Bloodstone, Natural High | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 41^st edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Natural High” by Bloodstone.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 41^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Natural High”, performed by 🎙 Bloodstone. 

“Why do I keep my mind on you all the time? / And I don’t even know you.” Interesting, 🎙 Charles McCormick.  You can bet the answer to question sung by the late, great singer, bassist, and songwriter of 🎙 Bloodstone involves a four-letter word: LOVE. McCormick continues on 🎵 “Natural High”, a no. 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit from the collective’s 1972 LP of the same title: “Why do I feel this way think about you every day? And I don’t even know you.” Basically, McCormick, in a truly remarkable and ripe falsetto, expresses this high he’s experiencing: “And I’ll take to the sky on a natural high (I wanna take to the sky) / Loving you more till the day I die (oh, natural high).” It is worth noting that McCormick gets a sensation assist by other members vocally and instrumentally on this sweet ballad.

“Natural High” commences with an incredibly lush, warm introduction which sets the tone. After the intro, “Natural High” maintains this lushness, sounding as if it’s floating up in the sky like a cloud McCormick and Bloodstone never seem to break a sweat, singing commandingly without forcing things in the least.  Furthermore, the guitars and keys are utterly celestial, serving as a gorgeous backdrop.  It’s not merely those guitars and keys either, as the listener is treated to strings as well as a fantastic drum groove.  Thematically, it’s all about a big time crush, with McCormick imagining the possibilities between himself and this person he’s infatuated with but doesn’t know. All told,  🎵 “Natural High” marks one of the truly elite soul classics of the 1970s.  To this day, it’s easy to get a natural high from this gem!

🎙 Bloodstone •  💿 Natural High • 🏷 Warner Music Group – X5 Music Group • 🗓 1972

Bloodstone, “Natural High”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 41 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Warner Music Group – X5 Music Group; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]