Sons of Champlin: Do Not Call Them Retro Reincarnated group from the sixties puts out a fresh sound

By Philip Elwood
Examiner Music Critic July 18, 1998 

"Sons of Champlin, Live"/ Grateful Dead Records

This disc, recorded at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa on a dark and stormy night in January, captures splendidly the reincarnated Sons of Champlin sextet; six months earlier, Jazz Beat previewed this band for The Examiner as it rehearsed for the first concert of a 15 concert series that included the Summer of Love show and a Fillmore Auditorium concert and concluded with the performance captured on this CD.

The 1997-98 Sons cannot be called a retro group, since its combination of organ, guitar, brass, sax – and Bill Champlin’s wonderful singing – is as fresh now as it was in 1967, when I first heard it. Listening to this CD with its surging guitar-Hammond B-3 organ-electric bass undercurrent of harmonies, and hearing the crowd shouting and screaming its approval, it occurred to me that perhaps the reason the original Sons, 30 years ago, never made the national impression that many Bay Area expected was that they were too advanced, too uncompromisingly professional in their blend of blues, jazz, soulful ballads, and R&B rhythms and harmonies.

Here, on "Time Will Bring You Love," vibes begin the number, lightly settling in on a blues riff that gradually develops into a small-combo jazz-blues groove. On "Get High," Terry Haggerty’s guitar soars magnificently over Champlin’s tight arrangement. "Things Are Getting Better" has a wonderful introductory passage, then plunges into a grand southside (Chicago) blues beat. "Black and Blue Rainbow" (great title, great lyrics) has a repeated soul-riff above a slow boogie beat.

The aptly titled "Freedom" – at 15 minutes, easily the disc’s longest track – involves fine solos by Tom Saviano (sax) Mic Gillette (brasses) ans Dave Schallock, bass. Even J.D. Loudermilk’s classic "Tobacco Road" is included, with Champlin handling the recitation vocal (that Lou Rawls did so well) and drummer Jim Preston holding the dirge-like beat.