Sleepy's Theme

<a href="spotify:artist:7qvIiE9YmyP02NLjufTxkX">Organized Noize</a> was the primary architect behind virtually the entire "Hotlanta" sound of the 1990s. As the mainstay of the production group, <a href="spotify:artist:7Dnu2NmddNymEI2LMZVH5v">Pat "Sleepy" Brown</a> (whose father was a member of '70s funk band <a href="spotify:artist:4Uv0Jg45Oq7vBXXwQNhXyf">Brick</a>) could lay claim to being one of the most influential behind-the-boards men in music. Along with fellow multi-instrumentalists Rico Wade and Ray Murray, <a href="spotify:artist:7Dnu2NmddNymEI2LMZVH5v">Brown</a> was responsible for hit singles from <a href="spotify:artist:0TImkz4nPqjegtVSMZnMRq">TLC</a> ("Waterfalls") and <a href="spotify:artist:5fikk4h5qbEebqK2Fc6e48">En Vogue</a> ("Don't Let Go (Love)"), arguably the two most influential female R&B groups of the decade, and, on the rap side of the divide, he called the shots in the control booth during the creation of the landmark '90s albums of <a href="spotify:artist:3F2Y683ovlWT53WKCeq0oj">Goodie Mob</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1G9G7WwrXka3Z1r7aIDjI7">OutKast</a>, who, alongside <a href="spotify:artist:7qvIiE9YmyP02NLjufTxkX">Organized Noize</a>, are two of the key cogs in the mammoth <a href="spotify:artist:1ElKnrmCBRnIjTrrzkAL42">Dungeon Family</a> collective. It was <a href="spotify:artist:7Dnu2NmddNymEI2LMZVH5v">Brown</a>'s somnolent falsetto, in fact, that could be heard oozing from <a href="spotify:artist:1G9G7WwrXka3Z1r7aIDjI7">OutKast</a>'s premiere hit "Player's Ball" in 1994.

It was no surprise, then, when <a href="spotify:artist:7Dnu2NmddNymEI2LMZVH5v">Brown</a>, Wade, and Murray sought an outlet on the side to record their original music. They first stepped out on their own as three-fifths of <a href="spotify:artist:4rFhAWl7KrMNII4rZYVbK5">Society of Soul</a>, which released a solid 1995 album, Brainchild, that, only partly successfully, attempted to bring the '60s and '70s urban milieu into a '90s context. More successful was their second attempt under the moniker Sleepy's Theme. Released on micro-indie Bang Ii in 1998, The Vinyl Room added a sleek and pimped-out new chapter to the funk and soul storybook that previously had been written by such loose-limbed, mood-driven stalwarts as <a href="spotify:artist:3IKV7o6WPphDB7cCWXaG3E">Isaac Hayes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3rfgbfpPSfXY40lzRK7Syt">Barry White</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2AV6XDIs32ofIJhkkDevjm">Curtis Mayfield</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:53QzNeFpzAaXYnrDBbDrIp">the Isley Brothers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6twIAGnYuIT1pncMAsXnEm">the Commodores</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4QQgXkCYTt3BlENzhyNETg">Earth, Wind & Fire</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4TwHRCIu3Xg9fjS3l7owkp">the Gap Band</a>. Among the finest soul albums of the year, The Vinyl Room unfortunately was accorded little promotional push, and as a result failed to find much airplay even inside urban markets. ~ Stanton Swihart, Rovi