It's Alright
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Album Summary
Graham Central Station, the brainchild of the incomparable Larry Graham — the man who literally invented slap bass — delivered 'It's Alright' in 1975 through Warner Bros. Records, with Larry Graham himself at the helm as producer. This was a band firing on all cylinders, deep in their creative stride, recording with that raw, sanctified energy that only comes from a group of musicians who have truly locked in together. The album reflects the tight, funk-drenched sound that Graham Central Station had been cultivating out of the San Francisco Bay Area, blending gospel soul with hard-driving funk grooves in a way that felt both heavenly and deeply earthy at the same time.
Reception
- The album was embraced by fans of funk and soul who had already come to trust Larry Graham and his crew to deliver the goods, maintaining the band's devoted following within the R&B community.
- Graham Central Station was regarded during this period as one of the premier live and studio funk acts in the country, and 'It's Alright' reinforced that reputation among critics and listeners who valued authentic, musician-driven funk.
- The album's modest commercial profile was consistent with the band's positioning as a respected funk outfit with a loyal audience rather than a crossover mainstream act.
Significance
- Larry Graham's presence as bandleader, vocalist, and bassist made Graham Central Station a living masterclass in funk, and 'It's Alright' stands as a document of that singular talent operating at full force during one of funk's richest eras.
- The album reflects the mid-1970s moment when funk and soul were not just genres but a cultural lifeline for Black America, and Graham Central Station brought a spiritual sincerity to that tradition that set them apart from more commercially polished contemporaries.
- With only two tracks, 'It's Alright' represents an extended, immersive approach to funk recording — a format that trusted the groove to speak for itself and honored the listener's desire to live inside the music rather than rush past it.
Tracklist
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A It's Alright 119
3:46
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B Luckiest People 81
3:45
Artist Details
Graham Central Station was the brainchild of the incomparable Larry Graham — the man who literally invented the slap bass technique that would go on to define funk, soul, and eventually hip-hop — forming this Bay Area powerhouse in 1973 after his legendary run with Sly and the Family Stone. Their sound was a thick, greasy, horn-drenched explosion of funk that hit you in the chest like a freight train, delivering classic cuts like Can You Handle It and The Jam that kept dance floors shaking from Oakland to Atlanta throughout the mid-seventies. Larry Graham and his crew weren't just making music — they were laying the rhythmic and stylistic foundation that bassists and producers would be borrowing from for decades to come, cementing their place as one of the most influential yet criminally underrated forces in the entire history of funk music.
