In 1971, Booker T. & the MGs produced what would be their final single on Stax records. James Brown had just begun to plumb the depths of his hard-edged funk machine, while in Jamaica the rocksteady scene had lost its ground to the final destination of reggae music.
It was in this year that Jackie Mittoo, a titan keyboardist, composer and musical director who had been behind the boards of Jamaican music since the birth of ska in the late ’50s, released his first record as a newly minted Canadian immigrant. That record, Wishbone, was a sweeping amalgamation of funk, soul, rocksteady and early reggae that celebrated the common roots of these genres as well as the simple joy of being alive to listen to them.
Grand Funk demonstrates this feat with a lush, midtempo combination of Curtis Mayfield strings, Booker T organ and James Brown arrangement. The kaleidoscopic song that results might be called hero worship if its composition and recording weren’t so incredibly natural. Add to its organic feel that Wishbone was released almost in tandem with JB’s Sex Machine and Curtis’ Roots, and you have a true artifact of genre mashup – Girl Talk, go home!
