Excellent ATL band, who I was fortunate enough to see open for Da Nuge twice, and Aerosmith (IIRC) once, back in the mid-70s.

Apparently, that Rockpalast appearance was enough all by itself to catapult them to Euro-stardom.

Mother’s Finest issued its debut album Mother’s Finest in 1972 on RCA; a second album for RCA remained unreleased until it surfaced as bonus tracks on the 2010 Wounded Bird re-issue of Mother’s Finest. The group signed a new contract with Epic Records and released its sophomore effort, also titled Mother’s Finest, in 1976, stirring up controversy with the ironic “Niggizz Can’t Sang Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Riding a wave of success, the band’s next three albums, Another Mother Further (1977), Mother Factor (1978) and Mother’s Finest Live (1979), all went gold, helped along by heavy touring opening for the likes of Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, The Who, Aerosmith and AC/DC.

In 1978, the band set out for Europe and took part in the Rockpalast concert series at the Grugahalle in Essen, produced by Germany’s WDR television and broadcast to various countries. With only one concert Mother’s Finest put themselves on the map all over Europe where the band still has a dedicated following. The legendary 1978 show was finally released on CD and DVD in 2012 as Mother’s Finest – Live At Rockpalast 1978 & 2003 which also includes the band’s 2003 “Rockpalast” appearance at Satzvey Castle.

Which, as admirable an achievement as that is, is merely a drop in the bucket when it comes to what these guys have accomplished over the years:

After four albums for Epic/CBS in the 70’s, the band signed with Atlantic Records for its heaviest album to date, 1981’s Iron Age. That same year Joyce Kennedy guested with Molly Hatchet on the song “Respect Me in the Morning” from the Take No Prisoners album. Mother’s Finest went on hiatus after 1983’s One Mother to Another, with vocalist Joyce Kennedy pursuing a solo career, releasing the soul/R&B-styled Lookin’ for Trouble album on A&M Records in 1984. She scored a Billboard Top 40 hit with “The Last Time I Made Love”, a duet with Jeffrey Osborne. A year later, Joyce recorded the song “Didn’t I Tell You?” for the soundtrack of the film The Breakfast Club. Drummer Barry Borden, who had joined Molly Hatchet on the No Guts…No Glory album, teamed up with guitarist Moses Mo in the band Illusion, resulting in a pair of albums, Illusion (1985) and I Like It Loud (1986), on Geffen Records. Borden would later join The Outlaws for a pair of albums and has been a member of The Marshall Tucker Band since the late 1990s.

Meanwhile, bassist Wyzard toured with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks behind her 1983 album The Wild Heart, including an appearance on Saturday Night Live. Eventually, he and brother/drummer Harold Seay, who had replaced Barry Borden on One Mother to Another, joined Rick Medlocke in a revamped Blackfoot lineup and appeared on 1987’s Rick Medlocke and Blackfoot album.

Daayuummmm…not too shabby, wouldn’t you say? One more vid from these Mothers; can’t possibly go wrong with a funky hard-rocking cover of a Smokey Robinson tune.

Update! Bonus cool points to anybody who figured I’d never be able to resist putting this one up too.

Annnnd the rest of it.