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Etta James was a singer who I always enjoyed on the periphery…in other words, I never made a concerted effort to really get that deep into her catalog but I understand, on a very basic level, that this was a Very Important Artist and not just because she sang one of the very best ballads ever sung in the history of people singing ballads. 1
So for this appreciation, I’m not going to try to pull off some “Etta James’s most important songs” post because I simply can’t claim to know this. I [...]
Continue reading ETTA JAMES: AN APPRECIATION
I’m going to try to get a better post up soon but I did want to say that one of the things I liked about Castor is that he was one of the young Black musicians from uptown who go fascinated with Latin boogaloo and ended up recording a few of them on his debut album in 1967, including this cover of Joe Cuba’s “Bang Bang”:
So…this meme was making the rounds (again) on Facebook in recent weeks and I went back to check what the #1 song was during my birth week in 1972 and it was Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again, Naturally.”
By sheer coincidence, I had just picked up a Spanish-language version of the song from Amoeba the other week (and believe me when I say: I very rarely find much by way of good used records from Amoeba). It’s on a 7″ EP of four songs, from a band that I think is Guatemalan in origin:
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Continue reading OPUS 3: 72 TO 12
Sarah Vaughn: Bye Bye
From 7″ (Mercury, 1964)
James Royal: House of Jack
From 7″ (CBS Germany, 1969)
Mark Martin: In the Good Old Topless Time
From 7″ (TWR, 1968)
I previously wrote about “instrumentals-made-into-vocal” covers in 2010, and now have three more to add into the mix.
Sarah Vaughn’s “Bye Bye” obviously riffs on Mancini’s hugely famous “Peter Gunn Theme”. I’m on the fence with this one…you don’t really need to throw vocals on one of the best frickin’ t.v. themes of all time but then again: [...]
Continue reading VOCALIZED COVERS
(As 2011 winds down, I’ve been feeling guilty for the relative sparseness of my record posts (as opposed to other kinds of posts). I’m beginning to realize that while writing is a passion, blogging is a hobby and one that has to compete with other interests (the podcasting for example). But at the end of the day, I feel like I’m missing out on the simple pleasures about writing about a song or an artist (without it having to be a RIP post, of which there’ve been too many of late). So with some holiday breathing time, I’ll probably be [...]
Continue reading ARETHA: OH NO? OH YES!
The folks at Cultures of Soul have a new CD/LP out – World’s Funkiest Covers – and obviously, this is of interest to moi! There’s some of my personal favorites on here, including Nostalgia 77′s wicked remake of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes and, of course, Ray Barretto’s epic “Pastime Paradise” cover.
You can peep some samples off the album below:
World’s Funkiest Covers Preview by Culturesofsoul
(Purchase the comp here).
Two things:
1) COS was nice enough to sponsor a CD giveaway for this new album. To enter, send us an email, subject [...]
Continue reading “WORLD’S FUNKIEST COVERS” CD GIVEAWAY + UPCOMING GIG
I saw this footage the past weekend at the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, where I had a gig (which I forgot to list, oops) as part of a Tribute Night for Aretha Franklin.
I love this so many different ways, especially the obvious chemistry between Smokey and Aretha. And Don Cornelius is at his deep voiced best too.
BTW, I had a really incredible time. Not only did I get to DJ with MC Lyte(!) but I met some incredible staff at the HOF. To boot: I was on the same flight as Chaka Khan back [...]
Continue reading “WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DUO”
Tyrone Davis: Knock On Wood
Can’t Keep a Good Man Down
Can I Change My Mind
From Can I Change My Mind? (Dakar, 1969)
Late pass. Yeah, I know, I should have posted about this album years ago, especially since its title track is a favorite. But truth be told…I never owned the album; just had the 7″.
And no doubt, the title track is delicious but the LP is no one-tracker. For starters, the version of “Knock On Wood” is a rather radical departure from Eddie Floyd’s original 1 Instead of [...]
Continue reading TYRONE DAVIS: CAN’T KEEP THIS GOOD MAN DOWN
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