Cameo
Knights of the Sound Table
1981 Chocolate City/Mercury Records
Tracklist:
1. Knights By Nights
2. Freaky Dancin'
3. I Never Knew
4. Use It Or Lose It
5. The Sound Table
6. Don't Be So Cool
7. I'll Always Stay
8. I Like It
This weekend, I took a quick roadtrip to Austin and decided to grab this album and revisit it. I've owned the cd for a while, but have only played it through a few times. I must admit that I have never been a big Cameo fan, but they have releasead some great work throughout their career. The first thing I noticed was that this album is very similar to "Cameosis" in style and sequencing. It seems that they stuck to a formula that was successful for them.
"Knights of the Sound Table" is Cameo's 7th album. It was released in 1981 and peaked at number 2 on the R&B/Soul album chart. It managed to go Gold, which was a great accomplishment in 1981 for an r&b group.
The album opens with a fanfare of "Knights By Knights" then kicks into a very syncopated funky groove. This really got my head to bobbing, but I quickly got bored with it. I can't quite put my finger on it. Then I remembered that it segues into "Freaky Dancin'". "Freaky Dancin'" is one of my favorite Cameo tracks. The song takes soul of James Brown and turns it into an 80s dance classic. It still gets the party going almost 30 years later. Besides, who doesn't like a song that says Dallas/Fort Worth loves freaky dancin'?
The one thing I immediately loved about this album was that they had 2 SOLID ballads. "I Never Knew" and "I'll Always Stay" are along the same vain as "Why Have I Lost You" or "Sparkle". "I Never Knew" would make a great wedding song.
Another track that really caught my ear was "The Sound Table". This song is mostly an instrumental, but it has an Earth Wind and Fire mood about it. It really got me going. It's almost as if this song was written by EWF and rejected.
I also fell in love with "Don't Be So Cool". I love how the female (I think it's Nona Hendrix) says she wears the latest fashion and hangs with the hippest people in town. We all know someone like that. I love the bass line to this song and the harmonies in this son. It is typical in Cameo's style, but they had some great harmonies. Larry and Tommy's vocals together are magical.
The great thing I love about this album is that this is when Cameo was a BAND and not the trio they became in the mid-80s. I know that the band concept died in the 80s, but listening to this album, really made me long for a great funk band today. I can only think of one that is still around (Mint Condition and they weren't around in 1980).
In all, I would say that this album is really solid, just not "complete" sounding. With it only being 8 tracks and most of them were under 5 minutes, it made me want more. I highly recommend it if you are into early 80s funk. My rating is 3 out of 4 stars.
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