Mother's Finest -

Mother’s Finest was an American funk-rock band from Atlanta that made a 1973 self-titled album on RCA Victor, followed by five studio albums and a live disc between 1976 and 1983 on Epic. They reappeared with a 1989 Capitol release and sporadic later activity.

Members: Joyce Kennedy (lead vocals, percussion), Glenn “Murdock” Bailey (lead vocals, percussion), Jerry “Wyzard” Seay (bass, vocals), James Gary “Moses Mo” Moore (guitar, vocals, percussion, 1972-90, 2004-present), Michael Keck (keyboards, 1972-80), Donny Vosburgh (drums, 1972-74), Barry “B.B. Queen” Borden (drums, percussion, 1974-82), Harold Seay (drums, percussion, 1983), Dion Derek (drums, guitar, 1989-2004, 2013-present), John Hayes (guitar, 1990-present), Ace Baker (keyboards, 1993)

Background

Mother’s Finest formed in Miami in 1970 when singers Joyce “Baby Jean” Kennedy and Glenn “Doc” Murdock expanded their touring partnership with guitarist Gary “Moses Mo” Moore and bassist Jerry “Wyzard” Seay.

Kennedy and Murdock met at a 1964 sock hop in Maywood, Illinois, where Kennedy performed her local single “Darling I Still Love You” and Murdock sang with the Vondells. The pair developed a joint act through club dates, USO shows, and engagements across the Midwest and East Coast, then reached Miami in early 1970 as they shifted from a revue format toward a self-contained band.

Kennedy was born Joyce Washington in Anguilla, Mississippi, in 1948 and moved to Chicago with her mother at age seven. She adopted the Kennedy surname from her stepfather and sang in a teenage harmony trio. Al Williams of Jade Enterprises connected Kennedy with Ran-Dee Records, where Andre Williams produced “Darling I Still Love You” in 1963; additional singles followed on Fontana and Blue Rock Records. Murdock grew up in Chicago under dancer Carolyn Edwina Winters, who led the Operalettes social club. He sang at local sock hops with the doo-wop Vondells and jazz-oriented US 4, then joined Kennedy as a touring partner.

Moore grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where his father played bass in a country band and gave him an acoustic guitar at age eleven. Moore joined the Raspberry Blues Band by age seventeen and met Kennedy and Murdock when the Dayton group backed their act at the Golden Lion. Moore graduated from high school in summer 1970 and joined the pair in Miami.

The first Miami lineup used the short-term rhythm section of bassist John McIver and drummer Doug Thompson. McIver cleared for bassist Jerry Seay, who grew up in a twelve-child Miami household where father Frank Seay Sr. played keyboards and older brothers Frank Jr. and Edward played guitar. Frank Jr. put Jerry on bass engagements by age twelve, including dates with Jackie Wilson.

Kennedy, Murdock, Moore, and Seay adopted the Mother’s Finest name and played the Flying Machine and other club dates as the group developed a heavier band format. The musicians moved into the Underground Atlanta circuit, secured manager Hugh Rogers, and built their repertoire. Mother’s Finest added drummer Donny Vosburgh from the Las Vegas show band the Entertainers and keyboardist-composer Michael Keck.

Keck came from Raleigh, North Carolina, and grew up in Piedmont under multi-instrumentalist Demintrious Hiawatha Keck, who played upright bass, tuba, and sousaphone. Keck learned several instruments as a child, moved to piano, and recorded early numbers at Raleigh radio station WLLE. He later played with Bobby Bell & the Blue Bells, toured the tri-state circuit, and studied medicine in college while he moonlit in cover bands.

Producer Hank Medress connected Mother’s Finest with RCA Records in 1972 and secured a label contract. Medress and Dave Appell then brought the six-piece to Century Sound Studios in New York for the nine-song sessions that became the first self-titled album.

Discography: