Charles Wright

Charles Wright led the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, one of the standout funk ensembles active from the late 1960s into the early 1970s. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Wright handled vocals, piano, and guitar while directing the eight-piece group assembled from Los Angeles’s Watts neighborhood. The musicians had first performed together as the Soul Runners, and Bill Cosby provided vital early exposure by booking them on his own bills. Recording began with Keyman in 1967 and continued after the band switched to Warner Bros. in 1969.

Although “Do Your Thing” and “Till You Get Enough” both reached the Top 20 on the R&B charts, “Express Yourself” emerged as their strongest statement, conveying the drive for independence with the same directness the Isley Brothers had brought to “It’s Your Thing” a decade earlier. The track also became one of the funk recordings most often reused by later hip-hop and rap acts. Their final R&B chart entry came in 1971 when “Your Love (Means Everything to Me)” rose to number nine on the R&B side and number twelve on the pop side.

“Love Land,” widely regarded as the band’s finest ballad, found greater favor with pop listeners than with R&B fans who sometimes dismissed it as overly gentle. The group moved to Dunhill for further sessions in 1973 and disbanded shortly afterward. Among its core players were drummer James Gadson and guitarist Al McKay, who later joined Earth, Wind & Fire.