70's Funk Tunes featuring vibes

I thought of two tunes from the early 70's which feature vibes fairly prominently. The first is a one hit wonder by a singer/songwriter/guitarist named William DeVaughn entitled, "Be Thankful For What You Got." I had heard it driving to a gig last week on WXPN's "Funky Friday" program. I remember it from high school. One of the lyrics: "Diamond in the back / sunroof top / digging the scene with a gangster lean" became a catchphrase and appeared in numerous rap/hip hop records of the '90s. DeVaughn, a Washington, D.C. native was working for the government when he paid $900 for a recording session at Philadelphia's Omega Sound Inc. (basically a "vanity record" operation). Usually the results of such efforts are anything but star-making, but Omega featured the services of MFSB's main rhythm section (guitarist Norman Harris, drummer Earl Young, bassist Ron Baker, and vibist Vince Montana). Omega vice-president Frank Fioravanti was impressed with the record and began shopping it around to various labels. It was
finally issued on Wes Farrell's Roxbury imprint and produced by Frank Fioravanti and arranger John Davis, "Be Thankful for What You Got" sold nearly two million copies, gliding up to the top of the R&B charts and number four pop in spring 1974, with a nice vibes solo by Montana. The other song was from approximately the same time, "Keep on Truckin'" by Eddie Kendricks, former lead singer with the Temptations. The track features a vibes solo by, if memory serves me, LA studio percussionist Gary Coleman. This is a great track, funky, with strings and horns, a cooking rhythm section wih Hohner Clavinet, latin percussion, and even some timpani punctuations.