Mother's Finest is an American

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and Rock music, rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters (American band), the Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the ...

band founded in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, by the vocal duo of Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy and Glenn "Doc" Murdock in 1970 when the pair met up with guitarist Gary "Moses Mo" Moore and bassist Jerry "Wyzard" Seay. Their music is a blend of funky rhythms, heavy rock guitars and expressive soul/R&B-style vocals. The group charted with the singles "Fire" (No. 93 Pop Singles), "Baby Love" (No. 79 Black Singles, No. 58 Pop Singles), "Don't Wanna Come Back" (No. 54 Black Singles), "Love Changes" (No. 26 Black Singles), and "Piece of the Rock" in the mid- to late 1970s.

History

Mother's Finest issued its debut album '' Mother's Finest'' in 1972 on

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

; a second album for RCA remained unreleased until it surfaced as bonus tracks on the 2010 Wounded Bird re-issue of ''Mother's Finest.'' The group signed a new contract with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

and released its sophomore effort, also titled ''Mother's Finest'', in 1976, stirring up controversy with the ironic "Niggizz Can't Sang Rock 'n' Roll". Riding a wave of success, the band's next three albums, '' Another Mother Further'' (1977), ''Mother Factor'' (1978) and ''Mother's Finest Live'' (1979), all went gold, helped along by heavy touring opening for the likes of

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

and

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

. In 1978, the band set out for Europe and took part in the Rockpalast concert series at the Grugahalle in Essen, produced by Germany's WDR television and broadcast to various countries. With only one concert Mother's Finest put themselves on the map all over Europe where the band still has a dedicated following. The legendary 1978 show was finally released on CD and DVD in 2012 as ''Mother's Finest – Live At Rockpalast 1978 & 2003'' which also includes the band's 2003 "Rockpalast" appearance at Satzvey Castle. After four albums for Epic/CBS in the 70's, the band signed with Atlantic Records for its heaviest album to date, 1981's ''Iron Age''. That same year Joyce Kennedy guested with Molly Hatchet on the song "Respect Me in the Morning" from the ''

Take No Prisoners No quarter, during War, military conflict or piracy, implies that combatants would not be taken Prisoner of war, prisoner, but executed. Since the Hague Convention of 1899, it is considered a war crime; it is also prohibited in customary interna ...

'' album. Mother's Finest went on hiatus after 1983's ''One Mother to Another'', with vocalist Joyce Kennedy pursuing a solo career, releasing the soul/R&B-styled ''Lookin' for Trouble'' album on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

in 1984. She scored a

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top 40 hit with "The Last Time I Made Love", a duet with

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D. (band), L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. B ...

. A year later, Joyce recorded the song "Didn't I Tell You?" for the soundtrack of the film '' The Breakfast Club''. Drummer Barry Borden, who had joined Molly Hatchet on the '' No Guts...No Glory'' album, teamed up with guitarist Moses Mo in the band Illusion, resulting in a pair of albums, ''Illusion'' (1985) and ''I Like It Loud'' (1986), on

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

. Borden would later join The Outlaws for a pair of albums and has been a member of

The Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Wh ...

since the late 1990s. Meanwhile, bassist Wyzard toured with

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

behind her 1983 album '' The Wild Heart'', including an appearance on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. Eventually, he and brother/drummer Harold Seay, who had replaced Barry Borden on ''One Mother to Another'', joined Rick Medlocke in a revamped Blackfoot lineup and appeared on 1987's ''Rick Medlocke and Blackfoot'' album. Mother's Finest re-formed for 1989's ''Looks Could Kill'' on Capitol/

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

, with only drummer Barry Borden missing from the classic lineup. He was replaced by Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock's son, Dion Derek Murdock. In 1990, the band released its second live album, ''Subluxation'', on RCA/BMG, albeit only in Europe. It was the first album to feature guitarist John "Red Devil" Hayes, formerly of Atlanta's PG-13, hired in place of the departing Moses Mo. The band moved over to Scotti Bros. for 1992's '' Black Radio Won't Play This Record'', a heavy Thom Panunzio produced

funk metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...

affair, recorded with the help of former

Sound Barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

member Tracey "Spacey T" Singleton on guitar. The band continued to tour heavily, especially in Europe, but did not release another studio CD until 2004's ''Meta-Funk'n-Physical'', an experimental, hip hop- and electronic beats-oriented effort. In 1997, drummer Dion Murdock lent his services to Kingdom Come and appeared on their '' Master Seven'' album. In 1999, Wyzard, Moses Mo and longtime Mother's Finest touring keyboardist Pascal Kravetz joined multi-national band Carl Carlton & The Songdogs, releasing a handful of albums along the way. In 2002, Moses Mo issued his solo album, ''Cartoon You'', which features contributions from Glenn Murdock, Joyce Kennedy and Wyzard, along with several other members of the extended Mother's Finest family, Kerry Denton, Harold Seay, Johnnetta Johnson and Pascal Kravetz. In 2008, Wyzard released his solo album, ''Primal Incantation'', featuring brother Harold Seay and Sean O'Rourke on drums. Beginning in 2004, Joyce Kennedy was seen on the international ''Daughters of Soul'' tour along with Sandra St. Victor, Nona Hendryx, Lalah Hathaway (daughter of

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto" ...

), Indira Khan (daughter of

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

), and Simone (daughter of

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

). Nona Hendryx would cover Mother's Finest's "Truth'll Set You Free" off ''Another Mother Further'' with her group

Labelle Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...

on their 2008 album ''

Back to Now ''Back to Now'' is the seventh studio album by American female vocal group Labelle, released on October 21, 2008 by Verve/Universal Records. Background Back to Now was produced by Wyclef Jean, Gamble and Huff and Lenny Kravitz. This marked ...

''. In 2010, fellow Georgia rockers Jackyl, featuring

Darryl McDaniels Darryl Matthews McDaniels (born May 31, 1964), also commonly known by his stage name DMC (or D.M.C.), is an American rapper and record producer. He is a founding member of the Hip-hop, hip hop group Run-DMC, and is considered one of the pioneers ...

from Run-D.M.C., paid homage to Mother's Finest with a cover of "Like a Negro" from ''Black Radio Won't Play This Record'' and also shot a vide

Jackyl frontman Jesse James Dupree had previously been in the band PG-13 with John Hayes in the late 1980s and called on Hayes to play guitar on his 2000 solo album, '' Foot Fetish'', with Hayes and fellow Mother's Finest members, Wyzard and Dion Derek Murdock, all contributing to the songwriting. Dupree, Hayes, Wyzard and Murdock had earlier played together under the name Dent. The band recorded an album for

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

, which was ultimately shelved by the label and remains unreleased. On September 16, 2011, Mother's Finest was inducted into the

Georgia Music Hall of Fame The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was a hall of fame to recognize music performers and music industry professionals from or connected to the state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It began with efforts of the state's lieutenant governor Zell Mill ...

. In July 2013, Mother's Finest launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign to raise funds for a new studio album. In November 2014, it was announced that the band had signed a European record deal with SPV/Steamhammer for their new studio, ''Goody 2 Shoes & The Filthy Beast'', set for a spring 2015 release. An advance single, "Shut Up", was issued on St. Nicholas Day, December 6, 2014 "as a present to all their European fans". In November 2015, Australian label Raven Records re-issued the band's 4 albums for Epic Records, ''Mother's Finest'' ('76), ''Another Mother Further'' ('77), ''Mother Factor'' ('78) and ''Live'' ('79) as a 2-disc package. British label SoulMusic Records would issue the 2-disc ''Love Changes: The Anthology 1972–1983'' set in March 2017, including 2 songs from the band's 1972 debut album for RCA and a further 6 cuts from the second unreleased RCA album. These eight songs had previously been available on CD as bonus tracks on the now out-of-print Wounded Bird Records re-issue of the 1976 ''Mother's Finest'' album. On April 14, 2017, British label Rock Candy Records re-issued a re-mastered version of Mother's Finest's 1981 scorcher ''Iron Age'', including a 16-page full color booklet, 4000-word essay about the making of the album, new interviews and enhanced artwork.

Members

2011-05-26 Mothers Finest, Kubana, Siegburg, IMG 6738, Joyce Kennedy.jpg, Joyce Kennedy 2011-05-26 Mothers Finest, Kubana, Siegburg, Glenn Murdock, IMG 6791.jpg, Glenn Murdock 2011-05-26 Mothers Finest, Kubana, Siegburg, IMG 7020, John Hayes.jpg, John Hayes 2011-05-26 Mothers Finest, Kubana, Siegburg, IMG 7045, Jerry Seay.jpg, Jerry "Wyzard" Seay 2011-05-26 Mothers Finest, Kubana, Siegburg, IMG 6995, Dion Derek Murdock.jpg, Dion Derek Murdock 2011-05-26 Mothers Finest, Kubana, Siegburg, IMG 6889, Gary 'Moses Mo' Moore.jpg, Gary "Moses Mo" Moore

Original lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

and percussion *Glenn "Doc" Murdock –

and percussion *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Gary "Moses Mo" Moore –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Mike Keck – keyboards * Sanford "Pepe" Daniels –

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Classic lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay –

*Gary "Moses Mo" Moore –

*Mike Keck – keyboards *Barry "B.B. Queen" Borden –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

1990 Looks Could Kill tour lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar *Dion MurdockWorked the Looks can Kill Tour – drums *T Lavitz – keyboards

1993 world tour lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *John "Red Devil" Hayes – guitar *Dion Murdock – drums *Ace Baker – keyboards

1999 lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar *John "Red Devil" Hayes – guitar *Sean O'Rourke – drums *Johnnetta "JJ" Johnson –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

2004 lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar *John "Red Devil" Hayes – guitar *Kerry "Lovingood" Denton – drums *Johnnetta "JJ" Johnson –

2014 lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar *John "Red Devil" Hayes – guitar *Dion Derek Murdock – drums

2018 lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar *John "Red Devil" Hayes – guitar *Dion Derek Murdock – drums Touring Musicians *Carly Gibson – backing vocals *Sami Michelsen – backing vocals

Current lineup

*Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy – vocals *Glenn "Doc" Murdock – vocals *Jerry "Wyzard" Seay – bass *Gary "Moses Mo" Moore – guitar *John "Red Devil" Hayes – guitar *Dion Derek Murdock – drums Touring Musicians *April Bennett – backing vocals *Sami Michelsen – backing vocals

Discography

Albums

*'' Mother's Finest'' (1972),

*''Mother's Finest'' (1976),

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

*'' Another Mother Further'' (1977), Epic *''Mother Factor'' (1978), Epic *''Live'' (1979), Epic *''Iron Age'' (1981),

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

*''One Mother to Another'' (1983), Epic *''Looks Could Kill'' (1989), Capitol *''Subluxation'' (1990), RCA – live album *'' Black Radio Won't Play This Record'' (1992), Scotti Bros. *''Meta-Funk'n Physical'' (2003), UTR Music *''Right Here, Right Now: Live at Villa Berg'' (2005), MTM Music *''MF 4D'' (2011), U*ME/US*We – live album *''Mother's Finest – Live at Rockpalast 1978 & 2003'' (2012), MIG *''Goody 2 Shoes & The Filthy Beasts'' (2015), SPV/Steamhammer

Compilations

*''The Very Best of Mother’s Finest'' (1990), Epic *''Rock Your Soul'' (1996), Sony Special Products *''The Very Best of Mother’s Finest: Not Yer Mother’s Funk'' (1997), Razor & Tie *''Baby Love'' (1998), Kiosk *''Definitive Collection'' (1998), Sony International *''Burning Love: Best'' (2000), Cedar *''Love Changes: The Anthology 1972–1983'' (2017), SoulMusic Records

DVD

*''Mother's Finest – Live at Rockpalast 1978 & 2003'' (2012), MIG

References

External links

Mother's Finest websiteMother's Finest Facebook page
* {{Authority control African-American heavy metal musical groups African-American hard rock musical groups American funk metal musical groups American funk rock musical groups Musical groups from Atlanta Scotti Brothers Records artists 1972 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)