Chitlin Circuit Double-entendre -filled Soul 2004 (and onward) Theodis Ealey's "Stand Up In It" is a song of the year

So I failed to mention above that at that 70s Soul Jam event at Constitution Hall in DC, me and the gf were like 2 of the 5 white people there in a crowd of 3,000 age 45 and up black people. I figured that 30 years after their prime the Stylistics would appeal to oh, non-music fanatic regular joe white folks who listen to Motown, but I guess not. It was a pretty pricey ticket. Who cares, I guess. Ted Mills and the current version of the Stylistics sounded great(beautiful falsettos), and I love that in unison choreographed footwork and hand motion dancing.

Original Release Date: March 30, 2004

Label: Ifgam Records

I can't seem to get the Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings supporters(M. Matos, D. Wolk, others) to bite at any of this stuff.

I guess I need to get hish-speed internet and start posting mp3s and yousendit stuff.

The Dells have been around a long, long time. While many acts on the oldies circuit are lucky to have one original member, the Dells have four and haven't had a membership change since 1960. Friday night at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro, this soul harmony quintet, formed in 1953, exhibited the chemistry that comes from being together for decades.

Emphasizing their R&B hits from the late '60s and early '70s, baritone Marvin Junior and falsetto/tenor Johnny Carter exchanged leads, supported by the shared notes of the three other members and the sweet tones of their horns- and piano-led big band. Like veteran basketball stars, these inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame no longer dazzle at will, but their skills remain at a high level and they can turn on that special magic periodically.

On "The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)," Junior shifted on a dime from breathy whisper to powerhouse gospel-rooted cry in a manner that was stunning both technically and emotionally. "Stay in My Corner" showcased Carter's still-amazing ability in the high range. These hits also demonstrated Carter and Junior's gymnastic abilities to stretch out notes, and the rest of the combo's exquisite tunefulness.

Opener Bobby Womack has had quite a musical life -- teenage gospel singer, guitarist with Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett and Sly Stone, pal of the Rolling Stones and successful solo artist off and on from the '60s through the '80s. Unfortunately, he left the strumming to a band mate, and either rushed through his hits or languidly lagged behind the beat. His voice retains a distinctive bittersweet feel, but his renditions of "Across 110th Street," "Harry Hippie" and "If You Think You're Lonely Now" lacked the melancholy passion of his studio versions.

-- Steve Kiviat

Saturday afternoon the Gator on WPFW 89.3 in DC (and online when it is working) keeps playing great new double-entendre filled Souterhn soul.

Also, I finally got the new Bettye LaVette--I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, and am impressed. I was worried that the Joe Henry production and the choice of songs (non-soul women country and folkies plus Fiona Apple & Sinead O'Connor) would be too 'tasteful', but it is not.

3. Big G Stomp, Big G
CD: Love on the Run, Bigsounds.com

4. Same Girl, Hardway Connection
CD: Hot Ticket, WILBE Records

5. Come On and Dance With Me, Hardway Connection
CD: Hot Ticket, WILBE Records

6. Brand New Dance, Jesse Yawn
CD: Forever More, Houseday Music

7. Hootchie Dance, Barbara Carr
CD: Stroke It, ECKO Records

8. I Came to Party, Monique Ford
CD: Get a Maid, Total Smash Music

9. The After Party, Gridloc Band
CD: Gridloc Band, (301)808-7272

10. Sweet Man of Mine, E.C. Scott
CD: Hard Act to Follow, Blind Pig Records

11.Was It Me, Big G
CD: Love on the Run, BigSounds.com, (804)615-2196

12. Touching Me, Lynn White
CD: Touching Me, (901)398-4948

13. Live in Freak, Jim Bennett & Lady Mary & the Unique Creation Band
CD: One More Go Round, (301)753-4335

14. A Woman Needs Money, Denise LaSalle
CD: Wanted, ECKO Records

15. I Don’t Come Cheap, Jim Bennett & Lady Mary & the Unique Creation Band
CD: One More Go Round, (301)753-4335

http://freighttrainsblockparty.com/index.html

Also I see that it was Carl Marshall, not the Problem Solvas, who did "Ain't No Party(Like a Grown Folks Party)" It came out in Nov. '04 on his Takin it to a higher level cd

pic & bill
lv johnson
yvonne jackson
clarence carter
travis haddix
legendary blues band
john mooney
backtrack blues band
raful neil
bob margolin
troy turner
johnny sansone
the dells
artie "blues boy" white
roshell anderson
chick willis
charles wilson
nappy brown
trudy lynn
jerry mccain
dicky williams
joe beard
tommy tate
ruby andrews
prince philip mitchell
tom principato
smokehouse
drink small
noble "thin man" watts
gary b.b.coleman
david dee
sonny rhodes

Also, I think the below is the link for an online station that streams current Southern double-entendre filled soul

http://alldownsouth.tripod.com/

The 4th Annual Best Southern Soul

Please Vote For Your Favorite Southern Soul Performers Of The Year

Vote On Our Special Page ... The Funky's 2005 ... Results Announced Jan 16, 2006,

Vote Often

I like the "vote often"

She gets virtually no airplay on the soul radio show in DC.

The SOULANDBLUESREPORT TOP 25
May 19, 2006 http://www.soulandbluesreport.com/top%2025.html

Mel Waiters
Willie Clayton
Bobby Rush
Vick Allen
J Blackfoot
Renea Mitchell
Sir Charles Jones
Lenny Williams
Donnie Ray
Ms. Monique
Carl Simms
Floyd Taylor
Team Airplay All Stars
Chairmen Of The Board
Lorraine Turner
Miz B
Wendell B.
Ms. Jody
Sheba Potts-Wright
Lacee'
Lorraine Turner
William Bell
Theodis Ealey
Bob Steele
Chairmen Of The Board
NEW SOUTHERN SOUL THIS WEEK
SBR's Top 25 Is Calculated On Reports From Our Panel Of Radio Stations,Clubs, & Syndicated Shows

So on Saturday July 15th Denise Lasalle is at Lamonts, and Captain Fly has a revue that night at Fort Dupont Park:
WPFW Night "D.C. Juke Box Review" featuring Al Johnson, William
DeVaughn, Sir Joe Quarterman, Mark Green & Captain Fly & Friends.
Opening: Hardway Connection

I need to try to make one of these events, or surely, I will be kicked out of the blue-eyed soul club.

I picked up the recent Mel Waiters cd. Not bad.

Listening to a pile of Southern soul discovered via CD-baby channels. The album by a jowly guy named Jimmy Taylor leans toward the blues end of things (with lady backup vocals not far from the ones on last year's Bobby Bare album); the EP by the lady named Candis Palmer ("All Men Ain't Dawgs,* since some are electric boogie dawgs apparently) leans toward the disco end; the single by Harold, "Chill Step Party," is steppin' music. He mentions Milwaukee, Chitown, Harlem, and Atlanta in it. More fun than R. Kelly, as far as I'm concerned, but mainly all this stuff obviously has a connection to county music too. (and though candis palmer is happy to have found a man who is not a dawg, jimmy taylor insists that when women say they're looking for a good man, they're lying. really, he says, they're looking for a fool.) (apparently the kinda fool who will let her spend all his money.) (he also directly quotes zz hill's "cheating in the next room in one of his songs.) (he's from alabama; I don't know where candis or harold are from. they're not actually on cdbaby.com per se, but i was sent their cds in the same package that the jimmy taylor CD came in.) jimmy taylor on his album is totally paranoid, and in just about every song he's either cheating or being cheated on or both, and as i said, he seems fully convinced that his woman is going to put him in the poor house (where, in real life, for all i know, he may already be.) in "you're busted" he hires a private detective to follow her around, and gets a photo of her cheating. "love catcher" has a pretty good sax solo. and though some songs sound more blues to me than soul, a couple (like "all i want is you") still veer more toward disco than anybody in country music has, i think, even shannon brown on her new album.
candis palmer, as i said, gets even more disco, but her disco is maybe 1975 where taylor's is 1973. (i think i wrote on the '05 thread that shannon brown's disco sounded 1979, but maybe that was hyperbole; i'm not sure. these two soul singers FEEL more disco.) but even at her most disco, in a song called "don't let someone else come and jingle my bell" or something, palmer gets backed by HARD blues guitar riffs, so the music really rocks. if i had to compare her vocal style to anybody, it'd be the staple singers in "i'll take you there."

-- xhuxk (xedd...), January 28th, 2006

glamorous bertha payne, *bedroom offer* EP: southern country soul millie jackson style (i.e., as many parts talked as sung, many of 'em bawdy), from memphis, via cdbaby.com. starts with a good riddance song where glamorous bertha (who on the cd cover is a big girl in her red dress with a red glass of wine) tells you "i don't need your face in my face" so "go away like a bad day" and "you might as well pack your rags." then the title track, which is not about her bedroom offer to him but the other way around, which offer she says isn't enough and the two backup singers (favorite artists: denise lasalle, mary j blige) chorus "bang! bang!" but by song's end glamorous bertha is saying "i need a man who will love me all night long. are you qualified? if not, get off the pot!" then one where she promises to shake it and break it (and maybe hang it on the wall) and she tells "all you womens with big elephant ears" that with her man every day is pay day. then supposedly "part two" of the same song, which means same slinky rhythm track as part one but now with sexy breathy pillow talk all over the top where bertha tells you to lift up her skirt. then finally another good riddance song, this one a tough and funky blues, where he leaves her with a sink full of dishes in a "one-room [some word i can't make out]", hence the best dishwashing song since ray parker jr's "bad boy" if not anita ward's "ring my bell." also she brings him food in bed, which means this might also be a breakfast breakup song in the tradition of the 5th dimension's "one less bell to answer" and karyn white's "superwoman." five songs total, but two around 4:00, three around 4:25, which means glamorous bertha takes her time and surely deserves a lover with a slow hand.

-- xhuxk (xedd...), February 23rd, 2006.

the legendary moody scott, *simply moody: we gotta bust outta the ghetto*: more cdbaby southern soul, from louisiana. cover has moody, a dapper old guy seemingly in his 60s, in front of a rundown rural shack; interesting, since "ghettos" are usually assumed to be urban, right? first track "bustin out of the ghetto" is a sort of james brown rip, five minutes long, where moody as i recall reels off some towns in the south train conducter style (am i imagining this? i THINK he did that, anyway) and ends singing "america america god grant his grace on thee." then he covers tyrone davis's great "can i change my mind," my favorite track. and from there the more soul oriented stuff ("last two dollars," the misspelled cheated-on song "one man's hppiness" which for some reason makes me think of billy stewart sitting in the park even though billy had a high voice and moody really doesn't, "something you got baby") is more likeable, to me, than the more blatantly blues stuff, but then again i always think that. both the soul and blues are generic, i suppose; with the soul i don't mind. best song title: "annie mae cafe." and the closer "son of a southern man" starts with moody telling his guitarist "tattoo" suarez ("my man from argentina") about his grandpa drinking corn liquor and singing "downhome blues". so yeah, country for sure.
-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 11th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He does get urban and/or urbane once, though -- a nice slinky silk-shirt early '80s style quiet storm soul croon called "The Best of Me." (Not sure if any songs other than the Tyrone Davis are covers. "Last Two Dollars" and "Annie Mae Cafe" are writing-credited to one George Jackson; wasn't there a soul singer of that name once? But if so, I never heard him, though.)
-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 11th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"something you got baby" wouldn't be chris kenner's "something you got" would it? since moody's from louisiana...and yeah, george jackson (I'm assuming it's the same guy--I don't know "annie mae cafe") wrote z.z. hill's "down home blues" and a lot of stuff for candi staton, clarence carter, pickett, james carr; a memphis guy who later worked for malaco and wrote for all them: johnnie taylor, latimore, shirley brown, bobby bland...
enjoying jace everett, so far. it's quite a collection of somewhat off-the-wall guitar effects, interesting guitar chromatics (as in the first song), definitely a '70s pop thing happening; and in my mode of concurrent listening (lately it's been dusty springfield/the latest numero group comp of obscure '70s female singers/the new, beautiful nara leão bossa "nara '67"; and jace/radney foster/jessi colter, partly because they all have cool first names, I guess) I notice that both radney and jace hark back to stiff records, which I find interesting.

xps

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), March 11th, 2006.

George Jackson was an occasional great old soul singer on Goldwax then Hi, and kind of a house writer at both. I'll try to remember tomorrow (just in from a party, and why I'm doing this rather than going straight to bet I've no idea) to YSI his absolutely magnificent Aretha, Sing One For Me. He was among the greatest writers in southern soul - he wrote for Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Otis Clay, James Carr, Clarence Carter, Etta James, Denise LaSalle, Wilson Pickett, Candi Staton and even wrote the Osmonds' first hit!
-- Martin Skidmore (lonewolf.cu...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

if I'm not mistaken, Alvin Robinson recorded for AFO (All for One), a New Orleans label of the '60s that Harold Battiste started; house band included Toussaint and Red Tyler. And he had a hit with Kenner's "Something You Got" (which was later covered by lots of folks, including Bobby Womack, who did a reggae remake on his "Safety Zone" LP in the mid-'70s. Alvin Robinson also recorded for Leiber and Stoller at Red Bird in New York, and did a real classic called "Down Home Girl."
I gotta get that Moody Scott record.

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), March 12th, 2006.

That YSI:
George Jackson - Aretha, Sing One For Me
It'd be in my top 100 favourite singles ever, I think.

-- Martin Skidmore (lonewolf.cu...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>I gotta get that Moody Scott record.<
I have an extra copy, Edd! I'll send it to you.

-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

great! thanks Chuck!

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>I don't know anything much about Moody Scott, just a handful of tracks, <
So Martin, did Moody have regional hits or something? I never heard of him before I saw his cdbaby page, and haven't really taken time to research him. I'm surprised you even heard of him!

-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 12th, 2006.

I don't know, Chuck, but bear in mind that I've been a huge fan of soul for a long time, and do know quite a lot about it (though not as much as Eddie, I'm pretty sure). The odd track does get on compilations of one sort or another, which suggests that Moody isn't incredibly obscure - but I don't even know exactly where he worked or anything, so he isn't famous either, clearly.
-- Martin Skidmore (lonewolf.cu...), March 12th, 2006.

also really liking irma thomas's *after the rain* on rounder, the "rain" obviously being katrina, though i kind of hate the mooshy shelter-from-storm piano ballad the album ends with though i do hope it provides solace to new orleans. what i love so far is "flowers" (soul about flowers on roadsides after car crashes, with a sound that i swear reminds me of "uncle tom's cabin" by warrant), "make me a pallet on the floor" (cheating with a painter, wow), "till i can't take it anymore" (country music in a soul voice, about how "you work your thing so well/I dream of heaven and live here in hell"), "these honey dos" (vampy bawdy boogie woogie where the honey dos are at first temptations but wind up also being about manners like please and thank you), and "stone survivor" (which is just plain funky).

-- xhuxk (xedd...), May 5th, 2006.

And Irma also does an extremely gorgeous version of "I Count the Tears" (the "na-na-na-na-na-na late at night" song) by the Drifters..
-- xhxuk (xedd...), May 5th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And she also does "Another Man Done Gone," a trad blues tune I swear I've heard hundreds of times by some huge classic rock group (Creem? Zep? the Allmans? somebody...), though no classic rock groups seem to be listed on AMG as doing it, so maybe whoever did it (which will probably hit me as really obvious once I found out) did it under a different title or something, or maybe with different words? (Also, I'm thinking now that maybe "These Honey Dos" and "Stone Survivor" and the palette one aren't quite at the level of the Warrant one and the country one and the Drifters one, but they're close.) -- xhuxk (xedd...), May 5th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

also liking (speaking of southern soul) *candy licker: the sex & soul of marvin sease* (jive/legacy) not all of which concerns muff diving, and at least "hoochie mama" of which has zapp-style robot-funk freakazoids reciting the names of several of the united states.

-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 12th, 2006.

*Most of the Marvin Sease album is gloppy ballads which aren't all that good, but some of it is kinda fun. (The first track is awful though.)

-- Haikunym (zinogu...), June 13th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marvin Sease CD is way less gloppy and ballady than Matt suggests (or maybe I just have a higher glop tolerance than he does; see also the Alan Bros!); most of it gets a good '70s smooth-jazzy funk disco groove going. And lots of the songs have pre-old-school "raps" (i.e., talking as singing, sometimes like a preacher's sermon) in them, which are really fun. And sure, the opening track "Do You Want a Licker?" is awful if you want it to be, but it's just too silly to complain about; ditto the other bookend, a five-minute live "Candy Licker 2005." Also, the ballads are pretty good, for the most part. "Don't Forget to Tell On You" sounds kind of like "Tell it Like It Is." But my favorite cuts are probably "I'm Mr Jody," the backdoor man song that starts with an ominous phone call, and the 12-step fix-your-life number "I Gotta Clean Up." (Has anybody ever written a good essay about Jody? He's the guy back on the block who's having sex to your girl while you're in the Army, and I get the idea he shows up in lots of Southern soul songs: Doesn't Johnnie Taylor have one about him, too*? As do, I would assume, other folks.)

* - yep, I just checked Whitburn: "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," went to number 28 in 1971. (Hey, sounds like a good EMP proposal!)

-- xhuxk (xhux...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

having sex WITH (or) making love TO.
and courtesy of HIS new truck.
).

-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnnie Taylor was the king of Jody songs. "Standing In for Jody" and "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" are just two; I mean every song he does is kind of about Jody-ism in some way or another. I am a nut for Johnnie Taylor (I like Johnny Taylor a lot, too, and Ted Taylor, the Louisiana soul singer, is also excellent--so I think an EMP paper on the Sooper Taylors would be good!!), and Taylor is also the king of fucking-around songs. There are these nifty new Stax reissues that includes stuff by Frederick Knight, the Dramatics, etc., and if you ask me one of the very best Stax albums-as-albums is Johnnie's "Who's Making Love," which is the typical collection of singles but which really has variety and which totally hangs together. "Hold On This Time" has a great Cropper riff, cubist guitar, and "Woman Across the River" is one of the best Stax blues ever.
I only know the older, cunnilingual and happy to oblige, ma'am, Marvin Sease stuff--he's really good. "Marvin Sease" on London from late '80s is a good 'un. One of those artists who've been working the I-55 corridor from Memphis to the Louisiana border, forever.

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, a Taylors EMP report would probably be really interesting, but I was thinking (theoretically, not volunteering!) more in terms of one about Jody himself. Who was he? And how far back do Jody songs go? Did Johnnie Taylor invent them? Or does Jody show up in blue songs during World War II or something? Was he a real person, like maybe Stagger Lee? (Was Shine who swam the Titanic a real person? I forget.) Seems like real *Mystery Train* mythology stuff, and I'm surprised nobody has tackled the research (unless they have and I just didn't notice, which is very possible. I haven't even done a google search.) (Also, do I only associate Jody with making cuckolds of military guys stationed overseas because I was *in* the military, and he was always showing up in cadences used while marching and/or running? Or is that his main deal? And otherwise, to what extent if any does he exist outside of the culture of Southern blacks--who, when I was in, seemed to make up a sizable portion of the Army?)
-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This could really be hella interesting, absolutely. Is "Trapped in the Closet" the Ulysses of Jody songs?
-- Haikunym (zinogu...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's some info I found while googling Jody songs:
http://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/10238/9918.html?1079610632

-- Sang Freud (jstrell...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

x-post. Taylor didn't invent the Jody song. Jody / Jodie / Joe the Grinder are pretty common figures in blues tunes.There's Louis Armstrong's "Jodie Man" which makes the "GI Joe de man" connection explicit. I wouldn't be surprised if that military connection is at the origin, though it's obviously gone through lots of transformations.
-- Roy Kasten (rfkaste...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, I'd forgotten Joe The Grinder. I used to own a copy of that *Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me* prison-rap comp (on Smithsonian or Rounder or something?), and I think there might even be a Joe the Grinder rhyme on there (I *may* even have mentioned it in the pre-rap rap chapter of my second book). Anyway, this link from the link above has great stuff about Jody Army cadences; also says Johnnie Taylor himself learned about Jody while in the military:
http://p211.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm4.showMessage?topicID=153.topic

-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 14th, 2006.

Listening to a pile of Southern soul discovered via CD-baby channels. The album by a jowly guy named Jimmy Taylor leans toward the blues end of things (with lady backup vocals not far from the ones on last year's Bobby Bare album); the EP by the lady named Candis Palmer ("All Men Ain't Dawgs,* since some are electric boogie dawgs apparently) leans toward the disco end; the single by Harold, "Chill Step Party," is steppin' music. He mentions Milwaukee, Chitown, Harlem, and Atlanta in it. More fun than R. Kelly, as far as I'm concerned, but mainly all this stuff obviously has a connection to county music too. (and though candis palmer is happy to have found a man who is not a dawg, jimmy taylor insists that when women say they're looking for a good man, they're lying. really, he says, they're looking for a fool.) (apparently the kinda fool who will let her spend all his money.) (he also directly quotes zz hill's "cheating in the next room in one of his songs.) (he's from alabama; I don't know where candis or harold are from. they're not actually on cdbaby.com per se, but i was sent their cds in the same package that the jimmy taylor CD came in.) jimmy taylor on his album is totally paranoid, and in just about every song he's either cheating or being cheated on or both, and as i said, he seems fully convinced that his woman is going to put him in the poor house (where, in real life, for all i know, he may already be.) in "you're busted" he hires a private detective to follow her around, and gets a photo of her cheating. "love catcher" has a pretty good sax solo. and though some songs sound more blues to me than soul, a couple (like "all i want is you") still veer more toward disco than anybody in country music has, i think, even shannon brown on her new album.
candis palmer, as i said, gets even more disco, but her disco is maybe 1975 where taylor's is 1973. (i think i wrote on the '05 thread that shannon brown's disco sounded 1979, but maybe that was hyperbole; i'm not sure. these two soul singers FEEL more disco.) but even at her most disco, in a song called "don't let someone else come and jingle my bell" or something, palmer gets backed by HARD blues guitar riffs, so the music really rocks. if i had to compare her vocal style to anybody, it'd be the staple singers in "i'll take you there."

-- xhuxk (xedd...), January 28th, 2006

glamorous bertha payne, *bedroom offer* EP: southern country soul millie jackson style (i.e., as many parts talked as sung, many of 'em bawdy), from memphis, via cdbaby.com. starts with a good riddance song where glamorous bertha (who on the cd cover is a big girl in her red dress with a red glass of wine) tells you "i don't need your face in my face" so "go away like a bad day" and "you might as well pack your rags." then the title track, which is not about her bedroom offer to him but the other way around, which offer she says isn't enough and the two backup singers (favorite artists: denise lasalle, mary j blige) chorus "bang! bang!" but by song's end glamorous bertha is saying "i need a man who will love me all night long. are you qualified? if not, get off the pot!" then one where she promises to shake it and break it (and maybe hang it on the wall) and she tells "all you womens with big elephant ears" that with her man every day is pay day. then supposedly "part two" of the same song, which means same slinky rhythm track as part one but now with sexy breathy pillow talk all over the top where bertha tells you to lift up her skirt. then finally another good riddance song, this one a tough and funky blues, where he leaves her with a sink full of dishes in a "one-room [some word i can't make out]", hence the best dishwashing song since ray parker jr's "bad boy" if not anita ward's "ring my bell." also she brings him food in bed, which means this might also be a breakfast breakup song in the tradition of the 5th dimension's "one less bell to answer" and karyn white's "superwoman." five songs total, but two around 4:00, three around 4:25, which means glamorous bertha takes her time and surely deserves a lover with a slow hand.

-- xhuxk (xedd...), February 23rd, 2006.

the legendary moody scott, *simply moody: we gotta bust outta the ghetto*: more cdbaby southern soul, from louisiana. cover has moody, a dapper old guy seemingly in his 60s, in front of a rundown rural shack; interesting, since "ghettos" are usually assumed to be urban, right? first track "bustin out of the ghetto" is a sort of james brown rip, five minutes long, where moody as i recall reels off some towns in the south train conducter style (am i imagining this? i THINK he did that, anyway) and ends singing "america america god grant his grace on thee." then he covers tyrone davis's great "can i change my mind," my favorite track. and from there the more soul oriented stuff ("last two dollars," the misspelled cheated-on song "one man's hppiness" which for some reason makes me think of billy stewart sitting in the park even though billy had a high voice and moody really doesn't, "something you got baby") is more likeable, to me, than the more blatantly blues stuff, but then again i always think that. both the soul and blues are generic, i suppose; with the soul i don't mind. best song title: "annie mae cafe." and the closer "son of a southern man" starts with moody telling his guitarist "tattoo" suarez ("my man from argentina") about his grandpa drinking corn liquor and singing "downhome blues". so yeah, country for sure.
-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 11th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He does get urban and/or urbane once, though -- a nice slinky silk-shirt early '80s style quiet storm soul croon called "The Best of Me." (Not sure if any songs other than the Tyrone Davis are covers. "Last Two Dollars" and "Annie Mae Cafe" are writing-credited to one George Jackson; wasn't there a soul singer of that name once? But if so, I never heard him, though.)
-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 11th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"something you got baby" wouldn't be chris kenner's "something you got" would it? since moody's from louisiana...and yeah, george jackson (I'm assuming it's the same guy--I don't know "annie mae cafe") wrote z.z. hill's "down home blues" and a lot of stuff for candi staton, clarence carter, pickett, james carr; a memphis guy who later worked for malaco and wrote for all them: johnnie taylor, latimore, shirley brown, bobby bland...
enjoying jace everett, so far. it's quite a collection of somewhat off-the-wall guitar effects, interesting guitar chromatics (as in the first song), definitely a '70s pop thing happening; and in my mode of concurrent listening (lately it's been dusty springfield/the latest numero group comp of obscure '70s female singers/the new, beautiful nara leão bossa "nara '67"; and jace/radney foster/jessi colter, partly because they all have cool first names, I guess) I notice that both radney and jace hark back to stiff records, which I find interesting.

xps

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), March 11th, 2006.

George Jackson was an occasional great old soul singer on Goldwax then Hi, and kind of a house writer at both. I'll try to remember tomorrow (just in from a party, and why I'm doing this rather than going straight to bet I've no idea) to YSI his absolutely magnificent Aretha, Sing One For Me. He was among the greatest writers in southern soul - he wrote for Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Otis Clay, James Carr, Clarence Carter, Etta James, Denise LaSalle, Wilson Pickett, Candi Staton and even wrote the Osmonds' first hit!
-- Martin Skidmore (lonewolf.cu...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

if I'm not mistaken, Alvin Robinson recorded for AFO (All for One), a New Orleans label of the '60s that Harold Battiste started; house band included Toussaint and Red Tyler. And he had a hit with Kenner's "Something You Got" (which was later covered by lots of folks, including Bobby Womack, who did a reggae remake on his "Safety Zone" LP in the mid-'70s. Alvin Robinson also recorded for Leiber and Stoller at Red Bird in New York, and did a real classic called "Down Home Girl."
I gotta get that Moody Scott record.

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), March 12th, 2006.

That YSI:
George Jackson - Aretha, Sing One For Me
It'd be in my top 100 favourite singles ever, I think.

-- Martin Skidmore (lonewolf.cu...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>I gotta get that Moody Scott record.<
I have an extra copy, Edd! I'll send it to you.

-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

great! thanks Chuck!

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), March 12th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>I don't know anything much about Moody Scott, just a handful of tracks, <
So Martin, did Moody have regional hits or something? I never heard of him before I saw his cdbaby page, and haven't really taken time to research him. I'm surprised you even heard of him!

-- xhuxk (xedd...), March 12th, 2006.

I don't know, Chuck, but bear in mind that I've been a huge fan of soul for a long time, and do know quite a lot about it (though not as much as Eddie, I'm pretty sure). The odd track does get on compilations of one sort or another, which suggests that Moody isn't incredibly obscure - but I don't even know exactly where he worked or anything, so he isn't famous either, clearly.
-- Martin Skidmore (lonewolf.cu...), March 12th, 2006.

also really liking irma thomas's *after the rain* on rounder, the "rain" obviously being katrina, though i kind of hate the mooshy shelter-from-storm piano ballad the album ends with though i do hope it provides solace to new orleans. what i love so far is "flowers" (soul about flowers on roadsides after car crashes, with a sound that i swear reminds me of "uncle tom's cabin" by warrant), "make me a pallet on the floor" (cheating with a painter, wow), "till i can't take it anymore" (country music in a soul voice, about how "you work your thing so well/I dream of heaven and live here in hell"), "these honey dos" (vampy bawdy boogie woogie where the honey dos are at first temptations but wind up also being about manners like please and thank you), and "stone survivor" (which is just plain funky).

-- xhuxk (xedd...), May 5th, 2006.

And Irma also does an extremely gorgeous version of "I Count the Tears" (the "na-na-na-na-na-na late at night" song) by the Drifters..
-- xhxuk (xedd...), May 5th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And she also does "Another Man Done Gone," a trad blues tune I swear I've heard hundreds of times by some huge classic rock group (Creem? Zep? the Allmans? somebody...), though no classic rock groups seem to be listed on AMG as doing it, so maybe whoever did it (which will probably hit me as really obvious once I found out) did it under a different title or something, or maybe with different words? (Also, I'm thinking now that maybe "These Honey Dos" and "Stone Survivor" and the palette one aren't quite at the level of the Warrant one and the country one and the Drifters one, but they're close.) -- xhuxk (xedd...), May 5th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

also liking (speaking of southern soul) *candy licker: the sex & soul of marvin sease* (jive/legacy) not all of which concerns muff diving, and at least "hoochie mama" of which has zapp-style robot-funk freakazoids reciting the names of several of the united states.

-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 12th, 2006.

*Most of the Marvin Sease album is gloppy ballads which aren't all that good, but some of it is kinda fun. (The first track is awful though.)

-- Haikunym (zinogu...), June 13th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marvin Sease CD is way less gloppy and ballady than Matt suggests (or maybe I just have a higher glop tolerance than he does; see also the Alan Bros!); most of it gets a good '70s smooth-jazzy funk disco groove going. And lots of the songs have pre-old-school "raps" (i.e., talking as singing, sometimes like a preacher's sermon) in them, which are really fun. And sure, the opening track "Do You Want a Licker?" is awful if you want it to be, but it's just too silly to complain about; ditto the other bookend, a five-minute live "Candy Licker 2005." Also, the ballads are pretty good, for the most part. "Don't Forget to Tell On You" sounds kind of like "Tell it Like It Is." But my favorite cuts are probably "I'm Mr Jody," the backdoor man song that starts with an ominous phone call, and the 12-step fix-your-life number "I Gotta Clean Up." (Has anybody ever written a good essay about Jody? He's the guy back on the block who's having sex to your girl while you're in the Army, and I get the idea he shows up in lots of Southern soul songs: Doesn't Johnnie Taylor have one about him, too*? As do, I would assume, other folks.)

* - yep, I just checked Whitburn: "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," went to number 28 in 1971. (Hey, sounds like a good EMP proposal!)

-- xhuxk (xhux...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

having sex WITH (or) making love TO.
and courtesy of HIS new truck.
).

-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Johnnie Taylor was the king of Jody songs. "Standing In for Jody" and "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" are just two; I mean every song he does is kind of about Jody-ism in some way or another. I am a nut for Johnnie Taylor (I like Johnny Taylor a lot, too, and Ted Taylor, the Louisiana soul singer, is also excellent--so I think an EMP paper on the Sooper Taylors would be good!!), and Taylor is also the king of fucking-around songs. There are these nifty new Stax reissues that includes stuff by Frederick Knight, the Dramatics, etc., and if you ask me one of the very best Stax albums-as-albums is Johnnie's "Who's Making Love," which is the typical collection of singles but which really has variety and which totally hangs together. "Hold On This Time" has a great Cropper riff, cubist guitar, and "Woman Across the River" is one of the best Stax blues ever.
I only know the older, cunnilingual and happy to oblige, ma'am, Marvin Sease stuff--he's really good. "Marvin Sease" on London from late '80s is a good 'un. One of those artists who've been working the I-55 corridor from Memphis to the Louisiana border, forever.

-- edd s hurt (eddshur...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, a Taylors EMP report would probably be really interesting, but I was thinking (theoretically, not volunteering!) more in terms of one about Jody himself. Who was he? And how far back do Jody songs go? Did Johnnie Taylor invent them? Or does Jody show up in blue songs during World War II or something? Was he a real person, like maybe Stagger Lee? (Was Shine who swam the Titanic a real person? I forget.) Seems like real *Mystery Train* mythology stuff, and I'm surprised nobody has tackled the research (unless they have and I just didn't notice, which is very possible. I haven't even done a google search.) (Also, do I only associate Jody with making cuckolds of military guys stationed overseas because I was *in* the military, and he was always showing up in cadences used while marching and/or running? Or is that his main deal? And otherwise, to what extent if any does he exist outside of the culture of Southern blacks--who, when I was in, seemed to make up a sizable portion of the Army?)
-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This could really be hella interesting, absolutely. Is "Trapped in the Closet" the Ulysses of Jody songs?
-- Haikunym (zinogu...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's some info I found while googling Jody songs:
http://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/10238/9918.html?1079610632

-- Sang Freud (jstrell...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

x-post. Taylor didn't invent the Jody song. Jody / Jodie / Joe the Grinder are pretty common figures in blues tunes.There's Louis Armstrong's "Jodie Man" which makes the "GI Joe de man" connection explicit. I wouldn't be surprised if that military connection is at the origin, though it's obviously gone through lots of transformations.
-- Roy Kasten (rfkaste...), June 14th, 2006.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, I'd forgotten Joe The Grinder. I used to own a copy of that *Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me* prison-rap comp (on Smithsonian or Rounder or something?), and I think there might even be a Joe the Grinder rhyme on there (I *may* even have mentioned it in the pre-rap rap chapter of my second book). Anyway, this link from the link above has great stuff about Jody Army cadences; also says Johnnie Taylor himself learned about Jody while in the military:
http://p211.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm4.showMessage?topicID=153.topic

-- xhuxk (fakemai...), June 14th, 2006.

another source of info on current soul

Best Southern Soul/R & B Album Of 2006

I'M THE MAN YOU NEED by Theodis Ealey (Ifgam)
THROWBACK DAYS by Mel Waiters (Waldoxy)
DON'T STOP MY PARTY by Donnie Ray (Ecko)
GIFTED by Willie Clayton (Malaco)
GWEN MCCRAE SINGS TK by Gwen McCrae (Henry Stone)
HERE KITTY KITTY by Billy Soul Bonds (Waldoxy)
THE ROAD OF LOVE by Renea Mitchell (Jomar)
NEVER COMING HOME by Betty Padgett (Meia)
NEW LEASE ON LIFE by William Bell (Wilbe)
THANK YOU FOR HOLDING ON by Sir Charles Jones (Jumpin')
IT AIN'T OVER TIL IT'S OVER by J. Blackfoot (JEA Music)
DOWN LOW BROTHER by Barbara Carr (Ecko)
WORTH THE WAIT by Omar Cunningham (EndZone)
TIME TO GET LOOSE by Kenne' Wayne (Goodtime)

Best Southern Soul/Blues Album Of 2006

GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI by Joey Gilmore (Bluzpik)
SICILY MOON by Roy Roberts (Rock House)
MASTER OF THE GAME by Jackie Payne-Steve Edmonson Band (Delta G
PIONEERS & LEGENDS by Bobby Warren (KonKord)
JUST ME by Walter Waiters (self)
BACKSTABBERS by Maurice Davis (Touring)
BE WITH ME TONIGHT by Preston Shannon (Title Tunes)
OUT OF THE SHADOWS by Little Phil (Coffeehouse)
I'M STILL HERE by Trudy Lynn (Sawdust Alley)
ONE MORE HIT by Clarence Carter (Cee Gee Ent.)
STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS by Frankie Lee (Blues Express)
STARTS WITH A P by Lee Shot Williams (Ecko)
LIFE WITH WOMEN by Bob Steele (Sound Mindz)

Southern Soul/Soul Blues Song Of 2006

THE BLACKER THE BERRY by Chairmen Of The Board (Xcel)
GOING CRAZY by Willie Clayton (Malaco)
SCAT CAT...HERE KITTY KITTY by Billy Soul Bonds (Waldoxy)
NEW LEASE ON LIFE by William Bell (Wilbe)
SEVENTEEN DAYS (Of LOVING) by Renea Mitchell (Jomar)
MR. DO RIGHT by Ms. Monique (Soul Ent.)
YO' DRESS IS TOO SHORT by Bob Steele (Sound Mindz)
DON'T STOP MY PARTY by Donnie Ray (Ecko)
HAS IT COME TO THIS by Gregg A. Smith (G Man)
U CAN'T RAISE HER by Steve Perry (Bluesland)
FRANCINE by Theodis Ealey (Make Cents)
MY NAME IS $$$ by Miz B (Hep Me)
ARE YOU READY FOR THE BLUES by Clarence Carter (Cee Gee Ent.)
NEVER COMING HOME by Betty Padgett (Meia)
DROP THAT THANG by Sir Charles Jones (Jumpin')
THROWBACK DAYS by Mel Waiters (Waldoxy)

Best Slow Jam Of 2006

IF THE SHOE WAS ON THE OTHER FOOT by Kenne' Wayne (Goodtime)
GOOD LOVIN' WILL MAKE YOU CRY by Carl Marshall (Unleashed)
HEAVEN SENT ME AN ANGEL by Wendell B (Cuzzo)
DEDICATED TO THE ONE by Wilson Meadows (BGR)
I'M JUST A FOOL FOR YOU by J. Blackfoot & Lenny Williams (JEA)
U CAN'T RAISE HER by Steve Perry (Bluesland)
CREEPIN' AIN'T EASY by Vick Allen (Waldoxy)
JODY'S CREEPIN' by Mr. David (Tony Mercedes)
BOOM BOOM BOOM by Willie Clayton (Malaco)
SCAT CAT...HERE KITTY KITTY by Billy Soul Bonds (Waldoxy)
NEVER MISS A GOOD THANG by Sir Charles Jones (Jumpin')

Best Dance Song Of 2006

MS JODY by Ms. Jody (Ecko)
DON'T STOP MY PARTY by Donnie Ray (Ecko)
SHAKE & SHIMMY by Larome Powers (Waldoxy)
FRANCINE by Theodis Ealey (Make Cents)
DROP THAT THANG by Sir Charles Jones (Jumpin')
I'M READY TO PARTY by Bigg Robb (Over 25)
BIG HAND MAN by Sheba Potts-Wright (Ecko)
MISSISSIPPI BOY by Charles Wilson (HMU)
THROWBACK DAYS by Mel Waiters (Waldoxy)
WORK ME 'TIL I SWEAT by Lady Audrey (Studio Showtime)
MISSISSIPPI CHA CHA SLIDE by Mixx Master Lee (Team Airplay)
SHO NUFF by The Bar Kays (JEA)
I AIN'T GOING WHERE YOU GO by Pat Cooley (L & L)

"Think you can learn all you need to know about music from blogs and chatboards. I don't think so. Mel Waiters' brand of rhythm 'n' blues was ignored by Ne-yo fans on myspace, hipster bloggers, aging bluesrockers, and NPR devotees. Waiters, via some key Southern American radio stations and clubs, however found a largely 45 and up African-American audience that embraced his soulful tales of looking for love that he sung over contemporary keyboard lines that were more vibrant than the cheesy synthwork associated since the '80s with chitlin circuit soul."

Right now I am listening to a cheapo Tower Records bankruptcy sale purchase--The Best of Barbara Carr--on Ecko. ALright, her version of the electric slide, "Hoochie Dance" is kinda cheesy, but "Bone Me Like You Own Me," "Cut the Mustard," "I've Been Partying at the Hole in the Wall," and others are earthy, fun and catchy. Yea, there's nothing that clever or innovative in the arrangements or the lyrics, but there's also an art to simple, clever hooks and there are plenty of those here. Barbara's gospel-rooted vocals are pretty special too.

I love this phrase.

I love double-entendre chitlin-circuit soul-blues, but Ecko Records always seems to put out the worst records in the genre. (And they should invest in a real photographer - those blurred Kodak photos on their covers ain't gonna get it!) So when an artist as good Carr or Potts comes along on the Ecko imprint, that's a thing to come by! Not that they're doing anything drastically different from the rest of the stable, they just go one step further and do it better?? Can't pinpoint it - just better material, I reckon.

The Gator on WPFW 89.3 and online just played "Junk in the Trunk (I Like that)" and "Slap That Booty."

Have you ever heard Joe Poonanny, the Weird Al of this genre?

I had not but I see he's from Alabama and put out some cds with plenty of suggestive song titles on Waldoxy, a Malaco subsidiary.

So many performers to discover...but somehow must find the time. R. Kelly's beginning to sound like these guys

I just finally listened to samples of the 2004 Bobby Wayne cd Chuck mentioned back in March. Some impressive moments. I love that ache in his voice feel Wayne has on "This Heart is Haunted," and the women backing vocalists provide luscious help on the chorus and some great harmonies. "Homestead Greys" is a bit forced lyrically--"They hit a ball 500 feet, past a place they couldn't eat," but I like it anyway.

Bobby Rush appearing at the Basement in Nashv on Wednesday, I think it is.

revisionist funk, and pretty good if inevitably mannered (frantic in spots but good horn arrangements and great guitar): the Dynamites' Kaboom!, also from Nashville and featuring Charles Walker on vocals.

x-post

I just missed Bobby Rush here in DC (actually out at Lamont's in Pomonkey, MD). Sadly he got no media attention as the owner doesn't push his events through the mainstream media.

Missed Lee Fields at Lamonts also. My blue-eyed soul badge is definately gonna be revoked. Maybe seeing DC's Skip Mahoney opening for the Chi-lites and the Spinners will be enough to save me.

Top 25 Southern Soul/R & B Tracks

TW
LW
Song
Artist
Label

1 2 "1 800"- Big G on Stone River
2 1 Scat Cat...Here Kitty Kitty- Barbara Carr Ecko
3 3 It's Okay Steve Perry- Bluesland
4 5 Mississippi Woman Denise LaSalle- Ecko
5 6 I Must Be Crazy Sweet Angel- Mac
6 9 My Miss America Willie Clayton -Malaco
7 8 Don't Say No Tonight Sir Charles Jones -Jumpin'
8 10 Baby Come Back Home Vick Allen- Waldoxy
9 7 Crazy Sexy Smooth Walter Waiters -WW
10 14 Moan Patrick Harris- Lyn Rome
11 4 Brand New You, Same Old Me Bigg Joe -Baby Boy
12 16 Let's Get It On Theodis Ealey- Ifgam
13 17 Oops That's My Bad Jerry L -Mi-Jay
14 15 Boom Bam (Thank You Ma'am) Michael Rainey- Rainey
15 18 Get Low Simeo- Jomar
16 11 Playez Only Love You When They're Playing William Bell -Wilbe
17 12 Knockin' My Boot Allen O -Laryan
18 13 Love Don't Live Her No More Vince Hutchinson -VH
19 20 Can We Work It Out Stan Mosley- Double Duo
20 22 Thank You Mama L.J. Echols- Baby Boy
http://bluescritic.com/southernsoulradio.htm

Pretty good EP from a lady from Tennessee, though the best part of it might be the Bohannon/DJ Hollywood style proto-raps done by some guy at the start and end of her "Southern Soul Picnic," which is my favorite of the three songs even if "bring your own BYOB" is a redundant line (sort of like "ATM machine"). "Telling It Like It Is" has a decent proto-disco groove to it under Miz B saying the other woman might get his honey but Miz B will still get his money. Actually found the warning song "Jody's 1st Cousin" somewhat disappointing, but that may just be because Jody songs get my hopes up:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/mizbtunes

Tried hard with this guy's album, too; he's sort of doing R Kelly (i.e., he does a song called "12 Steps For Cheaters" and one called "Dirty South Steppin") trying to be Gregory Abbot trying to be Al Green or something (with a "tribute to Luther" and another song that quotes "Never Too Much"), but either his voice or the production is too thin for the songs to stick to the ribs, somehow. (Actually, my wife says his singing reminds her of Boy George. Sadly, he doesn't have Boy George's personality, or hooks.) I played the album a lot, but nothing really sank in:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/mrsam

Also, it's about to somebody linked to this on this thread, seems to me. An r&b hit. From Lafeyette, LA:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h24_zoqu4_Q

Yea, "Cupid Shuffle's" great. I do not think it is getting r'n'b radio play around my area (DC) unfortunately.

it's about TIME, i meant.

Aargh. Mel Waiters coming to Leesburg, Virginia (1 1/2 hours from me I think) and Upper Marlboro (outside of DC)next weekend and I cannot make either gig. Waiters is with a bunch of other great folks at the Upper Marlboro show: Bobby Womack, Millie Jackson, Clarence Carter and Roy C.

I just now played a comp on Trikont called Motel Lovers: Southern Soul From the Chitlin' Circuit, all recent stuff, sounds GREAT on first listen; Trikont is distributed through Light in the Attic. (Chuck, if yr still in touch with Tony Green, he should know about this for sure.)

I think that comp has that 2001 Sir Charles Jones song "Friday" where Charles smoothly recites, "Mel Waiters on the radio singing about the whiskey."

Wow, I need to get that. (If Light in the Attic aren't upset about Michaelangelo not liking the Betty Davis reissues much, they can't be upset about me, right?)

Anyway, second to last song (and only recent song) played at Lalena's high school reunion in Houston last night (right before the closing "Rio" by Duran Duran): "Cupid Shuffle." Interesting. I had no idea that it was a line dance; shows what I know. Turns out it's the new "Electric Boogie," judging from all the people who got up there for it. Is that happening nationwide?

I think that comp has that 2001 Sir Charles Jones song "Friday" where Charles smoothly recites, "Mel Waiters on the radio singing about the whiskey."

It does indeed; track two.

also, where oh where is Rickey/Timi Yuro on this thread anyway? I know he digs this type of stuff.

and MAJOR thanks for the Southern Soul Radio link, Curmudgeon; the charts and CD store look like great resources.

Chuck, I do not think "Cupid Shuffle" became a big line dance nationwide (probably just the South and I'll count Texas as part of the South).

Grrrrrr, have to go in and work today and miss another soul show down at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland. At least I think there's one--Lamont's website hasn't worked in years (and was only briefly working at all). I heard a brief mention on the local Pacifica public radio station WPFW that there is a show there today. At the beginning of the summer I called down and Lamont answered and he mailed me (snail mail he has no e-mail) flyers for his July and August shows. But he never returned my last voicemail asking more up to date info. Is this any way to run a club?

I see on the country thread someone touting a new Bettye Lavette cd.

I just now played a comp on Trikont called Motel Lovers: Southern Soul From the Chitlin' Circuit, all recent stuff, sounds GREAT on first listen; Trikont is distributed through Light in the Attic

This may well be my album of the year, if it counts as being an album from this year (which right now I'm leaning toward thinking it does, since it compiles relatively recent rather than really old stuff.) Anyway, Matos, thanks of the tip! It's great!

I guess 2001 counts as relatively recent

soulandbluesreport.com August 24th 2007

W Q I D SOUL 105

Hattiesburg, MS

Friday Night Fish Fry Mel Waiters

Good Loving Carl Marshall

You Dog’s About To Ms. Jody

I’m Just A Fool For Pt.2 J Blackfoot / Jones

Mississippi Woman Denise LaSalle

Never Coming Home Betty Padgett

Party Like Back In The T. K. Soul

I Like Big Girls Big Joe

My Miss America Willie Clayton

She Thought I Was Bigg Robb

Baby Come Back Home Vick Allen

Willie Clayton's "Three People(sleeping in my bed)" from that comp on Trikont called "Motel Lovers: Southern Soul From the Chitlin' Circuit" first came out in 1998. Not denying this looks like a great comp, just wanted to make clear that it covers material that goes back almost 10 years. This comp also proves the point that if music is released within the past 2 decades and not promoted/marketed to alt-weekly (or major newspaper or magazine) music critics (and is not on the national top 40 charts) it can be ignored or missed for years by many (despite the internet blah blah blah)

Don't disagree with you, but "within the last ten years" is "relatively recent," as reissues go. In other words, it's closer to a best-of album by a late '90s/early '00s act than an archival revival of material from decades ago. I've certainly voted for older stuff on top-ten ballots. And right, it's the sort of stuff that could fall through the cracks -- but there's tons of music out there, and a finite amount of time to keep up with it all; it's inevitable that something will fall through. (If I lived in a part of the country that where this sort of music is actually still popular -- or if I had more time to listen to explore Internet radio -- I may well have heard some of it sooner, of course.)

I think after Marvin Sease and ZZ Hill (who were better marketed) some people wrote off this genre, and you're right --without easier access to radio or clubs--from DC down to Florida--NY critics at least have not paid attention.

1988
LEAD: Denise LaSalle, the veteran rhythm-and-blues singer, made her first appearance in New York in over 15 years Saturday afternoon at the Central Park Band Shell. NYTimes

Have Denise and Mel Waiters and others not been playing New York?

Just posted about this Florida fellow on the rolling country thread:

First song on that Bobby Bowens Southern soul album, "She Got a Lump For a Rump (Rump Shaker)," steals its horn riff from "Mr. Big Stuff" and words from "Brick House." Later on he does a rewrite of Kool and the Gang's "Get Down On It" and doesn't even bother to change that title (though I think it's not meant to be a cover, per se'), and another good one is "Your Love is a Tower of Power," though never having listened to them much I have no idea if it actually sounds like Tower of Power. And there are spoken parts on the album (by him and some lady) that make me think of Richard "Dimples" Fields and Barbara Mason, though maybe not intentionally. Some good '70s bubblegum funk too -- real fun record.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/bobbybowens3

from country thread:

Some more thoughts on Bobby Bowens's new album:

1. The girl-moans in "Scratch My Itch" are straight out of "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers, and oddly, there's also a title called "Let's Do It Again"--i.e., same title as another Staples hit.
2. "Reaching For the Top" is probably far-and-away, over the top, the most blatant old old old school style hip-hop track I've heard all year. (Eat your heart out, Cowboy Troy.) Very 1980! I love it.
3. "Let's Do It Again" is more 1990: New Jack Swing!

Anybody read this site?

http://www.soulexpress.net/deep207.htm

I saw Chicago's Otis Clay Sunday afternoon for free headlining the Bluebird Blues Festival at Prince George's Community College in suburban Maryland (near DC). In red polyester pants and bright red boots, this now 65-year-old can still sing. Unfortunately, he only had an hour and did not pace the set well. He used the late Tyrone Davis' band, and while they can play, I do not want to hear solos extended that long. Clay also stretched out the audience participation part too long, and then jumped around from song to song, starting and stopping "Love and Happiness," "Soul Man," and others. He did "A Nickel and a Nail," a great soul shouter that I identify with OV Wright.

It always surprises me how few white folks go to the PG Community College Fest. It's a well-curated event on a college campus in the middle of the day. I guess people don't like to drive far, and it's not near a metro either. And many African-American blues and soul fans do not go to Northern Virginia club gigs that I figure they would be interested in either. Whatever.

Ha! I just heard the Dean himself, Robert Christgau, endorsing the Motel Lovers comp on NPR's All Things Considered. He praised Barbara Carr, and played a portion of her song, highlighted a 2003 Mel Waiters contribution, and others, gave a mild dis to Mavis Staples and some other comeback artists, and not sure about the exact quote--said something about how it took a German reissue label to highlight this stuff and overcome the myopia of the American music business.

Chuck, you gotta get him to read this thread!

You can hear him here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14509734

September 18, 2007 · The CD Motel Lovers is a collection of Southern soul music from the Chitlin' circuit. It's a compilation of American music put together by a German record company. The music is honest ... and full of sex

been listening to Roman Carter's forthcoming Never Slow Down on the Bong Load label. He was one-third of the Carter Bros., south Alabama guys who moved to Southern Cal in the late '40s, and they recorded for Jewel out of Shreveport in the '60s. Back then they praised roast possum and bemoaned women who talk in their sleep--not during sex, apparently--and called them the wrong names. Good stuff, sort of a cross between Freddie King and Stax. Had a couplea hits, too, on Jewel around '65, biggest one I can find being a good one called "Little Country Woman." New one's more like the beat-driven Hill Country blues of Burnside. Pretty darned good,dobro, slide, synth, and Roman's virile vocals, and another producer's record--in this case, the excellent Tom Rothrock (who scored one of my fave recent guy's-guy's movies, Michael Mann's L.A.-dystopia morality tale Collateral, featuring blind blues singer Jamie Foxx squaring off with plantation owner Tom Cruise).

Sounds good. I know Rothrock as the guy who did the RL Burnside remixes.

well, here's something on Bettye LaVette's new one:
http://www.knoxvoice.com/arts-amp-entertainment/so-you-want-some-street-cred/child-of-the-seventies-singer-for-all-times-31.html

I just now played a comp on Trikont called Motel Lovers: Southern Soul From the Chitlin' Circuit, all recent stuff, sounds GREAT on first listen; Trikont is distributed through Light in the Attic

This may well be my album of the year, if it counts as being an album from this year (which right now I'm leaning toward thinking it does, since it compiles relatively recent rather than really old stuff.) Anyway, Matos, thanks of the tip! It's great!

Fuck yeah! This shit is great! More releases like this please!

Thank you Germans for taking songs from various small label, sometimes hard to find American records and putting them together on one record and marketing them to us internet folks...

Cds by the individual artists on that comp are worth picking up--Sease, Mel Waiters, Barbara Carr...As discussed upthread

more goodies here at chitlincircuit.com
http://www.chittlincircuit.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=TOP100&file=form&function=search&sqldadabik=&page=0&table_name=TOP100

Bettye Lavette's everywhere--well, a big Washington Post review,Edd's article, and the cover of that blues magazine that I do not like as much as Living Blues but I see in my local Borders book store(that sadly no longer carries Living Blues). In Spin or somewhere she actually got a semi-dis, or actually her backing band for the project the Drive-by-Truckers and associates did.

Me, I just keep wondering why the folks who suggest material to her to choose seem to only suggest stuff by Anglo songwriters(Maybe she finds the songs herself, but I thought I read that her hubby and her producers often give her mixtapes of songs they like and she chooses from those cuts). I like it and all, but still seems perplexing a bit to me, and predictable.

A Woman Like Me is the only Bettye I own. I like it fine, but nowhere near as much as I like the Motel Lovers comp. Can't imagine that the Drive-by Truckers backing her is a very good idea, though.

LaVette told me she's the one who picks the songs. I know one of the guys whose songs appears on the record--the last song, "Guess We Shouldn't Talk about That Now." I'm not exactly sure what the color line is or should be when it comes to all this, and LaVette stressed her experiences covering the Great American Songbook shit she had to do to keep gigs during her dark years. She was proud of that. But yeah, I do think she could have easly done stuff by George Jackson or whoever, black songwriters, Hayes-Porter, there's a lot of stuff out there. I actually think the Truckers do a good job on the record. I think, given the record biz, that we're just not going to see her or any soul figure from the past getting, like, the Bar-Kays or the Meters backing them up. This points out, of course, the myopia bizzers have about Soul and the Blues, their reverence which is of course misplaced. But also, please remember, it also points out the aspirations of a singer like LaVette--the urge to be just a good singer, not necessarily a soul singer. Because, where did that ever get her up until now?

It is sad that she has to sing songs by Lucinda Williams(whom I like) and have the DBTs back her(uh, I don't know their music well) in order to prove that she's just a good singer, not necessarily a soul singer. But unfortunately that's how the biz and America works. But somehow Cat Power gets the Hi band to back her (and gets tons more media ink than Mel Waiters or Barbara Carr or others slogging it out on the chitlin circuit as Lavette once did for years). I'd like to see Lavette mix it up(at this point in her career I think she can, maybe)--Percy Mayfield songs, something from a current neo-soul r'n'b artist, veteran Memphis or New Orleans musicians...

Btw, good piece, Edd--hmm, now I'm actaully curious about hearing the new Bettye record.

I heard great new (the dj said they were new) songs from Denise Lasalle and Barbara Carr on WPFW yesterday. I should write about them. They deserve attention too. We need to get people thinking about these various parallel worlds(all different but related musically a bit)--Southern chitlin chircuit soul, Bettye Lavette's, Sharon Jones and the Daptone thing(big NY Times article), etc. Jones from the NY Times article:

“Even what’s-his-name, Ronson,” she continued, referring to the New York D.J. Mark Ronson, who produced the bulk of “Back to Black,” Ms. Winehouse’s hit album. “They came to us to get the sound they wanted behind their music. We were just sitting here minding our own business, doing our little 45s and albums, and all of a sudden they were like, ‘I want your sound.’”

Thanks to Ms. Winehouse and singers like Joss Stone, Ryan Shaw and Marc Broussard, retro soul styles are enjoying a greater presence in mainstream pop than they have had in years. The Dap-Kings are the most obsessive and skillful revivalists of the bunch, and they are clearly grateful for the exposure they have gotten from Ms. Winehouse and Mr. Ronson, who recently hired the Dap-Kings horns to back him up as the house band at the MTV Video Music Awards.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/29/arts/music/29jone.html?ref=music BEN SISARIO
Published: September 29, 2007

I don't really know the the Dap-kings oeuvre. The very little bits I've heard never seemed as interesting to me as the chitlin circuit soul acts or original older acts. But maybe I should give 'em a shot.

From Rolling Country thread, applicable here too:

And wow, this new Trikont German comp Dirty Laundry: The Soul of Black Country is fucking incredible, and a whole lot more playable and less academic than Warner Bros. (still nonetheless great and indispensible) three-disc From Where I Stand: The Black Experience In Country Music from 1988. Pick hits so far are from Candi Staton, Clarence Gatemouth Brown (who I've never really explored before, but who does this great swampy cajun cross between Bo Diddley and Creedence's "Up Around the Bend" called "Mama Mambo"), Andre Williams, and Solomon Burke. But I've only just begun to listen:

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6833866/a/Dirty+Laundry:+The+Soul+Of+Black+Country.htm

(Oops, Warner Bros box was 1998, not 1988.)

Bettye Lavette oughta cover some songs by some of those Black Country singers even if it won't convince media folks that she's a great singer, period, and not just a great soul singer.

curmudgeon can you email me? different matter than the thread, but I'd appreciate it. thanks

Bettye Lavette oughta cover some songs by some of those Black Country singers

She's actually one of them! She covers "Just Stopped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In," and pretty well, too. (Just noticed, though, that the comp may not be as new as I thought -- that link has 2005, and the copyright on the back of the CD cover says 2004. Oh well: Germany's a long way away, so sometimes it takes stuff a while to get here.)

Thanks to Ms. Winehouse and singers like Joss Stone, Ryan Shaw and Marc Broussard, retro soul styles are enjoying a greater presence in mainstream pop than they have had in years.

Not sure I'm buying this. Aren't there are always supposed retro-soul hits that don't actually sound like old soul music did, whether it's Stevie Winwood or D'Angelo or Tone Tony Tone or Bonnie Raitt or Erykah Badu or whoever? (Okay, probably not the best examples, but you get my point.) The new singers are just the next in line; they're filling an eternal niche. (And I've never really understood what people hear in Sharon Jones, either, though that's just me.)

(Not to mention isn't there always R. Kelly, who has moments that sound more like old soul music than any of them?) (Which doesn't mean I make much attempt to keep up with him. Still haven't heard his '07 album.)

Then again, it's not like I've ever listened to Ryan Shaw or Marc Broussard all that much, I admit. Maybe they're better than I'm giving them credit for?

And uh, whatever happened to Anthony Hamilton (who I never liked much either, though he was definitely filling that retro-soul niche a couple years back)?

I listened to Marc Broussard online and he just simply covered old soul hits. I read an article on Ryan Shaw that suggested that he was trying to imitate old hits. So that's the difference between at least 2 of the people Ben Sisario mentioned in the NY Times and those singers like D'Angelo or R. Kelly who draw from the old but add something new as well.

I like Anthony Hamilton. I think he had a new album out within the last year, plus some other label might have dug up more old stuff of his and released it.

The Denise Lasalle Pay Before You Pump cd is very nice. I think even Sharon Jones and Betty Lavette and Amy Winehouse fans might like it. Yes it is on Ecko.

Is it possible there will be sizable number of votes for the Motel Lovers comp in the P & J and Idolator.com polls? I hope so.

Me and my boy are going to my sister's for New Year's Eve so I will have to miss Roy C. at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland. Roy was good when I saw him at some Masonic hall in DC years ago. Some dudes from the midwest US somewhere I think, are working on a Roy C. documentary film. They flew into the Baltimore/washington airport awhile back and filmed Roy out at Lamonts. Google Roy C and Lamonts and you'll find it. I don't even know where Roy is from... bluescritic.com says Roy Hammond, aka "Roy-C", is a legendary soul singer with talents that far exceed the moderate attention he's gotten since his start back in 1958 but that doesn't tell me where's from...Ah here it is at soulwalking.co.uk b. Roy Charles Hammond, 1943, New York City, New York, U.S.A.. Wow, a Southern soul singer from NYC who got his start at age 15...

I think there's a new Hardway Connection cd out.

http://www.henrystonemusic.com/news/lattour.htm

Latimore will headline the 2nd annual Blues is Alright tour throughout the US (well, the midwest and Southeast). I think the DC show may be off because the promoter is in uh hot water. Hopefully someone else will step up and do it. I see there's a Baltimore show. Rap fans, UGK sample and interpolate Latimore's "Let's Straighten it Out"

Latimore will be joined on stage by Bobby "Blue" Bland, Mel Waiters, Clarence Carter, Jeff Floyd, Denise LaSalle, Floyd Taylor, Sir Charles Jones, Shirley Brown, Bobby Rush, Martin Sease, Theodis Ealey
(Please note, all performers may not be at all shows, and lineup subject to change)

I wonder if Lomax saw the Houston stop on the tour and wrote it up? Weird that the tour is going to Philly, Baltimore and Buffalo but not New York City. A Big Apple show could open up the eyes of those Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings is the only thing happening out there soul-wise critics folks...

The knucklehead promoters for this tour have not updated their site properly to list the new DC location, Constitutional Hall, nor are they listing exactly which artists are playing which date. Plus there's no e-mail contact information. After missing last year's event, I am gonna try to make the DC or Baltimore one this year. If all the acts are performing that I listed a few posts back, it should be an awesome show (even if you don't like cheesy synths and dirty old man lyrics, the vocals and the melodies and the rest of the instrumentation will make up for that). They need to add some northwest US dates so D. Wolk, R. Wright, M. Matos and others up that way can check out this stuff live.

Ah, there is info for one promoter bt not for the other booking agency out of Memphis involved with this. Whatever

Hopefully I will hear back next week from the promoter. I also need to figure out who has new 2008 cds. It's hard to tell on the Saturday radio shows I listen to, what is new and what isn't and what album the song(s) are from. I think Latimore does--I will have to check some of those links I've listed upthread.

Floyd Taylor
Bobby Blue Bland
Theodis Ealey
Shirley Brown
Mel Waiters
Latimore
in Chicago tonight...

From a Yahoo Southern soul group message:

3a. Calvin Owens Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:55 am ((PST)) Just been told that Texas based bandleader Calvin Owens has died.His recent CDs were of a high standard and used a whole bunch of real musicians and some outstanding singers, Barbara Lynn, Trudy Lynn etc.Another "old school" artist leave us, they are getting mighty thin on the ground.Dave P.

He was also a bandleader for BB King in the 50s and played on lots of Peacock label releases

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/5556752.html

TOP 25 SOUTHERN SOUL / BLUES CHART
Feb. 9, 2008 soulandbluesreport.com

1
1
My Give A Damn
Latimore
Latstone

1
2
Baby Come Back Home
Vick Allen
Waldoxy

6
3
I'm Goin' Back Home
O. B. Buchana
Ecko

3
4
You Still Got It
Floyd Taylor
Malaco

4
5
Older Woman
Mz. Pat Cooley
Over25sounds

7
6
I Like This Place
Carl Simms
Ecko

5
7
Fire
Lebrado
Make Cent$

10
8
A Woman Knows
Willie Clayton
Malaco

11
9
For Your Love
Sir Charles Jones
Mardi Gras

8
10
Good Loving
Carl Marshall
Mr. Tee

12
11
Popcorn Man
Patrick Green
ACB

9
12
Pop That Middle
Theodis Ealey
IFGAM

13
13
Lacee's Groove
Lacee
Makecent$

18
14
Groove U Baby
Mose Stovall
Soul 1st

15
15
I'm Just A Fool Pt.2
J. Blackfoot /Jones
JEA/Right Now

19
16
Try Me
T. K. Soul
Soulful

20
17
Had To Have You
Phillip Manuel
IIFIRE

23
18
When You Pack Your Bags
Vick Allen
Waldoxy

21
19
It's Going Down
Denise LaSalle
Ecko

17
20
Your Dog's About To
Ms. Jody
IEcko

Can't get anyone associated with that Blues is Alright tour to get back to me for a piece I'm gonna write. I have tried Latimore's booking agent Heritage, North American Entertainment who are booking the tour and others. No wonder this genre gets so little ink and website attention.

"Southern Soul Rumpin'" the title track of the new Hardway Connection cd is pretty nice. Just heard on WPFW that Hardway will be having a cd release party next, uh Friday or Saturday, at the Elks Lodge in Temple Hills Maryland. Naturally I can't find anything about the gig online.

But here's a cdbaby link for the cd with streaming
http://cdbaby.com/cd/hardwayconnection

The gig is on Friday

Someday I can hopefully get a mod to correct the spelling error in the thread title--it should be "Theotis Ealey's" not "Easley's"

So the Baltimore show of the "Blues is Alright" tour for tonight got cancelled at the last minute, and as I was already reviewing Tego Calderon Friday night I had to miss the DC show. Ugh. I've seen Bobby Bland and Clarence Carter before, but not Mel Waiters, Latimore, Shirley Brown, or Marvin Sease.

The Blues Foundation's Blues Music Awards just keep getting bigger and better. More than 65 of the 2008 Blues Music Awards nominees have already confirmed their attendance for the 29th edition of the biggest night in Blues music. The Awards will be presented at the Grand Casino Event Center in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi on Thursday May 8.

From the Boogie Report e-mail

Also from the Boogie Report, a top 20:

1.-1.My Life Omar Cunningham
2.-2.Grown And Sexy The Problem Solvas featuring Sir Charles Jones
3.-3.Keep On Swinging Bigg Robb
4.-5. Never Miss A Good Thing Sir Charles Jones 5.-4.A Woman Knows Willie Clayton
6.-6.Never Take A Day Off Ms.Jody
7.-7.Im gonna Slap Yo Weave Off Nellie Tiger Travis
8.-9.Pay Before You Pump Denise Lasalle
9.-10.When You Pack Bags Vick Allen
10.-8.Pop That Middle Theodis Ealey
11.-10.Bobby Rush For President Bobby Rush
12.-12 Booty Roll Steve Perry
13.-15.Voice Mail Mr.Sam featuring Floyd Taylor
14.-* .I'm Coming Home Marvin Sease
15.-*. You're The Best Kenne Wayne
16.-13.Fire Labrado
17.-15.12 steps for Cheaters Mr.Sam
18.- *. I Believe in you Rue Davis
19.-11.Rockin This Boat -Bobbye Johnson
20.-16.Older Woman Pat Cooley

May 08 Soul Blues Charts-
this month/ last month/ title/ artist/label

1 1 Time Served Omar Cunningham Soul 1st
2 NEW I'm A Woman Nellie "Tiger" Travis CDS
3 2 My Tyme Willie Clayton Malaco
4 8 Bigg Robb Presents: Blues Soul & Old School Various Artists Over 25 Sound
5 NEW Don't Hate Big Cynthia Hearon
6 7 I Never Take A Day Off Ms. Jody Ecko
7 3 Shot From The Soul Lee "Shot" Williams CDS
8 4 Time To Relax...Love, Life & Relationships Wendell B. Smoothway Ent.
9 6 Popcorn Man Patrick Green ACB
10 5 Groove You Mose Stovall Soul 1st
11 NEW What's Wrong With Our Love?** Mystery Man Ecko
12 10 Back 'Atcha Latimore LatStone
13 12 Southern Woman Pookie Lane Allison
14 9 Man Up Stan Mosley CDS
15 NEW It's You I Need Cicero Blake Hep' Me
16 11 For Your Love: The Best Of Sir Charles Jones Mardi Gras
17 13 You Still Got It Floyd Taylor Malaco
18 14 Undisputed: The Album T.K. Soul Soulful
19 15 Songs People Love The Most Vol. 1 Carl Marshall Unleashed
20 16 Bruce Billups Southern Soul Mix CD RE-LOADED Various Artists Make Cents
21 17 Pay Before You Pump Denise LaSalle Ecko
22 22 Come Back Kind Of Love Roni Allison
23 19 It Must Be Love Lenny Williams Lentom
24 20 Can't Stop Me Carl Sims Ecko
25 23 Men Cry Too The Manhattans SDEG
26 18 You've Got Me Donnie Ray Ecko
27 21 Goin' Back Home O.B. Buchana Ecko
28 NEW 2 Sides Of A Man** Stevie Jay Hep' Me
29 28 Baby Please Come Back Home (EP)* Vick Allen Waldoxy
30 25 The After Party Charles Wilson CDS
31 31 I'm The Man You Need Theodis Ealey Ifgam
32 34 Thank You For Holding On Sir Charles Jones Jumpin'
33 45 Love Bomb Wilson Meadows BGR
34 38 It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over J. Blackfoot JEA Music
35 29 Sex-Rated Blues** Various Artists Ecko
36 46 Sings TK* Gwen McCrae Henry Stone
37 35 Why Me?** Reggie P Allison
38 26 I'm A Man On A Mission Willie Hill Ifgam
39 36 8 Tracks & 45s Bigg Robb Over 25 Sounds
40 32 Never Coming Home Betty Padgett Meia

Haha, I came across this thread yesterday after watching Johnnie Taylor sing "Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone" in Wattstax and then today I came across this http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/02/who-is-he-and-w.html

The "Jody" songs are still happening, and now you have your response artist Ms. Jody (at least I'm guessing from her name)

Was out of town Saturday so I missed Roy C. with Gwen McCrae and Donnie Ray at Lamont's in Pomonkey. I like the Donnie Ray song that the Gator's been playing on Saturdays on WPFW. I think Theotis Ealey's gonna be at Lamont's June 14th with Big G from Richmond. Another good bill.

I wonder how that Gwen McCrae sings TK album is? I Should look for it on imeem or something...

June 14th---Theotis Ealey, Mr. "Stand Up Up in It" is at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland during the day with the fine Big G from Richmond, and Millie Jackson is at the Warner Theatre in DC at night with Clarence Carter. Do you think more than a handful of the kids who go to see Sharon Jones & the Dapkings at indie-rock clubs will go to either gig. I doubt it. It's not marketed to them, and musically it's a bit different. Oh well, their loss. Both should be great gigs. Actually I might miss 'em both because of family obligations, so no point in me being snarky I guess.

From the "Boogie Report" e-mail:
Steve Ladd
Radio Veteran/Legend Steve Ladd has passed away. Steve Ladd crossed over to the other side of life on July 20, 2008 at approximately 1:46 pm at he age of 63.

The Real Dr. as he was affectionately called by his listeners on KKDA-AM (730 AM) at Service Broadcasting in Dallas, Texas back in the 80's and 90's was currently an On Air Personality at America's Original Black Radio Station-The Legendary WDIA (1070 AM) in Memphis, Tennessee from 4:30 pm-6 pm on "What's On Your Mind Line" Monday-Friday and "All Blues Saturday" shows from 6:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

His voice was the epitome of an Original Old School Radio Disc Jockey that did not sound scripted, (in other words he did not sound like anyone else), he had a distinctive voice and style that put him in a class all by himself.
Some of his contributions include: Founder of 'The Johnnie Taylor Memorial Christmas Dinner' at The South Dallas Nursing Home, Founder of 'Hope for The Homeless', Founder of The 'Down Home Blues Happy Hour' at Booker's Arandas Club.

Ms. Jody's "Your Dog 'Bout to Kill My Cat," is great. You can vote for it---

http://www.chittlincircuit.com/dev/content/view/199/1/

2008 Jus` Blues Music Awards Show
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Historical Daisy 329 Beale Street

Downtown Memphis Tennessee

The 2008 Jus` Blues Music Awards Show will salute a number Blues & Soul music artists & industry professionals for their artistry, outstanding accomplishments and significant contributions to the genre.

The 2008 Jus` Blues Music Awards Show voting period is NOW OPEN. For a limited time, members and patrons of JusBluesMusic.com can vote online for their favorite artist, song, radio DJ and various other categories.

All the public tallies will be rendered and submitted with the Jus` Blues Music Selection Committee. The nominee(s) with the most submissions will be the winner of the particular category. The 2008 Jus` Blues Music Awards Nominee categories are following and the Voting Ballot link is right HERE or visit the Jus Blues Music Foundation ( http://www.jusbluesmusicfoundation.org ) for more information.

2008 JUS` BLUES MUSIC AWARDS SHOW

CATEGORIES and NOMINEES

Best Blues & Soul Radio Show

(Radio Personality Award)

Ragman - WMPR - Jackson, MS
Cousin Lenny - KNON - Dallas, TX
Rojene Bailey - WALR - Atlanta, GA
Syreio Hughes - WGNL - Greenwood, MS
Slick Rick - KTSU - Houston, TX
Joe P. Washington - WDIA - Memphis, TN

Best Blues & Soul Internet Show

www.kattmanradio.com
www.soulradionetwork.com
www.dr-loveradio.com
www.boogieradio.com
www.chittlincircuitradio.com
www.soulandbluesreport.com

"Little Milton " Campbell Guitar Award

(Outstanding Guitar Player)

Lucky Peterson
Zac Harmon
Billy Ray Charles
Preston Shannon
Lil' Ray Neal
Al Coffee McDaniel

Best Juke Joint Award

(Best Blues & Soul Club)

Sha-Max – Detroit , MI

Velma's Place - San Francisco , CA

B.B. Kings Blues Club - Memphis , TN
Club Couples - Jackson , MS
The Palace - Little Rock , AR
Ground Zero - Clarksdale , MS

Best Blues Soul Song Of The Year - Male

Willie Clayton - “A Woman Knows”
Sir Charles Jones - “For Your Love”
Theodis Ealey - “Pop That Middle”
Latimore – “My Give A Damn”
T. K. Soul - “It Ain't Cheating”
Floyd Taylor – “You Still Got It”

Best Blues Soul Song Of The Year - Female

Bettye Padgett – “I Ain't Never Coming Home Again”
Pat Cooley - “The Older Woman”
Denise LaSalle – “Mississippi Woman”
Ms. Jody – “Your Dog Bout To Kill My Cat”
Ms. Monique – You Did It To You” Live
Nellie "Tiger" Travis – “Baby Mama Drama”

Jus` Blues Music All Star Award - Male

Willie Hill
Greg A. Smith
Charles Wilson
O. B. Buchana
Stan Mosley
Harvey Scales

Jus` Blues Music All Star Award - Female

Karen Wolfe
Vickie Baker
Toni Green
Joyce Lawson
Peggy Scott Adams
B B Queen

Best Blues & Soul Label Of The Year

Wilbe Records
Allison Records
B & J Records
Ecko Records
Malaco Records
Ifgam Records

Blues Soul Woman of the Year

Gwen McCrae
Denise LaSalle
Bettye Levette
Barbara Carr
Pat Cooley
Shirley Brown

Blues Soul Man Of The Year

Mel Waiters
Willie Clayton
Marvin Sease
Bobby Rush

Latimore
J. Blackfoot

Best New Southern Soul Artist Of The Year - Female

Lola - "I Got Feet"
Bobbie Johnson - "Rocking This Boat"
The Duchess - "Doin' My Job"
Lacee - "Groove"
Sweet Angel - "Another Man's Meat On My Plate"
Mashaa` - "Someone Else's Bed"

Best New Southern Soul Artist Of the Year - Male

Mr. Sam - "12 Steps 4 Cheaters"
Lebrado - "Fire"
Tyree Neal ft Sir Charles Jones - "Whiskey & Beer"
Fred Bolton - "Must Be Jelly"
Mose Stoval - "Groove You"
Pookie Lane - "Southern Woman

But who sings "You Can't Watch a Pussycat 24 hours a Day" ?

Here's the Ms. Jody track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCCjNduv2Lg

Willie Clayton "Three People" is pretty nice too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdZhwtQm-x0

from bluescritic.com

I should probably get the Ms. Jody one

1 NEW My Story Sir Charles Jones Mardi Gras
2 NEW Keepin' It Real Jeff Floyd Wilbe
3 NEW Transformation Wilson Meadows M & M/Brimstone
4 NEW I'm A Bluesman's Daughter** Sheba Potts-Wright Ecko
5 2 Your Love Is A Bad Habit Reggie P Rude Boy
6 NEW Southern Soul & Party Blues Vol. 1** Various Artists CDS
7 NEW Still Standing The Soul Children JEA Music
8 11 Love Chronicles Archie Love JEA/Loveland
9 5 Time Served Omar Cunningham Soul 1st
10 3 My Tyme Willie Clayton Malaco
11 2 Bigg Robb Presents: Blues Soul & Old School Various Artists Over 25 Sound
12 NEW The Don Of The Blues Chick Willis CDS
13 4 You're The Best Kenne' Wayne Good Time
14 6 I Never Take A Day Off Ms. Jody Ecko
15 NEW Voicemail Mr Sam MiLaja
16 8 I'm A Woman Nellie "Tiger" Travis CDS
17 13 Back 'Atcha Latimore LatStone
18 12 Shot From The Soul Lee "Shot" Williams CDS
19 18 You Still Got It Floyd Taylor Malaco
20 21 Man Up Stan Mosley CDS
21 7 Return Of The Legend Rue Davis Boom Town
22 9 Don't Hate Big Cynthia Hearon
23 10 Lay It Down Al Green Blue Note
24 NEW Handle Your Business Sweet Angel Ecko
25 15 Bruce Billups Southern Soul Mix CD RE-LOADED Various Artists Make Cents

Just discovered that Chick Willis of Stoop Down, Baby fame is at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland. I like him.

Heard a nice Lee Shot Williams track and a Miss Jody number. I love this stuff.

So Bettye Lavette's gonna be at the Bluebird Fest at PG Community College on Sunday. The Holmes Brothers are gonna be there also. This is different than her usual locales for her DC area appearances (this one is less upscale).

Sheeba Potts Wright-"Slow Roll It"

http://www.nme.com/video/id/ldc3MYlMgsw/search/sheba

That should be "Sheba." She's from Mississippi and is on Ecko. "Slow Roll It' is a cover that she did in 2001. I also like her "Bluesman's Daughter' from her latest cd, plus "Private Fishing Hole," and "Whaere's the Party At."

Her father is a performer also--Dr. Feelgood Potts

I think both Sir Charles Jones and Lee Shot Williams have songs out called "It's Friday". I gotta figure out which is the one I heard and liked.

Other current faves of mine include Mr. David "Fatback and Collard Greens," and Carl Simms "I Like This Place."

Is that Cupid re-doing Shirley Ellis' "The Clapping Song" (from '65)

3, 6, 9
The goose drank wine
The monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar line
The line broke, the monkey got choked
And they all went to heaven in a little rowboat

(Clap Clap)

The Ladies and Gentlemen
About to make you feel alright
I've got the beat to move your feet
Plus I know just what you like

(Clap Clap)

3, 6, 9.

the monkey got choked, they all went to heaven in a little row boat

Heard a few more double-entendre numbers about fishing holes today.

Other stuff--

Singer Lady Mary's having a dinner and show event down at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland tonight. She was good but not great when I saw her there a few years back. Hardway Connection are gonna be there November 1st.

I need to research all those recent songs about fishing holes and write about 'em somewhere. How to do so without sounding tawdry is the question.

Every Wednesday in October, the historical WDIA-AM in Memphis, TN sponsors the world famous "Juke Joint Tour."
Moving away from the traditions of the past, the tour will not travel from club to club this time around. Sam's Town Casino in Tunica, MS. outside Memphis will be the host venue for this year’s tour.
Each Wednesday night numerous Southern Soul artist will perform in front of over 3,000 fans. We know Marvin Sease and Willie Clayton will headline one of the Wednesday nights this month.

Bobby O'Jay told the Chittlin’ Circuit he is excited and pleased with the line up. Each night features a different set of artists. WDIA’s Juanita Burton and Jackie Ward are the main coordinators and they made every effort to make sure each Wednesday night is enjoyable and entertaining. from chitlincircuit.com

http://www.chittlincircuit.com/ Theyve got their own interactive radio thing and more

TOP TEN "BREAKING" SOUTHERN SOUL ALBUMS: OCTOBER 2008

Based on September Sales & Airplay As Compiled By

-----------BLUES CRITIC----------

1. Who's Got The Power-----------Marvin Sease (Malaco)
CD

2. Me Loving You---------------Mr. David (Waldoxy)
CD

3. Remix Album----------------Team Airplay All Stars (Team Airplay)

4. My Story-----------------Sir Charles Jones (Mardi Gras)
CD

5. Transformation-------------Wilson Meadows (M & M)
CD

6. Keepin' It Real-------------------Jeff Floyd (Wilbe)

7. Still Standing-----------------The Soul Children (JEA)

8. Look At What You Gettin'-------------Bobby Rush (Deep Rush)

9. Time Served ---------------------Omar Cunningham (Soul 1st)
Time Served CD

10. I'm A Bluesman's Daughter-----------------Sheba Potts-Wright (Ecko I'm A Bluesman's Daughter CD

Author's Forward: June 30, 2008

It's too early to etch anything in granite, but your Daddy B. Nice has a hunch Chick Willis's single "Obama" ("Tell Me Why You Like Obama")--from his new CD The Don Of The Blues--will captivate Southern Soul and chitlin' circuit blues deejays the same way Robert "Dr. Feelgood" Potts' "My In-Laws (Ain't Nothin' But Outlaws)" did over the past six months.

(Bulletin: "Obama" by Chick Willis is the #3-ranked song on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles chart for July 2008.)

It's ok.

Listening to the Lee Shot Williams "Nothing but Party Blues" track from 2005 now. Very nice. The Gator is playing some good stuff on Wpfw right now. You can listen online.

/

That's right! We are pleased to announce that Otis Clay has agreed to join us on November 15th! In what promises to be the Soul event of the season, Otis will return to Memphis and join with old friends Hi Rhythm to pay tribute to our man O.V. Wright. This rare and intimate club appearance (his first with Hi Rhythm in over 15 years!) promises to be the talk of the town, and tickets will be going fast! I wanna fly to Memphis for this
http://www.ovwright.org/

WDIA AM radio out of Memphis "America's Original Black Station" is streaming some great stuff now. Willie Clayton "Wiggle"---2 steps to the front, two steps to the back, now wiggle in the middle"

Was reading somewhere about Chitlin circuit songwriting teams that Ecko use and have had the most success. I need to post about it later when I find it again.

Heard lots of nice stuff streaming on WDIA Sunday. Good ol' Millie Jackson of course.

Awww man, while I'm doing a family Chanukah party December 27th, Sir Charles Jones is gonna be at Lamonts in Pomonkey, Maryland not that far away from where I'll be.

I know there are UK soul fanatics but there don't seem to be too many on ILX and the ones that are don't seem to be interested in a thread with Chitlin in the title. La Dee Dah. As you were.

Damn this Ms. Jody song I'm hearing now on WPFW (89.3 and online)is great--It's a dance song--"we were getting down in the club, doing the Ms. Jody thing" I love her voice and the synth beat is better than the standard Ecko type that soul fanatics sneer at.

Now he's playing a male vocalist singing "This party is a mutha y'all" with some line about booties in his face...

Big Bootie Betty

That's OB Buchanan drawling about Big Bootie Betty in his song "This Party is a Mutha Y'll" and I'm not sure what the Ms. Jody song is called.

Listened to the Ms. Jody album. It's great

It's a cd of the year even if you don't see it on any best of list except mine. If you like Denise Lasalle you should like Ms. Jody. Yes it's on Ecko, but the standard Ecko synth work is not annoying here

The thread title now correctly spells Ealey's name. Thanks moderator

Gonna miss Sir Charles Jones Saturday night at Lamonts in Pomonkey because of our family Chanukah party. I bet my blurb(revised by the editor a bit, grrrr) for it at dcist.com will inspire thousands to check it out. Ha. Lamonts still does not have a website.

Miss Jody cd is still sounding great. I just can't get the Ecko label production haters to give her a chance

http://bluescritic.com/SSVoting2008.htm

bluescritic.com southern soul voting poll

CHOOSE One From Each Category

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BEST Southern Soul, Rhythm & Blues Album

WHO'S GOT THE POWER Marvin Sease
MAN UP Stan Mosley
TIME SERVED Omar Cunningham
I'M A BLUESMAN'S DAUGHTER Sheba Potts-Wright
I'M A WOMAN Nellie 'Tiger' Travis
MY STORY Sir Charles Jones
KEEPIN' IT REAL Jeff Floyd
TRANSFORMATION Wilson Meadows
SWEET SEXY SOUL Will Easley
I NEVER TAKE A DAY OFF Ms. Jody
LOVE IS A BAD HABIT Reggie P
RETURN OF THE LEGEND Rue Davis
YOU'RE THE BEST Kenne' Wayne
LOVE CHRONICLES Archie Love
THE UPRISING Clarence Dobbins
STILL STANDING The Soul Children
SOUTHERN SOUL COUNTRY BOY O.B. Buchana

Southern Soul Blues Song Of The Year

A WOMAN KNOWS Willie Clayton
IT'S FRIDAY (TIME TO GET PAID) Lee 'Shot' Williams
I'M COMING COME Marvin Sease
FIRE Lebrado
ENERGIZER BUNNY Ms Jody
LOCK MY DOOR Jeff Floyd
MY LIFE Omar Cunningham
WHEN YOU PACK YOUR BAGS Vick Allen
I LIKE THIS PLACE Carl Sims
OLDER WOMAN YOUNGER MAN Pat Cooley
I'M A WOMAN Nellie 'Tiger' Travis
STUCK The Rhythm All Stars
OBAMA Chick Willis
POPCORN MAN Patrick Green
DA TWIST Team Airplay All Stars

Alas my little preview item of Sir Charles Jones at Lamonts Saturday 12-27 was the only online mention of the event I could find (other than my posting here). As I was busy with a Chanukah party I did not make it and found no reviews of it anywhere. Sad. Guy can sing.

My edited preview item was at dcist.com (Editor substituted the word "sluts")

Not exactly chitlin circuit soul, but Skip Mahoney & the Casuals, and the Jewels (all female group that once toured with James Brown and had a minor '60s hit with "Opportunity Knocks") will be at the Chateau in DC inauguration weekend (the 17th I think) while the Delphonics will be doing a gig with Memphis Gold and others at a Crystal City hotel (forgot the name) on MLK day, the 19th.

Lots going on in the area over that time period, if you can afford it. I wonder if Lamont's is doing anything special?

The Blues is Alright Tour 2009 all across the US of A in February and March...well mostly the South with all of my and your faves

http://www.heritageentertainments.com/

I think I will be able to see the DC area show at the Showplace Arena. Should be great.

Heard the Gator on WPFW play a raunchy fun number by Lee Shot Williams today, among other nice cuts

Lee's song-"Everything I like to Eat Starts with a 'P'"

pasta, pecans, you know...

Southern Soul Top 20 Countdown 2-28-09

1.1. The Beauty Shop Omar Cunningham
2.2. I Cant Stand The Rain Willie Clayton
3.3. Man Enough Karen Wolfe
4.6.Gone on Marvin Sease
5.5. What If He Knew Floyd Taylor
6.12.Keep A Light In The Window William Bell
7.4. One Night Stand Andre Lee
8.10. Soul Clap TK Soul
9.8. Another Kind Of Fool Bobby Rush
10.7. Wash Your Hands Lola
11.8. Starlight Diamond Kenny Neal
12.14. The Recipe Bigg Robb
13.13. Slippin and Hidin Willie Hill
14.9. Just Because Hes Good to you O.B. Buchana
15.14. Cheat On You Bobbye
16.* Look Good For You Carl Marshall
17.15. I'm Gonna Party L.J. Echols
18.12. Sang No More Calvin Richardson featuring Omar Cunningham
19.16. Woman Nellie Tiger Travis
20.18. Lock My Door Jeff Floyd

I gotta recruit someone else to post on here also...

Some of this stuff is great, really. As good as autogoon rap, School of 7 Bells, mambo merengue, Berlin techno, out-there jazz, Jazmine Sullivan, Nigerian reissues, Dennis Wilson outtakes, or whatever it is you're listening to.

As good as autogoon rap, School of 7 Bells...

Ha! I actually read this thread religiously, just don't have much to contribute as my local public radio show that used to play a bunch of this stuff no longer exists, and the artists NEVER tour here (Minneapolis.)

At least someone's reading it. I was looking at the tour schedule for that latest tour, and I see a Philly show as the farthest one North (no New York City !) and while it goes over to Texas it's via a Southern route. Amazing.

Now I know some folks years ago used to snear at the cheesy synth sound on Malaco and Ecko label releases, but I think the keyboards they're using now are sounding better these days.

Just discovered that the big soul tour is promoted by North American Entertainment, a company based in Connecticut (although they never book music there or in nearby NYC). They also promote 'urban' plays...Tyer Perry kind a stuff.

Tyler (spelling)

Mel Waiters' Throwback Days cd from a few years back is great. Was listening to it last night. Some of the lyrics go beyond the genre's cliches, and the melodies and instrumentation do as well. I think he does an online radio dj thing once a week too. I need to check that out some time. I'm planning on going to see him Friday night in Upper Marlboro.

Could you make a top ten of your fave Chitlin Circuit soul singles/albums, curmudgeon, please?

I'll try. Me, Chuck Eddy, Christgau and I think maybe Matos and the late Rickey Wright all voted for the 2007 Motel Lovers comp in the January or February '08 published critics polls (Voice and/or Idolator). That's a nice survey of recent songs in the genre.

Well, right, I have that one. But you're clearly so knowledgeable about the genre (or subgenre or whatever) that I'd love to hear, e.g., what YOU would do if Trikont entrusted you with Motel Lovers (or something akin to it). No biggie if you can't, though. (xhuxk, top ten away too if so inclined).

Oh, thanks. Will do. Mostly off the top of my head I love Ms. Jody's I Never Take a Day Off album from last year, Mel Waiters-Throwback Days from a few years ago, Denise Lasalle-Pay Before You Pump album, and a Barbara Carr best-of on Ecko. I have heard great songs by Sir Charles Jones, OB Buchana, Theotis Ealey, Willie Clayton, and Lee Shot Williams.

I gotta go write a blog post for my local alt-weekly on Mel Waiters and the show coming up on Friday...

Friday night, DC area folks, is Mel Waiters, Clarence Carter, Roy C.,Latimore, and Marvin Sease at the Showplace Arena. They're advetising the show just on WHUR, that plays post-Luther Vandross style quiet storm mellow r'n'b. No media ads, no press releases to mainstream print media as far as I can tell.

I went to the show. There were good and bad aspects to the performances--good=soulful voices and tunes; bad=over-the-top dirty old man thrusting and gyrating and too obvious lyrics. Yea, I know, that should not be a surprise. The bill drew a crowd of several thousand. For those into demographics, I think I was the only white person there under age 50, and one of about 5 white folks. Yes I know many African-Americans and others frequently find themselves in the minority at places. The average age was from around 49 to 70. Lots of women howling for the performers.

Only newsprint coverage of the show--a preview in the Prince George's County Gazzette; blog coverage-mine at the City Paper and a DC tv channel 4 item. No mention in the Washington Post before the show and no review of the show.

So who does the "Southern Soul Party" (I assume that's its name) song where he keeps saying the party is at a golf course (!?), and they're going to play Johnny Taylor and Tyrone Davis songs there and serve cole slaw and chitlins and stuff? I heard that one on 88.7 in Austin this afternoon (community radio, I think), and liked it a lot. No idea if it's current or not, and Google is no help. They also played another song that mentioned Johnny Taylor and Tyrone Davis, this one about a lot of singers who'd "gone home" by dying (tons of soul guys, not all Southern, plus Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Janis Joplin, Tupac, and Biggie Smalls). I'm not sure whether the show just comes on Wednesday afternoons or what, but it was very cool.

Mel Waiters, who is from and lives in San Antonio, did a tribute to Johnny Taylor and Tyrone Davis in his appearance live last week, and mentioned them as his faves in the interview I did with him. I love and highly recommend his last cd Throwback Days (on Waldoxy, a Malaco subsidiary). Waiters was once a fulltime dj, but now just records a weekly program that's syndicated (online I guess).

Yeah, Mel Waiters' "Smaller The Club" was maybe my very favorite track on that great great great Trikont Motel Lovers comp two years ago, though Google is still inconclusive about whether he has a song called "Southern Soul Party." (Also wondering now whether the radio show I heard may have actually been his syndicated one, and not an Austin-originating thing.)

Mel Waiters, who is from and lives in San Antonio, did a tribute to Johnny Taylor and Tyrone Davis in his appearance live last week, and mentioned them as his faves in the interview I did with him. I love and highly recommend his last cd Throwback Days (on Waldoxy, a Malaco subsidiary). Waiters was once a fulltime dj, but now just records a weekly program that's syndicated (online I guess).

Ha ha, today the same Austin station played a great song called "I Need A Bailout," where the singer asks Obama for money to help him pay his phone and cable bills. Again, no artist back-announced, though.

Here's a list of current southern soul that gets radio play

http://bluescritic.com/southernsoulsinglescharts.htm

Not sure if that one's on it. I think I heard it---either on the Saturday afternoon WPFW show I listen to or between acts at the Southern Soul tour gig I saw last week.

No bailout song on that list, as far as I can see, but apparently "Southern Soul Party" is by somebody named Floyd Taylor; here's a bio of him:

http://www.malaco.com/Catalog/Blues-R-B/Floyd-Taylor/list.php

Also hadn't noticed that you said Mel Waiters' show was syndicated online, which means it's probably not the over-the-air one I heard after all. Which may not be merely a specialty show, seeing how 88.7 was playing more Southern soul on Thursday. Need to do more research on this, obviously...

Also noticed a Betty Padgett song on one of those playlists; here are a couple things about her new album I posted on Rolling Country last week:

Best old-school soul-revival I've heard in a long time is Betty Padgett's Luv N' Haight on Ubiquity -- real good covers of "My Eyes Adored You" (smooth reggae) and "Rockin' Chair," plus "Sugar Daddy" is the catchiest, warmest, most propulsive early (as in mid '70s) disco facsimile in recent memory. Also, the gal can sing. (Apparently this is a comeback, but if I skimmed her bio right and she did indeed record in the '70s, I never heard her.)

― xhuxk, Friday, 13 March 2009

Turns out on subsequent listens that Betty Padgett is maybe a more average B-or-C-level soul voice than I implied in my post yesterday (and her covers of the Frankie Valli and Gwen McRae are less astonishing than I may have implied), but I still like her album, especially her very convincingly disco-bubbly single "Sugar Daddy" (incl. its second version with background party voices), where I'm pretty sure I read in an email press release earlier this week that she's backed by Detroit indie-rock Afrobeat nine-piece Nomo (whose first couple albums sounded funky enough, but whose upcoming one doesn't hold my attention for some reason. Never heard their third. Do like where they're coming from, however.)

― xhuxk, Sunday, 15 March 2009

I just heard "Southern Soul Party" on the radio and yep, they said it was by Floyd Taylor, who I'm pretty sure is the late Johnny Taylor's son.

Here's what Daddy B. Nice said about Floyd's most recent Malaco release:

Boy, I was wrong about this one. I never took to "You Still Got It," the first title-cut single from the CD of the same name. It was just a little too vanilla, but since then song after song has pushed its way onto the Stations of the Deep South air waves:
"Southern Soul Party," "I'm Hooked On These Blues," "I Miss My Daddy," "If You Catch Me Sleepin'". . .

That bio you posted says Floyd was raised by his Mom in Chicago and that his dad is/was Johnny Taylor.

I heard a nice (new?) song "Upside Down" from Shirley Brown. Plus I like "I'm Gonna Change," which is the second catchy powerful voiced tune I've heard from O.B. Buchana. It's got a nice little spoken word portion. He also mentions Tyrone Davis and Johnny Taylor in the song plus Jay Blackfoot and Sir Charles Jones and others. I may have to get O.B.'s "Southern Soul Country Boy" album

Mel Waiters radio show is on southernsoulradio.com They just played that Shirley Brown song I mentioned.

http://southernsoulradio.com/#

R.I.P. Eddie Bo. See the separate thread on this New Orleans great.

Miss Jody and Denise Lasalle rule. Jody's coming to Lamonts in Pomonkey May 23rd to do the Miss Jody thang...(that's a dance y'all)

So that Southern Soul show on Austin public station 88.7 actually played Theodis Ealey's "Stand Up In It" (see thread title), which I'd strangely never heard before, yesterday. Pretty wacky sex song! I liked it, though I've heard better songs on the show. I'm a little torn right now about current/ recent Southern Soul's tendency to go for the easy joke (many of which jokes aren't as funny as they intend to be) or the easy sex shocker (basically none of which seem as shocking as they intend to be.) But when the genre goes for straight blues/soul emotion (at least judging from what's on that show), it frequently seems to veer toward the generic. I dunno, I gotta say I was actually disappointed by the songs the station was playing yesterday; assuming they're playing the genre's hits and best tracks, pickings may be slimmer than I expected. (There was also an update of Levert's "Casanova" with a sort of semi-zydeco rhtyhm, only it was called "Roll With Me" or something like that. Not bad, not great.) Also not convinced that many (any?) of the current artists could hold their own against, you know, Johnny Taylor or Tyrone Davis or Z.Z. Hill (or Millie Jackson), and I get a little tired of those names being dropped so often in songs in an apparent stab to leech off their greatness (reminds me of how country singers are always dropping Hank's and Willie's and Waylon's and Merle's names, which has ranked with the genre's most boring cliches forever.) Still going to try to keep tuning in, though, to see what turns up on the show. And still wonder who did that "I Need a Bailout" song I heard.

Not that I particularly care about being shocked by sex songs; it's more like, why are they even trying? Reminds me of what Xgau wrote in 1987 about Marvin Sease's ten-minute "Candy Licker" (which I like anyway, though more in its shorter 45 version): "not so much audacious as preposterous." And usually the sex songs aren't even all that preposterous, truth be told.

And to point a spotlight on the elephant in the room: If this kind of music was "anachronistic" 22 years ago (as Xgau said in that Sease review), what does that make it now that 41 years have passed since "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay"? And what does it mean that I still get way more out of this stuff than the vast majority of current r&b, which usually just strikes me as constricted and joyless in comparison? At least Southern Soul still seems written by grownups. (Basically it makes me an anachronism myself -- and not much different all the sticks-in-the-mud who are always saying current country music can't stand up to the country music of decades ago. Still think I'm right, though.)

Speaking of country, from the Rolling Country thread, here's me talking about the new Buckwheat Zydeco album:

Rolling Country 2009 Thread

And here's something about related music played on the Austin station that airs that Southern Soul show:

Rolling Country 2009 Thread

By "vast majority of current r&b" above, I obviously mean "stuff that gets played on contemporary r&b/hip-hop-stype stations and often crosses over to pop stations." Southern Soul being released now would technically be "current r&b" too, I guess, but it doesn't exactly sound modern or up-to-date.
As with current (popular) country, I don't get the idea it now incorporates many production innovations that were developed after the '80s. (Though it's interesting that music that was considered "pop r&b" around when Marvin Sease was hitting with "Candy Licker" seems roped in as part of "old school" now.)

I'll give my interpretation later. I agree with you in part. Gotta run...

Lot to respond to xhuck:

Here goes-

Not that I particularly care about being shocked by sex songs; it's more like, why are they even trying? Reminds me of what Xgau wrote in 1987 about Marvin Sease's ten-minute "Candy Licker" (which I like anyway, though more in its shorter 45 version): "not so much audacious as preposterous." And usually the sex songs aren't even all that preposterous, truth be told.

― xhuxk, Tuesday, April 7, 2009 4:15 PM (Yesterday

I 've been thinking about this as I just saw Marvin Sease on a bill with Mel Waiters, Clarence Carter, Roy C., and Latimore. 3,000 or so in attendance at a small arena and I was one of 5 or so white people there (yes I counted) and I'm guessing 47-year-old me was in the lower range age-wise. Plus there were lots of women there--mostly in their 50s.
And guess what--lots of those women like Sease. I mean, watching him wiggle his tongue between verses of "Candylicker" was just kinda gross to me. Plus he's getting older which for some reason made it even creapier. But sure enough, a number of women headed up the stairs after his set to go line up to get their picture taken with him. There's definately a dirty-old man aspect to the sex talk, especially as many of these performers age and their audience does as well.
I think part of the problem is this music is largely in its own isolated world and runs parallel to contemporary r'n'b rather than intersecting with it fully. It does intersect but how far can you go with the sex lyrics and the borrowed from contemporary r'n'b onstage grinding and thrusting moves? Musically, there are some modern keyboard touches and some of the upbeat songs sound a bit more contemporary. Maybe that's what this audience wants, and as long as these guys are playing arenas (which is something Sharon Jones, Bettye Lavette, and even Rafael Saadiq are not doing) they're gonna stick with what they think works.
I'd love to see the folks who discuss the ethics of the Tyler Perry movies weigh on these folks. I'm also thinking about stuff Nelson George wrote years ago about how African-American music changed from being a multi-generational thing to a more stratified by age and gender thing. On the other hand, some might argue that these sex lyrics are actually just part of a long history of both blues lyrics and raunchy comedian patter. But since I just heard a recent Mel Waiters song that focussed on economic problems in the lyrics in a semi-clever way, I'm not ready to dismiss this stuff.

Also not convinced that many (any?) of the current artists could hold their own against, you know, Johnny Taylor or Tyrone Davis or Z.Z. Hill (or Millie Jackson), and I get a little tired of those names being dropped so often in songs in an apparent stab to leech off their greatness

Yea, but I'm gonna give 'em a chance as I hear enough good cuts from OB Buchana, Floyd Taylor, Mel Waiters, Miss Jody and others to keep me interested.

Of course -- Like I said, I've been trying to give them a chance, too (that's why I'm listening to that radio show, and posting on this thread; will probably try to see some live shows, too.) And you're obviously right about the silly raunch lyrics being an extension of several-decades-old blues and comedy tradition. Just out curiosity, though, what are the best full single-artist albums you've heard in the genre over the past four or five years? Especially curious about Floyd Taylor and Mel Waiters albums. (Also, do any of those singers have best-ofs worth seeking out, that you may have heard?)

(There was also an update of Levert's "Casanova" with a sort of semi-zydeco rhtyhm, only it was called "Roll With Me" or something like that. Not bad, not great.)

it's a zydeco take-off on rebirth brass band's version of casanova, which is great:

x-post--was just getting to your positive interest in this stuff.

If this kind of music was "anachronistic" 22 years ago (as Xgau said in that Sease review), what does that make it now that 41 years have passed since "Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay"? And what does it mean that I still get way more out of this stuff than the vast majority of current r&b, which usually just strikes me as constricted and joyless in comparison? At least Southern Soul still seems written by grownups.

At the show I was at I heard an Otis Redding cover I think and a Prince one. That's the musical spectrum this genre and its audience appreciate. Kinda like country in that way. I happen to like some current pop-r'n'b and this stuff, and while I can hear differences, I don't agree with you on the "constricted and joyless" description but I don't have a well-supported argument in mind right now that I think could have an effect on your thinking. I'll just agree to disagree. Also "still seems written by grownups"--I'm not clear on my history but how old were soul music greats from the 60s and the songwriting teams in that era? Were they all 'grownups'? I do not think so. I think Peter Guralnick might have touched on this in one of his books.

x-post

Houston and Louisiana zydeco acts have been subtly and sometimes blatantly incorporating contemporary r'n'b, New Orleans brass,chitlin circuit soul and hiphop rhythms for years now. I wish there was more of it. The aging roots-rock zydeco crowd in DC prefers the traditional stuff (meaning incorporating the kind of r'n'b that was popular when Clifton Chenier was young) though, and that seems to dictate to tours the East Coast.

how old were soul music greats from the 60s and the songwriting teams in that era? Were they all 'grownups'?

No, but I meant for my emphasis to be on the "seems to" - -By which I mean, historically, lots of soul music and r&b (and disco) seemed to deal with adult lives-- in the way, say, much country music still does, but I don't get the idea that much commercial r&b does anymore; sex lyrics, especially, just seem to get more juvenile and stupid as time goes on. For instance, who would be the commercial r&b equivalent of Womack and Womack, or Ashford and Simpson? I doubt there is one. Then again, I could be totally off base about this, and I don't doubt I'm missing a lot. (And I know there are exceptions -- R. Kelly obviously has great moments every now and then. And self-conscious retro artistes like Badu and Saadiq and D'Angelo and Sharon Jones probably deal with adult lives all the time, I'm sure, but that stuff has always pretty much left me cold, for some reason. My favorite commercial r&b songs of the decade, for what it's worth: Koffee Brown's "Weekend Thing" and Kandi's "Don't Think I'm Not," both from the decade's very beginning, and both with a perfectly respectable but not great album attached.)

i don't think badu can be called retro, not these days

Good point -- but she can definitely be called a "self-conscious artiste." Either way, I'm not a fan (and in my mind, at least, she seems far outside of the realm of "commercial r&b." Just like a sometimes-sort-of-retro self-conscious artiste like Springsteen, who leaves me just as cold these days, falls outside the realm of "commercial rock." Which yeah, I know, is an arbitrary distinction. But he's sure a long way off from, say, Puddle of Mudd.) (Not sure where Ne-Yo, who I like a lot, fits into this.)

I love Ms. Jody's I Never Take a Day Off album from last year, Mel Waiters-Throwback Days from a few years ago, Denise Lasalle-Pay Before You Pump album, and a Barbara Carr best-of on Ecko. I have heard great songs by Sir Charles Jones, OB Buchana, Theotis Ealey, Willie Clayton, and Lee Shot Williams.

Here are some of my faves i mentioned upthread.

just seem to get more juvenile and stupid as time goes on.

I normally am not too picky about lyrics. It's music not poetry. But yea, some of this stuff bugs me too.

Xhuxk,

You're a metal fan also. Do those lyrics ever bug you? Do you want them to sound like they're written by grownups? Just askin'

Excellent question. And it would probably take me several thousand words -- full of examples, counter-examples, exceptions, and hedges -- to adequatly answer it. But basically I'd say that I'm not nearly as much a metal fan as I used to be (partly because the words usually aren't audible anymore, and the songs tend to be barely distinguishable as songs), and lots of people (especially Stairway To Hell readers) would say I was never a true metal fan in the first place. And even if I was, I don't know how huge a fan I've ever been of metal lyrics -- definitely never had much use for sex songs by Motley Crue or Limp Bizkit or whoever (which, right, are as dumb and juvenile as anything in r&b.)

But one thing I'd say is that, if lyrics come out funny or heartfelt or whatever (in metal or r&b or anywhere else), I'll excuse a lot of juvenile crap. And obviously sometimes being juvenile will help make the words more entertaining. There are creative and clever ways to do everything. And I'm not hearing much cleverness in r&b these days, though the fact of the matter is that the cleverness might be hidden somewhere, and I just can't get past the sound of contemporary r&b, which as I said tends to hit me as cold, detached, humorless. (Guess you could add "soulless", if that means anything.)

And it's probably worth mentioning that I miss truly bubblegum-sounding r&b at least as much as truly grownup-sounding r&b. I heard "I Love Your Smile" by Shanice on the radio the other day -- early '90s, I think, and not a song that sounded particularly outstanding then -- and I wondered why no r&b I've heard lately can get that kind of sweetness and warmth across. (Not even "Lip Gloss" or "Chicken Noodle Soup" or "Cupid Shuffle" -- not in that way, anyway. And those songs are more hip-hop anyway.)

Played Keri Hilson's album a few times this week; don't like it hardly at all. "Knock You Down" lifts the album to life when Ne-Yo comes in (and then when Keri sings along with him -- at least that what I assume is happening -- at which time she manages to cut closer to the emotional bone than at any time she's singing by herself.) "Alienated" has a wee little bit of Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots" buried in its melody toward the beginning, but the feeling doesn't stick around, and the song dulls out. Pretty sure "Make Love" annoyed me the most.

Checked out a couple Jazmine Sullivan songs on line the other day too (because I've been told her songs are smarter than the run of 20somethings-kicking-it-at-the-club crap out there), and in both cases I thought her blatant retro vocal mannerisms were just that: mannered. In "Need U Bad," which is basically reggae soul, I actually liked the "ooh ooh" backup (which seemed to directly reference some early '70s soul hit I can't place) more than Jazmine's lead. Did think she has a rich, powerful voice, though; maybe she just needs better material, or better songwriters. So there's potential there, at least. But it's like alt-country -- If you're gonna try so hard to sound like classic r&b, you're almost guaranteed to fall short. (The '80s and '90s r&b I love most usually wasn't explicitly retro.)

Probably repeating myself here, but one thing about lots of old r&b and metal and otherwise hits (about sex and otherwise) I love is that, if they didn't sound written by grownups, they were often funny.. By which I mean goofy and fun, not "clever lyricism that only seems clever if somebody puts it on paper, and I probably won't get even then but maybe I'll pretend to." And I know, if the words bug me, I should just tune them out and concentrate on the "great music" instead. Except it's usually not that great. (And I also know all of this is a gross generalization, and just proves my ignorance. But it's still what my heart feels...)

And, to un-derail this thread at least at least a little, when I say I "can't get past the sound of contemporary r&b," I don't think I mean up-to-date studio production touches (current Southern Soul could almost certainly get away with using more of those, to sound less anachronistic) as much as I mean the vocal sound. At some historical point I can't pinpoint, r&b singers inexplicably seemed to start veering toward two extremes -- either melismatic bombast or icy restraint -- and skipping the comfy middle ground which had worked perfectly well for soul/r&b/disco singers for decades. (Probably the roots of newer singing styles I dislike were in certain classic old soul singers I was never a major fan of in the first place, but I'll just get in trouble if I start naming names.)

Also get the idea that, as r&b artists and fans inevitably started giving more direct emphasis to "great beats" in the wake of late-period hip-hop, they tended to de-emphasize hooks. Or at least the kind of hooks that hook me. (One of my big problems with metal these days, btw, is also that it's just not catchy enough anymore. And whenever I make that claim, people like Phil Freeman tell me it just makes me sound like an old fogey, since metal fans stopped caring about catchy songs years ago. Maybe something similar happened in r&b?)

(Rihanna is probably an exception to a lot of things I've complained about, as much as Ne-Yo is. And I don't doubt there are other obvious exceptions I'm just not thinking of. As much as I appreciate them both, though, I can't say that either Ne-Yo -- whose music often reaches me as sort of vague wafty beauty more than discrete songs -- or Rihanna have come up with a single track that ranks anywhere near my all-time r&b favorites. Maybe I'm just cranky, is all.)

how do you feel about r kelly

Mentioned Kelly several posts up; when he's good, he's probably the biggest '00s exception to all of this, especially as a vocalist. And he's obviously got some insanely great moments that rank with any soul ever -- "When A Woman's Fed Up" is probably my favorite, but also "Ignition," "Fiesta," "Step In The Name Of Love," etc. But he's horrible a lot, too (and the horribleness usually isn't as entertaining as it is in "Trapped In The Closet," which is great in its own way), and I always have trouble making it through his albums. Should probably spend more time with them, though usually I get the idea that The R in R&B Collection: Volume 1 might be all I'll ever really need. Though then again, it's not like all the great soul singers of the '60s/'70s/'80s all made consistently great albums, either. And Kelly knows how to reference classic sounds without being all nutritiously "retro" about it, and iciness and constraint are not part of his language. Wish there were more artists half as good as him. (Of more outwardly "retro" acts, I liked Ryan Shaw's debut album a couple years ago, btw. Though even with him, you get the idea there's play-acting going on -- a kid dressing up in vintage styles -- so there's an inherent emotional distance from the material.)

Well actually, "he's obviously got some insanely great moments that rank with any soul ever" is probably hyperbole -- I just listened to a random Johnny Bristol LP from 1975 that I bought for $1 a couple weeks ago, and it had two or three songs I liked as much as anything I've ever heard by R. Kelly. ("Morgantown, North Carolina" -- how's that for Chiltin Circuit?) And I don't know that anybody would call Bristol an absolute top-tier soul singer, and I have a feeling this probably wasn't even his best album ("Hang On In There Baby," his biggest hit, came a year earlier.) So I guess what I meant to say is the R. Kelly's best songs at least hold their own against soul's greatest; unlike almost any other r&b from this decade, it's not entirely ridiculous to speak of them in the same paragraph.

So do Malaco and Ecko send promos to Billboard contributors? I get the impression that Southern soul/chitlin circuit labels only send promos and press releases to radio stations and club djs

Uh, I've sure never received a single promo from either of those labels (when I was at Billboard or anywhere else.) Maybe the r&b columnists get them, though; I'm not sure.

Sorry to change the subject, but this fan of Jazmine Sullivan and Miss Jody has nothing further to add to the discussion other than that I heard Mary J. Blige on the radio at lunch today and she did not sound "constricted", "joyless" or "juvenile."

Yeah, Blige probably another obvious exception (but somebody I've never really got into, probably to my utter shame. I like "Not Gon' Cry" a lot. But mostly, I never got the idea she's much fun. And she could afford to be a lot catchier -- all Gladys, no Pips, in other words, and I like Gladys a lot more.)

(That is, I'd never for a second doubt her God-given talent or good taste or ability to communicate emotion, but those variables in and of themselves have never been enough to make me like somebody.)

Okay, I am (hopefully) done being crabby. And ready to get back to the actual topic of this thread.

Sounds like 88.7 KAZI-FM Austin rightly turns to more party music on Friday nights, and they just played this amazing track, sort of a partially semi-rapped old-school thing over a groove stretched out go-go-style but with a repeated funk vamp riffing on the Drifters' "On Broadway" rather than go-go-sounding; a guy in a gruff bluesy voice chanting variations on "I must keep on rockin' the wine will keep poppin' til the police come knockin'" or whatever; eventually other voices enter the party, and a harmonizing soul woman, and the groove keeps on keepin' on in an obsessively propulsive way. I'm not even sure how I'd classify the thing; it didn't quite seem like any r&b subgenre I've ever heard before. As usual, they didn't follow the song with the singer's name or the song title. Maybe I'll call the station later on to find out what it was, but if anybody has a clue, by all means let me know.

Here is the station's current "playlist," but the webpage says the DJs aren't required to stick to it, and can play whatever they want:

http://kazifm.org/playlist.html

Okay, just called the station. Couldn't wait. And turns out I was basically right about the song being sort-of-go-go/sort-of-not and sort-of-rapped/sort-of-not: "Block Party" by Chuck Brown and Soul Searchers featuring DJ Kool, off Chuck's 2007 album We're About The Business. I have some of his old albums but haven't been keeping up with what he's done lately; guess I need to get with the program.

Wow, cool website (which may or may not have been linked to here before): Top singles and albums of 2008 lists, top 100 songs and artists of the '90s and '00s, everything but "I Need A Bailout":

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/corner2008.cfm

His #9 Southern Soul single of 2008 is maybe especially worth noting:

9. "Stay Down"--------------------------Mary J. Blige

Some people might ask, "Daddy B. Nice, why take valuable space away from a chitlin' circuit artist with a mainstream R&B pick?" Because, as with mainstream artists such as Glenn Jones, R. Kelly, Jaheim and Luther Vandross before her (see Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 Southern Soul Singles 90's-100's), Mary J. Blige has recorded a great Southern Soul song. Listening to it is like opening the door--fresh air overwhelms the senses. Look at the glass-half-full perspective: maybe some of Mary J's commercial success will rub off on the rest of us.

Yea, that is a good site (that I did link to above). Lee Fields is playing at an obscure little H St. NE club in DC Sunday. I might go. Speaking further of DC, I just heard Hardway Connection's upbeat "Southern Soul Rumpin'" again on WPFW. I wrote a feature on them years ago for the Washington City Paper, but they mostly just play south of DC now in Southern Maryland and they go to North Carolina in the summer sometimes and play for beach music/shagging aficianados. They have no website, and sent no promos for their latest cd to the press or websites as far as I can tell.

It's still weird to me how this stuff is ignored by, or goes ues under the radar of the folks who write up Sharon Jones and the Dap-kings, Ryan Shaw, Eli Reed, etc. I wish someone would e-mail that site's list to Jon Pareles, Ann Powers, Pitchfork and others and Malaco and Ecko would sent 'em stuff also.

Real funny mostly-talked song on the Southern Soul show today: Krystal (or Crystal?) Somebody, "Stop Telling Everything You Know." Girl who sounds like the girl in "MyBabyDaddy" (B-Rock? The Bizz? whoever) catches her dad kissing a woman who isn't her mom; her dad, who sounds like Snoop's dad asking him for five dollars in the "Gin and Juice" video, claims he was just helping the woman get something out of her eye. Daughter asks then how come her lipstick was messed up when Dad finished with her eye. (End of song, he helps her with her dress, too.)

I haven't heard that one. I will have to try and find it.

I haven't found it. I'm listening to James Funk fill in for the Gator on WPFW in DC right now. Funk, is a longtime go-go dj, but he also spins Southern soul and more on the radio. He's playing Miss Jody, OB Buchana, Aretha Franklin and more.

Awesome installment of that Austin KAZI-FM Southern Soul (actually "Blues," I think they officially call it) show last night -- Floyd Taylor's "Southern Soul Party" again; that heaven song about dead soul stars "gone home" again (still don't know who does that); a couple songs that showed up on the Trikont Motel Lovers comp a couple years ago that I'd never actually heard on the radio before (Marvin Sease's title track, Mel Waiters' "The Smaller The Club"); a zydeco rewrite of "Drop It While It's Hot"; lots and lots of cheatin' with the spouse's best friends songs, from both sides of the gender line. Especially liked this duet from what sounded like a gruff old mean jealous husband guy and a sweet-voiced and trusting young wife lady that seemed to be called "Two Different People." Plus one song with a long monologue about going to a hotel with some other woman and when the guy was coming out he saw his wife coming in with some other man, and another monologue song where another old-sounding guy gets picked up in the grocery store and winds up going over to the woman's house and having sex with her all day and periodically calling his wife and lying that he's got car problems but then the other woman's husband comes in and wacks him with a newspaper if I caught it right; and another one with an almost '50s-country-music-like talked beginning where the guy’s about to fly back to Austin from L.A. where he went with just his guitar (wonder if there’s different versions of that for different radio markets); and one where the guy says he likes his women like he likes his coffee –- dark, sweet, and hot. The only thing that drives me crazy is that they almost never back announce who did the songs. And since it’s often hard to figure out the song titles, which rarely turn out to be that distinctive anyway, googling is usually no help. (So if any of these sound familiar, please clue me in.) Still amazed, though, by just how much good stuff is out there.

Meanwhile, in more mainstream r&b circles, the best non-NeYo r&b hit I've heard on the radio this year, assuming it counts (actually dates to '08, apparently, but it's currently a hit on Radio Disney if nowhere else) is "How Do You Sleep" by Jesse McCartney (preferably the version without Ludacris.) Guess I just miss vulnerability in soul music or something; I really don't like The-Dream, at least not yet, though I think I'm finally starting to comprehend what other people like about him. Maybe I'm just not much of a concept album fan.

Also warming up to "There Goes My Baby" by old Gap Bander Charlie Wilson (a big r&b chart hit), though I get the idea I prefer the song to the performance. (Gap Band's specialty was never ballads, obviously.) Still want to check out his album sometime, though.

And speaking of albums, and old r&b reliables, I am really liking the new Teena Marie album (which I have an advance of.) Liking it as much as any Teena album in a couple decades, at least so far. Not sure if that will last, but I'm definitely liking it more than I expected. She is still weird. And still mushy, but the mush is part of the weird, somehow. And her singing still makes me melt like no one since. And the jazzy/scatty parts are wonderful. And she never does rock anymore, but I guess that's okay. Favorite song so far is the title cut, "Congo Square," with these in the running: "Can't Last A Day" (the single, featuring Faith Evans), "Baby I Love You," "Black Cool," "The Rose N' Thorn."

another monologue song where another old-sounding guy gets picked up in the grocery store and winds up going over to the woman's house and having sex with her all day and periodically calling his wife and lying that he's got car problems but then the other woman's husband comes in and wacks him with a newspaper if I caught it right;

There's a Roy C. song with this theme. When I last saw him live the lyrics were even more raunchy. He's from NY but is a longtime southern soul fave (somewhere upthread I posted more about him). He is very popular in the DC area. He's gonna be back around here at Lamonts in Pomonkey, MD outside DC May 23 with Miss Jody, the Hardway Connection and others. I like his voice and can do without the raunchiness

Charlie Wilson and Teena Marie perform live around here alot. DC's 40something and up African-American audience supports these folks. Meanwhile the DC area indie-rock audinece is excited about Sharon Jones and the Daptones coming to the 930 club for 2 shows this weekend. I have nothing against her, it just bugs me that's she's the only soul-related artist most of these folks pay attention to(because she's marketed to them). 70s soulsters the Chilites, the Dramatics, Cuba Gooding Sr and others are coming back to the Showplace Arena in Maryland Saturday. I bet I'd be one of the 5 to 10 pale-faces in the crowd of several thousand if I went. Whatever. It's just interesting to me.

You know who I wish would make a comeback (assuming he's still alive?) Richard "Dimples" Fields! He wasn't Southern apparently (in fact, Joel Whitburn calls him "owner of Cold Duck Music Lounge in San Francisco"!), but he was old school when old school wasn't cool anymore, which kind of counts. Always liked his first two albums from the early '80s a lot, and this weekend I bought a $1 used copy of his 1987 Columbia Tell It Like It Is (released just under the name "Dimples" for some reason -- maybe Boardwalk Records owned the rights to his first and last names?), and it's totally crass and wacky between the obligatory and never trustworthy yet undeniably pretty soul falsettos: An Aaron Neville cover that turns into an Oran "Juice" Jones-type spiel (subtitled "Dialogue" even though it's only one guy), two consecutive blatant early '80s style Prince rips ("Hooked On Your Loving" the ballad and then "Stand Up On It!" the new waved-out electro-funker), an even more blatant "Atomic Dog" ripoff ("Dog Or Hog," with oinks to go with the barks), and a timely closing track called "Do You Belong To The Dope Man?" (which also asks important questions such as "are you the type hooked on the pipe?" and "are you a fool of cool when you use crack?" then ridiculously suggests "don't go to waste on free base/get high on the love drug -- me myself and I.") Influence-wise, it's like Dimples was just trying to keep up with everybody who'd passed him up the past few years. So he was already behind the times, even when trying to keep up with them. Pretty sure almost nobody bought the album.

I also wonder whatever happened to Oran "Juice" Jones, come to think of it. These two guys were ahead of their time, in a way, for their idea that you could be a falsetto soul love man and a total cad and creep at the same time. And they both consciously revived the kind of soul monologues that used to be called "raps" before rap changed the meaning, but they did them as over-the-top parodies almost (yet without being cast a "comedy artists" per se'). And they were a lot funnier and more soulful about it than all the hip-hoppers who turned similar ideas into a cliche a decade-plus later.

"...cast as 'comedy artists'", I mean.

(So I guess I'm saying they were ahead of their time by being behind their time? Something like that. I wonder who else would fit in their genre.)

Oh well, RIP, I guess:

Sadly, in the year 2000, Richard Dimples Fields died of a stroke at Novato California Community Hospital in Los Angeles, California. He was 58.

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Richard%20Dimples%20Fields.html

Also turns out that I don't have his "first two albums," since he'd put out three albums in the '70s! And looks like he put out a bunch of '80s LPs I've never heard, though the covers mostly look familiar, so I've probably seen them in stores.

----

Looks like Oran "Juice" had a comeback album in 1997, and Wapaedia claims "now he has 5 kids in houston texas and 3 go to Dodson Elementery," but information beyond that seems harder to find:

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Oran%20Juice%20Jones.html

I liked Juice too.

Roy C. may be known now for his cheatin' songs but, according to what I just read, in the 70s he varied things lyrically:

A footnote: The title "Something Nice" and the innocuous subject matter of the songs were a deliberate (and sarcastic) response to record label Mercury's complaints Roy C was too "controversial" on his previous albums with songs like "Open Letter To A President".

http://bluescritic.com/royc.html

Back to my pet peeve---Sharon Jones highlighted for her 60s throwback style in the Washington City Paper, NBC DC website, Washington Post site, & NPR's blog by Carrie "I only like Bon Iver bearded folkies" Brownstein; while the Stylistics, Dramatics, Chilites and Main Ingredient w/ Cuba Gooding Sr show goes unnoticed by those mostly rock-centric blogs and mainstream media outlets(and they've ignored Bobby Womack and other slightly rougher-edged soul folks over the years so its not just a we like Stax style but not 70s style thing). But the 70s soulsters will outdraw Jones anyway thanks to ads on 'quiet storm' black radio, and giveaways on the public radio Southern soul shows.

best non-NeYo r&b hit I've heard on the radio this year....is "How Do You Sleep" by Jesse McCartney

Really overrated this, it turns out. (Though the version with Luda is duller than the original mix.)

warming up to "There Goes My Baby" by old Gap Bander Charlie Wilson, though I get the idea I prefer the song to the performance... Still want to check out his album

Actually underrated this single, though -- it'd now be on my short list of my favorite singles of the year. And probably easily 2009's most convincingly "old school" major r&b hit so far -- plus it even rhymes "food court" with "shoe store" and "Macy's with "amazing"! Tried really hard with the album, though, and it just doesn't cut it -- He's just trying way too hard to come off up-to-date in the other songs, and he just comes off ridiculous instead, and not in an entertaining way: It's all just really oversung, over convoluted rhythms that communicate nothing and kill any potential hooks or feeling. Snoop Dogg and T-Pain/Jamie Foxx cameo tracks are complete washouts. If I had to pick a second favorite track, I'd probably go with the one that interpolates Player's pretty '70s soft-rock hit "Baby Come Back" but seems pointeless otherwise("Shawty Come Back," gawd) or the one that starts out with promising 2-step instructions but then just sinks into your usual Autotune tedium ("Back To Love"). Couldn't Charlie have done at least one Gap Band style funk stomp? That's what he was born to do, not all this oiled-up seduction crap.

really liking the new Teena Marie album... as much as any Teena album in a couple decades

Actually, I haven't played Ivory (which is still admittedly 19 years old!) in ages, and that might be more consistent; new one definitely drags for most of its first half, after you get past the initial couple songs. Favorite track is still "Congo Square," though, followed by "Pressure." But just like Charlie Wilson, I think Teena doesn't really understand what kinda stuff she used to be best at. (Or maybe their audiences just have no use for that sort of funk anymore. Which is sad, if you ask me.)

(Actually, the Charlie Wilson single I love is oiled-up seduction crap in its own endearing way. But at least in that one he's acting his age, not like some droopy-pantsed 22-year-old player.) (Btw, apparently there's also a Southern Soul singer called Charles Wilson. I wonder if that confuses anybody.)

OB Buchana's "Southern Soul Country Boy" is great. That's the 2nd catchy song of his I've heard.

Gonna be busy with family this weekend which means missing Miss Jody, Roy C., and Hardway Connection Saturday at Lamonts, and Little Royal (longtime James Brown impersonator) Sunday in Forrestville, Mad somewhere. Both of these gigs naturally are going completely unnoticed by the local mainstream media (but they'll get a sizable African-American DC area turnout anyout).

Forrestville, MD

So KAZI-Austin just segued Larry Hargrove's "I Need A Bailout" (my favorite Southern soul single of the year, and I had to call the station to finally find out who sang it) into Mel Waiters's "Everything's Going Up (By My Paycheck)" (now officially my second favorite Southern soul single of the year -- and as far as I can tell, it's just a single, not on an album.) Know nothing else about Larry Hargrove, though a quick google search indicates that he once did a song called "Leave Bill Clinton Alone."

Also been liking a couple of the (not exactly Southern Soul) current songs in KAZI's regular neo-soul rotation, namely "Sidestep" by Robin Thicke and Leela James's version of Womack and Womack's "Baby I'm Scared Of You" (off an album that, from the looks of things, appears to be mostly or all covers.)

While I'm here, here are roundtable reviews of three recent neo-soul singles from Singles Jukebox:

Charlie Wilson

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=774

Anthony Hamilton

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=712

Maxwell

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=710

Oops -- that Mel Waiters song is actually "Everything's Going Up (BUT My Paycheck)."

Though actually, the Southern Soul Singles chart at bluescritic.com lists it as just "Everything Is Going Up" (it was #2 there in April and May):

http://bluescritic.com/southernsoulsinglescharts.htm

And here is Larry Shannon Hargrove's CDBaby page for his "I Need A Bailout" album, which also has his Bill Clinton song. Maybe I should buy a copy:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/lshargrove

The Mel Waiters one is getting airplay on WPFW in DC

Re your Maxwell comments, I think these "quiet storm" singers look back not to forceful gospel-rooted soul, but to late 1970s Smokey ala "Quiet Storm" and to Luther Vandross.

I don't think of Irma Thomas as chitlin-circuit soul but sure enough in her rare appearance north at the free outdoor Duke Ellington Festival show at the Washington Monument she sang that song with words that go kinda "I Don't care what you do with my husband, just don't mess with my man." She sounded and looked great. Plus her large band-keyboard, organ and horns included-were tight. She's never gonna overpower ya like Etta or Aretha but she's got gospel-derived strength nonetheless. She did "It's Raining," but alas had no time to do (hah) "Time is on My Side."

The Bobbettes who had a hit in '57 with "Mr. Lee" did an out of the way DC area gig at Harmony Hall in Ft. Washington, MD recently that I missed. Now I see that they're gonna be on a Ponderosa Stomp goes to NY gig at Lincoln Center July 16th.

Chitlin Circuit soul coming to hipsterland!

Dig Deeper and Eli "Paperboy" Reed present:
> > > > >> The Brooklyn Soul Festival
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Featuring: Otis Clay, Barbara Lynn, Maxine Brown, Roscoe
> > > Robinson,
> > > > >> Hermon Hitson, Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves, and the
> > > Sweet
> > > > >> Divines.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Two nights of full sets from legends of soul music from around
> > > the
> > > > >> country, rarely seen individually, never before on the same bill
> > > > >> together � backed by two of the most in-demand bands in soul
> > > music
> > > > >> today. Before and after the live performances, top soul DJs from
> > > > >> around the world will spin the finest 45s for the dancefloor.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> > > > > >>
> > > > >> Day 1: Friday, August 28, 2009
> > > > >> 8pm � 4am
> > > > >> Barbara Lynn (The Soul Queen of the Gulf Coast)
> > > > >> Roscoe Robinson (The Baron of Birmingham, AL)
> > > > >> Hermon Hitson (The Georgia Grinder himself)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Friday's artists backed by The True Loves, fresh off their
> > > world tour
> > > > >> with Eli "Paperboy" Reed, performing songs from his
> > > forthcoming album
> > > > >> on Virgin Records between sets.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Day 2: Saturday, August 29, 2009
> > > > >> 8pm � 4am
> > > > >> Otis Clay (The Crown Prince of Chicago Soul)
> > > > >> Maxine Brown (The Lovely Lady of New York Uptown Soul)
> > > > >> The Sweet Divines (NYC's Old School Soul Sensation)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Saturday's artists backed by The Sweet Divines and the Divine
> > > Soul
> > > > >> Rhythm Band.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Come early - vinyl record & vintage clothing fair, vendors from
> > > > >> around the world � No cover!
> > > > >> 11am � 5pm
> > > > >>

More obscure old soul than contemporary chitlin circuit soul but still good stuff. I saw Otis Clay in Maryland around 2 years ago, but none of the others.

Just heard another great Mel Waiters song-"Ice Chest"

e-mail from the boogiereport.com:

Ms Beverly Goodie or Ms. Goodie as she was known in
the music industry died today 07-17-09 in the privacy of
her Houston home.

Ms. Goodie, has worked with many entertainers, such as
Little Milton, Tyrone Davis, Mel Waiters, Kenne' Wayne,
Floyd Taylor, and currently with Lil Fallay.
She was known as a popular and well loved promoter and artist manager.

Frank Kogan asks the question "What male singers over the age of fifty or acts fronted by a male singer over the age of fifty have made great popular music in the last decade?," which led me to realize I have no idea how old most of the Southern Soul guys that have been hitting this decade (Mel Waiters or Bobby Rush or Sir Charles Jones etc.) are. And most tend not to have Wiki pages. (Also not sure how consistently great their music is, though I expect many Chitlin Circuit over-50s -- both men and women -- have managed a great track or two in the '00s. If Curmudgeon or anybody has ideas, I'd be curious.)

http://koganbot.livejournal.com/156151.html

Just got back from a mostly tech-free vacation. let me think about this...

Good Caramanica Times piece from over the weekend on the return of adult soul music (which had never gone away, as this thread demonstrates.) I'd never heard of "Detroit Ballroom" (apparently a rough equvalent of "Chicago Stepping") before, and Maxwell's music bores the heck out of me, but I still want to check out those K'Jon and Kem hits he talks about. Wonder if that new Al B Sure album is any good, too...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/arts/music/08soul.html

A brand new dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My5fxLYGTVE

Will have to check this stuff out as well, though some of this adult-contemp soul like "quiet storm" stuff from the '80s and '90s always ends up disappointing me.

For another thread I need to discuss the Coney Island dancers I saw up there in Brooklyn on the boardwalk Saturday night, couples dancing and solo dancing uniquely to Latin disco stuff.

Meanwhile out in San Francisco I chatted with a longtime public radio dj who does a soul music show and he uttered the standard critiques of chitlin circuit soul--those terrible synths and cliched raunchy lyrics. I couldn't convince him that some of the synth work has improved and that there are some gems with decent enough lyrics.

Thanks to being on a label that markets to the indie-rock world, Lee Fields is getting crossover attention. On my visit to San Francisco I heard him a bunch on KUSF (but no Malaco or Ecko artists), and I just read a recent Oliver Wang (of Soul Sides blog fame) piece on NPR's website on him. Meanwhile in my neighborhood, Field's still going for his usual crowd--he's gonna be doing a Labor Day weeekend gig down at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland.

On the bill with Lee on Saturday the 5th is somebody named Maurice Wynn, plus great Maryland band the Hardway Connection, Donnie Ray, and others. Just read the following about Maurice, not sure if I have ever heard him:

Much to the consternation of his fans, Maurice Wynn has not been heard from since his great, turn-of-the-century single. "What She Don't Know" has become a staple of Southern Soul--one of those hits that define the very form--yet it remains a brilliant anomaly, like a comet streaking across the sky. And Wynn remains, whether by choice or circumstance, the proverbial one-hit wonder. --Daddy B. Nice

JK McCoy Rest In Peace
The Boogie Report has learned that Music Industry Veteran JK McCoy died yesterday in Montgomery.

McCoy who's given name was Bruce Knight was discovered yesterday when he didnt respond to several attempts to contact him.

McCoy who was CEO of JK Consulting had worked as a radio announcer throughout the southwest he also was the founding editor of the Chitlin Circuit Magazine.

Some folks on the Yahoo Southern Soul e-mail group are raving about Tommy Tate : " When hearts grow cold " CD I have not heard it yet

So several months later, the Southern Soul show on KAZI Austin is now playing an entirely different song also apparently called "I Need A Bailout," slower and less clever and less comical and less catchy than local guy Larry Shannon Hargrove's one (which is still my favorite Southern Soul song of the year, and one of my overall top ten singles). The new one says the guy has two college degrees but got caught with either 10 K's or 10 Keys (as in kilos?), plus his wife left him, so now "like Fanny Mae, AIG, and Chrysler, I need a bailout." It's okay, I guess; don't really recommend it, but do wonder who does it.

Mel Waiters "Everything is Going Up (but my paycheck)" is pretty good too.

soul and blues report.com top 25 http://www.soulandbluesreport.com/sbr/top_25.html

September 4, 2009

1

1 1
Everything Is Going Up
Mel Waiters
Waldoxy

2
2
Man Enough
Karen Wolfe
B & J

4
3
Forbidden Love Affair
Vick Allen
Soul 1st.

3
4
Gone On
Marvin Sease
Malaco

6
5
I Ran A Good Man Away
Lacee
Advantage

7
6
Cheatin' On The Cheatin'
Lenny Williams
Lenlon

5
7
Upside Down
Shirley Brown
Malaco

8
8
That's My Story
Chairman Of The Board
Surfside

12
9
Dog Caught By The Cat
Donnie Ray
Ecko

9
10
Ms. Jody's Thing
Ms. Jody
Ecko

18
11
Rehab
T. K. Soul
Soulful

11
12
Boy Toy
Pat Cooley
L&L

10
13
The Beauty Shop
Omar Cunningham
Soul 1st.

14
14
The Recipe
Bigg Robb
Over25sounds

13
15
I'm A Woman
Nellie Tiger Travis
CDS

15
16
Lock My Door
Jeff Floyd
Wilbe

19
17
Meow
J. Blackfoot
JEA/Right Now

24
18
Around The World
Latimore
Latstone

22
19
Dance The Night Away
Willie Clayton
C&C Ent.

20
20
Love Under Arrest
Lil Fallay
Tubor

17
21
One Night Stand
Andre Lee
Capetown

21
22
On The Back Road
Terry Wright
MacWright

25
23
Sex Appeal
Charles Wilson
CDS

-
24
Dirty Woman
David Brinston / Blackfoot
Ecko

23
25
Look Good For You

Carl MarshallMs. Jody

It's not that NPR doesn't like black music. It merely maintains a strict preference for black music that few actual living African-Americans listen to. Rosen from his slate.com piece

While Jody Rosen kinda has a point with his critique of NPR for only playing black people who are Dead, Old, Retro, or Foreign (DORF), NPR does not play folks on this thread even though they're old(except maybe for Lee Fields who happens to be on an indie-rock label now). I am wondering if Rosen has even seen any of the folks written about on this thread.

I wonder if Jody Rosen of Slate has every heard any of this stuff, or gone to a show

I need to catch up on recent Southern soul releases

I hate when old soul artist gigs are marketed only to (generally white)record collector geeks and indie rockers, but this show was fun even though the $25 price and the obscure names kept the Sharon Jones fans away (and the middle-aged DC African American audience never even knew about the show)...Here's what I posted on the Numero label thread--

Just saw the Eccentric Soul review tour before a small DC crowd. Syl Johnson was a lot of fun--seemed drunk but his raspy soul vocals on numbers like "Any way the Wind Blows," "Come on, Sock it to Me," and "Take Me to the River" sounded great. He was carrying on between several songs about royalties he got from Wu Tang Clan and Kid Rock samples, and he was happily reminiscing about his 1968 appearance at the Howard Theatre. Plus he was wearing a Megadeth t-shirt under his sports jacket. Renaldo Domino wasn't bad and the young backing band JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound were kind of uneven, but mostly impressive. The Notations harmonies and gold jackets were awesome, although they spent too much time doing jokes and schtick.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, November 11, 2009 5:56 AM (9 hours

While the above gig got some attention, tonight's O'Jays and many more Philly soul '70s revue at DAR Constitution Hall in DC has been just advertised on quiet storm radio and via an e-mail thing marketed to suburban Maryland based African-Americans (and me!) so it's getting little crossover attention from record geeks or mainstream media.

Awesome old-school Beaumont, Texas left-handed guitarist singer Barbara Lynn is at the Library of Congress for free at lunchtime/noon and at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage for free and webcast on the K. Ctr site from 6 to 7 today Wednesday November 18th. Check her out on youtube. She had a hit in 62, and another one later that the Rolling Stones covered. Plus Moby sampled her. She's as cool as anyone connected with the Eccentric Soul revue. Maybe even indie-rock Sharon Jones & the Dap-kings fans would like her.

I think my W. City Paper preview is the only publicity the Lynn show has gotten.

She was good not great. I liked her soul material more than the blues stuff and the Elvis cover.

My longtime local faves the Hardway Connection always do well down in the Carolinas with the beach music crowd. Saw this on a blog (some interesting stuff by North Carolina freelancer Dariel B on it):

http://darielb.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/beach-blues-rock-a-big-ole-fish-shtick/

November is going to be a great month for music fans along the S.C. Grand Strand. If Carolina beach music is your bag, a special weekend of Carolina Beach Music Academy (CBMA) awards, live music and shag dancing is set for Nov. 11 – 15

On Saturday, the CBMA Benefit Cookout & Showcase gets started at noon and runs until 3 p.m. The pig pickin’ is being hosted by Carolina deejays Big John Ruth (102.9 FM) and Neal “Soul Dog” Furr. Gary Smith (WLWL 770AM) will host the showcase, which features the Taylor Manning Band along with the Tim Clark Band plus some surprise artists singing to tracks.
The Industry Awards show, hosted by deejays Chad Sain and Ray Scott starts at 4 p.m. at the Spanish Galleon. Get there early. This is a popular event (Saturday passes are required this year.). Saturday night shows include the Fantastic Shakers at the O.D. Beach Club; The Castaways AND Hardway Connection at the Spanish Galleon; Holiday Band at Fat harold’s; Tommy black & Blooz at Duck’s and The Souls AND the Sand Band at Pirate’s Cove.
Sunday morning is the popular band fair (and yes, some of them are awake) where fans can meet the artists, get autographs, photos, Ced, T-shirts and more.
The culmination of the weekend is the annual awards show held at the Alabama Theatre in North Myrtle Beach. R&B performer Clifford Curry (“She Shot a Hole In My Soul,” “We’re Gonta Hate Ourselves In the Morning,” “Beach Music & Barbecue”) is scheduled to perform. So is Nashville’s soul blues artist Rickey Godfrey The 2009 inductees into the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame include R&B singer Chuck Jackson, probably best known for his 1962 recording of “Any Day Now” (Burt Bacharach-Bob Hilliard). He recorded the classic “How Long Have You Been Loving Me” on Carolina Records, a collaboration with Charles Wallet, who penned “Brenda,” O.C. Smith’s 1986 hit single.

http://www.cammy.org/winners.html

Hardway Connection won best National Dance/Shag Song with
"Dirty O' Man”

And Hardway still have no website, no myspace...Nuthin. They're gigging from the Maryland African-American burbs on down through the Carolinas pretty regularly it appears. I think they might even be at Lamonts tonight(a club that has no website). Amazing.

I gotta call the Hardway folks and do an article. It's been 10 years now since I wrote a feature on them for the Washington CP. I wonder if that Carter Barron gig they did then was their last show in DC itself.

Still lots of Southern soul for me to catch up on. Heard great songs from Jeff Floyd and from Miss Jody over the weekend. It's too bad the cheesy synths Ecko was once known for have scared many away from this genre (or at least this thread!).

xchuckx come back, otherwise it's just me talking to myself here (unless folks are lurking).

http://www.soulandbluesreport.com/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=9

I should post that list over on the best magazine and websites of 2009 thread just to offer something other than indie-rock (even if this list is not a critics one or even a year-end one).

Yes I should. Waiting for Hardway's guitarist to call me back. It's like these guys don't want publicity.

http://bluescritic.com/southernsoulbluescharts.htm

I'm still lurking here, btw, curmudgeon; just have somehow, inadvertently, fallen out of the habit of tuning into the Southern soul radio shows here, so I don't have much to say. "I Need A Bailout" by Larry Shannon Hargrove and "There Goes My Baby" by Charlie Wilson did make my Pazz & Jop singles ballot, however. And in the past couple months I've picked up these old chitlin circuit albums used for $1 each.

J. Blackfoot - Physical Attraction (Sound Town 1984)
Freedom - Are You Available (Malaco 1984)
Little Milton - Annie Mae's Cafe (Malaco 1986)
O.B. McClinton - Album No. 2 (Hometown Productions 1986)

Freedom is an interesting self-contained-band mix of down-home red-clay soul and chubbier early '80s commmercial funk (including a Prince cover). That's the only one I've played so far, though I already think it's interesting that Blackfoot covers "I Don't Remember Loving You," a great loss-of-one's-mind song that was a country hit for John Conlee.

Also bought these $1 albums back in October; like both Blands (esp the 1974 one), but haven't gotten to the Smith one yet.

Bobby Bland - Dreamer (Dunhill 1974) (w/ "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City," later sampled in Jay-Z song of the same name)
Bobby Bland - Get On Down With (Dunhill 1975) (w/ covers of Merle Haggard and Charlie Rich songs)
O.C. Smith - Hickory Holler Revisited (Columbia 1968)

O.B. and O.C. probably techically more "African American country" than "Southern Soul," though it's a fine line of course. And they'll always be lumped in with actual southern soulster O.V. Wright in my head.

Wow, those all look great. I forget which old Bobby Bland vinyl I have. I just know a few J. Blackfoot songs, and only know O.B. and O.C. by name. O.V. Wright is the man.

I just decided last minute that another OB, OB Buchana (no periods just OB), has released my southern soul chitlin circuit fave album for the year, "It's My Time" on Ecko. He has previously done that great song "Southern Soul Country Boy". Most soul nerds will knee-jerk snear at the Ecko synths and the lyrics but I think it goes beyond those stereotypes.

It's available for sale as a download from Amazon, I-tunes and Ecko, in addition to other formats.

He's not breaking any new ground, he's just exhibiting the best qualities of the genre

Here's Daddy B. Nice's bio of OB Buchana

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/artistguide.cfm?aid=56

Daddy B says his name is "O.B." not "OB" . Not sure who is right.

He doesn't get much media attention based on the quick google search of websites, news, and blogs I just did. One Brit blogger, one Frenchman and a few US southern soul biz sites.

Maybe 2010 will be the year that the Southern soul will get some crossover attention.

I'm gonna post a Washington City Paper blog post soon on Maryland's Hardway Connection. I spoke recently to their guitarist/songwriter/bandleader. Now I just have to reach the other hard to find DC area soul folks. Then I can move on to reviewing more Southern soul in general (when I'm not busy with my dayjob, family, etc.).

From the Boogie Report:

We regret to report that Bluesman Earl Gaines Past away this afternoon in Nashville.
In 1955 Gaines joined up with Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers as lead singer and scored a #2 R & B smash "It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)," which has become his signature song since. The outfit didn't score a followup hit and Gaines went solo for the same label, Excello, in addition to Champion and Poncello resulting a slew of unsuccessful singles. During this time he sang lead for Bill Doggett's band. In 1966 he finally snagged a hit under his own name with "Best Of Luck To You" (#28 R 7 B) for the HBR label. He subsequently recorded record for Hollywood, Athens Deluxe/King and Seventy-Seven, including "Hymn Number 5". Gaines recorded a single for Ace in 1975 ("Drowning On Dry Land") but then embarked on a fourteen year hiatus from the studio and working as a truck driver. He resurged in 1989 with a new album "House Party" on Meltone Records, and this began his eventual comeback thanks in large part to producer Fred James. James, a Nashville- based producer whose affection for the classic Excello sound also resulted in the resurrection of onetime label staples including Clifford Curry and Roscoe Shelton; for Appaloosa, Gaines issued his 1995 comeback effort, "I Believe in Your Love", and in 1997 he also joined Curry and Shelton for a joint live recording. Since then he's appeared on a host of labels, culminating in his 2008 CD for Memphis-based Ecko Records. (Courtesy BluesCritic)

I'm guessing Chitlin Circuit roots can be heard on these 2 Memphis, Tenn. related '09 archival releases I'd like to hear:

. Various Artists , Designer Records Reissues (Big Legal Mess/ Fat Possum)

From the mid-'60s to the late-'70s, record moguls Style Wooten and Charles Bowen recorded gospel acts in Memphis.

George Jackson, In Memphis 1972-1977 (Ace Records)

This U.K. compilation gathers together the work of Southern soul songwriter George Jackson.

I need to start posting youtube videos on this thread. Here's an old OB Buchana song "This Party is a Mutha"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO62r6oapkg&feature=related

I wonder if the old-school soul purists who hate Ecko and Malaco synths and Southern Soul lyrics will ever come back to this thread? Maybe they're lurking.

So has anybody out there on the internetz heard of a club called Peachez in Upper Marlboro, Maryland? I hear they're booking Southern soul there.

The Boogie Report
Jan.03 2010

1.I Don't Want To Leave -Shirley Brown
2.Everybody Knows -The Revelations fea Tre Williams
3.My Dog -Marvin Sease
4.You've Been Good -O.B Buchana
5.Do What He Didn't Do Nellie Tiger Travis
6.Shake Your Money Maker -Willie Clayton
7.Please Can You Lend The Soul -1st Allstars
8.Bring It On Home -Sir Charles Jones
9.Run'n -Stephanie Pickett
10.Just Aint Good -James Smith
11.Blind Snake -Bobby Rush
12.I Wouldn't Beg -Bigg Robb
13.Juicy Lips -Lacee
14.I'm Hooked -Vick Allen
15.The Right Woman -Omar Cunningham
16.Grown Folks Bizness -Kello Aman
17.Around The World -Latimore
18.Southern Soul Party Groove -Karen Wolfe
19.Rehab -TK Soul
20.I Dont Mind -Special

As I expected, since Lee Fields '09 cd was marketed to indie folks he got 7 album votes in the Voice critics poll (696 voters), but only me voted for OB Buchana. He is on Ecko and that label does market to indie-rockers or college radio listeners. Some of those retro-soul folks that get NPR crossover stories got votes-- what's that blue-eyed guy's name--Hawthorne , I think.

Does NOT market to...

You know what I mean, you lurkers

Song I heard today that I liked "kittie, kittie".

Gonna go see Jim Bennett & Lady Mary tonight at Omia's Grill out in Herndon, VA. A Larry Robinson B-Funk production--he brings Southern soul to the Virginia DC exurban burbs

Jim Bennett & Lady Mary did a mixture of covers(Chuck Brown, Pendergrass, D. Lasalle, Otis Redding and more) and originals, and DJ Larry B-Funk Robinson filled the floor beforehand with Southern soul and a bit of go-go. Crowd demographic in the small packed room of 40--um, mostly African-American and female (and big) and 50 with a few scattered white folks (who appeared to know other folks there unlike me and my buddy). Wish I knew the names and artists of some of the songs Robinson was playing and especiaaly the one that got women linedancing

A fun night even if the performers weren't the greatest. You soul music record nerds who won't listen to current stuff on Ecko and other labels cuz of the synths and the formulaic lyrics, are missing out if you don't giuve this stuff a chance live or on your internets

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/corner2008.cfm

2008: The Year In Southern Soul
It was a year when the Southern Soul pendulum swung back towards the center. The hiphop influence ( T. K. Soul, Simeo, Bigg Robb, Cupid) waned--at least temporarily--as those artists for the most part took a "breather" on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, traditional Southern Soul sounds rebounded with a vengeance via the work of Floyd Taylor, Nellie "Tiger" Travis, L. J. Echols, Latimore, Ms. Jody, O. B. Buchana, Jeff Floyd, Sheba Potts-Wright, Lee "Shot" Williams, Stan Mosley and others.

The "freshest" new influence was . . .

a gospel-cum-barbershop sound that sparkled with revolutionary harmonies in the outstanding new music of Omar Cunningham ("My Life") and Luther Lackey ("I Should Have Stayed Scared").

It was a year when Stevie Jay reminded us all (in his incandescent single "Because Of Me") that you can muster a great Southern Soul vocal without shouting and screaming and writhing and wailing--in fact, without vocalizing much higher than a sugary whisper.

2008 was a year when two songs, "I Wanna Bump" by John Haley and "Good Old Country Boy" by Earl Gaines, illustrated the maxim, "You can never get enough of a good thing," the former piggy-backing on the success of James Payne's cover of the Joe Tex standard "Ain't Gonna Bump No More With No Big Fat Woman" and the latter traveling on the popularity of Denise LaSalle's and Charles Wilson's "Mississippi Woman"/"Mississippi Boy."

It was a year when Latimore's comeback song, "My Give A Damn Gave Out" showed the legs of a long-distance runner, a year when the folksy side of Southern Soul ("Stand Up In It," anyone?) scored big with L. J. Echols' "From The Back," a year when the Jo-Us Band's "I'll Be Doggone" became 2008's version of "Cuttin' Up Sideways" by Joy, woolly and infectious.

It was a year when Mary K. Blige's beautiful yet robust ballad "Stay Down" showed all those urban R&B-slash-Southern Soul deejay-divas exactly where Southern Soul's "smooth" G-spot really is.

Finally, it was a year when more than a few artists (Bobby Rush, Chick Willis, Billy "Soul" Bonds, etc.) jumped into the political arena--albeit musically--with the dazzling and surprising ascension of Barack Obama to first Democratic candidate for President and then President-elect.

The best line of the year was . . .

Chandra Calloway's "I was gonna give it to ya/ Until you opened your mouth," a snapshot of every playa's dilemma chasing that "hottie" in the club.

That was until, later in the year, Karen Wolfe (via songwriter Omar Cunningham) came up with the even better line, "If you're man enough to leave/ I'm woman enough to let you go," reminding your Daddy B. Nice of a year of marital stress when he wasn't "man enough," instead boarding up the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, effectively dividing the house in two rather than leave the property or sell. Touche', Karen.

Last but surely not least, 2008 was the year Senator Jones died. The impresario of the night, the wild chairman of Southern Soul, the mastermind of Hep'Me Records always had his finger on the pulse of Southern Soul and was never afraid (unlike almost all the other producers) of calling it "Southern Soul," a trait for which (among others) your Daddy B. Nice will forever cherish him.

The Senator didn't always "click," but when he did--for instance, the hilarious, deep-bass-voiced, shades-of-The Coasters introduction to Miz B.'s "My Name Is $$$$'s"--it was like a nuclear bomb hitting the radio, leaving the rest of us crawling around the desert floor muttering "We are not worthy, we are not worthy."

We can only hope that, without him, we will not lose our way.

--Daddy B. Nice

***********************

The "DADDIES":
And The Winners of the 2nd Annual (2008) Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Awards Are. . .
Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Mid-Tempo Southern Soul Song of 2008:

"Man Enough" by Karen Wolfe

Top Contenders: Nellie "Tiger" Travis' "Slap Yo' Weave Off," L. J. Echols "From The Back," Willie Clayton's "A Woman Knows," Reggie P.'s "Your Love Is A Bad Habit"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Club Song of 2008:

"Don't Stop The Music" by Mose Stovall

Top Contenders: Ms. Jody's "Ms. Jody's Thing," Mr. X's "Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle," Nellie "Tiger" Travis' "I'm A Woman"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Collaboration of 2008:

"I'm A Bluesman's Daughter" by Sheba Potts-Wright w/ Dr. "Feelgood" Potts

Top Contenders: Pat Brown & The Rhythm All-Stars' "Got Something That Will Hold Him," Charles Wilson and Mel Waiters' "Something Different About You"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Ballad of 2008:

"Because Of Me" by Stevie Jay

Top Contenders: O. B. Buchana's "Just Because He's Good To You," Ricky White's "I'll Always Love You," Floyd Taylor's "What If He Knew"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Song By A Longtime Veteran in 2008:

"Man Up" by Stan Mosley

Top Contenders: Booker Brown's "Ladies' Night," Latimore's "Nanna Puddin'," Lee "Shot" Williams' "Country Woman"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Female Southern Soul Vocalist of 2008:

Nellie "Tiger" Travis ("Slap Yo' Weave Off," "I'm A Woman," "M.O.D.")

Top Contenders: Karen Wolfe, Sheba Potts-Wright, Ms. Jody, Chandra Calloway

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Male Southern Soul Vocalist of 2008:

Luther Lackey ("I Should Have Stayed Scared," "Number Two," "I Don't Care Who's Gettin' It")

Top Contenders: Omar Cunningham, L. J. Echols, O. B. Buchana, Stevie Jay, Ricky White

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Airplay Breakthrough By A Veteran (Non-Debut) Southern Soul Artist in 2008

L. J. Echols ("From The Back")

Top Contenders: Karen Wolfe, Booker Brown, Mose Stovall, Luther Lackey

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Hardest-Touring Southern Soul Crowd-Pleaser of 2008:

Mel Waiters

Top Contenders: Dave Mack, T. K. Soul, O. B. Buchana

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song of 2008:

"Obama" by Chick Willis

Top Contenders: Floyd Taylor's "Hooked On These Blues," Sheba Potts-Wright's "I'm A Bluesman's Daughter," Bobby Rush's "Bobby Rush For President"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best "Cover" Song By A Southern Soul Artist in 2008:

"I Wanna Bump" by John Haley (covering Joe Tex and James Payne)

Top Contenders: The Bar-Kays w/ Evelyn "Champagne" King's "If Loving You Is Wrong," Honey's "Turn Back The Hands Of Time"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best "Out Of Left Field" Southern Soul Song of 2008:

"Ring On Your Finger" by La'Morris Williams

Top Contenders: Jo-us Band's "I'll Be Doggone," Simeo's "Windows (We Roll, Southern Soul)"

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Songwriter of 2008:

John Ward

(O. B. Buchana's "Just Because He's Good To You," Sheba Potts-Wright's "I'm A Bluesman's Daughter," and with co-writer Gerod Rayborn, Carl Sims' "I Like This Place," and with co-writer Raymond Moore, Ms. Jody's "Ms. Jody's Thing" and David Brinston's "I Just Love Women")

Top Contenders: Omar Cunningham, Luther Lackey, Floyd Hamberlin

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Arranger/Producer of 2008:

Luther Lackey (for Luther Lackey's I Should Have Stayed Scared CD)

Top Contenders: John Ward, Floyd Hamberlin

Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul Debut of 2008:

Stevie Jay (2 Sides Of A Man CD)

Top Contenders: The Rhythm All-Stars, Chandra Calloway, Mr. X

And Added This Year: The Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Award for Best Southern Soul CD Of 2008:

Nellie "Tiger" Travis (I'm A Woman, CDS)

Top Contenders: Luther Lackey (I Should Have Stayed Scared, Ecko), Stevie Jay (2 Sides Of A Man, Senator Jones)

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Uh, oops, that was the best of 2008, a year late! 2009 winners look like they're on his blog somewhere, though; still need to poke around...

Okay, here's this -- with the single that made my Pazz & Jop ballot way down at #17, and the one Steve voted at #15!

Daddy B. Nice's

TOP 25 SOUTHERN SOUL SONGS OF 2009 (Scroll down for the Year's Singles)

1. "Rehab"--------T. K. Soul

Every musical phrase is a pleasant surprise. You can listen to it again and again, marvelling at this or that melodic element. One rarely finds such awesome technique in the company of such convincing emotion. From a purely musical standpoint, "Rehab" may very well be the best song T. K. Soul has ever recorded.

Bargain-Priced The Evolution Of Soul CD, MP3's

2. "We Can Do It"------------------LaMorris Williams

A Southern Soul legend--the youngest of the gospel-singing Williams family--is born. In 2008 he teased us with "Ring On Your Finger"; in 2009 he wowed us with "We Can Do It." The long-anticipated album will be available soon. These words from "We Can Do It"--

"You can make me holler
In the back of my Impala."

--will become Southern Soul currency for years to come.

3. "It Ain't That Kind Of Party" ----------------Karen Wolfe

Remember the bandana, tied in an Aunt Jemima knot in the center of his forehead, that Morris Day wears before he gets all "prettified" to go out and do battle with his rival Prince in the movie "Purple Rain"?

I can imagine Karen Wolfe singing "It Ain't That Kind Of Party" in such a do-rag. Hell, I'll confess. I can even imagine her singing it barefooted. Karen Wolfe's vocal exudes that down-home, funky, no-frills quality that most perfectly epitomizes the Southern Soul style.

The song isn't perfect--its bare arrangement may deter some--but neither was "Man Enough," last year's career-defining hit. "It Ain't That Kind Of Party" is much better technically than "Man Enough" and it rocks just as much.

What both songs have in spades is that rare and vital element: locomotion. Listen to it twice, and you'll be teetering on the edge of liking it. Listen to it a full third time, and you'll be playing it for months--and glad you did.

Bargain-Priced Every Woman Needs A Strong Man CD, MP3's

4. "I'm Gone Party" ------------------------------L. J. Echols

You may recall the inspired grafting of Sir Charles Jones' "Is Anybody Lonely?" to J. Blackfoot's "I'm Just A Fool For You" (See Daddy B. Nice's #2 Southern Soul Single of 2007) to come up with "I'm Just A Fool Part 2."

In producing rising Southern Soul star L. J. Echols' "I'm Gone Party" Sir Charles returned to "Is Anybody Lonely?", this time for the marvelous hook-and-horn charts.

The result was L.J. at his most authentically James Tayloresque (his admiration for the singer-songwriter was expressed to your Daddy B. Nice by L. J. himself) and Sir Charles at his most Brian Eno-ish, a new-age-ethereal hybrid unlike anything you have ever heard.

The immediacy of experience conveyed in this vocal is nothing short of amazing. Like Karen Wolfe, L. J. Echol's vocals have an indescribable homespun quality.

When I first heard him, two or three years ago, I thought he was "good." but with the new album, Another Level, L. J.'s on the cusp of becoming a major force to be reckoned with--and an influence on all of Southern Soul.

Bargain-Priced Another Level CD, MP3's

5. "I'm Gone Tell Momma" --------------------Unckle Eddie w/ Crystal Dylite

The tale of a would-be player brought down by his precocious school-aged daughter (enacted by Crystal Dylite), who is bound and determined to "tell Momma" every last little transgression committed by Daddy in the course of the day's errands. Every venial sin of the chitlin' circuit is catalogued, although it's the relatively tame lines that are most hilarious:

"I told him, 'Momma's gonna get you
For changing it from the gospel station,'
And he told me he ain't worried about you."

Unckle Eddie makes a huge grab at Poonanny's comedy throne.

Bargain-Priced Shake The Dust Off CD, MP3's

6. "The Man With The Singing Ding-A-Ling" --------------by Frank Lucas

"I'm looking for a cherry, baby,
On my banana split. . . " says it all, but Frank Lucas just ain't gonna let that go.

The song alternates between the romantic (we're talking "romantic" from a masculine perspective here, ladies) and the funny. Romantic when it best approximates the feverish buzz of a man about to do the deed. Funny when it goes over the top and you can imagine the woman bursting into laughter.

The people in the "business" who are turning up their noses at the silliness and/or the "X-rated-ness" of the lyrics are the same people who were turning up their noses when Marvin Sease's "Candy Licker" and "Hoochie Momma" first came out--and they refused to play him, too.

The great melody and atmosphere are derived from The Rascals' "Groovin'" and even more recently from Betty Wright's "Tonight Is The Night."

>Bargain-Priced Dirty Ol' Man CD

7. "Good Girls Do Bad Things" -----------------Sweet Angel

An early song of Sweet Angel's, "Mike's Place," which I admired for its straightforward pop-by-way-of-blues structure, was a forerunner of the much more distinguished "Good Girls Do Bad Things," in which Sweet Angel radiates so much sweet sexual heat you have to open a window.

Speaking of sexual heat, all you skinny folks in the Northeast and West who smile dismissively and roll your eyes whenever you hear that big women can be sexy, too, need to catch Sweet Angel singing "Good Girls Do Bad Things" in concert or via video stream. You will be disabused of your prejudice.

John Ward, Morris Williams et. al. have had a lot of fine moments, but this may be the closest the Ecko Records studio group has come to nirvana. Everything's perfect: the rhythm section, the piping sound of the synth hook and the background chorus, which took your Daddy B. Nice all the way back to fifties' songs like Jim Lowe's "Green Door."

Bargain-Priced Bold Bitch CD, MP3's

8. "Gone On" ------Marvin Sease

Speaking of great studio groups, Marvin Sease scored the studio band from heaven (or was it Malaco Records?) on "Gone On." The band, the arrangement and the mix are absolutely magical, and the recitation of passed artists--including "sweet Jackie Neal"--superb. Only Marvin could do it like this.

Bargain-Priced Who's Got The Power CD, MP3's

9. "I Ran A Good Man Away" --------------------Lacee'

"I ran a good man away.
I know I made a mistake."

This is a young lady with a lot of brass reminding all the singing ladies of all ages out there how to get down. And this is what musicians are talking about when they say there is only "good music" and "bad music". You could transfer this song, as midnight-black and soulful as it sounds, intact to contemporary country and you'd still probably have a hit--maybe even bigger.

Bargain-Priced Lacee's Groove CD, MP3's

10. "Meow (Pussy Cat Remix)" ---J. Blackfoot

"I'm a dog. I'm genuine. I'm canine. I'm pedigree."

Not at all derivative (as you might think), "Meow" is a masterful tune reminiscent of Carl Sims' best dance jams, with a great mid-tempo groove and a kick-ass arrangement right down to the unfriendly barking dog.

But the "Pussy Cat Remix" is even better, transporting the song back to the days when Top 40 AM radio ruled and the great songs of the day came over the air waves riddled to a greater or lesser extent with static. There was no talk radio. The deejays talked to their listeners while queuing up the songs, and the conversations were often disjointed and unbelievable.

That's a little of what J. Blackfoot captures.

For being a seemingly old-fashioned kind of singer ("Taxi," the Soul Children, the duets with Ann Hines, etc.), Blackfoot is a remarkably cutting-edge figure who is still on top of his game.

Bargain-Priced Wolf Wolf Meow CD, MP3's

11. "You're Just Playing With It" ------Ann Hines & O. B. Buchana

Sometimes a song comes out and although it seems a little light and generic, it strikes a chord with the audience. You can put "Maybelline" by Chuck Berry and "Good Golly Miss Molly" by Little Richard in that category. Now, with the radio single cover by J. Blackfoot's old singing partner, Ann Hines, we add O. B. Buchana's "You're Just Playing With It."

The rousing cover, with lyrics even more ribald and pointed than the original, brings home the Southern Soul essence of the tune. Note the links go to the original version on Buchana's second-last CD, but you can call and request the Hines/Buchana version from just about any self-respecting Southern Soul deejay.

Bargain-Priced Southern Soul Country Boy CD, MP3's

12. "Hard Times" -------------------------(Mr.) Zay

"They say my life ain't worth living,
And time is slowly ticking away."

Listeners familiar with the beautiful hiphop-oriented ballad by K-jon, "My Ship Is Coming In" (the "Across The Ocean" song), may find it hard to believe that Mr. Zay's "Hard Times" (which preceded it) could possibly be better. But the song is more fully fleshed-out, more sophisticated in arrangement, lushly romantic and orchestral, with even a rap verse to add just the right contrast.

If you loved K-jon's ballad or Jaheim's "Put That Woman First" (based on William Bell's "I Forgot To Be Your Lover"), you'll love Mr. Zay's beautifully-sung and awe-inspiring masterpiece.

Bargain-Priced Zay's Way CD, MP3's

13. "Why Did You Walk On My Love?" ------------The Real Brown Sugar

Singing from a pair of lungs as deep as a 55-gallon drum, The Real Brown Sugar is oh so believable and blessed with enough talent to immediately join the ranks of Southern Soul songstresses.

Although there's no overt reference to body type, "Why Did You Walk On My Love" is in the great tradition of Kelly Price's "Friend Of Mine" and so many other "broken-hearted big-woman" songs by Southern Soul singers.

Bargain-Priced Why Did You Walk On My Love? EP, MP3'S

14. "You're So Sexy" -----------Lebrado

The title cut from Lebrado's new album Fire received the bulk of the air play--no doubt about that--but I just couldn't make the jump from the mid-tempo serenity of "I'm Missin' You Babe," Lebrado's signature tune, to the freneticism and in-your-face insistence of "Fire." "You're So Sexy" is the way I like my Lebrado. Groovy. Sinuous. Flowing.

Bargain-Priced Fire CD, MP3's

15. "Everything's Going Up" --------------Mel Waiters

In an average year this hooky novelty song by the Southern Soul master would have charted even higher. One wonders what the old song-slinger himself anticipated. It's a good little melody with recession-apropos lyrics executed with taste and wit. When Mel plays with the "Every-every-every-every"--almost as if the needle was stuck--mid-way through the song, his trademark baritone sails out of the park like a home run ball.

16. "Upside Down" ----------------Shirley Brown

"How can a love so good
Be. . . so. . . bad?"

She knows when to sing notes, she knows when to yell them, and she can sing and yell. She can be as raw as a fifteen-year-old or as seen-it-all as a streetwise senior.

She's Shirley Brown, and it's hard to believe it's been five years since Woman Enough, the album with "Sleep With One Eye Open" and "Poon Tang Man" and "Too Much Candy," recreated Shirley as a contemporary Southern Soul star. That it seems like only yesterday is a testament to the power of those songs.

"Upside Down" and the new album Unleashed are on the same level. Hummable, danceable, and meditative by turns, song after song "unleashes" an avalanche of Southern Soul.

Shirley Brown's coralling today's Southern Soul standards and delivering them with a "wow" factor, just as you would imagine the Queen of Divas doing. A strong candidate for best ballad and best album of the year.

Bargain-Priced Unleashed CD

17. "I Need a Bailout" --------------Larry Shannon Hargrove

Texas tenor Larry Shannon Hargrove delivered his best song since "Leave Bill Clinton Alone" with 2009's accomplished complaint of the common man: "I Need A Bailout."

"You bailed out Bear Stearns,
Bailed out AIG.
I just wanna know,
Can you do the same for me?"

He didn't get a lot of air play from Southern Soul deejays, which might be because he was the new kid on the block, from a new neighborhood (Austin), or it might be because he didn't distribute his record to enough of the key deejays in the circuit. In any case, here's hoping he doesn't give up, because the man arrives at the Southern Soul junction with all of the tools.

Bargain-Priced I Need A Bailout CD, MP3's

18. "It's BYOB"----Donnie Ray

Mellifluous-voiced Donnie Ray Aldredge had a banner year: two CD's, a chitlin' circuit favorite in "This Time The Dog Got Caught By The Cat" (an update of Ms. Jody's "Your Dog Is Killing My Cat"), a cutting-edge rocker in "I'm Your Sucker," and--just as the year was ending--this fine-as-spun-Egyptian-cotton dance jam done in Donnie Ray's most melodious style.

"It's BYOB" boasted a quirkiness and originality that surprised even longtime Donnie Ray fans. The fart-sounding horn part--like the cornet player's playing with a mute and tipsy-drunk and in the act of falling backwards off his chair--was a lovely touch, lending the song the personality required of a future standard.

Bargain-Priced It's BYOB CD, MP3's

19. "Look Good For You" ------------------Carl Marshall

This catchy anthem from Southern Soul's deep-thinker, secular-preacher and philosopher-king entered your Daddy B. Nice's life as few others did in 2009.

As Carl explains in the song:

"When you look good for you,
It sends out a signal to the other person.
'I love you with all my heart.' . . .

That makes the romance stay alive."

So whenever I found myself dropping Rogaine on the balding top of my head (which you're supposed to do twice a day if you want to keep your hair), smearing that thin hair in the goo and making myself look terrible even though I was around the house with my wife, I'd think of Carl's admonition and bite my lip.

And whenever my better half and I had a conversation about what I should wear (something I never consulted a woman about when I was younger), and she said:

"It doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you,"

I'd reply, "I just have to look good for you," and smile and think of Carl's song.

Bargain-Priced Look Good For You CD, MP3's

20. "It Sho' Wasn't Me"-----------------Black Zack

Two hiphoppers cracked the Southern Soul market in 2009, but just barely. Rude transformed Smokey Robinson's "Share This Life With Me" into a song called "Show Me Baby," exciting the lucky few who got to hear it.

And Black Zack did a monster of an original cover of the Ronnie Lovejoy classic, "Sho' Wasn't Me," which went sadly unnoticed. What made the song unique was that it was really the first instance of a rap act embracing Southern Soul, and even more, understanding it, after having thoroughly absorbed it, and breathing it out of every pore.

Black Zack's "Sho' Wasn't Me" combined a straightforward vocal treatment of the finest song in contemporary Southern Soul with an amazingly charming rap track. Here's hoping the modest but constant publicity we've given it here on SouthernSoulRnB will save the song from undeserved oblivion. There isn't another cover--even by heavyweights such as Tyrone Davis--that's finer.

Black Zack Postscript:

Shortly after this appeared, I received an e-mail of thanks from the heretofore obscure Black Zack, who says the single was produced by (surprise) Southern Soul's own Bruce Billups (Theodis Ealey's, etc. producer)

Not only that. The performer singing the traditional melody of "Sho' Wasn't Me" over the rap is Southern Soul's own Fred Bolton, a young singer/songwriter with one creditable CD published. A sad note: Fred Bolton passed away in 2009, not long after recording this.

Nevertheless, this rappers' version of "Sho' Wasn't Me" is a supremely happy record.

21. "The Beauty Shop" ----------------Omar Cunningham

What a year for Omar Cunningham, with a great CD, Time Served, a masterful autobiographical cut, "My Life," and the songwriting credits for Karen Wolfe's smash hit, "Man Enough."

But it was the sleeper hit "The Beauty Shop" that resonated most. The story of "the beauty shop putting our business out in the street" struck a deep and definite chord with the audience, and the amazing vocal and swinging arrangement put it over the top. With its barberhop-style chorus quickly becoming a Cunningham trademark, the song propelled Omar's stock to record heights.

Bargain-Priced Time Served CD, MP3's

22. Mr. Booty Do Right ---------------Jody Sticker

As much as I like it, I've never been able to figure out the song--the structure of the thing--the thing that makes it work. It reminds me of turn-of-century Mardi Gras and Hep'Me Records--vintage nostalgia--and that's Sir Charles on background vocals.

It also has Sir Charles in the studio, his wizardry with the strings and special synthesizer effects recalling early Hep'Me. As with Sir Charles' work with L. J. Echols (see #4 above), the contrast of the arrangement with the vocal by Jody Sticker is dizzyingly contrapuntal.

Speaking of the vocal. . . In a CD review of the album earlier this year, I called Jody Sticker "one of the sorriest soul singers ever," which may have ruffled a few feathers. But that was in the context of calling Bob Dylan--one of my very favorite artists--one of the worst singers ever. I was trying to make the point that you do not go to these artists for their vocals.

Now if you're talking about a specific album, like the super-soulful Blonde On Blonde, I'd have to say Dylan (a Jimmy Reed disciple) was absolutely great, even with his limited--or shall we say, odd--vocal equipment. The same goes for Jody Sticker on "Mr. Booty Do Right." He's absolutely right-on and terrific: the track could not be sung any better.

In summation, this is one of the oddest songs by one of the oddest singers in Southern Soul music, but I have a sneaky feeling its shape may become more discernible as time goes on and that the future may consider "Mr. Booty Do Right" one of the very best songs of 2009.

Bargain-Priced Mr. Booty Do Right CD, MP3's

23. "Around The World" -----------------Latimore

This flawless piece of R&B by the artist who arguably started it all for Southern Soul reminds me of Clarence Carter's overlooked masterpiece of a few years ago: "What Was I Supposed To Do?", a dreamy, plaintive, surprisingly-symphonic tune.

When I say "the artist who started it all," I'm referring, of course, to Latimore's seventies-era monologue-driven superhit, "Let's Straighten It Out," which has became one of the most common templates for contemporary, Southern-style, Southern-oriented rhythm and blues writers and performers.

One thinks of Latimore, Carter, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Peggy Scott-Adams as greying monoliths who are no longer into recording, but with Latt's recent Back 'Atcha and now All About The Rhythm And The Blues, he's defying those assumptions.

And it's hard to argue that one of the greatest soul singers of this or any era is done when he concocts product this good.

Bargain-Priced All About The Rhythm And The Blues CD, MP3's

24. "Forbidden Love Affair" ------------Vick Allen

Like a Joey Ramone of Southern Soul, Vick Allen pumps out short, catchy, hard-hitting pop tunes, one after another, generous and bounteous to a fault. The fair sex in particular loved this story of a blameless girl in seemingly innocent circumstances--church!--falling into temptation anyway. If you can't find shelter from the storm in worship, where can you be safe?

But. . .

"I made love to the preacher,
And he's got kids and a wife.
My friends all say I must be crazy.
I'm beginning to think they're right."

The fact that just about every Southern Soul performer started singing as a child on Sunday lent this parable a special resonance.

By the end of the tune, Vick has completely turned the tables on the gospel and rhythm & blues dichotomy. He's preaching to the preacher:

"Don't bother mine,
And I won't bother yours.
Just stick to the good book.
That's what we come here for."

Comparison-Priced Truth Be Told CD

25. "Love Under Arrest" --------------Lil' Fallay

Lil' Fallay has created a sizeable body of work--almost all of it obscure and/or overlooked--but "Love Under Arrest" catapults Lil' Fallay to a whole new level. The song is light-years above anything I've previouisly heard from the Louisiana legend, and it's worthy of being considered one of the finest songs of this or any year.

The arrangement is full-blown, articulate and--above all--musically terrific. Fans who loved Larry Milton's "Back In Love Again" or (more well-known) Jeff Floyd's classics "I Found Love (On A Lonely Highway)" or "Lock My Door" should fall helplessly in love with this unexpected treat.

Bargain-Priced Strong Enough (A True Story) CD

Daddy B. Nice adds:

Is that 25 already? I haven't even gotten to Willie Clayton's "Dance The Night Away," not to mention Lenny Williams' "Cheatin' On Cheatin," or Chuck Roberson's "I Want You To Rock Me". . .

But the more songs I list, the more worthy songs I'm guilty of omitting. Look to Daddy B. Nice's "Finalists for Daddy Awards" for an even more comprehensive look at all of 2009's musical offerings.

--Daddy B. Nice

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/corner2010.cfm

And...

2009: The Year In Southern Soul

It was the year an African-American intellectual (by way of Hawaii!) assumed the Presidency of the United States, and Southern Soul stars from the young (Larry Shannon Hargrove) to the old (Chuck Roberson in luminous green) had their cover photos taken in front of the familiar black grillwork behind the White House.

It was the year of MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. It was the year of streaming video. Not only could people make friends online, they could see their most cherished acts onstage performing their favorite songs.

Once again, the mainstream media's obsession with domestic scandals, in this case the numerous comedy routines and musical "slow jams" to the accompaniment of the notorious Tiger Woods' voice mail, made the same media's knock against Southern Soul's emphasis on "cheating" sound like the pot calling the kettle black.

If 2009 proved anything, it was that Southern Soul music was America's new rock and roll, embracing variety, exuberance and irreverance, and nowhere was the resemblance more evident than in the cover mania that swept Southern Soul by year's end.

Sir Charles Jones did a vintage-soul tribute album covering the songs of Sam Cooke and others, Calvin Richardson recorded a tribute album devoted to Bobby Womack (see January's Featured Artist), and Uvee Hayes and Otis Clay reprised Johnnie Taylor's "Play Something Pretty."

Shirley Brown covered Luther Lackey's "Call Your Outside Woman" (under the title "You Ain't Gonna Get No More Of My Love"), Denise LaSalle covered Toni ("Southern Soul Music") Green's "Cheat Receipt," and Marvin Sease did Johnnie Taylor's "Soul Heaven" one better with his seductive memorial to passed stars, "Gone On."

Ann Hines covered O. B. Buchana's "You're Just Playing With It," her rousing rendition with Buchana on co-vocals underlining the song's legitimacy as a Southern Soul standard in just the way early rock and roll and R&B cannibalized and piggy-backed on one another's hits. It was a nightmare for songwriter credits but a sign of the genre's wild-west vitality.

It was a year of great comedy records, from Unckle Eddie's "I'm Gone Tell Momma" with schoolgirl-sounding Crystal Dylite to Frank Lucas's ode to Don Juans (or Tiger Woods?) everywhere, "The Man With The Singing Ding-A-Ling," not to mention Mel Waiter's wry assessment of 2009's economy, "Everything's Going Up."

An Atlanta-based act named Black Zack (or Zac) concocted a dazzling and charming cover of Ronnie Lovejoy's classic, "Sho' Wasn't Me," but due to the dysfunctional state of the Big A's Southern Soul scene (dutifully recorded by irate fans in Daddy B. Nice's Mailbag throughout the year), no one ever heard it.

After the brilliant peak represented by his Full Circle and Gifted albums, Willie Clayton took a breather and retrenched, exploring his roots in Soul Blues and having some light-hearted fun in Love, Romance & Respect.

Bigg Robb appeared to take a step back from Southern Soul, back to his Ohio/Zap/funk/hiphop roots. And somewhat surprisingly, Nellie "Tiger" Travis shunned the wild success of her Southern Soul I'm A Woman CD for the more straight-traditionalist-blues sounds of her hometown Chicago.

On the other hand, Wendell B. returned to the fold with not one but two CD's guaranteed to ingratiate himself again with Southern Soul fans.

The best lines of the year came from Lacee' Reed's "I Ran A Good Man Away"--also one of the best titles of the year.

"You see, I came with
A lot of baggage from my past.
I had been with a few other guys
Who mistreated me so bad."

And the enthusiastic, year-long response to Omar Cunningham's "The Beauty Shop" and Vick Allen's "Forbidden Love Affair" proved once again that the Southern Soul audience likes its music with a story line.

Daddy B. Nice's emerging stars of 2008 came through big-time. Karen Wolfe (Best song, "Man Enough") dominated air play all through 2009. LaMorris Williams became the new "heartbreak kid" of Southern Soul's capital city, Jackson, Mississippi with his "We Can Do It." And L. J. Echols made love to his fans "From The Back" all through 2009, along the way becoming the hardest-touring act since T. K. Soul.

The musical product of the year had a fascinating symmetry: on the one hand, the polished and class-act offerings of longtime veterans like Latimore ("Around The World") and Shirley Brown ("Upside Down"); and on the other, the immediacy of experience powering the work of the genre's amazing young stars (Karen, Lacee, L.J. and LaMorris).

Meanwhile, T. K. Soul ("Rehab") and Jeff Floyd ("Lock My Door") just kept doing what they do best: satisfying their fans.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert brought black and white together once again--and tears to the eyes of old-timers like your Daddy B. Nice--none more so than Smokey Robinson singing "The Tracks Of My Tears" as if it had just been composed yesterday.

Daddy B. Nice's special stocking stuffers (a bag of delicious truffles) go out to Dylann DeAnna, whose ambitious efforts at CDS Records, albeit with vastly different material, helped fill the void left by the passing of Senator Jones and Hep'Me Records.

Daddy B. Nice is also stuffing the stockings--in the form of actual melodies, verse and chorus songs--to reinvigorate the work of Carl Marshall, Walter Waiters, Steve Perry, and 100% Cotton, all of whom are trying to get by on one-riff chants. That's the hiphop cop-out, fellas.

Also, a big bonbon and Mars bar to Ecko Records' John Ward, whose "Soul Blues Report" became an indispensable daily headline service for the Southern Soul Internet community.

Finally, a bear hug for Jerry "Boogie" Mason of the "Boogie Report," the hardest-working guy besides your Daddy in the business.

Boogie recently relocated from Alabama or Georgia (I forget which) to Jackson, Mississippi, and even more recently from the northern suburbs to the central hood. The upshot was that in 2009 your Daddy B. Nice was able to call WMPR and say, "What's up, Boog'?"

Yup, he was sitting in the number-one deejay seat in all of Southern Soul--the seat warmed by Ragman and Handyman and Outlaw and all of the storied masters of our genre (such as Uncle Bobo) who romp in the Elysian fields of disc jockey heaven.

And when I asked him, "Is this your biggest dream come true or what?", Boogie said, "Daddy, being a deejay here is like "cuttin' heads."

That, my friends, would be "cuttin' chicken heads" or in the English vernacular, competing with the best deejays in the business.

WMPR has no format, no prescribed playlist: the scourge of 21st century radio. Every deejay comes in to do his thing. To put it in Boogie's words, "It's like a painting. Every show should be a masterpiece."

And that, Southern Soul fans, is the way music should be played. It's the closest thing to heaven on earth I have ever imagined. "Grown folks" music it may be, but it's grown-folks music for people who refuse to grow old. The skin may sag, but the spirit soars.

--Daddy B. Nice

And finally, his Best of 2009 Awards:

Best Male Vocal: L. J. Echols
"I'm Gone Party"--- L. J. Echols

Best Female Vocal: Shirley Brown
"Upside Down"---Shirley Brown

Best Debut: LaMorris Williams
"We Can Do It"---LaMorris Williams

Best Mid-Tempo Song: Karen Wolfe
"It Ain't That Kind Of Party"---Karen Wolfe

Best Ballad: T. K. Soul
"Rehab"---T. K. Soul

Best Song by Longtime Veteran: Marvin Sease
"Gone On"---Marvin Sease

Best Club Song: T. K. Soul
"Steppin' On The Soul Ship"---T. K. Soul

Best Collaboration: Ann Hines & O. B. Buchana
"You're Just Playing With It"---Ann Hines & O. B. Buchana

Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song: Unckle Eddie w/ Crystal Dylite
"I'm Gone Tell Momma"---Unckle Eddie w/ Crystal Dylite

Best Cover Song: Black Zack (w/ the late Fred Bolton)
"Sho' Wasn't Me"---Black Zack w/ the late Fred Bolton

Hardest-Touring Crowd-Pleaser:
L. J. Echols

Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song: Frank Lucas
"The Man With The Singing Ding-A-Ling"---Frank Lucas

Best Arranger/Producer: Tie: Bruce Billups / Sir Charles Jones

Best Songwriter: Andrew Caples (Andre' Lee)

Best CD: Karen Wolfe: Every Woman Needs A Strong Man (B & J Records, Exec. Producer---Anna Coday)

He includes the Mel Waiters and Carl Marshall songs we liked. Pitchfork should give Daddy B. Nice a column.

Fill-in dj James Funk (who I think is also a longtime go-go drummer) on WPFW played my new fave song again (and again)yesterday--Jeff Floyd's "Shake Somethin' Loose". I can't find a youtube video for that one, but I just listened to it again on la la as it's on Jeff's 2009 cd. In an ideal world this dancefloor filler would crossover to at least r'n'b/rap radio and garnish hipster critic attention. But alas, it is likely only to be known to those who have southern soul radio stations, those who frequent southern soul websites, and the handful of people who read this thread. Oh well. I think even old-school soul purists could like this one.

Xhuxk, you and Kogan have got to hear that Jeff Floyd song "Shake Somethin' Loose."

I'm gonna have to figure out how to post songs on Youtube and put that one there myself. Plenty of other Jeff Floyd songs are there though

Just checked out "Shake Somethin' Loose" on Rhapsody, where Jeff Floyd's got three albums available -- very early disco propulsion to the bassline and horns. "That mini-skirt keeps arisin' up/That's only 'cause you got a big old butt." And I like his intense deep-soul screaming and grunting and obsessive chanting ("gonna wait gonna wait gonna wait gonna wait...") a couple minutes in. Really cooks. Is this a single now? Shows up on his Keepin' It Real album, listed there as coming out in '08, on Wilbe Records. The other two albums on Rhapsody are from 2000 and 2004, four years between each; so maybe he's got a day job and music's just his hobby. Will check those out if I can.

(Of course, also possible that Rhapsody only carries select titles from his discography -- which I haven't taken the time to research in whole.)

Not sure. I saw one 2008 reference for it but I think I also saw a 2009 one. Maybe it was a late 2008 release. My Saturday Southern Soul radio programmers in DC kinda march to their own drummer--so they may have just discovered this song late.

Speaking of my Saturday radio faves, I just turned on the radio and alas, I do not hear Captain Fly and James Funk but other folks begging for donations. Poor WPFW has to do fundraising every 4 weeks or so it seems.

I still have not researched Jeff Floyd further.

I'm gonna stick this request here, since a thread of its own probably won't generate much interest (and last time I talked about this stuff was on the Brass Bands thread.)

Many evenings I find myself shuffling 5 CDs of blues/R&B singers in the changer. Although I love reissued old recordings, in this case I'm thinking more of discs recorded late in a singer's life. I like the combination of lusher sonics and weathered voices, if that makes sense (so no Malaco synths...)

Rounder and Blacktop seem to be the labels for a lot of this stuff, and I own lots of: Johnny Adams, Charles Brown, Ruth Brown, Etta James singing Billie Holiday, Dr. John, Snooks Eaglin etc. Last night I included Carol Fran and Clarence Holliman, and Lavelle White. (Her album Miss Lavelle, on Antone's, is a great example of what I'm looking for.) Recommendations?

Denise Lasalle maybe

Seeing Denise in a small club years ago was tres-awesome, but the only disc I own is a cheapo comp that I bought for a live "Trapped By A Thing Called Love" where she medleys it with "Precious Precious" and "Make Me Yours."

I like her 2007 album on Ecko "Pay Before You Pump"

Um, yes it's got some synths, but I think they're slightly more tasteful than Malaco and Ecko offered up earlier this century.

I am trying to think of the guy who produced all those '80s and '90s albums for Rounder that you like (I like some of 'em too--and treasure my memories of seeing Johnny Adams, Snooks, Ruth Brown, etc.). I wonder what's he up too.

Scott Billington?

Yep and googling show's he still a Rounder producer and vp of a&r

Greatest Songs from New Orleans

Maybe this thread has some ideas

x-post -- He and Hammond and Nauman Scott at Blacktop have their names on a BUNCH of records I like a lot. I was also listening to "One Last Time," the final CD by Champion Jack Dupree; that's on Bullseye Blues, I think. Yeah, I cherish my memories of seeing those folks before they passed. So the CDs, even though the singers are maybe sometimes past their prime, are recordings/souvenirs of the context I saw them in.

Sorry to butt in here fellows (especially as somebody who actually enjoys Malaco synths!), but I have been listening to J. Blackfoot's 1983 City Slicker today and I have to shout about how much I love it, despite the copy I bought for $1 being so scratched up it may have caused permanent stylus damage. Oh well, life is short. Anyway, I wonder how unique this is -- Chitlin Circuit Southern Soul concept album about city life (he's amid urban hustle and bustle on the cover even); first side consisting of a blatant Stevie Wonder "Living For The City" rip called "The Way Of The City" (drugs! prostitution! poverty! other bad things!); a beautiful country-soul ballad single (r&b hit at the time I believe, still have my copy of the 45 on the shelf) called "Taxi" about taking a cab to your baby's house on the other side of town; a song called "Street Girl" (more prostitution!) that may or may not have preceded the same-named Spoonie Gee rap one; and a decadent disco-freaks-all-over-the-house mama-told-me-not-to-come shindig called "One Of Those Parties." And then in the middle of the second side, which is even more scratched, J. Blackfoot does an actual good old-school rap for the title track, along with some more typically downhome sweet stuff. Has to add up to one of my favorite albums for the genre; which means I may even pay $2 if I see a good copy somewhere!

Christgau was much more cynical than me about the LP; but he still kind of liked it:

City Slicker [Sound Town, 1983]
"The Way of the City" and "Street Child" and "Where Is Love" and the not-quite-dumb-enough "One of Those Parties" don't sound like a country boy's response to the city--they sound like an unreconstructed soul journeyman giving weary moderns everywhere cheap sobs and snickers they might pay for. But as an uneven soul album this scores around 50-50. "The Way of the City" is on the up side for its Memphis-New Orleans fusion, one of the few marks of musical development. In the old days soul men usually left tunes as lightly ebullient as "All Because of What You Did to Me" to the gals, so that's progress. And the title rap actually does sound like a country boy's response to the city. Inspirational Verse: "Get the sweetnin' out of gingerbread and never break the crust." B

Btw, one cool way you can tell he's in the city on the cover, besides the big tall buildings and everything, is that most of the young black guys behind the sad business-suited J. look like they could be in the Furious Five, including one smiling Afro'd dude carrying a big boombox.

Reminds me that, a couple years later, Ricky Skaggs actually did a song called "City Slicker" too, and the video featured him playing bluegrass on the New York subway, with kids doing breakdance moves around him.

And J. Blackfoot's definitely got country connections himself; on a different $1 LP I bought recently, he even covers a John Conlee song.

That sounds great. I just remember one J. Blackfoot song from the '80s. I need to start hitting thrift stores again, my used records stores are too pricey and don't have much.

I love "Taxi"; yeah, that was a sizable R&B hit. And Bryan Ferry even covered it!

Don't tune into KAZI's Southern Soul shows as much as I should these days (usually just if I happen to be in the car making grocery or beer runs in the late afternoon/early evening -- today was beer), but I just heard a song I liked by Clayton Knight, called "Somebody Found My Fishing Hole." Not sure if it's new or not. And before that they played something called "Smooth Operator" by somebody else, which vaguely referenced the Sade song, and which I liked better than her current hit.

Found this about Clayton Knight, but can't tell whether this album is new, or whether it has the fishing hole song:

http://ewegroup.com/artist/disc1_clayton.htm

And here's his MySpace page, which says his new "smash hit single" is called "Hooked On Crack" (or at least was the last time he logged in, which was last August). Also, he is 53 years old, and from Alabama, and makes between $100,000 and $150,000 a year as a recording artist and truck driver. He is also a Virgo, a proud parent, and looking for dates:

http://www.myspace.com/487377187

And okay, here's a link to his 2009 album, which leads with "Fishing Hole" (in which he says he want to keep his catfish to himself btw):

http://www.swapacd.com/cd/album/1620841-call+me+what+u+wanna

There's a number of Southern soul songs out with fishin' hole metaphors and themes (some that female readers and feminists and others might not appreciate). Bobby Rush's "Night Fishin'," Sheba Potts-Wright-"Private Fishing Hole" and I think others that I can't remember right now or find via google

Now that is something that should be talked about in a presentation at the EMP Pop Music Conference...

Awwww man, just discovered that Barbara Carr is gonna be at the Solar Eclipse in DC next Saturday with Chick Willis and Robin Roberts, but I already have tickets for Gilberto Gil that night. I just a Carr best-of on Ecko, but she's on a new label now.

Speaking of woman Southern soul artists, I understand that Miss Jodie has a new cd out. I have to get that and Barbara Carr's latest.

If only I could spell--that's Ms. Jody http://www.eckorecords.com/

And um, Roy Roberts, a North Carolina singer is gonna be on that Saturday March 13 bill with St. Louis' Barbara Carr. Robin Roberts was a pitcher for the Phillies. http://www.cdsrecords.com/barbaracarrsavvywoman.htm

So the Barbara Carr cd was from '09 but the Miss Jody one is 2010. I need to get the cd and then convince the NY Times Magazine section that a Miss Jody profile would be as relevant and important as that Jody Rosen from Slate penned Joanna Newsom one from Sunday. Not sure if Miss Jody is into "spirit animals" and communing with nature, but I could ask her.

They'll probably say it would have needed to be pegged to the release date. (Which is stupid, given that most Times readers would never have heard of Miss Jody in the first place, but I get the idea that's how it's done. Also possibly works, consciously or not, as a way to keep out the low-rent riff-raff who don't believe in spirit animals and communing with nature, since their labels can't afford huge national press lists wherein advance mp3s are sent out months in advance.) Not trying to discourage you, though! You should make the pitch -- maybe my cyncicism will prove wrong. (And come to think of it, Josh Kun's narcocorrido piece in the Times Art Section yesterday probably wasn't pegged to a release. The magazine might be more stringent, though.)

Anyway, abridged from the buy that for a dollar thread, in recent weeks:

Pickier about $1 records than 50 cent ones. I've bought a couple Suburbs and ZZ Hill and J. Blackfoot LPs this year that are pretty scratchy or even warped (in at least two cases I couldn't play the lead cuts on either side), but that's really rare, actually. .
― xhuxk, Sunday, 28 February 2010 02:36

$1 today, End Of An Ear in South Austin
Z.Z. Hill Down Home (Malaco 1981 - pretty scratchy again; I'm starting to get the idea Southern Soul fans don't take very good care of their vinyl)
― xhuxk, Sunday, 7 March 2010 02:22

Even my local alt-weekly is tied into release dates (Miss Jody's cam out in February) and a long feature piece where I would go and join Miss Jody and interview her and commune with nature with her ala Joanna Newsom, could only happen if I somehow could take leave from parenting and dayjob responsibilities.

Jody Rosen just got the communing with nature and spirit animals story from Joanna (who also apparently told it to Erik Davis), I wanna top that and actually get to go on such a retreat with Miss Jody.

But seriously, it continues to amaze me how little 'rock' and alt-weekly and daily paper media coverage there is of this stuff. But even ILX soul fanatics dismiss these artists so maybe I should not be surprised.

So, J. Blackfoot's Physical Attraction. Came out in '84, year after City Slicker (which I talked about a few paces up), and J. knew what was working for him, so "Hiding Place" swipes pretty much the exact same melody from "Taxi"; just doesn't have words near as good. (He wants a lady he's cheating with to take him to her hiding place instead of wanting a taxi to take him to the other side of of town.) On the totally ridiculous LP cover he's straddling a piece of exercise equipment in a weight room, with a woman co-straddling right behind him in red sweatband and aerobics wear. Back cover has his five-guy/one-girl "Street Gang Band" all dressed tough in black leather and red epaulets and bandanas like they've been studying all the right Michael Jackson videos. Lead cut is the bubble soul "The Girl Next Door," who is so sweet that J. imagines she could've come from a candy store; only problem is, as far as I can tell, she also appears to be underage. Last song is a cover of "Kum Ba Ya," the (quasi-Eastern I guess?) hippie church mantra, complete with somebody named Rod Kennedy Sr. reciting a spoken prayer on top, and I don't think I've ever heard anybody actually sing that song on a record I've owned before, and personally I don't think J. Blackfoot seems like "Kum Ba Ya" kind of guy. Hayes/ Porter-penned "You Got Me Hummin'" is a sort of James Brownish semi-disco that nonetheless was making me think J. had been listening to early '80s Robert Palmer even before I noticed that the syn-bass (or whatever) at the end sounds a lot like "Looking For Clues." But the best track, and main reason the album winds up being a keeper despite all its wackitude, is J.'s cover of John Conlee's Harlan/Braddock-written country hit "I Don't Remember Loving You," which is sung from the point of view of a man who's drunk himself to craziness, addressing his wife from his bed in a mental hospital, asking for his crayon so he can write down her name since he has no recollection of ever seeing her before. Great weird hilarious disturbing song, and J.'s falsetto soul retooling kills; sounds like it could've fit on Swamp Dogg's Total Destruction Of Your Mind. Album still doesn't come close to City Slicker, though. (Btw, I noticed on emusic that the covers of both albums changed over the years; the '83 one was eventually reissued as Taxi. Not sure if that's a CD-era or digital-era innovation.)

Top ten songs on this month's Boogie Report newsletter playlist, plus a few others I should make a point of trying to hear sometime:

1.I'm Sorry Lenny Williams
2.Mr.Bus Driver J Blackfoot
3.The Best Time Wendell B.
4.Bring It On Home Sir Charles Jones
5.Every Day I Have The Blues Latimore
6.Rumble In The Bedroom James Smith
7.One Good Man Karen Wolfe
8.I Take It Back Archie Love
9.Somebody Mr.Sam
10.I Don't Want To Leave Shirley Brown

12.The Bop Ms. Jody
13.Everybody Knows The Revelations fea Tre Williams
14.People Don't Do Bobby Rush
17.Pop A Pill Ghetto Cowboy

Also:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .
MARCH 2010

1. "I Can't Do It"------------Mel Waiters
Everyone's been holding their breath, waiting for Mel's next big thing. Exhale. It's a beaut', with an Omar Cunningham-like background singer (maybe Omar himself), a foxy beat and even a dash of rock guitar.

2. "I'm In Love With A Woman Other Woman Talk About"----------Captain Jack Watson
Carl Marshall serves up this feast of a ballad showcasing an artist--Captain Jack Watson--who has perfect Southern Soul pitch and perfect Southern Soul tone.

3. "Come On Let's Dance"-------------Donnie Ray
This uptempo tune sounds simultaneously like a slow jam. Its romanticism is so full-fledged and unapologetic it takes you back to another, more innocent, era.

4. "Am I Mr. Right"----------------William Bell
No telling how good this new one from William Bell is. The groove is so patented-prime Bell that it may very well become as big as William's recent "New Lease On Life." Love those disco effects, too. Bell's soulfulness insures they work.

5. "Can I Get To Know You Girl"------------Bigg Robb
This mellow tune--the best hip-hop-produced Southern Soul you're going to hear anywhere--has just enough punch to make it interesting.

6. "Get Out"--------------Pat Cooley
One of Pat's best. The song rocks. Pat Cooley just keeps coming at us, with one single after another.

7. "I Ain't Your Lady"-----------B. B. Queen
Her work may sound a trifle thin on first listening, but there's undeniable substance to B. B. Queen, in the way there was a substance to Jackie Neal's early efforts.

8. "Guitar Cry With Me"-----------Unckle Eddie
Unckle Eddie shifts from humor to current events with this interesting cut.

9. "Alvaretta's Night Out"--------------Robert Banks
Another fine song, this one uptempo, from the guy who sounds a bit like a Tex-Mex Robert Cray.

10. "Shake Rattle & Roll"------------Willie B.
Nice to hear from Willie B., who once held down a spot on Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 Southern Soul for "Larry Licker." This one isn't earth-moving, but he's still got that sweet, Larry-Lickin' voice.

My Saturday radio station Southern soul show only plays a few of those I think. I need to find that online southern soul station I posted about about a long time ago.

I think I heard that Sir Charles Jones song off the Boogie Report and liked it, but I don't remember specifics. Too busy with the rest of my daily life and other writing these days to find time to listen to all of the above.

Maybe this weekend I can try to catch up some.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2010/03/12/live-saturday-soul-triple-bill-with-barbara-carr-at-the-solar-eclipse/

"Pop A Pill" by Ghetto Cowboy appears to be about Viagra. ("Girl you make me want to a pop a pill, so I can give you a thrill...I ain't no young buck just runnin' around, but every now and then I need some help to get down.") 3:49 is too long for the joke though. Version on youtube says "feat. Bigg Robb," but Robb just grumbles backup hypeman stuff, never raps. For most of the song, I barely even noticed he was there.

Youtube says "I'm Sorry" by Lenny Williams is from 1981. Midtempo sort of post-disco smooth-jazz strut. Apparently he was the lead singer in Tower of Power, born in Little Rock but raised in Oakland. No idea why he's #1 on that Boogie Report chart; doesn't seem to have died lately.

"Somebody" by Mr. Sam -- Whoooooeeee, okay, this is kind of a beaut; grown-folks quiet-storm soul ballad of the year so far, not that I've actually heard any other ones I can think of, but still. "She don't need to have no Ph.D./Just smart enough to know what she has with me." Still, five minutes is long -- just imagine it's a luxurious bubble bath. Probably too generic a bubble bath, but a bubble bath nonetheless.

Not finding many others on youtube yet, but I'll hunt more when I can.

Most of Daddy B. Nice's March top 10 is not on youtube. I did find Unckle Eddie "Guitar Cry With Me" that is a droll recitation of tragic incidents--terrorist attacks, earthquakes, etc. It's ok but doesn't wow me.

RIP Rockie Charles, the New Orleans "President of Soul". He rarely ever toured and his records were not widely distributed but he could sing

Early New Orleans Rock N Roll/R&B

There may be 2 zillion acts from multiple genres (but mainly indie) down in Austin for SxSW but I have yet to read about a single Southern/Chitlin Circuit soul group being there. Labels like Ecko and CDS and Malaco are silly not to try to crossover, and if they're waiting for an invitation that's likely never to happen as this genre flies under the mainstream radar. But if you're reading this thread you know that, I guess.

Well, there is a New Orleans Bounce Street Party Sissy Rap Showcase Saturday night w/ I believe DJ Jubilee and Katie Redd and Magnolia Shorty, which is at least on the oustkirts of Southern Soul. But otherwise, yeah, I think you're right.

There's a publicist handling that one who is also representing the great Ponderosa Stomp event in New orleans that brings old school soul artists and rockers onstage in New Orleans, and to Lincoln Center and in years past SxSW. Perhaps that publicist should seek out Southern soul labels.

Someone gave me a free ticket to see harpist/vocalist Joanna Newsom last night in a sold-out show. Eh, I was not wowed. I will take Denise Lasalle and Miss Jody over Newsom. I'd also settle for those 2 soul vocalists getting even half the media attention Newsom gets.

RIP New Orleans singer Marva Wright.

Damn, hadn't thought about Marva in a while. Knew she hadn't been well in recent years.

Hey Curmudgeon, have you (or anyone here) seen Bobby Bland recently? He's coming to town, nice intimate jazz club show. Tix are expensive, though, and I've heard he can be pretty hit or miss. (The only time I saw him was at Jazzfest, in 2002, and he was weathered but wonderful.)

I don't think Marva was that old, but yes she was ill for several years.

Booby Bland's last DC area appearance (maybe billed as an 80th birthday tour I think) was cancelled because of illness. I have not seen him in a long time-- he was doing that snorting thing on the high notes, but I think he's been doing that for quite awhile.

Ha ha, yeah he was doing that "snnnnnooorkkk" a lot when I saw him.

Heard Bland's "Members Only" on the radio a little while back. Luv that one.

Wish I had seen live way back when, during one of those tours with BB King he used to do.

When I was in Grand Cayman in '86, "Members Only" was pretty recent; radio played it every few hours, bands in clubs covered it. It was like a HUGE hit.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postmortem/2010/03/marva-wright-blues-singer-dies.html A Marva Wright tribute

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100323/ap_en_mu/us_obit_wright

I saw her in New Orleans once. When she was living up my way after Katrina I always missed the various benefit shows for her somehow.

Heard a decent but not amazing song from Miss Jody's latest cd on WPFW yesterday. I need to quiti procrastinating and buy the thing and review it somewhere (even if it came out 2 months ago or whatever)

Hmmm, wonder if Ecko has downloads? Will check later tonight.

Roy C.'s gonna be back in the DC area on 4-17 at Lamont's in Pomonkey.

Reviews of the new Sharon Jones cd are everywhere in the 'mainstream media' but alas, until I buy and review Miss Jody's new one, there are none for her. And yes I know that their styles are a tad different.

Some interesting back and forth views last week on the Yahoo Southern Soul e-mail group regarding the late Johnnie Taylor's son Floyd's new cd. I have not heard it yet. Some folks liked it, others dismissed it in that soul purist manner that causes some people to avoid this thread and others to only like Sharon Jones and obscure 1967 reissues.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Me-Jewl-Floyd-Taylor/dp/B0039208ZS/ref=sr_1_1

x-post
I missed that recent Roy C. show but caught part of an interview with him on WPFW where he got more political in the subject matter he wanted to talk about than I expected.

folks might want to see original DC soul and funk singer Sir Joe Quarterman tonight (heard a great song on youtube--his 1973 r'n'b top 30 number) at the U. Street Musical Hall along with Milwaukee's Kings Go Forth (10 piece retro-soul group just signed to David Byrne's label). Mingering Mike is emceeing (he designed the cover for Kings Go Forth's new cd) and Kevin Coombe is dj'ing along with that guy who discovered Mingering Mike- D. Hadar. NPR is taping this. And don't get me started on why they are taping this but did not tape Roy C. at Lamonts in Pomonkey this past Saturday

As my son would say, "I need to step up my game" and do some writing about this stuff. Sharon Jones is everywhere and yet there's not a single google hit for Miss Jody.

I am totally losing touch with this stuff this year, which is sad.

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .

MAY 2010

1. "If She's Cheating On Me, I Don't Wanna Know"-------------Luther Lackey

The lullaby-like melody and the gospel-drenched choruses have the familiar feel of a childhood nursery rhyme. The brilliant lyrics end with:

"If she's with Marvin Sease,
He's a candy-licker.
If she's with Theodis,
He's standing up in it.
But I'm in trouble
If she's with my brother.
If she's with O. B.
He ain't playin' with it."

Bargain-Priced The Preacher's Wife CD, MP3's

2. "Birthday Suit"--------------Certified Slim

An emotionally-true, mid-tempo outing in the classic mold of William Bell. The carnal lyrics--

"I'd like to see you
In your birthday suit.
Nothing else but
Your high-heeled shoes."

--are delivered with a lover's reverence.

3. "Everybody Knows (It's A Small Town)"---------------------Tre' Williams & The Revelations

As much as I liked it, I'll admit I suspected Tre' Williams' soulful breakthrough "I Don't Wanna Know" would be a fluke by a northern band. Not only are the Revelations touring the chitlin' circuit and giving its audiences love, the band more than proves its Southern Soul mettle with this awesome follow-up reminiscent of Gene Pitney's "A Town Without Pity."

4. "P's & Q's"----------------Reggie P. and Sir Charles Jones

Once you adjust--that is--once you're comfortable with the snippet of a melody, the in-your-face rhythm track and the wash-of-strings mix--you can sit back and listen to two of the most exciting vocalists in Southern Soul trading stanzas like the greats of old.

5. "Reality Slowly Walks Us Down" -------------LGB

One of those special debuts that makes you wonder, "Why wasn't this niche ever filled before?" LGB is a huskier-voiced Barbara Lewis sound-alike. The odd title masks an incredible song done in the Lewis style that must be heard to be believed. At times LGB outdoes her influence.

Bargain-Priced Reality Slowly Walks Us Down CD, MP3's

6. "Outside Man" ---------------John Cummings

This song. I presume, is by old friend and venerable Southern Soul songwriter John Cummings, and it's good for the same reasons as the songs of songwriter-slash-performer George Jackson or the Floyd Hamberlin (Will T.) version of "Mississippi Boy"--it's raw, direct and vulnerable.

7. "Got A Good Woman" ------------Lee "Shot" Williams

Leeeshaaaaaad ventures into B. B. King territory and triumphs with an authentic delivery. He sounds like he's singing through a broken bottle in a dark and twisted, sticky-countered, butts-on-the-floor dive.

Bargain-Priced I'm The Man For The Job CD, MP3's

8. "Don't Give Up On Our Love"---------Latimore

The romantic and dreamy atmosphere reminds me of Clarence Carter's poignant "What Was I Supposed To Do?"

Bargain-Priced All About The Rhythm & The Blues CD

9, "Sorry, I Didn't Know It Was Your Momma" -----------Lenny Williams

It's not "Can't Nobody Do Me Like You," but it's hooky. And it'll have to do until Lenny breaks out the next big one.

Bargain-Priced Unfinished Business CD

10. "You Won't Miss Your Water"-----------Falisa JaNaye'

An impressive debut from a singer whose diminutive frame launches a big punch.

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .

APRIL 2010

1. "Everybody Makes Mistakes" ------------Bigg Robb

From Bigg Robb's upcoming album, Grown Folks Gospel: Songs Of Encouragement, "Everybody Makes Mistakes" is the big man's greatest song since his cover of "Good Lovin' Will Make You Cry," and as with that tune, Robb's synthesizer-enhanced vocal on the memorable chorus makes you forget you ever cared about the human voice.

2. "If They Can Beat Me Rockin'" --------------Vick Allen

When I heard this on the radio, I was blown away by the surprising hootenanny style. "Beat Me Rockin'" sounds like it was written by label-mate Omar Cunningham with a Vick Allen-style bridge. Yet another hit from last year's Truth Be Told album. Great rhythm section.

Bargain-Priced Truth Be Told CD, MP3's

3. "No Ordinary Pussycat" by Ms. Jody w/ J. Blackfoot

It's just the kind of Top 40-style song I wish Ms. Jody had put on her Ms. Jody's Back In The Streets Again album. "No Ordinary Pussycat" is actually an under-played version of the "Meow" song from J. Blackfoot's Woof Woof Meow CD in which Ms. Jody contributes 95% of the vocal.

4. "The Preacher's Wife"---------------Luther Lackey.

The brash, musically-sophisticated title cut from what might be the first great Southern Soul CD of 2010: The Preacher's Wife. Luther's back, baby.

5. "Be A Man"---------------------Pat Cooley

Really love the acoustic, Latin-flavored sound of this record, anchored of course by the authentic Southern Soul singing of Pat Cooley, without which it would fall apart. It's a new and viable direction for Southern Soul, and it reminds me of the affecting version of "Ain't No Sunshine" by Sir Charles Jones on his most recent album. Both songs showcase the strength of Southern Soul--its singers--against minimal backgrounds with stunning results.

6. "All Of You, All Of Me"-------------Floyd Taylor

What can you say about Floyd? He's as consistently dependable as the old masters like Willie Clayton and Marvin Sease and Mel Waiters. On this classic slow jam he curls his voice around the lyrics with typically sensitive care. The background chorus is to die for.

Bargain-Priced All Of Me CD

Comparison-Priced All Of Me CD

7. "Mississippi Girl"------------Wendell B.

One of the new cuts from Wendell B.'s still hard to get pair of new LP's.

8. "The Bop"-------------Ms. Jody.

This one IS from Ms. Jody's Back In The Streets Again. "The Bop" is a throwback--almost like a line dance from the late fifties or early sixties. And if you like your great soul divas negotiating dance tunes (as I do) it'll quickly grow on you.

9. "My Old Man & Mrs. Jones"-----------------Pat Brown

The new and long-anticipated album by Pat Brown is due soon.

10. "Cheating On The Back Street"----------Adrena

Adrena has all the tools--and a better-than-average song on which to showcase them.

Have heard the LGB song and like it. I need to track down and splurge on some of these others--Lackey, Floyd Taylor, and Lee Shot Williams to name a few. I have heard Floy and Lee songs that I've liked.

My Top 15 Southern Soul singles of the year so far. (Been catching up on the Boogie Report and Daddy B. Nice tracks that I can track down on Rhapsody -- which is a lot of them, but not all. Anxious to check out Luther Lackey's entire album, and probably a couple other ones.)

1. Robert Banks – Alvaretta’s Night Out (Banx Music Productions – Actually, Daddy B. Nice listed this as a single this March, so I'll take his word for it, though the album seems to have come out in 2004.)
2. Luther Lackey – It Ain’t Easy Being The Preacher’s Wife (Ecko)
3. Bigg Robb – Everybody Makes Mistakes (Over25Sound/Robbmusic)
4. Luther Lackey – If She’s Cheatin’ On Me I Don’t Want To Know (Ecko)
5. BB Queen – I Ain’t Your Lady (Hearon)
6. Jeff Floyd – Shake Somethin’ Loose (Wilbe)
7. Archie Love – I Take It Back (JEA)
8. The Revelations featuring Tre Williams – Everybody Knows (Decision)
9. J. Blackfoot feat. Ms. Jody – No Ordinary Pussy Cat (JEA/Right Now -- actually Daddy B. Nice lists Jody's version, which apparently gives her more vocal time, but I've only heard the mix on Blackfoot's album)
10. Bobby Rush – People Don’t Do (Deep Rush)
11. Lenny Williams – Sorry I Didn’t Know (Lentom Entertainment)
12. J. Blackfoot – Mr. Bus Driver (JEA/Right Now)
13. Mel Waiters – I Ain’t Gonna Do It (Waldoxy)
14. Latimore – Don’t Give Up On Our Love (LaStone)
15. Latimore – Every Day I Have The Blues (LaStone)

Luther Lackey, fwiw, is from Claksdale, Mississippi, and has 45 Myspace friends, and also no songs on his MySpace page, which therefore seems somewhat pointless to link to. Here is Daddy B Nice's page for him:

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/artistguide.cfm?aid=126

Bigg Robb is 42 years old and from Dayton, Ohio (so not technically Southern, probably.) His album is called Jerri Curl Muzik!

http://www.myspace.com/biggrobblove

Okay, Bigg Robb also used to be in Zapp, which probably explains why he dresses sort of like T-Pain and sometimes sings through a Vocoder:

http://www.soulbluesmusic.com/biggrobb.htm

Robert Banks comes from Tyler, Texas, according to the bio on this CDBaby page:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/robertbanks/from/daddybnice

I heard this great song on 88.7 at around 8am on Saturday. Yes.com says they didn't play it (hmmm). DJ said he just HAD to play this song by Uncle Eddie. I googled and came up with Uncle Eddie and Christy Delight: "Stop Talking Too Much." But I can only find one page on it. Here's a decent description of the song from that page:

"a child is saying something like, "I'm telling momma" and the daddy is telling her to "stop telling everything you know" I might not be correct on the words but the child is in the car with her daddy (I assume that's her dad) and she sees him up to no good and she says that she is telling."

What is this song??

I talked about that song way upthread, Kevin! But couldn't figure out who did it either. Definitely heard it on 88.7 a couple times since:

Real funny mostly-talked song on the Southern Soul show today: Krystal (or Crystal?) Somebody, "Stop Telling Everything You Know." Girl who sounds like the girl in "MyBabyDaddy" (B-Rock? The Bizz? whoever) catches her dad kissing a woman who isn't her mom; her dad, who sounds like Snoop's dad asking him for five dollars in the "Gin and Juice" video, claims he was just helping the woman get something out of her eye. Daughter asks then how come her lipstick was messed up when Dad finished with her eye. (End of song, he helps her with her dress, too.)
― xhuxk, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:00 PM (1 year ago)

x-post

I think that great Jeff Floyd song "Shake Something Loose" may be from last year but it is still getting radio single play impact this year.

Yeah, a bunch of those tracks are clearly from '09 albums (maybe even late '08 in some cases), but especially with singles, I go with the Pazz & Jop Year of Impact rule. Maybe even with albums -- Bigg Robb's Jeri Curl Muzik apparently came out in April '09, but I'm loving it and may well consider it for my Pazz & Jop ballot this year (somehow T-Pain-era AutoTune now makes Zapp-style electro-funk seem oddly un-anachronistic, and he does a song or two -- the least likeable things on the album, I'd say so far -- that are clearly meant to sound more like up-to-date r&b for young folks anyway. Either way, I really don't think T-Pain's made any album half this fun. May take me awhile to suss out what's so great about individual tracks -- there are a lot of them; it's a long album -- but hopefully will eventually. Incidentally, if Robb is in fact just 42, and my math is right, he couldn't have been in Zapp in their and Troutman's prime, unless he was barely a teenager. So probably in a later edition of the group? Haven't researched that yet.)

Luther Lackey album is also good, though so far I'm wishing he stuck to the emotive countryfied soul prettiness of those two singles and didn't try to get funny and funky, which (unlike lots of these guys) he seems less good at; that is, I'm not really loving "I Got Caught Butt Naked."

Also should mention that Zapp-style vocoder funk is only one trick in Bigg Robb's bag, but hardly the only one; helps that he seems to be a way better singer than either Roger Troutman or T-Pain.

xposts

Ok xhuxk (or curmudgeon), if you ever find out, lemme know. I'll call the station too.

Highlights of Latimore's mostly just okay and seemingly covers-heavy September '09 All About The Rhythm And Blues, fwiw, appear to be "Obama And The Fat Man," where said fat man is never named but I'm guessing it's John McCain, and the probably dirty "Around The World," probably about whatever R.E.M.'s "Roam" was probably about, and definitely preferable in its eight-minute "Club Mix" at album's end.

(B-52s' "Roam", I mean.)

A lot of Sam Cooke and gospel in Luther Lackey's ballad inflections, actually -- and I'd say "Your Change Will Come" and "Man Up To It" and the recession processional "Mister Can I Shine Your Shoes" are at least close to the level of "It Ain't Easy Being The Preacher's Wife" and "If She's Cheatin' On Me I Don't Want To Know." Enough country in there for me to maybe consider it for my Nashville Scene ballot at year's end, too. "I Got Caught Butt Naked" (on the album in two versions, not an uncommon practice in this genre apparently -- Part 2 where he's pulled over by a dumb redneck cop is funnier, and ends with Luther chanting "Brick House") is clearly an anomaly for him, and I like his other obvious comedy cut "Meat Man". So -- another really good album.

seems to be a way better singer than either Roger Troutman or T-Pain.

Uh, less sure about this now -- seeing how other people (Carl Marshall, Floaters reviving "Float On", Bar-Kays, Shirley Murdock, Sir Charles Jones, some blues guy named I think Mississippi Redd who doesn't want to hear no more hippity hop) seem to be doing most of the great singing on the album (which is actually spelled Jeri Curl Muzic not Muzik). But there's a lot of great singing on it, either way. Bigg Robb himself is more a talker, in and out of AutoTune/Talkbox mode (get the idea he uses both), though I'd still say he sings at least well enough to get by, when he does. Topics: advice to family and friends who mess up (including an ex-flame who mistakingly has a lesbian one-night stand she regrets); needing a designated driver to get him home; stuff you can buy if you have money like for instance a new Blu-Ray player (w/ guest rap from Kurtis Blow); wanting to get together with a single mom and maybe help her raise her kids ("Can I Get To Know You Girl", recommended by Daddy B. Nice above and spiritually related to "I Can Help" by Billy Swan); keeping up with the kids and their blame-it-on-the-alcohol lil-mamas-with-lipgloss popping-bub-in-the-club music ("Sexy Lady," which is growing on me); what Bigg Robb wants in a woman (basically she needs to a churgoing sex maniac who knows how to cook greasy soul food though he doesn't eat pork anymore and have money he can borrow if he needs some); good fathers including ones who have to pay child support and ones who take care of children "you didn't even biologically make" ("Any Man Can Make A Baby": "you got issues with the mama, it's what the streets call baby mama drama.") There's also a five-minute track where a lady journalist interviews him about his old school influences, and a token blues for his fans out in the country, where they're probably cooking chicken and pork chops in the same grease (even though he already gave up pork a few songs before!)

Also, end of album, a "Bass Mix" of "Grown N Sexy" feat. Sir Charles Jones," "Bass" in this case I guess meaning Miami, given all the fat cavernous echo. Sounds pretty cool. (By the way, lots of his talk of women on the album also requests that they be mature as well. He's got a funny metaphor for that at one point; maybe I'll grab it next time. I love how, in this kind of music, getting older is a good thing.)

Btw, on a more neo-soul/half-competently ripping off early '70s Marvin and Mayfield tip, I've actually been enjoying the new album Whereimat by this L.A. fellow Darryl Moore -- especially "Jamie" (a probably cliched but nonetheless intriguing life lesson where a good girl goes bad) and "805 Sundaze"/"Family Funday" (two differently titled versions of what's basically the same song, about taking his kids to the park):

http://www.myspace.com/darrylmooremusic1

Previously unmentioned-here songs in Boogie Report's current Top 20 Southern Soul countdown

4.A Womans Worth Jeff Floyd /William Bell
6.All Of You All Of Me-Floyd Taylor
Juke Joint Jam Move Your Body Terrell House
8.Sick and Tired BJ Miller
13.Broke Azz Living Out Loud
14.Mind Your Business Heart 2 Heart
15.Baby Daddy Bobbye Doll Johnson
16.Can You Drop It Hog Pen
19.It Aint A Party Bigg Robb (though it's on the album I talked about)

From Wiki:
In January 2009, Burke joined legendary record producer Willie Mitchell at Mitchell's Royal Studio in Memphis to work together on a new recording - an album titled "Nothing's Impossible" which was released on April 6th, 2010. It was the first time Burke and Mitchell had worked together in their careers

I just saw mention of this on the Yahoo soul e-mail thang. They said it was Solomon Burke's best cd in ages. I am guessing it is more memorable than what he did with Joe "I'm overrated as a producer but NPR types like me" Henry.

Aww man, I just found out Jeff Floyd is gonna be at WPFW dj the Gator's Party at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland (Near W. DC) June 12 with Big G from Richmond, but I'm gonna be at my son's doubleheader

From my WPFW listening today: Carl Sims "I Like this Place" is such a catchy song. Plus I heard a Bigg Robb song that sounded funky in an almost DC go-go way. Several guest vocalists on the song too I think.

Okay, I've got more catching up to do, apparently:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . . JUNE 2010

1. "I'm Going Solo"-------Narvel

No one beats the bushes for that country talent like your Daddy B. Nice. DJ Mighty Burner, who hosts an early-Saturday-morning show at Jackson's WMPR, caught my ear with this raw, energetic cut by a young performer out of Greenville, Mississippi, where muddy water runs out of the taps and (say the natives) makes everyone live longer.

"I'm going solo,
For the meanwhile.
I'm going soooo-loooooo
For the meanwhile."

Narvel, who sings the socks off of this song--who sings it like he really means it--has a 3-song CD which came out last winter--no distribution yet. A previous 2-song set is available at CD Baby, where you'll discover Narvel's last name is Echols!

2. "I'm The Man For The Job"-------------Lee Shot Williams
You either love or hate that stinging rhythm guitar lick. Once you "like" it, it's all over. The vocal is one of Shot's best and wildest, and the female chorus is funny and deliciously salacious. I still don't know what half of it's about (other than sex), and I don't care. I just love the Lee "Shot" sound: both the nostalgic but caustic vocals and the bizarre but apt arrangements.

3. "That Girl Belongs To Me"---------------------Willie Clayton & Charles Wilson
This notable collaboration provokes many thoughts. One is. . . Willie Clayton singing background? How can you lose? Another revelation is how much Charles Wilson's vocal tone, which on "lightish" tunes can be cloying, is enhanced by the bubbling-brook-of-soul stylings of Clayton. Both stars shine, and this song is undoubtedly headed for the top of the charts.

4. "Baby Daddy"----------------Bobbye "Doll" Johnson
Wonderful, mid-tempo ballad in the best tradition of Gladys Knight, Dianna Ross & The Supremes and Carole King. Bobbye's previous album, Rocking This Boat, is highly recommended, and it's good to see Bobbye coming into her own.

5. "What Do The Lonely Do When The Lights Go Out"------------Joy
Joy finally breaks through with a song that, while not the equal of her one-of-a-kind My Name Is $$$ , is at least in the same ballpark.

6. "(At Midnight I Get Lonely) I Gotta Get Next To You"-----------Ric E. Bluez
"I know that voice," I thought when I heard this tune out of the blue, but it wasn't somebody famous. My guess it's by an artist whose debut, Sexy Soul (2007), was very good. His name is Ric E. Bluez.

7. "All About You"--------B. B. Queen
Cabaret music meets Southern Soul. A simple lead guitar intro leads into B. B. Queen's heartfelt vocal, whereupon an even more intense guitar solo closes it out. B. B. Queen should have a business card made up: Diva: Have Guitar, Will Travel.

8. "Mister Can I Shine Your Shoes" ---------Luther Lackey
Another accomplished ballad from the The Preacher's Wife album--Luther's third top-ten single from the disc in as many months.

9, "I Won't Be Back"--------------Ms. Jody
Ms. Jody meets Dionne Warwick. Interesting and catchy. And also her third top-ten showing in as many months.

10. "Southern Soul Lover"---------Black Zack
It ain't "Sho' Wasn't Me," (Black Zack's recent cover of the Ronnie Lovejoy classic) but it's so enthusiastic it's infectious.

STILL CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF:

"I'm Stuck On Stupid"----------Chandra Calloway
"I'm With You Baby"----------Nellie "Tiger" Travis
"Get Out"--------------Pat Cooley
"I Had A Dream"-----------Charles Blakely

Okay, I've got more catching up to do, apparently

me too

So I was trying to figure out a song with these lyrics:

Got my money and I got my whisky
Tonight I'm gonna get..... real tipsy

I've been working hard all week
Time to take a break
Play some Marvin Sease and some Marvin Gaye
Call me later because I won't be at home

And I discovered it's Mel Waiters. He's great. Attached is a link with the lyrics and a youtube of him doing the song live. The studio version is much better and a bit different, but the live take's ok.

http://askville.amazon.com/blues-song-lyrics-money-whisky-sounds-Floyd-Taylor/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=42202328

And I still am digging Carl Sims "I Like this Place." Like Mel Waiters, he has an earthy soul voice and a gift for catchy nearly pop-like choruses.

Put this together for Rhapsody -- If it helps convert one or two Sharon Jones fans, I'll be happy:

http://blog.rhapsody.com/2010/06/undersoul.html

Looks good. Just heard another Mel Waiters song I like "Ice Chest."

I think Miss Jody is coming back to the DC area for a show this summer. Hopefully I can make it. Maybe she could even get a NPR All Songs Considered concert when here. Ha ha. They only know of Betty Lavette and Sharon Jones.

Here's an excerpt from my Washington City Paper blog post regarding events happening this weekend:

Jeff Floyd with Big G. at WPFW DJ the Gator’s celebration at noon at Lamont’s, 4400 Livingston Road (Route 224), Pomonkey, Md. Great southern soul that is as vital as Sharon Jones or Betty LaVette, even if NPR and Brooklyn hipsters have never heard of these folks. The Gator’s been playing Floyd’s catchy “Shake Something Loose” every Saturday for weeks now. $20. (301) 868-4235.

Real good editorial (with extremely useful timeline) about Malaco Records, from (who else) Daddy B. Nice:

June 6, 2010: Everything you ever wanted to know about. . .
THE CASTLE IN THE MIST CALLED MALACO
"The rebirth of Southern Soul music owes its very existence to Tommy Couch and Malaco Records." DBN

For most of today's Southern Soul and Blues community--that is, to all but a select inner circle of longtime veterans--Malaco Records represents something akin to the fabled castle of Camelot. It's surrounded by a moat and the drawbridge is seldom lowered, keeping out the riffraff seeking admittance, including countless independent artists, barely-domesticated managers, hapless record-label owners, annoying publicists, inquiring deejays and pesky writers.
But due to the vagaries of fate--in particular the untimely deaths of flagship artists Z. Z. Hill, Johnnie Taylor and Tyrone Davis--and the label's reputation for exclusivity, Malaco now finds itself in the unfamiliar role of a bystander in the contemporary Southern Soul music scene, largely irrelevant.
The major players in the Southern Soul and Blues scene in 2010 are Ecko and CDS. Ecko Records is the Memphis-based label founded in the 90's by John Ward, formerly of Malaco, and CDS is the recently-formed, California-based label of Dylann DeAnna, formerly of the website "Blues Critic."
Malaco still owns the state-of-the-art business model, the cream-of-the-crop performers (Marvin Sease, Shirley Brown) and the universally-admired stable of studio producers, musicians and writers.
However, even conservatively speaking, Ecko and CDS are individually producing four times as many Southern Soul CD's as is Malaco, even if one includes the product published by Waldoxy, the spin-off label started by Tommy Couch, Jr.
Malaco can be said to have bigger fish to fry: contemporary Gospel and Christian records, back catalogs from labels such as Muscle Shoals and Savoy, and a surprising number of other lines of music having nothing in common with Southern Soul.
The number of Southern Soul CD's sold in today's piracy-ridden market by Ecko and CDS is paltry by Malaco's standards, which through much of the eighties and nineties was in the 10,000 to 50,000-unit area.
Malaco sold 500,000 copies of Z. Z. Hill's "Down Home Blues" in 1984, a number the best artists of today wouldn't dare to hope for. "Good Love" by Johnnie Taylor, I'm told, sold a million.
But the unexpected deaths of Hill in the mid-80's and JT at the end of the 90's, both in the prime of their recording careers, had to have been a devastating blow to Southern Soul's flagship label. (Also see the first three paragraphs of Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Reggie P.)
Would Malaco and Waldoxy be producing more Southern Soul records in the first decade of the 21st century if those artists were alive? And how much bigger would the genre be today?
Those are questions we may never have answers for. What we can do is answer a few of the most fascinating questions about the history of Southern Soul. Almost all of it reads like the Malaco time line, because if not for Malaco, Southern Soul might never have reappeared
Many (but not all) of the facts below are extracted from The Malaco Story, an "about" page on the Malaco website, which in turn is excerpted from "The Malaco Story" by Rob Bowman, award-winning author of "Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, published by Schirmer Books. The time-line format and greater cultural references are your Daddy B. Nice's.

Early 60's: College students Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson start The Last Soul Company on a proverbial shoe string, booking bands for fraternity dances at the University of Mississippi. After graduation, Tommy Couch opens shop in Jackson, Mississippi as Malaco Attractions with brother-in-law Mitchell Malouf (Malouf + Couch = Malaco). Wolf Stephenson soon joins them.

1970: First whiff of success. New Orleans-based producer Wardell Quezergue brings five artists to Jackson in an old school bus for a marathon session that yields two national hits: King Floyd's "Groove Me" and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff." The momentum soon attracts The Pointer Sisters, Rufus Thomas and even Paul Simon to the studio.

1972: "The Harder They Come" Soundtrack appears. R&B fans begin to leave soul music for the new soulfulness of reggae.

1973: Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue," published by Malaco under extreme financial duress, earns gold records around the world, peaking at #2 R&B and #3 pop in the USA, and #5 in England.

1977: The "Saturday Night Fever" Soundtrack appears. More soul music fans swell the exodus from traditional and "old school" soul, filling the disco floors and dancing to a more mechanical beat. Ironically, the demise of storied Stax Records in Memphi results in a bounty of talent for Malaco, including Frederick Knight, Eddie Floyd and David Porter.

1979: The Sugarhill Gang records "Rapper's Delight," starting the modern rap era. What's left of the traditional R&B audience defects to hiphop. Frederick Knight's "Ring My Bell" is recorded by Anita Ward at Malaco's studio in Jackson, Mississippi with Malaco studio musicians, attaining #1 on both the pop and R&B charts.

1980: Malaco hires Dave Clark, the "dean" of southern R&B promotion men (not to be confused with the TV's American Bandstand host). Clark soon recruits Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle and Latimore to Malaco.
Malaco stops trying to compete with mainstream labels and falls back on "down home black music." A new generation of key songwriters join Malaco, among them Jimmy Lewis, George Jackson, Larry Addison and Richard Cason.

1984: Z. Z. Hill records "Down Home Blues." Here I want to quote Bowman verbatim. "Since blues supposedly no longer sold, everyone was shocked when Hill's second album, Down Home Blues, sold 500,000 copies. It was the most successful blues album ever, revealing a core audience for quality blues records. It also became an anthem for R&B singers struggling against disco and the emergence of rap." However, Malaco paid a price. The label never charted on Billboard for the rest of the 80's.

1984: Little Milton joins Malaco and records "The Blues Is Alright." Malaco's reputation as the home of contemporary southern soul and blues is solidified.

1984: Z. Z. Hill abruptly dies. His funeral is attended by a who's who of southern blues culture. Hearing Johnnie Taylor sing at the service, Tommy Couch invites Taylor to become Malaco's new flagship artist. Here I quote from Bowman again. "In the 1970s, mainstream stars like Denise LaSalle, Latimore, Little Milton and, especially, Johnnie Taylor, sold 500,000+ copies of their hits. Now, they were consigned to the industry margins, selling 100,000 units at best. Soul was reclassified as blues because of an aging demographic. To most radio programmers, older black people listened to the blues. So, when Johnnie Taylor's fans grew older, he was a "blues artist." The music hadn't changed, but the way it was understood, marketed, and consumed had shifted significantly."

1985: Malaco signs Bobby "Blue" Bland. Malaco's Stewart Madison purchases the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, label, and publishing company.

1995 and late 90's: Malaco signs Chicago R&B great Tyrone Davis. Johnnie Taylor records the Richard Cason song, "Good Love," which hits #1 on Billboard's blues charts and #15 R&B, becoming the biggest record in Malaco's history.

1999:
Johnnie Taylor records the "Gotta Get The Groove Back" album, with Southern Soul hits "Big Head Hundreds," "Soul Heaven" and "Too Close For Comfort."

2000: Johnnie Taylor dies.

2005: Tyrone Davis dies.

And that, in vastly simplified form, is how we as a Southern Soul community got from there--the late sixties, when soul and blues were fixtures of the pop charts--to here, 2010. The long, tortured rebirth of contemporary Southern Soul music owes its present vigor and very existence to the presence of Tommy Couch and Malaco Records.
And yet, to put things in cold perspective--units sold--Southern Soul artists still remain a blip on the national and international music scene, relegated to secondary status even in the R&B and blues markets.
This shouldn't deter anyone who loves the music or is bored with mainstream music. The blues of Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters fared no better before the mainstream discovered them--long after their primes. (See Daddy B. Nice's Home Page for the continuation of that story.)
But it's the big picture. Since the 80's, Malaco has been the big fish in a very small pond of old-school rhythm and blues--no more, no less. The big "catfish" has retired to its deep hole under the shadowy muddy bank, leaving the smaller fish to frolic and compete for bragging rights if not big dollars.
The intriguing question as we go forward will be whether Ecko or CDS or any of the other small indie labels--Wilbe, Milaja, Soul 1st, B&J, Brittany, Ifgam, Deep Rush, Mardi Gras, Latstone--will succeed at capturing the magic-in-a-bottle of the best moments in Malaco's history.
Insiders remain skeptical if not downright pessimistic. The young generation has never made record-buying a habit in the way the baby-boomer generation did, and the "grown folks" demographic Southern Soul targets isn't known for its conspicuous consumption.
Nonetheless, nothing sells--even in hard times--like entertainment. Z. Z. Hill and Johnnie Taylor astonished the radio programmers. Why not again?
The number of creditable performers in the Southern Soul genre, the competitiveness of the scene, and the exponentially-growing concert and touring phenomenon bode well. The elements are all there, ready to combust for some lucky, talent-endowed performer and label.
Meanwhile, Malaco remains on its hill in north Jackson, Mississippi, a living monument to the refusal of the music to die.

Awesome. Daddy B. Nice is doing a great job. Someone should suggest to Village Voice music editor Harvilla to add him to the P & J critics poll invitation list. Don't know if Daddy B. would respond, but it would be great if he did.

Current Boogie Report Top 20 countdown (at least a couple of these have been mentioned here before, but not most of them, I don't think):

20.On My Own Sir Charles Jones
19.Am I Mr.Right William Bell
18.What - Joy
17.A Womans Worth Jeff Floyd / William Bell
16. One Good Man Karen Wolfe
15.If They Can Beat Me Rockin* Vick Allen
14.That Girl Charles Wilson
13.The Error Of My Ways Solomon Burke
12.All Of Me All Of You Floyd Taylor
11.Mistreated Margo Thunder
10.Rumble In The Bedroom James Smith
9. The Bop-Ms.Jody
8.Nathaniel Kimble I'm Ready
7.It Aint A Party Bigg Robb and Da Problum Solvas
6.Same Soap Omar Cunningham
5.I Aint Gone Do It Mel Waiters
4.Impala Lamorris Williams
3.Watch What You Tell your Friends Shirley Brown
2.Mississippi Girl Wendell B
1.Ps and Qs Reggie P / Sir Charles Jones

Aaaaand....Damnit, I am falling behind again:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . . JULY 2010

1. "I Lived it All"----Carl Marshall

What a rhythm section. Every time I hear this drum, bass and rhythm guitar I'm torn between kneeling and genuflecting, dancing, or following in a long line of wild critters drawn by the flute of the Pied Piper.

Fans who weren't around when "I Lived It All" was first recorded may remember the more recent Patrick Harris songs "Right On Time" and "I Fooled You This Time," which borrowed some of their inspirational flavor and their distinctive, high-pitched synthesizer fills from Carl Marshall's classic.

"I Lived It All" is not only a reminder that grief and adversity are still the ultimate attention-getters but proof that the human character conquers and triumphs by living "to tell it."

2. "I'm Throwing In The Towel" ------------Earl Gaines

In tempo and mood this majestic ballad recalls Donnie Ray's "If I Could Do It All Over." Earl Gaines sings real, down-to-earth, blue-collar Southern Soul as few ever have. His recent passing isn't even hinted at in the easy-going, full-chested power with which he delivers the song's rueful message.

Move over and make room in your pew in Southern Soul Heaven, Ray Charles.

3. "Same Soap" ---------------Omar Cunningham

Omar Cunningham is slowly becoming the headliner of Southern Soul's shining 2nd generation of stars, including Sir Charles, T.K. and O.B. As a vocalist he's the equal of any of them, and his compositional skills set him apart.

"Same Soap" isn't his best to date, but it's something of a thematic departure from Omar's typical nice-guy image. As the "cheater" he has to use the "same soap" he lathers with at home. Come to think of it, "Beauty Shop" (another "cleansing" song) was at bottom about a cheater.

4. "Time" (The MP3 Remix)--------------Frank Mendenhall

This souped-up version of the signature song by one of Southern Soul's most beloved passed stars continues the "retro" feel of this month's Top Ten singles. For Mendenhall fans it's a rare opportunity to hear a "fresh" tune posthumously.

Your Daddy B. Nice has no available links to any CD or EP (and no hard-copy "best-of album" exists). However, Jerry "Boogie" Mason, who played the track on Jackson's WMPR the other day, informs me you can find the "Time" remix as "an alternate take taken from the itunes download of the best of frank mendenhall."

5. "I Don't Mind Being There For My Man" -------------------Special

I just heard this song for the first time, five years after it was published, and this despite being peppered with e-mails about Special (I always thought it was the same writer) for at least two of the five. A Bigg Robb-produced act, Special did the "Girlfriend To Girlfriend" cover of Shirley Brown's classic that had heads wagging a few years ago.

What will turn your head about "Being There For My Man" is that it sounds like Syleena Johnson singing "Guess What," only better. In fact, I thought it was Syleena finally striking gold in a Southern Soul way for the first time since her early hit.

Special robs "Guess What" blind, but since Syleena hasn't pursued Southern Soul anyway, that's a good thing.

6. "You Deserve Better"------------100% Cotton

After years of sending your Daddy B. Nice a steady stream of execrable, morbid, one-dimensional, one chord MP3's, Terry (100%) Cotton finally wises up and gets some first-class help: a fine lead male singer and a fine female back-up singer.

Making a record the Bigg Robb way, with an entourage of talent worthy of Cotton's great expectations, pays off in an amazing vintage-sounding soul extravaganza. Congratulations to the young artist for perseverence.

This is the kind of soul song perfect for driving in a light evening rain with the windshield wipers swishing and romance at the end of the journey. Think Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness." The female-sung stanza is so Southern Soul-ful it'll give you goose bumps.

What are the odds of there being two 100% Cottons? Good, evidently, in this Internet age. Not to be confused with "Tony" (100%) Cotton, another young artist with a much slicker, lighter sound.

7. "Don't Blame It On Me" ------------The Winstons

Want a hit? Get yourself a solid bass line. Kick out a melody. Keep it simple. Don't be afraid to be "pop." That's the formula this likeable beach-music ensemble from D.C. has utilized for years. "Don't Blame It On Me" also boasts a wild and funny cameo by a bitchy mate in no mood to raise a child alone.

8. "One Woman"------------Certified Slim

Another solid and soulful ballad from the "Birthday Suit" man. (See DBN's #2 Single, May 2010.)

9. "Family Reunion"------------Bigg Robb w/ Shirley Murdock

This is a daring record for Bigg Robb, eschewing almost all the old by now familiar tricks in favor of a new, stripped-down, relatively-modest sound. The simplicity puts the emphasis on the execution and Murdock and company do not disappoint. Each listening sears the groove a little deeper into the ears' pleasure zone.

And to think your Daddy B. Nice just missed his own family reunion for the third year in a row. Not good. Sorry, Robb.

10. "Tired"--------------Kelly Price

Whew! I'm tired by the time she's done with this Wagnerian rant. Rant doesn't even begin to describe the tsunami-like power of both the vocal and the arrangement. It's like being sucked out a hull-breached airplane at ten thousand feet above the earth.
I'm also touched that Kelly is using "Boogie" to promote her music, which means she's at least aware of the attention we've given her in the Southern Soul community

The Winstons are still together! Wow.

Grrrrrr, gonna be out-of-town next Saturday for the Lamont's 20th anniversary show with Lee Fields, Miss Jody, and more.

New Breakout Hit on the Radio!

This strong Blues groove and Latimore's smooth vocals deliver a track that everyone can get into. "Every Day I Have The Blues", by Latimore, takes this classic to a new level

Promo email from Henry Stone Music, that I just received. Not sure if I have heard this one. I saw Latimore at least once (not bad) and I've liked his vocals on most of the recordings I have heard.

Been listening to these in recent weeks; in more or less descending order of how much I like them:

Chuck Brown – We Got This (Sweet Venture) -- Washington proto-go-go survivor not Southern soul obviously, and mostly live (just watched the attached DVD last night), but totally relentless and amazing, with a ton of jazz and rock stirred in
Sweet Angel – A Girl Like Me (Ecko) -- title track has a very good chance at my year-end top 10 singles list
Earl Gaines – Good To Me (Ecko) -- died last year, I think?
Syl Johnson – Complete Mythology (Advance Sampler) (The Numero Group promo reissue)
David Brinston – Beat It Up (Ecko) -- great voice, catchy songs, but his lyrics(see album title) tend toward the gross unsexy juvenile horndog idiocy of too much contemporary r&b, so I'm still on the fence about this: basically, sounds real good if I ignore the words
Sir Charles Jones – A Tribute To The Legends (Mardi Gras '09) -- another great voice, but all cover songs, so likewise marginal; what helps is that the cover songs are not all obvious ones, and he does surprisingly good versions of some of the more obvious ones, too, "rainy night in georgia" and "never can say goodbye" for instance

Also, here's my album review of Luther Lackey's The Preacher's Wife, almost a shoo-in for my year-end top 10 list:

http://www.rhapsody.com/luther-lackey/the-preachers-wife#albumreview

Are you on an Ecko mailing list now? I need to review some of their stuff and try to get on it. That is, if they send stuff out. So few writers review this stuff, that I wonder if they only send copies to Southern US radio stations.

Yeah, it took some finagling, but I actually managed to get on their list. (Mardi Gras's list, too -- They also sent me a compilation that I haven't listened to much yet.) Emailed some of the other Southern Soul labels, too, but haven't heard back.

I need to do that. Listened instead this weekend to NPR friendly, easy-listening soul-- Latest Bettye Lavette, Mavis Staples and Lizz Wright. Great voices wasted on ponderous arrangements for the most part. I also listened to James Funk(onetime go-go musician in Rare Essence)who was filling in as the dj on my local WPFW southern soul show. I liked the various Southern soul songs he played more than the Bettye Lavette tune he spun--her slowed-down take on "Nights in White Satin."