The M-Tet Cover Childish Gambino's "Redbone," I Marc 4 & Shades of Joy On 2 Newly-unleashed Limited Edition 45's (Funk Night Records)
Detroit-based Funk Night Records (Fnr) has continually released a slew of phenomenal records, over the years, including 45's and 12-inches from the likes of The Great Revivers, The Soul Surfers, Guilty Simpson & Musca, Phat Kat, Aeon Seven, Nico Collins & The Soul Chance, and Scone City Players. Founder and in-house DJ/producer Frank Raines has meticulously selected artists from as far reaching as Detroit, Germany, and everywhere in-between for touch-stone releases on Fnr. For their latest double-release, Funk Night Records quietly issued two separate 45's from San Francisco-based Instrumental/Classic Soul quartet, The M-Tet: "Redbone" B/W "Ray Ban, Part 2" and "Gotta Be with You" B/W "Shades of Joy." Yes, "Redbone" is, in fact, an impassioned Instrumental Hip-Hop/Soul cover of Childish Gambino's break-out hit from 2016's "Awaken, My Love!" but, unfortunately, all 250 limited-press Fnr 45's have already completely SOLD OUT. "We never rehearsed "Redbone" ever; we just learned it on our own and came together to play it on a gig. I still don't think we've ever rehearsed it," The M-Tet bassist Chris Lujan recently explained to The Witzard, via email.
Side B of said "Redbone" 45 is, actually, The M-Tet's second recorded cover of "Ray Ban" from Italian session band I Marc 4's brown-tinted self-titled 1970 album. Truth be told, I've known about The M-Tet's top-secret "Redbone" 45 since about Christmas 2018 and have been actively messaging back-and-forth with Chris Lujan (@crlujan) leading up to this very release and I'm happy to say, I was able to score a copy for myself before they became widely unavailable. The M-Tet's second Fnr 45 of 2019 features a Lee Fields & The Expressions-inspired original entitled "Gotta Be with You;" Side B features "Shades of Joy" AKA "The Desert Is a Circle" by Shades of Joy & Alexandro Jodorowsky as hand-selected by Frank Raines himself from 1970 soundtrack, The Music of El Topo. While "Redbone" B/W "Ray Ban, Part 2" is currently SOLD OUT, copies of The M-Tet's "Gotta Be with You" B/W "Shades of Joy" are still available on Funk Night Records' Big Cartel page; although, all four of the aforementioned compositions are now available to stream on Fnr's YouTube page, as well. * EDITOR'S NOTE: However, The M-Tet urge eager fans to keep an eye on TheMTet.com, as additional copies of their "Redbone" 45 will soon become available for a limited time...
"Daylight
I wake up feelin' like you won't play right
I used to know, but now that sh*t don't feel right
It made me put away my pride
So long
You made somebody wait for some, so long
You make it hard for boy like that to go on
I'm wishing I could make this mine, oh..."
- Childish Gambino (@donaldglover)