Sam’s Jams: Eddie Kendricks – Body Talk
From the 1975 album The Hit Man
The Hit Man is the sixth album by former Temptations vocalist Eddie Kendricks. Motown released the album in 1975 under the Tamla imprint. Despite having an all-star lineup of musicians the album did not sell well and was poorly received. The album features members of the Funk Brothers (James Jamerson, Eddie Bongo Brown, etc..) and other legendary sessions musicians (James Gadson, Ray Parker). The song “Body Talk” flew under the radar, and wasn’t featured as a single and did not get radio play. Even today, the record is easily found in used record stores and is rarely sought out by collectors. You can buy this record for around $3 used. But the song has one of the heaviest bass-lines I have heard from Kendricks, and goes over well in todays DJ mixes with its infectious groove.
Sam’s Jams is the weekly song selection of WDET’s creative producer Sam Beaubien, a longtime Detroit musician who also helms the soul-funk band Will Sessions. Every Monday and Thursday, Sam goes on Culture Shift to talk about his weekly pick and shares this song with our listeners.
From 70 years ago to contemporary releases today, Sam’s Jams is the musical equivalent of digging for hours in dusty record store bins to find forgotten-but-should-be-remembered deep cuts pulled from the genres of funk, jazz and soul genres.
The Sam’s Jams Spotify playlist will update every week with a new song on Mondays after airing on CultureShift.
CultureShift airs weekdays 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on WDET 101.9FM.
