Down To Earth
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Album Summary
Down To Earth arrived in 1976 on the legendary New York-based Stang Records, a label that had already made its name as a home for raw, uncompromising Black music. The Rimshots — a tight-knit ensemble featuring Clarence Oliver, Walter Morris, Bernadette Randle, Tommy Keith, Jonathan Williams, Mozart Pierre-Louis, and Curtis McTeer — brought a lean, hard-grooving sensibility to the record that sat right at the intersection of funk and the rising disco wave. The album's nine tracks move with the kind of locked-in pocket that only comes from a band that truly knows each other, balancing dancefloor heat with moments of soulful introspection, and the title itself signals the crew's intent: no frills, no pretense, just the groove speaking for itself.
Reception
- Down To Earth was a deep-catalog release that circulated primarily among funk and soul devotees at the time, without achieving mainstream chart visibility.
- The album found a dedicated audience in the underground dance and collector communities, where its raw grooves earned it a quiet but lasting reputation.
Significance
- Down To Earth stands as a fine example of the mid-1970s moment when funk and disco were not yet fully separate worlds, with The Rimshots riding that seam with confidence and authenticity.
- Stang Records provided an independent platform for Black artists working outside the major-label system, and this album represents that spirit of self-determined creative expression.
- The two-part structure of 'Do What You Feel' — vocal on the A-side, instrumental on the B-side — reflects a common and beloved funk-album tradition of giving DJs and dancers a raw, unadorned groove to work with.
Samples
- "Groove Bus" — the driving rhythm track has been dug by crate-hunters and sampled within funk and hip-hop productions seeking that hard mid-70s pocket groove.
- "7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Blow Your Whistle)" — its percussive energy and whistle motif made it a target for producers mining the Stang catalog for dance-floor-ready raw material.
Tracklist
-
A1 Now Is The Time —
3:15
-
A2 Do What You Feel (Part 1) —
3:44
-
A3 I Wanna Be Myself —
5:00
-
A4 Super Disco —
3:28
-
B1 Groove Bus —
3:15
-
B2 Walter's Inspiration —
3:27
-
B3 Being Down To Earth —
3:15
-
B4 Do What You Feel (Part 2) (Instrumental) —
3:15
-
B5 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Blow Your Whistle) —
3:05
Artist Details
The Rimshots were a US-based funk and disco ensemble who released their music through Stang Records, bringing together a deep roster of talent including Clarence Oliver, Walter Morris, Bernadette Randle, Tommy Keith, Jonathan Williams, Mozart Pierre-Louis, and Curtis McTeer. With that many voices and instruments in the pocket, this crew had the kind of collective firepower that could lock a groove down tight and keep a dancefloor moving from dusk to dawn. They represented exactly the kind of raw, communal funk spirit that made the 1970s such a golden era for soul music in America.
