Here, one would like to know a bit more about the whole thing. This much is well known: The Al-Dos Band comes from South Carolina, Greenville to be exact, founded by (the married couple? brother and sister?) Mary and William Robinson (no, not the »Smokey« Robinson) and recorded their only album »Doing Our Thing With Pride« in 1976, which was not released for 45 years. Only one single was released in 1977 with the song »Some Things Don’t Mean a Thing« and the very sophisticated grooving title track. The rest of the record is available to hear now thanks to Kalita. Gospel, soul and disco come together on it in the name of love (»Dream Song«) or the Lord (»Your Presence«). The arrangements are slender, the band limits itself to the basic equipment with guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, no trace of lush brass sections or half orchestras. Instead, they concentrate on the vocals, which are often in several voices or work with call and response, under which the instrumental foundation provides elegantly restrained funk. Possibly should not be distracted too much from the messages. The reduced sound may make the record seem a bit unremarkable at first, but it does circumvent the largely familiar disco clichés. As far as aging is concerned, this now makes itself felt positively.
Various Artists
Shanghai’d Soul: Episode 12
The Numero Group