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 in 1961. Since then, she has released over twenty-five albums, releasing them on some of the biggest labels in music. These labels have included Cadet, an imprint of Chess Records, the Chess label itself, Island, Elektra and RCA Victor. I first discovered Etta’s music through the music she recorded for Cadet and Chess, which in my opinion, was the finest music Etta recorded.
One of these albums was Tell Mama, the second album Etta released on Cadet Records. Released in August 1968, it was Etta’s seventh studio album and became the first album she’d released since 1963 to enter the Billboard 200 reaching number eighty-two. The album fared better in the US R&B Charts, reaching number twenty-one. On the album were Etta’s first top ten and top twenty singles since back in 1963. Both singles had been released in 1967, with the Tell Mama, the title track of the album reaching number ten in the US R&B Charts and number twenty-three in the US Billboard 100. Tell Mama is still Etta’s biggest selling single in the Billboard charts, and is regarded as one of her classics, and among the best songs she has ever recorded. The second single was Security, previously a hit for Otis Redding. When it was released, it reached number eleven in the US R&B Charts and number thirty-five in the US Billboard 100.
It wasn’t just the record buying public that loved the album, so did critics. They all thought that this was one of Etta’s best ever albums, with tracks like I’d Rather Go Blind, Love of My Man and Watch Dog among the albums highlights. Maybe the change in fortune was down to a change in producer and using some of the best musicians in America at the time. Whereas Etta’s first album for Cadet 1967s Call My Name had been released by Leonard Chess, Tell Mama had been produced by Rick Hall at the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This had been Leonard Chess’ idea, and he encouraged Etta to head to Alabama, and let Rick Hall produce the album. Once at the Fame Studios, Rick Hall and a crack team of musicians set about recording Tell Mama.
Once the recording sessions started, Rick Hall started mixing Etta’s voice so it sounded stronger when she hit the high notes. On previous albums, her voice sounds distorted on the higher notes, but not on Tell Mama. On the album, her voice sounds much stronger and clearer when she hits the high notes. Using the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section which included bassist David Hood, drummer Roger Dawkins, guitarist Jimmy Ray Johnson and Barry Beckett and Dewey Oldham on organ. Add to this musicians like trumpeter Gene “Bowlegs” Miller, saxophonist Floyd Newman and pianist George Davis, and Rick Hall had assembled some of the finest musicians available. Together, they provided the musical backdrop on twelve songs which Rick Hall produced. The result was one of Etta James finest ever albums Tell Mama, which I’ll now tell you about.
Tell Mama opens with the title track Tell Mama, the first single released from the album. This gave Etta her most successful single in the US Billboard charts, and from the opening bars, you realize why. A combination of driving rhythm section, guitars and blazing horns open the track before a hugely powerful, sassy vocal from Etta enters. After that, there’s no let up in the power and passion she displays as she almost roars her way through the song. Rick Hall’s production meant that when Etta hit the high notes, there was no distortion in her voice. Throughout the track interplay between the guitars of Jimmy Jay Johnson and Albert Lowe Jr. and bassist David Hood, plus the rasping, braying horns is key to the success of the track. Similarly, Roger Dawkins drumming drives the track along, as it sits in front of the mix. However, as good as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section were, Etta’s dynamic and energetic vocal steals the show, resulting in a brilliant track.
Over the years, I’ve heard many artists sing I’d Rather Go Blind. Some have been good, some bad, while others have been crimes against music. However, one of my favorite versions has always been Etta’s on Tell Mama. She seems to live the song, bring the lyrics to life unlike many other artists have been able to do. Maybe the combination of such great musicians and a talented producer in Rick Hall helped her, but you get the feeling that if she sung it with a pick-up band she’d still nail the track. A slow and moody combination of guitars, rhythm section accompany Spooner Oldham on Hammond Organ as they accompany Etta. Straight away, she gives a heartfelt and emotive rendition of the lyrics, accompanied by subtle backing vocalists. David Hood’s slow, meandering bass sits at the front of the mix, as Etta gives one of the greatest performances of her career. Etta gets across heartache and despair of the potential loss of her partner, who has been cheating on her. Although he’s strayed, she still loves him, can’t stand to lose him. A combination of an outstanding vocal and slow, thoughtful arrangement combine beautifully, with the result one of the best songs of Etta’s long and illustrious career.
Watch Dog is a fast paced Don Covay penned track that sees the rhythm section, guitars and rasping horns accompany Etta’s swinging vocal. Again, soulful female backing vocalists are cooing and wooing throughout the track, while Etta’s sings about an overprotective, suspicious partner. Later, a soaring guitar solo dances on top of the arrangement, as the rhythm section and rasping horns combine to drive the track along. By the end of the track, you can’t resist Etta’s swinging vocal and the fast and frantic driving arrangement, on what’s a very different track from the previous two.
The tempo drops way down on The Love of My Man a slow, emotive sounding track. A piano, organ, slow thoughtful rhythm section and guitars combine with Etta’s strong vocal. It’s a joyous and grateful Etta, thankful for the love of her man that we hear. Accompanying her are equally joyous female backing vocalists, while chiming guitars, piano and a moody sounding organ combine behind her. Together with the rhythm section they play thoughtfully and subtly, allowing a joyous Etta and her backing vocalists to take centre-stage on this deeply moving track.
I’m Gonna Take What He’s Got is the second Don Covay penned track on Tell Mama. Of the two tracks, I’ve always preferred this track to Watch Dog. Maybe it’s Rick Hall’s slow moody arrangement with a Hammond organ, chiming guitars and rasping horns at its heart that accompany Etta’s vocal. There’s a rawness, as well as anger and frustration, in her vocal as she sings about how badly her man treats her, and regardless of this, she still loves him and can’t give him up. Behind her, the tempo is slow, the arrangement again having a subtly, with horns and drums adding drama and the organ adding emotion. As the track ends, you’re almost willing Etta to realize that her man’s a loser, abuser and cheater, and walk away. This is how realistic her vocal is, that you almost think that the song’s real life. Not many singers could make you think this, but Etta James could.
The final song of side one was The Same Rope a slightly quicker track, that opens with the rhythm section, organ and guitars. They accompany an angry Etta who gives a hugely emotive performance, angry that her lover has cheated on her, warning him that the same thing could happen to him. Meanwhile, rasping horns punctuate the track, and the organ, guitars and rhythm section are key to tracks success. Later, a piano enters, combining well with the rhythm section and horns. Backing vocalists confidently accompany Etta, as the track swings along, with Etta sounding as if she almost hopes the same fate befalls her errant lover. What I’ve always liked about the track is the swaggering way Etta delivers the lyrics, against a sympathetic swinging arrangement.
Side two of the album opens with Security a track Otis Redding co-wrote with Margaret Wessen. A burst of blazing horns opens the track, before Etta’s voice soars. After another burst of horns, Etta’s vocal begins, against a driving, yet punchy backdrop of rasping, swirling horns, driving rhythm section and guitars. Brief but regular bursts of punchy female backing vocalists accompany Etta, as she sings about wanting the security of a relationship. Behind her, Rick Hall’s arrangement stays true to the original song, sounding like something from one of Otis Redding’s own albums. Rick provides the perfect backdrop for Etta’s pleading vocal on this excellent song, written by one of the greats of soul music, and sung by another.
Jimmy Hughes who recorded three albums with Rick Hall at the Fame Studios, wrote Steal Away. I’ve always loved Jimmy’s version, but Etta’s version runs it pretty close. When the track opens, it’s a hugely emotive, pleading Etta we hear, as she sings across a drama drenched arrangement that features Dewey Oldham on piano, a slow, careful and short bursts of rasping horns at its heart. Combine this with Etta’s needy vocal as she pleas for her lover to steal away and meet her, and the result is one of the album’s best tracks. Although most of the success is down to Etta, Dewey Oldham’s piano playing, the rasping horns and producer Rick Hall, all deserve credit for their contributions.
My Mother In Law sees the tempo rise on this quick driving track, with chiming guitars, driving rhythm section, piano and blazing horns combining with Etta’s frustrated vocal. Etta’s fed up and frustrated by her interfering mother-in-law, as she decides it’s either her or me. As she sings, the frustration and near anger in her voice she’s accompanied by another great Rick Hall arrangement. Horns, piano, guitars and rhythm section all play their part in making this such an irresistible track, where Etta’s frustration seems almost realistic.
Rick Hall wrote Don’t Lose Your Good Thing, which opens with a combination of braying horns, bass and piano, before Etta’s strong and slow vocal enters. Guitars and drums enter, as does a moody sounding Hammond organ. There’s a real Southern Soul sound to the slow arrangement now, as Etta sings how she doesn’t want to lose her man, but if he doesn’t stop she’ll leave him. Behind her, the arrangement has a lovely atmospheric sound, helped by the addition of the Hammond organ and plenty of rasping horns. When this slow, atmospheric arrangement is combined with the anger, frustration and regret of Etta’s vocal, the result is a moving and passionate slice of the finest Southern Soul.
It Hurts So Much features one of the most emotive and passionate vocal from Etta on Tell Mama. Against a slow, understated arrangement with a piano, gentle organ, guitars thoughtful rhythm section, Etta sings about her love for a man, but he’s married, and unwilling to be unfaithful. The sadness and regret in Etta’s voice is reflected in the slow, spartan arrangement where chiming guitars and rasping horns escape from, adding drama, while the piano and organ add to emotion of the song. This is perfect for Etta’s nearly dramatic, powerful and emotive vocal, allowing it to take centre-stage, and the listener to revel in her pain and regret.
Tell Mama closes with Just A Little Bit, which opens with bursts of rasping horns, before a howl from Etta gets the song underway. While horns rasp, the bass is quick, guitars chime and drums provide the track’s heartbeat, Dewey Oldham’s Hammond organ adds an atmospheric yet melodic sound. Together, they provide a backdrop for Etta’s sassy vocal, as she sings about wanting just a little bit of her man’s loving. Both Etta’s vocal, and the arrangement with rasping horns and the organ key to its success merge magnificently, resulting in a track that combines jazz and soul masterfully.
Of all the Etta James’ albums I’ve heard over the years, Tell Mama remains my favorite. On Tell Mama, Etta is on irresistible form, delivering each track with a variety of emotions, bringing each one to life brilliantly. The material on the album was some of the strongest Etta had recorded in her career, including Tell Mama, the seminal I’d Rather Go Blind, I’m Gonna Take What He’s Got, Security and Just A Little Bit. These songs were written by some great songwriters, including Don Covay, Jimmy Hughes, Otis Redding and Ellington Jordan and Billy Foster who cowrote the classic I’d Rather Go Blind. Add to the great songs that Etta had available, one of the best producers of the time, Rick Hall, and some hugely talented musicians, and the result was a brilliant album. Not only was it Etta’s biggest selling album, resulting in her highest US chart placing, but it was critically acclaimed upon its release. Since then, many people, myself included believe that Tell Mama was Etta James greatest ever album. For anyone wanting to hear a good introduction to her music, I’d recommend Tell Mama and The Genuine Article, The Best of Etta James as a good introduction to her music. Tell Me Mama was recently remastered and rereleased, and I can thoroughly recommend it, because as well as the album, there are ten bonus tracks, all of which Etta recorded with Rick Hall. One of the best of these tracks is a hugely moving and passionate version of Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, the Chips Moman and Dan Penn classic. So, if having read this review, you want to hear some brilliant music from Etta James, then Tell Mama is well worth buying, because you’ll hear Etta at her very best. Standout Tracks: Tell Mama, I’d Rather Go Blind, Steal Away and Just A Little Bit.
ETTA JAMES-TELL MAMA.
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JEAN CARN-HAPPY TO BE WITH YOU.
JEAN CARN-HAPPY TO BE WITH YOU.
Recently I was listening to a compilation entitled Philly Disco, released on the Bac Beats label when I heard one of my favorite Jean Carn tracks If You Want To Go Back. That made me think that it was time that I wrote another article on Jean Carn’s music. Jean Carn arrived at Philaelphia International in 1975, and would released four albums on the label. Sadly, none of these albums would give Jean the commercial success her music deserved. Although she may not have been one of the biggest names on Philadelphia International, she recorded some great music on the four albums she released.
Jean’s debut album Philadelphia International Records was Jean Carn, which I’ve previously reviewed. It which was released in 1977 and produced by Gamble and Huff. On the album were If You Want To Go Back and the single Free Love which reached number twenty-three in the US R&B Charts. Hoping to build on the success of the single and album, Jean set about recording her second album, Happy To Be With You, which this article is about.
Happy To Be With You was released in June 1978, and was a very different sounding album, much more dance-floor orientated. However, it failed to build on the success of her debut album Jean Carn. It only reached a somewhat disappointing number fifty-four in the US R&B Charts, and deserved to do much better considering the music on the album. On the album was the single, Don’t Let It Go To Your Head. Like the album, it only reached fifty-four in the US R&B Charts. However, as anyone who reads this blog regularly will know, commercial success doesn’t necessarily equate to quality music. After Happy To Be With You, Jean recorded just two more albums for Philadelphia International. The
The first of these two albums was 1979s’ When I Find You Love, which was much more like the sound of her debut album Jean Carn. The album was produced by Gamble and Huff, Dexter Wansel and Jerry Butler. One of the tracks from the album was Love Don’t Come Easy, which was released as a single. It reached number forty-three in the US R&B Charts.
When Jean’s final album Sweet and Wonderful was released in 1981, it was on a subsidiary of Philadelphia International TSOP. The saw Jean interpret The Spinners’ hit Love Don’t Love Nobody. On this track, Jean not only sang the lead vocal, but contributed all the backing vocals. This was released as a single, reaching number thirty-five in the US R&B Charts. Another of the standout tracks was the title track Sweet and Wonderful, a stunning duet with Glenn Jones. Sweet and Wonderful was Jean’s final album for Philadelphia International, before she left to join Motown in 1982. Although her time on Philadelphia International only spanned six years and four albums, they included some great music, including her 1978 album Happy To Be With You which I’ll now tell you about.
Happy To Be With You opens with There’s A Shortage of Good Men, which sees a combination of funky rhythm section and swirling strings open the track before Jean’s powerful vocal enters. The tempo is quick, perfect for the dance-floor at 126 beats per minute. Having nearly reached Disco Heaven 127, the arrangement sweeps along rasping horns, chiming guitars and percussion joining the mix. They combine perfectly with the seeping, swirling strings and funk drenched rhythm section. On top of John Usry Jr.’s arrangement sits Jean’s powerful and joyous vocal. Together combine to produce a quick, joyous and dance-floor friendly track that features some great production from Gamble and Huff.
The tempo drops slightly on the piano lead Together Once Again. As the track opens, it’s just the piano that plays, before a punchy, dramatic rhythm section and chiming, soaring guitars enter before a much more thoughtful and gentle vocal from Jean. She sings about how she still loves her estranged partner and wants them to be together again. This she does against an arrangement that now features a harp, lush strings and occasional soaring, rocky guitars. Horns gently rasp, as Jean’s vocal soars, laden with emotion and longing. By the end of the track you realize that’s this much more like you’d expect from Jean, a much slower, emotive vocal sung against a beautiful sometimes dramatic arrangement.
After bursts of horns, rhythm section, chiming guitars and keyboards combine as (No No) You Can’t Come Back Now opens, I’m immediately struck by a brief likeness to Minnie Riperton as her voice soars high. After that, her voice falls, and she gives a quicker vocal against a backdrop of blazing horns, punchy rhythm section, keyboards and guitars. A confident Jean tells her ex-partner he can’t come back now, she’s moved on. By now the arrangement has a real jazz influence, added to by the addition of the backing vocalists, who unite to accompany Jean, who later adopts a jazz style. Their voices are much more gentle, while Jean’s vocal is strong and powerful. Later, blazing horns drench the arrangement beautifully, as this fantastic song swings beautifully along towards the end. Not only does Jean give a powerful and energetic vocal, but Jack Faith’s jazzy arrangement is excellent.
Revelation/Infant Eyes opens with a combination of a punchy rhythm section, sweeping, swirling strings, harp, synths, braying horns and guitars. After a lengthy arrangement, Jean’s vocal enters. It’s quick, laden with feeling and power, against an arrangement with strings, percussion, rhythm section and synths at its heart. However, just as you’re starting to get swept along by the track, it grinds to a halt. This gives way to a gentle piano lead introduction on Infant Eyes the second part of the track. Synths sweep in, giving an eerie, space age sound, before Dee Dee’s gentle vocal. She’s joined by a slow rhythm section who accompany the piano and strings. It’s a very beautiful sound, especially when chiming guitars join. Although very different to Revelation, the first part of the song, it’s just as good, and provides an effective contrast to it.
After the slow, thoughtful sound of Infant Eyes, the tempo increases on Happy To Be With You, another dance-floor oriented track with joyful sound. Against a combination of rhythm section, sweeping strings, percussion, guitars and keyboards, Jean gives a joyous vocal. Together, her vocal combines perfectly with the arrangement. The use of strings that sweep and swirl, a punchy driving rhythm section, guitars and percussion are key to the track’s success. Again, Jack Faith arranges this track, and does a great job in helping create a track that’s uptempo, catchy and hook laden with a joyful sound. Jean’s vocal is a mixture of power, charisma and joy. Sherman Marshall also deserves credit for his production on this track. Together with Jack Faith and Jean, they create a track that will still fill a dance-floor thirty-three years later.
Don’t Let It Go To Your Head opens with a slower, spacious combination of rhythm section, keyboards, guitar and percussion, before shimmering strings enter. After that, Jean’s thoughtful vocal enters. As she sings, waves of lush strings rise and fall, while the rhythm section, guitars and rasping horns combine. Throughout the track, the tempo rises and falls, and sometimes, drums and horns dramatically punctuate the arrangement. Meanwhile, Jean pleads with her lover not to break her heart, now that she’s told him how she feels. This she does, against an arrangement that although it mostly sweeps along, isn’t short of drama thanks to Jack Faith. He provides the perfect backdrop for Jean’s heartfelt vocal on what is another great track.
Chiming guitars, punchy rhythm section, whispering, breathless backing vocals and chiming guitars combine before lush sweeping strings and rasping horns enter as I Bet She Won’t Love You Like I Do begins. After that, an emotional vocal full of pride from Jean enters, accompanied by stunning backing vocals. Jean proudly sings how her partner’s new woman won’t love him like she does. Jack Faith’s arrangement literally rolls back the years to the vintage Gamble and Huff tracks of the early to mid-seventies, helped by an outstanding vocal from Jean and equally great performance from M.F.S.B. Mk 2. Together, the lush strings, rasping horns, chiming, shimmering guitars and punchy rhythm section combine with Jean to create one of the album’s best tracks.
Happy To Be With You closes with You Light Up My Life, produced and arranged by Dexter Wansel. Bursts of braying horns, a slow jazzy piano and rhythm section combine before Jean’s vocal enters. It’s slow, full of sadness, perfect for the arrangement. She sings this familiar song, with dramatically and with feeling, while sweeping strings, piano and rhythm section combine behind her. During the track she puts to good use her previous experience as a jazz vocal. The arrangement sees a combination of jazz and gentle funk combine perfectly, the arrangement becoming sparse as Jean scats. Although this is a very different track to the rest of the album, it’s one that features a powerful, emotive vocal from Jean, and a thoughtful arrangement and production from Dexter Wansel.
Jean Carn’s second album Happy To Be With You was very different from her debut album Jean Carn. The album features a combination of faster dance-floor friendly track, slower ballads and the jazz tinged You Light Up My Life. It demonstrates Jean’s versatility as a vocalist, and how she was comfortable singing a variety of different styles of music. On the eight songs on the album, she sings with a combination of power and emotion, but sometimes displaying a fragility and thoughtfulness. She brings the lyrics to life on each song with the help of some hugely talented arrangers and producers. Of the numerous producers and arrangers who worked on this album, credit must be given to Jack Faith, whose arrangements are some of the best on the album. He worked with Gamble and Huff on some of the most successful and most important albums released on Philadelphia International. Along with Dexter Wansel and of course, Gamble and Huff, who produced Don’t Let It Go To Your Head, Happy To Be With You was a combination of the hugely talented people who worked for Philadelphia International, and made it one of the most famous labels in music. Another group of people who played a huge part in making this such a great album were M.F.S.B. Mk 2, who provided a fantastic backdrop for Jean’s vocal. Although Happy To Be With You was quite different from Jean Carn, and as a result, divided opinion of critics and fans, I love this album. There’s some great music on the album, everything from dance-floor friendly tracks, to ballads and even jazz music. Of Jean’s first two albums, I prefer Happy To Be With You. If you’ve never heard the album, it’s well worth buying. It can be found as part of a two albums on one disc set released by Edsel in 2004. If you do, you’ll hear some fantastic music, from a hugely talented vocalist Jean Carn. Standout Tracks: There’s A Shortage of Good Men, (No No) You Can’t Come Back Now, Don’t Let It Go To Your Head and I Bet She Won’t Love You Like I Do.
JEAN CARN-HAPPY TO BE WITH YOU.
DEE DEE SHARP-DEE DEE.
DEE DEE SHARP-DEE DEE.
During the last few months, I’ve been writing a series about some of the great music released by Philadelphia International Records. This series has featured some of the labels biggest stars like The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Billy Paul and The Three Degrees. Many of these artists released hugely successful and albums that are among some of the best soul music ever recorded. However, it’s not only artists whose music that was commercially successful that I’ve reviewed, because as regular readers of this blog will realize, many really good albums aren’t commercially successful. One of these albums was Dee Dee Sharp’s 1977 album What Color of Love, which I reviewed previously. It took its title from a Terry Callier track that Dee Dee covered beautifully on the album. What Color of Love was Dee Dee’s second of three albums on Philadelphia International, released two years after her debut album Happy Bout the Whole Thing. Sadly, although both of these albums weren’t huge sellers, they featured some wonderful music. The last album Dee Dee released on Philadelphia International was entitled Dee Dee, and featured a track that would give her a number one single on the Hot Dance Club Play Charts, Breaking and Entering/Easy Money. Before I tell you about the album, I’ll give you some background to what would be the final album Dee Dee Sharp released.
By 1980 when Dee Dee Sharp released her final album on Philadelphia International, Dee Dee’s life was undergoing a series of changes. Dee Dee Sharp had just been divorced her husband Kenneth Gamble, who she’d married in 1967. When the album was released, it failed commercially. Like her two previous albums, it featured some great music, but just didn’t garner enough sales. After this, Dee Dee decided to take another break from music. She enrolled in a psychology course at Columbia University where she gained an MSc in psychology. After that, she took a PhD in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, eventually becoming a clinical psychologist. However, by 1981, one of the tracks from Dee Dee had become a huge hit in American Clubs. This was Breaking and Entering which featured Easy Money on the b-side. So successful was the track that it reached number one Hot Dance Club Play Charts, where it stayed for four weeks. This belated success for the music Dee Dee had recorded on Philadelphia International must have come as a welcome surprise for Dee Dee, now studying at Columbia University. However, the three albums she recorded for Philadelphia International deserved to do much better, including Dee Dee which I’ll now tell you about.
Dee Dee opens with Breaking and Entering the track that gave her a belated hit on the Hot Dance Club Play Charts, where it spent four weeks. A siren opens the track, before a funk drenched rhythm section and blazing horns combine with percussion and chimingguitars before a strong, emotive vocal from Dee Dee. Her voice is loud and powerful, accompanied by backing vocalists, while the blazing horns punctuate the track, and M.F.S.B. Mk 2 give a funk masterclass. The tempo is quick, the track hook laden and catchy, perfect for any dance-floor. On the track, Dee Dee is transformed into almost a disco diva, with the track heading towards 127 Disco Heaven, stopping just three beats per minute short. Produced by Jerry Butler and Paul Wilson, and arranged by Paul Wilson, it’s a brilliant track from Dee Dee, featuring an outstanding funk drenched, full arrangement.
Chiming guitars and the rhythm section open Let’s Get This Party Started before Dee Dee’s vocal enters. It’s not as powerful as the previous track as the track begins, and the tempo isn’t quite as fast. However, against a funky backdrop, where the rhythm section, chiming, shimmering guitars and percussion combine, Dee Dee’s vocal grows in strength and passion. Backing vocalists soulfully unite to accompany Dee Dee, with handclaps helping start what sounds like a party in the studio, By now, Dee Dee’s vocal is full of energy and enthusiasm, while the arrangement combines elements of funk, soul and disco. Although it’s only a short track, it’s a joyous three minutes that’s begging to be remixed, into a much longer even more joyous version.
I Love You Anyway sees Dee Dee return to much more familiar territory, on a slow love song. It’s a combination of keyboards, rhythm section, horns and lush strings that open the track before Dee Dee’s gentle, yet sad vocal enters. Chiming guitars and percussion enter, as have backing vocalists, while Dee Dee struggles to understand why her man doesn’t love her, and they can’t be together. Her vocal has a fragile beauty in it, that combines perfectly with Dexter Wansel’s arrangement. Bursts of subtle horns, combine with the sweeping strings and keyboards brilliantly. When this is combined with Dee Dee’s beautiful vocal, the result is one of the album’s best tracks, brilliantly produced by Kenneth Gamble and Dexter Wansel.
The B-side of Dee Dee’s dance hit Breaking and Entering was Easy Money, a track that’s the equal of the A-side. It features a powerful and charismatic vocal from Dee Dee and a great arrangement from Dexter Wansel. A combination of the rhythm section, chiming guitars, swirling strings, keyboards and percussion opens the track, before Dee Dee enters. The quicker tempo and fuller, drama laden arrangement combine brilliantly. As strings swirl, guitars chime, backing vocalists unite, passionately and a subtle but funky rhythm section combine, while Dee Dee’s vocal soars powerfully. Again, Dee Dee is transformed into a diva, the Queen of the Dance-floor, where she seems to welcome this new role. Having thrown herself into her new role, the result is a energetic and passionate performance that’s one of the album’s highlights. However, credit must be given Phillip Terry who produced the track and arranger Dexter Wansel, who helped Dee Dee assume her new identity as dance-floor diva.
Following on from the passion and energy of Easy Money, is another of the slower tracks on the album, Invitation. Dee Dee’s vocal is much more subtle, but full of emotion, as she sings against a backdrop of keyboards, rhythm section and guitars as the track opens. As the song unfolds, her voice grows stronger, the emotion increasing as Dee Dee sings about how she tried in vain not to fall in love, but ended up accepting the invitation for romance. Lush, strings sweep in, and later, the arrangement grows in drama when the strings, keyboards and rhythm section combine. This is highly effective, reflecting the passion and drama in Dee Dee’s vocal. Horns cut in, as Dee Dee half-speaks the lyrics, against a slow, drama laden arrangement that builds and builds until its ultimate crescendo. As the track ends, you can’t help be swept away be the emotion and passion of Dee Dee’s vocal, made all the better by the slow, dramatic arrangement.
Everyday Affair is a mid-tempo duet with Jerry Butler. Against a backdrop that includes dramatic swirling strings, chiming guitars, rhythm section and keyboards, Jerry’s vocal opens the track. When Dee Dee’s vocal enters, it’s strong and emotive, as she sings lyrics about how sometimes, couples take each other’s love for granted. Meanwhile, the arrangement sweeps along with strings at its heart. Later, it slows down, allowing the vocal to take centre-stage, but speeds back up, with drums adding a punchiness to the arrangement. When a horn floats above the arrangement, it doesn’t seem to add anything to the arrangement, and slightly takes away from the rest of the arrangement. Overall, it’s a good track, featuring some emotive, vocals and a sweeping, punchy arrangement.
Keyboards and synths open If We’re Gonna Stay Together a much slower track featuring a gentle, thoughtful vocal from Dee Dee. The rhythm section and guitars combine with the keyboards, before strings sweep in. Dee Dee’s vocal is full of emotion and feeling, with sadness as she sings how there must be love within their relationship of they’re to stay together. Her vocal is augmented by gentle backing vocalists, whose voices are beautiful. Strings play an important part in the arrangement, adding a sense of sadness with their lush sound. Mostly the arrangement is really good, with the use of synths my only gripe. They don’t seem to suit the arrangement. Apart from that, it’s a lovely track, featuring a hugely emotive vocal from Dee Dee.
Dee Dee closes with See You Later, which I wonder if was significant, in that after this, Dee Dee said a temporary farewell to the music industry, becoming a psychology student. Swirling strings, punchy drums, chiming guitars and bass are at the heart of the arrangement before Dee Dee’s vocal enters. It has a gentle sound, as she anticipates seeing her lover later. Backing vocalists sweetly accompany her vocal, as the string lead arrangement sweeps along. Horns rasp, punctuating the track as Dee Dee’s gentle yet passionate vocal sits atop the arrangement. The tempo is quicker, the arrangement and production in the capable hands of Dexter Wansel, who produces a great track. It features a beautiful vocal from Dee Dee on what was the last album she recorded for Philadelphia International.
Having spent some time listening to Dee Dee, I’m struck by how it was a strong album from her, featuring a combination of some great dance-floor friendly tracks and some beautiful slow tracks. It deserved to do much better than it actually did, featuring as it did the faster tracks Breaking and Entering and Easy Money, and the slower tracks I Love You Anyway, Invitation and If We’re Gonna Stay Together. With tracks of this quality, it should’ve sold many more copies than it did. However, that wasn’t the case, and after this, Dee Dee Sharp took a break from the music industry, studying psychology at Columbia University. Around this time, things had been tough for Dee Dee, her marriage to Kenneth Gamble had ended in divorce, after thirteen years and her albums weren’t commercially successful, even though they featured some great music. The only crumb of comfort was when Breaking and Entering/Easy Money, reached number one in the dance charts in 1981. After the released of Dee Dee, no further albums were released by Dee Dee Sharp, although she makes occasional concert appearances. Her loss to music is a great shame, as she was blessed with so much talent and a great voice. Thankfully, the three albums she recorded for Philadelphia International have been rereleased by Edsel in 2010. as part of a two disc set. Each of the three albums feature some great music, including Dee Dee, which this album is about. Three great albums for less than the price of one, what more can you ask for? Standout Tracks: Breaking and Entering, I Love You Anyway, Easy Money and See You Later.
DEE DEE SHARP-DEE DEE.
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 Jerry worked with, was Charlie Whitehead. Sadly, like many other artists, Charlie didn’t get the breaks his talent deserved, and commercial success eluded him and during his career. However, may people won’t have heard of Charlie, so I’ll now tell you about his career, which spans just three albums.
Charlie Whitehead was born in September 1942, from Franklin, Virginia. Aged twenty-six. Charlie decided to move to New York, and once there, was signed by Charlie Foxx to Dynamo Records, a subsidiary of the Musicor label that specialized in R&B music. It was there that Charlie first encountered Swamp Dogg. Together, the duo wrote songs for Dee Dee Warwick and Doris Duke. One of these songs were Dee Dee Warwick’s 1970 hit single She Didn’t Know (She Kept On Talking). Another artist Charlie and Swamp Dogg collaborated with was Gary US Bonds, who they sometimes wrote songs with. Later in his career, Swamp Dogg produced Gary US Bonds. Having only released one single for Dynamo, How Can I Forget, Charlie decided to switch labels. By then, Charlie felt Dynamo started to lose interest in his career. He decided to join Swamp Dogg who had also left Dynamo.
Having left Dynamo, Charlie moved to Canyon Records where he hooked up again with Swamp Dogg. It was on Canyon that Charlie released Raw Spitt in 1970. Using the pseudonym Raw Spitt, Charlie collaborated with Swamp Dogg, who wrote or cowrote eight of the songs on the album. Having written most of the songs on the album, Swamp Dogg produced the album. The music on the album is a gritty combination of soul, funk and even rock music. Although there’s an element of humor in some of the lyrics, Charlie’s music has a social conscience. On the album, he sings about the race and the African-American identity, injustice and sex. Overall, it’s a compelling album, featuring some great Southern Soul. When the album was released, it wasn’t a commercial success. Worse was to come when Canyon folded, having encountered financial problems. After this, Charlie would only release two further albums.
Charlie’s next label was Stone Dogg, who he signed for in 1972. Stone Dogg was a Miami label that was a joint-venture between Swamp Dogg and Henry Stone. However, their partnership was short lived with when the pair fell out. During this period, distribution problems meant that not many people were able to hear any of the labels released, never mind anything by Charlie Whitehead. After the demise in Swamp Dogg and Henry Stone’s partnership, Charlie had to find a new label.
It was on the Fungus label that Charlie’s second album was released. This was Charlie Whitehead and the Swamp Dogg Band, released in 1973. There are just six longer tracks on the album, a combination of vocals and instrumentals. Like his debut album Raw Spitt, success eluded Charlie. There was very little interest in the album, and shortly after, the Fungus label folded, being wound up.
After that, Charlie seemed to change labels regularly, first singing to Sweetheart, a short lived label. Then when Swamp Dogg signed with Island Records, Charlie signed for them. Only two of his singles were ever released. Here in the UK, these singles were released by United Artists. Following on from this, Charlie continued to record for various labels, including Vee Jay, Takoma and Musicor. Then when Swampp Dog started the Atomic Art label, Charlie was the first artist signed. It was there that he released his last album Whitehead At Yellowstone in 1976, which was released on the WIzard label. Sadly, the album failed to chart, and was the final album Charlie recorded. Although commercial success eluded him, he’s a hugely talented artist, who sadly, during his career released just three albums. It’s the first of these albums Raw Spitt that I’ll now tell you about.
Raw Spitt opens with Put A Little Love In Your Heart, co-written by Jimmy Holiday, Jackie DeShannon and Randy Myers. Many people whose children like the film Stuart Little 2, will be familiar with this track, albeit not this version. This to me is the definitive version of the track. It opens with piano, rhythm section and chiming accompanying Charlie strong, throaty vocal. Backing vocalists accompany Charlie, their voices a contrast to Charlie’s. Rasping horns enter, their addition really lifting the track, which features a really prominent bass line and some great guitar playing. As the song progresses, Charlie makes the song his own, delivering the lyrics with feeling and power. When his vocal is combined with Swamp Dogg’s arrangement, the result is an excellent track. Hopefully, the rest of the album will be just as good.
The title track Raw Spitt a track with some gritty lyrics, that opens with rasping horns, a driving rhythm sections, guitars and a wailing Hammond organ. The tempo is quick, the arrangement fuller, on this song about poverty and having to leave home to escape it, and seek a better life, away from temptation and trouble. Charlie’s voice is emotive, full of frustration and anger at the injustice he’s describing. Blazing horns reflect his anger and frustration, as the rhythm section drives along, keeping pace with Charlie’s vocal. Key to the track’s success are the horns, piano and Hammond organ. They add to the drama and energy of the track. Charlie gives an impassioned rendition of Jerry Williams Jr. and Troy Davis lyrics, bringing to life the hardship, poverty and social injustice they highlight.
Jerry Williams Jr. wrote Call Me Nigger, a song that describes the pride felt in being black and the African-American heritage. Against a backdrop of braying horns, rhythm section, Hammond organ and guitars Charlie sings with pride about his color and heritage. Later, a piano enters, as the arrangement drives along, with blazing horns, a driving rhythm section and chiming guitars at the heart of the arrangement. Backing vocalists occasionally accompany Charlie, their soulful contributions celebratory. However, it’s Charlie’s vocal that steals the show. It’s joyful, full of pride and passion, and made all the better by a fast paced, celebratory arrangement courtesy of Swamp Dogg.
When The Freedom Under Certain Konditions Marching Band opens, you’re caught unaware. The last thing you expect to hear is a military sounding drum beat. You almost expect Charlie to lead the listener into battle. By now you’re intrigued, unsure what to expect. The drums having returned to a normal beat, are then joined by bass, guitars, piano and percussion, on top of which sits Charlie’s passionate vocal. After an unusual start, the song improves, an arrangement that combines elements of funk and soul unfolding. By now the arrangement has grown, as has Charlie’s voice. However, the song isn’t quite as good as the three that have preceded. Having said that, it isn’t a bad song, just not up to the high standard of the other tracks.
Midnight Driver sees a return to form for Charlie, on a track has a punchy introduction where the tight rhythm section and guitars combine before Charlie’s strong, almost angry and frustrated vocal enters. He’s singing about the inequity and persecution of the character in the song, who’s run out of town. Like other songs on the album, this is music with a social conscience, albeit set against a punchy, driving beat. His vocal is quick, and full of emotion as he tries to keep up with the arrangement. Punchy drums, a quick, fluid bass line and guitars are at its heart, with percussion making occasional contributions, before blazing horns enter. They reflect the frustration and anger that Charlie’s vocal displays. When set against an energetic, punchy arrangement, this allows both the vocal and lyrics to shine.
Like the previous track, Who Do They Think They Are is another Jerry Williams Jr. and Troy Davis penned track. It’s a slightly slower track with chiming guitars, rhythm section, piano and Hammond organ providing the backdrop for the vocal. Charlie is joined by Swamp Dogg on the vocal, as the track opens. It’s when Charlie takes over vocal duties that the song takes off. His vocal suits the questioning nature of the song, as he asks who are people to judge him or ask him or tell him what to? What gives them that right. Guitars chime and scream, horns blaze in, while the rhythm section and piano play an important part in the track’s sound. However, it’s the raw passion and anger of Charlie’s vocal that makes this such a great track. It truly is a hugely impassioned and irresistible vocal from him.
I Dig Black Girls opens with braying horns, rock influenced guitars, a Hammond organ and rhythm section combining before Charlie’s joyous vocal enters. Against this backdrop Charlie sing the praises of the black girls he knows and loves. As he gives his celebratory vocal, a soaring, screaming rock guitars dances atop the arrangement. This is totally out of keeping with the rest of the arrangement, especially the Hammond organ and rhythm section. However, this is just a matter of taste, and I’m no lover of this style of guitar besmirching a soul track. My problem with the guitar solo is it totally dominates the arrangement, meaning you tend to focus on it throughout the track. Apart from that minor gripe, the rest of the track works well, especially a truly celebratory vocal from Charlie.
There’s a real funk influence to This Old Town when it bursts into life. A combination of funk drenched rhythm section, chiming guitars and piano combine before Charlie sings about the problems of small mindedness in towns. His voice is strong, laden of anger and despair. By now it’s a frantically, fast and funky arrangement that now features blazing horns, that reflect Charlie’s energy and frustration. It’s a hugely catchy, driving track, with some great lyrics from William Stevenson, Wilson Pickett and Don Convay and an upbeat, funky arrangement that’s the perfect backdrop for Charlie’s social conscience.
Sweet Bird of Success sees the tempo drop slightly, but the energy and passion in Charlie’s voice is a constant. Against a soulful backdrop featuring a tight rhythm section, chiming guitars, piano and braying horns, Charlie demonstrates just how hugely talented a vocalist he is. Swamp Dogg’s arrangement is excellent, its just a compliments it perfectly. There’s an element of subtlety as the arrangement sits snugly behind the vocal, gently enveloping it. The subtlety of the arrangement and the energy and passion of Charlie’s vocal are a perfect fit for one another, resulting in one of the album’s best tracks.
Raw Spitt closes with Excuses another of the album’s highlights. A slow combination of piano, chiming guitars and rhythm section accompany a much more subtle, gentle vocal from Charlie. Quickly, an understated rasping saxophone enters, drenching the arrangement with its beauty. Meanwhile, Charlie sings about the unfairness of life and the system, and how things just never change. Beneath his gentle vocal, frustration and unfairness is eating away at him. However, it never gets the better of him, as he sings one of his best vocals on the album, against one of the best arrangements on the album. Overall, it’s the perfect way to close what has been, a great album from one of Southern Soul’s unsung heroes.
During the time I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve written many times about how a particular artist or album deserved to do much better. Charlie Whitehead is just the latest in a long line of artists I’ve written this about. He’s blessed with a huge talent and a great voice. On Raw Spitt, he sings with a combination of emotion, joy and passion, and sometimes, anger and frustration. Backed by a great band, and with Swamp Dogg producing the album, Raw Spitt is a compelling album featuring some great vocals from Charlie. On the ten songs on this album, he sings about race, social problems, injustice and love. How the album didn’t do much better is a great shame. Maybe if it had been released on a bigger label and been promoted more, it would’ve fared much better. After this, Charlie Whitehead released just two more albums Charlie Whitehead and the Swamp Dogg Band released in 1973 and Whitehead At Yellowstone in 1976. Sadly these are the only albums Charlie ever released. Instead of having the hugely successful career his talented deserved, Charlie Whitehead remains one of Southern Soul’s unsung heroes. Thankfully, you can now hear two of his albums again, Raw Spitt and Charlie Whitehead and the Swamp Dogg Band. They’re both part of Songs To Sing-The Charlie Whitehead Anthology 1970-1976 on Kent Soul. This allows those who have never heard Charlie’s music before to hear some of the brilliant music he recorded with Swamp Dogg. Standout Tracks: Put A Little Love In Your Heart, Midnight Driver, Sweet Bird of Success and Excuses.
CHARLIE WHITEHEAD-RAW SPITT.
THE O’JAYS-SO FULL OF LOVE.
THE O’JAYS-SO FULL OF LOVE.
Since I first started collecting vinyl in the early seventies, I’ve noticed that with the advent of new mediums like the compact disc, that albums nowadays are much longer. Now albums are sprawling affairs, lasting up to eighty minutes. This new development isn’t necessary a good development. Back when The O’Jays released So Full of Love, it featured just eight songs, and lasted just thirty-nine minutes. This was about all you could fit on one album. So, what you had back then was just one great song after another. If you look back at other similar albums, their brevity equated to quality. Nowadays, artists think that they need to fill the whole eighty minutes. Often, they don’t do this wisely, with the dreaded “bonus track” or “alternate mix.” These additions aren’t necessary welcome additions, and may have been best left on the cutting room floor. Maybe someone should these artists that brevity can equate to quality, After all, how many artists can regularly come up with eighty minutes worth of quality music? Having said that, maybe a group so hugely talented as The O’Jays could’ve managed this, back when they were guided by the legendary Gamble and Huff.
By 1978, The O’Jays were one of the most successful acts on Philadelphia International Records. Since their first album for the label Back Stabbers in 1972, they’d released six albums, four of which had been certified gold and two certified platinum. Three of these albums, Ship Ahoy, Survival and Family Reunion had reached number one in the US R&B Charts. As if this wasn’t impressive enough, seven of their singles had reached number one on the US R&B Charts. However, although The O’Jays were hugely successful, they’d lost one of their original members Bill Powell in 1977. He was terminally ill, and was replaced by Sammy Strain whose first album was 1977s’ Travellin’ At the Speed of Thought. The album had sold well, reaching number twenty-seven in the US Billboard 200 and number six in the US R&B Charts. Having sold over 500,000 copies, the album was certified gold. What the group couldn’t realize was that their next album So Full of Love would eclipse the success of all their previous albums.
Like before, The O’Jays headed to the famous SIgma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where so many of the Philadelphia International albums were recorded. In total, six of the songs were recorded at Sigma, with Brandy and This Time Baby recorded at the Kaye-Smith Studios in Seattle. During 1977 and 1978, the group recorded eight songs with Gamble and Huff the album with the help of a number of other people, including Thom Bell and Bunny Sigler. Of the eight songs, Gamble and Huff wrote three of them, including the best track on the album Used Ta Be My Girl. It was the second single released from the album, and reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number four in the US Billboard 100. The first single was Brandy, another of the album’s highlights, penned by Joseph Jefferson and Charles Simmons. When it was released, it only reached number twenty-one in the US R&B Charts and number seventy-nine in the US Billboard 100. However, when So Full of Love was released, it reached number one in the US R&B Charts and number six in the US Billboard 200. This was the group’s fourth number one album, and their highest chart placing in the US Billboard 200, eclipsing the number seven Family Reunion reached in 1975. As if that wasn’t enough, So Full of Love also gave the group their fourth platinum album, having sold over one million copies. Now that I’ve told you the background to So Full of Love, I’ll tell you just what it sounds like.
So Full of Love opens with Sing My Heart Out, the first of the three Gamble and Huff penned tracks. It’s a slow, dramatic sound that opens the track, with a piano and horns combining, before the vocal enters. It too is slow, heartfelt and laden with emotion. It’s accompanied by the rest of the group singing tight vocal harmonies, while the rhythm section enter, playing with a subtly. In doing so, they help to achieve a hugely dramatic sound, which is added to by chiming, shimmering guitars and the lushest of slow strings. Later, when the lead vocal changes hands, it grows in power and emotion, with the whole group contributing to a deeply moving performance. So does the arrangement grow in power and drama, with the rhythm section providing the song’s heartbeat, while a piano and rasping horns add to the sense of drama. When combined with the vocal, it’s a drama laden, emotive opening to the album, demonstrating just why The O’Jays were one of the best soul groups back then in 1978.
She Used Ta Be My Girl is a song I’ve loved since the single was first released. It has a very different sound and tempo to the opening track. Whereas Sing My Heart Out was slow and dramatic, She Used Ta Be My Girl is quicker and joyous sounding. This is apparent from the chiming guitars that open the track. They combine with the rhythm section and sweeping strings while The O’Jays sing sweet, tight harmonies. Then when the lead vocal enters, it’s strong, full of emotion and regret, at the loss of the girl he once loved, but lost. The interplay between lead vocal and the rest of the group in brilliant, they seem to feed of one another, encouraging the other to greater things, resulting is one of the best songs they ever recorded. Meanwhile, punchy drums add a sense of drama and highlight the loss he’s feeling, while strings sweep in and horns rasp. All of this, and the quicker tempo works perfectly, resulting in one of The O’Jays most successful and best loved songs. However, this wouldn’t have been possible without Gamble and Huff who wrote and produced the track, and Jack Faith who arranged it.
I always think that the track that follows a truly brilliant song like She Used Ta Be My Girl, will always end up being judged unfavorably, because the natural thing is to compare it with what’s preceded it. That’s something I avoid doing, and judge each song on its merits, like Cry Together, the third Gamble and Huff penned track. It’s about a relationship that hasn’t been working and they’ve not been talking about their problems. Having realized that by talking about things, eventually, things will get better. Like many Gamble and Huff songs, there’s a story to the song, and a message within the song. Choosing The O’Jays to sing the song was a masterstroke. When the track opens, the tempo is slow, the sound understated, just sweeping strings, drums and chiming guitars, providing the backdrop for the half-spoken vocal. This gives way to a sweet, then hugely emotive, sad vocal, sung against a backdrop that now includes keyboards. It’s a hugely powerful track, one that’s drenched in emotion and sadness, sung with passion and feeling by The O’Jays against a classic Gamble and Huff arrangement. Although very different from the previous track, it’s another fantastic track from The O’Jays.
The final song of side one is This Time Baby, arranged and produced by Thom Bell. A combination of swirling, sweeping strings, driving rhythm section, piano and guitars open the track, before a flourish of drums and strings signals the entrance of the vocal. Against a fast moving arrangement, Eddie promises that this time their love will work. Meanwhile, Walt and Sammy contribute backing vocals, while blazing horns, swirling strings funky guitars and a punchy rhythm section combine to create a fast, fulsome and driving arrangement. Combined with the powerful vocal, it’s a winning combination that sees Thom Bell successfully mix elements of soul and funk to create a magnificent and memorable track.
Side two opens with Brandy, which was released as a single, but somehow, only reached number twenty-one in the US R&B Charts and number seventy-nine in the US Billboard 100. This has always struck me as strange, given how good a track it is. Written by Joseph Jefferson and Charles Simmons and produced and arranged by Thom Bell it had everything going for it, a slow tempo, full of slow, lush strings and a vocal laden with regret and sadness. From the start, when keyboards, a slow rhythm section, guitars and shimmering, sweeping strings combine slowly and dramatically, the scene is set for the vocal. It too, is full of sadness and regret, struggling to get over his girlfriend leaving him. Subtle backing vocals cut in, while the strings and keyboards are key to the tracks success. Later a harp enters, adding just the final touch to what’s a heart-achingly beautiful, sad track. Thirty-four years after its release, like a good wine, Brandy matures with age, into a vintage O’Jays track.
As Take Me To the Stars opens, various space-age noises give way, to a dance-floor friendly arrangement of a pounding rhythm section, dramatic keyboards, chiming guitars and percussion. In front of that, sits Eddies’ charismatic, joyful vocal with Walt and Sammy providing backing vocals. Braying horns join the mix, while strings sweep, on what’s a very different sounding track. It’s neither the tempo nor style that’s different, but the lyrics and their cosmic references. Having said that, it isn’t a bad song, quite the opposite. It’s a hook-laden, driving, dance-floor friendly track, produced by Eddie Levert, Walt Williams and Dennis Williams, and arranged by Dennis Williams. Together, they give us a glimpse of a very different, but catchy, hooky side of The O’Jays.
After the quite different sound of the previous track, The O’Jays are back on familiar territory on Help (Somebody Please), a slow ballad. It opens with the rhythm section and guitars combining with shimmering strings. A lengthy introduction gives way to vocal full of sadness and regret, caused by the break of a relationship. Key to the success of the track is a slow, thoughtful bass line, drama drenched sweeping strings and a hugely emotive vocals and backing vocals. Like the previous track, it’s produced by Eddie Levert, Walt Williams and Dennis Williams, and arranged by Dennis Williams. However, it’s the complete opposite of that track, being slow, emotive and hugely moving. The arrangement is pretty special, with the addition of a piano complementing the strings, rhythm section and vocals perfectly. By the end of the track, it’s almost impossible to be moved by the sheer gut-wrenching emotion of this hugely moving track.
So Full of Love closes with Strokety Stroke, a Bunny Sigler penned and produced track, arranged by Jack Faith, one of Philadelphia International’s best arrangers. With personnel like this writing, producing and arranging the track, this is the recipe for yet another great track. It doesn’t disappoint when the track bursts into life, a gruff, throaty vocal sung against a quick arrangement that combines soul and funk. There’s almost a later period Temptations sound and feel to the track. A driving, punchy rhythm section and guitars provide a funk influence which is added to when horns blaze in. Meanwhile the vocal has a soulful sound, with just a hint of funk sneaking through. Keyboards and percussion complete what is a fast, furious and funk drenched track that never forgets it soulful roots. Although quite different from other tracks on the album, you can’t fault the emotion and passion displayed by Eddie, Walt and Sammy during this track.
Although The O’Jays would released seven further albums on Philadelphia International, only Identify Yourself would match the success of So Full of Love and their earlier albums. It reached number sixteen in the US Billboard 200 and number three in the US R&B Charts, and was certified platinum. After that, although their albums were still popular, especially in the US R&B Charts, they never hit their earlier heights. So Full of Love was The O’Jays most successful album, eclipsing the success of classic albums like Back Stabbers, Ship Ahoy and Family Reunion.
On So Full of Love were some brilliant tracks including the two singles She Used Ta Be My Girl and Brandy. However, there was much more to So Full of Love than the two singles, with tracks like Cry Together, This Time Baby and Help (Somebody Please) all featuring the trademark O’Jays sound. All of these tracks combine to create an excellent album, and is one of the albums that made The O’Jays one of the most successful and popular soul groups ever. Even today, their music is still loved and cherished by millions of people worldwide. Thanks to Gamble and Huff the group from Canton, Ohio had come a long way since they formed in 1963. After all, how may other groups had four number one US R&B albums, four gold albums and four platinum albums? Standout Tracks: She Used Ta Be My Girl, Cry Together, Brandy and Help (Somebody Please).
THE O’JAYS-SO FULL OF LOVE.
EVELYN “CHAMPAGNE” KING-GET LOOSE.
EVELYN “CHAMPAGNE” KING-GET LOOSE.
Imagine your a seventeen year singer, who has just released your debut album, and suddenly, your world is turned upside down when it sells over 500,00 copies. The album reaches number fourteen in the US Billboard 200 and number eight in the US R&B Charts. As a result, you receive your first gold disc. This really happened, to Evelyn “Champagne” King, who aged seventeen, released her debut album, Smooth Talk in August 1977. It was the first in a series of highly successful albums recorded for RCA during the late seventies and early eighties. What’s even more amazing about her story, is the way she was discovered.
Although Evelyn was born in the Bronx in New York, in July 1960, she was brought up in Philadelphia. It was while helping her mother as a cleaner in the legendary Philadelphia International Records that Theodore T Life first heard Evelyn singing. Recognizing that the young Evelyn was a talented singer, Theodore started coaching her. This lead to Evelyn signing a production deal with Life’s Galaxy Production’s and ultimately, a recording contract with RCA Records. It was on RCA that Evelyn had the most successful period of her career. After just six albums, Evelyn had amassed three gold albums. The first came for her debut album Smooth Talk, which featured one of her best know songs Shame. When it was released in 1978, it reached number nine in the US Billboard 100, number eight in the US Disco Charts and number seven in the US R&B Charts. Following on from the success of Shame and her debut album Smooth Talk, was her second album Music Box.
Music Box was released in March 1979, and although it didn’t reach do quite as well in the charts, reaching just number thirty-five in the US Billboard 200 and number twelve in the US R&B Charts, it sold over 500,000 copies. This resulted in gold disc number two for Evelyn.
Evelyn’s next album Call On Me released in September 1980, failed to reach the heights of her first two albums. It only reached number 124 in the US Billboard 200 and number fifty-eight in the US R&B Charts. Had Evelyn lost her magic touch people asked? When she released I’m In Love in June 1981, she proved that wasn’t the case. Featuring four hit singles, the number one single on the US R&B Charts and the US Dance Charts I’m In Love and If You Want My Lovin’ which reached number forty-three in the UK. The album was a huge success, reaching number twenty-eight in the US Billboard 200 and number six in the US R&B Charts, This album proved that Evelyn hadn’t lost her magic touch. She would reinforce this with her next album, Get Loose, which saw her receive gold disc number three.
Get Loose was released in August 1982, and gave Evelyn her only number one US R&B album. The album also reached number twenty-seven in the US Billboard 200 and became the first of Evelyn’s album to chart in the UK, reaching number thirty-five. On the album were three singles, the first being Love Come Down released in July 1982. It gave Evelyn her second number one single in the US R&B and Dance Charts and reached number seventeen in the US Billboard 100 and seven in the UK. This was the single that really broke Evelyn in the UK. Before, she was known by a small coterie of fans, but now, the wider public had been introduced to her music. When Betcha She Don’t Love You was released as the second single in October 1982, it reached number two in the US R&B Charts and number forty-nine in the US Billboard 100. March 1983 saw Get Loose released as the final single from the album, it reached number sixty-one in the US R&B Charts and forty-five in the UK. All in all, Get Loose had been a hugely successful album, not only in the US, but breaking Evelyn in the UK.
Sadly, after this, none of her albums ever matched the heights of Get Loose. She released three further albums for RCA, Face To Face in November 1983, which only reached number ninety-one in the US Billboard 200 and number twenty-four in the US R&B Charts. So Romantic was released in October 1984, but was Evelyn’s first album not to enter the US Billboard 200, reaching just number 203 and number thirty-eight in the US R&B Charts. Her final album on RCA Long Time Coming (A Change Is Gonna Come) was released a year later, in October 1985. Again, it failed to enter the US Billboard 200, but reached number thirty-eight in the US R&B Charts.
Eight years and three gold albums after joining RCA, Evelyn left the label, joining EMI Manhattan where she released two albums Flirt in 1988 and The Girl Next Door in 1989. Only Flirt charted reaching just 192 in the US Billboard 200 and number twenty in the US R&B Charts. She released two further albums, I’ll Keep A Light On in 1995 on Expansion and 2007s’Open Book on RNB Entertainment. Sadly, neither charted, and since then, Evelyn hasn’t released any further albums. However, she had a hugely successful career, releasing some great music along the way. One of the best albums she released was Get Loose, which I’ll now tell you about.
Get Loose opens with Love Come Down, Evelyn’s second US R&B single. Written by Kasif Saleem who was Assistant Producer of Get Loose was a hugely successful single, with a joyful, feel-good sound. Keyboards, rhythm section and guitars combine to create that familiar opening, before a piano enters. Sweet sounding, joyful backing vocalists give way to Evelyn’s vocal. It too, has a joyous sound, full of emotion and happiness. Against a dance-floor friendly backdrop created keyboards, rhythm section and guitars Evelyn’s vocal grows in strength and power. Together with the arrangement, a catchy, hook laden and infectious dance classic unfolds. Although twenty-eight years old, there’s still a freshness to the track. Like all good music, Love Come Down has a timeless quality and could still pack a dance-floor today.
I Can’t Stand It opens with a funk drenched bass, drums and chiming guitars combining with keyboards before Evelyn’s vocal enters. Like the previous track, the tempo is quick, the arrangement catchy, with hooks aplenty. Evelyn’s voice is higher, with a sweetness to it. She’s accompanied by backing vocalists throughout the track, whose voices are a perfect fit for Evelyn’s. Key to the success of the track is the rhythm section, especially the fast, funky bass line and crisp beats. They combine well with keyboards and guitars, creating the perfect backdrop for Evelyn’s vocal. Towards the end of the track, an assortment of voices can be heard creating what sounds like a party atmosphere. They seem to be really enjoying themselves, maybe the soundtrack for their party was this joyous track.
When Betcha She Don’t Love You was released as a single, it reached number two in the US R&B Charts and number forty-nine in the US Billboard 100. It has a quite different sound, and there’s almost an edginess to the sound. This is apparent when the track opens, with an electronic sounding combination of drums and keyboards. The tempo is slower, the track is far from the dance-floor friendly sound of the previous tracks. There’s none of the hooks of these tracks, instead this darker, edgy sound prevails. Neither does Evelyn’s voice have the same joy and emotion in it. Instead, it’s a much more thoughtful sounding vocal sung against an arrangement that’s heavily reliant on keyboards, rhythm section and guitars. Having said that, it isn’t a bad song, quite the opposite, just a very different sounding one. However, I much prefer the previous tracks to the electronic sound of Betcha She Don’t Love You.
The title track Get Loose has a sound that combines some of the electronic influence of the previous track with funk music. The electronic influence is apparent when keyboards and drumbeats combine, before a funk laden bass enters. Atop that sits a much better vocal from Evelyn. There’s much more emotion and happiness in her voice, with backing vocalists accompanying her. Chiming guitars join the track, combining well with the bass and beats creating a succession of intriguing rhythms. Later in the track, a lovely melody reveals itself, which combines well with Evelyn’s vocal. When all of this is combined, the result is a really good song, one I much prefer to the previous track.
Back To Love was chosen as a single in Europe instead of Betcha She Don’t Love You. Of the two tracks, I much prefer this track. It has a much more appealing, feel-good sound, where hooks are plentiful. From the opening bars of the track, when the rhythm section, chiming guitars and keyboards combine this is apparent. There’s a combination of soul and funk in the track, with Evelyn’s vocal having a restrained soulfulness, while the rhythm section and guitars add a touch of funk. Again, backing vocalists accompany Evelyn, their voices combining beautifully with Evelyn’s. The lyrics are good too, written by Kasif Saleem, they’ve a feel-good sound. Later in the track, a saxophone drenches the arrangement, it’s addition just the finishing touch on what is one of the best tracks on the album.
As Stop That opens, a combination of keyboards, the rhythm section and chiming, shimmery guitars combine to create a lengthy introduction that veers between light and shade. Sometimes, the bass and drums add a darker sound, while the rest of the arrangement has a lighter, more melodic sound. When Evelyn’s vocal enters, it goes from a more restrained style, to a much more powerful style. Behind, her strings sweep in, joining the rhythm section, guitars, keyboards and backing vocalists. Together, they create a lovely, melodic, mostly light sounding arrangement. Combine that with Evelyn’s vocal and the result is a great sounding track, made all the better by the addition of shimmering, sweeping strings.
Get Up Off Your Love has a driving arrangement, with squelchy keyboards, funk influenced rhythm sections, piano and guitars combining. Evelyn’s vocal is stronger, laden with emotion sitting above an arrangement that mixes funk with an electronic sound. This works really well, and the result is a catchy, fulsome sound, which has an almost prototype house sound. Even as the track opens, it brings to mind some of the early house tracks, with their reliance on keyboards or piano, and their love of squelchy synths. Maybe that’s why I really liked this track, not only was it catchy with a great arrangement and powerful, emotive vocal from Evelyn, it reminded me of some of the great house tracks that were still to come.
Get Loose closes with I’m Just Warming Up a much slower track, where Evelyn’s sings backing vocals against a slow combination of rhythm section, keyboards and guitars. When her vocal enters, it’s a very different Evelyn we hear. She’s transformed into a soul singer giving a very beautiful, heartfelt vocal in an almost Anita Baker influenced style. Lush strings enter, joining with the rest of the arrangement, which has slow drums and keyboards at its heart. With the strings they combine with backing vocalists to create not only one of the best arrangements on the album, but a a hugely beautiful backdrop for Evelyn’s thoughtful, subtle and gorgeous vocal. Listening to this brilliant track, I’d love to hear Evelyn sing an album of songs like this. I think she could carry this of brilliantly, and could reignite her career. If it was as good as this track, it would be a huge success.
Listening again to Get Loose was a chance to remind myself just how good an album this really is. There are no bad tracks on the album, although I’m not a huge fan of the slightly edgy sounding Betcha She Don’t Love You. It isn’t a bad track, it just isn’t to my taste. I preferred the two tracks that preceded it Love Come Down and I Can’t Stand It, which had a much more uptempo, joyous sound. The rest of the album is just as good, with one good track following another. On the album there’s a combination of soul, funk and early electronic music. This combines well, resulting in one of Evelyn’s best albums. Of all the tracks on the album, my personal favorites are the classic dance track Love Come Down, the beautiful Back To Love and the very different soulful strains of I’m Just Warming Up. These three tracks are the best on the album, with Stop That another of the tracks highlights. Sadly, Get Loose was Evelyn “Champagne” Kings last really successful album. However, how many artists have their first hit album aged seventeen, never mind one that’s gold selling. In total, she received three gold discs and had three albums that reached the US R&B top ten, with Get Loose reaching number one. Not only that, but Evelyn became a huge star worldwide, becoming a favorite of UK record buyers. Now Get Loose has been rereleased and remastered by BBR Records, giving people who loved Evelyn’s music to hear it again, and new fans to hear some wonderful music from a hugely talented singer Evelyn “Champagne” King. Standout Tracks: Love Come Down, Back To Love, Stop That and I’m Just Warming Up.
EVELYN CHAMPAGNE KING-GET LOOSE.
ASHFORD AND SIMPSON-STREET OPERA.
ASHFORD AND SIMPSON-STREET OPERA.
Back in 1963, when Nikolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson met, they probably never envisaged that their musical partnership would last six decades, and see them write songs for some of music’s biggest names and record four albums that were certified gold. Husband and wife duo Ashford and Simpson had met in the White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, in 1963, and started their recording career as a duo. However, lack of success saw them hook up with Joshie Jo Armstead, a former member of the Ikettes, Ike and Tina Turner’s band at the Scepter and Wand label. Together, the trio wrote songs for a number of artists including Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown and Ray Charles. Let’s Get Stoned, which was recorded by Ray Charles, gave the trio their first number one US R&B hit in 1966. That year, Ashford and Simpson moved to one of the most famous record labels in America at that time, Motown.
At Motown, Ashford and Simpson wrote some huge hits for a number of artists. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell were the beneficiaries of three of Ashford and Simpson penned tracks, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, You’re All I Need To Get By and Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing. This trio of tracks gave the duo three of their biggest hits. Another of the biggest names at Motown Diana Ross, recorded Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand) as her debut solo single, after leaving the Supremes. This single sold over 500,000 copies, reaching number twenty in the US Billboard 100 and seven in the US R&B Charts, and became one of Diana’s most popular an important songs. Ashford and Simpson also wrote and produced most of the tracks on Diana’s debut solo album Diana Ross, and produced her next two albums including 1971s’ Surrender. Among the other Motown artists who recorded Ashford and Simpson songs were Gladys Knight and the Pips. They recorded The Landlord, The Taste of Bitter Love and Bourgie Bourgie. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Marvelettes and The Supremes.
Whilst on Motown, Valerie Simpson recorded a trio of solo albums, Exposed in 1971, Valerie Simpson in 1972 and Keep It Coming in 1977. By 1973, Ashford and Simpson had released their debut album Gimme Something Real. Their fifth album Send It, was reached number ten in the US R&B Charts and number fifty-two in the US Billboard 200. It was certified gold, having sold over 500,000 copies. After this, they embarked on a series of highly successful albums, with 1977s’ Is It Still Good To Ya and 1978s’ Stay Free both being certified gold. During this period, they were still working with other artists, including artists like Quincy Jones, Teddy Pendergrass, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross. Among the tracks they wrote during this period were Chaka Khan’s huge hit and feminist anthem I’m Every Woman in 1978.
During the eighties, Ashford and Simpson recorded seven albums, but two of these albums stand out. The first of these is Street Opera, released in 1982, which is regarded as one of Ashford and Simpson’s best albums of the eighties. The other album is Solid, released in 1984. It featured their huge hit Solid, and reached number one in the US R&B Charts and twenty-nine in the US Billboard 200. It became the fourth and final Ashford and Simpson album to be certified gold.
Street Opera was a concept album released by Ashford and Simpson in May 1982, at a time when the US was going through a really tough time economically. Back then, unemployment had soared to 10.7 million people, 9.7% of the US workforce. Families and couples alike, were struggling financially. Ashford and Simpson decided to record an album that dealt with the problems facing couples when money is tight. How do you keep your love alive when money is tight, was one of the problems they dealt with on the album. The idea behind the album was an ordinary working man, doing his best to support his wife and family, during the hard times. On the second side of the original album, was Street Opera, a four part suite, exploring the themes of life, love and relationships, against a mixture of funk and soul. It’s a powerful suite of music, very different to what other artists were doing in 1982, but very relevant to the problems facing not only the US, but the world in 2011, where unemployment and poverty are rife. However, when the album was released, would this concept album be well received?
When Street Opera was released in May 1982, it reached number forty-five in the US Billboard 200 and five in the US R&B Charts. Three singles were released from Street Opera, the first being Street Corner in March 1982. It reached number fifty-six in the US Billboard 100, number nine in the US R&B Charts and number eleven in the Dance Charts. In July 1982, Love It Away was released as a single, reaching number twenty in the US R&B Charts. The third and final single was I’ll Take the World On, released in October 1982, but failed to chart. Although the singles taken from the album weren’t hugely successful, Street Opera is seen as one of Ashford and Simpson’s best albums, which I’ll now tell you about.
Street Opera opens with Love It Away, which has a lovely laid back, yet funky sound, with the rhythm section providing some gentle funk, while subtle horns, keyboards and guitars combine before Valerie’s vocal enters. It too, has a lovely understated, yet laid back sound. Nick’s voice, when it enters, is stronger and louder as a piano sits at the front of the mix. Behind them, the combination of funky rhythm section and blazing horns are at the heart of the arrangement. The interplay between Nick and Valerie is laden with emotion and passion, and when combined with an subtly funky, almost understated and soulful arrangement it’s an excellent track, perfect for opening the album. However, with such a lovely sound, it deserved to do much better than just number twenty in the US R&B Charts.
Make It Work Again is a song about love and relationships. It’s about a relationship that’s failed, but having got back together, they believe they can get their relationship to work. This is sung against an arrangement that begins with a Nick and Valerie singing against a backdrop of subtle keyboards and rhythm section. Chiming guitars join the arrangement, and as the song progresses, Nick and Valerie’s vocal grows in power, emotion and drama. Like the vocal, the arrangement grows in drama, thanks to waves of guitars, rhythm section and keyboards. However, these waves of drama, quickly give way to calm, but regardless of this, the emotion and drama in the vocal never drops. As a result, it’s a hugely dramatic, emotive and quite beautiful track.
When Mighty Mighty Love opens, two styles of music combine from the opening bars, funk and soul. Elements of funk combine with elements of soul. The funk element is immediately apparent when the track opens, with the funky rhythm section, chiming guitars and keyboards combining with another emotive, yet soulful vocal. Against this backdrop, they sing about the difficulties of keeping a relationship going, and your love alive. Their voices unite, soaring high, full of emotion and passion. Later in the track, strings sweep in, swirling and shimmering, providing the perfect contrast to the funk influence. This mid-tempo track, is not only one has an infectious, hook laden sound, but would work well on any dance floor, because of the tempo and timeless quality of the track.
The final track on side two of Street Opera was I’ll Take the Whole World On. It’s a beautiful combination of slow, sweeping strings and piano that accompany the vocal. During the track, there’s some of the best interplay between Valerie and Nick, on this lovely slow track, that gets across the feeling on invulnerability that people have when deeply in love. Their voices are a combination of passion and power, sung against an arrangement that features just the rhythm section, chiming guitars, piano and lush sweeping strings. This is not only hugely effective, but deeply moving and quite beautiful. If side two is as good as side one, and tracks like this, it’ll be a most enjoyable musical journey.
Side two of the album, features the Street Opera suite of songs, with Part 1-Working Man, the opening track. It’s sung from the perspective of a man trying to support his wife and family, in the face of some economically tough times. During this track, Nick brings the lyrics to life, getting across the hardship, worry and despair that’s felt in such a situation. He feels his only solution is to leave his family temporarily, until things improve. Valerie sings her part from the wife’s perspective. They sing with a combination of emotion, concern and love for the other, against a slow, dramatic backdrop. A saxophone opens the track, adding to the emotion of Nick’s vocal. The slow tempo and spacious arrangement adds to the emotion, as does the way the rhythm section, keyboards and guitars combine. Valerie’s voice is tender, while Nick’s is full of concern and sadness. As the track progresses, the sense of drama increases, with the rhythm section, piano and saxophone responsible for this. As Part 1 ends, you can’t help but feel for the couple, you become caught up in their problems and torment they must be going through.
When Part 2-Who Will They Look To opens, Valerie sings with tenderness, but sadness and regret that she thinks that it’s right her husband leaves against an understated piano led arrangement. It gives way to an almost jaunty, funky arrangement. It’s a combination of the rhythm section, guitars and keyboards that are responsible for this, with backing vocalists accompanying Valerie’s vocal. Then when Nick’s vocal enters, he gets across the frustration, lack of self-worth and worry that a man feels in such a situation. This and Valerie’s response, are sung against the dramatic climax of the song, as she implores him not to go, because as she reminds him, there are two of them in the relationship. By the end of Part 2, both Nick and Valerie have created in music a very realistic scenario that brings to life what people caught up in this scenario must experience.
As Part 3-Street Corner opens, with a funk drenched arrangement that’s created by a combination of the rhythm section, piano, guitars, burst of backing vocals and blazing horns. This sound is meant to portray the urban sights, sounds and experiences of people hanging around on the corner, because they’re without work, money and sometimes, even hope. When Valerie sings, she sings about how she isn’t the kind of girl who’ll stand on the corner selling herself for money. Then Nick sings from the perspective of a potential street corner hustler, but backs away from selling drugs. Meanwhile, the arrangement sees a combination of soul and funk combine masterfully. Blazing horns, the funkiest of rhythm section, chiming guitars and piano are accompanied by a myriad of handclaps. Together, they combine to create a funk laden arrangement, which is perfect for Nick and Valerie vocal’s of urban despair, and how they escaped with their pride in tact. Not for them, turning tricks or selling wraps, even though times were bad. Like the first two parts of Street Opera, Part 3 is just as good, hugely funky, yet still soulful.
The final part of the Street Opera suite is Part 4-Times Will Be Good Again, when Nick sings optimistically, that things will improve, and they’ll be able to return to their previous lives, but for the time being, he’s got to go away. Valerie tenderly urges him to “take good care of yourself.” This track features a hugely emotive vocal from Nick, as the realization that it’s his only option. It’s sung against a hugely dramatic, slow, backdrop of the the rhythm section, keyboards and guitars. In response, Valerie’s vocal is tender, caring and full of concern and worry. As the track reaches this point, it’s a hugely emotive, dramatic and moving climax to the suite.
As Part 4-Times Will Be Good Again, gives way to a short reprise of Working Man, the emotions and drama carries on, as Nick sings the lyrics, slowly but with a huge amount of feeling. Valerie tenderly accompanies him, her voice a thoughtful and concerned contrast, while a saxophone drenches the arrangement with its sad sound. As if that isn’t enough, the rhythm section, keyboard and guitars combine wonderfully, with a piano gently closing the track. By then, you can’t fail to hugely moved by what has been one of the most sad and emotive suites of music you’ll ever hear, one that in 2011 is even more relevant than in 1982.
Street Opera is one of these albums where it pays to listen intently to the words of each song. If you do, you’ll be transported on a hugely emotive, moving and desperately sad musical journey. It’s the nearest thing you’ll ever hear to a soul opera. Drama and sadness, emotion and love, all these things and more can be heard on this album. It follows the journey of an ordinary family when life gets tough, and the husband can no longer support his family. During the album, the feelings of despair, worry and damage to self-esteem are apparent. You hear how this not only affects him, but his family. They avoid taking desperate measures, and instead, retain their dignity. All he wants to do is support his wife and family who he loves dearly. He’s willing to do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, but through no fault of his, isn’t able to do so. This albums tells the story of many millions of people not only in America, but worldwide, not just in 1982, but in 2011. Through no fault of their own, they’ve been plunged into poverty, sometimes through the greed and avarice of others. Ashford and Simpson brilliantly brought these people’s story to life, gave their problems, worries and despair a voice. In doing so, they created a musical masterpiece, one of the most moving and quite beautiful albums you’ll ever hear. If you’ve never heard it, you must do so. Recently, it was rereleased and remastered by BBR Records. They’ve done a good job with this album, the remastering of the album is good, and allows you to hear this wonderful album again. Should you be one of the many people who only know Ashford and Simpson for their huge and joyous hit Solid, here’s your opportunity to hear one of their best ever albums, Street Opera, a deeply moving, emotive and dramatic soul masterpiece. Standout Tracks: Love It Away, Make It Work Again, Mighty Mighty Love and Street Opera Parts 1-4.
ASHFORD AND SIMPSON-STREET OPERA.
GLORIA GAYNOR-NEVER CAN SAY GODBYE.
GLORIA GAYNOR-NEVER CAN SAY GODBYE.
The story of Gloria Gaynor is a fascinating one, how Gloria Fowles, born in New Jersey, in 1948, was transformed into a disco diva who recorded some of the biggest disco hits of the seventies and eighties. Probably, the two best known of her singles were 1974s’ Never Can Say Goodbye and Honey Bee and of course, 1979s’ I Will Survive. However, when Gloria began her musical career it was part of The Soul Satisfiers, a jazz and pop group. By 1965, she released her debut solo single, She’ll Be Sorry. Back then, she’d no idea that the seventies would see her become one of the recognisable and biggest selling female artists of that decade.
Gloria Gaynor’s big break when her 1975 album Never Can Say Goodbye was released. On that album, she worked with Tom Moulton, the Godfather of the 12 inch remix. On that album, Tom took the first three songs on side one of the album and transformed them into a nineteen minute suite of songs. These were Honey Bee, Never Can Say Goodbye and Reach Out I’ll Be There. This nineteen minute musical suite became so popular within clubs, that the decision was made to release each track as a single. Radio edits were made of each track and released as singles. Honey Bee was the first of the tracks to be released as a single. When it was released in December 1973, it failed to chart. When it was released in April 1974, it reached number fifty-five in the US R&B Charts. After this somewhat disappointing chart placing, little did Gloria know that seven months later, her world would be turned upside down.
Never Can Say Goodbye was released as a single in November 1974, reaching number nine in the US Billboard 100 and thirty-four in the US R&B Charts. However, in the US Dance Charts, the single reached number one. Quite simply, Never Can Say Goodbye was a huge success. Record buyers loved it and clubbers too. It wasn’t just in the US that Never Can Say Goodbye was a huge success. In the UK it reached number two in the singles charts. Hoping to build on the success of its predecessor, Reach Out and I’ll Be There was released as a single in March 1975. It failed to match the success of Never Can Say Goodbye, reaching just number sixty in the US Billboard 100 and fifty-six in the US R&B Charts. Similarly, the single didn’t fare as well in the UK as its predecessor, only reaching number fifteen. However, by then, Gloria had released her debut album Never Can Say Goodbye, which gave her her first hit album.
When Never Can Say Goodbye was released, it was very much an album of two sides. The first side was taken up by the nineteen minute Tom Moulton mix of Honey Bee, Never Can Say Goodbye and Reach Out I’ll Be There. Side two was very different, given over to five slower soul songs. Of the five songs, Gloria cowrote False Alarm with Don Coan and wrote Real Good People herself. The album was produced by The Disco Corporation of America, otherwise known as Paul Leka, Tony Bongiovi, Meco Monardo and Jay Ellis. Like Gloria, they must have been really pleased at the success of the album when it was released in January 1975. It reached number twenty-five in the US Billboard 200 and twenty-one in the US R&B Charts. Meanwhile, it reached number thirty-two in the UK. This was Gloria’s most successful album until Love Tracks released in 1978, an album which featured I Will Survive. Love Tracks reached number four in both the US Billboard 200 and US R&B Charts. That may have been Gloria Gaynor’s most successful album, but Never Can Say Goodbye is seen by many people as her best album, and an important album in helping popularize disco, by introducing it to a more mainstream audience. Having told you about the background to Never Can Say Goodbye, I’ll now tell you what it sounds like.
Never Can Say Goodbye opens with Honey Bee, the first single released from the album. When the track opens, you’re not immediately impressed, you hear someone say “take three,” with song counted in. This is something that could’ve been left out, in the production process. Following this, a soaring guitar accompanies bursts of vocal, before the track opens out properly. When it does, immediately, you realize that a great disco track is starting to unfold. Against a backdrop of the rhythm section, sweeping, swirling strings, chiming guitars, percussion and blazing horns, Gloria joyously sings the lyrics. Her voice is strong, surrounded by a punchy, driving arrangement. Key to this arrangement are the swirling strings and constant bursts of blazing horns, add to this the backing vocalists who accompany Gloria, and this is very much a winning formula. Tom Moulton’s extended mix works really well. He takes the best of the original track, and extends it. Hence there are extended instrumental parts where the track sweep joyfully along. For six magnificent minutes you’re in disco heaven, thanks to Gloria, Tom Moulton and The Disco Corporation of America.
When Never Can Say Goodbye opens, you’re transported to “127 disco heaven.” For anyone unfamiliar with this saying, 127 beats per minute was the speed of many of the greatest disco track, including Never Can Say Goodbye. For me, this is Gloria’s greatest disco track, far better than the karaoke favorite I Will Survive. It’s a fuller combination of swirling strings, punchy rhythm section, chiming guitars and braying horns that accompany Gloria’s vocal. On this track, her transformation to disco diva is complete, her destination 127 disco heaven. Here, she gives her best vocal on the album, a mixture of power, emotion and joy. Although her vocal is really good, the arrangement plays just as important a part, especially the rhythm section, strings and horns. Together, they’re key to the sound’s success. The same can be said of Tom Moulton’s extended mix. Again, he takes the best part and extends it, with prolonged instrumental passages just disco heaven.
Following on from the classic Never Can Say Goodbye, Reach Out and I’ll Be There is the last track on side one, and the last of the Tom Moulton mixes. Immediately, the track bursts into life, drums and horns opening the track. It features another great vocal from Gloria. Joining the horns are guitars, percussion, sweeping strings and soaring, soulful backing vocals. Together, they help Gloria to create a joyous take on the Holland-Dozier-Holland classic. Key to the sound is the punchy beats, braying horns, chiming, shimmery guitars and lush strings. They combine brilliantly, with Gloria, creating a new take on an old song.
After Gloria’s disco diva of side one, we hear a very different Gloria on side two. This time, we hear the soulful side of Gloria Gaynor. The first of the five tracks on side two is All I Need Is Your Good Loving, which has a quicker tempo, with the rhythm section, chiming and soaring guitars joined by sweeping strings before Gloria’s vocal enters. When it does, it’s laden with emotion, accompanied by backing vocalists, while the arrangement drives along at 116 beats per minutes. There’s a punchy sound to the arrangement, thanks to the rhythm section, while sweeping strings and rasping horns combine to produce important parts of the arrangement. Their sounds produce musical contrasts, the strings a lushness, while the rasping horns produce a harshness, but combine well. Although slightly slower than the trio of tracks on side one, this emotive and joyful track would still sound good on any dance-floor.
Searchin’ sees the tempo increase, this time to 121 beats per minute. The track opens with drama laden, swirling strings, driving rhythm section, percussion and chiming guitars. Gloria’s voice is high, full of feeling and emotion, as she searches for the right man for her. The longer the track progresses, the better it gets. Gloria’s accompanied by backing vocalists, they unite with her during the track, their voices a perfect foil for hers. Similarly, after the dramatic opening, the arrangement is transformed into a swirling, driving and punchy track, with horns, strings and the rhythm section at it’s heart.
We Belong Together is a track that maybe owes a debt of gratitude to Northern Soul for its sound rather than disco. Throughout the track, there’s a real Northern Soul influence to the track. A piano, percussion, rhythm section and rasping horns open the track, before Gloria and a male vocalist sing the song as a duet. Their voices are a good fit, complimenting each other on this love song. Chiming guitars and swirling strings enter, helping to create a very different sounding track, one with a slightly darker sound. Sometimes, the song heads towards the stomper territory, but is whisked away at the last minute by swirling strings and rasping horns. Of the tracks on side two so far, this is my favorite track. Mind you, I’m quite a fan of Northern Soul, so this Northern Soul influenced track would appeal to me.
The penultimate track on the album is False Alarm, which Glora cowrote with Don Coan. Again, there’s a combination of dramatic swirling strings, blazing horns, driving rhythm section and chiming guitars that open the track. When Gloria sings the lyrics, it’s apparent the inspiration for them was a children’s nursery rhyme. Now that may not sound particularly appealing, and I’ll admit they’ve a throwaway, bubblegum pop quality, but this is more than made up by the chorus. The chorus, and its arrangement is excellent, full of hooks, and with the potential to have been hit number four from the album. It has a catchiness that results in the song getting stuck in your head for days. Add to this an excellent joyful, dance-floor friendly arrangement full of rasping horns, swirling, sweeping strings, chiming guitars and percussion and you’ve got a brilliant track. Why it wasn’t released as a single puzzles me.
Never Can Say Goodbye ends with the only track written by Gloria herself, Really Good People. The track nearly ends up in destination 127 Disco Heaven, stopping just a beat per minute short at 126 beats per minute. However, it’s still another disco flavoured track with rasping horns, percussion, driving rhythm section and guitars accompanying Gloria. Back vocalists joyfully accompany Gloria whose voice os fast, powerful and full on happiness, as it again, sits in the right hand channel. The backing vocalists add handclaps to an already full arrangement, with rasping horns and a driving, punchy rhythm section key to the success of the track’s sound. Although not as good as the two previous tracks, it’s still a good enough track, adding a sense of symmetry to the album. It opened with a fulsome disco track and ends with one too.
Before I started listening to Never Can Say Goodbye I was looking forward to reviewing it and wasn’t disappointed. This is Disco Heaven 127 thanks to Gloria Gaynor and the Godfather of the remix Tom Moulton. From the opening track Honey Bee, right until Really Good People, there’s no let up in quality, on an album that truly, is deserving of being called a disco classic. With Side One of Never Can Say Goodbye, the first three songs on side one of the album and transformed them into a nineteen minute suite of songs by Tom Moulton. Honey Bee, Never Can Say Goodbye and Reach Out I’ll Be There became popular in discos worldwide, thanks to Tom’s genius in transforming them into a suite of songs. On Side Two, we see a different side of Gloria, with the five songs slower, demonstrating her soulful side. These songs prove that there’s more to Gloria Gaynor than a disco diva. Overall, Never Can Say Goodbye is an excellent and important album. The music on it is of the highest standard, capturing Gloria Gaynor at her very best. She was fortunate to work with some hugely talented people on the album, including the musicians, Tom Moulton and producers The Disco Corporation of America. Together, they combined to create some wonderful music, music that helped popularize disco music, helping it crossover to the mainstream. You too, can hear the great disco music again, on BBR Records remastered rerelease of Never Can Say Goodbye, the album that transformed Gloria Gaynor’s career and which contains the best music she ever recorded. Standout Tracks: Honey Bee, Never Can Say Goodbye, Reach Out I’ll Be There and All I Need Is Your Good Loving.
GLORIA GAYNOR-NEVER CAN SAY GODBYE.
TEDDY PENDERGRASS-LIFE IS A SONG WORTH SINGING.
TEDDY PENDERGRASS-LIFE IS A SONG WORTH SINGING.
In a previous article I reviewed Teddy Pendergrass’ debut solo album, entitled Teddy Pendergrass. This was his first album since leaving Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, where he’d been the lead singer. His debut solo album, Teddy Pendergrass was released in June 1977, reaching number seventeen in the US Billboard 100 and number five in the US R&B Charts. The album was certified platinum, having sold over a million copies. So, his next album had a lot to live up to.
During 1977 and 1978, Teddy spent time in the legendary Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where so many Philadelphia International Records recordings were made. During that time, some of the best arrangers and producers were enlisted to help record what would become Life Is A Song Worth Singing. Apart from Gamble and Huff, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, Victor Castarphen and Sherman Marshall all produced tracks. Arrangers like Jack Faith, Thom Bell, John Usry Jr. and Dexter Wansell were called upon by Gamble and Huff. Add to this M.F.S.B. and it was a hugely talented cast of producers, arrangers and musicians that all combined to record Life Is A Song Worth Singing.
When Life Is A Song Worth Singing was finished, there were seven songs on the album, with two of them, Only You and Close the Door released as singles. The first single released from the album was Close the Door. It was a huge hit, reaching number twenty-five in the US Billboard 100 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Similarly, when Life Is A Song Worth Singing was released in June 1978, it gave Teddy a number one US R&B album. The album also reached number eleven in the US Billboard 200. This meant Teddy received his second platinum album of his solo career.
The second single taken from the album was Only You. Unlike its predecessor, it failed to enter the US Billboard 100, but reached number twenty-two in the US R&B Charts. However, it reached number twenty-nine in the US Dance Charts, giving Teddy his first hit single on the Dance Charts. Although Only You never matched the success of Close the Door, 1978 had been a good year for Teddy. Two hit singles, and a platinum selling album, Life Is A Song Worth Singing, which I’ll now tell you about.
Life Is A Song Worth Singing opens with the title track, Life Is A Song Worth Singing, a Thom Bell and Linda Creed penned track. A slow rhythm section, rasping horns, keyboards, lush sweeping strings and guitars combine during the lengthy introduction, The tempo quickens before Teddy, accompanied by soulful backing vocalists enter. His voice is strong and emotive, while behind him a sweeping, swirling and dramatic arrangement unfolds. Lush strings, punchy drums and braying horns are key to the track’s success, providing the perfect dance-floor friendly backdrop for Teddy’s vocal. It demonstrates how Philadelphia International moved with the times, embracing disco, rather than ignoring its growing popularity and importance. However, by 1978, disco was experiencing a backlash, so this album is about more than great dance-floor friendly tracks like this.
When Only You opens, there’s a funk influence apparent from the opening bars. Soaring, chiming guitars combine with a funky rhythm section and percussion, before bursts blazing horns give way to Teddy’s joyful vocal. He sings about how only one woman, is the woman for him. This he against Dexter Wansell’s arrangement that’s fast, funky and dance-floor friendly. The beat pounds, while waves of drama drenched horns and drums combine with a funk laden bass and shimmering guitars. The pace is relentless, horns blazing, while Teddy’s voice is laden with passion and desire. For just over five minutes, M.F.S.B. combine with Teddy to produce a track that combines funk and soul masterfully, thanks to Gamble and Huff’s mastery of mixing desk when producing the track.
It’s a very different sound and style that opens Cold, Cold World a slow, ballad where Teddy passionately sings about not letting things get you down, regardless of how tough times get. He does this against an arrangement that sees lush, slow strings, chiming guitar and thoughtful rhythm section, combine with bursts of rasping horns. Mostly, they produce a backdrop that has an almost understated sound, but sometimes, drums and horns add a sense of drama. This effectively matches the sense of sadness, desperation and even, drama in Gene McFadden, John Whitehead and Victor Castarphen’s lyrics. Although this is a very different style of song, this to me, is one of the best songs on the album. Teddy I’ve always thought, is best when he’s singing slower, emotive songs.
Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose, sees Teddy enter James Brown territory on this delicious slice of good time funky music. Blazing horns open the track, before the rhythm section, chiming, shimmering guitars and keyboards drive the song along. Teddy sings how after the Monday to Friday grind, it’s time to party and have a ball. Together with M.F.S.B. he combines to produce an infectious, punchy good time song, catchy and laden with hooks. Much of the track’s success is down to the addition of horns and the backing vocalists whose joyous contributions really lifts the track. They whoop, shriek and holler in response to the energy and enthusiasm Teddy puts into the song. In the hands of another singer and band this wouldn’t be the same track. However, when you combine Teddy Pendergrass with M.F.S.B., add John Usry Jr.’s arrangement and Gamble and Huff’s production you end up five and a half minutes of joyous, uptempo good-time party music.
The standout track from the album is Close the Door, which gave Teddy a number one US R&B single. It’s a beautiful, sensuous and seductive track. It’s one of these tracks that should carry a government health warning, that prolonged exposure to the track can see two become three. A slow, string drenched arrangement sees bursts of braying horns combine with chiming guitars and considered, rhythm section. Later a piano is added to arrangement, combining beautifully with the swirling, sweeping horns and the drama laden, blazing horns. Both Teddy’s irresistible, seductive pleas and Thom Bell’s equally beautiful arrangement unite as one perfectly. Together, they create the best song on the album, and a love song so good that it’s almost peerless.
After such a brilliant previous track, It Don’t Hurt Now has a hard act to follow, However, It Don’t Hurt Now is another good track, with Teddy singing about the sadness he felt when his relationship ended, having met someone new he loves. This is sung against a slow arrangement with strings, gentle rasping horns and a slow, thoughtful rhythm section. Backing vocalists subtly accompany Teddy, their sweet, soulful voices reminding me of Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes, on many of the Hi Records albums. A prolonged piano solo combines beautifully with chiming guitars and subtle, rasping horns. Together with Teddy’s vocal they provide a beautiful, fitting and worthy track to follow the brilliant Close the Door.
Life Is A Song Worth Singing closes with When Somebody Loves You Back, a slower track, but slightly faster track than the previous two tracks. It has a fuller, swirling introduction. Strings are key to this, swirling and sweeping, while chiming guitars, rhythm section and keyboards combine with understated rasping horns. Teddy’s vocal has a joyousness, thankful for the love he’s found. Behind him, the arrangement still has the same swirling, dramatic sound, strings at its heart while horns make subtle, yet important, repeated contributions. Wave after wave of beautiful lush music makes its presence felt, sweeping you along in it wake. Again, backing vocalists accompany Teddy, reflecting the joyousness in his voice. Following on from two great tracks that featured Teddy singing in a slower style, this is the third similar track, proving my earlier point that this is what Teddy did best, singly slow, emotive love songs. This is a fitting end to a second great album from Teddy Pendergrass.
Although Life Is A Song Worth Singing was only Teddy’s second solo album, he was a hugely experienced singer by this time, having previously been lead singer of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. However, his solo career saw his career becoming even more successful, with this the second of four platinum and three gold albums he released. Apart from two gold albums for 1984s’ Love Language and 1988s’ Joy, the rest of this success was when he was on Philadelphia International Records. Of the seven albums he released on Philadelphia International four were certified platinum and one gold. That was the benefit of being on Gamble and Huff’s label, working with such talented songwriters, arrangers, producers and musicians. Where else could he have worked with such a hugely talented group of people. Together, they helped Teddy harness the huge talent he had as a singer. They provided him with some great songs for Life Is A Song Worth Singing, including the three slow tracks Close the Door, It Don’t Hurt Now and When Somebody Loves You Back. Add to this the joyous Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose and the dance-floor friendly Life Is A Song Worth Singing then you can see that this album features just one great song after another. Of the seven tracks on the album, there’s neither a poor track nor any filler. Like its predecessor Teddy Pendergrass, this is an excellent album, one I’d recommend to anyone. If you love soul music this is an album that deserves a place within your collection. After all, does soul get any better, than Teddy Pendergrass at his very best? Standout Tracks: Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose, Close the Door, It Don’t Hurt Now and When Somebody Loves You Back.
TEDDY PENDERGRASS-LIFE IS A SONG WORTH SINGING.
DORIS DUKE-I’M A LOSER.
DORIS DUKE-I’M A LOSER.
Mention Doris Duke’s 1970 album I’m A Loser, and many lovers of soul music will nod approvingly. Since its release, I’m A Loser has become regarded as one of the greatest Deep Soul albums ever released. However, who was Doris Duke, and how did she go from voice for hire to Deep Soul diva in the space of five years, and what became of her afterwards?
Doris Curry was born in Sandersvile, Georgia in 1945. Having started as a gospel singer, aged eighteen she moved to New York, becoming a session singer and backing vocalist at the legendary Apollo Theatre. By 1966, Doris was married, and cut her debut single Running Away From Loneliness, released on the Hy-Monty label as Doris Willingham. Her follow-up single You Can’t Do That was released two years later on the Jay Boy label. Like her debut single, it garnered good reviews, but wasn’t a commercial success. After that, Doris returned to Philadelphia, hooking up with the legendary production team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, contributing backing vocals to some of their early work.
1969 was an important year in Doris’ career. During 1969, Doris worked with one of the biggest names in music, Nina Simone. Doris was a backing vocalist on Nina’s live album A Very Rare Evening, which was recorded in Germany. Later in the year, she met Swap Dogg, producer Jerry Williams Jr. He had split with Atlantic Records, leaving his job as their A&R man. He was much more than an A&R man though, he was one of the most innovative people in soul music, working as a songwriter, musician and producer. Deciding that Doris needed a new identity, the now divorced Doris Willingham became Doris Duke, who confusingly, was also the heir to her family’s tobacco fortune. Using her “borrowed” name, Doris recorded her debut album, with Swamp Dogg producing it.
That album was the legendary I’m A Loser, which was released on Wally Roker’s Canyon Records. Little did they know it then, but Canyon was going to be a short lived enterprise, that ultimately, would cause problems when it folded. However, that was still to come. Things looked good when the first single from the album was released. When To the Other Woman was released, it reached number seven in the US R&B Charts and number fifty in the US Billboard 100. Then, when the follow-up single Feet Start Walking was released, it too made the charts, but only reached number thirty-nine in the US R&B Charts. However, just as Doris must have thought her career was going places, disaster struck. Canyon Records collapsed. The result of this was Doris didn’t receive any royalties.
Down but not out, Doris recorded another album with Swamp Dogg in 1971, A Legend In Her Own Time. It was released on the Mankind label. Sadly, it wasn’t a commercial success. Around this time, another problem occurred, when the “real” Doris Duke started singing with a choir of children in New Jersey. This caused confusion, with the two Doris Duke’s getting mixed up. By now, Doris had remarried, and was Doris Logan. She decided to retire temporarily, to bring up her young family.
1974 saw Doris make a brief comeback, recording her album Woman, for the British Contempo label. The album was well received by critics, but failed commercially. After that, Doris retired from music, releasing one further single eight years later, That was I’ll Make A Sweet Man (Out of You), for the Boston based Beantown label. Since then, Doris has been content to keep a low profile, neither seeking publicity nor wanting to be rediscovered. Instead, she’s content to have recorded what Dave Godin called the greatest deep soul album of all time, I’m A Loser, which I’ll now tell you about.
I’m A Loser is one of soul music’s first concept albums, its subject matter relationships, love and sometimes, betrayal. Opening the album is he’s gone, about a woman whose partner has left them. Doris uses her incredible voice to get over the sense of loss, betrayal and heartache in the lyrics. She does this, against a slow, moody backdrop of piano, drums chiming guitars. Her voice is laden with power and emotion, totally distraught, as strings sweep in, a bass sitting at the front of the mix. Later a Hammond organ enters, its sound slow, moody and adding to the sense of sadness. Together, Doris and Swap Dogg’s arrangement unite perfectly to produce a track that’s a combination of raw emotion, sadness and drama.
I Can’t Do Without You has a more uptempo, jaunty arrangement that sometimes, almost takes a diversion into funk territory. Doris’ desperate, needy vocal is sung against a quicker arrangement that features just the rhythm section, guitars and piano combining. They combine to create a catchy backdrop for Doris, who desperately pleads for her lover to set her free from her loneliness and neediness. She can’t live without him, needing him to survive and go on. What I’ve always liked about the song is the combination of the catchy, hooky arrangement and Doris’ quicker, yet desperate vocal. Both are excellent, but it’s the sheer emotion and desperation of Doris vocal that sets the song apart. It turns a great song into an outstanding one.
When Feet Start Walking opens, there’s a sense of drama created by the combination of piano, guitars and rhythm section that accompany Doris. Straight away, her voice is full of power, anger and frustration, at the betrayal she’s experienced having caught her lover in the throes of passion with another woman. Having been humiliated, Doris vents her anger at her disloyal lover, and heads for the door, promising never to return. A combination of a dramatic piano lead arrangement, and Doris’ angry, frustrated and passionate vocal unite to produce one of the most emotionally charged tracks on I’m A Loser.
A Hammond organ combines with a bass and piano, as Ghost of Myself opens, before a slow and thoughtful vocal from Doris enters. Slow spacious drums and soaring electric guitars join the arrangement, keeping the tempo slow, yet adding a sense of drama. Doris one down on her luck, not the woman she once was, having lost her love of life, after a relationship has ended. Doris gets across the sadness and desperation of the situation. So does the arrangement, but the screaming soaring guitars slightly spoil the sound for me. They lack the subtlety of the rest of the arrangement. Having said that, it’s a emotive song with Doris’ performance stealing the show.
Your Best Friend sees a combination of Hammond organ, rhythm section and chiming guitars accompany Doris. She’s discovered that her partner, is using her, she doesn’t mean anything to her, so his best friend tells her. It’s a one-way love affair, with Doris doing the loving. Doris gives a heartfelt rendition of Larry Harrison and Jerry Williams Jr.’s lyrics against a slow, moody arrangement that’s laden in emotion and sadness. It has the Hammond organ, rhythm section and guitars at its heart. They provide the perfect backdrop for a heartbroken Doris, resulting in a hugely moving, track full of frustration and betrayal.
The final song on side one of the album is The Feeling Is Right. It’s much quicker track, with piano, rhythm section and guitars combining with Doris’ powerful yet joyous vocal. As if the arrangement isn’t good enough, a Hammond organ and sweeping strings cut in. Swamp Dogg chooses just the right moment to deploy what are almost his secret weapon. The strings shimmer, behind the rest of the arrangement adding to its sweeping beauty. When combined with Doris’ power laden, joyful combination this is a winning combination, ending side one on a high.
Side two of the album sees a much slower tempo and understated sound open I Don’t Care Anymore. It’s just an acoustic guitar that opens the track, with a tambourine, rhythm section and sad strings combining before Doris’ desperate vocal. The song is about a woman coming from the Deep South to find work, and her descent from having a job, getting married to prostitute and nearly destitute. It’s a hugely moving gritty tale of a life gone wrong, with Doris bringing the lyrics to life. Behind her, the arrangement has an understated, yet melodramatic sound, perfect for the sadness and despair of the track.
Congratulations Baby sees the tempo increase, a combination of the driving rhythm section, guitars, piano and Hammond organ are responsible for this. When Doris’ vocal enters, there’s a sense of anger, frustration and betrayal in her voice, as she sings about her lover marrying another woman. This anger and frustration in her voice combines perfectly with Swap Dogg’s quicker, driving arrangement. This “marriage” of the arrangement and vocal results in track where the sense of anger, bitterness and frustration is palpable.
A slow moody bass opens We’re More Than Strangers, giving way to chiming guitars and piano, before a hugely emotional vocal from Doris enters. The track is a combination of Southern Soul with a blues influence present. Here, the Muscle Shoals rhythm section give one of their best performances on the album, combining with slow, sad strings and a wailing Hammond organ. They provide the perfect backdrop for Doris’ vocal about a relationship gone wrong, and she wants to end. It’s hugely emotive, full of pain and sadness. Together with the slow emotive, arrangement, it’s one of the albums best tracks.
Divorce Decree sees a newly divorced woman, free but not happy. She’s still got hopes and feelings for her ex-husband, missing him, wanting him back. An emotion drenched vocal from Doris, is sung against a drama laden arrangement. Drums and guitars add drama, the drums loud and punchy throughout the track, while the lushes of strings represent the loss and sadness in Doris vocal. Although just two and a half minutes long, the song is an emotionally charged and dramatic mini-drama thanks to Jerry Williams Jr. and Maurice Gimblel lyrics, brought to life magnificently by Doris.
A swirling, stirring and punchy, dramatic introduction opensHow Was I To know You Cared. A combination of swirling, sweeping strings, punchy rhythm section, piano and guitars combine before a much more restrained vocal from Doris. She discovers that her former partner cares and loves for her, but can’t bring herself to leave her new partner. Backing vocalists subtly accompany her, as she sings with a mixture of frustration, regret and temptation, at what she’s just discovered. Although it’s a good enough song, it doesn’t quite live up to the expectation created by the drama laden introduction.
I’m A Loser closes with To the Other Woman (I’m the Other Woman). The track has a slow, spacious arrangement, with the rhythm section, chiming guitars and piano combining as Doris’ vocal enters. She’s discovered her partner is cheating on her, but seems to have accepted this, with it not coming as a surprise to her. Her voice is strong and emotive, but with a sadness and sense of betrayal coming across. Backing vocalists accompany her, their tender voices a contrast to her power. Strings cut in, they’re slow full of sadness, matching the rest of the tender, understated arrangement. A Hammond organ, adds the final touch to a brilliant arrangement. It’s the perfect accompaniment to Doris’ vocal, on this excellent track, which is one of the album’s highlights.
Over the years I’ve heard probably thousands of soul albums, but one I always return to is Doris Duke’s I’m A Loser. Of all the albums I’ve heard this is one of the best. It’s a hugely emotive concept album that brings to life the complicated subjects of relationships. During the album, there’s twelve dramatic stories of love, betrayal and broken promises. On each of these tracks, Doris is transformed into a master storyteller, as she throws herself headlong into each story. Her portrayal of each story makes you forget that this is only “make believe.” She delivers the lyrics so realistically that you think that Doris has lived each track. Not many singers have the ability and talent to do that. Doris Duke did, she brought lyrics to life, whereas other singers just sung them, but gave nothing of themselves. That the album wasn’t a huge success was a mixture of bad luck and possibly not being on a major label. If Swamp Dogg had signed Doris to Atlantic Records, his old label, maybe she would’ve been a huge star. Instead, he signed her to the ill-fated Canyon label, not knowing its perilous state. Sadly, although the album was well received by critics, commercially it wasn’t a success. However, as regular readers of my blog will know, this has happened to many other artists, time after time. Thankfully, in 2005, Ace Records rereleased I’m A Loser. On the album is also Doris’ second album A Legend In Her Own Time. This allows you to hear not only the brilliant I’m A Loser, but another great album from one of soul music’s best voices. Standout Tracks: I Can’t Do Without You, I Don’t Care Anymore, We’re More Than Strangers and To the Other Woman (I’m the Other Woman).
DORIS DUKE-I’M A LOSER.
JON LUCIEN-PREMONITION.
JON LUCIEN-PREMONITION.
Recently I wrote a review of Jon Lucien’s first album for Columbia, Song For My Lady. This was the first of two albums he recorded for Columbia after leaving RCA, for whom he recorded three album. These three albums I Am Now in 1970, Rashida in 1973 and Mind’s Eye in 1974, were all good albums, but weren’t commercially successful. Sadly, Jon’s first album for his new label failed to do any better, and when Premonition was released in 1976, he must have been hoping for a change in his fortunes. His music was popular on jazz stations in parts of the US, and previously, he’d been nominated for two Grammy Awards, but still, he was trying to make a breakthrough into the highly lucrative US market.
By now, both Jon and his music had matured, and it was very different from his debut album I Am Now, when record company executives thought that in Jon Lucien, they’d discovered a new crooner. Over the past six years, Jon had been honing his sound, and maturing as a singer, songwriter and arranger. On Premonition, Jon wrote or cowrote five of the songs, and produced the album. The sound on the album is uniquely Jon’s. Premonition saw Jon enlist the help of huge number of East and West Coast musicians. Among them were Ray Parker Jr, and Wah-Wah Watson playing electric guitar, Dorothy Ashby harp, Herbie Hancock piano and Harvey Mason drums. In total, over forty musicians played on Premonition.
At the time the album was being recorded, Jon was becoming disillusioned with the music industry, He knew that he was producing one great album after another, but was fed up not getting either credit or sales his music deserved. He realized that Premonition was possibly his last chance to make the breakthrough he so wanted. What didn’t help matters, was that Jon felt that he wasn’t getting the support he needed from his record company Columbia when it came to promoting his albums. Like other artists, he realized that a great album requires some promotion to bring it the public’s attention. However, something else was going on in Jon’s life that wasn’t conducive to a successful music career, drugs.
Previously, Jon had been very anti-drugs, not comfortable around them. His only exposure previously to drugs had been the odd joint. This changed however, around the time Premonition was being recorded. With people around him using drugs, he succumbed, letting them enter his life. This wasn’t the last time drugs entered his life, but by the late eighties, he was drug free, after he met his second wife Delesa. So it was against a backdrop of disillusionment and drugs, Jon’s fifth album Premonition was released in 1976.
When the album was released, it failed to enter either the US Billboard 200 or US R&B Charts, but reached number seventeen in the US Jazz Charts. This must have been hugely disappointing for Jon, who had feared this might happen. Making matters worse, Columbia released him from his recording contract. Although other record companies tried to sign Jon, he turned down their offers. Instead, he made guest appearances for groups like Weather Report, the jazz fusion group which featured Herbie Hancock.
The rest of the seventies were tough and tragic times for Jon. His marriage broke down, resulting in divorce and one of his children drowned in a boating accident. Still he continued to make music, recording his compositions onto a four-track tape recorder. Six years passed before his next album Romantico was released. It was released on the Precision label, but because of problems with distribution, the album didn’t fare well, although Jon made money out of it.
Sadly, Premonition was Jon’s last release on a major label. After that, he continued to release the occasional album, but none of them were on a label like RCA or Columbia. Jon’s comments before Premonition was released that his music was getting neither the attention nor sales it deserved, was almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Both Jon and music fans suffered. Jon’s music didn’t gain the recognition and commercial success, and music fans missed hearing some wonderful music which I’ll now tell you about.
Premonition opens with Hello Like Before, a track written by Bill Withers and John Collins. It has a lovely laid back sound, with an acoustic guitar accompanied by the rhythm section, Dorothy Ashby on harp, piano and percussion before Jon’s subtle, restrained vocal enters. Quickly, the arrangement gets even better, with lush strings and a saxophone entering. They’re addition works beautifully, the arrangement combining with Jon’s passionate vocal. He sings the song to an old girlfriend he’s just met, at first regretting the encounter, but quickly welcoming their chance meeting. Jon brings the lyrics to life, getting across the awkwardness of the initial meeting, and how, suddenly their drawn to each other, nostalgia giving way to attraction. The lyrics are beautiful, and Jon sings them with feeling and passion, against a similarly, beautiful, almost lush sounding arrangement. This is an outstanding track, one of the best on the album.
If I Could is a track with a much more gentle arrangement, with Jon’s vocal multi-tracked. When the track opens the tempo is quicker, a jaunty combination of percussion, piano, rhythm section and guitar combining as Jon scats. This gives way to his vocal, with the use of multi-tracking seeing Jon’s harmonies accompanying his lead vocal. It’s effective, used throughout the track. Although the arrangement is gentle, it’s a complex combination of instruments that’s used. Synths, a Fender Rhodes blazing horns and congas are all used, combining with Jon’s emotive vocal. Together they produce a quite different track to Hello Like Before. Although different, Jon’s vocal and the arrangement combine to produce an emotive, gentle song.
Swirling strings and a harp open Spring’s Arrival, before keyboards, rhythm section and guitar enter, giving way to a gentle, thoughtful vocal from Jon. The addition of the lushest of swirling, shivering, strings that play throughout the track, are at the heart of the song’s success. When they’re combined with Jon’s tender vocal and his beautiful lyrics, you’re transfixed by the song’s beauty. Time stands still as you focus on both the vocal and the lyrics. Each match the beauty of the other, with wave upon wave of slow, beautiful music unfolding. Jon’s lyrics are some of the best on the album. By the end of the track, you find yourself wondering why, with fantastic songs like this on Premonition, the album didn’t do much better?
After the beauty of the previous track, the quicker, fuller sounding Mi Vida is a very different sounding track. There’s a Latin feel to the track, with percussion, congas and bells, combining with the rhythm section, saxophones and keyboards. The tempo is quicker, with an exotic and energetic sounding arrangement, accompanying Jon’s vocal. Backing vocalists accompany Jon, their enthusiasm and energy including various shrieks and yelps, that combine well with the bells, congas and percussion. Although the complete opposite to the previous track, I like the energy and use of traditional instruments. This results in a quite joyous sounding track.
Strings open the track, their sound has a sense of sadness as Laura begins. Jon half-speaks the vocal, against the backdrop of strings and flute. The arrangement has been almost stripped bare, so that it’s just the strings that feature. This is effective, allowing Jon’s vocal to take centre-stage. Occasionally, subtle horns cut in, but their appearance is brief. What helps the track is the space left within the music, which allows it to breathe. This allows you to focus on Jon’s vocal and the beauty of his lyrics. They’re about a beautiful and magical woman he’s dreamt about. Like this mystical woman, the song is tender and beautiful, thanks to Jon’s vocal and a pared down arrangement.
Gaku is another track where Jon leaves space within the music. Again this is highly effective and the result is a track that combines elements of jazz with funk, world music and sixties psychedelia. It’s an impressive combination that works well, but may not be to everyone’s taste. Jon scats as the song opens, his vocal fast, sung against a myriad of rhythm section, percussion and wah-wah guitar, reverberating heavily. Congas and percussion combine with the Fender Rhodes, producing a sound that’s melodic and jumpy, awkward even. This becomes infectious, and when horns blaze in, it lifts the track. Jon’s bass is prominent in the mix, while his vocal is improvised, with a variety of shrieks and yelps thrown in for good measure. By the of the track, you’re struck by how good, yet how different from the rest of the album this track really is. That’s what makes this such a good album, the sheer variety of the music on it.
Chiming guitars open You Been Away Too Long, a much more traditional sounding track. It’s a lovely ballad, one that sees Jon’s strong, emotive vocal accompanied by female backing vocalists. During the track, swirling strings and bursts of braying horns accompany Jon. When a saxophone solo takes over from Jon’s vocal, there’s a fluidity about the transition. Beauty replaces beauty. The addition of the saxophone is a masterstroke, as is the use of the backing vocalists. Their gentle, soulful voices unite dramatically, providing a contrast to Jon’s vocal. That’s just the finishing touch in what’s a beautiful ballad, one about missing the one you love.
The tempo increases on And It All Goes Round And Around, with the arrangement also having a much fuller, almost frantic sound. Atop the arrangement is Jon’s vocal, strong, emotive and laden with passion. Behind him, blazing horns, a myriad of percussion, driving rhythm section and guitars accompany Jon. On guitar is Ray Parker Jr, with Harvey Mason on drums and Chuck Rainey on bass. This trio are key to the driving, fulsome arrangement, providing its energy and heartbeat. Together, their experience and talent, result in an arrangement that combines jazz and funk. This is perfect for Jon’s quick, jazz influenced vocal. They fuse together perfectly, resulting in yet another different style of music.
Child of Love closes Premonition, and is another track written by Jon. It features his lovely lilting vocal, siting above a melodic, jazz tinged arrangement. The tempo is slower than the previous track, and features and features instruments that provide contrasting sounds. This ranges from the melodic sounding acoustic piano, to blazing horns. In between, sit the rhythm section and acoustic guitar, who combine to keep the tempo slow, providing an understated sound that works really well with Jon’s much more restrained, yet joyful vocal. As the song heads towards its conclusion, the arrangement and vocal grow in strength. Jon revisits his scatting style briefly, on what is a lovely track to end the album. Like the opening track, it has a lovely laid back sound and feel, something Jon was able to do so well.
In my previous articles about Jon Lucien, I’ve always said how unfair it was that Jon’s music wasn’t heard by more people. Sadly, between 1970 when he released his debut album I Am Now, and 1976, when he released Premonition, his music was loved and appreciated by a few, and unknown to many. This is similar to many other artists, including Terry Callier. For whatever reason, whether lack of promotion, being on the wrong record label, musical tastes or just sheer bad luck, Jon’s music never found a wider audience. The sad thing is that, now Jon’s music is being rediscovered by a wider audience, he’s no longer around to see this. He died in August 2007. However, now, the three albums he recorded for RCA, I Am Now, Rashida and Mind’s Eye, plus the two he recorded for Columbia, Song For My Lady and Premonition have all been rereleased, allowing a new generation to hear Jon’s music. Of these five albums, Premonition is one of the best. It’s my favorite of the two he recorded for Columbia. One of the reasons for that, is the sheer variety of music on the album. No two tracks are the same. Ballads follow lazz tinged, while one track that combine funk, world music and psychedelia. For anyone who hasn’t heard Jon’s music, this is an album I can thoroughly recommend. It was recently rereleased on BBR Records, along with 1975s’ Song For My Lady. Both are great albums, and show how Jon Lucien’s music had matured from his debut album I Am Now. They’re a good starting point for anyone who wants to discover the magical music of one of the most underrated, but talented artists, Jon Lucien. Standout Tracks: Hello Like Before, If I Could, Laura and Child of Love.
JON LUCIEN-PREMONITION.
MEL AND TIM-MEL AND TIM.
MEL AND TIM-MEL AND TIM.
Every artist dreams about having a hugely successful hit single, selling so many copies that they get a gold disc to hang on their wall. This happened twice to cousins Mel Hardin and Tim McPherson. Recording as Mel and Tim, their demo tape had so impressed soul singer, Gene Chandler that he’d immediately signed them to his Bamboo label. Their debut single Backfield In Motion reached number ten in the US Billboard 100 and number three in the US R&B Charts in 1969. This lead to an album entitled Good Guys Only Win In Movies being released to build on the success of the single. The album title turned out to be an accurate forecast for Mel and Tim’s future, with the Bamboo label experiencing financial problems, and the duo having to sit out the remaining years of their contract.
Three years later, in 1972, Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins of Muscle Shoals Sounds were given a demo tape by a deejay friend. On the tape were Mel and Tim. Liking what they heard, the two former members of Rick Hall’s legendary rhythm section, realized that they’d the perfect song for Mel and Tim. Starting All Over Again was a Phillip Mitchell penned track, that had originally, meant for Sam and Dave. They had never recorded the track, so instead, Mel and Tim were given the track. Using The Chi-Lites sound as their template, Barry and Roger recorded the song with Mel and Tim. This resulted in another gold disc for Mel and Tim, when the song reached number nineteen in the US Billboard 100 and number four in the US R&B Charts. An album also entitled Starting All Over Again was released, but it didn’t fare as well as the single. Neither were there any other big hit singles on the album. However, this didn’t put of Barry and Roger, they decided to record another album with Mel and Tim.
This was the album this article is about Mel and Tim. It was recorded in Muscle Shoals with overdubbing taking place in the Criteria Studios in Miami. Like before, Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins produced the album. Of the ten songs on the album, Phillip Mitchell wrote or cowrote eight of them. When the album was released on Stax in 1972, the album sold really badly. So few copies were originally sold, that the album is now a rare record. However, poor sales don’t always equate to a poor album. Sometimes it’s quite the opposite, with an album that sold badly being one of these hidden gems that you’re delighted to discover. That was the case when I first heard Mel and Tim, which I’ll now tell you about.
Mel and Tim opens with Keep the Faith one of the two songs not written by Phillip Mitchell. Instead it was penned by Mark James. This is a beautiful track to open any album, possessing one of the best string arrangements you’ll ever hear. Add to that a smattering of subtle horns and it’s a potent combination. Those lush, grand strings sweep and swirl in the background, with bursts of horns making occasional, subtle contributions, while the vocal is strong, emotive and thoughtful. Behind the vocal, backing vocals combine with the strings, creating a heavenly almost transcendental groove, that grabs your attention, transfixing you, transporting you to somewhere serene and beautiful. Although the vocal is really good, what really transforms the track is an outstandingly beautiful arrangement. After this, can it get any better?
When The Same Folk opens, there’s a noticeable similarity between the guitar sound on Starting All Over Again and this track. After that, the track starts to sound a bit like Starting All Over Again’s younger cousin. The tempo and arrangement are similar, with the same instruments used. Although this could be seen as a lack of originality, other people may see it as trying to use a winning formula. Strings lush and slow, accompany the guitar and tight vocal harmonies, before the lead vocal enters. Again the combination of strings and backing vocals combine beautifully, with subtle, rasping horns, piano and a Hammond organ all playing important part in a track that veers between a slow lush sound, to a grand dramatic sound. Newly successful musicians should heed Phillip Mitchell’s lyrics, that the same people who helped them achieve success, can just as easily put them in their place. They’re tenderly sung against another great arrangement, albeit one that’s closely resembles Starting All Over Again.
Oh How I Love You is a track with its own unique sound, one that’s got a joyful, feel-good sound. Against a backdrop of keyboards, rhythm section, sweeping strings and horns, backing vocalists joyously combine, before the vocal enters. It too, has a powerful, joyful sound, which is magnified by the arrangement behind it. Chiming guitars join the blazing horns and sweeping strings, while the vocal is augmented by backing vocals. This results in a hook laden, celebratory sound that can’t fail to lift your spirits.
It’s a very different sound that opens Yes We Can-Can. There’s a rock influence in the guitar sound, while an almost cluttered combination of organ, driving rhythm section and blazing horns accompanies the vocal. Straight away, it’s apparent this track doesn’t quite work. Written by New Orleans songwriter Allen Toussaint, it’s meant to be paean to positivity, togetherness and acceptance. Instead, it comes across as stilted, giving of the impression he was trying to hard to write a hit record. Even the tempo and arrangement seems out of synch with the rest of the album. In the end, it’s one of these songs that just doesn’t work. Regardless of how hard Mel and Tim try, and how much energy they put into the track, even they can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
After the extremely disappointing previous track, Mel and Tim get things back on track with I’d Still Be There. It’s a track that’s about a man who was down on his luck, who meets a woman who transforms his life. Without her, he’d still be there. The song’s sung against a backdrop of slow, lush strings, chiming guitars and backing vocalists. They combine with the vocal to create a track laden with emotion, sadness and joy. The sound is “big,” with the backing vocalists, strings and gently, rasping horns achieving this with aplomb. Following on from Yes We Can-Can, this proves that it was just a blip, with I’d Still Be There a welcome return to their previous best.
A spacious funk tinged combination of rhythm section, percussion and flute open Making Love Is My Thing, another Phillip Mitchell song. As the song opens, it gives no indication of the direction it’s heading. What follows is a funk drenched track with a spacious arrangement, that quickly gets fuller. Strings sweep in, with female backing vocalists sweetly and soulfully unite, as the track heads in a direction marked funk. The track has an early seventies funk sound, and would sit nicely in the soundtrack for a Blaxploitation soundtrack. By now, keyboards have cut in, with blazing horns and a flute accompanying the confident, even boastful lead vocal. When the track ends, you realize that there’s a lot more to Mel and Tim than slow, lush, dramatic ballads. They can get down and get funky with the best of them.
It’s Those Little Things That Count sees Mel and Tim return to a much more familiar sound, after their excursion into planet funk. The tempo is slow, the arrangement string laden, with percussion, rasping horns and backing vocalists key to the tracks lovely, lush sound. Meanwhile, the vocal is restrained, full of emotion, made all the better by the swooning, sweeping backing vocalists. They combine perfectly with the vocal, and when you factor in the slow, lush arrangement, it’s the recipe for another great song.
Like the previous track, Ain’t No Love In My Life has a slow tempo, but a much fuller arrangement. Keyboards and percussion combine before the vocal enters, with backing vocalists and sweeping strings combining with the vocal. As the song progresses, the vocal grows stronger, full of the frustration and sadness of the lyrics. They’re about an unlucky, loveless man who can’t seem to do anything right or meet the woman he longs for. Meanwhile, the arrangement has grown fuller, with the backing vocals and strings partly responsible for this. Atop the arrangement, sits a floaty flute, which provides a contrast to the keyboards and strings. Although the lyrics are sad, with the vocal reflecting this, there’s an almost joyous sound to the arrangement, one with a slight gospel influence. This may seem at odds with the lyrics, but it works well, resulting in a track that’s laden with emotion and frustration, but still allows joy to shine through, proving every cloud has a silver lining.
People Get Ready, that’s what I thought when blazing horns, percussion and slow, sad string combine dramatically, to open That’s the Way I Want To Live My Life, After the introduction, the similarities end. What follows, is one of the most emotive tracks on the album. This is because of hugely emotive, nearly desperate vocal sung against a drama drenched arrangement. At its heart are braying horns, lush sweeping strings and a slow thoughtful rhythm section. As if that’s not enough, backing vocalists and a Hammond organ are added, and together, with rest of the arrangement, they unite with the vocal to produce an outstanding, emotive and dramatic track.
Mel and Tim closes with Forever and A Day, a very different sounding track. It’s a much quicker, prototype disco track, with swirling strings, funky, dramatic rhythm section and chiming guitars at its heart. Above the arrangement sits the vocal, loud and full of feeling, with backing vocalists and blazing horns adding drama and a soulfulness to the track. As the track progresses, it sweeps you along in its hook laden wake. You’re caught up in the joyousness of the sound of this brilliant track, one that’s an absolute hidden gem. I’m sure that this track would fill a dance-floor even today, thirty-nine years after it was recorded. What a way to end any album, never mind this great album.
Before I bought this album last year, when it was rereleased by Ace Records, I’d only heard a few tracks. What I’d heard I loved, and couldn’t wait to get my own copy. When it was rereleased I wondered whether the rest of the album would be as good as the tracks I’d heard, or whether I’d heard the best the album had to offer. Well, from the first play, I realized that this was an outstanding album I’d just bought. It truly is a rare hidden gem, full of nine great songs. The only poor song is Allen Toussaint penned Yes We Can-Can. That is a mere blip, with every other song making up for that. From the opening strains of Keep The Faith to the closing notes of Forever and A Day, Mel and Tim cast a spell over me. Since then, I’ve listened to the album more times than I care to remember. Every time, I ask myself why the album wasn’t a huge success. It was an album that had everything going for it. Two great vocalists in Mel and Tim, experienced and talented producers in Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins and Phillip Mitchell writing eight of the albums songs. Add to that some hugely talented musicians, and you’ve a formula for success you’d think. Sadly that wasn’t the case. However, since the album was rereleased, many people have discovered the magical music on Mel and Tim, and like me, they’ve been swept along by the music and caught in its spell. As usual, Ace have done an excellent job in remastering the album, although the sleeve notes could be better. They’re not as in depth as you find on some albums. At least they do tell you what musicians played on the album. Reading them, it’s like a who’s who of Muscle Shoals sessions players. Barry Beckett on keyboards, Roger Hawkins on percussion, bassist Jerry Masters and Jimmy Johnson on rhythm guitar, are just some of the musicians who together with Mel and Tim, made Mel and Tim such an excellent album. Standout Tracks: Keep the Faith, Oh How I Love You, That’s the Way I Want To Live My Life and Forever and A Day.
MEL AND TIM-MEL AND TIM.
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 are more familiar with the music she recorded when transformed into a disco diva, releasing classic tracks like Runaway, Dreamin’ and Hit and Run. However, back in the early seventies, when Michael Thevis first spotted Loleatta on tour, all this was still to come.
Loleatta Holloway was born in Chicago in 1946, and like many future successful soul singers, including Minnie Ripperton, her talent was noticeable from an early age. Like many other soul singers, her first involvement in music was singing gospel music. She followed in the footsteps of artists like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and O.V. Wright, becoming a member of her mother’s gospel group The Holloway Community Gospel Singers. During her time singing gospel music, Loleatta met a young Aretha Franklin who later, would influence her vocal style and phrasing. It was during her gospel career, that Loleatta first entered a recording studio, recording albums for the Gospel and Heb label. One of her recordings that gained praise and became popular was Help Is On the Way.
After her early success as a gospel singer, Loleatta formed her own musical company Loleatta Holloway and Her Review, with which she toured for a few years. The next stage in her career was acting, when she took a part in the play Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope. It was during this time, that her future husband and manager Floyd Smith arranged for Loleatta to record her first secular tracks. This was a cover of a Gene Chandler song Rainbow 71. The track was released on the Apache label, who leased the record from the couple. Later, it was released by Galaxy, who were able to distribute the single nationwide. Her next single was Bring It On Up, originally the b-side to Sentimental Reasons. It was around this time that Michael Thevis became aware of Loleatta Holloway, who he signed for his new Atlanta based Aware label.
Once Loleatta had signed to Aware, Michael Thevis wasted no time recording her first single for the new label. This was Mother of Shame, which reached number forty-three in the US R&B Charts. The success of the single prompted the recording of Loleatta’s debut secular album Loleatta, released in 1973 and produced by Floyd Smith. On the album were a number of cover versions including the excellent Sam Dees track So Can I, Tyrone Davis’ classic song Can I Change My Mind and Syl Johnson’s We Did It. However of the ten tracks on the album, Part Time Love, Full Time Full was by far the best. Floyd Smith’s cheating tale is brought to life by Loleatta, when she gives an emotive and impassioned performance. Sadly, neither the album nor he single Help Me My Lord were a huge commercial success.
In early 1975, Cry To Me written by Sam Dees, was released as a single. It reached number ten in the US R&B Charts and number sixty-eight in the US Billboard 100. Sadly, this was Loleatta’s only top ten US R&B single. The success of Cry To Me must have seemed like a good omen when the album Cry To Me was released later in 1975. Again it was produced by Floyd Smith and featured tracks penned by some of the most talented songwriters of the time. Sam Dees wrote or co-wrote five or the tracks on the album, including Cry To Me, The Show Must Go On and Help Me My Lord. Loleatta wrote one track, I’ll Be Gone, while the album’s best track was Casanova, an Armstead and Middlebrook penned track. With tracks of this quality on the album, hopes were high for the album’s success. However, neither the album, nor the second single I Know Where You’re Coming From, matched the success of Cry To Me. This was a huge disappointment for Loleatta, on what would be her final album for Aware.
After this, Loleatta only released one more single on Aware, Only A Fool towards the end on 1975. Like its predecessor, I Know Where You’re Coming From, the single wasn’t a commercial success. As if this wasn’t bad enough, worse was to come when Michael Thevis became a wanted man. The FBI wanted to speak to him, but he decided to go on the run. Not long after this, the Aware label collapsed, and Loleatta signed to Gold Mine Records.
Having signed for Gold Mind Records, a subsidiary company of the famous Salsoul Records, Loleatta recorded some of her best known tracks Runaway, Dreamin’ and Hit and Run. On these tracks, she was fortunate to work with The Salsoul Orchestra. Three of their most important members were the legendary Baker-Harris-Young rhythm section. Previously, they’d been part of the legendary M.F.S.B., playing on many of Philadelphia International’s biggest singles and albums. This included The O’Jays and Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, as well as working with The Delfonics and founding The Trammps. Together with The Salsoul Orchestra, Loleatta entered one of the most successful and productive periods of her career. Today, tracks like Runaway and Dreamin’ are considered classic tracks, that still fill dance-floors today.
Later, in Loleatta’s career, she reinvented herself, singing on house tracks like Crash Goes Love and So Sweet. Another hugely successful house track controversially featured Loleatta’s vocal. Black Box’s Ride On Time was the biggest selling single in the UK in 1989, reaching number one. It featured a sample of Loleatta’s vocal on Love Sensation. This lead to Loleatta’s having to successfully sue the group to receive her share of the royalties. Two years later, in 1991, Loleatta had her first ever number one US single, with Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch’s single Good Vibrations featuring samples of Loleatta’s vocal on Love Sensation. Having sold over 500,000 copies, the single was certified gold, resulting in the only gold record of Loleatta’s career.
Sadly, in March 2011, Loleatta Holloway died aged just sixty-four. Music lost one of its most recognizable voices and a hugely talented singer, whose music had crossed the musical genres. From soul to disco and house, Loleatta Holloway’s vocal graced a huge number of records, loved by many and even today, filling dance-floors the world over.
Having told you about Loleatta’s career, I will now revisit Loleatta’s two albums on Aware Loleatta and Cry To Me, picking my favorite four tracks from each album, and tell you just what made them such great slices of what became known as the Hotatlanta Sound.
LOLEATTA-LOLEATTA (AWARE RECORDS 1973).
One of my favorite tracks from Loleatta is We Did It, a track written by Syl Johnson, who recorded a number of albums for Hi Records in the seventies. It’s a fast paced groover of a track, with blazing horns accompanying the rhythm section and guitars before Loleatta’s powerful and joyful vocal enters. She’s accompanied by female backing vocalists, whose voices soar emotively in unison. Behind her, chiming guitars, a driving rhythm section and occasional bursts of braying horns complete an arrangement that’s fast and dance-floor friendly, and perfect for Loleatta’s emotionally charged rendition of Syl’s lyrics. However, what makes this such a great track is Loleatta’s emotive and explosive vocal, made all the better by the addition of the backing vocalists.
Only A Fool is a much slower, but hugely atmospheric track. The growling introduction sees a mixture of the rhythm section and dual guitars combine slowly and moodily before Loleatta’s vocal enters. When it does, its a powerful and defiant vocal, accompanied by rasping horns. They combine with the guitars and rhythm section to provide a wonderfully, repetitive, moody and atmospheric backdrop for Loleatta to sing about her dysfunctional relationship. Again, female backing vocalists accompany her, their voices providing a contrast to Loleatta’s much stronger vocal. The success of the track is due to the arrangement and Loleatta’s vocal which is full of emotion, frustration and defiance.
Sam Dees provided a number of songs for Loleatta during her time on Aware. He wrote So Can I a lovely slow track, with a lush string lead arrangement. It’s chiming guitars, piano and lush strings that open the track before a much more restrained from Loleata enters. Her vocal is full of emotion and pride at being able to live without her cheating partner. Meanwhile, the arrangement isn’t without an understated sense of drama, provided by the strings, guitars, piano and rhythm section, either separately, or together, during the song. As the song progresses, Loleatta’s vocal grows in strength and passion, as she brings Sam Dees’ brilliant lyrics to life during one of her best performances on the album. Add to this a stunning arrangement from Floyd Smith that’s a melodic masterpiece and it’s easily one of the best tracks on Loleatta.
The only track that surpasses So Can I, is Part Time Love, Full Time Full, written by Floyd Smith. It’s a track that combines one of the most impassioned, emotive reading of lyrics you’ll ever hear with an arrangement that’s drenched in emotion and atmosphere. Against a slow backdrop of wailing organ, piano, rhythm section, guitars and gently, rasping horns Loleatta gives a realistic rendition of the lyrics about a cheating husband. Female backing vocalists subtly accompany Loleatta, their addition just the finishing touch on what’s not only a hugely, moving track, but one of Loleatta’s best recordings on Aware.
Listening to Loleatta, it seems strange that the album wasn’t a much bigger success. The album featured some excellent tracks penned by a number of hugely talented songwriters. Ashford and Simpson, Sam Dees and Van McCoy either wrote or co-wrote tracks on the album. Loleatta brought these tracks to life using a combination of emotion, passion and power. Her manager and husband Floyd Smith produced the album, with his arrangements of the Sam Dees penned So Can I and Part Time Love, Full Time Full which Floyd wrote himself, being two of the best arrangements on the album. One wonders whether Aware was maybe the wrong label for Loleatta Holloway, and whether she might have been better on another label who could’ve promoted her music much better and more effectively. After all, Loleatta was a hugely talented singer and songwriter whose music deserved to be heard by a much wider audience. Standout Tracks: We Did It, Only A Fool, So Can I and Part Time Love, Full Time Full
LOLEATTA-LOLEATTA (AWARE RECORDS 1973).
LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY-CRY TO ME (AWARE RECORDS 1975).
One man who played an important role in Cry To Me, was Sam Dees. he wrote or co-wrote five of the tracks on the album, including the opening track Cry To Me, which was Loleatta’s most successful US R&B single, reaching number ten. A piano plays slowly as Loleatta’s half-spoken vocal enters, accompanied by chiming guitars and rhythm section. Her vocal is devastatingly sad, as she sings about her relationship breaking up, her man packing his bag and heading for the door. As he leaves, she sings if he needs a friend he’s got her. By now both her vocal and the arrangement have grown in power and drama. Strings sweep in, while the rhythm section add drama and backing vocalists accompany Loleatta hugely powerful, emotive vocal. Over nearly six minutes, Loleatta sings her heart out, accompanied by one of the best arrangements on the album. It’s almost impossible to listen to the track without getting caught up in the emotion and sadness of Sam Dees excellent lyrics. A quite brillant track.
The Show Must Go On is another slow, Sam Dees track that has similarities to Cry To Me. There’s a half-spoken drama laden introduction where chiming, shimmering guitars, swirling strings and the rhythm section combine before Loleatta’s dramatic, powerful vocal enters. Like before, she’s accompanied by gospel tinged backing vocalists as she sings about her turbulent relationship and the pain and sadness it’s caused her, but vows that the show must go on. The interaction between Loleatta and her backing vocalists works really well, so does the applause that cuts in, while lush strings sweep and swirl and horns blaze. Together, the combine brilliantly to help create a dramatic backdrop for Loleatta’s defiant and dramatic vocal.
Curtis Mayfield wrote Just Be True To Me, another slow, drama laden track, with strings at the heart of the introduction. They swirl grandly, while flourishes of drums, braying horns and guitars combine, to accompany a thoughtful vocal from Loleatta. Her voice is a bit more restrained, while behind her a full, dramatic arrangement unfolds. Stabs of keyboards, swirling strings and percussion play important parts in the arrangement’s success.
JOHN GARY WILLIAMS-JOHN GARY WILLIAMS.
JOHN GARY WILLIAMS-JOHN GARY WILLIAMS.
Sometimes, an otherwise good album is released at just the wrong time, and as a result, the album fails to do as well commercially, as it should’ve done. This was the case with John Gary Williams self-titled debut album John Gary Williams. His album was released just as Stax was experiencing financial problems that would result in the label folding. Sadly, this meant that the two times the album was released, it never received the promotion or attention it deserved. The album was first released in 1974 on the main Stax label, but failed commercially. John’s album wasn’t the only album to suffer at this time. Shirley Brown’s album Woman To Woman suffered much the same fate. She’d just had a number one US R&B single, and Stax decided to release an album of the same name. However, when it was released, it wasn’t a huge success, stalling at number eleven in the US R&B Charts and number ninety-eight in the US Billboard 200. Part of the problem was the lack of marketing and promotion of the album. Unfortunately, the same problem affected John’s album. A year later, in 1975, John Gary Williams was rereleased, this time on the Truth label, a subsidiary of Stax that released gospel music. Essentially, it was the same album with the Stax logo on the album, and a Truth label on the album cover. Like the release on Stax, the album failed commercially. By this time, Stax’s financial problems were almost critical, and even managing to find the funds to release a new single on Truth to accompany the rerelease of the album was a struggle. Eventually, Come What May was released as a single, which John regarded as his best single on Stax. It was destined to go the way of the album, failing commercially. By the end of 1975, Stax was no more, and the once great label folded. That was the end of John’s solo career, and saw him returning to his old group The Mad Lads.
John had been a member of The Mad Lads since signing for Stax in 1964. He had formed the group, then know as The Emeralds in high school. Along with William Brown, Robert Phillips and Julius Green, the group specialised in singing harmonies, in the same vein as The Impressions. Their sound was somewhat at odds with the much more gritty sound that Stax specialised in. There was a huge change in the group’s circumstances, when in 1966, John was drafted. By the time he returned home, he too had changed, becoming radicalized whilst in Vietnam. He started to get involved with The Invaders, a group connected to The Black Panthers. At this time, The Mad Lads’ music was hitting its peak, the group releasing some of their best music. However, around 1972, the group split, because of friction within the group. John’s career was also changing, with him wanting to become a solo artist.
Two years later, with the help of some of Stax’s musicians, including Michael Toles on guitar, Marvell Thomas on keyboards and Hot Buttered Soul on backing vocals, John’s solo album John Gary Williams was complete. Of the eight songs on the album, John wrote two and cowrote three others. He also produced five of the tracks and co-produced the other three with Willie Hall. So, with a cast of hugely talented musicians, John had produced his only solo album, which I’ll now tell you about.
John Gary Williams opens with I See Hope, a track with a lovely lush arrangement and a positive message. Swirling, sweeping strings accompany a funky rhythm section, The South Memphis Horns and chiming guitars which accompanies John’s tender vocal. Behind him, subtle, equally tender, backing vocals are provided by Hot Buttered Soul as the arrangement unfolds into a combination of sweeping, funk laden music, with Gary’s fragile voice sitting atop the arrangement. John and Carl Smith’s lyrics are a message of positivity and hope, about peace and equality. Together with John’s tender vocal and an arrangement that’s both lush and funky, it’s an irresistible and outstanding track. Hopefully, the rest of the album will be just as good.
There’s a change in tempo and style on I’m So Glad Fools Can Fall In Love. It’s a slow, tender ballad which John co-wrote with Lester Snell. This love song opens with John singing tight and gentle harmonies, which must take him back to his days with The Emeralds and Mad Lads. Behind him, the arrangement has an understated sound, which opens out to reveal piano, percussion, lush strings and a slow rhythm section. Guitars chime and shimmer, accompanying a harp while John’s vocal is slow and gentle, full of emotion and drama. He sings about being in love and how he came so close to loving the one he loves. Backing vocalists veer between a tender style to an emotive dramatic style. Add to that a thoughtful bass line that sits at the front of the arrangement, and it’s a hugely sad yet joyous track, one full of emotion and drama.
Honey is another of the slower tracks on the album, and is the first cover version, written by Bobby Russell and originally recorded by Bobby Goldsboro. John transforms Goldsboro’s saccharine pop hit, turning it into a quite beautiful slow, sad song, drenched in emotion and drama. The arrangement opens with chiming guitars reverberating before strings sweep in, accompanied by the rhythm section, piano and percussion. Against this slow and understated backdrop, John gives a heartfelt delivery of the lyrics. Throughout the arrangement there’s plenty of space within the music which suits John’s vocal and the sadness in the lyrics about a girlfriend who died suddenly. The longer the arrangement progresses, the better it gets, with a harp, piano and the lushest of sweeping strings helping to create the perfect backdrop for John’s tender and thoughtful vocal. By the end of the track, John has transformed the track, turning it into a quite beautiful saccharine free song.
The final track on side one of the original album was Loving You It (Ain’t Easy) sees the tempo increase slightly, on a track John wrote himself. It’s a song about the difficulties of being in a relationship and the betrayal that sometimes happens. When the track opens, there’s a dramatic and lush sound present, when the rhythm section combine with braying horns, before strings sweep in. Later, a piano, guitars and harp enter, accompanying John’s emotional, slightly sad vocal. He’s sad because his girlfriend is cheating on him, but still loves her. Guitars chime and shimmer, soaring, as they add a touch of drama, while lush strings add a sense of sadness, their sound matching the tenderness and fragility of John’s vocal. Overall, it’s another beautiful track, thanks to an arrangement that combines sadness, emotion and drama. Add to that John’s emotive, disconsolate vocal, and it’s a winning combination, resulting in one of the albums best tracks.
Side two of the album opens with Ask the Lonely, the second of the cover versions on the album. The song is written by William Stevenson and Ivy Joe Hunter and features another atmospheric vocal from John and slow, lush arrangement. Chiming, shimmering guitars and fluglehorn combine with percussion and rhythm section before John’s slow, emotive, voice briefly soars. After that, he give a heart breaking delivery of the lyrics about loneliness and broken relationships. Above the arrangement, floats a fluglehorn and flute, which together with shimmering guitars and slow drums create an arrangement drenched in emotion and sadness. This is the perfect backdrop for John’s deeply moving vocal, which is one of his best vocals on the album. Not only that, but it’s one of the most moving tracks on the album.
The third and final cover version of the album was Yvette Davis’ track How Could I Let You Get Away. It opens with grand, slow strings that swirl combining with the rhythm section, keyboards and guitars. They accompany John’s half-spoken introduction which gives way to the vocal proper after a dramatic flourish of drums. After that, John’s almost sweet, slow vocal is full of regret, having let the one he loved slip through his fingers. Later, his voice grows in strength, the pain and loss apparent, as his voice soars, sadness and regret never far away.Matching the regret and sadness in his voice is the arrangement. It’s slow and full of lush, sweeping strings, rasping horns and dramatic rhythm section. This combines beautifully with John’s vocal, resulting in a hugely emotive track, drenched in sadness and regret at the love he lost.
Open Your Heart (and Let Love Come In) opens with a slow and full arrangement, which sees slow, sweeping strings, piano, rhythm section and guitars combining with subtle woodwind before John’s vocal enters. His voice soars high, full of emotion, while backing vocalists accompany him, on this love song. Here the lyrics are quite beautiful, John wanting to fall in love with a woman, and help her to forget the pain and hurt of her past. Behind him, the arrangement is complex, with layer upon layer of sounds revealing themselves. Like other tracks, lush sweeping strings play an important part in “setting the scene,” while subtle horns, the rhythm section, piano, harp and chiming guitars fill out the sound. They create an arrangement that’s slow, laden in emotion and ultimately, designed to tug at your heartstrings. When you add John’s gentle, tender vocal to this, it’s a stunning combination, and a gorgeous song about love.
John Gary Williams closes with The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy. Whether the lyrics were influenced by John’s experiences in Vietnam, is open to speculation. Certainly, the world he returned to, was very different, and this continued to be the case into the mid seventies, with the faux peace and love of the sixties long gone. When the track opens, the tempo is quicker, the rhythm section and swirling strings accompanying John’s vocal. They’re joined by rasping horns, guitars and backing vocalists as the track progresses. Meanwhile, John’s voice is tender, but full of disbelief at the things he’s witnessing. Neglect, cruelty, violence and hate are just some of the things that’s lead John to this conclusion. Although it’s a quite different track, because of the tempo and subject matter, it features a good vocal from John and a stirring, sweeping arrangement. They combine to create a song with a social conscious that seems a fitting way to end the album.
Before I bought this album, my only exposure to John Gary Williams’ music was through his work with The Mad Lads and hearing three of his singles on The Complete Stax Volt Soul Singles 1972-1975 box set. When I heard these songs, I realized that John was a hugely talented artists although I wasn’t sure of his cover of My Sweet Lord, a track I’m far from a fan of. I much preferred the other two tracks Come What May and The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy. Then last year, I noticed that BGP had rereleased John’s only solo album. This I knew was a must have, and from the first time I heard it, I was smitten. It’s one of these albums where one great track follows another. There aren’t any bad tracks on the album, just winners and no filler. Since then, it’s been an album I’ve played many times, each time, loving the album even more. To me, it’s one of these hidden gems of an album that you sometimes discover. Previously, many albums have been described as “lost albums” and “previously unreleased,” and often, there’s a very good reason for this, they aren’t very good. This is far from the case here. It’s an excellent album, full of some lush arrangements and tender, emotive vocals. If you’ve never heard the album, it’s one that’s well worth buying, and will quickly, become one of your favorites. That was the case when I bought this album, a hidden gem by John Gary Williams, singer, songwriter and producer. Standout Tracks: I’m So Glad Fools Can Fall In Love, Loving You It (Ain’t Easy), Ask the Lonely and Open Your Heart (and Let Love Come In).
JOHN GARY WILLIAMS-JOHN GARY WILLIAMS.
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. Previously, the group had been with Epic, but had been signed with Stax Records in the summer of 1968 by Al Bell, the company’s vice-president. Al Bell was a longtime friend of the Staples’ family, with their friendship having started in the mid-fifties. The Staple Singers’ two previous albums for Stax had been well received, but although full of good music, weren’t huge commercial successes. This must have been frustrating for the Staples’ family, who had signed their first recording contract back in 1952. However, with the intervention of the Reverend Jackson, and some decisive action from Al Bell, all that was about to change.
After Al Bell had spoken to Reverend Jackson, he decided to take the great man’s advice, and produce the group himself. Quickly, Al Bell decided that, instead of using the house band to play on The Staple Singers’ forthcoming album, he’d head down Highway 98, to another legendary studio. With The Staple Singers in tow, Al headed for Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Once there, he enlisted the services of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Memphis Horns. Having laid down both the backing tracks and vocals, Al and The Staple Singers headed back to Memphis and the Stax studios on McLemore Avenue. Once there, the vocals were rerecorded, with the ones recorded at Muscle Shoals just being rough takes. Only one problem had to be resolved, when Purvis Staples decided to quit music, and set up his own management company. His sister Yvonne was brought in, and she sang his parts on the album. After this, overdubbing and mixing were completed, everyone realized that the album was not only very different to the groups previous albums, but very good indeed.
When Be Altitude: Respect Yourself was released in 1972, it became The Staple Singers’ most commercially successful album. It reached number nineteen in the US Billboard 200 and number three in the US R&B Charts. Three singles were released from the album. Respect Yourself the first single, was released in 1971, reaching number twelve in the US Billboard 100 and in the US R&B Charts. This would be surpassed by the second single I’ll Take You There, released in February 1972. Written and produced by Al Bell, it reached number one in both the US Billboard 100 and US R&B Charts. The final single taken from the album, was released later in 1972, and was This World. It failed to match the success of its two predecessors, only reaching number thirty-eight in the US Billboard 100 and six in the US R&B Charts. However, this period was the most successful of the group’s long career. They’d just had a number one single, three top ten singles in the US R&B Charts and in Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, an album that had just reached the top twenty. The big question was why was Be Altitude: Respect Yourself such a huge success, and what had changed in The Staple Singers’ music? That’s what I’ll now tell you.
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself opens with The World, the third single released from the album. It has a quite spectacular start with a soaring guitar assailing you from the right, before drums kick in at your left. They’re accompanied by bursts of blazing before the vocal enters. When it does, Mavis’ voice is a mixture of joyousness and restrained power. Behind her, a pounding driving rhythm section of David Hood on bass and drummer Roger Hawkins accompany the dual guitars of Jimmy Johnson on rhythm and Eddie Hinton on lead. Their playing is fantastic, fast and accurate, as their guitars chime, soar and scream. Together with the bursts of braying horns, they produce a fast paced, uptempo and joyful accompaniment to Mavis’ vocal. Although the track may have only reached number thirty-eight in the US Billboard 100 and six in the US R&B Charts, it’s a much better track than that. Three and a half-minutes where a fantastic vocal and arrangement unite, to produce one of the album’s best tracks.
If you were to ask most people to name a track by The Staple Singers, most would say Respect Yourself. Since its release, it has become one of the group’s best known and best loved tracks. It’s that familiar opening with keyboards, rhythm section and horns blazing before Pops’ understated vocal enters. Behind him, the rest of the group sing backing vocals, while a pounding rhythm section, guitars and keyboards accompany them. The lead vocal changes hands several times, with Mavis powerfully telling everyone to respect themselves. According to Mack Rice, the song was about encouraging African American people to respect themselves. This song about self-empowerment became important at a time when the civil rights movement was just about over. Meanwhile, the band have locked into a funk groove, and are feeding off each other, encouraging one another to greater heights. During the track, they, like The Staple Singers, just get better as the song progresses. It’s a stunning track, and by the end of the track, everyone involved must have realized that they’d just laid down a classic track.
Name the Missing Word is very different from the two previous tracks when it opens. It’s slow, spacious, floaty sound with chiming guitars rhythm section and keyboards being joined by subtle bursts of horns before Mavis slow, thoughtful vocal. Her vocal is both hugely emotional, laden with power and even a little anger, as she sings about a turbulent relationship. Quickly, the arrangement fills out, becoming fuller, melodic keyboards and chiming guitars. Add to this a harmonica solo that’s compliments the emotion in Mavis’ vocal, and lush, sweeping strings which get across the sadness and heartache in the lyrics. Together, they create a dramatic, slow arrangement. This is perfect for Mavis’ vocal which is translates the drama and emotion of the lyrics perfectly. Although very different from Respect Yourself, it demonstrates the versatility of The Staple Singers and their confidence in singing a variety of different styles of song.
The follow-up single to Respect Yourself was I’ll Take You There, which gave the group their first number one single in February 1972, spending just one week at number one. Their second and last number one single was 1975s’ Let’s Do It Again, written by Curtis Mayfield and released on his Curtom label. This song was part of the soundtrack to Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby’s film, Let’s Do It Again. However, I’ll Take You There is one of the most moving songs on the album, albeit one with a lovely, feel-good sound. During the track, Mavis asks everyone to find heaven. When you listen to the introduction, many people will recognize it as being part of a reggae track The Liquidator. Al Bell wrote the song in one key, C, only using three chords, C, F and A. After the “borrowed” introduction, Mavis pleading, emotive vocal enters, with the rhythm section, chiming guitars and short snaps of horns accompanying her. Later, an electric piano is played by Barry Beckett, while engineer Terry Manning plays harmonica. Both instruments are important in the track’s success. Just as important were The Memphis Horns soulful contributions, which can be heard throughout the track. Like on many other tracks and albums, they helped transform the track. However, without Mavis almost preaching vocal, this wouldn’t have been the same track. Here, she demonstrated just how hugely talented a singer she was, giving a powerful, moving and emotive performance on this brilliant track.
Keyboards, percussion, rhythm section and guitars combine with The Staple Singers as This Old Town (People In This Old Town) opens. The song has elements of soul and funk in the driving arrangement and features Mavis giving another powerful vocal. Behind her, the rest of the group contribute backing vocals and tight harmonies while The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section provide a funk laden arrangement. This sits well with Mavis soulful lead vocal and equally soulful contributions from the rest of the family. Towards the end, blazing horns cut in, as the boys from Muscle Shoals lock into another groove, driving the track along to its conclusion. From beginning to end, this song doesn’t disappoint, thanks to another great arrangement from Al Bell and the Muscle Shoals crew and of course, the intensity and emotion of Mavis Staples vocal.
When We the People opens, the track is spacious, even hesitant, with the rhythm section, keyboards and blazing horns entering. They seem unsure of whether to stick or twist, whether the track is going to be fast or slow, funky or soulful. In the end, Mavis grabs the track by the scruff of the neck, and with the help of the family and Muscle Shoals finest musicians, waves of spacious music unfold. It’s mainly the rhythm section, keyboards, guitars and braying horns that are responsible for this. During the track, the lead vocal changes hands, but always sounds best when Mavis regains control of the microphone. She’s definitely the star of the Staples’ family. Although the track started hesitantly, things got back on track, ultimately resulting in a good track, although maybe not as good as others on the album.
It’s a much more understated sound on Are You Sure, a track that’s very different but very good. Keyboards, chiming guitars and rhythm section accompany the group. Their vocals unite to produce a much more gentle, subtle sound. Behind them, the arrangement has similar qualities, understated, never once overpowering the vocal. When Mavis sings the lead, her voice grows in power and emotion as she sings the questioning lyrics. It gives way to the previous understated sound. Meanwhile, the arrangement now includes percussion and a mellotron, and meanders beautifully along providing a sympathetic backdrop to the vocal. Taken to together, the vocal and arrangement combine to produce a quite different track, but one that’s very good.
Who Do You Think You Are (Jesus Christ the Superstar)? is written by Roebuck “Pops” Staples and sees the group include another gospel influenced track. It’s the only track on the album that doesn’t quite work for me. The arrangement is good, with the addition of the hugely atmospheric Hammond organ a masterstroke. It wails beautifully throughout the track, especially as the track opens. It accompanies the rhythm section and vocal which are all slow and moody. Behind the Pops’ vocal, the rest of the group contribute backing vocals, while subtle strings sweep in, and chiming guitars play. My problem with the track is Pops vocal, it isn’t celebratory or joyful enough for the subject matter. If his voice was more like the backing vocals, it would be much better. Either that, or he should’ve let Mavis sing the song, she’d have transformed the track into what it could and should’ve been, joyous.
A Hammond organ plays, accompanied by rhythm section, guitars and blazing horns before Mavis sings a joyous vocal as I’m Just Another Soldier opens. There’s a spiritual nature to the lyrics, which Mavis brings to life magnificently. This is helped by an equally joyous arrangement which has the Hammond organ and rhythm section at its heart. Mavis is transformed into a soldier of the Lord, marching at the beat of his drum, preaching about love. As the track progresses, it veers between a march and a swinging arrangement with horns a swinging, while guitars chime, and the Hammond and rhythm section add drama and emotion. Apart from the arrangement, it’s Mavis joyful, celebratory vocal that brings this song to life, making it such an uplifting track. This proves my point about the last track, that if Mavis had been handed the vocal duties, it would’ve been a much better track.
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself closes with Who, which opens with keyboards, chiming guitars and rhythm section combining before Mavis’ dramatic vocal enters. Adding to the sense of drama is a Hammond organ and then sweeping strings that enter. Together, they combine with Mavis’ hugely emotional and passionate vocal about God and what he’s done, and does for everyone. Again, Mavis transforms the lyrics, breathing life and energy into them, with her gospel tinged vocal. Behind her, the arrangement is perfect for her vocal. It’s a stirring mixture of drama and emotion, full of energy that the band produce. They seem to lock into another groove, one that’s got made in Muscle Shoals written all over it. With an arrangement as good as this, combining with Mavis vocal, this is a fitting way to end the album, with a track that highlights The Staple Singers’ gospel roots.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reviewing Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, especially now that I’ve got a copy of the newly rereleased and remastered copy of the album. Joe Tarantino’s remastering of the album brings the album to life. Now it’s possible to hear things on the album that previously, you’ve never heard before. If you’ve got a previous copy of the album, and are unsure whether to buy this version, I’d recommend you to do so. Not only is the sound quality excellent, but it features two bonus tracks Walking In the Water Over Our Head and an alternate take of Heavy Makes You Happy, which are both good tracks. The album itself features for me, the best music The Staple Singers recorded on Stax. Al Bell’s decision to use the famed Muscle Shoals musicians was a controversial one, but one that ultimately, was a masterstroke. Doubtless, Steve Cropper must have been unhappy losing his control of the group’s music, given that their two previous albums had featured some great music. However, they weren’t commercially successful, that was the problem. Once Be Altitude: Respect Yourself was released, Al Bell’s decision was vindicated, after all a number one single and top twenty album was a pretty good result. Sadly, The Staple Singers next two albums on Stax, Be What You Are and City In the Sky failed to recreate the success of Be Altitude: Respect Yourself. Be What You Are released in 1973 only reached number 103 in the US Billboard 200 and number thirteen in the US R&B Charts. 1974s’ City In the Sky stalled at number 125 in the US Billboard 200 and number thirteen in the US R&B Charts. Of the six albums The Staple Singers released on Stax, Be Altitude: Respect Yourself was not only the most successful, but the best. They never bettered this album on Stax, and this is album to buy if you want to hear The Staple Singers at their very best. If you do, make sure you buy the newly remastered version, for the brilliant sound quality, which helps you to enjoy the excellent music on the album. Standout Tracks: The World, Respect Yourself, I’ll Take You There and This Old Town (People In This Old Town).
THE STAPLE SINGERS-BE ALTITUDE: RESPECT YOURSELF.
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![Be Altitude: Respect Yourself [Stax Remasters]](https://i0.wp.com/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41tiE8l4U2L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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 The Belle Album released in. Another time, I wrote about one of my favorite Al Green albums, Al Green Is Love, released in August 1975. This time, I’ve chose another of my favorite Al Green albums to write about, Livin’ For You.
Livin’ For You was Al’s seventh album, released back in August 1973. It’s one of Al‘s most successful albums, reaching number twenty-four in the US Billboard Charts and number one in the US R&B Charts. This was the fourth of six consecutive US R&B number one albums Al had. His run of number one R&B albums started with 1972s’ Let’s Stay Together and I’m Still In Love With You, Call Me and Livin’ For You in 1973, Al Green Explores Your Mind in 1975 and ended with Al Green Is Love. During this period, Al Green was one of the most successful artists in music, never mind soul music. Like his previous albums Let’s Stay Together and Call Me, Livin’ For You was certified gold, but was unable to match the success of I’m Still In Love With You which was certified platinum. After Livin’ For You, only Al Green Explores Your Mind was certified gold. Mind you, a haul of four gold and one platinum records was a pretty good return between 1972 and 1975.
Two singles were released from Livin’ For You. They were the title track Livin’ For You in December 1973, which reached number nineteen in the US Billboard 100 and number one in the US R&B Charts. This was Al’s fourth number one single, but the first that didn’t feature Al Jackson Jr., who’d re-joined his old group Booker T and The MG’s. The second single was the joyous Let’s Get Married. Remarkably, it only reached number thirty-two in the US Billboard 100 and number three in the US R&B Charts. Looking back, this seems almost unjust, but when you closely examine the chart placings of Al’s singles and albums, I always think that such great music deserved to fare so much better. Having said that, he received eight gold discs for his singles, with six of his singles reaching number one in the US R&B Charts. His only number on the Billboard 100 was Let’s Stay Together, which was also reached number one in the US R&B Charts. There’s certain sense of symmetry with the Let’s Stay Together album and Livin’ For You. Both albums had title tracks that when they were released as singles, were number one R&B hits and both were the opening track of each album.
Livin’ For You opens with the title track Livin’ For You, co-written by Al with producer and songwriter Willie Mitchell. A combination of gentle horns, Hammond organ, rhythm section and subtle chiming guitars play slowly, as they accompany Al’s raspy vocal. He sounds sad, full of regret and heartache as he asks for forgiveness, while Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes supplying beautiful backing vocals. This is all against an emotive backdrop that has at its heart rasping horns, swirling strings, chiming guitars and Hammond organ. Quite simply, it’s a beautiful opening track, featuring Al’s emotive vocal and Willie Mitchell’s trademark excellent arrangement.
Home Again starts slowly and spaciously, with the rhythm section, percussion, guitars, lush strings and braying horns accompanying Al’s joyous but thoughtful vocal. He’s glad to be home and with someone he loves. Behind him, the arrangement is perfect for his vocal with the tempo slow, horns rasping, while percussion and sweeping strings accompany the rhythm section and guitar as they too, play thoughtfully and with a tenderness. Again, the backing vocalists enter at just the right time, their lush and understated contribution lifting the track. When this is combined with Al’s vocal and the slow, spacious arrangement, it’s a winning combination, resulting in another tender and beautiful track.
Swirling, dramatic strings, chiming guitars and rhythm section combine to produce a slow, lush arrangement before Al’s vocal enters on Free At Last. There’s a sense of relief, yet sadness in his voice, when he sings about being free at last from a relationship that’s gone wrong. Meanwhile, guitars chime and the rhythm section provide the track’s heartbeat. Strings sweep in the background, and a Hammond organ adds an emotive and atmospheric sound, while the backing vocalists cut in, providing a contrast to Al’s powerful and emotive vocal. Of all the tracks on the album, this has long been a favorite of mine, because of the feeling and emotion in Al’s voice. To me, this is one of the album’s best tracks.
Joyful is the word that best describes Let’s Get Married. From the opening bars, when the rasping horns cut in, to be joined by guitars, the rhythm section and wailing, atmospheric Hammond organ, it’s just five and a half joyous music. Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes provide some of their best backing vocals on the album and the Memphis Horns give a masterclass. When the strings sweep, their sound is lush, yet almost serene. Al’s sings the lyrics he wrote himself joyously, turning this song into a pleading paean to love and happiness. The addition of the organ and horns behind his vocal is a masterstroke, multiplying his desire, pleas and longing. When the track ends, you feel that no woman would be able to resist the seductive, pleas and charms of Al Green.
The style changes on So Good To Be Here, which sees Al return home after an absence, caused by an affair. The tempo is slow, the sound understated, with percussion, the rhythm section, sweet, sweeping strings and an atmospheric Hammond organ combining perfectly. Add to this keyboards and chiming guitars, and this is the perfect backdrop for Al’s vocal. His voice is a mixture of joy and hope, tinged with regret and sadness. Again, the arrangement translates all these emotions perfectly, with strings lush and slow designed to tug at your heartstrings and like the Hammond organ, add atmosphere. Meanwhile, the tempo is kept slow, the rhythm section leaving space throughout the track, This too, adds to to a hugely emotive sound, which when combined with Al’s vocal works really well, resulting in a hugely moving track.
Another track written by Al was Sweet Sixteen. In total, Al wrote five tracks on the album and co-wrote three others. Sweet Sixteen is a quicker track, with swirling strings, blazing horns, driving rhythm section and guitars accompanying Al. His voice is strong, as he accentuates some of the notes dramatically. During the track, a smitten Al sings about having fallen for a much younger women. Horns punctuate the track, while the strings swirl and a punchy rhythm section drive the track along. Although the arrangement is faster and fuller, and Al’s voice laden with passion and desire, I’ve always felt that these weren’t Al’s best lyrics. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad song, just one that’s not as good as others on the album.
Only one cover version features on Livin’ For You and that’s Unchained Melody. Al really slows the song down, turning it into an emotive, slice of Southern Soul. A combination of wailing Hammond organ, slow, rhythm section and sweeping, swirling strings combine before Al’s slow and tender vocal enters. Behind him, the band keep the tempo slow and drenched in sadness and emotion. This is accentuated by the slow, strings, Hammond organ and gospel tinged, backing vocals that accompany Al. Together, they totally transform the song, turning it into a hugely emotive, moving and beautiful song, featuring one of Al’s tenderest vocals on the album.
My God Is Real indicates the direction Al’s life and music was heading. By 1976, he was an ordained Pastor, forsaking secular music for gospel music. Having said that, it’s a hugely impassioned vocal from Al, accompanied by an outstanding arrangement. When the track opens, it’s just Al accompanied by a Hammond organ, chiming guitars and rhythm section. Quickly, the arrangement grows, grand strings sweeping in, joined by some lovely backing vocals. Suddenly, rasping horns enter, just as the arrangement sounds hesitant. One of their contributions brings to mind a hook from Let’s Get Married. However, quickly, this dissipates and the they help produce a powerful and passionate gospel tinged sound, with the help of backing vocalists, piano and Hammond Organ. By the end of the track, Al has demonstrated the strength of his faith and what it meant to him back then.
Livin’ For You closes with Beware, another track written by Al. It has a gentle, almost hesitant start, with chiming guitars, keyboards and rhythm section combining. When Al’s tender vocal enters, this changes, with the tempo slow and the sound having a subtlety. It’s just chiming guitars, keyboards, Hammond organ and rhythm section that accompany Al, with the backing vocalists occasionally contributing during an epic track lasting eight and a half minutes. During the track, Al sings about wanting to make someone love him. This he does against a backdrop of acoustic and rhythm guitars, wailing Hammond organ and rhythm section, his vocal transformed to a half spoken plea. He’s desperate for love, lonely, wants and need loving. By now the track is almost a jam, with Al’s voice laden in passion, soaring, with along the arrangement, which now includes blazing horns. Although a lengthy track, it allows Al to improvise, taking his music in another direction, one with a looser, more freeform structure. I really like this track, but many people may not. They may prefer Al’s much more usual style. However, personally, this is a good way to end the album, allowing Al and his band to demonstrate their talent and versatility.
By the time Al released Livin’ For You, he was on a roll. He’d released a number of hugely successful albums, that started Let’s Stay Together, through I’m Still In Love With You and Call Me his previous album. Al had become a talented songwriter writing five and co-writing three other tracks on the album. Of these tracks, only Sweet Sixteen lets the album down slightly. Apart from that, Livin’ For You is an excellent album, with Al at his very best, his voice laden with a combination of everything from emotion and passion, to sadness and regret. As usual, Willie Mitchell produced the album, bring out not only the best in Al, but the best on every musician on the album. Playing on the album, were the creme de la creme of Memphis music. From the rhythm section, Memphis Horns and Memphis Strings, to Rhodes, Chalmers and Rhodes, the album is a combination of hugely talented people combining brilliantly to produce some of the best Southern Soul of the seventies. If you’ve never heard this album, it’s well worth buying. Along with all of Al’s music between 1971 and 1977, it deserves its part in any self-respecting record collection. Back then, Hi Records had some hugely talented artists on the label, including O.V. Wright, Otis Clay, Syl Johnson and Ann Peebles. For anyone who loves Southern Soul, Hi Records is a veritable feast just waiting to be devoured. However, the man who put Hi Records on the map is Al Green, with brilliant albums like Livin’ For You. Standout Tracks: Livin’ For You, Home Again, Let’s Get Married and So Good To Be Here.
AL GREEN-LIVIN’ FOR YOU.
IRMA THOMAS-IN BETWEEN TEARS.
IRMA THOMAS-IN BETWEEN TEARS.
Irma Thomas, The Soul Queen of New Orleans career in the music business has spanned six decades, with her first single (You Can Have My Husband But) Don’t Mess With My Man on the Ron label charting back in 1960. Since then, Irma has recorded for some of the best know soul labels, including Minit, Chess and Imperial. She was a contemporary of artists like Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick. Unlike her contemporaries, Irma never found the mainstream success they enjoyed. Sadly, her longevity didn’t translate into commercial success, but Irma Thomas is a hugely respected artist who has released over a dozen albums and over thirty singles. One of these albums was Irma’s third album In Between Tears, released in 1973 on the Fungus record label. This album was later rereleased in 1981 on the Charly label.
In Between Tears saw Irma team up with legendary producer Swamp Dogg with Duane Alman playing guitar. Due to the hurricane in 1969 that had reeked havoc Irma’s beloved New Orleans, she had to move Los Angeles. Once there, her musical career was put on hold, with Irma working in the retail sector. That was until 1973, when Irma released the single She’ll Never Be Your Wife on the Fungus label. Her comeback was complete when she entered the studio with Swamp Dogg at the helm to record In Between Tears. When the album was released, it wasn’t a huge commercial success, but instead, is now considered a minor classic, which demonstrates just what deep soul is about. The big question is, what difference had irma’s absence from the music industry made to her music, and was there a different sound on Between Tears?
In Between Tears opens with the title track In Between Tears, a track that was written by Jerry Williams Jr. and Doris Troy. When the track opens with chiming guitars, rhythm section and piano accompanying Irma, the tempo is quick, the sound full and Irma’s voice world weary, but strong. She’s backed by sweet, tight, female backing vocalists while, the bass line is fast, strings sweep in adding a sense of sadness, while a piano and chiming guitars complete the line-up. As Irma sings the lyrics, she gets across the sense of anger, sadness and betrayal in the lyrics, about a woman whose husband has left her. Even though Irma’s been away from the music industry for four years, her ability to make a song her own, hasn’t deserted her. She sings the lyrics as if she’s lived them a thousand times, and combined with Swamp Dogg’s faster and fuller arrangement, made all the better by the addition of female backing vocalists, this is an excellent track to start the album.
She’ll Never Be Your Wife was Irma’s comeback single, after a year year absence from music. When the track opens, a piano, swirling strings, guitars and the rhythm section combine before Irma’s vocal enters. Her voice has a deep, throaty sound, perfect for the heartache and pain in the song. The tempo is slower, the sound laden with emotion, grand sweeping strings a wailing Hammond organ the latest addition to the arrangement. Again, Jerry Williams Jr song is about betrayal and a relationship breaking up, with Irma refusing to sign the divorce papers, telling her man, that his new lady will never be his wife. Like the opening track, Irma is able to get across the emotions involved in this situation perfectly, her powerful voice full of anger and bitterness at this betrayal. Backed by another great arrangement from Swamp Dogg, the album just keeps getting better. Hopefully, the next seven songs will be just as good.
It’s a dramatic combination of reverberating guitars, strings drenched in sadness, short bursts of horns and the rhythm section that accompany Irma as These Four Walls opens. Her voice is strong as she sings about how happy she is, being within these four walls, albeit, her man is still married, with a family to feed. Some day, whether in hope or belief, she says, they’ll be together. Accompanying her are female backing vocalists, whose voices soar soulfully in unison, while the arrangement is slow and dramatic, but slightly spoiled by the constant reverberating guitar. It’s a sound that you quickly tire of, and whoever was responsible, spoiled an otherwise excellent arrangement and song. However, regardless of that, Irma’s vocal is hugely emotive, laden with hope and desire.
What’s So Wrong With You Loving Me opens with a slow, spacious introduction, chiming guitars, rhythm section and piano combining before Irma’s strong emotive vocal accompanied by backing vocalists whose voices soar high. The arrangement veers between a slower style and then quickens, allowing both Irma and her band to get across the drama in the lyrics. They’re about two married people having an affair, and how they have to lead a double life, flitting around in pursuit of their forbidden love. During this track, Irma’s voice is a combination of power and passions, constantly questioning. Swamp Dogg’s arrangement is stirring and dramatic, using drums, piano and strings to get across the duplicity and danger this relationship is fraught with. Together with Irma’s vocal, it’s a potent combination resulting in an outstanding track.
It’s a very different sound and style on You’re the Dog (I Do the Barking Myself). Blazing horns, chiming guitars, piano and driving rhythm sections accompany Irma’s powerful, dynamic vocal. She sings about how she feels the roles are reversed in the relationship, how she’s keeping her man and he needs to buck his ideas up. Behind her, chiming sometimes, screaming guitars accompany the bursts of braying horns and dramatic piano while, backing vocalists accompany a now, roaring, screaming Irma, whose frustrated and angry. Although very different in style from previous tracks, this song allows Irma to demonstrate not only her versatility as a vocalists, but her hugely powerful vocal.
The style changes on Coming From Behind/I Wish Someone Would Care. It opens with a monologue from a miserable and weary, but bitter and angry Irma against a backdrop of slow rhythm section, piano and chiming guitars which are interspersed with drama and space. This monologue is about how Irma’s man has left her, how sad and miserable she is, but how she knows he’ll return, which brings out the anger and bitterness in her voice. Although this works well, it maybe goes on a bit too long. Things change when I Wish Someone Would Care starts, with the tempo still slow, the arrangement still featuring those chiming guitars, piano and slow rhythm section. Irma’s voice grows in power, becoming a roar, laden with emotion and sadness, as she almost pleads for somebody to care for her. Her voice sits atop an spacious, understated arrangement, allowing Irma’s voice to take centre-stage. This it does, with her emotive performance having much in common with the previous track. Personally, as much as I enjoyed the monologue, I much prefer the emotion ridden pleas of Irma on I Wish Someone Would Care, a truly impassioned performance.
When Turn My World Around bursts into life, it’s immediately apparent that this track is something special. From the bursts of blazing horns, guitars and driving rhythm section that combine with Irma’s weary vocal, the tempo is quick and the sound full. At a breakneck pace, a brilliant track unfolds, with Irma lost, needing love and affection, her lover having left her. Lush strings sweep in, joining backing vocalists while Swamp Dogg’s arrangement that features braying horns throughout the track, that match the passion and energy of Irma’s emotionally charged vocal. By the end of the track, Irma and Swamp Dogg have worked their magic, creating one of the album highlights.
One thing that I’m not a fan of on a soul album, are rock guitars. That to me is a no-no. Recently, I wrote a review of an Ann Peebles album that featured a track that bore the scars of this aberration. When We Won’t Be In Your way begins, I’m horrified to hear this unwelcome addition. The introduction is drama laden with wailing Hammond organ, dramatic rhythm section and soaring, screaming guitars. They give way to a brow-beaten, weary Irma, who has gathered up her kids and left her husband. Horns cut in, briefly blazing, giving way to more screaming guitars. However, although they succeed in creating a sense of the turmoil Irma’s describing, they overpower everything else. This is unfortunate as it despoils the rest of the arrangement at this point. What’s even worse is that this song features an outstanding and hugely emotive vocal from Irma. The sad thing is that this would’ve been a great song without the screaming, rock guitars.
In Between Tears closes with I’d Do It All Over You, another faster track that sees Irma forget about the sadness and heartache of a relationship, as she sings about how she’d do it all again. There’s a sense of defiance and bravado, even vulnerability in her vocal. Behind her piano, rhythm section and guitars combine to produce as fast paced arrangement, with the addition of blazing horns the perfect finishing touch. Together, they combine to create a fast, furious and fulsome backdrop for Irma’s now, roaring, screaming vocal, which is laden with defiance and bravado. Such an excellent, energetic and dynamic track seems the perfect way to end this album, as anything else would seem like second best.
After four years away from the recording studio, Irma Thomas had lost none of her enthusiasm, energy and talent. On In Between Tears she delivers each song with a mixture of emotions. One minute she’s heartbroken and despairing, the next, she’s feisty, full of defiance and bravado. During some songs, there’s a world weary sound to her voice, as if she’s lived a dozen lives, when in reality, she was only thirty-two. This demonstrates one of Irma’s talents, the ability to bring the story behind the lyrics to life. When she does this, she becomes a masterful storyteller. Of the nine songs on the album Swamp Dogg, aka Jerry Williams Jr. wrote of cowrote eight of them. Not only that, but he produced the album as well. With a crack band behind her, the result was an album that deserved to do so much better. Unlike many albums, this album is long on quality and short on filler. Sadly, the album wasn’t a huge commercial success. It has been released several times since then by various labels, but in my opinion, the best way to buy it is as part of a compilation released by Kent Soul in 2008. It features the album plus the rest of Irma’s 1970s recordings, in total nineteen great tracks. This allows you to hear some brilliant music from The Soul Queen of New Orleans. Standout Tracks: In Between Tears, She’ll Never Be Your Wife, These Four Walls and Turn My World Around.
IRMA THOMAS-IN BETWEEN TEARS.
ANITA BAKER-COMPOSITIONS.
ANITA BAKER-COMPOSITIONS.
Some time ago, I wrote an article of Anita Baker’s seminal 1986 album Rapture, one of my favorite soul albums of the eighties. I’ve long been a fan of Anita’s music, and have for some time, been meaning to write another article on Anita’s music. Today, while I was listening to a number of albums, I came across my copy of Anita’s fourth album Compositions. After listening to what is another of my favorite Anita Baker albums, I decided that this was a good album to write about, because it sees a slight change in Anita’s music, when a jazz influence was introduced to her music. This didn’t affect her popularity though.
Like Rapture and Giving You the Best That I Got, it was produced by Michael J. Powell, who formed the Detroit based soul group Chapter 8, which Anita was the lead vocalist for. He had produced Anita’s two previous platinum certified album. Compositions was released back in June 1990, and featured four songs that Anita either wrote or co-wrote. The album reached number five in the US Billboard 200, was certified platinum and won Anita a Grammy Award for the Best Female R&B Performance at the 1991 Grammy Awards. Unlike the album, the singles released from the album weren’t as successful.Talk To Me was the first single released from the album in 1990. Although it reached number four in the US R&B Charts, it only reached number forty-four in the US Billboard 100. Soul Inspiration, the second single of 1990, only reached sixteen in the US R&B Charts and seventy-two in the US Billboard 100. When Fairy Tales was released as the third single in 1991, it reached number eight in the US R&B Charts. Although the singles failed to match the success of Compositions, Anita Baker’s career was going from strength to strength. After just four solo albums, Anita was one of the biggest soul singers of the time. On Compositions, Anita demonstrated not only her talents as a vocalist, but as a songwriter, writing four of the songs. It’s that album that I’ll now tell you about.
Compositions opens with Talk To Me which Anita cowrote with Michael Powell and Vernon Falls. It’s a piano led track, with the rhythm section, percussion and guitars combining with keyboards before Anita’s thoughtful vocal enters. Her vocal is slow, as she accentuates notes while she asks her partner to talk to her, share his problems and worries. As the track progresses, her alto vocal grows in power and emotion, while a lovely piano led arrangement unfolds. Greg Phillinganes on piano and the rest of this tight band take a welcome diversion into jazz territory, while Anita give’s an outstanding, emotive vocal. If the rest of the album is as good as Talk To Me then this is going to be a magical musical journey.
Perfect Love Affair sees the piano add atmosphere and brief, bursts of drama to the introduction while the rhythm section, percussion and guitars accompany Anita on this slow track. Immediately, this proves to be a fitting predecessor to Talk To Me, with Anita turning back the clock, remembering when she met her partner, and they embarked on their perfect love affair. Meanwhile, keyboards have joined the track, which has the piano at the heart of sound, ably assisted by percussion and the rhythm section. There’s a lushness to this slow, quite beautiful track. Anita’s voice is laden with emotion and passion, with backing vocalists accompanying her later in the track. Like the opening track, both Anita and her band combine brilliantly on a track she cowrote with Joel Davis. Although quite different from Rapture, it still features the trademark vocals of Anita Baker.
Whatever It Takes To Make You Happy is a track that slowly, reveals wave after wave of beautiful music, which as the track unfolds, just gets so much better. During this track, Anita demonstrates her vocal range, delivering the lyrics with a combination of power and emotion. Behind her, the arrangement features a combination slow rhythm section, chiming guitars, piano and keyboards. Together, the play slowly and thoughtfully, with the piano, keyboards and chiming guitars at the heart of arrangement’s success. Guitars and keyboards melodically combine, their sounds reverberating behind Anita’s powerful vocal. When Michael J. Powell’s arrangement is combined with Anita’s vocal, this is a potent combination, resulting in yet another great track from Anita.
Soul Inspiration was written by Grammy Award winning songwriter Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, of Gallagher and Lyle. Chiming guitars, keyboards, piano and rhythm section combine before Anita’s quieter, much more subtle vocal enters. Against a sweeping backdrop of piano, rhythm section, keyboards and guitars, Anita’s voice grows in power and strength. She accentuates notes, while the arrangement grows, becoming grand and dramatic, quite similar to certain songs on Rapture, albeit Anita’s style has a slight jazz influence. Adding the finishing touches to one of the album’s highlights are female backing vocalists. Their much more restrained voices provide a contrast to Anita’s powerful vocal, while bursts of horns cut in, accompanying the piano as the track reaches its impressive crescendo.
There’s quite a pronounced jazz influence on Lonely. This is apparent pretty much from the start of the track. Compositions was an album that saw Anita’s music become jazz tinged. However, this didn’t impact upon sales, with the album being certified platinum in the US for sales over one million copies. Piano and rhythm section combine with Anita’s jazz tinged vocal. Keyboards and percussion join with piano and rhythm section as Anita’s voice grows in power, before the piano leads the track into a swinging slice of jazz. This very different style of vocal and arrangement works well, although it’s quite a departure from her usual style. Along with Anita, pianist Greg Phillinganes steals the show. His piano playing is exquisite and both he and Anita demonstrate both their talent of versatility on Lonely.
When No One To Blame opens, the introduction reminds my of the introduction to No One In the World, one of the best tracks on Rapture. After that, it’s a quite different track, lacking dynamism of No One In the World. Having said that, it isn’t a bad track. Far from it. It’s just the introduction means comparisons will be made. This is a much slower and thoughtful track, with just a hint of jazz shining through. A piano and rhythm section combine before Anita’s subtle vocal enters. Percussion, keyboards and guitars join the mix, while Anita’s vocal is quite different from previous tracks, much more restrained. It grows in power slightly, but is still considered as she sings about being in love and trying to resist the feeling. This isn’t possible, as she’s almost infatuated and is translated into her vocal. It grows in power as she gets across the hopelessness she’s experiencing, trying to fight the feeling. The best way to describe this track is a slow burner, one of these tracks that takes a while to unfold and reveal itself. When it does, it becomes a good song, laden with emotion and feeling, albeit not as good as the previous five tracks.
A combination of percussion, piano, rhythm section, keyboards and guitars accompany Anita on the floaty More Than You Know. It’s a much better track than the previous track, one with a bigger, fuller sound and much more dynamic vocal from Anita. Space is left in the track however, which combines elements of Rapture era Anita Baker with shades of jazz. This isn’t surprising considering Earl Klugh guests on guitar, playing a lovely, tender solo during the track. Meanwhile, Anita’s voice is loud and powerful, making good use of her wide range. More Than You Know is an excellent track, one that reminds me of the brilliance of Anita’s best ever albumRapture.
Love You To the Letter is another track where the jazz influence is immediately noticeable. This is the case when a piano plays a jazz influenced introduction, accompanied by drums played with brushes in a jazz style. The tempo is slow, the arrangement spacious, while Anita’s vocal has a tenderness. Keyboards and a bass join the arrangement which is a lovely laid back slice of jazzy music, which is hugely sympathetic to some beautiful lyrics about the joy and beauty of being in love. It’s an epic jazz workout lasting nearly seven and a half tender minutes, which just fly by as you’re in raptures listening to Anita’s tender and beautiful vocal.
Compositions closes with Fairy Tales co-written by Anita with Michael J. Powell and Vernon Falls. After the tender, beauty of the previous track, Fairy Tales has a lot to live up to. The question is, can it manage to do so? When the rhythm section, keyboards, guitars, percussion and piano combine with Anita’s vocal things sound promising. Quickly, Anita’s vocal grows in power as the tempo quickens, and a melodic, sometimes dramatic jazz tinged arrangement unfolds. Anita turns back the clock remembering the fairy tales her mother told her, how her future would be bright, whereas reality was far from that. Her dream never came true, it was a case of paradise lost. Anita’s voice sounds disappointed and full of sadness, bitterness and regret. During the track the piano takes the track into a length jazz drenched musical journey which is very different from the rest of the album. It’s a catchy, virtuoso performance from Greg Phillinganes, with Anita seemingly confident that he won’t steal the show. With playing like that he very nearly does, but in the end, Anita is very definitely the star of this excellent track which matches the expectations of the previous track nicely.
Although Compositions was quite different from Rapture, it’s still an excellent album, one of my favorite Anita Baker albums. Nothing will ever surpass the seminal Rapture, but Compositions comes a worthy second. On this album, there was a jazz influence in Anita’s music, both in her vocals and in the arrangements. This wasn’t overdone, and is best described as jazz tinged. There’s still the usual soulful side of Anita’s music, plus the energy and dynamism that I’ve come to expect in her voice. During this album, she delivers the nine songs with a combination of emotion, power, passion and tenderness. Of the nine songs on the album, I’d say that eight are of the highest standard, with When No One To Blame a slow burner, not quite as good as the rest. The albums features some really talented musicians with pianist Greg Phillinganes one of the stars of the album. With Michael J. Powell producing this album like he had each of her solo albums, this was a recipe for another hugely successful album. This was the case, with the album being certified platinum after selling over one million copies. If you’ve never heard this album, this is one of Anita Baker’s best albums. Although twenty-one years old, the album has a timeless quality like all good music has. It’s well worth buying and together with Rapture, are the perfect introduction to Anita Baker’s brilliant music. Standout Tracks: Talk To Me, Whatever It Takes To Make You Happy, Soul Inspiration and Love You To the Letter.
ANITA BAKER-COMPOSITIONS.
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 tired of touring and being away from his family. Instead, he took a job working for the US government making parts for nuclear power plants. After that, his only involvement in music was singing in his church choir. Sadly, Jimmy Hughes’ music never found the success of his cousin Percy Sledge. However, the three albums Jimmy Hughes recorded feature some excellent music. These albums were recorded for three of the best known record labels of the sixties Vee-Jay, Atco and Volt.
Someone who played an important part in Jimmy Hughes’ career was record producer Rick Hall of Fame Records. in 1962, Jimmy had auditioned for Rick Hall and he was so impressed that he recorded Jimmy’s debut single I’m Qualified, a track Rick had co-written with Quin Ivy. Before this, Jimmy’s only musical experience had been singing in the gospel quartet The Singing Clouds. This debut single was released on the Philadelphia label Guyden. After the single was recorded, Jimmy returned to his day job in a rubber factory,
Two years later, Jimmy and Rick Hall’s path’s crossed again, when Jimmy returned to Rick with a ballad he’d written Steal Away. The song based on the gospel song Steal Away To Jesus, was recorded in just one take. Little did Jimmy and Rick realize it, but this one song would help define the Muscle Shoals sound that become so hugely popular and famous. After recording the follow-up single Try Me, which reached number sixty-five in the US R&B Charts, an album entitled Steal Away was recorded. It was released in 1965 on the Vee-Jay label. On that album, are some of the first songs penned by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham.
After the release of his debut album, Jimmy toured with some of the great names in soul music, including Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack and Jackie Wilson. When Jimmy’s next few singles failed to build on the success of his first two singles, Jimmy was sidelined whilst Vee-Jay focused on acts like The Four Seasons and The Beatles. On the back of Jimmy’s cousin Percy Sledge’s successful classic single When A Man Loves A Woman, Rick Hall managed to get Jimmy a new deal for his label to be distributed by Atlantic. This coincided with an upturn in Jimmy’s fortunes. His next three singles on Fame, Neighbor, Neighbor reached number four in the US R&B Charts and sixty-five in the US R&B Charts in 1966, while I Worship the Ground You Walk On reached number twenty-five in the US Billboard 100. In 1967, Why Not Tonight reached number five in the US R&B Charts and ninety in the US Billboard 100. Jimmy’s next single It Ain’t What You Got reached number forty-three in the US Billboard 100. It was 1967 that the album this article is about Why Not Tonight was released. After that, Jimmy only released one further album.
Jimmy’s third and final album Something Special was released on Volt Records in 1969. By now, Jimmy was disillusioned, having become fed-up being away from his family on tour. What didn’t help was his belief that Al Bell, who produced his album, hadn’t promoted his album sufficiently. He felt that other acts were being promoted much better than he was. His quote was he felt like the “low man on the totem pole,” described his feelings perfectly. After that, Jimmy decided enough was enough, and he returned to “civilian life,” after eight years in the music business. Although Jimmy Hughes career may not have had the longevity of his contemporaries, he produced three great albums. The second of those was Why Not Tonight, which I’ll now tell you about.
Why Not Tonight opens with the title track Why Not Tonight which opens with a combination of slow guitars, organ and rhythm section before Jimmy’s vocal enters. There’s a sense of sadness and longing in his voice as he asks how long will his girlfriend keep him waiting. Adding to the deeply sad and thoughtful sound are female backing vocalists whose voices rise in unison soulfully, against a slow, emotive arrangement that’s made up of piano, guitars and rhythm section. It’s a lovely slow song, full of emotion and longing, thanks to Jimmy’s vocal and the slow, spartan arrangement.
The tempo increases with I’m A Man of Action written by Jimmy himself. Rasping horns combine with an organ, rhythm section and guitars, while Jimmy’s voice is strong and joyful. Behind him, the arrangement is quicker and fuller, with bursts of braying horns, a driving rhythm section adding drama, guitars and a wailing Hammond organ completing the chugging arrangement. Together, they combine to produce a faster, uptempo slice of sixties soul, featuring a joyous vocal from Jimmy and an equally, joyful arrangement, made all the better with the addition of rasping horns and punchy rhythm section.
I Worship the Ground You Walk On sees the tempo drop again, with a dramatic, emotive arrangement accompanying Jimmy’s deeply moving, besotted vocal. Rasping horns, piano, chiming and guitars combine with a slow rhythm section that provides the track’s heartbeat. The arrangement is laden with drama, thanks to short, sharp bursts of horns sitting atop the arrangement while Jimmy’s passionate, heart-rending vocal demonstrates how he could throw himself into a song, and in the process, bring the track to life. What really helps his vocal is Rick Hall’s arrangement. A slower tempo and looser, style with space left within the arrangement works perfectly. Add to that, Jimmy’s vocal and the result is a hugely moving track.
Neighbor, Neighbor was one of Jimmy’s hit singles reaching number four in the US R&B Charts and sixty-five in the US R&B Charts in 1966. There’s a real bluesy sound and feel to this dance-floor friendly track. The track has an old-fashioned sound featuring an upright bass, blazing horns, chiming guitars and drums accompanying Jimmy’s quicker swinging vocal. It’s a track that swings along, horns at the heart of the track’s success and Jimmy telling his neighbor that what goes on behind his door is his business, nobody else’s. Of the tracks on the album so far, this is easily the best, thanks to the tempo, style and lovely old-fashioned sounding arrangement.
Slow spacey drums, tambourine and guitars combine with Jimmy’s vocal, which is accompanied by backing vocalists at the start of It Was Nice. Their addition is a masterstroke, and it’s almost call and response they sing with Jimmy. Behind them, the tempo is slow, with a brief burst of horn cutting in, while guitars, rhythm section and tambourine complete the line-up. Jimmy meanwhile, sings about being deeply in love, almost infatuated by his lover. As a result, there’s a sense of bliss and joy in his vocal. This is the second of the three songs written by Jimmy on the album, and originally, it was the b-side of Jimmy’s 1965 single Goodbye My Lover Goodbye. Although maybe not single material, it’s a little gem of a track, with another joyous vocal from Jimmy and sympathetic arrangement by producer Rick Hall.
The second side of the original album is another Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham penned track, Slippin’ Around With You. This album was one of the first to feature songs by two men who’d become one of the most successful songwriting partnerships, Penn and Oldham. One of Rick Hall’s talents was being able gather around him a group of hugely talented writers and musicians. They were the latest writers to arrive at Fame and provided four tracks for Why Not Tonight. This is a quicker track, with flourishes of piano, bursts of blazing horns, driving rhythm section and female backing vocalists uniting soulfully before Jimmy’s quick, powerful and emotive vocal enters. During the track, the tempo is quick, space is at a premium in the arrangement which drives along a melange of horns, piano guitars and rhythm section accompanying Jimmy jubilant vocal. Although the track has the perfect Northern Soul tempo, it was his another Fame artists Art Freeman, whose version that gained popularity of the Northern Soul scene. However, Jimmy’s jubilant version would still go down well on many dance-floors today.
Bells chime as Midnight Affair dramatically and slowly reveals itself. It’s a tale of late night assignations sung and played slowly, with a piano, brief bursts of horns, chiming guitars, organ and slow, drama laden rhythm section that accompany Jimmy’s pleading, desperate vocal. Like the previous track, it’s a Penn and Oldham song, although a very different one. Of the two, I much prefer the drama and almost desperation in Jimmy’s vocal, set against a slow, dramatic and moody arrangement. It’s a track with a strong narrative that Jimmy brings brilliantly to life.
It’s A Good Thing is the third in trio of Penn and Oldham tracks on side two. The track had been influenced by the music of The Impressions, whose music was hugely popular at this time. However, Jimmy pulls out a great vocal on this track, which is accompanied by an equally great Rick Hall arrangement. Backing vocalists open the track, bringing to mind the sound of The Impressions. They give way to bursts of horns, rhythm section and guitar, before Jimmy’s vocal. His voice is full of emotion as he sings about love, and wanting to be in love with a woman who doesn’t love him. Behind him, dramatic horns, cut in, while the backing vocalists almost serenade Jimmy, their voices the perfect accompaniment to his. Although people have said the song was influenced by The Impressions, I prefer to say that Jimmy was paying homage to them, on this excellent Penn and Oldham track.
Jimmy the lover man enters stage left on the far from subtle, somewhat salacious even concupiscent I’m the Loving Physician. Quick, soaring guitars, rhythm section and short stabs of horns accompany a boastful vocal from Jimmy. He’s joined by swooping female backing vocalists, who accompany Jimmy’s quick, confident vocal, while guitars and rhythm section drive the arrangement along. To me, it’s a good enough track, but lacks the lyrics lack the quality of the previous three tracks on side two. Maybe they’ve a lot to live up to, having been penned by Penn and Oldham. However, both the vocal and arrangement are good, it’s just the lyrics let the side down somewhat.
Why Not Tonight closes with I Stand Accused written by Jerry and William Butler with Curtis Mayfield. This is a trio of big names collaborating so much is expected of this composition. It doesn’t disappoint either. From the slow, emotive introduction that sees backing vocalists, a wailing Hammond organ, chiming guitars and the rhythm section accompany one of Jimmy’s best vocals on the album. It’s laden with emotion and feeling, with Jimmy’s sadness and regret almost tangible, because he loves a woman whose in love with another man. Behind him, Rick Hall’s arrangement is perfect for Jimmy’s vocal. Like the vocal, it has sound full of sadness and emotion because of the combination of the Hammond organ, chiming guitars and rhythm section. Add in the backing vocalists, and you’ve the complete package, the perfect backdrop for Jimmy’s vocal. This is a hugely emotional and quite beautiful track, one of the album’s highlights and perfect to close the album with.
Listening to Why Not Tonight?, it seems incredible that the album wasn’t a much bigger success. Jimmy Hughes has an excellent voice, and is one of the unsung heroes of soul music. His music deserved to be heard by a much wider audience, and it’s understandable that having recorded such an excellent album and failing to receive the commercial success it deserved, he became disillusioned by the music industry. On Why Not Tonight he had everything going for him. Great songs written by hugely talented songwriters like Penn and Oldham and the Butlers, Jerry and William with Curtis Mayfield, plus two he wrote himself, He was backed by some of the best musicians of the time, the Muscle Shoals rhythm section and had Rick Hall one of the best producers, producing the album. Despite all of this, the album wasn’t a huge success. After this album, Jimmy recorded just one more album Something Special, released on Volt. It wasn’t a commercial success, and wasn’t helped by what Jimmy saw as a lack of promotion, Jimmy quit the music industry. By then, he was tired of constant touring and being away from his family. Instead, he returned to “civilian life,” turning his back on music, apart from in the church. This was the music industry’s loss. That day, music lost a hugely talented singer and songwriter, someone who had so much more to offer musically. Thankfully, all three of Jimmy’s albums are now available on Kent Soul. Why Not Tonight can be found on Why Not Tonight? The Fame Recordings Volume 2. Steal Away The Early Fame Recordings is the first in the trio of rereleases, with Something Extra Special The Complete Recordings featuring Jimmy’s final album and the rest of the music he recorded for Volt. As usual, Kent have produced three excellent compilations, which allow those who want to hear Jimmy’s music either again, or for the first time, the opportunity to do so. So go on, treat yourself to three CDs’ of music from one of soul music’s unsung heroes. Standout Tracks: Why Not Tonight, I Worship the Ground You Walk On, It’s A Good Thing and I Stand Accused.
JIMMY HUGHES-WHY NOT TONIGHT?
A TASTE OF HONEY-A TASTE OF HONEY.
A TASTE OF HONEY-A TASTE OF HONEY.
Not long ago, I was listening to a number of compilations of disco classics released by Harmless Records. Between 2010 and 2011 they released a total of twelve compilations of disco tracks. This was the perfect opportunity to reacquaint myself with some of the music I’d grown up listening to. On the albums were a number of well known and some less well known tracks. One of the many tracks that I knew were A Taste of Honey’s huge hit single Boogie Oogie Oogie, one of the most infectiously catchy songs you’ll ever hear. It was on the excellent compilation Disco Discharge-Disco Ladies, which features twenty-one 12 inch singles over two discs. A few weeks later, I was looking for a couple of albums that I wanted when I noticed that A Taste of Honey’s debut album A Taste of Honey had been remastered and rereleased. Back in 1978 when the album was released, I never bought the album, but decided to take the plunge and buy it. Would the rest of the album be as good as the hook-laden Boogie Oogie Oogie?
When I received the album and started reading the credits, I noticed that Fonce and Larry Mizell had produced the album for Sky High Productions. That was a good omen, as the Mizell brothers had produced many big names. Their previous work included Donald Byrd, The Jackson 5, Bobbi Humphrey, The Blackbyrds and Johnnie Hammond. They’d produced albums for some of the biggest labels in music, Blue Note, Motown, Epic and Prestige. Looking again at the album credits I noticed Wade Marcus had arranged the strings on the album. He’d previously produced Stevie Wonder, Gary Bartz, Donald Byrd and The Emotions. Clearly, an experienced production team had been assembled for A Taste of Honey’s debut album.
Although A Taste of Honey had been formed in 1971 by co-vocalist and bassist Janice-Marie Johnson, Carlita Dorhan co-vocalist, Perry Kibble keyboards and drummer Donald Ray Johnson. Over the next few years, the line-up changed a few times, with Gregory Walker joining as lead vocalist. Unfortunately, he decided to leave just before Boogie Oogie Oogie was released. After honing their sound for six years, the group were signed by Capitol Records. It was in a club that the Mizell brothers spotted the group, and convinced Capitol to audition them. This they did, with the group signing a five album contract. When it came to recording their debut album Taste of Honey, the Mizell brothers were chosen to produce it.
Taste of Honey was released in 1978 and featured the huge hit Boogie Oogie Oogie. It had reached number one in the US Billboard 100, the US R&B Charts and the US Dance Charts. This was almost unheard of in the US, reaching number one in the three major charts. Meanwhile, the single was a huge hit in the UK in 1978, reaching number three. Part of the success of the single was it had crossover appeal, attracting a wide range of record buyers. The success of Boogie Oogie Oogie must have helped sales of the album Taste of Honey. it reached number six in the US Billboard 200 and number two in the US R&B Charts. This was the group’s most successful studio album.
Another Taste released in 1979 failed to match the success of their debut album, reaching just fifty-nine in the US Billboard 200 and twenty-six in the US R&B Charts. Their third album Twice As Sweet, released in 1980, did much better, reaching number thirty-six in the US Billboard 200 and twelve in the US R&B Charts. It featured the single Sukiyaki which reached number three in the US Billboard 100 and number one in the US R&B Charts. Their final album Ladies of the Eighties saw their popularity slip again reaching number seventy-three in the US Billboard 200 and fourteen in the US R&B Charts. It seemed that they couldn’t quite replicate the success of Boogie Oogie Oogie and their debut album A Taste of Honey, which I’ll now tell you about.
A Taste of Honey opens with Boogie Oogie Oogie a bona fida disco classic with the most uplifting introduction you’ll ever hear. It’s all there a quick, funky, buzzing bass, chiming, shimmery, guitars, bouncy drums, percussion and keyboards combining before the sweetest of vocals enters. After that, it’s just a joyous five and a half minutes of music. The Mizell brothers arrangement heads of into a funky workout with one of the best bass lines you’ll hear outside a Chic track. Occasional screaming guitars, handclaps, sweet backing vocals, the funkiest of rhythm sections and keyboards to produce a classic disco track, laden with hooks and the most joyous sound. Even thirty-three years later, it’s timeless classic of the disco genre.
This Love of Ours is the polar opposite of the previous track. It’s a lush sounding love song, full of swirling strings that are responsible for a somewhat dramatic sound. This track allows the group to demonstrate that they’re far from one trick ponies, just able to produce disco classics. Drums, dramatic, swirling strings and a slow bass combine before Hazel Payne’s lead vocal enters. It too, is slow, but thoughtful and emotive. From there on, both the arrangement and vocal just get better, with chiming guitars joining the arrangement as the sweet vocal becomes full of emotion and heartache. In the background, the strings are at the heart of the arrangement, as drums inject bursts of drama, while guitars chime, combining perfectly with the strings. Although very different from the opening track, it’s a very beautiful song thanks to the vocal and arrangement.
As Distant opens, a dirty, funky bass combines with flourishes of piano, and drums creating a dramatic, funky introduction which promises much, but does can it deliver. A burst of guitar signals the arrival of the vocals. They’re subtle, lush even, and are accompanied by sweeping strings and the still funk influenced combination of rhythm section, percussion and guitars. The arrangement meanders along, with strings at it’s heart, while the vocal drops in and out of the mix. Occasionally, a funky laden breakdown occurs, but quickly, things return to a much more understated sound. Later, the vocal becomes stronger, becoming a cross between a snarl and roar. Towards the end of the track, the quality of sound isn’t the best, becoming fuzzy. That sounds like a problem with the remastering. Did the track deliver? It did, although what sounded like a delicious slice of funk, ended up just to have a drizzle of funk, in among the sweeping, lush sounding music.
When World Spin begins, it’s a bold sound that eventually unveils itself, with the rhythm section punchy, guitars chiming and strings swirling and sweeping dramatically while a considered, almost deliberate vocal sits atop the arrangement. It’s quickly apparent that the Mizell brothers have gone for a big production here, with the sound much fuller, impressive and with an almost grandiose drama. By comparison, the vocal is slightly weak, compared to the previous track and the quality of the arrangement. Part of the problems seems the style of vocal, which is quite deliberate. Midway through the track, the style changes, with a funky breakdown, giving way to some jazz influenced chiming guitars. Later, the vocal improves, and is much better. However, like the previous track, the sound quality sounds blurred and jumpy towards the end of the track. Definitely a remastering problem. Overall, the arrangement is excellent as you’d expect from the Mizell brothers, with the vocal improving as the track progresses.
The third single released from the album was Disco Dancin’ which only released number sixty-nine in the US R&B Charts. Listening to the track, that seems fair. Straight away, it’s obvious that this track lacks the quality of the previous ones. This is the case with the lyrics. They’re slightly stilted, wooden even, and there’s an awkwardness about the arrangement. It sounds like a funk based track trying to dress up as a disco track, and doesn’t work. This is a pity, because the standard of playing on the track is excellent, it’s just musicians can only play what they’re told to play. When the track opens, a hugely funky bass and excitable vocal combine, before the rhythm section, keyboards and guitars combine with the vocal. After that, the hugely repetitive, rather poor lyrics are sung against a backdrop of funk influenced rhythm section, guitars and a proliferation of keyboards and synths that don’t gel well, sounding awkward. Without wanting to sound repetitive, the sound quality isn’t great at the end of the track, again, becoming fuzzy. Overall, a disappointing track.
Hopefully, You will make up for the previous poor track. When it opens with a funk influenced introduction that gives way to a track that has Chic as its influence. However, A Taste of Honey don’t have Niles and Bernard. It’s not a bad song, but it’s not one of their best either. After the combination of rhythm section, keyboards and guitars gives way to the vocal which is delivered in short, sharp bursts, against a backdrop that’s drenched in funk thanks to the reliance on the rhythm section and guitars. Occasionally, the vocal sounds sweeter, with almost a lush sound, but returns to its previous style. What the group appear to be trying to achieve is a funk based track that can masquerade as a disco track. It doesn’t quite work, even when the keyboards play a bigger part and the arrangement starts to open up. Although better than the previous track, it isn’t as good as the opening four tracks. This makes me think of the Odyssey album I reviewed recently, when side one was far better than side two. History does have a tendency of repeating itself, is a very true statement.
If We Loved is a slower ballad, with swirling, dramatic strings, piano, keyboards and rhythm section combining with chiming guitars as backing vocals enter. They give way to Hazel Payne’s lead vocal which is slow, emotion and passionate as she sings about, being in love and how she could make her lover happy. Backing vocalists sing tight harmonies, subtly, while the slow arrangement meanders along with the rhythm section keeping the tempo slow. Guitars chime, while a saxophone solo soars above the arrangement and strings sweep gently in. This is a much better song, with the vocal perfect for the lyrics and the lovely slow, sometimes dramatic, arrangement. Maybe a couple of slower songs would’ve been preferable to a couple of the faux disco tracks.
Following on from the lovely If We Loved is another slower track, Sky High, which has a spacious arrangement, with strings playing an important part in the arrangement. Hazel Payne sings the lead vocal, her voice perfect for this type of track. When the track opens, chiming guitars and dramatic swirling strings give way to Hazel’s lovely sweet vocal. The rhythm section, percussion and sweeping strings combine with the chiming guitars, providing a backdrop for Hazel’s vocal. During the track, subtle changes in tempo and short, sharp bursts of drama from the drums and strings add variety, while the chiming guitars and strings combine beautifully with the vocal. It seems that like the previous track, Sky High sees a return to form for A Taste of Honey. This is thanks to a gorgeous vocal and equally beautiful arrangement from the Mizell brothers.
A Taste of Honey closes with Your In Good Hands which was the second single from the album, which failed to chart. This is a pity as it’s a lovely slow track, with flourishes of drama and another quality vocal from Hazel. It’s chiming guitars and swirling strings that opens the track before Hazel’s slow, emotive and passionate vocal enters. The track has an old fashioned arrangement that features sweeping and swirling strings, chiming shimmering, guitars and tight backing vocals, set against a slow arrangement which features a slow rhythm section, piano and guitars. During the track the lushest of strings feature as does an excellent piano solo. Together with one of the best vocals on the album, this is the perfect way to end the album, with one of the best tracks.
Before I bought the recently remastered copy of A Taste of Honey, I’d only heard a few tracks by the group. Obviously, I was aware of the disco classic Boogie Ooogie Oogie and a few other tracks, but I didn’t really know what to expect. After the first five tracks, I was pleasantly surprised, having enjoyed each track with was of a high standard. Then when I heard Disco Dancin’ and You, I wondered if it was all downhill from here after two pretty poor tracks. Thankfully, the final three tracks made up for these two tracks. Bringing the Mizell brothers onboard to produce the album was a masterstroke. Their experience in production lead to to a really polished sound on the album, with their arrangements of the highest quality. A less experienced producer might not have achieved such a polished sound and as successful an album. With them at the helm, A Taste of Honey had both a hugely successful single in Boogie Oogie Oogie and an equally successful album in A Taste of Honey.
However, one thing that disappointed me was the sound quality. Towards the end of many of the tracks the sound became fuzzy and thick, and wasn’t of the quality of the rest of the tracks. This is surprising as the album has just been recently remastered. I listened to the album on a high end stereo and headphones and the problem was quite noticeable. It slightly spoiled my listening and it always seemed to happen at the same point, towards the end of the track. Apart from that, the rereleased album on BBR Records is a good package, featuring three bonus tracks, two of Boogie Ooogie Oogie and one of my nemesis Disco Dancin’. Overall, I enjoyed A Taste of Honey, and think the album is well worth a listen, as seven of the nine tracks are really good. My only caveat is the sound quality. If like me, you’re someone who pays close attention to remastering and technical issues, then it may annoy you somewhat. However, surely that’s worth living with to hear the joyous disco classic Boogie Ooogie Oogie again. Standout Tracks: Boogie Ooogie Oogie, This Love of Ours, If We Loved and Your In Good Hands.
A TASTE OF HONEY-A TASTE OF HONEY.
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