Customer Reviews

The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend

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'Huey, a chicago native, was a protege of Curtis Mayfield (who produced this album and released it via his Curtom imprint) and somewhat of an eccentric. He was 400 pounds, had a huge afro, a King Tut beard and dressed flamboyantly. The picture on the back of this album is priceless : him in a pinstripe suit with a huge ankle length robe over it standing reading a cookbook. He recorded a handul of singles and died of a heartattack aged 26 before this album came out in 1970

He took his cues from Chicago groups like The Impressions (the group Curtis Mayfield fronted before going solo), Mayfield himself, the psychedelic blues albums by Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf released on legendary Chicago label Chess Records in the late 60's and then mixed them with some raw, ballsy Stax soul via Booker T & The M.G's melting pot to create something that only Mayfield, Issac Hayes, James Brown, Funkadelic and Sly Stone managed to better.

You have the driving, gritty soul of "listen to me" & "hard times", the funked-up psychedelic blues of "mighty mighty" & "runnin'" (which Mayfield wrote and later recorded but the Huey original is the definitive version), instrumental jams like "mama get yourself together" & "one dragon, two dragon" and, finally, you have what have to be two of the greatest cover versions ever recorded : his funked up version of "california dreamin'" and his staggering 9 minute + version of Sam Cooke's "a change is gonna come" which has to be heard to be believed.

Rap fiends should definately check this album as it's been sampled to death over the years and "listen to me" was a party favorite back in the days of Bronx block parties in the 70's. If you're a fan of blues or Hendrix and would like to start investigating soul/funk but find James Brown too dancefloor friendly or Marvin Gaye too polished then this would a good starter along with the first 3 Curtis Mayfield studio albums.

i bought this album when it came out, it was and still is a rare album, hard to believe it is on disc now. baby huey was a follower of curtis mayfield who signed him curtom. his version of mighty mighty is fabulous sixties soul. he was an enormous talent who unfortunately ate himself to death,(400lbs plus)but if like urban sixties soul you will love this album

Jimmy was his real name, an unbelievable performer. I had the pleasure of listening to him, and the babysitters back in the late 60s early 70s. I worked at a club in New York City I was the sound man for the club, where they were at the opening act for two weeks. The first couple of days was for James Brown, but Mr. Brown after listening to him perform. He refused to go on stage, because the four piece band that made up the babysitters sounded a hundred times better than the 17 piece band that Mr. Brown had with him at the time. If you decide to purchase this album, I assure you, you will not be disappointed. I am extremely happy to find this album on Amazon. I have purchased four copies of it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have, because it has been a long time since I heard it. I lost the original LP on my one of my moves about 27 years ago. Thank you Amazon for having it. One more thing he used to have a rap on stage, that was. I may not be brother James Brown on my feet. But when it comes to taking care of business in the sheets I am an expert, the other was I am like Southern fried chicken I am finger licking good. He weighed over 400 pounds.

Why did they name the album "The Living Legend" if he died before it came out?

Besides that oddity, this is one GREAT album that any soul/funk/r&b lover will love!

I bought this CD for my boyfriend's father who grew up in Richmond Indiana with James Ramey(Baby Huey). Ramey's mother worked for my boyfriend's father and when Ramey passed he was a pallbearer at his funeral. My boyfriend's father said he used to go to Baby Huey and the Babysitter shows all the time but couldn't recall if they'd ever put an album out. For Christmas this year I did a little research and found this album and had to purchase it for him. There are a few tracks on Youtube that I listened to before the album arrived in the mail. It is some really great music. Funky and soulful and boy can Baby Huey scream!

This is hard and heavy funk and soul - - literally... big, beefy, brassy...
Sadly, the lead singer, the 400lb. Baby Huey died a year before it was released.
Actually, the band itself is worth the purchase... however, no doubt, Baby Huey fronted it.
- - Tracks include classic "Memphis" type soul (typical to the era) as well as the live funky horn and percussion driven high energy grooves that make the album worth the purchase... Though true, many of the tunes aren't THAT much different than their covers (or sound like you heard them before) the energy is definitely there... A high point being Curtis Mayfield (who signed him)'s MIGHTY MIGHTY SPADE AND WHITEY which is just as good (if not better) than the original.... you can really feel the party atmosphere!

A few tunes seem a cross between RIPPLE and BLACK HEAT... admittedly as a whole the album is not all RAW FUNK... however when the band does go into RIPPING mode... they RIP... A few tunes even have an (early) Chicago influence while others are typical Wilson/Otis/Bobby Womack-ish influenced soul... though again, the album shines for its group sound - - a favorite tune of mine being MAMA GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, with its cranked up horn/rhythm guitar driven groove (with a suspiciously Booker T'ish type setting on a really fat sounding Hammond.)

If you like this type of stuff, I'd definitely get KASHMERE TEXAS THUNDER SOUL (actually first...)

I have been wanting to get my meathooks on some Baby Huey ever since hearing "Hard Times" on the massive What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977). His track was the hardest hitting on the set.

Finally, I found The Baby Huey Story very cheap, and there was an added bonus--I did not know Curtis Mayfield produced.

Honestly. I would not have immediately guessed. This music is funks pretty hard, and while it has big arrangements, it is not the pouring honey you find on most Curtis albums.

But the funky and sometimes latin grooves here rock the house, and it is to Mayfield's credit, as if anyone could give him enough, that he could shape shift to Huey's harder style.

Mayfield or none, this is supurb.

I remember catching Baby Huey and the Babysitters show 2 or 3 times during the 70's. They were an excellent and exciting band. Jim McCarty was playing guitar with them. I have had the vinyl version of this record for many years and it is one of those records that I never played very often. After buying this record in cd form and listening to it again here recently, I know why. It dawned one me that Baby Huey died before completing this album project. He only sings on about 3 tunes and raps throughout 'Mighty, Mighty'. It was common knowledge around Chicago that Baby Huey and the band composed the song 'Mighty, Mighty', not Curtis Mayfield. Curtis did compose some hipper lyrics for the song and sang it on the Impressions album 'Young Mods Forgotten Story'. Listeners of this record are left with fond memories of an exciting show band and/or an album that would have been exceptional.

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS A LEGEND IN IT'S SELF. LISTEN TO ME REMINDS ME OF BACK IN THE DAY WHEN I USE TO GO OUT TO THE CLUBS AND THE GUYS WOULD BE BREAK DANCING ON THE FLOOR. (AHHH THE GOOD OLE DAYS) THIS CD IS A CLASSIC A MUST BUY!

For those who are fans of Chicago Transit Authority and Blood Sweat and Tears, this album presents another side of the "horn band" sound of the late '60's and '70's. Funky, raw and over the top approach to the music.