24-Carat Black
| 24-Carat Black | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Genres | R&B, funk |
| Years active | Early 1970s |
| Labels | Stax |
| Associated acts | Dale Warren |
| Past members | Larry Austin Tyrone Steels Jerome Derrickson Ricky Foster James Talbert William Talbert Princess Hearn Kathleen Dent Valerie Malone Bruce Thompson Niambi Steele Robert Dunson Hedda Sudduth Tommy Edwards Gregory Ingram Shakir Suleiman Ernest Lattimore Rayford Smith John Walls |
24-Carat Black (sometimes styled as The 24-Carat Black) was an American soul and funk band who recorded in the early 1970s. Although they only released one album at the time, the late 1973 concept album Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth produced and arranged by Dale Warren, their music has been sampled numerous times. A second album compiled of unreleased recordings, Gone: The Promises of Yesterday, was released in 2009.
Dale Warren was the nephew of Berry Gordy's second wife, Raynoma, often known as "Miss Ray". He became a conservatory-trained violinist, and in 1961 was recruited by his aunt to work as a strings arranger for Motown Records. After working for smaller labels including Shrine, he was recruited by Stax Records where he arranged and orchestrated Isaac Hayes' albums Hot Buttered Soul, The Isaac Hayes Movement and ...To Be Continued. In 1972, Warren was featured as a composer and conductor at the Wattstax concert.
Around this time, Warren met and took under his wing a young soul group from Cincinnati, Ohio, The Ditalians. He persuaded them to change their name to 24-Carat Black, and wrote and produced their only original recording, the late 1973 concept album Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth. The band's line-up was Larry Austin (bass); Tyrone Steels (percussion); Jerome Derrickson (saxophone); Ricky Foster (trumpet); James Talbert (electric piano); William Talbert (organ); and Princess Hearn, Kathleen Dent, and Valerie Malone (vocals). The album spotlighted the hardships of life in the inner city, and is divided into eight "synopses" each of which focuses on a different aspect of poverty. It received little attention at the time, but one later reviewer has commented:
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