THE LUMPEn
THE LUMPEN: BLACK PANTHER PARTY OFFICIAL SINGING GROUP
THE LUMPEN featured original BPP members Bill Calhoun, Clark (Santa Rita) Bailey, James Mott and Michael Torrance. The Lumpen' named after the Marxist concept of lumpen proletariat. *Note: James Mott aka Dr Saturu Ned is a founding member of BPPALN!
It is important to stress that the Lumpen were Panthers first and foremost. Before, during and after the group, they did all the political and day-to-day work that was required of every rank and file comrade. The music was simply another facet of service to the Party and the Revolution.
They released only one single, but often took the popular soul songs and changed the lyrics to suit the revolution more. The excellent 1970 EP featuring “Free Bobby Now” b/w “No More” is the only official release from Black Panther Party members. The title track is in regards to co-founder Bobby Seal’s incarceration from the riots in Chicago and later as part of the Chicago Eight.
Watch this video to listen to “Free Bobby Now” and read more on The Lumpen here.
The Lumpen featuring (L to R) James Mott (Aka Dr Saturu Ned), William Calhoun, Michael Torrence and Clark Bailey.
Photos by Ducho Dennis, courtesy of It’s About Time Archive
The Lumpen singing group were all active BPP members!
PARTY MUSIC
by RICKEY VINCENT
PARTY MUSIC by Rickey Vincent - the definitive book with the full story on The Lumpen and the deep history of soul music connecting the black music tradition with the black activist tradition. Party Music brings both into greater focus than ever before and reveals just how strongly the black power movement was felt on the streets of black America. Interviews reveal the never-before-heard story of the Black Panthers’ R&B band the Lumpen and how five rank-and-file members performed popular music for revolutionaries. Beyond the mainstream civil rights movement that is typically discussed are the stories of the Black Panthers, the Black Arts Movement, the antiwar activism, and other radical movements that were central to the impulse that transformed black popular music—and created soul music.
About the Author
Rickey Vincent is the author of Funk: The Music, The People, and the Rhythm of the One and has written for the Washington Post, American Legacy, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He teaches at the University of California–Berkeley. Boots Riley is a rapper, producer, activist, and the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club.
“Rickey Vincent, The Funk Master of the radio air waves has merged together in his book Party Music a wealth of comprehensive knowledge and insights about Panther Party Music and the history from which it evolved. Rickey masters the art of interviewing and writing about the revolutionaries in Party Music with the same will power and self determination as the Funk Masters he writes about, an amazing achievement.”