Feel

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Feel
Released October 1974

George Duke - "Feel"

Players

• George Duke (keyboards ; vocals on LP side 1 tracks 2 & 4 and side 2 track 6 ; synthesizer bass on LP side 1 track 1 and side 2 tracks 1 & 5)
• Ndugu (drums ; percussion on LP side 1 track 3)
• John Heard (acoustic and electric bass except synthesizer bass tracks)
• Airto (percussion on LP side 1 tracks 2, 3 & 4 and side 2 tracks 4 & 6)
• Flora Purim (vocals on LP side 1 tracks 1 & 2)
• Frank Zappa as Obdewl'l X (guitar on 'Love' and 'Old Slippers')

Tracks

LP Side One Funny Funk (5:18) Love (6:06) The Once Over (4:39) Feel (5:40) Side Two Cora Jobege (3:50) Old Slippers (5:41) Theme From The Opera "Tzina" (2:01) Yana Aminah (4:33) Rashid (3:36) Statement (1:15)

CD Funny Funk (5:18) Love (6:06) The Once Over (4:42) Feel (5:41) Cora Jobege (2:48) Old Slippers (5:40) Theme From The Opera "Tzina" (2:00) Yana Aminah (4:32) Rashid (3:36) Statement (1:16)

Release Notes

Features Frank Zappa playing guitar on two tracks, Love and Old Slippers. Due to contractual reasons Zappa is credited as Obdewl'l X.

All tracks composed by George Duke, except track 3 composed by Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler.

Recording and mixing by Kerry McNabb.

Background Information

Comments on georgeduke.com, by GD.

With this recording, I began experimenting more with synthesizer orchestration. The funky side of my nature was really beginning to show. I also began to sing more. This was the first time I really tried to sing a song on record. The other times, it was more like scatting.

I have been asked many times who the guitar player was on 'Love' and 'Old Slippers'. It was Frank Zappa using the alias name, Obdewl'l X. Just as an aside, I did an arrangement of 'Old Slippers' for a Joe Henderson album also.

Back in the 70's, Fantasy records was a haven for jazz. There were three studios, and at any given time, I could walk out into the hall and see Joe Henderson, Cannonball Adderley, Joe Williams, Sonny Rollins or Gene Ammons. Because of this incredible informal interplay, most of us wound up playing on each other's records. Hence, on this LP, you can find the services of Airto perc, Flora Purim vocals.

I really think it is possible (and still do) to make good music and be commercial at the same time. I believe it is the artist's responsibility to take the music to the people. Art for art's sake is nice; but if art doesn't communicate, then its worth is negated, it has not fulfilled its destiny. Uh oh, I guess I'm getting heavy.

Anyway, Feel remains a favorite with many of my fans. Also, college radio was very important not only to this album, but to fusion/funk/jazz artists in general.

I would also like to mention that this record began a long relationship with Kerry McNabb, who was an incredible recording engineer at Paramount Recording Studio in Hollywood. His recordings still stand up today. I met him through the many hours of work in the studio with Zappa. I started calling him Mr. McFreeze because he liked the temperature at sub freezing levels in the studio. Last I heard, he took over his fathers company which specialized in making knobs.

Versions

ZFT #	Version #	# discs	Format	Catalog #	Release (YYYY-MM-DD)	Barcode (EAN-13)	Artwork	Comment
n/a	Unknown	1	LP	MPS/BASF MC 25355	1974-10-28
		1	LP	MPS/Verve 821-665-1	1974
		1	LP	MPS/EMI (5C)064D-99388	1974
		1	LP	MPS/BASF 21 22312-4	1974 or 1975			German edition.
		1	LP	MPS 15.438	1974
		1	LP	MPS/Carinia 68.023	1975			Australian edition.
		2/4	CD	MPS 1751504	2008-06-05	0602517515048		Included in My Soul – The Complete MPS Fusion Recordings (box set), split into discs 2 & 3.
		1	CD	MPS/Verve B0011942-02	2008-09-23	0600753114988