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. 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. Mother's Finest re-formed for 1989's
Looks Could Kill on
Capitol/
EMI Records, with only drummer Barry Borden missing from the classic lineup. He was replaced by Joyce Kennedy and Glenn Murdock's son, Dion Derek Murdock. In 1990, the band released its second live album,
Subluxation, on RCA/BMG, albeit only in Europe. It was the first album to feature guitarist John "Red Devil" Hayes, formerly of Atlanta's PG-13, hired in place of the departing Moses Mo. The band moved over to
Scotti Bros. for 1992's ''
Black Radio Won't Play This Record'', a heavy
Thom Panunzio produced
funk metal affair, recorded with the help of former
Sound Barrier member Tracey "Spacey T" Singleton on guitar. The band continued to tour heavily, especially in Europe, but did not release another studio CD until 2004's ''Meta-Funk'n-Physical'', an experimental, hip hop- and electronic beats-oriented effort. In 1997, drummer Dion Murdock lent his services to
Kingdom Come and appeared on their
Master Seven album. In 1999, Wyzard, Moses Mo and longtime Mother's Finest touring keyboardist Pascal Kravetz joined multi-national band
Carl Carlton & The Songdogs, releasing a handful of albums along the way. In 2002, Moses Mo issued his solo album,
Cartoon You, which features contributions from Glenn Murdock, Joyce Kennedy and Wyzard, along with several other members of the extended Mother's Finest family, Kerry Denton, Harold Seay, Johnnetta Johnson and Pascal Kravetz. In 2008, Wyzard released his solo album,
Primal Incantation, featuring brother Harold Seay and Sean O'Rourke on drums. Beginning in 2004, Joyce Kennedy was seen on the international
Daughters of Soul tour along with
Sandra St. Victor,
Nona Hendryx,
Lalah Hathaway (daughter of
Donny Hathaway), Indira Khan (daughter of
Chaka Khan), and
Simone (daughter of
Nina Simone). Nona Hendryx would cover Mother's Finest's "Truth'll Set You Free" off
Another Mother Further with her group
Labelle on their 2008 album
Back to Now. In 2010, fellow Georgia rockers
Jackyl, featuring
Darryl McDaniels from
Run-D.M.C., paid homage to Mother's Finest with a cover of "Like a Negro" from ''Black Radio Won't Play This Record
and also shot a video. Jackyl frontman Jesse James Dupree had previously been in the band PG-13 with John Hayes in the late 1980s and called on Hayes to play guitar on his 2000 solo album, Foot Fetish'', with Hayes and fellow Mother's Finest members, Wyzard and Dion Derek Murdock, all contributing to the songwriting. Dupree, Hayes, Wyzard and Murdock had earlier played together under the name Dent. The band recorded an album for
Sony Music, which was ultimately shelved by the label and remains unreleased. On September 16, 2011, Mother's Finest was inducted into the
Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In July 2013, Mother's Finest launched a
Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new studio album. In November 2014, it was announced that the band had signed a European record deal with
SPV/Steamhammer for their new studio,
Goody 2 Shoes & The Filthy Beast, set for a spring 2015 release. An advance single, "Shut Up", was issued on St. Nicholas Day, December 6, 2014 "as a present to all their European fans". In November 2015, Australian label Raven Records re-issued the band's 4 albums for Epic Records, ''Mother's Finest'' ('76),
Another Mother Further ('77),
Mother Factor ('78) and
Live ('79) as a 2-disc package. British label SoulMusic Records would issue the 2-disc
Love Changes: The Anthology 1972–1983 set in March 2017, including 2 songs from the band's 1972 debut album for RCA and a further 6 cuts from the second unreleased RCA album. These eight songs had previously been available on CD as bonus tracks on the now out-of-print Wounded Bird Records re-issue of the 1976 ''Mother's Finest'' album. On April 14, 2017, British label Rock Candy Records re-issued a re-mastered version of Mother's Finest's 1981 scorcher
Iron Age, including a 16-page full color booklet, 4000-word essay about the making of the album, new interviews and enhanced artwork. == Members ==