Number 1 Ethnic Stew
Number 2 Tribal Bumpin'
Number 3 Dedication
"Funky Kingston"
Recorded In between Recording Contracts
The
ABC- Dunhill Recording Group
"Tribe"
"The
Greatest Band Never Heard"
This
web page is dedicated to the memory of my good friend, and a
wonderful guy to all who knew and loved
him.
"Big
Dee Ervin"
(Sometimes
Spelled Erwin)
A
member of the
"Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame",
who went to meet the Master
but will live on through the great songs he sung, wrote and
produced.
Dee
Links
Just Go To Google And Type In Either
DiFosco T. Ervin, Big Dee Ervin Or Big Dee
Erwin
My name is Earl Foster, In 1974, I was called by my good friend
the late Difosco T. Ervin, aka Big Dee Ervin, a staff producer at
ABC-Dunhill Records, to play and sing on a track that was actually
the fade out of a record that he had produced, the fade was jammin'
harder than the record.
After I added my touch to the track, Dee named the record, of all
things,
"Coke"
and named the artist
"Tribe",
I don't know how he came up with these names, except that Dee was a
man with a great sense of humor, and if you knew him, you knew that
this move was vintage Dee.
Since all of the leads on the track were done by me, I became Tribe
by default, talk about being in the right place at the right
time!
I made Dee promise that if the record did anything, the recording
contract was to be mine, and Dee agreed.I continued playing with my
group "The Fourth Parallel", cool name huh?, a local L.A. Band and
promptly forgot about the record.
About a month later, Dee called me and told me that the record had
made the charts, and was climbing fast. But if you know anything
about the record business, it's best not to, "Count Your Chickens",
or you might be in for a stay at the Heartbreak Hotel.
You can imagine my shock when a week later I was contacted by Dee,
and was told to come in to ABC- Dunhill for a meeting with Otis
Smith, who was then, the Vice-President of the R & B
division.
Can you believe it, me, Earl J. Foster Jr., was signed to a
recording contract with ABC-Dunhill Records, on the strength of a
song I recorded as a lark, the fade out of a song whose name could
be a great trivia question, in fact I don't know the name of the
original track.
I promptly changed the name of my band from, "The Fourth Parallel",
to
"Tribe",
and we went on to do many concerts, and TV shows, and did quite
well, go figure!
The original members of Tribe:
Bob Apodaca Bass
Eddie
Romias, Guitar
Benton
Miles Little Drums
Donald
Eubanks Percussion
and
Earl J. Foster Jr. aka Shampen, Keyboards.
Because of the controversy the name
"Coke"
caused, the record was renamed,
"Smoke",
because it rhymed with coke, and although the record was riding
the charts, the confusion caused by the name change doomed the
record. The group however, went on to record the album "Ethnic
Stew" and the album rode the charts led by the hit single
"Tribe".
"Cashbox, Record World, Billboard and the Top Ten British
Singles Chart"
Hell, we even had the number one record in Todendorf Germany and
Washington DC, how's that for diversity?
The group traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe
and the Far East. After a complete personnel change, the Group
recorded another two albums, one for ABC-Dunhill Records, called
"Tribal' Bumpin'", and a record called "Dedication"for an Indie
Label called Farr Records before finally disbanding. There are a
lot of groups out there calling themselves Tribe, but we were the
original, the real McCoy, and now, as the late great Paul Harvey
would say, you know:
"The Rest Of The Story"
Tribe
Discography:
This
is the first edition of the group Tribe that was founded and
produced by Big Dee Ervin.
The Members from Right to Left are:
Benton Miles Little (Drums & Vocals),
Donald D. Eubanks (Percussion & Vocals),
Earl J. Foster Jr. (Keyboards & Vocals),
Edward H. Romias (Guitar & Vocals),
Robert P. Apodaca (Bass & Vocals)
*
The World Shoud Learn To Party
Together
*
Lovin' On The Outside
*
Tribe
*
We've Got To Live
Together
*
Think People
*
Young Warrior
*
Let Me In To Your Life
*
Siggy Siggy
*
What Am I Gonna Tell My Wife
*
Smoke
(Part1)
"Ethnic Stew" ABC-Dunhill ABCX807
This is the second edition of the group Tribe that was founded
and produced by Big Dee Ervin & Earl
Foster
The Members from Right to Left Top are:
Gelon Lau (Violin & Vocals),
Benton Miles Little (Drums & Vocals),
Edward H. Romias (Guitar & Vocals),
Robert P. Apodaca (Bass & Vocals)
Earl J. Foster Jr. (Keyboards & Vocals),
*
The Good Guys From The
Bad
* Love Is A
Mystery
* Tribal'
Bumpin'
* Montezuma's
Revenge
* Who Am I
* Hung Up
Strung Out Nose Wide Open
*
Solid
* We've Got
Work To Do
* Real And Really For Real
* Ebony Lady
* Give Me One More Day
"Tribal
Bumpin'" ABC-Dunhill ABCD859
This
third edition of Tribe was produced by Jardine Clyde Powell, Harold
Davis & Earl J. Foster Jr. for P.D.F.
Productions.
The Members from Right to Left to Right Are:
Earl J. Foster Jr. (Keyboards & Vocals),
Clyde Jardine Powell (Bass)
Billy Soto (Guitar & Vocals)
Jimmie A. Clapper (Saxaphone)
Benjamin Taylor (Lead Vocals)
Harold Clayton (Lead Vocals)
Harold Davis (Drums)
This album also featured some of the finest musicians in the
world:
David Stout (Trombone & Flute,) David Grover, (Trumpet &
Trombone) Greg Philliganes (keyboards) Benjamin Bridges (Guitar) Al
Vescovo (Guitar) Harry Hall (Woodwinds) Miroslaw KudyKowski
(Guitar) Ray Maldonado, Harry Kim, Bill Lamb (Horns) Marcy Weber,
Susaye Green, Shirley Brewer, Scotty Harris (Background Vocals) The
Sid Sharp Strings
*
Share
It
*
Firesign
*
Vulcan
Voyage
*
Love You Like a
Brother
*
Ain't
Nothing But A Party
*
Got To Be
Something More
*
Baby
Feet
*
Funky
Reggae
*
Celebrate Your
Love
Mama Look Out!, Here Comes That
Man Again With Number Four 