He certainly deserves wider attention for this lively funk number in the style of James Brown. Recorded in 1970, it’s got that emergent guitar twang that Seventies funk often brought to the table, colouring its relentless groove and urgent vocal exhortations.
The extravagantly named General Columbus Crook was a country boy from the Blues Delta in Mississippi who, like so many before him, travelled north to Chicago after leaving school and ended up with a record deal, becoming something of a local legend in the lounges of the Windy City.
His first single was written by a band called The Salty Peppers, who evolved into the rather better-known Earth, Wind & Fire, and Gimme Some gave him his biggest hit (a modest 22 on the R&B charts).
His parents might have preferred him to choose a career in the military. Or explore the oceans in search of faraway lands.