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family circle - family circle - numero group - vinyl

New Copy

Genre: Funk / Soul

1. I Hope You Really Love Me
2. It Doesn't Make Sense
3. Try It, You'll Like It
4. La La So Lu cky
5. Mariya
6. Loving You Makes The World Go Round
7. If You Really Want To Make It
8. Well Runs Dry
9. Change
10. Bridge W ith One Side Down

Family Circle's 1973 LP draws a tight ring around the most beguiling soul tropes of its era, with its full house of ambitious players and hook-laden originals.

Newark, New Jersey's Simmons siblings-George, James, Mary, Don, and David-rallied around journeyman arranger George Andrews and business maven/producer Randy Irwin, whose industry ties brought studio luminaries into the Simmons orbit: session guitar giant Cornell Dupree, guitarist/songwriter Billy Vera, and the inimitable Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums. Charles Simmons' "Well Runs Dry" dipped several toes into Jackson 5-saturated waters, while "I Hope You Really Love Me" stayed together with the Al Green ethos. Where the bowling, basketball, and karate-obsessed Simmons fivesome was hitching to- thumbs unfurled and dressed to impress in Central Park on Family Circle's back cover-is anyone's guess, but their sparkling, layered sound, gospel-honed vocal chops, and instantly relatable melodies should've dropped them off on everybody's turntable. Give Family Circle a lift, drive 'em around awhile.