NATALIE COLE, PATRICE RUSHEN, BUCKWILD/O.C.: BURN THESE SLOW



Natalie Cole: Just Can’t Stay Away
From Thankful (Capitol, 1977)

Patrice Rushen:This Is All I Really Know
From Posh (Elektra, 1980)

Buckwild feat. O.C.:Burn Me Slow
From Still Diggin’ EP (Fat Beats, 1999)

I’m definitely no modern soul expert but I’ve been turning up more songs of late (cleaning out my record stacks helps) that are part of that late ’70s, early ’80s vibe and I’ve been loving some of the tunes in that vein.

I never even knew Natalie Cole had a soul career – I grew up thinking she was that jazz-singer-who-dueted-with-her-dead-father but damn, she sounds incredible on “Just Can’t Stay Away,” a song written for her by Chuck Johnson and Marvin Yancy. En Vogue covered this song too and frankly – their version blows in comparison. Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.

Likewise, when I was combing through my jazz stacks, looking for LPs to cut, I gave my Patrice Rushen section a quick review and rediscovered her 1980 album Posh which features this great ballad, “This Is All I Really Know” but it was driving me crazy why the melody seemed so familiar. Then I realized: O.C. and Buckwild used it on the latter’s 1999 EP for a dope song called “Burn Me Slow.” I decided to include both (just because I can).

This has got me in the mood for summer songs so I think our next post will look a few tunes that might fit well with the summertime vibe.