after graduating from high school, they married and moved to Oklahoma City. For the most part, both are backup musicians. If they had lived in LA, they would have been in The Wrecking Crew. But in Oklahoma City, they are local legends who were inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2001. They owned a recording studio there. Charles Burton toured with Gladys Knight and the Pips, Tom Jones and Count Basie among others. Barbara Burton sang with Brenda Lee, Roger Miller and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Their son Charles Burton III AKA Tre is also a musician. This Messengers Incorporated album Soulful Proclamation was released in 1970 on the small SMI label. Along with Charles and Barbara Burton, Maurice Love is on organ. He wrote Soulful Proclamation. James "Bucky" Young is on bass and Maurice Howard is on drums. The album went nowhere at the time but it was rediscovered by DJs and the Japanese label P-Vine released it on CD in 2006. Jazzman released it on CD in 2013. Both labels specialize in obscure black music reissues. As Burton Inc., Charles and Barbara Burton released the album L.A. Will Make You Pay $$$ in 1976 on their own label featuring the same musicians. That album was also released on CD by Jazzman. After that, Charles and Barbara returned to running their recording studio and touring as backup musicians. I'm sure the revival of Soulful Proclamation is a surprise to them. But it's a pretty good song and worth a listen. Here's a video of Soulful Proclamation by Messengers Incorporated.
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