T he publicists have been doing their job well creating a lot of buzz around British soulstress Amy Winehouse's second release 2006's Back To Black . Unfortunately, Ms. Winehouse's offstage (and occasionally onstage) partying takes the spotlight rather than the fact that this little girl can really belt out a tune. She actually seems to embrace her party girl image with tracks like Rehab, Addicted and Me And Mr Jones . She's been compared to past artists as varied as Billie Holiday to The Ronnettes to Lauren Hill. Amy mixes sounds from classic 60's R&B with [...]
B ack in 2000, the fine folks at Ubiquity Records' soul & rare groove subsidiary Luv N' Haight put out a tremendous compilation of rare California based soul recorded from 1965-1981 entitled (duh) California Soul . I have to admit, I still give this CD a spin just as often as when I first picked it up nearly seven years ago. This set features many hard to find [...]
H ere we go again. It's time to turn the clocks forward for spring, but this year it comes earlier. Just early enough to throw off your computers, cell phones, microwaves, Easy Bake ovens and everything else you can get a shock from. So go buy a bunch of water, stock up on duct tape and Pop-Tarts because the end is near...again. I'm not digging too deep today, but here are some tunes to remind you of our impending doom. [...]
T here are many different schools of thought regarding the so-called "blaxploitation" films of the seventies. A definite message was sent to Hollywood that there is a creative force of black writers, directors and actors who will not be ignored AND there is a huge audience that will devour these action films about pimps, drugs, murder and life on the city streets. Many believe that these films simply perpetuate stereotypes and set back the strides made during the civil rights movement of the 60's. One thing that can be agreed upon is the great music from these films. James Brown, [...]
B etty Wright is a singer that is too often overlooked. Best known for her 1972 hit Clean Up Woman , Betty has proven herself as one of the most powerful voices in soul music. At the age if 13 she was working as a backup singer and just two years later she released her first solo single. Betty continued to release solid albums throughout the seventies and still performs and records today. Her most recent album was 2001's Fit For A King . Here's just a couple of classics for you to chew on. [...]
I fully intended to keep this blog leaning more towards soul music, but anyone who knows me knows deep down I'm a bluesman . Anyways, what has more soul than the blues? This is why I'm so excited for today's release of Black Snake Moan . Samuel L. Jackson stars as a delta bluesman who happens upon a young unconscious white girl (Christina Ricci ) in the middle of the road. He decides to take her in, chain her up and cure her of her wicked ways. Sounds [...]
C hess Records is the undisputed champ when it comes to electric blues in the early sixties, but there were also great R&B, soul & jazz records made there as well. Towards the end of the decade the heyday of Chicago blues had passed and Chess was finding more success with soul acts such as Etta James, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Fontella Bass and Billy Stewart. One of these soulful singers was Marlena Shaw. Marlena dropped out of college and played small clubs throughout the mid sixties until she hooked up with Count Basie with whom she toured for [...]
I t's the tail end of Black History Month and I can't help but think of the many great tunes that came out of the civil rights movement in the 60's. Am I Black Enough For You , Give More Power to The People , We're A Winner , Be Real Black For Me , & of course Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud just to name a few. But there is one that always stands out to me: Nina Simone's To Be Young, Gifted & Black released in [...]
T here's only two ways to get though winter in Western New York 1. drink or 2. deny that your cold and put on some reggae! Who am I kidding, you need a Red Stripe with that too. Here's one of my favorite soulful reggae covers. Its Jimmy Lindsay's 1978 version of Lionel's Easy. I can help but be in a great mood with this one that I took from a UK Rewind Selecta compilation introduced to me on vinyl by my good friend Andy. I was fortunate to stumble across the same compilation on CD on my last trip [...]
Elvis Meets The Wailers: Crying In The Chapel H ere's my first post and I'm stealing it from another audioblog. Pretty weak of me but this is a really cool mash-up. I found this on Captain Crate's tremendous blog and unfortunately I don't have too much info on it. Just sit back and enjoy!
Buffalo West Music
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
