The Outfit “Merry Christmas Baby” (Trex, 1973)

The Outfit “Merry Christmas Baby” / “O Holy Night” (Trex, 1973)

The Outfit was a spouge band from Guyana, who mostly recorded covers of soul and funk tunes (“Dr. Spougenstein,” a cover of the George Clinton tune, was recently reissued), who put out six 45s on the Trex and Wirl labels out of Barbados.

Unlike most of their releases, this tune is not a cover (despite being the same title as the Charles Brown song) - it’s a great organ-driven heartfelt soul ballad original that would have been right at home in Otis Redding’s repertoire. The “O Holy Night” on the B-side is also great. One of the highlights from my finds this year for sure!

What happened to the Outfit? Their last record came out in 1978. After that, I believe lead singer Phil “Bumpy” Dino moved to Canada and finished out his career there, putting out a solo record in 1982.

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