Pleasure (Ohio Players album)

Pleasure is the third studio album by American funk band Ohio Players and the second released through the Westbound label in December 1972.

Pleasure
Studio album by Ohio Players
Released	December 1972
Studio	Artie Fields Studios (Detroit, Michigan)
Genre	Soul, funk
Length	30:35
Label	Westbound
Producer	Ohio Players
Ohio Players chronology
Pain (1972) Pleasure (1972) Ecstasy (1973)
Singles from Pleasure
"Funky Worm" Released: January 16, 1973

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

History

Pleasure continues with vocal harmonies more reminiscent of earlier work than what they would do when they moved to Mercury two years later, and would often show jazz tendencies with some of their musical arrangements. The songs are a mixture of radio-friendly material with songs that come off as late night studio jam sessions, such as "Walt's First Trip".

The song "Funky Worm" was released as a single and went to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts, their biggest hit during their time with Westbound. The song, about a unique worm that enjoyed going in mysterious places, would later be sampled by a number of producers in hip-hop and R&B during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The single and album mixes of "Funky Worm" are slightly different, most notably the opening drum break and the synthesizer solo that represents the sound of the worm. Upon listening to hip-hop and R&B songs that have sampled it, one can detect if they used the single or album version.

The album was produced by the band, and engineered by Arlen Smith. The cover photo was taken by Joel Brodsky.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ohio Players

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Pleasure"	5:26
2.	"Laid It"	3:00
3.	"Pride and Vanity"	4:22
4.	"Walt's First Trip"	3:08

Side two

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Varee Is Love"	2:43
6.	"Walked Away from You"	2:29
7.	"Paint Me"	2:02
8.	"Funky Worm"	2:35
9.	"Our Love Has Died"	4:50

Personnel

• Ohio Players – producers, arrangements
• Arlen Smith – engineer
• David Krieger – art direction
• Joel Brodsky – photography
• Mia Krinsky – album co-ordination
• Bob Scerbo – art production supervision

Charts

Chart (1972)	Peak
U.S. Billboard Top LPs	63
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs	4

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US	US R&B
1972	"Pleasure"	—	45
	"Varee Is Love"	—	—
1973	"Funky Worm"	15	1

External links

• Pleasure at Discogs