In the early 1970’s, veteran Dallas gospel singer Rev. Gean West and his brother Tommie formed The Relatives, a band that pulled together traditional gospel and soul with psychedelia and funk and earned a reputation for its fiery live shows. While the band toured nationally, it only recorded three singles, apparently pressing small batches of 45s that never seemed to get any traction outside of North Texas. And unfortunately after recording its final session with legendary engineer Phil York in 1975, the band disbanded in 1980.
Still, miraculously, The Relatives’ music lives on, and those singles — along with that previously unreleased session — was recently compiled on the 2009 anthology, “Don’t Let Me Fall.” That release helped bring The Relatives back together and led to its upcoming new album. Recorded and produced by Spoon’s Jim Eno, The Electric Word is The Relatives’ first recording in over 30 years. On January 11, they performed live on Soundcheck from The Greene Space.
Watch the full show above and an excerpt below:
