CHARLES BRADLEY-NO TIME FOR DREAMING.
CHARLES BRADLEY-NO TIME FOR DREAMING.
Although it was a long time coming, Charles Bradley released his debut album No Time For Dreaming in 2011 on Dunham Records. By 2011, Charles was fifty-three, and during his life, he’d travelled more than a few roads, most of them twisty. His love of music started when his sister took him to see James Brown in New York in 1962. This lead to Charles copying James Brown’s every move and mannerism, and lead to a lifelong love of music, with music the one constant in his life. Charles Bradley was born in Gainesville, Florida, and brought up in Brooklyn, New York. Having spent much of his childhood on the streets, the Job Corps offered Charles an alternative. He headed to Maine, where he worked as a chef. After someone remarked upon how Charles looked like James Brown, he formed a band. Unfortunately, the band had to be put on hold, when Charles’ band were drafted during the Vietnam war. With no band, Charles found work in New York, working as a chef for mentally ill people. During this time, Charles saved enough for a deposit for a car, but couldn’t keep up the repayments. Handing the car back to the dealer, Charles Bradley, with no band and no car, started hitchhiking his way through America. Eventually, at the end of the road he was about to travel, came savior in the form a recording contract with Dunham Records, who released No Time For Dreaming. Before that, much would happen to Charles.
During Charles time hitchhiking, he caught rides throughout America and Canada, persevering with the dangers a life on the road through at him. Having settled upon California as a home, Charles spent twenty years living there. He worked as a chef, playing concerts on an ad-hoc basis. With no regular band, he picked up gigs when he could and sat in on recording sessions. After seventeen years working the same job, Charles was about to buy his first home. Then out of nowhere, he lost his job. This lead to him heading home to Brooklyn, New York. Loading his family, musical equipment and every possession he owned into a truck, Charles headed home. It was In Brooklyn that his musical career would at last take-of.
Working as a handyman and performing in local clubs as a James Brown impersonator, Charles honed his Black Velvet routine. At long last, things were improving for Charles. He was making a living and name for himself doing what he loved and was good at..music. His career was on the up, but then his life was forever changed.
This life-changing event was the news that his brother had been shot and killed. Suddenly, nothing matter, neither music, nor life itself. Then Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records entered Charles Bradley’s life. He’d heard Charles sing at the Tarheel Lounge and recognized Charles’ raw talent and hunger. Gabriel took Charles to Daptone’s House of Soul Studios, where he sang on a Sugarman 3 session. Soon Charles’ debut single Take It As It Comes was released. Then the final piece of the jigsaw fell into place one night in Staten Island.
Gabriel Roth took Charles to Staten Island to hear a young funk band playing cover versions of James Brown and Meters tracks. They were Dirt Rifle and The Bullets. Soon, Thomas Brenneck the songwriter and guitarist for the band formed close friendship. Two singles were released under the name Charles Bradley and The Bullets. When The Bullets decided to become an Afrobeat band, this presented a problem. However, Charles Bradley had the man who’d cowrite and produce his debut album No Time For Dreaming, Thomas Brenneck.
Charles and Thomas had become close friends, with Charles confiding in Thomas the tragedy of his brother’s death. Out of this tragedy came lyrics for a new set of of songs. Then Thomas Brenneck told Charles about a new set of instrumental songs he was working on with a group called The Menahan Street Band. He felt that their sound was perfect for Charles’ lyrics. All they needed was a record company to record and release their music. Even that fell into place. Thomas Brenneck had just launched Dunham Records, a subsidiary of Daptone. It seemed that everything was falling into place not just for Charles Bradley, but the aspiring producer Thomas Brenneck.
Soon, two singles were released The Whole World Is Going Up In Flames in 2007 and in 2008 The Telephone Song. Then after many a long recording session and late night, Charles Bradley’s debut album No Time For Dreaming was completed. Its release was preceded by the release of the title-track No Time For Dreaming. During this period, Charles had little time for anything, never mind dreaming. He’d been touring with The Menahan Street Band while recording his debut album. Time spent on the road saw Charles further honing his skills as a charismatic performer and entertainer. Then at last, 2011 saw Charles Bradley release his debut album No Time For Dreaming.
Although Charles Bradley was fifty-three in 2011, No Time For Dreaming, saw a new star born. No Time For Dreaming reached number fifty in the US Top Heatseakers Chart in 2011. Soon, people all over the world were talking about this new singer Charles Bradley and his music. Little did they know the road he’d travelled before releasing No Time For Dreaming. The road had been long and hard, with tragedy and triumphs along the way. At the end of that road was No Time For Dreaming, which I’ll tell you about, by picking some of the highlights of the album.
Opening No Time For Dreaming is the 2006 single The World (Is Going Up In Flames). Straight away, you hear a real vintage soul sound from the track’s opening bars. Just guitars, rhythm section and piano combine, before dramatic, soulful backing vocalists give way to that voice. Think Al Green, shades of O.V. Wright, Otis Clay and even Marvin Gaye. Charles delivers the lyrics with passion, pain and power. This is real soul music, music from the heart. Bursts of rasping horns and backing vocalists accompany his heartfelt delivery. You’re spellbound, by how impassioned and soulful his voice is. It seems everything that’s happened to Charles Bradley, both the tragedy and triumph finds an outlet during the song.
During The Telephone Song which was released as a single back in 2008, you can hear similarities with Marvin Gaye. After Charles’ telephone conversation to his lover, Charles vocal is full of hurt and pain. He’s trying to make up for the heartbreak he’s caused. Blazing horns reflect the pain and hurt in his vocal, while the rhythm section and percussion combine to create a backdrop for his brokenhearted vocal. Key to the track’s sound and success are Charles’ vocal and the horns, who reflect the hurt and heartache in Charles’ desperate vocal.
Lovin’ You, Baby is another track where there’s a vintage soul sound. This is thanks to the Hammond organ that opens the track. With its unmistakable, unique sound, it’s the perfect backdrop for Charles’ fervent, impassioned pleas. Here, you can hear similarities with James Brown in Charles’ voice. This similarity is noticeable with the horns and their growling, pained sound. It’s just the a slow, loose rhythm section, Hammond organ and horn section that accompany Charles. He builds the drama, mixing heartache, passion and sincerity, delivering an irresistible heartfelt vocal.
No Time For Dreaming sees Charles, his band and backing vocalists pay homage to James Brown. There are similarities to James Browns, The JBs and The Famous Flames. This similarity is noticeable from the opening bars. Charles and his backing vocalists feed off each other. One drives the other to greater heights of drama and soulfulness. Meanwhile, The Menahan Street Band provide a backdrop that’s funk personified. The rhythm section and rasping horns and backing vocalists are a perfect foil to Charles’ growling vocal. He really unleashes a voice that’s fiery, funky and full of feeling and is a perfect homage to the Godfather of Funk James Brown.
A roll of drums, Hammond organ and punchy, rasping horns open Why Is It So Hard. They build up the drama, setting the scene for Charles’ vocal. He asks “why is it so hard to make it in America?” This sounds personal. Soon you realize it is. What you hear is the story of Charles Bradley and his struggle for recognition. With just the Hammond organ, rhythm section and bursts of angry horns accompanying him, Charles lays bare his soul. His voice is full of sadness and frustration, combined with anger and hurt. When the backing vocalists sweep in, they add the finishing touch to the track. It’s as if they sympathize with Charles, sharing his anguish and hurt, during a thirty year struggle for musical recognition.
My final choice from No Time For Dreaming is the track that closes the album, Heartaches and Pain. When you hear the track, it’s hard to believe this is a new track. It could’ve been recorded thirty or forty years ago. The best way to describe it is vintage in sound. The tempo is slow, with just the rhythm section, guitars and braying horns accompanying Charles. His voice is full of sadness and regret, as he sings about the death of his brother, painting a picture before you’re eyes. You can sense the emotions, sadness and anger are flooding out. It can’t be easy delivering lyrics that are so personal. So, emotive and impassioned is Charles’ delivery that it’s impossible not to be moved by these lyrics, which are some of the best on the album. I just hope that singing this track proved cathartic for Charles Bradley, as he lays bare his soul for all the world to hear and share his pain and hurt.
Although I’ve only mentioned half of the twelve tracks on No Time For Dreaming, these are just a taster of the delights on the album. I’ve just chosen what I believe to be highlights of No Time For Dreaming, but it’s an album with much more than six tracks. No Time For Dreaming is a quite amazing album, one that’s autobiographical, telling the story of the lives and times of Charles Bradley. This is a story full of hurt, heartbreak and a hidden talent, that deserved to be heard much earlier. That’s what makes the sound of No Time For Dreaming so apt. It’s a bit like a trip back to the sixties and seventies, albeit one released in 2011. There’s a real vintage soul sound on the twelve tracks. It’s a bit like discovering a hidden album on Hi Records, one where Al Green, O.V. Wright and Otis Clay with a bit of Marvin Gaye plus heaps of James Brown thrown in for good measure. During the twelve tracks on No Time For Dreaming, Charles Bradley pays homage to each of these giants of soul and funk, fusing soul and funk seamlessly and peerlessly. However, whereas these men are soul past, Charles Bradley is the future of soul. He may be fifty-four this year, but I’m sure Charles Bradley has many more tales to tell and stories to share, just like he did on No Time For Dreaming. Let’s just hope his second album takes less time to record and release than his debut album. After all, with talent like Charles Bradley has, the whole world needs to hear his voice and share his soulful secrets, like he did on No Time For Dreaming. Standout Tracks: The World (Is Going Up In Flames), Lovin’ You, Baby, Why Is It So Hard and Heartaches and Pain.
CHARLES BRADLEY-NO TIME FOR DREAMING.
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