- Music By Lee Mason (1971) is a rare private-press funk/soul LP, long prized by crate diggers for its gritty grooves and raw, independent production
- Blends tight rhythm section work with psychedelic touches and lo-fi charm, capturing the feel of early ’70s regional soul scenes
- Originally released in extremely limited quantities, making it a sought-after collector’s piece in original form
- For fans of: James Brown’s early ’70s band cuts, Funkadelic (early), deep crate-digger soul/funk comps like Chains and Black Exhaust
Reissued Music By Lee Mason, the cult classic from the Chappell Recorded Music Library, originally released in the UK in 1971. Credited to Lee Mason & His Orchestra, the album is in fact the work of renowned British composer and arranger Pete Moore -- best known for producing the iconic "Asteroid" theme in 1968 for the Pearl & Dean cinema advertising company. One of the funkiest library albums of its era, blending cinematic tension, funky grooves, and jazzy undertones, Music By Lee Mason features the track "Shady Blues," famously sampled by Madlib. Newly remastered and featuring liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre, this long-overdue reissue brings a lost classic back to vinyl for the first time since 1971.
Recorded at the dawn of the prolific '70s UK library music boom, Music By Lee Mason was part of the successful Chappell Recorded Music series -- produced for television, film, and advertising professionals. Working under the "Lee Mason" alias, Pete Moore used the format to explore a wide palette of sounds: funky rhythm sections, fat horns, bumping bass lines, and catchy melodies that reveal both sophistication and swing. Across its eleven tracks, the album moves seamlessly between funky grooves, jazzy arrangements, and cinematic moods. "Shady Blues" in particular has become a cult favorite among crate-diggers, its slow-burning groove later sampled by Madlib for the Lootpack track "Answers" featuring Quasimoto, giving the piece new life in the spheres of hip-hop and digging culture. A prolific composer and orchestrator for television, radio, and film, Pete Moore (1924-2013) worked with the likes of Peggy Lee, Fred Astaire, and Connie Francis, bridging the worlds of orchestral scoring and modern jazz-pop arrangement. Alongside his celebrated commercial work, his contributions to the Chappell Music catalogue exemplify the depth and craft of British library composition during the 1960s and '70s. This reissue of Music By Lee Mason has been newly remastered and features exclusive liner notes by Kevin Le Gendre, who provides fresh insight into Moore's enduring influence of his music. With its sophisticated arrangements, catchy grooves, and unmistakable sense of mood, Music By Lee Mason stands as one of the defining statements of the British library era which Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue for the first time since 1971.
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