Mandrill "Fat City Strut" (live audio only) 1974

[JakRock]

This is so fucking good!

This is what's wrong with my generation: they listen to all this shite that's fed to them through the charts. Souless, funkless crap.

There's nothin' can beat the funk!

[neftalisantiago]

@JakRock

Well Jak I will take that as a complement to my band thank you.

[neftalisantiago]

@JakRock

ATTENTION MANDRILL FANS:

I AM PUTTING TOGETHER A PETITION TO INDUCT MANDRILL IN THE ROCK IN ROLL HALL OF FAME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE PLEASE WRITE A SORT LETTER STATING WHY YOU THINK MANDRILL SHOULD BE INDUCTED. SEND YOUR LETTER TO ME @ neftalisantiago@me.com

[nesnejls]

How New York City is this song? Thanks for recording it at least once - killer.

[msavage07]

Mandrill is one of my favorite bands. You guys were the complete package. From funk to classical, your band played it all...solid. Are you going to release all of your library on CD? I learned to play bass by listening to Fudgie :)

[msavage07]

Mandrill is one of my favorite bands. You guys were the complete package. From funk to classical, your band played it all...solid. Are you going to release all of your library on CD?

[Mr00destruct0]

Neftali Santiago I saw you at a concert in springfeild mass back in the 70s. Thank you very very much for all the great GREAT music.

[Malagax]

You guys only played "Fat City Strut" live two times? Come on! This is one of my favorite songs of all time!! 

[djrealmerda]

hi, just want to say that I rock mandrill every time I spin vinyls, thank you to give such an innovation to music and life,

peace from italy

[cgshem28]

Mandrill is HALL OF FAME material. It's a shame that MANDRILLAND is not on CD. Would you be able to upload "Folks on a Hill"?

[neftalisantiago]

Your Welcome. It was fun recording it.

[MsTexas73]

Thanks so much for posting this. Fat City Strut is my FAVORITE Mandrill song. Such a JAM!

[czechmate51]

As I mentioned to another clip I went back in time listening to Fencewalk.

I am now 60 years young and I have not heard anything like your music since.

I thank you very much for the opportunity to listen to the music once again, thanks to you dude and to UTube, thanks for the journey back to the day when i was as big as a bull and had wings like an eagle Untouchable : )

God Bless

[woodie1971]

wow .... this made my saturday morning!! Its inspired me to tidy up & clean wlile dancing which is truly amazing for a slob like me. Love & Thanks to whoever posted this.

[flofox69]

I got to start drinking more dr pepper!

[techxdabruiser]

My Uncles from Bed-Stuy ,over on Putnam, off Nostand Ave, salute the 'Drill !!!!,

[Cobaltis49]

Neftali, Mandrill has been my favorite band ever since the 70's. The funk music is like no other. You guys are musical geniuses.

[AEGIAN1]

why they call u the doctor pepper kid, man?

[maximocremoso]

muy bueno

[neftalisantiago]

Hey manwomenboogie,

thank you. Of course you know I am also from the city. I joined mandrill when I was 19. I love sharing my history with the world.

[manwomanboogie]

it's 2:59 am in NY and i have just discovered a beautiful Treasure....

thank you.

[davorcolic]

YOU RULE!!

[RLW1967]

I just want to say that Mandrill had it going on back in the day.

[chefdoogie]

Wheres that guitar player Rodrigues? man, After the Race was unreal on Mandrilland!

[neftalisantiago]

Dear chefdoogie,

I email this to Dougie Rodrigues. He is great and living in Cali. We resently recorded together on a project I produced for a new artist. The song Doug accually wrote called "24/7".

[tuxtafari2663]

Man I grew up on you guys, and got to say all praises due!!!!! We need real music now, because there is no more soul in the stuff of today!!!!! PEACE

[neftalisantiago]

Dear tuxtafari2663,

Thank you. I totally agree. We need to return to thr garage bands for funk and soul like rock bands do. Thats where young brothers will find real music.

[groundhog713]

@tuxtafari2663 I agree most modern R&B sounds like shit!

[Tchalla77]

Fantastic stuff Neftali, you truly are a part of music history. Ample proof that nothing will ever be better than real musicians playing live, unafraid to express and experiment with their craft. What on earth happened after the mid 80s that African-American popular music ended up in such a sorry mess!? Let's get the funk back and put to the sword once and for all the dreaded scourge of the hip hop sample and programmed beat that's had such a detrimental effect to music over the past 25 years.

[neftalisantiago]

Hey Tchalla77,

Thanks allot for you kind words. The truth is the truth.

[CCCXSE]

Thank you for the goosebumps Mr. Santiago!

[neftalisantiago]

CCCXSE,

Thank You can you give this video a rating please.

[neftalisantiago]

CCCXSE,

Stop!

[compactcasette]

thank you so much for these musical gems. I can't tell you how much it's appreciated. The great music you made will live forever

[LCDisplay]

so this is where that sample on the avalanches' album came from. nice!

[ivyjada]

cool posting...

[TheBadJackson]

I can't believe this! If anyone has a recording of the symphonic performance, please let me know!!!

Great video. I am all shivery. Mandrill is a hell of a phenomenon.

[Dr77Funkenstein]

This is the bomb. I just heard of these guys and wanted to look them up. Glad I did. I can see where Parliament/funkadelic got a lot of their ideas....

[soundsfromnothing]

You can definitely hear the Stevie Wonder "Superstition" influence here. He was one of the 1st ones in funk, to use a walking clavinet pattern. He also had those quick ascending/ descending horn stabs. It almost seems like everyone after '72 was doing that. You had Kool & the Gang doing it on "Jungle Boogie" in '73 too. It almost kind of evolved next to disco (I hate most disco), and then merged w/ it. Even the Beegee's "Stayin' Alive" has that pattern. I don't know what you would call that

[soundsfromnothing]

(continued) Stevie wonder-style sub genre "Strut funk"? It definitely changed the pattern of the funk too. It was more straight ahead instead of polyrhythmic. Either way, it was still very cool.

[DiscoHank]

You only hafe to displace a beat or two to get a funky pattern. You can be very stripped down and be funk, and still have that 3 against 4 feel

[soundsfromnothing]

True enough. Wonder, however, drastically changed the pattern. The timing was nowhere near the same. The Clavinet pattern was straight ahead. In my opinion, it was almost a separate genre.

[DiscoHank]

Interesting observations. However, I don't think funk should be limited to one pattern. That would be like trying to say Chuck Berry's rock is not The Police's Rock for instance. Funk is a big enough genre to contain many patterns. Also, Stevie basically brought the multi guitar attack of funk onto the clavinet, if you listen to it, it's actually not one clavinet line, it's several. Also, Stevie's "Superstition" was stripped down, 3 musicians playing compared to 14 on James Brown, leads to diff

[soundsfromnothing]

Well, I agree with what you're saying regarding funk. I do consider Stevie's version to be funk as well. It's just that there are sub-genre's w/in the major funk umbrella. I'd say (for example) that much of the deep funk (ala Sly Stone's later funk styles-like he used on "Thank you for talkin' me back to Africa" would be different from J. Brown's early "Cold Sweat" for example). One is early funk, on is deep funk. You're right

[soundsfromnothing]

(continued)

that Stevie's clavinet riffs are made up of several lines as well. Also, I'd say that Chuck Berry's version of rock is drastically different from the Police. The police had a more "new wave" attack to it. Chuck Berry was actually, literally, Rockabilly. He literally (like Elvis or Carl Perkins) combines R&B w/ Country. No one think's of him this way (because of his race), but .

[soundsfromnothing]

(continued #2)

songs like "Maybelline" attest to that. Either way, it's safe to say that those to styles are very different

[Davidhuggar]

Great Great RARE MUSIC!!!!! Thanks for posting......

[kainschwarz]

great shit!

un4getable!!!!

[dostfez]

I wonder if Mandrill ever felt they got their due as one of the GREAT funk bands of the time.

It seems to me not alot of people recognize them as such or even really know about them, unless they are hardcore funkaholics.

THAT seems to be VERY wrong.

Thanks for all the great vids Neftali!

[kothakilla]

These guys strike me as the kinds of kats that just loved the music and loved performing. They were ahead of their time and left a lasting impression on my band and I, so Job well done Mandrill!!!

[bishopquack]

Dr pepper and! Mandrill! yesssss

[kapdrums]

Sick performance and sick video!props!

[mackvandyke]

what ever happened to this group. I still have the album cover, seem to have lost the actual album. There are great.

[funknflow]

this made my entire year. man, thanks a million for posting this and all the other videos, but this takes the 1,000,000,000 prize for me. FAT CITY STRUT!! Why on God's earth did you NOT play this more often live?

[MUN7001]

ok you need to tell me, what the hell made you guys turn to disco, omgosh lol, i totally dont like your late 70s albums, please make new ones, to make up lol joking

[neftalisantiago]

MUN7001,

Your right. The band tried to go with the whole musical change and it just wasn't natural for us. You might say we lost our direction but that is just my opinion. I hated the Arista years. Not the lable just the time.

[MUN7001]

i hate that label lol

[Wayne27]

Beautiful music,

[sugarfunk75]

Aaaaaahhhhhh!Where am I?????oh guys....this is the meaning of my life...this music thing...I have to thank you all...so awesome....Out of time and space...

[neftalisantiago]

sugarfunk75,

I must thank you for recognizing music and life are one to fuse together.

[ScreenJim]

I can't believe I'm communicating with the legendary Neftali Santiago. In my circles, we whispered your names. You were gods. I once had a drink with Omar during one of your breaks. He was walking by my table, I gave him a compliment and he just sat down! Coffee and Mini Suite for Duke remains one of the most awesome things I've heard. But between your drumming and Fudgie's bass (I am a bass player, but not in the same class, of course), you were the heartbeat of the band. Thank you.

[neftalisantiago]

Hey ScreenJim,

Thank you for your comment. We really do appreciate our fans. We were and still are just regular people just like you not Gods. I'm sure Omar will respond to you himself. "Mini Suit for Duke is one of favorite songs too. recording it was a trip. Keep in touch Jim.

[ricbear]

Neftali, you are one of the great drummers, and i wish more people knew about you - Peace.

[neftalisantiago]

ricbear,

Thank you man. Appreciate the love and respect.

[ThirdPoliceman1]

:-)

[sketchyhippie]

Mandrill IS!

we need more please!

thank you tremendously for all of the Mandrill you've shared.

[neftalisantiago]

I have 10 videos up and am working on a few more. The problem is there isn't too much more of the full band only the Wilson brothers are caring on the name. There is talk of a one date reunion with all living alumni. Keep in touch.

[superstrut75]

i got Fat City & Fencewalk from the Pulp Fusion series 2 & 6, and have Echoes In My Mind from The Warriors Soundtrack. Nice work man. Greetings from Glasgow.

[neftalisantiago]

Greetings to you too from Glasgow. Keep in touch.

[sketchyhippie]

Mandrill just recently toured in the fall of 08.

You are saying that it is just the Wilson bros.?

that is most of the band though. right?

[neftalisantiago]

Dear sketchyhippie,

In the beginning there was Carlos, Lou, and Ric Wilson, Claude Coffee Cave on keys, Omar Mesa on lead guitar, and after the first lp Fudgie Kay Solomon on bass, and Charlie Padro on drums the first two lps. Starting with the 3rd lp came the Mandrill everyone is familiar with. The change was me on drums. Now this sound came from 7 band members not just three.

Part #1

[neftalisantiago]

Dear sketchyhippie,

You are very welcome.

[neftalisantiago]

f you here the Wilson brothers with side players the music The mandrill sound is compromised because the side players can't play the music correctly because they didn't create it. The Wilson brothers are a very important part no doubt. But just as if the original rhythm section performed without the Wilson brothers something would be missing, Part #2

[CaptainInvictus]

Love this live version, Mandrill had such a great gritty funk style. The epitome of funk to me.

[neftalisantiago]

Mandrill as a band created magic that to this day no other band has been able to create. Claude Coffee Cave wrote "Hang Loose, and Cohelo, and Fat City Strut. Omar wrote Central Park, Golden Stone and many more. I wrote "Two Sisters Of Mystery which is sampled allot today.Hope this helps you understand it was 7 band members not just 3 that created the Mandrill sound. Part #3

[TheHolySongster]

Hey dude You were in Mandrill???

[Lonewolf36]

As a Mandrill Fan and ex NY Queens guy I love this. I am so happy to see so much about and by Mandrill on YouTube. Thanks to the band for such Afro-FUNKY-grooves for so many years. I know you are still going strong as I recieve Soul Patrol newsletters weekly. And you cats are in it weekly. I may live in San Francisco now but my heart is still in Queens and with Mandrill. Peace.

[neftalisantiago]

Dear Lonewolf36,

Yea we live in LA and miss New York allot.

[reggie44]

Oh my God. Latin rhythms, butt-kicking funk, and screaming to the skies rock. More Mandrill!!!

[HootyToledo]

One of the fattest funk grooves of all time, I wish the music industry today would stop releasing disposable shit and get back to signing bands who would release quality tunes like this.

[EeeRodneyJones]

Amazing - thanks so much Neftali. Greetings to you from London. Please pass on my respects to Mr. Claude Coffee Cave as well. Your music and the live performances I have seen have been an inspiration to me. Peace.

[neftalisantiago]

Dear EeeRodneyJones,

Greetings to you from LA.

Thank you for your comments. Coffee monitors this site so I'm sure he will reply as well as Omar M., Doug R., and Charlie P..

[chestmary]

This is too beautiful. You guys came along during the time I had gotten so tired of Motown and all such clones. Your sound was new and fresh but familiar (I guess that was Africa all up in there). I remember the first time I saw you was on a show on PBS called SOUL - every now and then I try to find the tape online, no luck so far

[chestmary]

Okay I'm 17 again...first album I bought with my first paycheck was Mandrill Is...I actually bought a second within the same year cause the first one wore-out.

[Odawg96]

Hmmm...did Pleasure "borrow" this lick for their track "Joyous" because I swear that the main riff sounds like the break in that song.

[texmexwahwah]

MANDRILL!!!!!beautiful music! what a band!! I dig the dougie rodriguez licks here and have heard him on Sanatana and Betty davis, too...

[olskoolgirl23]

does anyone know what happened to claude cave?...such a great group!

[neftalisantiago]

olskoolgirl23,

As i've said so many times before Coffee is great. All you have to do is ask him a question and he will answer it. I put this site up as a Mandrill history experience. Go ahead and ask questions and one of us will answer.

[olskoolgirl23]

im sorry if that came off wrong...lol...(oops!) i thought this was a site you put together to represent the group...but i would like to say even being young i grew up to you guys, such great music! (my dad played yall out!lol)..Ive seen pics of everyone else that were recent bt i was curious to know what happened to claude and what's he doing now?

[neftalisantiago]

olskoolgirl23,

I just talked to Coffee and he will be joining me to answer everyones questions. Given that I will let him speak for himselve. You did'nt come off wrong at all you misunderstood my answer.

[olskoolgirl23]

I gotcha neftali!!sorry about that...:) I appreciate you gettin back to me and it is an honor hearing from you guys!!:)

[africawaits]

u guys know that at least 2 of these guys are heart surgeons??published ama???deeeeeep.

[neftalisantiago]

No, No Ric Wilson is a cardiologist not a surgeon. He is the only member that went to medical school.

[africawaits]

thx for the enlightenment

[fonkhead]

these horns ain't no joke.if you can't get down to this,yall you might need to get your hearing checked.shonuff fonky!

[neftalisantiago]

Dear fonkhead,

Carlos, Lou, and Ric Wilson have a signiture sound that's like a thumb print. Slightly out of tune, extreamly tight, extreamly funky, BT Extress and Brass Constrution tried to copy the sound and use elements of the Wilson Bros horn style.

[orlandomagic654]

Yeah alot of Brooklyn bands did bue I figured you guys created it because out of all those bands you all were the first on the scene.

[DrSardonicuss]

very cool version of a very cool song-

thanks~

[olskoolgirl23]

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

[groundhog713]

That was great! I didn't know that Omar left the band during the recording of Just Outside Of Town, his lead guitar playing is obvious sorely missed on that LP. I'm sure if the band got Doug on there, it would definitely rocked more! He really rocked on Mandrilland!

Anyway, it's really great that this live track is here for us to listen to. Thanks Nef...

[neftalisantiago]

Dear groundhog713,

Yea man, I agree. Either one would have sounded great, being without a lead guitar player was a little strange but we all stepped up to the plate and did what we had to do.

[xipe13]

Funk in da' hole!