Action/Better Days

Personnel: Ollie E. Brown (vocals, drums, percussion); Jim Gilstrap (vocals, background vocals); James Garrett, Ronnie Mayez, John Lehman, Roy Galloway, Bill Thedford (vocals); Orville Saunders, Ray Parker, Jr. (guitar); Mark Smith (acoustic guitar); Stephen Johnson (saxophone); Ernie Watts (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Jose Hernandez (alto saxophone); Donald Byrd, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey (trumpet); William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr. (trombone); Kevin Toney (piano, synthesizer); George Duke (synthesizer); Keith Killgo (drums); Eddie "Bongo" Brown (congas); Dan Stewart, Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Carl Carlwell, Lynette Stephens, Sheila Escovedo, Tramaine Hawkins (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Tommy Vicari.
Audio Remixer: Jim Nipar.
Recording information: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA; Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA; The SOund Factory, Hollywood, CA.
Photographers: Phil Bray; Gerald Panopoulos.
Arranger: Wade Marcus.
The Blackbyrds' solid 1977 release Action was combined with its 1980 (and somewhat lackluster) follow-up, Better Days, on a single compact disc by BGP records in 1995. ~ Sean Westergaard