Hot Heat and Sweat Groove is the debut album by the funky band led by the charismatic
Charles Wright. The
Wright brood moved to Los Angeles when
Charles Wright was 12. In Watts,
Wright befriended doo woppers and balladeers like
Jesse Belvin,
the Hollywood Flames, the Youngsters, and others who lived in the area. Propped by stars like
Bill Cosby and publicized by two and a half years of sold-out crowds at the Haunted House (a local club), along with an unexpected local hit, the band was able to secure a contract with Warner Bros. Records. Nothing major came from this set that displayed a choppy rhythmic approach similar to
Dyke & the Blazers. But this surprisingly hard-to-find album produced by James Carmichael, who went on to great success with
the Commodores, features some thick funk: "Fried Okra," "Brown Sugar," and reworkings of "Yellow Submarine," "The Girl From Ipanema," and "Bring It on Home to Me." While not the most cohesive set, you can't knock the hot SoCal energy exhibited by
Wright and his crew of young hopefuls, including future
Earth, Wind & Fire member Al McKay, along with James Gadson, Melvin Dunlap, Big John Rayford, Bill Cannon, Gabriel Flemings, and Joe Banks. The LP's most popular track, "Spreading Honey," charted at number 44 R&B and number 73 pop in 1967.
The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band didn't even record the song.
Wright cut the track with
Bobby Womack,
Leon Haywood, James Carmichael, and others as the theme song for DJ Magnificent Montague's radio show. But it smoked so much that Warner Bros. signed them on the dotted line and credited the single to the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band; this album followed, and the rest is history. ~ Andrew Hamilton