Hammond Disco: Duke Grant - Stereo Gold Award 1976

Third time up for Duke Grant and his organ and that's twice more than I originally planned. By all accounts though, the man has only released three albums and so with two down and with this in the crate it seemed a shame not to go on and complete the hat trick; we've had Hammond Gold and a Hammond Party and now it's time to get down at the Hammond Disco. To be honest, from that title and cover picture in (which I'm betting wasn't snapped at Studio 54) I wasn't expecting all that much and, as far as that expectation goes, I wasn't disappointed, but I will say that of his three albums, this one is probably the best.

 

And one of the reasons it is the pick of a bad bunch is - ironically - because the Hammond isn't the focal point of it all. Perhaps realising that a Hammond lends itself to being a lead disco instrument about as well as a tuba does, there's an embellished backing here that goes beyond Grant's usual trio. The percussion and drums sound still like a pre-set organ rhythm but there are guitars and saxophones and live bass guitars swimming around in the mix too and they add a dimension sorely lacking from his previous efforts. While it does add colour to the palette though, the ingredients are a bit randomy and a bit thrown together, meaning it lurches on stilts where it should groove on a rail.

 

In fact, that 'disco' title is rather misleading altogether; true, some of the tracks on this (there are only seven) are bona fide early disco classics ('The Hustle', 'Never Can Say Goodbye', I'm On Fire' which, fair enough too, would have been fairly cutting edge in 1976), while others 'Salsa Woman', 'Del Sengo') are most definitely not early disco classics; they appear to have been written to order and suffer for it.  But despite all the trimmings and trappings, this is not what I would call 'disco' music. In fact, the overall sound has more of a would be funky blaxploitation feel to it, albeit one from the lower end of the barrel and swimming in the murk of a jam session where nobody really knows what the others are doing. Saying that, it's better than I expected, but as the Duke Grant bar had previously set close to ground level, that's not saying much. But it's nice to see him going out on a high of sorts, even though I can confidently say I'll never knowingly listen to this again for as long as I live.