Category Archives: Southern Soul
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL.
ISAAC HAYES-HOT BUTTERED SOUL. As someone who is a huge fan of the Stax record label, I’ve always loved the music of Isaac Hayes. He was one of the creative forces behind Stax, writing many of the songs for many artists on the label, many with David Porter, one of his songwriting partners. Not only …
SYL JOHNSON-BACK FOR A TASTE OF YOUR LOVE.
SYL JOHNSON-BACK FOR A TASTE OF YOUR LOVE. During the early to mid-seventies, Hi Records were producing some of the best Southern Soul of that time. With Willie Mitchell producing, The Memphis Rhythm Section, Memphis Horns and legendary backing vocalists Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes, one great record after another was recorded at the famous Royal …
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER.
O.V. WRIGHT-WE”RE STILL TOGETHER. I’ve always thought that O.V. Wright was one of the most underrated Southern Soul singers of his generation. In some ways, his music was overshadowed by the success of Al Green, who was on the same label as O.V. Hi Records. Whereas, Al Green had numerous critically acclaimed albums, O.V. only …
ARETHA FRANKLIN-I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVED YOU.
ARETHA FRANKLIN-I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVED YOU. Recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that the most overused word in the English language is the word “classic.” Nowadays, something can’t just be good, it must be a classic. It doesn’t matter if someone is talking about a book, cuisine, technology, a building …
BETTYE SWANN-DON’T YOU GET TIRED OF HURTING ME.
BETTYE SWANN-DON’T YOU GET TIRED OF HURTING ME. Sometimes, although an artist has only recorded a couple of albums, these albums prove to be more important and influential than artists who have released a dozen albums. We can all think of great artists who released just one or two albums and then disappeared from the …
ERNIE HINES-ELECTRIFIED.
ERNIE HINES-ELECTRIFIED. Ernie Hines was one of three artists who arrived at the We Produce label, a subsidiary company of Stax. The label had been set up by Stax’s co-owner, and label chief Al Bell, to expand Stax, making them big enough to stand alone company, following the discovery of the problems with the seven …
THE OVATIONS-HOOKED ON A FEELING.
THE OVATIONS-HOOKED ON A FEELING. Many years ago, when I first heard The Ovations album Hooked On A Feeling, I was instantly struck by the likeness of Louis Williams voice to the late Sam Cooke’s. It was almost uncanny hearing the album, and hearing a voice so similar to Sam Cooke. This was even more …
ETTA JAMES-TELL MAMA.
ETTA JAMES-TELL MAMA. When I was recently reading a review of Etta James new album The Dreamer online, I was saddened to discover that because of health reasons, this would be the final album she’d release. Etta now seventy-three, has had a long and illustrious career, recording her debut album At Last! fifty years ago …
CHARLIE WHITEHEAD-RAW SPITT.
CHARLIE WHITEHEAD-RAW SPITT. For many years, I’ve been a huge fan of Swamp Dogg’s productions, and recently, reviewed Doris Duke’s seminal album I’m A Loser. During his career, Swamp Dogg, aka Jerry Williams worked with many artists, including Gary US Bonds, Patti La Belle, Arthur Conley and ZZ Hill. One of the lesser known artists …
LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY-THE AWARE YEARS: LOLEATTA AND CRY TO ME.
LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY-THE AWARE YEARS: LOLEATTA AND CRY TO ME. Although one of the most recognizable voices in music is Loleatta Holloway, many people are unaware of the two legendary soul albums she recorded for Michael Thevis Aware Records in the seventies. These were Loleatta in 1973 and Cry To Me in 1975. Instead, many people …
THE STAPLE SINGERS-BE ALTITUDE: RESPECT YOURSELF.
THE STAPLE SINGERS-BE ALTITUDE: RESPECT YOURSELF. One of the most important moments in The Staple Singers career was when the Reverend Jesse Jackson advised Al Bell to produce the group’s music himself. Before this, Steve Cropper Booker T and The MG’s guitarist and producer, had been in charge of producing the groups two previous albums. …
AL GREEN-LIVIN’ FOR YOU.
AL GREEN-LIVIN’ FOR YOU. A couple of nights ago, I was sitting listening to Al Green, one of my favorite Southern Soul singers, when when I realized that it’s been a while since I wrote about his music. Previously, I’ve written about two of his best albums Let’s Stay Together released in January 1972, and …
JIMMY HUGHES-WHY NOT TONIGHT?
JIMMY HUGHES-WHY NOT TONIGHT? Between 1962 and 1970, Jimmy Hughes only released three albums before retiring from music and withdrawing from public life. Why I hear you ask? The answer to that is quite simple, Jimmy became disillusioned that his music wasn’t being sufficiently promoted by Volt Records’ boss Al Bell, as well of becoming …
CANDI STATON-CANDI STATON.
CANDI STATON-CANDI STATON. Sometimes, I decide to write more that one article on an artist, if they’ve released a number of highly regarded or important albums. However, sometimes, my reasons for writing about an artist more than once are that as well as being an important and influential artist, they’re an artist whose music I …
THE DRAMATICS-WHATCHA SEE IS WHATCHA GET.
THE DRAMATICS-WHATCHA SEE IS WHATCHA GET. Earlier in October 2011, six albums which were originally released on Stax, were released having been remastered by Joe Tarantino. Previously, I’ve reviewed Shirley Brown’s Woman To Woman and Johnnie Taylor’s Taylored In Silk, both of which were great albums, and have hugely benefited from being remastered. The remastering …
ANN PEEBLES-IF THIS IS HEAVEN.
ANN PEEBLES-IF THIS IS HEAVEN. Since I first started buying soul music, there are certain labels which have been great favourites of mine. Among them are the obvious ones Stax, Fame, Philadelphia International, Cadet, Motown and of course Hi Records. Hi had been founded in 1957 by a group of people including Ray Harris, a …
JOHNNIE TAYLOR-TAYLORED IN SILK.
JOHNNIE TAYLOR-TAYLORED IN SILK. In a previous article, I reviewed Shirley Brown’s album Woman To Woman, which was one of the last albums released on the legendary Stax label. It’s one of a series of albums that have recently, been remastered by Joe Tarantino. His remastering totally transformed the sound of Shirley’s 1974 album, bringing …
SHIRLEY BROWN-WOMAN TO WOMAN.
SHIRLEY BROWN-WOMAN TO WOMAN. For many years, I’ve been a huge fan of the music on Stax. Since I bought my first album bearing Stax’s clinging fingers logo, I’ve literally bought hundreds of the albums, compilations and box sets that have been released. Over the years, I’ve explored the albums released during the various stages …
BETTYE SWANN-THE SOUL VIEW NOW.
BETTYE SWANN-THE SOUL VIEW NOW. It never ceases to amaze me how hugely talented singers never achieve the success their talent deserves, whilst people with only a modicum of talent have long and successful careers. Like life, the music industry isn’t fair, and can be totally unforgiving. Many times, I’ve come across albums from artists …
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