{"id":533,"date":"2011-06-09T05:21:53","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T10:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=533"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:43:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:43:57","slug":"album-review-fathers-children-whos-gonna-save-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/09\/album-review-fathers-children-whos-gonna-save-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Father\u2019s Children – Who\u2019s Gonna Save the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The story of Father\u2019s Children<\/strong> is fascinating, but not altogether unique. Group comes together, develops a style, records an album, sinks without a trace. This Washington DC-based group recorded an album for Mercury at the tail-end of the 70s, but by that point they were past their prime, had endured myriad lineup changes, and had arguably lost much of what made them worthwhile.<\/p>\n

But way back in 1972 they cut an album that was far better. Though the tapes ended up in the producer\u2019s garage, the masters were rescued and are now available for the first time ever, on The Numero Group label.<\/p>\n

Alternately funky and soulful, Father\u2019s Children was built around multiple singers, allowing them to move seamlessly between styles. \u201cEverybody\u2019s got a Problem\u201d is a funky slice or urban grit, with then-topical spoken-word section that mentions Watergate. The slow-jam \u201cLinda\u201d features ambitious vocal harmonies and sweeping strings, and sounds like what would have easily passed for a hit in \u201972.<\/p>\n

\u201cDirt and Grime\u201d is a look at contemporary life with lyrics that aim for Stevie Wonder<\/strong> territory, an arrangement out of the Isaac Hayes<\/strong> playbook, and stacked vocals fronted by a high-voiced singer reminiscent of young Michael Jackson<\/strong> (if MJ had been a lot<\/em> funkier). Some tasty fuzz guitar soloing adds another layer of interest. The title track combines a kinetic percussion part and electric piano backing, and highlights another of Father\u2019s Children\u2019s many capable, emotive vocalists. The positive yet wary lyric tells the story: \u201cIf you\u2019ve got the power, show me how.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lots of artists were heralding the comet in \u201972, and Father\u2019s Children were no exception. Their \u201cKohoutec\u201d weds a funky street vibe to an Earth, Wind & Fire<\/strong> styled horn arrangement. The song features a groovy guitar solo that would have benefited from a more prominent place in the mix. But like many of the tracks on Who\u2019s Gonna Save the World<\/em>, the vocals are what\u2019s up-front. Chanted, spoken and sung vocals imbue the track with plenty of texture as it delivers the group\u2019s spiritual message. Father\u2019s Children were followers of Islam; their brand of religion was as accessible and non-confrontational as it was sincere and heartfelt.<\/p>\n

That perspective is front and center on \u201cInshallah\u201d (Arabic for \u201cGod willing\u201d), a smooth song with a vibe reminiscent of Stevie\u2019s \u2018You Are the Sunshine of My Life.\u201d The space-funk opening of \u201cFather\u2019s Children\u201d leads into a percussive arrangement that distills dub-funk bass and (of all things) The Rolling Stones\u2019<\/strong> \u201cSympathy for the Devil\u201d styled percussion into a cinematic whole. Some interesting Rhodes and Hammond work transforms this essentially two-chord workout into something special. At times the track veers surprisingly close to progressive jazz-rock.<\/p>\n

The disc closes* with \u201cUniversal Train,\u201d a Philly soul-styled workout that highlights the formidable vocal prowess of this large group. Isley Brothers<\/strong>-styled guitar breaks and an infectious chorus make this sound like yet another hit-that-never-was. The biggest surprise about Who\u2019s Gonna Save the World<\/em> is how it failed to get released in 1972; of course it\u2019s mere speculation, but had this record made it into stores back in the day, Father\u2019s Children may well have evolved into a household name.<\/p>\n

*There\u2019s a brief, unlisted two-chord slow jam appended to the set. It\u2019s cool too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of Father\u2019s Children is fascinating, but not altogether unique. Group comes together, develops a style, records an album, sinks without a trace. This Washington DC-based group recorded an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,65,69],"tags":[1611],"class_list":["post-533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rb","category-review","category-soul","tag-numero-group","cat-60-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31578,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/31578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}