A short while ago I did a post on my favorite debut albums. I’ve added a couple of albums since then including this one. Collins, of course, had been the drummer and (initially) reluctant singer of Genesis. Collins’ legacy is mixed (great drummer, good singer, … Continue reading Featured Album – Face Value – Phil Collins
James Brown defining ‘soul’ – “It’s the word ‘can’t’ makes you a soul singer. ‘Can’t. That one thing that’s made the Black man more heavier for soul coming from the States is because of the fact that he’s had extra-hard knocks and he lived with … Continue reading James Brown – Part Two – The Hardest Working Man in Show Biz
Ever since I started this blog six years ago, I’ve been wanting to interview a musician, and preferably, someone who had deep roots in the rock and/or blues scene. So when Brinsley Schwarz’s label reached out with some tunes, I immediately took up their offer … Continue reading The ME Interview – Brinsley Schwarz
Pictured: Aretha singing at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Her hat got about as much press as her performance. Aretha, like her father, was a die-hard Democrat and like a lot of us who were hopelessly naive, saw Obama’s inauguration as the possible beginning of a … Continue reading Aretha Franklin (final of 4) – Amazing Grace
We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.” – Aretha Franklin. Otis Redding wrote and released “Respect” in the summer of 1965. It had some level of success (Top Five on Billboard’s Black Singles Chart, and crossed over … Continue reading Aretha Franklin (Part 3) – Respect
Wikipedia: The now-defunct Regal Theater in Chicago was part of the so-called “chitlin circuit,” that “provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African-American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers during the era of racial segregation in the United States (from at least the early 19th century through the 1960s.) Sometime in … Continue reading Aretha Franklin (Part 2) – The Queen of Soul
Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul,” died on August 16, 2018 at the age of 76. This is her story. If you think know Aretha, you probably don’t. Read on. I think that, to make sense of Aretha – “Ree” to her friends and family … Continue reading Aretha Franklin – (Part 1) The Sacred and the Profane
“He’s the last African-American Everyman,” says Questlove of his hero Bill Withers. “Jordan’s vertical jump has to be higher than everyone. Michael Jackson has to defy gravity. On the other side of the coin, we’re often viewed as primitive animals. We rarely land in the … Continue reading Bill Withers
Until I started researching this post, I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that the original version of this song was done by The Animals. It just had that gritty sound that we came to expect from them. As a matter of fact, … Continue reading One Song/Three Versions – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Music Enthusiast - At the junction of rock, blues, R&B, jazz, pop,and soul 