Muscle Shoals Horns — Born To Get Down/ Doin' It To The Bone/ Shine On

Here is a two-disc CD set collecting together the three albums released by Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Horns during the mid-70s & early 80’s. The sound over all the albums is a cheeky & cheesy blend of funk, soul, and disco- primed perfectly for getting down & boogie out.

The release comes from Robin Songs- Cherry Red's soul/ funk/ R& B/disco-focused sub-label. The two CDs are presented in a clear jewel case- with a glossy eleven-page inlay booklet, taking in an eight-page write-up about the band & the albums from Charles Waring( MOJO, Record Collector), and credits for each of the three albums.

The Muscle Shoals Horns were formed in the late 60’s- initially, they were a shifting session music collective that played on around three hundred albums from the ’60s to ’80s for the likes of Elton John, Bob Dylan, John Lennon & B.B. King. In all the band released four albums- The Cream Of Muscle Shoals (1975), Born To Get Down (1976), Doin’ It To The Bone (1977), and Shine On (1983)- this set takes in all but the first album.

So first out of the gate, we have 1976’s Born To Get Down. This originally appeared on Bang Records, and featured nine tracks in all. The album opens with moodily jiving organ & bass led “Open Up Your Heart” which over time adds in layers of darting horn work and wordless male ohhs.  There’s the steady galloping funk of “Hustle To The Music” with its guitar &  bass centre- that's shifted with swooning horns, tip-topping percussive runs, chants/ claps/ shouty soulful renditions of the track's title.  We have the stabbing ‘n’ squelching bass/ percussion groove of “Bump De Bump Yo Boodie” with its dramatic horn hits, funk guitar Strutt, and its rather cheesy/ amusing nonsensical vocals about boodie bumping ‘n’ shaking.  The album is finished off with three seven-inch versions of album tracks.

At the tail-end of the first disc, we have the first seven tracks from 1977’s Doin’ It To The Bone- which first appeared on Ariola Records America. Here we go from upbeat soulful funk Ballard of “A Love For You( And A Love For Me)” which is all mid-paced tip-toping groove, horn & string rises,  a few touches of twanging guitar work, and waveringly joint soulful male vocals. Onto strutting horn, spacy synth trails, chanted male lead vocals, and female moans ‘n’ groans of “Sexual Revolution”. The album's remaining three tracks appear on the second disc- with the best of these being the whack-whack groove, flute weave, horn bump, and almost village people-like vocals of “Beware Of The Rip Off”. With the whole finished off with a 12-inch of an album track.

Taking up the rest of disc number two we have 1983’s Shine On- which originally appeared on Monument, and nine tracks. We move from “Don’t Bust Yo’ Bubbles” which after its hand clap & male vocal chant opening- moves into a mix of darting keys, vocals,  horn stabs, and bone-breaking bass snaps. There’s the sassily jiving “Shine On” with its snapping electro beat, guitar ‘n’ bass strutt, horn darts, and sing-song joint male vocals. With the album playing out with “If You Don’t Want My Lovin’( Give It Back) which is centred around a locked organ note climb & steady bass pulse- with horn swoons, funk guitar breakdowns, and simply repeated singing of the tracks title. The disc is topped off with a 7-inch version of an album track.

I’ll have to admit before this set I’d never heard of Muscle Shoals Horns. But each of the albums here are well composed & realized blends of funk, soul, and disco. And though the final album is from the early 80s, I’d say the vibe here throughout is very 1970s- and if you close your eyes you're almost back in the disco ball spinning & flare-vibrating clubs of that decade.