Alex Henderson

Chocolate Milk
Chocolate Milk [Expanded Edition]

No in-depth discussion of the history of African-American music would be complete without some mention of New Orleans, which was not only the birthplace of jazz—it was also an important city for soul, funk, zydeco and the blues. The Crescent City had a rich R&B scene in the 1950s and 1960s, boasting expressive artists like Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Irma Thomas, the Meters, Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, the Neville Brothers and Aaron Neville. So when New Orleans-based funksters Chocolate Milk came together 39 years ago in 1974, they had an incredibly rich heritage to draw upon. But as this reissue demonstrates, Chocolate Milk brought something unorthodox to New Orleans’ R&B scene—and they never went out of their way to emulate their Crescent City peers.

Chocolate Milk made their recording debut in 1975 with their first album, Action Speaks Louder Than Words, which was released by RCA Records—and in 1976, RCA released this self-titled sophomore album. Produced by the famous Allen Toussaint and his partner Marshall Sehorn (who died in 2006), Chocolate Milk favors an interesting blend of New Orleans and non-New Orleans influences. The influence of the Meters comes through, helping to give sweaty funk grooves like “Never Ever Do Without You,” “Running Away,” “Let Music Take Your Mind” and “Party Happy” a healthy amount of Crescent City appeal. But funk influences from outside of New Orleans are evident as well, including Oakland’s Tower of Power, Dayton’s Ohio Players, Jersey City’s Kool & the Gang and Chicago’s Earth, Wind & Fire (that is, Chicago by way of Los Angeles, which has been EWF founder Maurice White’s adopted home since the 1970s). All of those outfits were quintessential horn bands: they thrived on trumpets and saxophones during an era in which funk bands were known for their killer horn sections. And in 1976, Chocolate Milk was clearly a horn band as well. There is no overlooking the important role that horns play on “You’ve Got a Spell on Me,” “Spread a Little Love” or the mostly instrumental “Pluck It,” all of which are prime examples of 1970s horn funk. In the 1980s, synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines invaded funk in a big way. But when this album came out 37 years ago, funk (and R&B in general, for that matter) had yet to become so heavily electronic.

If one notices a jazz influence on “Pluck It,” that isn’t a surprise considering that many of Chocolate Milk’s influences were affected by jazz. Kool & the Gang, who were originally called the Jazziacs, started out as jazz instrumentalists in 1964 before evolving into a funk/soul band and burning up the charts with 1970s hits like “Hollywood Swinging” and “Jungle Boogie.” Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White played drums in the Ramsey Lewis Trio during his pre-EWF days, and the Ohio Players brought a jazz influence to “Sweet Sticky Thing,” “Pleasure” and other 1970s hits. The Meters, of course, grew up in the birthplace of jazz. So the fact that the Meters, EWF, Kool & the Gang and the Ohio Players all had some appreciation of jazz rubbed off on Chocolate Milk.

Although this is largely a funk album, it isn’t a funk album exclusively—and typically, Chocolate Milk would also include some soul ballads and slow jams on their releases. Chocolate Milk show their romantic side on the sentimental ballad “How About Love” (a minor hit that made it to #79 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart), while “Crazy About You” is a smooth medium-tempo offering along the lines of EWF’s “Can’t Hide Love.”

Escaping the influence of New Orleans on this album would have been impossible given Toussaint’s participation. As both a producer and songwriter, Toussaint has had as great an impact on New Orleans R&B as Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff have had on Philadelphia soul—which is saying a lot. His songs have been major hits for Ernie K-Doe (“Mother-in-Law” in 1961), Lee Dorsey (“Working in a Coal Mine” in 1966), Chris Kenner (“I Like It Like That” in 1961) and many other artists. And Toussaint’s stamp is evident on this album.

It should be noted that in the mid-to late 1970s, Toussaint used Chocolate Milk as his studio band (a position previously held by the Meters) in addition to using them on stage. Toussaint, in fact, employed Chocolate Milk as a live band on his 1976 album New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Chocolate Milk had their share of lineup changes along the way. On this album, the participants include Frank Richard on lead vocals, Mario Tio on guitar, Joe Smith, a.k.a. Joseph Fox III, on trumpet and flugelhorn, Amadee Castenell, Jr. on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and background vocals, Robert “Rock” Dabon on keyboards and background vocals, Ernest Dabon on bass and Dwight Richards on drums and background vocals.

FunkyTownGrooves’ expanded 2013 edition of Chocolate Milk offers three bonus tracks: the 7” single versions of “Girl Callin’,” “Say Won’tCha” and “Grand Theft,” all of which are energetic funk grooves. “Girl Callin’,” which was one of Chocolate Milk’s biggest hits and reached #14 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart, and “Grand Theft” are both from Chocolate Milk’s We’re All In This Together album. And “Say Won’tCha” (which made it to #39 R&B in Billboard) is from another subsequent album: Milky Way.

After this album, Chocolate Milk continued to build their catalogue with Comin’ in 1976, We’re All In This Together in 1977, Milky Way in 1979, Hipnotism in 1980, Blue Jeans in 1981 and Friction in 1982. All of those albums were originally released by RCA. In fact, Chocolate Milk spent their entire recording careers at RCA. When Chocolate Milk broke up in 1983, they had eight albums in their catalogue.

Chocolate Milk were not a huge name in 1970s funk. They never reached the superband status of Parliament/Funkadelic, Cameo, the Bar-Kays or Graham Central Station. But they offered quality work nonetheless, and on this album, they don’t hesitate to let the funk flow.

—Alex Henderson, September 2013

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Salon.com, AlterNet, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) has also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.