Edwin Starr - Free To Be Myself (1975)

Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produce Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".

Unfortunately for Starr, however, "War" was to be the high-water mark of his career. He released a follow-up single, "Stop the War Now," which showed him marking time by capitalizing on the subject matter of the previous single. He released the single "Funky Music Sho' Nuff Turns Me On" in 1974. That same year he composed the soundtrack to the film Hell up in Harlem, a sequel to the blaxploitation film Black Caesar that had been scored by James Brown. By the mid-1970s Gordy had moved Motown and its subsidiaries to Los Angeles, and began focusing on film and solo music projects for Diana Ross. After two more Motown singles, "Pain" and "Who's Right or Wrong," Starr departed the label.

After recording albums on several smaller independent labels, Starr wound up on 20th Century in 1978. The recordings made during this period display Starr's attempts to capitalize on the disco movement with varying degrees of success. He moved to England in the 1980s and recorded very little thereafter.

Track listing

01.  Stay With Me  - 2:45 

02.  Abyssinia  - 5:58 

03.  Toys  - 2:37 

04.  Drink Annie  - 3:24 

05.  Rainbow  - 2:28 

06.  Another Song for You  - 3:27 

07.  Best of My Past  - 6:54 

08.  Beginning  - 4:34 

09.  Pain  - 2:35 

10.  Party  - 2:38 

Release:  1975

Label:  Granite Records Corp.

Genre:  Soul, Funk

Length:  37:20

Producer:  Edwin Starr

Personnel

Edwin Starr - Vocals

Dynamic Concept - Backing Band

Ronald Jackson - Baritone Saxophone

William Reed - Drums, Percussion

Arthur Biggs Woodard - Lead Guitar

Sonny Johnson - Tenor Saxophone

Gregory Davis - Trumpet

Samuel James - Trumpet, Harmonica

William Reed - Percussion, Drums

Rick SooGuitar - Bass