Eric Dunbar -

Eric Dunbar is an American R&B pianist, organist, songwriter, arranger, and singer from New Orleans who released the 1976 album Freeway on tax-scam imprint TSG Records. He began his professional career with City News Band and arranged two 1976/77 singles for New Orleans soul singer Jean Knight.

Background

Eric Dunbar was born in 1951 in New Orleans and grew up in Bunche Village, Jefferson Parish, under the care of a great-uncle and great-aunt. The second of ten siblings, he began piano at age five and played for a Sunday-school class by age ten. He switched to organ for church choir work before he chose music as a profession.

Dunbar joined City News Band in 1969 as a keyboardist and began his professional career in the New Orleans R&B group. Brother Records issued the group’s 1975 single “Chan the Man” (b/w “Bustin Up”). The single preceded his TSG solo album.

Freeway

Eric Dunbar released his singular album, Freeway, in 1976 on TSG Records.

Dunbar wrote or co-wrote five songs, including two with T. Borges. The arrangements pair low-register bass patterns with brass figures across the compact set.

“Freeway” stomps from a thick bassline intro into a heavy midtempo drive with forceful brass accents. “Love Rope” barrels through dense midtempo motion with firm rhythmic emphasis. “Super Love” surges through another heavy midtempo run. “Save the Young Ones” glides through light, mellow phrasing with a wistful inflection. “You Must Be From Heaven” simmers through bittersweet phrasing and measured restraint.

A1. “Freeway” (3:14) – Dunbar
A2. “Love Rope” (3:00) – Borges
A3. “Super Love” (3:12) – Dunbar, Borges, J. A. Lewis Jr.
A4. “Save the Young Ones” (2:53) – Dunbar

B1. “Rainbow Men” (3:22) – Pratts, Borges
B2. “You Must Be from Heaven” (3:25) – Dunbar
B3. “Does Anybody Wanna Listen” (6:50) – Landry, Revain
B4. “Magical Moments” (3:04) – Dunbar, Borges

The original US issue carries TSG catalog number 814 on yellow labels. TSG omitted recording, production, personnel, and artwork credits from the package. Yellow label copy supplies program data and publishing information.

Freeway appeared in an uncredited cover built around a blue-tinted roadway photograph. The front places a US Route 66 shield in the foreground below striped title lettering; a red vertical panel carries Dunbar’s name.

Dunbar also arranged two singles by New Orleans soul singer Jean Knight at Knight Recording Studio in Metairie, a facility owned by Ola label operator Traci Borges. Open issued “What One Man Won’t Do Another Man Will” in 1976, and Ola followed around 1977 with “Humpin to Please” (b/w “Love Me Slowly!”).

Essential Media Group issued a remastered edition in August 2014 on compact disc and digital services. P-Vine followed with a paper-sleeve CD in September 2021 and a vinyl edition in 2022 for the Ultimate TSG Survey series. The label paired “Save the Young Ones” with “Freeway” on a Japanese seven-inch in August 2023 for the same campaign.

Side Work and Later Activity

City News later recorded as the Bionic I, which issued the Dunbar composition “Disco Claus” on Kora Records. Tramp Records reissued “Bustin Up” (b/w “Chan the Man”) in October 2016 with the sides reversed.

Discography: