Nightbirds

About

“It’s just an all-girl band, dealing with the facts and the pain,” the iconic vocal group LaBelle sing on thi, their most commercially successful album. <i>Nightbirds</i> is certified gold, features the proto-disco Billboard No. 1 “Lady Marmalade,” and landed them on the cover of <i>Rolling Stone</i>, making them the first Black vocal group awarded that distinction—by any account, the zenith of their career as an ensemble. Yet none of that has been enough to get the trio a solid place in funk and rock’s male-centric canon. In the moment, though, it seemed like Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash were finally on the cusp of world domination. Their forceful innovation and radical inclusion, manifested through glittery, ambitiou, and groovy funk rock, was finally finding an audience. But unlike their adoring peers—The Who, The Rolling Stone, and Laura Nyro among them—LaBelle had superproducer Allen Toussaint and his rock-solid Meters on their side for <i>Nightbirds</i>, bringing a sweaty Creole bounce not just to “Lady Marmalade” but the entire album. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →