Wood, Brass & Steel

Doug Wimbish is known to credit his good friend and mentor, the late Harold Sargent, as being the “big bang” - the starting point of the history of the Sugar Hill Band. In the early seventies, Harold played drums for a band called The Ohio Entertainers, later called The Ohio Hustlers. He met producer George Kerr, who helped the band get signed in 1973 to All Platinum Records, owned by Joe and Sylvia Robinson.

The first session The Ohio Hustlers recorded under the All Platinum label was for a song “Hey, What’s That You Say” / “It’s A New Day”, written by Harold’s wife, Ineffie Woods; however, the Robinson’s wrote the group down as Wood, Brass & Steel. The band at that time included Harold Sargent (drums), Skip McDonald (guitar), Herman ‘Tudi’ White (bass), Bert Keyes (keyboards), Reggie (rhythm guitar) & Otha Stokes (saxophone) - this was also the band that recorded on the Skull Snaps album.

Around that same time, young bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Barton Campbell were in a local band together called Organic Substance, the pair also taking classes in Hartford, CT at The Artist Collective, Inc., founded by the internationally acclaimed alto saxophonist, composer, educator and NEA Jazz Master Awardee, Jackie McLean, with his wife, Dollie McLean. Guitarist Skip Mc Donald was a bass guitar instructor at the Collective, while drummer Harold Sargent spent countless hours at the Collective, becoming friends with the many artists in the community, always known to support the up and coming players. It was Harold Sargent who connected Doug and Barton with Skip Mc Donald, asking the younger players to start a band with him.

Doug, Barton and Skip agreed, forming a band with Harold, beginning rehearsals at Harold’s house in Hartford, CT. Soon thereafter, the band added horns to their ensemble - Lee Rozie aka Mixashawn (saxophone), Greg Forte (saxophone), Billy Skinner (trumpet), Michael Wells (trumpet) and a vocalist, Lee Williams. After a few months, the band changed horn personnel and Williams left the group. The core band members of Harold, Doug, Skip and Barton added Hubert Powell (keyboards), Otha Stokes (saxophone & vocals) and Randy Bost (trumpet & Vocals).

The band, for a short period, called themselves Third World, however, within the year, the reggae band Third World appeared, and the group had to find a new name. Coincidentally, in 1974, the band inherited the name Wood, Brass & Steel, after meeting with All Platinum Records Sylvia and Joe Robinson who offered the group a record deal to record under the name Wood, Brass & Steel. The band also toured; on one show while opening for jazz drummer Norman Connors, meeting Norman’s lead singer, Craig Derry. Craig then joined Wood, Brass & Steel, solidifying the band with a lead singer.

The multi genre, funk & soul Wood, Brass & Steel group recorded their first album, the self titled Wood, Brass & Steel, at All Platinum Records, released under the Turbo label in 1976. Recorded in the disco era, the band had success with several tracks on the album, including “Always There”, a Ronnie Laws cover, and “Funkanova”, an underground disco-jazz themed track, still a favorite amongst DJ’s and clubbers decades later.

The track “My Darling Baby” was written by Doug Wimbish at the age of 17 and later sampled in 2010 by Erykah Badu on her hit song “20 Feet Tall”, from her album New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), ranked as one of the best albums of 2010 and the decade by several publications and debuting at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Wood, Brass & Steel continued to tour regionally, also recording for other artists signed under the All Platinum label, including Sylvia Robinson, Jack McDuff, Brother to Brother, Billy Jones, Donnie Elbert and Chuck Jackson.

Drummer Cecil Powell replaced Harold Sargent for the band’s recording of their second album, Hard & Heavy, released in 1980. (Harold continued to work with the band on a managerial level). Unfortunately, All Platinum Records appeared to be folding, and the album was never pushed by the label. Wood, Brass & Steel continued to perform shows in 1979, often lending themselves as the rhythm section to other artists including Musique.

In September of 1979, Sylvia Robinson recalled Doug and Skip to the now Sugar Hill Records label, remerged from the All Platinum Label through the hit of The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”. Doug and Skip went to work as the Sugar Hill Records House Band, soon bringing in drummer Keith LeBlanc and vocalist Craig Derry, then keyboardist Dwain Mitchell - beginning the Sugar Hill Records era of Doug Wimbish’s career.

While the original Wood, Brass & Steel and Hard & Heavy vinyl albums on the All Platinum label have long been out of print, the records remain sought after collector’s items, commanding top prices on re-seller websites and in record stores.