The Ponderosa Twins Plus One, Bound | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 69^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Bound” by The Ponderosa Twins Plus One.

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 69^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Bound”, performed by 🎙 The Ponderosa Twins Plus One.

“Bound (bound), bound (bound) / Bound to fall in love.” Sometimes, it only takes one song to make music history.  For the short-lived soul collective, 🎙 The Ponderosa Twins Plus One (comprised of the Pelham twins, Gardner twins, and Ricky Spicer), that one special song is 🎵 “Bound”. “Bound” was not a sizable success.  It failed to impact the pop charts and only landed in the top-50 on the soul singles chart. Regardless, thanks to 🎙 Kanye West, who sampled the classic in his own song, 🎵 “Bound 2” from his 2013 album, 💿 Yeezus, “Bound” has earned more notoriety (and a lawsuit 😬). 🎙 Tyler, The Creator also sampled the song (🎵 “A BOY IS A GUN” from 💿 IGOR). It should be worth noting that “Bound” graced the soul album by The Ponderosa Twins Plus One, 💿 2+2+1=, released in 1971.

The script of “Bound” isn’t game changing – it is all about falling in love.  The young collective keeps things simple.  “You ask her what sign she is / And you find that you’re compatible,” lead vocalist, 🎙 Ricky Spicer sings, adding, “You realize how fine she is / She’s just what you’ve been looking for.” Basically, you can find yourself falling in love easily.  “Bound” does sound like it was performed by children (no disrespect or shade), which is part of the charm.  The instrumental is idiomatic of the soul sound, slating somewhere between the 60s and more sophisticated 70s sound.  The bass line = marvelous.  Label 🎵 “Bound” what it is – a classic that deserves much more recognition than it has received historically.

🎙 The Ponderosa Twins Plus One • 💿 2+2+1=  • 🏷 Essential Media Group LLC • 🗓 1971

The Ponderosa Twins Plus One, “Bound”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 69 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Essential Media Group LLC; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]