Rotary Connection's psychedelic chamber soul continues to sound ambitious and progressive decades after the group's departure. Instantly recognizable from the dramatic string arrangements of
Charles Stepney and the five-octave voice of
Minnie Riperton, the group released six albums between 1967 and 1971 that combined rock, soul, and psychedelia to theatrical and occasionally transcendental heights. The racially mixed group never really broke out of the Midwest, a region in which they frequently played out. Their failure to become more than a regional cult act can be partly attributed to their management's decision to spurn a slot at Woodstock in order to play a more lucrative festival in Toronto. Despite some patchy albums and poor management decisions,
Rotary Connection's status as an influential cult group has steadily risen since the '70s.
Marshall Chess, son of
Leonard Chess, conceived
Rotary Connection in 1967 for Cadet Concept -- an upstart subsidiary of his father's
Chess label.
Chess initially centered the instrumentalists around a trio of musicians from a rock group called the Proper Strangers: drummer Kenny Venegas, bassist
Mitch Aliotta, and guitarist
Bobby Simms.
Sidney Barnes,
Minnie Riperton, and
Judy Hauf were added as the vocalists. Upon the group's formation,
Barnes was already something of a vagabond; his resume as a songwriter, background vocalist, and solo artist was extensive.
Riperton was a veteran of the
Chess ranks; she worked as a receptionist in the label's Chicago office, had been a member of
the Gems, and released material under the name
Angela Davis.
Chess musical supervisor
Charles Stepney -- a legendary composer, arranger, and producer -- was brought in to direct the group. He would also implement the skills of studio musicians from the extended
Chess family throughout the group's existence, such as drummer
Morris Jennings and guitarists
Phil Upchurch,
Bobby Christian, and
Pete Cosey.
Under
Stepney's guidance,
Rotary Connection recorded and released their self-titled debut album in late 1967. The group's spacious sound was leavened by
Stepney's often gorgeous and lilting string arrangements. The album featured both originals (co-written by
Stepney and a number of other songwriters, including
Barnes and future
Riperton spouse
Richard Rudolph) and radical covers of
the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" and
Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." This became the blueprint for what would follow from the group and, as a stunning (if flawed) debut, the album falls into that old rock trap of being viewed as the only essential one the group made. That's an unfortunate fact, because the group's key factor -- the voice of
Minnie Riperton -- wasn't truly given a chance to shine until the second album.
The albums
Aladdin,
Peace (a Christmas-themed LP),
Songs,
Dinner Music, and Hey Love were issued between 1968 and 1971. Though the albums include a fair amount of filler, each has some amazingly inspired moments. "Respect," for instance, was a radical reworking of
Otis Redding's original; transformed into a duet between
Riperton and
Barnes, the song's infamous "r-e-s-p-e-c-t" call-out was left out, and the tempo was slowed down to a sultry crawl. Hey Love, bizarrely credited to the New Rotary Connection, would become the group's last record. By that time,
Riperton already had a solo masterpiece under her belt -- 1970s
Come to My Garden. After the group split,
Riperton continued her solo career and became one of the most beloved soul vocalists of the '70s. Breast cancer took her life in 1979, when she was just 31-years-old.
Stepney passed away three years prior, at the age of 43. ~ Andy Kellman