Alex Henderson

Chanson
Together We Stand

Chanson was a brief footnote in the long careers of bassist James Jamerson, Jr. and the late guitarist David Williams, who were among the busiest, most accomplished session players of the 1970s and 1980s. But it was a footnote that resulted in a major hit: 1978’s Chic-influenced disco-funk single “Don’t Look Back,” which reached #8 R&B and #21 pop in Billboard. And although Chanson only recorded two albums—1978’s self-titled Chanson and 1979’s Together We Stand, both originally released by Ariola Records—Jamerson and Williams had fun being in the driver’s seat for a change.

Jamerson and Williams knew one another well when they joined forces as Chanson in Los Angeles in 1978, having played together extensively in the Temptations’ band. And that was certainly an appropriate gig for Detroit native Jamerson in light of the fact that his father was the late bassist James Jamerson, Sr., who played on countless sessions for Motown Records in the 1960s and influenced Larry Graham (Sly & the Family Stone, Graham Central Station), the Brothers Johnson’s Louis Johnson, jazz-rock fusion great Jaco Pastorius and many other electric bassists. The younger Jameson learned from the best, and in the 1970s, he demonstrated that he was an excellent musician in his own right.

Jamerson, Jr. and Williams not only produced Chanson’s self-titled debut album—they also provided most of the lead vocals and wrote all of the material, including “Don’t Hold Back” and the disco-soul single “I Can Tell” (a minor hit that featured singer Linda Evans). And in 1979, Chanson (whose name means “song” in French) took an equally hands-on approach with Together We Stand.

The impressive cast on Chanson’s second album includes Benjamin F. Wright, Jr. (who arranged both of Chanson’s albums), drummer Harvey Mason and the late saxophonist Donald Myrick (who is best remembered for his contributions to Earth Wind & Fire’s Phenix Horns). Members of the band Toto also appear on Together We Stand, including Steve Porcaro on synthesizers and the late Jeff Porcaro on drums.

Because of “Don’t Hold Back,” Chanson had a reputation for being a disco act. But Together We Stand demonstrates that disco was only part of what Chanson did. Jamerson, Jr. and Williams favor an exuberant disco-soul approach on “Sing All Night” and “Make It Happen,” but on “Rock, Don’t Stop,” “Jack Be Nimble,” “Magic Carpet Ride” (not to be confused with Steppenwolf’s hard rock hit of 1968) and the title track, Chanson’s sound is more a blend of Detroit soul and Earth, Wind & Fire. This reissue offers the 12” single versions of “Jack Be Nimble” and “Rock, Don’t Stop” as bonus tracks.

During a March 20, 2014 interview, Jamerson remembered that while Ariola Records marketed Chanson as a disco act, they saw themselves as more than that. “With the first album,” Jamerson recalls, “the record company wanted us to do disco because disco was prevalent during that time. Chic had come out, and the record company wanted us to do the same kind of stuff that Chic was doing. But me and David wanted to go somewhere different with that second album. We wanted to put more magic into the second album and really make a statement.”

Jamerson, Jr. continues: “The Together We Stand album was more spiritual for us. Me and David were a team, and we looked at it like ‘Together we stand, divided we fall. All for one and one for all.’”

Toto are best known for pop-rock hits like 1978’s “Hold the Line” and 1982’s “Rosanna,” but the Porcaro Brothers’ contributions to this album demonstrate that they were quite comfortable in R&B-oriented settings. In fact, Toto’s 1978 hit “Georgy Porgy” was a soul-influenced adult contemporary song that employed Cheryl Lynn on background vocals and made it to #18 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Jamerson recalls: “Toto had rock and funk. Jeff Porcaro lived around the block from me in Los Angeles. Me and Jeff used to hang out, and I said, ‘Jeff, do you want to play with us?’ Jeff said, ‘Yes, let’s do this.’ So the guys from Toto played on both of Chanson’s albums.”

Together We Stand, unfortunately, fell through the cracks commercially and didn’t receive as much attention as Chanson’s first album. “Me and David talked about doing a third album and going to another record company, but it just didn’t happen,” Jamerson, Jr. recalls.

  Chanson’s activity didn’t make either Jamerson, Jr. or Williams any less popular as session players, and according to Jamerson, Jr., Ariola wanted the two of them to concentrate on Chanson rather than take on a lot of session work. But Jamerson, Jr. asserts that after getting married, he had to face the fact that session work was more profitable than Chanson. For both Williams and Jamerson, Jr., it made sense to discontinue Chanson and focus on session work.

Jamerson, Jr. explains: “I got back to doing sessions. I was doing sessions and sessions and sessions, and some people at the record company said, ‘You can’t be doing all these sessions.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, I have a family to feed.’ They weren’t giving us any kind of salary or anything like that. So I started doing what I was doing before Chanson: I started doing more sessions.”

Jamerson, Jr. remembers that he was so busy in the late 1970s that he actually turned down an invitation to play on Rick James’ 1978 smash “You and I,” which was the late funkster’s breakthrough hit. “I’d been busy playing with Herb Alpert,” Jamerson, Jr. notes, “and I was too tired to play on Rick’s song. I was just too tired to do his song justice.”

With Chanson behind them, Jamerson, Jr. and Williams both devoted their energy to session work and appeared on numerous albums in the 1980s and 1990s. Williams passed away in 2009 at the age of 58, although Jamerson, Jr. is still keeping busy in 2014.

One can speculate on what a third Chanson album might have sounded like, but here’s what we can say for certain: the duo delivered some enjoyably funky grooves during their two-album run, and that is evident on Together We Stand.

—Alex Henderson, March 2014

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.