1) The Crusaders were… Read Full Bio ↴There are several artists named The Crusaders;
1) The Crusaders were an American jazz fusion group that was successful from the 1960s to the 1980s. The group was known as The Jazz Crusaders from its formation in 1960 until shortening its name in 1971.
High school friends Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone) and Nesbert "Stix" Hooper (drums) formed their first band together, the Swingsters, in Houston, Texas in 1954. They played a mixture of jazz and R&B, and were joined by Wayne Henderson (trombone), Hubert Laws (flute), and Henry Wilson (bass). The group soon turned more to hard bop, and renamed themselves the Modern Jazz Sextet, but also recorded in a more R&B vein as the Nighthawks (or Nite Hawks).
In 1960, Sample, Felder, Hooper and Henderson moved to Los Angeles, and formed the Jazz Crusaders as a quintet with a succession of different bass players. Influenced by musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and John Coltrane, the band signed to the Pacific Jazz label in 1961, and released 16 albums on the label over the subsequent eight years. With a front-line horn section of Felder and Henderson, the group's sound was rooted in hard bop, but with a slant towards R&B and soul music.
Their first two albums, with Jimmy Bond on bass, were Freedom Sound (1961), and Lookin' Ahead (1962), followed by the live album At the Lighthouse (1962) and Tough Talk, the first of several albums with bassist Bobby Haynes. In all, the group recorded five live albums in the 1960s, four of which were recorded at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach. They also had their first chart entry, their treatment of Stevie Wonder's "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" reaching No.95 on the Hot 100 in 1966. The group's 1969 album, Powerhouse, was their first to reach the Billboard 200 album chart, reaching No. 184, and was also their last studio album for Pacific Jazz.
The group then signed with the Chisa label, co-owned by trumpeter Hugh Masekela and producer Stewart Levine. Their 1970 album Old Socks, New Shoes reached No. 90 on the album chart, and was their last as the Jazz Crusaders. The decision was taken to call the group simply the Crusaders, so as not to limit their scope and potential audience. After a second album with Chisa, (Pass the Plate, 1971), and one album for the MoWest label (Hollywood, 1972) they signed with Blue Thumb Records, where they remained until the late 1970s. Their recordings increasingly adopted a jazz-funk style. They incorporated electric guitar and bass into their shows and recordings, as well as using Sample's electric piano and clavinet. Guitarist Larry Carlton joined, and featured on their albums in the early part of the decade. Bass duties were often handled by Felder, though Robert "Pops" Popwell joined later in the decade.
According to jazz critic Scott Yanow at Allmusic, however, "after a few excellent albums during the early part of the decade... the group began to decline in quality." Sample later commented that the group was under commercial pressure from record companies to record jazzed-up versions of contemporary popular songs. Henderson left to become a record producer in 1975, and the other musicians regularly and increasingly worked as session musicians with artists such as the Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and Randy Newman. With a growing crossover appeal, the group's most commercially successful recordings included the single "Put It Where You Want It" (No.52 pop, 1972), and the albums The 2nd Crusade (No.45 album, 1973), Southern Comfort (No.31 album, 1974), Chain Reaction (No.26 album, 1975), Those Southern Knights (No.38 album, 1976), and Images (No.34 album, 1978).
The peak of the group's commercial success came with 1979's Street Life, with Randy Crawford as featured singer. The album peaked at No. 18 on the pop album charts and the title track made the Top 10 on the R&B chart, No. 36 on Billboard′s Hot 100 chart, and No.5 in the UK. Later albums by the group featured singers Bill Withers and Joe Cocker. The live 1982 album Royal Jam featured guitarist B. B. King, bassist James Jamerson, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hooper left in 1983, and though Felder and Sample kept the group operating through the 1980s, the group's commercial success diminished.
Felder and Henderson reunited in the mid-1990s as the Crusaders. Henderson later led a band called the Jazz Crusaders, in which Felder and Carlton also played, and Felder and Sample reunited as the Crusaders in 2003.
Wayne Henderson died on April 5, 2014. Joe Sample died in Houston on September 12, 2014. Wilton Felder died on September 27, 2015.
2) a European Oi band.
3) an Australian garage surf band who recorded two albums in the late 1990s.
4) a Christian garage band active 1966-67.
Sweet Dreams
The Crusaders Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
split your money
Walking gobshine,
hollow legs
Mornig brings back
fools and songs
Enemies and headaches
Sweet dreams
catch a knife
Same old questions
multiple choice
Slide into a
bottle or a chemical void
The question sits and waits
on the other side
Sweet dreams you can't recall
Sweet dreams you don't remember
Happend already,
split your money
Walking gobshine,
hollow legs
Mornig brings back
fools and songs
Enemies and headaches
Sweet dreams you can't recall
Sweet dreams you don't remember
Sweet dreams you can't recall
Sweet dreams you don't remember
The Crusaders' song "Sweet Dreams" depicts the experience of a person struggling with addiction and its accompanying problems. The lyrics suggest that the individual has already lost money, likely due to their addiction, and is now left feeling empty and hollow. They are constantly plagued by regret and disappointment as each morning brings back the same cycle of pain and mounting stress. The lyrics further suggest that the individual has attempted various methods to cope with their addiction and its associated struggles, but all to no avail. A sense of helplessness pervades the entire song; the individual cannot escape their problems and is doomed to relive the same painful experience over and over again.
The lyrics of "Sweet Dreams" are poignant and haunting, offering a powerful insight into the challenges of addiction. The song portrays the desperation and helplessness of someone caught in a cycle of addiction, with little hope for escape. The idea of "sweet dreams" highlights the immense desire of the individual to escape reality and find some relief from the pain and struggles of their everyday existence. It is a powerful reminder of the destructive nature of addiction and the toll it can take on those who suffer from it.
Line by Line Meaning
Happend already,
Something has already occurred in the past,
split your money
You have spent all of your money,
Walking gobshine,
You are walking aimlessly,
hollow legs
You are very hungry,
Mornig brings back
The morning brings with it,
fools and songs
Foolishness and music,
Enemies and headaches
You have both enemies and a headache,
Sweet dreams
You wish for peaceful sleep,
Don't waste fingers trying to
Do not try to,
catch a knife
Grab a knife,
Same old questions
Repetitive questions,
multiple choice
With many options to choose from,
Slide into a
Enter,
bottle or a chemical void
Into either a bottle or a drug-induced state of mind,
The question sits and waits
The question remains unanswered,
on the other side
On the opposite end,
Sweet dreams you can't recall
You have forgotten the peaceful dreams you once had,
Sweet dreams you don't remember
You do not remember the peaceful dreams you once had,
Sweet dreams you can't recall
You have forgotten the peaceful dreams you once had,
Sweet dreams you don't remember
You do not remember the peaceful dreams you once had
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, BMG Rights Management
Written by: CRIGHTON ANDREW JOSEPH/REDMONDS DUNCAN JONATHAN/WELLS SIMON PAUL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind