Description
Ohio Players – Pain – Vinyl Record
Before the glittering funk hits and polished grooves that made them radio stars, Ohio Players were a far grittier band. Pain, released in 1972, captures them during that raw early phase—a time when their sound leaned heavily into deep funk, bluesy soul, and extended jams built around thick rhythm sections and fearless attitude.
The Dayton, Ohio group had already begun developing the musical chemistry that would later make them famous, but on Pain the band sounds looser, darker, and more experimental than the slick funk outfit they would become later in the decade. The music stretches out across long grooves where bass, drums, and keyboards lock together while horns and guitars rise and fall over the top.
The album’s title track, “Pain,” is the centerpiece. Running well over ten minutes, it unfolds slowly, driven by a hypnotic bass line and pulsing rhythm that builds layer by layer. Vocals drift in and out of the mix, sometimes soulful, sometimes raw, while the band rides the groove with confidence. The song feels less like a traditional single and more like a deep funk journey.
Pain blends several influences that were shaping Black music in the early 1970s. There’s the rhythmic power of funk, the emotional weight of soul, and the improvisational spirit of jazz. Organ lines swirl through the arrangements, guitars cut in with sharp riffs, and the horn section adds bursts of energy that keep the music moving.
Vocally, the band shifts between gritty lead lines and group harmonies that give the songs a communal feel. The lyrics often lean toward themes of love, struggle, and resilience, fitting the emotional tone suggested by the album’s title.
While the Ohio Players would later reach massive commercial success with albums like Fire and Honey, Pain represents the group in a more underground setting—raw, groove-driven, and unfiltered.
Looking back, the album feels like the sound of a band discovering just how powerful their rhythm could be. Pain may not have the glossy production of their later hits, but its deep funk grooves and extended jams reveal the foundation of what would soon make the Ohio Players one of the defining funk bands of the 1970s.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Pain
Never Had A Dream
Players Balling (Players Doin’ Their Own Thang)
I Wanna Hear From You
The Reds
Singing In The Morning
