During the first half of the last season of Breaking Bad, I was watching this scene from the episode “Hazard Pay” and my first thought was, “what song is this???”
I’m only slightly familiar with this British trio, mostly because of their awesome Suite London, which I wrote about back in 2007. But only recently, that was the only LP of theirs I ever owned. I slept on Three In a Cell and their marvelous cover of Burton Lane’s Broadway classic.
I’m sure the group never imagined their song would end up scoring an epic meth cook session but you gotta admit: it works perfectly in the scene. So dreamy.
Question from Nick: “I was wondering if you know what the beat is that the UMC’s freestyle over on Stretch and Bobbito’s radio show. I am pretty sure that Stretch put together beats, so it may be something he created. Regardless its classic case of how good stripped down drums and bass can sound.”
Answer: I don’t recognize it as an instrumental from an existing song from that era though it could certainly have been from a more independent release that would have flown under my radar then. I do think it’s more realistic that it was a Stretch exclusive though.
And yes, I absolutely agree about the how good stripped down drums and bass can sound. To wit, one of my favorites.
Question from Casey: “Just heard Oliver on NPR, but didn’t hear the first names of singers named Hunter & Bradley, I think both from London. Would love to learn more about them. Thanks!”
Answer: Casey is referring to this review of both Charles Bradley and the James Hunter Six. Hunter is from London but Bradley is from the States. Click either name above to go to their respective websites.
Bradley just played the Apollo and *whistle*, sick poster (click on thumbnail for bigger image):
Question from Matt: “”Hi, long time reader, first time emailer. I have a 45 that I cannot seem to find lot of information on and was hoping you might know. It is from the Rocky Mountain Recording label out of Cheyenne, WY. and the name of the group is The Soul Reflections. Track one is “”I Love You Baby”" and the other is “”Reflections’ Walk Groovin’ In The Basement.”" Both tracks feature Carroll Jones. It is also on red vinyl. It’s in pretty rough shape, but was just curious to know more about it and the label. The only other record I have seen from this label is a country and western tune, but I cannot remember the name of the group.”
Answer: Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with this 7″ at all. A quick scan of Popsike shows that there were at least a few releases on RMR (Rocky Mountain Records) attributed to Carroll Jones and the Soul Reflections; this looks like the single you have. I can’t tell if that single is less common or less in demand but the single by the group that sells more often is “Hey Girl” which has this stripped down, almost garage-y ballad on the b-side, “I Need You So Bad.” Good luck. If you turn up more, let us know.
Question from anonymous: “Who else used the melody from El Michels Affair’s “Detroit twice”?”
Answer: I’m not sure which melody you’re asking about specifically. If it’s the one carried on the horns, I have no idea; doesn’t sound familiar. However, the beginning of the song is clearly a riff on this Soul Sides favorite:
The El Michels Affair isn’t carrying the rhythm line in the exact same way, more like a vague interpolation of it. But the four note vocal cry at the beginning clearly nods to Young.
Quesiton from Richard: “Been a minute since I’ve stopped by (sorry, long time Soul Sider) but someone randomly sent me this video on youtube messages. Wanted to know if you were privy to this yet.
Answer: Nope, hadn’t heard this. Not that won over by it. As I try to suggest in that aforementioned review of Bradley and Hunter, there’s a fine line in being able to pull off a good retro-soul sound vs. sounding like you’re pandering. This track seems a little too far on the wrong side of that line. My .02.
I totally forgot to share this anecdote from the other month. I got an email from DJ Day – if you haven’t copped Land of 1000 Chances yet…what you waiting for? – and he wanted to share this:
I don’t think I ever told you, but the last song on the album (“W-E-L-O-V-E“) is directly related to you. The basis of the song was all from one you played at the Ace that Sunday by the pool many, many moons ago. I ended up tracking the record down because of it and here we are. Just wanted you to know I owe that one to you.
Best –
Day
Suffice to say, that’s a really cool email to receive from an artist you respect. But the funny kicker? I couldn’t remember what song he was talking about. I finally just asked him and he reminded me but also asked I keep it under my hat. So if you know it, congrats! If you don’t, don’t worry: even I forgot it and I own the damn record.
My recent deluge of work means a drought in posts but I’m finally back. Pardon the kitchen sink but I got a lot to cover.
First off, my early runner for “album of the year” goes to Laura Mvula. I’ve been singing her praises for a while but had been looking forward to finally reviewing the U.S. release of her Sing to the Moon for NPR. I feel like any kind of superlatives I might throw her way will be woefully inadequate. Listen to this, the first song on the album. If you’re not awed…well, maybe you’ll want to skip to the next part of this post.
I mean…good god that’s incredible. And practically the whole album is like that. Stunning.
I’d actually recommend folks in the U.S. throw down extra for the deluxe version, which only came out in the UK> I should note: the British “deluxe” version of the CD because it comes with a bonus disc with extra songs, alt. versions and demo versions. That includes this beauty of a track that I wanted to include in my review before realizing it was only on the deluxe version.
Oh yeah, speaking of albums of the year, don’t want to forget Lady. The duo was in L.A. about a month back and I helped KPFK’s Michael Barnes interview them live for his show, The Melting Pot. That included three songs, sung only with a single guitar accompaniment (also on the show). Very, very cool. Do take a listen.
And also, speaking of NPR, I recently contributed to their “1993″ series of important/intersting hip-hop albums from 20 years back, writing about Biz Markie’s All Samples Cleared. In particular, at the end, I mention how Biz and his production squad flip five different versions of “Get Out of My Life Woman” including one of my favorite versions, Grassella Oliphant’s:
I’m not claiming this is the best version – there’s a ton of competition at the very least – but it’s a combo of the drums/organ/bass that comes together so beautifully. Biz knew that too when he flipped that particular version for this:
Of course, they juice up the drums a bit but the basic loop is all there. I know other rappers have flipped this as well (Kurious and Cypress come to mind) but I’m rolling with Biz’s as my fave.
Lastly, I wanted to share this little “mini-mix” I put together last fall for a wedding I did in S.F. (and then used again, partially) for a wedding I just did (also in S.F., as it were, a few weeks back). These days, most of the tiny edits I do are to create party song segments but the thing about something so specialized is that I don’t want to abuse them by playing them out all the damn time. So I figured, this particular mini-mix was used at least twice but I don’t want to try to stretch it out further so I’ll just share it with everyone instead. Once you listen to it, some of you might just dump it right away (you’ll understand why in a moment) but if you have kids under the age of 10, I’d almost guarantee they’d dig it. Swear.
One of my best moments in a club came back in the ’00s when I was at APT during a night that Chairman Mao was spinning. I had never heard Lamont Dozier’s “Going Back To My Roots” before and I was just marveling at now just how good the song was, but that incredible change in the arrangement that drops around the 6:30 mark. It was so unexpected and sublime, one of those songs that really only could work as well as it does when you give it time to unfold on a dancefloor. Simply incredible.
Not surprisingly, it drew the attention of other artists. The best known cover is by Odyssey but…I don’t know…I think I found the vocals to be too disco-cliché. Richie Havens’ version however won me over with that intro piano (I’m a sucker for good piano intros) and though Havens has a rougher voice than Dozier’s it works well here. The “reprise” section is missing but otherwise, I find this almost as pleasing to play out.
chatter