The Vinyl of the Day is ‘Rufusized’ by Rufus (Featuring Chaka Khan), 1974. By 1974, Rufus had gone from a popular local bar attraction in Chicago to a platinum-selling rock band on the strength of their previous gold-selling album ‘Rags To Rufus’, and two hit singles. They also would boost their profile opening for superstars such as Marvin Gaye and The Rolling Stones, and appearing on shows such as Soul Train and American Bandstand. Their popularity had blown to such huge proportions that the media was paying more attention to the band's frenetic, fiery lead singer, Chaka Khan, than the rest of the group - and Rufus became “Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan”, to use her growing popularity. Due to Khan's strong vocals and energetic presence, she was immediately given comparisons to her singing idols, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner. Chaka’s rise to popularity caused friction between founding members Al Ciner and Dennis Belfield and former lead singer Ron Stockert, who left the group prior to the finish of ‘Rags To Rufus’, the band's breakthrough release, while being replaced by bassist Bobby Watson and Tony Maiden, creating the most famous and successful final version of Rufus.

The greatest strength of ‘Rufusized’ is its sheer joy - from the first couple of bars of the opening song, "Once You Get Started", right through to the fade out & fade back in trickery towards the end of the final track, the monster hit "Stop On By", the only thing you hear on the album is sheer unbridled joy. It always makes me smile and no matter how low I'm feeling, I'm always cheered up after listening to it.

In many basic ways,this stands as one of Rufus's most musically complete albums. Their first two records both had a very garagey production flavor that,while the instrumental flavor was based deeply in funk and soul, had the raggedy quality that a lot of rock 'n roll bands prefer to have. The production approach on this particular album is completely different. With the addition of Clare Fischer as an arranger the presence of strings and horns on this album makes a huge difference, and Fischer is able to add that orchestration without interfering with the basic rhythm section Rufus provided. As a matter of fact, on the majority of this album that is all that you hear playing in addition to Chaka's singing. Tony Maiden's guitar playing style is also far more based in jazz and funk. His sound is much cleaner, and his plays with lines with a beautifully melodic fluidity that is flexible enough to be just as intense as it needs to be. Because one of the major musical commonalities binding Chaka Khan and the members of Rufus together was a love for jazz, that particular style of bass/guitar playing and drumming are emphasized strongly here throughout. You can certainly hear on this album how members of Rufus would eventually go on to become some of the most renowned session musicians of the late 70's/early 80's. Though her relationship with the band would sour in later years, the marriage of Rufus and Chaka was, at this point a magically funky match if there ever was one. Rufus was one of the best and most fun of the 70s funk bands, and ‘Rufusized’ was arguably their best, with the amazing Chaka Khan at her peak. If you don’t love Chaka, GTFO my blog right now! And if you do love her, go out and steal this record today.

AllMusic Review by Jason Elias

In the early '70s, Rufus was one of the most popular and interesting bands in R&B and rock. Of course, the reason was Chaka Khan, who possessed an amazing voice that was well versed in rock and jazz every bit as much as R&B. Their debut went nowhere, Rags to Rufus offered two instant classics, and Rufusized displayed their skill as album artists. Truth be told, this version of Rufus was nearly a brand-new band, as three members exited and guitarist Tony Maiden and bassist Bobby Watson joined up. The result was a funkier and more talented band who would give Khan the needed earthy and ethereal mix that would make her soar. The sexy and danceable "Once You Started" proves that this version of the band gave off immediate sparks and results. The sneaky and funky "Somebody's Watching You" has Khan displaying even more confidence. After great album cuts like the soothing "Your Smile" and "Pack'd My Bags," Rufusized ends on a strong note. The poignant and sophisticated "Please Pardon Me (You Remind Me)" leads into the Maiden and Khan duet cover of Bobby Womack's "Stop on By," which nearly matches the steaminess and wry nature of the original. Often forgotten due to the bigger hits on Rags to Rufus, this easily outstrips that album and became of one the band's most-loved efforts.