California-based Magnum was a Latin-tinged funk band produced by Calvin Wade that did not sell many records at the time, but has been bootlegged on vinyl and released legitimately on CD as their reputation has grown since their original 1974 release, “Fully Loaded.” An international favorite, it took longer to make an impact in their native United States.
The group consisted of Michael Greene on piano, organ, percussion and vocals; Harold Greene on bass; David Sutton on drums; Vance Wormley on trombone, organ piano and percussion; Thurron Mallory on tenor and alto sax and electrified percussion; George Chaney on congas and bongos; Kevin Thornton on lead and rhythm guitars; and Lamont Payne on trumpet and percussion. A fully self-contained band, they also wrote their own songs and Kevin Thornton also did the arrangements.
The album was their only release though “Funky Junky” b/w “Composition Seven (Prelude )” were extracted for a Phoenix-label 45 (Phoenix 314 ).
The album has a coherence of integrated composition and play. Michael Greene is the coherent force on the songs. He wrote two of the songs on his own (“Witch Doctor’s Brew” and “Composition Seven” ). He wrote “Your Mind ” with Harold Greene and non-group member F. Price, while writing “It’s the Music That Makes Us Do It” with Edwin Emanuel and “Funky Junky” with non-group member R. Patterson. The only song he did not write was “Natural Juices” by Kevin Thornton, the arranger.
“Fully Loaded” is the sound of an exuberant band of individually talented musicians working in an expansive and comfortable environment. They give a loose funky overlay to a grounded R&B sound with a variety of instruments, including whistles, that lift the music to an exciting but also hypnotic groove.
