Charles Stepney
Step on Step
International Anthem
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When Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess) wanted to reinvigorate the blues music that their record label had been built around for a younger, hipper audience in the late 1960s, Charles Stepney was one of the men he called upon for help. From his groundbreaking work with Rotary Connection (including Minnie Riperton), through his early 1970s work with Terry Callier up to his phenomenal work with Earth, Wind & Fire, his calling card was a sweeping orchestrated approach to soul music that some might have labelled (broadly and erroneously) psychedelic. Instead, it was rich, expansive and always sympathetic to the artist in question.
When he died at the age of 45 in 1976, his name, while not forgotten, was kept alive by those who read liner notes and pay attention to the indelible ties that bound soul music together. But earlier this year, it was announced that music had been discovered that he had recorded by himself over the course of the late 1960s and early ‘70s and that his family would be part of a “Summer of Stepney” to celebrate and elevate his outstanding contribution to music.
While this collection of 23 tracks undoubtedly does celebrate and elevate, it does it in ways at odds with his musical calling card. The home-made nature of theses tracks dictates that his trademark flourishes of orchestration are absent—instead he is using early synthesizers and drum machines to create intimate, soulful and downright funky songs in the same way that other, more feted artists like Stevie Wonder and Sly Stone did. Alongside the tracks are delightful, detailed memories of Stepney relayed by his three daughters with great warmth and deep-seated love. It is clear that as well as being a musical wonder, he was a wonderful person.
This is an occasion when pulling back the curtain to reveal the man behind the myth reveals not just a small man with a megaphone and some parlor tricks, but an actual (musical) wizard, capable of wringing soul, humanity and joy from those early electronic devices. There are a variety of atmospheres created across the album. “Gimme Some Sugar” shows early on that Stepney was as funky as he was sweepingly orchestrated in the same way that the second single released from the album “Daddy’s Diddies” did. The tightly constricted grooves of these and “Gotta Dig It to Dig It” and “Funky Sci Fi” are prime examples of his ability to wring the funk from the machines hidden away in his basement.
Throughout, there is a breezy charm that demonstrates his winning way with melody as exemplified by “No Credit for This” and “Notes from Dad.” Of further interest though is the presence of early demos of iconic songs from his catalogue with nascent versions of Earth, Wind & Fire’s monstrous “That’s the Way of the World,” “Imagination” and the transcendent Rotary Connection classic “I Am the Black Gold of the Sun.” It is fascinating to hear the Earth, Wind & Fire classics stripped back of all the bells and whistles to reveal that the core of the songs remains almost as impressive as the final versions loved for decades.
“Black Gold” (as it is called here) is slightly different though. Here the melody sounds foreboding and downbeat when not surrounded by the euphoria of the voices that elevated it to such dizzying heights. This feeling of intense doom is only heightened by the insistent tick of the beat alongside it—it feels like a countdown to some night terror. That the same song can sound so unsettling in one circumstance and euphoric in another is testament to the power of Stepney’s pen.
This intimate album is a fabulous representation of Charles Stepney’s musical talents and a fitting tribute to the man behind the work. But it is, of course, tinged with sadness that these sketches (for the most part) never became the fleshed-out characters of fully formed works. Yet it captures the spirit and towering talents of a man who too few remember. Hopefully with this release and the continued efforts of his family, those who know and love the work of Charles Stepney will grow immeasurably.
Notable Tracks: “Black Gold” | “Funky Sci Fi” | “Look B4U Leap” | “Step on Step” | “The Way of the World”
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