Category Archives: Soul
BLOODSTONE-WE GO A LONG WAY BACK.
BLOODSTONE-WE GO A LONG WAY BACK. Eclectic. That’s the best way to describe Bloodstone’s music. Their music gradually evolved over the band’s lifetime. Bloodstone’s music has incorporated everything from doo-wop, soul, funk, R&B, rock, gospel and Latin music. It seems Bloodstone have constantly reinvented themselves musically. That’s no bad thing. Any group that stands still, …
ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON.
ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON. Between 1977 and 1978, Al Hudson and The Soul Partners released a trio of albums on ABC Records. These three albums were a fusion of soul, R&B and funk. Then in 1979, Al Hudson and The Soul Partners changed their name to Al Hudson and The …
BOOKER T.-I WANT YOU.
BOOKER T.-I WANT YOU. It’s no exaggeration to refer to Booker T. Jones as a musical prodigy. Born in Memphis in 1944, Booker T’s musical talents were obvious from an early age. Whilst still at Booker T. Washington High School, Booker T. was already able to play piano, organ, oboe, saxophone and trombone. Aged sixteen, …
UNDER THE INFLUENCE VOLUME 3-A COLLECTION OF RARE SOUL AND DISCO.
UNDER THE INFLUENCE VOLUME 3-A COLLECTION OF RARE SOUL AND DISCO. 2013 year has hardly been a vintage year for compilations. So far, I’d say it’s been a decidedly average year. The mountain of compilations released have certainly been eclectic, but have varied greatly in quality. Ranging from the good, bad and the ugly, we …
NANCY WILSON-THE SOUND OF NANCY WILSON AND NANCY.
NANCY WILSON-THE SOUND OF NANCY WILSON AND NANCY. Eight years and over a dozen albums after Nancy Wilson released her debut album Something Wonderful in 1960, she was now one of the biggest draws in jazz music. She was hailed as the “heir apparent to Ella Fitzgerald by Time Magazine” in 1964, the year she …
THE ISLEY BROTHERS-WINNER TAKES ALL.
THE ISLEY BROTHERS-WINNER TAKES ALL. That The Isley Brothers called their 1979 album Winner Takes All, seems almost fitting. After all, The Isley Brothers were on what was the hottest streak of their long career. Since 1973, when The Isley Brothers released 3 + 3, commercial success and critical acclaim had been ever-present. They’d released …
ENCHANTMENT-UTOPIA.
ENCHANTMENT-UTOPIA. Enchantment’s sixth album Utopia, may not have resulted in Enchantment heading off in pursuit of Sir Thomas More’s mythical and idealized island, but it did mark a change in the lives and music of the veteran band. They maybe never knew it when they began recording Utopia, but seventeen years after they were formed …
GWEN MCCRAE-MELODY OF LIFE.
GWEN MCCRAE-MELODY OF LIFE. By 1979, Gwen McCrae’s career and private life were going through tough times. Her marriage to George McCrae was over. As for her music career, well, it seemed a long time since her number one US R&B single Rockin’ Chair. It was only four years. A lot had happened since then. …
ROMARK RECORDS-KENT HARRIS’ SOUL SIDES.
ROMARK RECORDS-KENT HARRIS’ SOUL SIDES. From the fifties right through the sixties and seventies, all over America, small independent record labels sprung up. From Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Philly and Los Angeles, small labels were founded. They released everything from blues, doo wop, pop, garage and soul music to varying degrees of success. Sadly, much of …
THE LONDON AMERICAN LABEL YEAR BY YEAR 1964.
THE LONDON AMERICAN LABEL YEAR BY YEAR 1964. 1964 proved to be an important year in the history of music. In January 1964, America finally “got” The Beatles. Coast to coast, Beatlemania swept the states. This kick-started the British invasion. Suddenly, American artists no longer monopolized the American charts. Instead, British artists stole the limelight …
SWEET DREAMS: WHERE COUNTRY MEETS SOUL VOLUME 2.
SWEET DREAMS: WHERE COUNTRY MEETS SOUL VOLUME 2. Ever since the fifties, country music has influenced soul music. That’s no surprise. After all, many soul singers grew up in the southern states, listening to the country music coming out of Nashville, Memphis and Muscle Shoals. Back then, country music was King. There was no alternative …
DONNY HATHAWAY-DONNY HATHAWAY
DONNY HATHAWAY-DONNY HATHAWAY While many artists enjoy long careers, Donny Hathaway’s career was tragically short. He only released three studio albums and one soundtrack album during his lifetime. However, during his short career, Donny Hathaway recorded some of the most beautiful, powerful and moving music you’ll ever hear. Donny’s debut album was Everything Is Everything, which was …
PSYCHEMAGIK PRESENTS MAGIK SUNRISE.
PSYCHEMAGIK PRESENTS MAGIK SUNRISE. By far, one of the best compilations of 2012 was Leng Records’ Psychemagik Presents Magic Circles. Released in October 2012, it’s best described as a compelling and captivating collection of music. Not only that, but it brought new meaning to the word eclectic. Fusing cosmic disco, Balearica, psychedelic funk, ambient, soul, …
ARETHA FRANKLIN-LADY SOUL.
ARETHA FRANKLIN-LADY SOUL. Commercial success and critical acclaim didn’t come easy for Aretha Franklin. She was no overnight star, if such a thing exists. Her recording career started back in 1956 and she’d released ten albums before signing to Atlantic Records. Until then, success had been a stranger to Aretha Franklin. However, signing to Atlantic …
PAAAARTY TIME-SERIOUS FUNK FROM THE 70S.
PAAAARTY TIME-SERIOUS FUNK FROM THE 70S. After its birth in the mid to late sixties, funk’s popularity quickly grew. With its fusion of soul, R&B and jazz, funk’s heyday was the seventies. While the peak of funk’s popularity was during the seventies, it was during the seventies that some of the greatest funk music was …
BACKBEATS: DIGGERS DELIGHT-MORE RARE-GROOVE GEMS.
BACKBEATS: DIGGERS DELIGHT-MORE RARE-GROOVE GEMS. For many DJs and music-lovers, crate-digging for hidden rare-groove gems is the musical equivalent of an Olympic sport. Whether its record shops, thrift stores, dusty warehouses or junk shops, there’s nowhere that the determined crate-digger won’t head. Nowhere is off-limits in their search for rare of obscure vinyl. A crate-digger …
ROBERTA FLACK-KILLING ME SOFTLY.
ROBERTA FLACK-KILLING ME SOFTLY. In a previous article about Donny Hathaway, I mentioned how closely he had worked with Roberta Flack during his tragically, short career. I also mentioned how the pair were recording an album of duets just before his death. Ironically, the album that preceded Killing Me Softly, which was rereleased by WEA …
SWEAT BAND-SWEAT BAND.
SWEAT BAND-SWEAT BAND. After George Clinton and his manager Archie Ivy formed Uncle Jam Records, the nascent label’s first release was the debut album from Bootsy Collins newly formed P-Funk supergroup Sweat Band. Formed out of the ashes of Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Sweat Band was a short-lived P-Funk group, who released just one album in 1980. …
THE GAP BAND-THE GAP BAND VII.
THE GAP BAND-THE GAP BAND VII. For The Gap Band, commercial success didn’t come overnight. Quite the opposite. Instead, it took three albums. Neither 1974s Magician’s Holiday nor 1977s The Gap Band charted. Then when The Gap Band signed to Mercury Records, their third album The Gap Band reached number seventy-seven in the US Billboard …
dereksmusicblog
dereksmusicblog 