From the artist’s Allmusic.com biography by Ed Hogan:
Trenton, NJ-born guitarist/bassist Raymond Earl was an integral member of Philly soul band Instant Funk, who in turn was part of MFSB, the studio aggregation that was the house band for Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records.
Earl followed the lead of his older brothers, who were guitarists, and picked up the instrument at a young age. Around age ten, he started an instrumental band called Royal 5. While attending a talent show, Earl met drummer Scotty Miller who was the solo instrumentalist for a five-piece vocal group called the Imperialistics. Earl eventually joined the band, and sometime later the two teenagers formed the Music Machine. Adding Scotty‘s brother Kim on guitar, and pianists James and David Jones, Earl switched to bass. To learn the rudiments of bass playing, Earl would play single 45 records, particularly those that featured Motown bassist James Jamerson, at a slower speed….