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As I’m sure some corner of the interweb has already informed you, Amy Winehouse is dead. I’m not even sure what to say though I think the spectrum of reactions is somewhere between “damn, that’s sad” and “well, it’s not like we didn’t see this coming.”1 There’s also the grim coincidence that she’s the latest to join the 27 Club.
I’ve written a lot about Amy Winehouse over the years. In fact, I think the most commented post I’ve ever had on Soul SIdes was about her first L.A. performance, at The [...]
Continue reading AMY WINEHOUSE, RIP
Regardless of what you think of “Otis,” the new song from Jay-Z and Kayne West’s Watch the Throne, you can’t deny that it just sounds better when Funk Flex is introducing it. So many classic lines here despite all the incessant backspinning.
Sad news I just learned about; Jerry Ragovoy has passed away at age 80. I wrote about Ragovoy in 2009, after the release of an anthology of his best-known collaborations; please do check that out since it has more on his background and other songs.
I alluded to this in that post but Ragovoy was an incredibly prolific force in R&B who didn’t always get the recognition he deserved. I was amazed at how many incredible songs he touched, including a few of my all-time favorite soul songs by the likes of [...]
Continue reading JERRY RAGOVOY: RIP
Bob Azzam & The Great Expectations: Rain Rain Go Away
Berimbau
Tricky Soul
From S/T (Audio Fidelity, 1969)
Where in the world is Bob Azzam from? If you knew nothing about him and needle-dropped through the album, you could easily believe he’s from (take your pick): the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, or the Middle East. Azzam was actually born in MonacoCairo to a Lebanese family but his career really got started in France even though much of his best known work (to contemporary ears) was originally recorded in Sweden. You [...]
Continue reading AZZAM IS UNIVERSAL
Even if you’ve never seen Brian Cross aka B+ in person, you’ve definitely seen his photography. Starting in the early 1990s, B+ has become one of the premier music photographers of the past 20 years, especially (but hardly exclusively) in the hip-hop community.
B+ is also one-half of the L.A.-based production outfit, Mochilla, who’ve put out the renown Keepintime, Brasilintime and Timeless series. And, he’s author of one of the best books ever written about hip-hop in L.A., It’s Not About a Salary.1 Suffice to say, of all the folks I’ve met through [...]
Continue reading SIDEBAR #12: PHOTOGRAPHER BRIAN CROSS/B+
Front on this. I dare you.
Cold Duck: Cold Duck (On Ice)
Folk: A Helping Hand
L&M Jazz Quartet: Serenade to a Chicken Wing
The Profits: Fantasy of Love
All from Like People: The Sounds of Young Los Angeles (SOYLA, 197?)
I had been after this LP for a few years now, ever since first seeing at the Groove Merchant, back in the day. It was the cover art; there was something so enticing about how everyone was standing at the top of that canyon, combined with a flip on the old Motown slogan, “The [...]
Continue reading THE SOUNDS OF YOUNG LOS ANGELES
egotripland.com has been running a series – now three deep(?) – on producers talking about their favorite sample flips. So far, they’ve had Jake One and DJ Spinna, and today, it’s Prince Paul’s turn (interviewed by my dude Dave Ma of Nerdtorious).
The whole series is a gem. I’m supposed to rap with Chairman Mao for a future Sidebar and will likely chat him up on the whole notion of what a “flip” is. (By the way, next two Sidebars, already in the can and just in the queue, are with B+ and Dan Charnas. Keep [...]
Continue reading PRINCE PAUL’S FAVORITE SAMPLE FLIPS
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