The California Playboys

In the early 1970s, the collective known as The California Playboys served as the backing band for R&B singer Lester Young on a series of 45 singles, before branching out to record a sole full-length LP under their own name, Trying To Become A Millionaire.

The band consisted of primary arranger Robert Jacobs (guitar), Julian Vaught (second guitar and sax), Lenell Salone (guitar), Kelvin Dixon (vocals and drums), Jackie Rogers (trumpet), Kenney Dunaway (guitar) and William Smith (lead singer).

The instrumental precision of Trying To Become A Millionaire is evident immediately; the record is clearly the product of a group of seasoned session musicians.

Incorporating elements of Latin music, pre-disco rhythms, bouncy funk bass lines and seamlessly clean guitar tones, the album’s six tracks call to mind the music of Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers and Bobbi Humphrey.

The vocal delivery varies (along with the particular singer) from track to track, at times reminiscent of Bobby Womack, at others, of Donny Hathaway or even Marvin Gaye, but all provide a complimentary gravity and substance to the otherwise clean instrumentals.

Lyrically, the album grapples with some of the biggest topics in soul music: love, love and love.

As the songs themselves suggest, whether that love takes the form of monogamy, a “four letter word” or even a love of money is an entirely different matter.

released in 1976