Early success

In 1964, thirteen-year-old Robert Bell, his brother Ronald and five high-school friends formed an instrumental band called 'the Jazziacs'. They played an opening set every Sunday at jazz night at a small theatre. They changed their name to 'Kool & the Flames' in 1967, then 'Kool & the Gang' in 1969 (to avoid confusion with James Brown's Famous Flames) and were signed by Gene Redd to his new record label De-Lite Records in 1969.

The Bell brothers' father Bobby and uncle Tommy were boxers. They moved to New York to train and lived in the same apartment building as Thelonious Monk who became Robert's godfather when he was born. Miles Davis would drop by because he wanted to be a boxer. They played occasionally with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas.

International success

The band first hit the US Billboard R&B chart with the release of their debut eponymous album. Several live and studio albums followed, with 1973's Wild and Peaceful breaking into the mainstream with "Funky Stuff", "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging". "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging" both sold over one million copies, and each was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. Many reviews see the Gang's 1974 album Light of Worlds and 1975 album Spirit of the Boogie as the greatest achievements of the band, with the 1975 single "Summer Madness" gaining much attention.

The late 1970s saw a lull in Kool & the Gang's output except for the album Open Sesame, which yielded the title track "Open Sesame", achieving some success as part of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and winning a Grammy Award. New lead singer James "J.T." Taylor then joined the group, starting with 1979's Ladies' Night. Their number one hit in 1980s "Celebration" was from Celebrate!, co-produced by Eumir Deodato. More international hits followed in the early 1980s, including "Big Fun", "Get Down on It", and "Joanna". Their 1984 album Emergency yielded four top-20 pop hits, including "Fresh" and "Cherish". Their chart presence stopped after Forever. In 1988, Taylor left the group amicably to pursue a solo career. They replaced Taylor with three vocalists, Skip Martin, Odeen Mays and Gary Brown. He returned for the 1996 album State of Affairs, which did not make much of an impact commercially. Taylor departed again in 2001 to resume his solo career.

Kool & the Gang today

Of Kool & the Gang's original members, the Bell brothers, Brown, and Thomas are still with the group. Rick West, the group's original keyboardist, left in 1976 to form his own band, and died in 1985. Guitarist Claydes Smith died after a long illness on June 20, 2006, aged 57 and was replaced by the Bells' youngest brother Amir Bayyan, former leader of the Kay-Gees. Original trumpet player Robert "Spike" Mickens, who had retired in 1986 due to poor health, died at the age of 59 on November 2, 2010, at a nursing home in Far Rockaway, New York. Kool and the Gang added Larry Gittens in 1975, from the Stylistics. Longtime members who continue to perform and record with the group include Curtis Williams (keyboards) and additional trumpeter Michael Ray.

"Jungle Boogie" was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's 1994 black comedy crime film Pulp Fiction and on the movie soundtrack of the 2002 American/Canadian action comedy film Undercover Brother along with the song "Ladies Night". The band released the album Still Kool in 2007. "Hollywood Swinging" was sampled by DJ Kool in his song "Let Me Clear My Throat", and by rappers Mase on "Feel So Good" and Too Short on "Money in the Ghetto".

Kool & the Gang's "Summer Madness" from their 1974 album Light of Worlds has been sampled numerous times. It was used by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince for their 1991 single "Summertime". "Summer Madness" was also featured in the 1976 Picture of the Year, Rocky. A live version of the track recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London was released in 1976 on the Love & Understanding album (De-Lite DEP 2018). Live at PJ's track "N.T" has been sampled extensively by artists such as Boogie Down Productions, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, N.W.A and Kris Kross. The song was also sampled by Jermaine Dupri featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg on the song, "We Just Wanna Party with You" from the soundtrack to the film in 1997, Men in Black: The Album starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

In 2013, they released their first Christmas album, Kool for the Holidays.

Discography

Main article: Kool & the Gang discography

[ Source: Wikipedia ]