Entirely Random [ER]#3 -- Music from 1970, Detroit(USA)

Black Merda Cynthy Ruth

Black Merda is a band that originally formed in the 1960's within a high school. They were not yet aware of the fact that they were to be "Black Merda" at the time; instead they were back up musicians in the Detroit music scene for many different acts/musicians that went on to achieve enormous success. They adopted the name the Impacts, but later were claimed as backup musicians by Edwin Starr, who dubbed them the Soul Agents.

Throughout their early years they worked on many very successful tracks(they were the musicians behind the instruments in Edwin Starr's War, for one). Yet, harder rock-and-roll was starting to make it's imprint, and after learning of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, they wanted to form a similar group. They also recorded what is believed to be the very first Hendrix cover, a rendition of "Foxy Lady".

Their R&B influence was still strong, but began to shift more towards the psych/rock/funk/soul side of things. Detroit at the time(I mean, nothing's really changed) had huge race issues; many thought the police were working with the Klan. Police brutality was high, and so were functions of the KKK. So, the band began to shift their focus a little bit. They seemed to "care" more about voicing the issues in smaller communities than the artists that they were surrounded with, and they wanted to make a stance.

So they decided to split ways with Edwin Starr and be their own four-person band. They first changed their name to Murder Incorporated, then shortly after Black Murder, then the spelling was changed to Merda, as a comment on African American slang.

Their split from the R&B scene was not immediate. They were not quite established enough yet, despite having done backing on many successful songs and records. During this transition period, the band was introduced to the owner of Chess Records, who took an interest in producing their own work.

Chess Records released their self-titled debut album in 1970, and despite the band making a powerful impact on the scene, it suffered from a sever lack of promotion; as did their second album, produced by a subsidiary of Chess, in 1972.

The lack of reception from the larger community discouraged the members and the band split up indefinitely, or so they thought.

In 2005 collections of their songs were released and were enormously more successful than they had been in the 1970s(very similar to another scene-breaking all African American Detroit band Death, which I will most likely make a post about at some point). The success encouraged them to reunite as a trio, and they have released two albums since.

They truly are a remarkable band and I highly encourage you to look into them if you like what you hear below. I encourage you to start with their earlier work, and work your way to their 2005 re-recordings and beyond.

Rock on!