LP Review: Rufus
Released: 1973
LP Charts: #44 R&B, #175 pop
Broadly speaking, Rufus’s eponymous debut is a mess. Chaka Khan’s powerful vocals are still raw (heck she was merely 19 years old when the album was recorded) and are oddly not featured too much. Instead, Ron Stockert’s rather bland delivery takes up plenty of real estate.
The band itself isn’t distinctive yet either, so this is when having a killer lead vocalist could mask mediocre material... Or where a bland singer could torpedo otherwise decent fare. Whether good, bad, or in between, the music on this album is definitely geared more toward a blend of rock with R&B and a touch of funk.
Stockert’s vocals immediately cause trouble on “Slip ‘N Slide”, the album-opening country-rock-gospel rave up. The song wasn’t ever gonna be great given its construction, but Stockert’s vocals keep it firmly shackled in averageness. And this is the best song he sang lead on.
The very next song is “Keep It Coming”. It also has a rave up quality, but is very much soul instead of country-rock. And it has Chaka Khan singing lead. Listening to these songs back-to-back and it’s like night and day as Khan’s vocals soar over the music. Doesn’t hurt that “Keep It Coming” was also written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, who’d collaborate greatly with Khan in years to come. That being said, the song is great and doesn’t really go anywhere in its short 3:16 run, but it’s enjoyable and shows us Rufus can be fun.
Another cover surfaces with the funk-rockin’ “Maybe Your Baby”, which was originally done by Stevie Wonder the previous year. It’s no revelation and follows the original pretty closely. The only major change is that the electric guitar is turned up louder. But Wonder liked what he heard enough to gift Rufus a hit single the next year. More on that in the next LP review.
Funk-rock continues on “Feel Good” with Chaka taking on the role of James Brown in the intro telling the various band members to play their instruments. The jammin’ never stops across the four-minute song. I can dig it.
“Satisfied” is an example of Khan’s vocals keeping an otherwise mediocre song firmly average. Meanwhile, “Whoever's Thrilling You (Is Killing Me)” is a good song all around. Written by New Orleans soul guru Allen Toussaint, the song has a slow thumpin’ groove that Khan leans all the way into.
Well that’s the good stuff. Let’s get more from Ron Stockert.
“There’s No Tellin’” is a sorrowful country-rock ballad with nice piano work, but Stockert’s shabby vocals undermine the full effect. On “I Finally Found You”, Khan has the lead vocal, but the song was written by Stockert and has a very similar feel to “There’s No Tellin’”. Khan’s vocals once more elevate a mediocre song to purely average.
“Haulin’ Coal”, another Stockert tune sung by Stockert, fucking sucks.
The album ends with a raggedy medley of Stephen Stills’s “Love the One You're With” and “Sit Yourself Down”. The “Sit Yourself Down” half is better, but neither is doing anybody any favors.
ALBUM GRADE: D+
Extremely uneven and way too dependent on cover songs… but then you remember most of the originals are written by Ron Stockert and you beg for more covers. I hate to keep picking on the man, but he’s not a musical genius to pin your band’s future to. Rufus quickly learned that by the next album.
Song Scores
Slip 'n Slide: 5/10
Keep It Coming: 6.5/10
There’s No Tellin’: 4/10
Maybe Your Baby: 6.5/10
I Finally Found You: 5/10
Feel Good: 6.5/10
Satisfied: 5/10
Haulin’ Coal: 0/10
Whoever's Thrilling You (Is Killing Me): 7/10
Love the One You're With/Sit Yourself Down: 4/10