Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy of Mother's Finest

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The Hippest Holy Roller Rock Music Has Ever Known

Mother's Finest? Mother's magic!

A super-cool act formed in Atlanta in the seventies, Mother's Finest made history as the first multicultural heavy metal band.  But more specifically, Mother's Finest is considered the preeminent funk rock group, thanks in part to the woman who as co-lead vocalist sounded like quite the holy roller: Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy.

Lifting the spirits of funk rock fans to near-religious heights, Joyce Kennedy would part her lips at a microphone and something like a lightning bolt of soul struck a chord with all who heard her.

"Baby Jean" was born in a tiny Delta town called Anguilla, Mississippi, and was raised in Chicago. Which is where she met the man who would become her husband and co-lead vocalist, Glenn Murdock. Together, Joyce and Glenn embodied the next generation of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, but with a decidedly, hardcore rock 'n roll spirit. Joyce surely delivered the spine-tingling vocals for which Tina was known. But something of Joyce's voice also possessed the honey-drenched warmth of Gladys Knight, too.

Too out-of-the-box for black radio, too black for rock radio, Mother's Finest found -- and absolutely still has -- a loyal, cultish following. But as is often the case with American music innovators, Mother's Finest probably received the most love from European audiences. The challenge of gaining adequate mainstream media exposure in the U.S. bilked the band out of the household name-status it deserved.

As a result, there have been long hiatuses over the years, and a somewhat spotty record of dropping new material, leaving fans around the globe jonesing for MF's funky touch. For example in Sweden, there's long been a grafitti wall that begs "Where Is Mother's Finest?" The answer to that is "in our hearts forever."

Luckily, Mother's Finest dropped a live concert set, "Live at Villa Berg (Right Here, Right Now)," in 2005. It's motherly magic, indeed.

Stumble This!

"Truth Will Set You Free" 

Amen! Check out the similarities in these two "annointed" voices

Mothers Finest - Truth will Set you Free 0 points

Dorinda Clark Cole Preaching 0 points

MF'ing the Amazon Jungle 

Another Mother Further

Amazon Price: (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Mother Factor

Amazon Price: (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

The Very Best of Mother's Finest: Not Yer Mother's Funk

Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Mother'S Finest Live

Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Live at Villa Berg (Right Here, Right Now)

Amazon Price: (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

MF Links 

Want more of Mother's Finest? Well, be sure to check these sites for detailed bio and other information about this riveting rock 'n soul band. Of particular note is Joyce Kennedy's involvement with the Daughters of Soul concerts.

A brilliant and heart-felt initiative of "mack diva" Sandra St. Victor, the Daughters of Souls series features some of the best, most beloved voices of our time. In addition to Joyce Kennedy and Sandra St. Victor herself, the tour's stellar lineup includes Lalah Hathaway (daughter of Donnie Hathaway); Nona Hendryx (formerly of the supergroup LaBelle); Nina Simone's talented daughter, Simone; and Chaka Khan's beautiful first-born, Indira.

Joyce Kennedy at Daughters of Soul concert series site

Joyce Kennedy at Answers.com

Mother's Finest at Answers.com

Mother's Finest at MySpace

MothersFinest.com

Germany's GLP site on Mother's Finest

Snap-up This RARE DVD Set: Mother's Finest at Rockpalast 

Double CD features both MF's 1978 and 2003 historic concerts in Germany

"Baby Love" 

Germany still stands up very much for MF

Mother's Finest - "Baby Love" 1993 0 points

6 Degrees of MF 

Funk and Rock Contemporaries, and Those Influenced by Mother's Finest

Greatest Hits

Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living Colour

Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Standing on the Verge of Getting It On

Amazon Price: $16.99 (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Houses of the Holy

Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

The Collection

Amazon Price: (as of 12/23/2009) Buy Now

Rare Interview Footage: Joyce & Dion 

Joyce articulates MF's genre/marketing challenges while Dion pops gum

Mothers Finest - Raw Power interview 1 point

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by ViqiFrench

Writer, publicist and music reviewer Viqi French pays homage to fusion soul and the definant divas who innovated the sound in the 1970s through a...

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