Open Sesame is the eighth studio album by the funk band Kool & the Gang, released in 1976 on Mercury Records. The album reached No. 9 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 33 on the US Billboard Top Jazz LPs chart. Open Sesame was the second of two studio albums released by the band in 1976. The title track became a top ten R&B single, and later part of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The single "Super Band" also reached the R&B top twenty.
Contents
Critical reception
Record World said that in the title track the group is "laying down a funky backbeat geared for the discos."
Personnel
Kool & the Gang
Ronald Bell – arrangements (1, 2, 5, 6, 8), vocals, keyboards, clavinet, ARP synthesizer, ARP String Ensemble, percussion, vibraphone, tenor saxophone, alto flute
Ricky West – vocals (1), vibraphone (3), keyboards (4, 8)
Claydes Charles Smith – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, arrangements (3, 4)
Robert "Kool" Bell – bass guitar, percussion, vocals,
George Brown – drums, percussion, keyboards (7), clavinet (7), vocals (7), arrangements (7)
Dennis Thomas – alto saxophone, flute, percussion, congas, vocals
Otha Nash – slide trombone, valve trombone, percussion, vocals
Larry Gittens – trumpet, flugelhorn
Robert "Spike" Mickens – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion
Additional personnel
Jimmy J. Jordan – special effects
Ellouise Vaughn – harp
Don Boyce – vocals
Cynthia Huggins – lead vocals (2, 5, 7, 8)
Donna Johnson – lead vocals (2)
Something Sweet (Renee Connel, Cynthia Huggins, Joan Motley and Beverly Owens) – backing vocals
Carry Muse – backing vocals (7)
Production
Produced and arranged by Kool & The Gang
Co-producer – George Brown
Executive producers – Ronald Bell and Claydes Charles Smith
Engineers – Terry Rosilleo and Nils Salminen
Mixing – Terry Rosilleo
Mastered by Nimitr Sarikanada at Frankfurt/Wayne Recording Labs (Philadelphia, PA)