Vagabon Synth Nerd’s Journal Vol. 141 - Featuring Great Works by Master Producers Part 4 - Tommy LiPuma and the Band Stuff

Rumors I’ve heard about the awesome band Stuff.

In the late 1970s, there was a band that became the talk of the town among music listeners. Their name was “Stuff”.

In April 1977, a benefit concert called the “Rolling Coconut Review Japan Concert” was held in Harumi, Tokyo, with about 80 musicians performing for free and it drew an audience of about 15,000 people. Stuff was in Japan for the first time and they became a major topic of conversation. Although they were missing two of their main members, the audience was wowed by their performance.

I had heard many times from my friends who were in the light music club at that time how great Stuff’s performance was.
If they were really that great, I was eager to see it, and the wish to get a chance to see them live came true in November of the same year, but more on that later....

A band of session musicians

The band Stuff was formed by bassist Gordon Edwards and they are a six-piece twin-guitar, twin-drum band with Eric Gale on guitar, Cornell Dupree, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Steve Gatt and Chris Parker on drums.

These six members are known as first-rate session musicians in New York. They have participated in hundreds of sessions and have credits on hundreds or more records. They may have even met each other as recording musicians. However, whether the band would be successful together is another story.

What is needed to make good music is the ability of musicians, and this is exactly the most important factor. However, just getting good musicians together is not enough to make good music or to form a good band....

What is needed is a producer who understands the characteristics of the musicians, such as what kind of album to make and what kind of songs to put together, and someone who can think about the direction to take. The producer's skills are tested by what he or she can sell.

Enter the great Tommy LiPuma!

Stuff’s first album was the talk of the town, and although they were an instrumental band, it became a larger hit than anyone could have ever imagined.
The year was 1976. It was a time when the crossover sound, a fusion of jazz and rock, was becoming popular and branching off from the rock boom.

The success of “Stuff” was a reflection of this trend, as society wanted a sophisticated sound that was different from rock music. Crossover music took many different forms and was consolidated into the category of fusion, which made a genre that had a mixture of both rock and roll. I think it is no exaggeration to say that Stuff was the band that pioneered this genre. One can imagine that it was quite a challenge at the time to put out music that could sell even without vocals.

Enter the great Tommy LiPuma. Tommy took a visually bland band, an instrumental band with no vocals, and turned it into a great adult album. His skill as a producer is evident in this. The sound is simple and restrained. Tommy Lipuma's music production could be described as simple with a restrained sound but still pop...keywords that always go with Tommy.

The strength of Stuff... is their exceptional musicianship. Tommy created this new kind of album that emphasized this, with a pleasing, sophisticated sound.

Experienced the awesomeness of the staff LIVE. They were halfway there!

Staff made their second visit to Japan in November 1977. I had the pleasure of seeing Stuff at the Kosei-Nenkin Kaikan hall in Shinjuku. Although Eric Gale and Steve Gatt did not perform at the Rolling Coconut Review, the full band was fantastic live.

I was impressed by Richard Tee's grooving acoustic piano, especially Richard's left hand, which was powerful. Richard Tee later joined more sessions, and I remember as if it were only yesterday that his instantly recognizable acoustic piano sound took the world by storm. Every keyboard player at the time tried to play like Richard Tee, but there was no one who could produce that powerful groove.

During a live performance, Steve Gatt and Chris Parker had a drum solo duet. Steve Gatt's solo at that time was so awesome and too great. ...... Of course, all of you know what Steve Gatt has done since then.

■ Recommended album: Stuff (1976)

A historical masterpiece of Stuff’s music. It is no exaggeration to say that everything about Stuff is concentrated into this album. Stuff would go on to release several more albums after this one, but this first album is the best. Producer Tommy LiPuma's abilities are on full display in this album.

The two guitarists, Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree, who define the band's color, are the type of players who produce a muddy sound with strong R&B elements. Cornell Dupree is particularly strong in this element. Richard Tee's Fender Rhodes piano neutralizes the music's native roots flavor. Richard also plays the acoustic piano, which would have made the music more R&B-oriented, but the Rhodes piano and Hammond tones envelop the band's sound and play a part in the refined sound. I am not sure if this was Tommy LiPuma's direction or Richard Tee's idea. Either way, it is Tommy's talent to bring out this kind of sound from rather unrefined musicians.

Recommended song: “My sweetness”

Widely known as the theme song for a national radio program. The sound of Fender Rhodes with a thin layer of Electro-Harmonix phaser, “Small Stone,” seems to raise the sophistication of this album. Originally, the songs are pop and easy to remember. The Hammond organ played by Richard also adds a nice touch. It’s pop, but yet it sounds somehow classy and has a certain magical touch that was created by Tommy.

Recommended music: “Want some of this”

This song is a condensed version of Stuff’s personality, which is groovy and funky. Richard Tee's acoustic piano solo that comes out in the middle of the song is one of the highlights of the album. Richard's acoustic piano phrases are what made him known to the rest of the world. His powerful grooving piano phrases really knocked out many people at the time.
There’s a story that keyboardist Jun Fukamachi once saw Richard Tee play up close, and he happily told Masataka Matsutoya how he played. That is how much keyboard players in Japan admired Richard Tee's playing style.

Musicians, albums, and recommendations featured in this issue

• Artist：Richard Tee, Cornell Dupree, Eric Gale, Steve Gatt, Chris Parker, Gordon Edwards
• Album : Stuff
• Song titles：“My sweetness”, “Want some of this”

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