RASPUTIN STASH

Boomp3.com
Biography by Andy Kellman (AMG)
The brainchild of session musician Martin Dumas Jr., Rasputin's Stash was a '70s soul/funk ensemble from the Windy City of Chicago, IL. In the early '70s, Dumas assembled an eight-piece group out of fellow session regulars from the city. Signed early on to the Cotillion label, the group released a self-titled album in 1971 and gradually lost half of their members by the time they recorded their second album for Gemigo, a subsidiary of Curtis Mayfield's Curtom imprint. The quartet -- Dumas, Ernest Frank Donaldson, Bruce Butler, and Paul Coleman -- shed the possessive of their band name for another self-titled album, released in 1974. Gemigo eventually went under, and the group was shifted over to Curtom proper for a pair of singles released in the latter part of the decade: "Dance With Me" was released as r-Stash in 1977, and "Booty March" was released as Stash the year following. In a distribution switch that saw Curtom move from Warner Bros. to RSO, the label's roster was gutted and Stash was one of the victims. After that, the group opted to quit, but not before they did plenty of shows in New York and their hometown, where they were most appreciated. Throughout the years, Rasputin's Stash and all its following incarnations endured as rare groove favorites. In 2000, the U.K.-based Sequel label issued The Devil Made Me Do It, a CD compilation of the group's Gemigo material, including several unreleased cuts that were intended for their third album.

Review by Andy Kellman (AMG)

This disc, released with the help of Castle Music U.K. in 2000, compiles all of Rasputin Stash's Gemigo-era material and adds some previously unreleased material to sweeten the deal. The group featured experienced session musicians who knew how to lay down some loose soul/funk in the vein of early Kool & the Gang, the Meters, and the J.B.'s, while remaining true to their Chicago roots. The lyrical content is limited to getting high and making love, but there's plenty within the grooves -- full of slick keyboard work, down-and-dirty basslines, nimble percussion, and the occasional accent of strings -- to keep the mind from wandering. Devout fans of all things '70s Chicago would no doubt enjoy this.