finetune artist: Maceo Parker

b. 14 February 1943, Kinston, North Carolina, USA. Tenor saxophonist Maceo, and his brother Melvin (b. Kinston, North Carolina, USA; drums), played in various high school bands before joining the James Brown revue in 1964. They featured on several of the artist's seminal recordings before embarking on an independent career in March 1970. Their new group, Maceo And The King's Men, was completed by other defecting members of Brown's troupe. Richard "Kush" Griffith (b. 8 August 1948, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, d. 18 June 2007, Louisville, Kentucky, USA; trumpet), Joseph "Joe" Davis (trumpet), L.D. "Eldee" Williams (tenor saxophone), Jimmy Nolen (guitar), Alphonso "Country' Kellum (guitar) and Bernard Odum (bass) were all serving members of the James Brown Orchestra, and similarities between both groups" music were thus inevitable. Despite this, however, neither of the King's Men albums sold well, and several musicians drifted back to their former employer. Both Maceo and Melvin also rejoined Brown, but in deference to their obvious frustration, he wrote, arranged and produced several tracks for a spin-off project, Maceo And The Macks. Two singles, "Party - Part 1" and "Soul Power 74 - Part 1", reached the R&B Top 30, before an album entitled Us, credited solely to Maceo, was released in 1974. The brothers left the fold again in 1976, whereupon the saxophonist joined George Clinton's Funkadelic empire. Maceo did, however, rejoin Brown briefly in the 80s. "Cross The Track (We Better Go Back)', a track by Maceo And The Macs, was reissued in 1987 and reached number 54 in the UK chart. In the early 90s Maceo Parker joined with fellow Brown alumni, tenor saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and trombonist Fred Wesley, to make the well-received Roots Revisited and Mo" Roots.

Listen to Maceo Parker at Finetune.

Pass The Peas
Maceo's Groove
Uptown Up
Shake Everything You've Got
Inner City Blues