Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Gary Byrd and the GB Experience

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Genres
  
Labels
  
Motown

Genre
  
Pop music

Record label
  
Motown/Universal Records

Years active
  
1980s

Associated acts
  
Origin
  
United States of America

Members
  
Imhotep Gary Byrd

Gary Byrd and the GB Experience httpsimgdiscogscom2QasbiZkACBofvOMnzdgbMxfi4

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Baaz, Chantal Curtis, Ricanstruction, Pauline Henry, Adryiano

The crown gary byrd and the gb experience


Gary Byrd and the GB Experience was an American male/female vocal/instrumental group, who had a single titled "The Crown", in the UK Singles Chart. It was released on the Motown label, entered the chart on 23 July 1983 at number 21, and rose to a high of number 6; it remained in the chart for 9 weeks. It had previously been released in the US on Stevie Wonder's short-lived Wondirection label, but did not receive proper promotion, so only reaching the Billboard R&B chart, placing at #69.

Contents

"The Crown", 12" version ran for 10 minutes 35 seconds, making it one of the longest tracks ever to chart in the UK. It was written by Gary Byrd and Stevie Wonder, and presented a wide-ranging historical narrative of human progress (beginning with the ancient Egyptians and continuing to the present day) with an emphasis on African heritage. It featured spoken/rapped verses by Byrd, an American DJ, with one verse sung by Wonder and Crystal Blake. Byrd described the song at the time thus: "The idea is not that black, white or anyone is better, but that we all have our place. We've all made contributions - and mistakes too. Wearing the crown is reaching the top of your potential. You could be a writer or you could be a mechanic, but you can still wear the crown."

Byrd also worked as a DJ in the UK and presented a gospel music programme on BBC Radio 1 called "Sweet Inspirations". He often played the more obscure gospel sounds from groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire of whom he was a big fan. It was broadcast on Sunday evenings (11 pm - midnight) in the early 1980s on MW and stereo FM using the BBC Radio 2 transmitters.

Prior to this, Gary Byrd released the single "Every Brother Ain't A Brother", the album The Gary Byrd Experience and the single "Soul Travelin' (Inside the G.B.E.)" on RCA, whose intro was sampled by Soul to Soul on the song "Jazzie's Groove". He also collaborated with Wonder on the songs "Black Man", "Village Ghetto Land", "Dark and Lovely" and "Misrepresented People."

Songs

The Crown1983
Concertino for Tuba and Orchestra2010
Kilimanjaro2010

References

Gary Byrd and the GB Experience Wikipedia


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