A group that fuses gospel, funk, and psychedelic soul, the Relatives were formed in 1970, by Texas natives Reverend Gean West and Reverend Tommie West. After releasing three singles and opening for bands such as
The Staple Singers and
The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, the Relatives broke up in 1980 due to lack of interest in their releases. Writing in
The New York Times,
James C. McKinley Jr. surmised that during their initial run "Their sound was too close to R&B for the church, too laden with gospel lyrics for R&B radio." The Relatives were brought back together after producer Noel Waggener was handed a cracked copy of their 1971 EP "Don't Let Me Fall" by a friend's mother who had found it at a thrift shop. After Waggener and his partner tracked down Gean West to a church in Dallas, The Relatives reunited to play a concert in 2009 at The Continental Club in Austin, Texas. They released a compilation album titled ''Don't Let Me Fall'', under Waggener's label Heavy Light Records in 2009.
The Independent The Austin Chronicle and
AllMusic.
Goodbye World was released on April 29, 2016. The Relatives continued to perform live shows despite the deaths of both West and Tony Corbitt, who along with Tyron Edwards was recruited at the start of The Relatives' comeback to replace former members. On 2 March 2024, The Relatives announced on Instagram that frontman Reverand Tommie West had died. == Discography ==