By the time of 1972's
Oh Girl, relatively little remained of the fusion of boppish jazz and bluesy soul that had powered the early
Young-Holt Unlimited recordings. They were still doing a soul-jazz fusion, but much more funk and, indeed, fusion (in the electric jazz sense) were coloring their approach. While in these senses the group was keeping pace with changes in instrumental soul and jazz,
Oh Girl is an erratic and not terribly impressive record. Side one is devoted entirely to covers, with the reading of
the Chi-Lites' "Oh Girl" just a little reminiscent of the "Soulful Strut" days. Otherwise, the selection of material on the "covers" side was almost ridiculously eclectic, from
Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" (predating
the Pointer Sisters' hit with the song) and
the Blues Magoos' "Can't Get Enough of You" (actually one of the better tracks) to
Randy Weston's "Hi-Fly" and
Roberta Flack &
Donny Hathaway's "Where Is the Love?" Side two is devoted entirely to original material, but it's similar to side one in how it veers from almost lounge-ish soul-jazz-fusion-funk to cuts with a sharper edge. The smoldering guitar on "Food Stamps" and the sullen funk bounce of "Rubber Lips" make those cuts stand out, but otherwise this is only passable, and sometimes dull, background-quality instrumental music. ~ Richie Unterberger