The Third Eye is turning up the funk, and we want to introduce you to the sounds of Gypsy Mitchell, a pioneer of psychedelic gospel funk in the early Seventies and arranger for Dallas’ The Relatives. Mitchell is mounting a solo return to the music world and unleashed a fantastic new single, “Movin’ (Down The Highway),” on September 29th that tells the story of his early musical life and marks his triumphant return to the studio and the road.
The 70-year-old Gypsy Mitchell sings with rough-hewn Bobby Womack-style vocals and over a slinky rhythm guitar track on “Movin’.” Turn this bad boy up loud when you’re out on the town on a Saturday night.
Check out the single and video below:
The single and upcoming record was produced by Austin, Texas-based Zach Ernst and Matthew Strmiska, founding members of Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears. I haven’t heard the full LP yet, but I’m told it’s a “sophisticated and distinctively Texan LP that blurs the lines between vintage soul, contemporary psych, and breakbeats.” That sounds pretty rad!
Charles Ray “Gypsy” Mitchell was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1952, and at the age of 17, he formed the innovative gospel funk group The Relatives with Rev. Gean West and Tommie West. Mitchell co-wrote, arranged, and played guitar on the band’s first two singles, later compiled and re-issued on the 2009 Heavy Light release Don’t Let Me Fall.
Gypsy is a self-taught musician whose unique guitar sound can be attributed to an opening tuning, effects pedals, and a synthesis of his heroes Wes Montgomery, Hendrix, and Cal Valentine. Mitchell worked as a sideman for Buddy Ace for several years in the Eighties and shared the stage with Joe Simon, Johnnie Taylor, and Little Milton at venues like the historic Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas.
Mitchell says he was visited by the late Rev. Gean West in a dream in 2021 and was inspired to share a lifetime of original compositions with the production team of Ernst and Strmiska, who worked with him on contemporary Relatives recordings in the mid-2010s. Gypsy’s solo comeback has seen him performing in Texas with his “copious gold chains” and “ornament-adorned guitar,” which he plays behind his head and with his teeth, according to one review.
“Movin’ (Down the Highway)” is a great song, and I am dying to hear more from Gypsy Mitchell. I’m not sure when the solo LP will be out, but let’s keep an eye on any news. The Third Eye doesn’t write enough about the great psychedelic funk of today or the past, but listening to Gypsy Mitchell makes me want to go back and re-play Maggot Brain and Curtis Mayfield’s records.
Support Gypsy Mitchell by finding him on Spotify or social media (Instagram, Facebook).
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