Bloodstone, a silky soul band that rose to prominence in the 1970s, is one of the most commercially successful groups to emerge from Kansas City.
Their classic R&B slow jam “Natural High” peaked at #10 on Billboard’s pop chart on July 21, 1973. Bloodstone was so popular that the band starred in the 1975 blaxploitation movie Train Ride to Hollywood.
The band soldiers on, maintaining a national presence even though its founder and lead vocalist Charles Love died in 2014. The group is part of a “‘70s Soul Jam” bill with the Stylistics, the Emotions and Carl Carlton in Las Vegas on August 19.
Here they are performing “Natural High” on "Soul Train":
Bloodstone performs on Saturday, August 12 at the 2017 Heart of America Hot Dog Festival on the median of Paseo Boulevard north of 18th Street (the site of the Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival in May).
The show, a fundraiser for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, is intended to celebrate "the historical connection between our national pastime and baseball fan’s favorite ballpark food.” It's headlined by the funk pioneers Zapp and features a performance by the vocal group After 7.
KCUR contributor Bill Brownlee blogs about Kansas City's jazz scene at Plastic Sax.
