Chitlin Circuit Double-entendre -filled Soul 2004 (and onward) Theodis Ealey's "Stand Up In It" is a song of the year

Luther Lackey, fwiw, is from Claksdale, Mississippi, and has 45 Myspace friends, and also no songs on his MySpace page, which therefore seems somewhat pointless to link to. Here is Daddy B Nice's page for him:

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/artistguide.cfm?aid=126

Bigg Robb is 42 years old and from Dayton, Ohio (so not technically Southern, probably.) His album is called Jerri Curl Muzik!

http://www.myspace.com/biggrobblove

Okay, Bigg Robb also used to be in Zapp, which probably explains why he dresses sort of like T-Pain and sometimes sings through a Vocoder:

http://www.soulbluesmusic.com/biggrobb.htm

Robert Banks comes from Tyler, Texas, according to the bio on this CDBaby page:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/robertbanks/from/daddybnice

I heard this great song on 88.7 at around 8am on Saturday. Yes.com says they didn't play it (hmmm). DJ said he just HAD to play this song by Uncle Eddie. I googled and came up with Uncle Eddie and Christy Delight: "Stop Talking Too Much." But I can only find one page on it. Here's a decent description of the song from that page:

"a child is saying something like, "I'm telling momma" and the daddy is telling her to "stop telling everything you know" I might not be correct on the words but the child is in the car with her daddy (I assume that's her dad) and she sees him up to no good and she says that she is telling."

What is this song??

I talked about that song way upthread, Kevin! But couldn't figure out who did it either. Definitely heard it on 88.7 a couple times since:

Real funny mostly-talked song on the Southern Soul show today: Krystal (or Crystal?) Somebody, "Stop Telling Everything You Know." Girl who sounds like the girl in "MyBabyDaddy" (B-Rock? The Bizz? whoever) catches her dad kissing a woman who isn't her mom; her dad, who sounds like Snoop's dad asking him for five dollars in the "Gin and Juice" video, claims he was just helping the woman get something out of her eye. Daughter asks then how come her lipstick was messed up when Dad finished with her eye. (End of song, he helps her with her dress, too.)
― xhuxk, Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:00 PM (1 year ago)

x-post

I think that great Jeff Floyd song "Shake Something Loose" may be from last year but it is still getting radio single play impact this year.

Yeah, a bunch of those tracks are clearly from '09 albums (maybe even late '08 in some cases), but especially with singles, I go with the Pazz & Jop Year of Impact rule. Maybe even with albums -- Bigg Robb's Jeri Curl Muzik apparently came out in April '09, but I'm loving it and may well consider it for my Pazz & Jop ballot this year (somehow T-Pain-era AutoTune now makes Zapp-style electro-funk seem oddly un-anachronistic, and he does a song or two -- the least likeable things on the album, I'd say so far -- that are clearly meant to sound more like up-to-date r&b for young folks anyway. Either way, I really don't think T-Pain's made any album half this fun. May take me awhile to suss out what's so great about individual tracks -- there are a lot of them; it's a long album -- but hopefully will eventually. Incidentally, if Robb is in fact just 42, and my math is right, he couldn't have been in Zapp in their and Troutman's prime, unless he was barely a teenager. So probably in a later edition of the group? Haven't researched that yet.)

Luther Lackey album is also good, though so far I'm wishing he stuck to the emotive countryfied soul prettiness of those two singles and didn't try to get funny and funky, which (unlike lots of these guys) he seems less good at; that is, I'm not really loving "I Got Caught Butt Naked."

Also should mention that Zapp-style vocoder funk is only one trick in Bigg Robb's bag, but hardly the only one; helps that he seems to be a way better singer than either Roger Troutman or T-Pain.

xposts

Ok xhuxk (or curmudgeon), if you ever find out, lemme know. I'll call the station too.

Highlights of Latimore's mostly just okay and seemingly covers-heavy September '09 All About The Rhythm And Blues, fwiw, appear to be "Obama And The Fat Man," where said fat man is never named but I'm guessing it's John McCain, and the probably dirty "Around The World," probably about whatever R.E.M.'s "Roam" was probably about, and definitely preferable in its eight-minute "Club Mix" at album's end.

(B-52s' "Roam", I mean.)

A lot of Sam Cooke and gospel in Luther Lackey's ballad inflections, actually -- and I'd say "Your Change Will Come" and "Man Up To It" and the recession processional "Mister Can I Shine Your Shoes" are at least close to the level of "It Ain't Easy Being The Preacher's Wife" and "If She's Cheatin' On Me I Don't Want To Know." Enough country in there for me to maybe consider it for my Nashville Scene ballot at year's end, too. "I Got Caught Butt Naked" (on the album in two versions, not an uncommon practice in this genre apparently -- Part 2 where he's pulled over by a dumb redneck cop is funnier, and ends with Luther chanting "Brick House") is clearly an anomaly for him, and I like his other obvious comedy cut "Meat Man". So -- another really good album.

seems to be a way better singer than either Roger Troutman or T-Pain.

Uh, less sure about this now -- seeing how other people (Carl Marshall, Floaters reviving "Float On", Bar-Kays, Shirley Murdock, Sir Charles Jones, some blues guy named I think Mississippi Redd who doesn't want to hear no more hippity hop) seem to be doing most of the great singing on the album (which is actually spelled Jeri Curl Muzic not Muzik). But there's a lot of great singing on it, either way. Bigg Robb himself is more a talker, in and out of AutoTune/Talkbox mode (get the idea he uses both), though I'd still say he sings at least well enough to get by, when he does. Topics: advice to family and friends who mess up (including an ex-flame who mistakingly has a lesbian one-night stand she regrets); needing a designated driver to get him home; stuff you can buy if you have money like for instance a new Blu-Ray player (w/ guest rap from Kurtis Blow); wanting to get together with a single mom and maybe help her raise her kids ("Can I Get To Know You Girl", recommended by Daddy B. Nice above and spiritually related to "I Can Help" by Billy Swan); keeping up with the kids and their blame-it-on-the-alcohol lil-mamas-with-lipgloss popping-bub-in-the-club music ("Sexy Lady," which is growing on me); what Bigg Robb wants in a woman (basically she needs to a churgoing sex maniac who knows how to cook greasy soul food though he doesn't eat pork anymore and have money he can borrow if he needs some); good fathers including ones who have to pay child support and ones who take care of children "you didn't even biologically make" ("Any Man Can Make A Baby": "you got issues with the mama, it's what the streets call baby mama drama.") There's also a five-minute track where a lady journalist interviews him about his old school influences, and a token blues for his fans out in the country, where they're probably cooking chicken and pork chops in the same grease (even though he already gave up pork a few songs before!)

Also, end of album, a "Bass Mix" of "Grown N Sexy" feat. Sir Charles Jones," "Bass" in this case I guess meaning Miami, given all the fat cavernous echo. Sounds pretty cool. (By the way, lots of his talk of women on the album also requests that they be mature as well. He's got a funny metaphor for that at one point; maybe I'll grab it next time. I love how, in this kind of music, getting older is a good thing.)

Btw, on a more neo-soul/half-competently ripping off early '70s Marvin and Mayfield tip, I've actually been enjoying the new album Whereimat by this L.A. fellow Darryl Moore -- especially "Jamie" (a probably cliched but nonetheless intriguing life lesson where a good girl goes bad) and "805 Sundaze"/"Family Funday" (two differently titled versions of what's basically the same song, about taking his kids to the park):

http://www.myspace.com/darrylmooremusic1

Previously unmentioned-here songs in Boogie Report's current Top 20 Southern Soul countdown

4.A Womans Worth Jeff Floyd /William Bell
6.All Of You All Of Me-Floyd Taylor
Juke Joint Jam Move Your Body Terrell House
8.Sick and Tired BJ Miller
13.Broke Azz Living Out Loud
14.Mind Your Business Heart 2 Heart
15.Baby Daddy Bobbye Doll Johnson
16.Can You Drop It Hog Pen
19.It Aint A Party Bigg Robb (though it's on the album I talked about)

From Wiki:
In January 2009, Burke joined legendary record producer Willie Mitchell at Mitchell's Royal Studio in Memphis to work together on a new recording - an album titled "Nothing's Impossible" which was released on April 6th, 2010. It was the first time Burke and Mitchell had worked together in their careers

I just saw mention of this on the Yahoo soul e-mail thang. They said it was Solomon Burke's best cd in ages. I am guessing it is more memorable than what he did with Joe "I'm overrated as a producer but NPR types like me" Henry.

Aww man, I just found out Jeff Floyd is gonna be at WPFW dj the Gator's Party at Lamont's in Pomonkey, Maryland (Near W. DC) June 12 with Big G from Richmond, but I'm gonna be at my son's doubleheader

From my WPFW listening today: Carl Sims "I Like this Place" is such a catchy song. Plus I heard a Bigg Robb song that sounded funky in an almost DC go-go way. Several guest vocalists on the song too I think.

Okay, I've got more catching up to do, apparently:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . . JUNE 2010

1. "I'm Going Solo"-------Narvel

No one beats the bushes for that country talent like your Daddy B. Nice. DJ Mighty Burner, who hosts an early-Saturday-morning show at Jackson's WMPR, caught my ear with this raw, energetic cut by a young performer out of Greenville, Mississippi, where muddy water runs out of the taps and (say the natives) makes everyone live longer.

"I'm going solo,
For the meanwhile.
I'm going soooo-loooooo
For the meanwhile."

Narvel, who sings the socks off of this song--who sings it like he really means it--has a 3-song CD which came out last winter--no distribution yet. A previous 2-song set is available at CD Baby, where you'll discover Narvel's last name is Echols!

2. "I'm The Man For The Job"-------------Lee Shot Williams
You either love or hate that stinging rhythm guitar lick. Once you "like" it, it's all over. The vocal is one of Shot's best and wildest, and the female chorus is funny and deliciously salacious. I still don't know what half of it's about (other than sex), and I don't care. I just love the Lee "Shot" sound: both the nostalgic but caustic vocals and the bizarre but apt arrangements.

3. "That Girl Belongs To Me"---------------------Willie Clayton & Charles Wilson
This notable collaboration provokes many thoughts. One is. . . Willie Clayton singing background? How can you lose? Another revelation is how much Charles Wilson's vocal tone, which on "lightish" tunes can be cloying, is enhanced by the bubbling-brook-of-soul stylings of Clayton. Both stars shine, and this song is undoubtedly headed for the top of the charts.

4. "Baby Daddy"----------------Bobbye "Doll" Johnson
Wonderful, mid-tempo ballad in the best tradition of Gladys Knight, Dianna Ross & The Supremes and Carole King. Bobbye's previous album, Rocking This Boat, is highly recommended, and it's good to see Bobbye coming into her own.

5. "What Do The Lonely Do When The Lights Go Out"------------Joy
Joy finally breaks through with a song that, while not the equal of her one-of-a-kind My Name Is $$$ , is at least in the same ballpark.

6. "(At Midnight I Get Lonely) I Gotta Get Next To You"-----------Ric E. Bluez
"I know that voice," I thought when I heard this tune out of the blue, but it wasn't somebody famous. My guess it's by an artist whose debut, Sexy Soul (2007), was very good. His name is Ric E. Bluez.

7. "All About You"--------B. B. Queen
Cabaret music meets Southern Soul. A simple lead guitar intro leads into B. B. Queen's heartfelt vocal, whereupon an even more intense guitar solo closes it out. B. B. Queen should have a business card made up: Diva: Have Guitar, Will Travel.

8. "Mister Can I Shine Your Shoes" ---------Luther Lackey
Another accomplished ballad from the The Preacher's Wife album--Luther's third top-ten single from the disc in as many months.

9, "I Won't Be Back"--------------Ms. Jody
Ms. Jody meets Dionne Warwick. Interesting and catchy. And also her third top-ten showing in as many months.

10. "Southern Soul Lover"---------Black Zack
It ain't "Sho' Wasn't Me," (Black Zack's recent cover of the Ronnie Lovejoy classic) but it's so enthusiastic it's infectious.

STILL CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF:

"I'm Stuck On Stupid"----------Chandra Calloway
"I'm With You Baby"----------Nellie "Tiger" Travis
"Get Out"--------------Pat Cooley
"I Had A Dream"-----------Charles Blakely

Okay, I've got more catching up to do, apparently

me too

So I was trying to figure out a song with these lyrics:

Got my money and I got my whisky
Tonight I'm gonna get..... real tipsy

I've been working hard all week
Time to take a break
Play some Marvin Sease and some Marvin Gaye
Call me later because I won't be at home

And I discovered it's Mel Waiters. He's great. Attached is a link with the lyrics and a youtube of him doing the song live. The studio version is much better and a bit different, but the live take's ok.

http://askville.amazon.com/blues-song-lyrics-money-whisky-sounds-Floyd-Taylor/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=42202328

And I still am digging Carl Sims "I Like this Place." Like Mel Waiters, he has an earthy soul voice and a gift for catchy nearly pop-like choruses.

Put this together for Rhapsody -- If it helps convert one or two Sharon Jones fans, I'll be happy:

http://blog.rhapsody.com/2010/06/undersoul.html

Looks good. Just heard another Mel Waiters song I like "Ice Chest."

I think Miss Jody is coming back to the DC area for a show this summer. Hopefully I can make it. Maybe she could even get a NPR All Songs Considered concert when here. Ha ha. They only know of Betty Lavette and Sharon Jones.

Here's an excerpt from my Washington City Paper blog post regarding events happening this weekend:

Jeff Floyd with Big G. at WPFW DJ the Gator’s celebration at noon at Lamont’s, 4400 Livingston Road (Route 224), Pomonkey, Md. Great southern soul that is as vital as Sharon Jones or Betty LaVette, even if NPR and Brooklyn hipsters have never heard of these folks. The Gator’s been playing Floyd’s catchy “Shake Something Loose” every Saturday for weeks now. $20. (301) 868-4235.

Real good editorial (with extremely useful timeline) about Malaco Records, from (who else) Daddy B. Nice:

June 6, 2010: Everything you ever wanted to know about. . .
THE CASTLE IN THE MIST CALLED MALACO
"The rebirth of Southern Soul music owes its very existence to Tommy Couch and Malaco Records." DBN

For most of today's Southern Soul and Blues community--that is, to all but a select inner circle of longtime veterans--Malaco Records represents something akin to the fabled castle of Camelot. It's surrounded by a moat and the drawbridge is seldom lowered, keeping out the riffraff seeking admittance, including countless independent artists, barely-domesticated managers, hapless record-label owners, annoying publicists, inquiring deejays and pesky writers.
But due to the vagaries of fate--in particular the untimely deaths of flagship artists Z. Z. Hill, Johnnie Taylor and Tyrone Davis--and the label's reputation for exclusivity, Malaco now finds itself in the unfamiliar role of a bystander in the contemporary Southern Soul music scene, largely irrelevant.
The major players in the Southern Soul and Blues scene in 2010 are Ecko and CDS. Ecko Records is the Memphis-based label founded in the 90's by John Ward, formerly of Malaco, and CDS is the recently-formed, California-based label of Dylann DeAnna, formerly of the website "Blues Critic."
Malaco still owns the state-of-the-art business model, the cream-of-the-crop performers (Marvin Sease, Shirley Brown) and the universally-admired stable of studio producers, musicians and writers.
However, even conservatively speaking, Ecko and CDS are individually producing four times as many Southern Soul CD's as is Malaco, even if one includes the product published by Waldoxy, the spin-off label started by Tommy Couch, Jr.
Malaco can be said to have bigger fish to fry: contemporary Gospel and Christian records, back catalogs from labels such as Muscle Shoals and Savoy, and a surprising number of other lines of music having nothing in common with Southern Soul.
The number of Southern Soul CD's sold in today's piracy-ridden market by Ecko and CDS is paltry by Malaco's standards, which through much of the eighties and nineties was in the 10,000 to 50,000-unit area.
Malaco sold 500,000 copies of Z. Z. Hill's "Down Home Blues" in 1984, a number the best artists of today wouldn't dare to hope for. "Good Love" by Johnnie Taylor, I'm told, sold a million.
But the unexpected deaths of Hill in the mid-80's and JT at the end of the 90's, both in the prime of their recording careers, had to have been a devastating blow to Southern Soul's flagship label. (Also see the first three paragraphs of Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Reggie P.)
Would Malaco and Waldoxy be producing more Southern Soul records in the first decade of the 21st century if those artists were alive? And how much bigger would the genre be today?
Those are questions we may never have answers for. What we can do is answer a few of the most fascinating questions about the history of Southern Soul. Almost all of it reads like the Malaco time line, because if not for Malaco, Southern Soul might never have reappeared
Many (but not all) of the facts below are extracted from The Malaco Story, an "about" page on the Malaco website, which in turn is excerpted from "The Malaco Story" by Rob Bowman, award-winning author of "Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, published by Schirmer Books. The time-line format and greater cultural references are your Daddy B. Nice's.

Early 60's: College students Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson start The Last Soul Company on a proverbial shoe string, booking bands for fraternity dances at the University of Mississippi. After graduation, Tommy Couch opens shop in Jackson, Mississippi as Malaco Attractions with brother-in-law Mitchell Malouf (Malouf + Couch = Malaco). Wolf Stephenson soon joins them.

1970: First whiff of success. New Orleans-based producer Wardell Quezergue brings five artists to Jackson in an old school bus for a marathon session that yields two national hits: King Floyd's "Groove Me" and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff." The momentum soon attracts The Pointer Sisters, Rufus Thomas and even Paul Simon to the studio.

1972: "The Harder They Come" Soundtrack appears. R&B fans begin to leave soul music for the new soulfulness of reggae.

1973: Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue," published by Malaco under extreme financial duress, earns gold records around the world, peaking at #2 R&B and #3 pop in the USA, and #5 in England.

1977: The "Saturday Night Fever" Soundtrack appears. More soul music fans swell the exodus from traditional and "old school" soul, filling the disco floors and dancing to a more mechanical beat. Ironically, the demise of storied Stax Records in Memphi results in a bounty of talent for Malaco, including Frederick Knight, Eddie Floyd and David Porter.

1979: The Sugarhill Gang records "Rapper's Delight," starting the modern rap era. What's left of the traditional R&B audience defects to hiphop. Frederick Knight's "Ring My Bell" is recorded by Anita Ward at Malaco's studio in Jackson, Mississippi with Malaco studio musicians, attaining #1 on both the pop and R&B charts.

1980: Malaco hires Dave Clark, the "dean" of southern R&B promotion men (not to be confused with the TV's American Bandstand host). Clark soon recruits Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle and Latimore to Malaco.
Malaco stops trying to compete with mainstream labels and falls back on "down home black music." A new generation of key songwriters join Malaco, among them Jimmy Lewis, George Jackson, Larry Addison and Richard Cason.

1984: Z. Z. Hill records "Down Home Blues." Here I want to quote Bowman verbatim. "Since blues supposedly no longer sold, everyone was shocked when Hill's second album, Down Home Blues, sold 500,000 copies. It was the most successful blues album ever, revealing a core audience for quality blues records. It also became an anthem for R&B singers struggling against disco and the emergence of rap." However, Malaco paid a price. The label never charted on Billboard for the rest of the 80's.

1984: Little Milton joins Malaco and records "The Blues Is Alright." Malaco's reputation as the home of contemporary southern soul and blues is solidified.

1984: Z. Z. Hill abruptly dies. His funeral is attended by a who's who of southern blues culture. Hearing Johnnie Taylor sing at the service, Tommy Couch invites Taylor to become Malaco's new flagship artist. Here I quote from Bowman again. "In the 1970s, mainstream stars like Denise LaSalle, Latimore, Little Milton and, especially, Johnnie Taylor, sold 500,000+ copies of their hits. Now, they were consigned to the industry margins, selling 100,000 units at best. Soul was reclassified as blues because of an aging demographic. To most radio programmers, older black people listened to the blues. So, when Johnnie Taylor's fans grew older, he was a "blues artist." The music hadn't changed, but the way it was understood, marketed, and consumed had shifted significantly."

1985: Malaco signs Bobby "Blue" Bland. Malaco's Stewart Madison purchases the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, label, and publishing company.

1995 and late 90's: Malaco signs Chicago R&B great Tyrone Davis. Johnnie Taylor records the Richard Cason song, "Good Love," which hits #1 on Billboard's blues charts and #15 R&B, becoming the biggest record in Malaco's history.

1999:
Johnnie Taylor records the "Gotta Get The Groove Back" album, with Southern Soul hits "Big Head Hundreds," "Soul Heaven" and "Too Close For Comfort."

2000: Johnnie Taylor dies.

2005: Tyrone Davis dies.

And that, in vastly simplified form, is how we as a Southern Soul community got from there--the late sixties, when soul and blues were fixtures of the pop charts--to here, 2010. The long, tortured rebirth of contemporary Southern Soul music owes its present vigor and very existence to the presence of Tommy Couch and Malaco Records.
And yet, to put things in cold perspective--units sold--Southern Soul artists still remain a blip on the national and international music scene, relegated to secondary status even in the R&B and blues markets.
This shouldn't deter anyone who loves the music or is bored with mainstream music. The blues of Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters fared no better before the mainstream discovered them--long after their primes. (See Daddy B. Nice's Home Page for the continuation of that story.)
But it's the big picture. Since the 80's, Malaco has been the big fish in a very small pond of old-school rhythm and blues--no more, no less. The big "catfish" has retired to its deep hole under the shadowy muddy bank, leaving the smaller fish to frolic and compete for bragging rights if not big dollars.
The intriguing question as we go forward will be whether Ecko or CDS or any of the other small indie labels--Wilbe, Milaja, Soul 1st, B&J, Brittany, Ifgam, Deep Rush, Mardi Gras, Latstone--will succeed at capturing the magic-in-a-bottle of the best moments in Malaco's history.
Insiders remain skeptical if not downright pessimistic. The young generation has never made record-buying a habit in the way the baby-boomer generation did, and the "grown folks" demographic Southern Soul targets isn't known for its conspicuous consumption.
Nonetheless, nothing sells--even in hard times--like entertainment. Z. Z. Hill and Johnnie Taylor astonished the radio programmers. Why not again?
The number of creditable performers in the Southern Soul genre, the competitiveness of the scene, and the exponentially-growing concert and touring phenomenon bode well. The elements are all there, ready to combust for some lucky, talent-endowed performer and label.
Meanwhile, Malaco remains on its hill in north Jackson, Mississippi, a living monument to the refusal of the music to die.

Awesome. Daddy B. Nice is doing a great job. Someone should suggest to Village Voice music editor Harvilla to add him to the P & J critics poll invitation list. Don't know if Daddy B. would respond, but it would be great if he did.

Current Boogie Report Top 20 countdown (at least a couple of these have been mentioned here before, but not most of them, I don't think):

20.On My Own Sir Charles Jones
19.Am I Mr.Right William Bell
18.What - Joy
17.A Womans Worth Jeff Floyd / William Bell
16. One Good Man Karen Wolfe
15.If They Can Beat Me Rockin* Vick Allen
14.That Girl Charles Wilson
13.The Error Of My Ways Solomon Burke
12.All Of Me All Of You Floyd Taylor
11.Mistreated Margo Thunder
10.Rumble In The Bedroom James Smith
9. The Bop-Ms.Jody
8.Nathaniel Kimble I'm Ready
7.It Aint A Party Bigg Robb and Da Problum Solvas
6.Same Soap Omar Cunningham
5.I Aint Gone Do It Mel Waiters
4.Impala Lamorris Williams
3.Watch What You Tell your Friends Shirley Brown
2.Mississippi Girl Wendell B
1.Ps and Qs Reggie P / Sir Charles Jones

Aaaaand....Damnit, I am falling behind again:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . . JULY 2010

1. "I Lived it All"----Carl Marshall

What a rhythm section. Every time I hear this drum, bass and rhythm guitar I'm torn between kneeling and genuflecting, dancing, or following in a long line of wild critters drawn by the flute of the Pied Piper.

Fans who weren't around when "I Lived It All" was first recorded may remember the more recent Patrick Harris songs "Right On Time" and "I Fooled You This Time," which borrowed some of their inspirational flavor and their distinctive, high-pitched synthesizer fills from Carl Marshall's classic.

"I Lived It All" is not only a reminder that grief and adversity are still the ultimate attention-getters but proof that the human character conquers and triumphs by living "to tell it."

2. "I'm Throwing In The Towel" ------------Earl Gaines

In tempo and mood this majestic ballad recalls Donnie Ray's "If I Could Do It All Over." Earl Gaines sings real, down-to-earth, blue-collar Southern Soul as few ever have. His recent passing isn't even hinted at in the easy-going, full-chested power with which he delivers the song's rueful message.

Move over and make room in your pew in Southern Soul Heaven, Ray Charles.

3. "Same Soap" ---------------Omar Cunningham

Omar Cunningham is slowly becoming the headliner of Southern Soul's shining 2nd generation of stars, including Sir Charles, T.K. and O.B. As a vocalist he's the equal of any of them, and his compositional skills set him apart.

"Same Soap" isn't his best to date, but it's something of a thematic departure from Omar's typical nice-guy image. As the "cheater" he has to use the "same soap" he lathers with at home. Come to think of it, "Beauty Shop" (another "cleansing" song) was at bottom about a cheater.

4. "Time" (The MP3 Remix)--------------Frank Mendenhall

This souped-up version of the signature song by one of Southern Soul's most beloved passed stars continues the "retro" feel of this month's Top Ten singles. For Mendenhall fans it's a rare opportunity to hear a "fresh" tune posthumously.

Your Daddy B. Nice has no available links to any CD or EP (and no hard-copy "best-of album" exists). However, Jerry "Boogie" Mason, who played the track on Jackson's WMPR the other day, informs me you can find the "Time" remix as "an alternate take taken from the itunes download of the best of frank mendenhall."

5. "I Don't Mind Being There For My Man" -------------------Special

I just heard this song for the first time, five years after it was published, and this despite being peppered with e-mails about Special (I always thought it was the same writer) for at least two of the five. A Bigg Robb-produced act, Special did the "Girlfriend To Girlfriend" cover of Shirley Brown's classic that had heads wagging a few years ago.

What will turn your head about "Being There For My Man" is that it sounds like Syleena Johnson singing "Guess What," only better. In fact, I thought it was Syleena finally striking gold in a Southern Soul way for the first time since her early hit.

Special robs "Guess What" blind, but since Syleena hasn't pursued Southern Soul anyway, that's a good thing.

6. "You Deserve Better"------------100% Cotton

After years of sending your Daddy B. Nice a steady stream of execrable, morbid, one-dimensional, one chord MP3's, Terry (100%) Cotton finally wises up and gets some first-class help: a fine lead male singer and a fine female back-up singer.

Making a record the Bigg Robb way, with an entourage of talent worthy of Cotton's great expectations, pays off in an amazing vintage-sounding soul extravaganza. Congratulations to the young artist for perseverence.

This is the kind of soul song perfect for driving in a light evening rain with the windshield wipers swishing and romance at the end of the journey. Think Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness." The female-sung stanza is so Southern Soul-ful it'll give you goose bumps.

What are the odds of there being two 100% Cottons? Good, evidently, in this Internet age. Not to be confused with "Tony" (100%) Cotton, another young artist with a much slicker, lighter sound.

7. "Don't Blame It On Me" ------------The Winstons

Want a hit? Get yourself a solid bass line. Kick out a melody. Keep it simple. Don't be afraid to be "pop." That's the formula this likeable beach-music ensemble from D.C. has utilized for years. "Don't Blame It On Me" also boasts a wild and funny cameo by a bitchy mate in no mood to raise a child alone.

8. "One Woman"------------Certified Slim

Another solid and soulful ballad from the "Birthday Suit" man. (See DBN's #2 Single, May 2010.)

9. "Family Reunion"------------Bigg Robb w/ Shirley Murdock

This is a daring record for Bigg Robb, eschewing almost all the old by now familiar tricks in favor of a new, stripped-down, relatively-modest sound. The simplicity puts the emphasis on the execution and Murdock and company do not disappoint. Each listening sears the groove a little deeper into the ears' pleasure zone.

And to think your Daddy B. Nice just missed his own family reunion for the third year in a row. Not good. Sorry, Robb.

10. "Tired"--------------Kelly Price

Whew! I'm tired by the time she's done with this Wagnerian rant. Rant doesn't even begin to describe the tsunami-like power of both the vocal and the arrangement. It's like being sucked out a hull-breached airplane at ten thousand feet above the earth.
I'm also touched that Kelly is using "Boogie" to promote her music, which means she's at least aware of the attention we've given her in the Southern Soul community

The Winstons are still together! Wow.

Grrrrrr, gonna be out-of-town next Saturday for the Lamont's 20th anniversary show with Lee Fields, Miss Jody, and more.

New Breakout Hit on the Radio!

This strong Blues groove and Latimore's smooth vocals deliver a track that everyone can get into. "Every Day I Have The Blues", by Latimore, takes this classic to a new level

Promo email from Henry Stone Music, that I just received. Not sure if I have heard this one. I saw Latimore at least once (not bad) and I've liked his vocals on most of the recordings I have heard.

Been listening to these in recent weeks; in more or less descending order of how much I like them:

Chuck Brown – We Got This (Sweet Venture) -- Washington proto-go-go survivor not Southern soul obviously, and mostly live (just watched the attached DVD last night), but totally relentless and amazing, with a ton of jazz and rock stirred in
Sweet Angel – A Girl Like Me (Ecko) -- title track has a very good chance at my year-end top 10 singles list
Earl Gaines – Good To Me (Ecko) -- died last year, I think?
Syl Johnson – Complete Mythology (Advance Sampler) (The Numero Group promo reissue)
David Brinston – Beat It Up (Ecko) -- great voice, catchy songs, but his lyrics(see album title) tend toward the gross unsexy juvenile horndog idiocy of too much contemporary r&b, so I'm still on the fence about this: basically, sounds real good if I ignore the words
Sir Charles Jones – A Tribute To The Legends (Mardi Gras '09) -- another great voice, but all cover songs, so likewise marginal; what helps is that the cover songs are not all obvious ones, and he does surprisingly good versions of some of the more obvious ones, too, "rainy night in georgia" and "never can say goodbye" for instance

Also, here's my album review of Luther Lackey's The Preacher's Wife, almost a shoo-in for my year-end top 10 list:

http://www.rhapsody.com/luther-lackey/the-preachers-wife#albumreview

Are you on an Ecko mailing list now? I need to review some of their stuff and try to get on it. That is, if they send stuff out. So few writers review this stuff, that I wonder if they only send copies to Southern US radio stations.

Yeah, it took some finagling, but I actually managed to get on their list. (Mardi Gras's list, too -- They also sent me a compilation that I haven't listened to much yet.) Emailed some of the other Southern Soul labels, too, but haven't heard back.

I need to do that. Listened instead this weekend to NPR friendly, easy-listening soul-- Latest Bettye Lavette, Mavis Staples and Lizz Wright. Great voices wasted on ponderous arrangements for the most part. I also listened to James Funk(onetime go-go musician in Rare Essence)who was filling in as the dj on my local WPFW southern soul show. I liked the various Southern soul songs he played more than the Bettye Lavette tune he spun--her slowed-down take on "Nights in White Satin."

Lizz wants to be in Sweet Honey in the Rock it appears. She sings a Bernice Reagon song and Bernice's daughter produces several of the cuts. It's just very predictable.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2010/09/06/100906crmu_music_frerejones

Sasha Frere-Jones should start reading this thread (he used to read ilx sometimes).

Was gonna do a newspaper blogpost on Lizz, but her gig tonight got postponed due to illness.

Daddy B. Nice's #97 ranked Southern Soul Artist
Luther Lackey is one of the most intriguing of the new generation of Southern Soul artists, a singer-slash-songwriter of the first order. And the best part is that his stuff has a power that hints at great things to come.
--Daddy B. Nice

About Luther Lackey

Luther Lackey is the brother of O. B. Buchana (now that's a talented family)and hails from the same home town as Buchana, blues-rich Clarksdale, Mississippi.

I didn't realize he was O.B.'s brother. O.B. made my top 10 for last year.

There's barely anything written about Lackey visible via google.

x-post--some of the Lizz Wright cd is growing on me.

Mel Waiters new song "DownHome people" is great-nice melody and lyrics that capture the character of 50-somethings still into Southern soul music and hanging out.

Surprise surprise, no mention of Mel Waiters or any other southern soul singer in the new NY Times magazine article on retro-soul (Mayer Hawthorne, Eli Reed, etc.). It's annoying to me that in the thousands of words in this piece there was not room for any acknowledgment of this other thing going on right now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/magazine/14soul-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=music

Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing. (I saw Mayer Hawthorne live at Austin City Limits, by the way, and he puts on a really entertaining show -- though more quiet storm than Motown, as far as my ears could tell, and he's nowhere near a great singer, and the stuff I've heard on record went in one ear and out the other. Anyway, to act like he's the future of soul music is a joke.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAaU_jLDL_E

The Miss Jody Thing line dance

Oh, it's "Ms. Jody" actually

http://www.blues.org/#ref=bluesmusicawards_nominees

Denise Lasalle gets love as a blues.org soul nominee and as a Daddy B. Nice nominee

http://www.southernsoulrnb.com/corner2010.cfm

Best CD:

1. Mel Waiters---I Ain't Gone Do It
2. Carl Marshall---Love Who You Wanna Love
3. Earl Gaines---Good To Me
4. Floyd Taylor---All Of Me
5. Luther Lackey---The Preacher's Wife
6. Denise LaSalle---24 Hour Woman
7. Cicero Blake---I'm Satisfied
8. Wendell B.---In Touch With My Southern Soul
9. Sheba Potts-Wright---Best Of Sheba Potts-Wright
10. Reggie P.---The Rude Boy Of Southern Soul

THE CATEGORIES:

Best Mid-Tempo Song
Best Club Song
Best Ballad
Best Song by Longtime Veteran
Best Female Vocalist
Best Male Vocalist
Best Debut
Best Collaboration
Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song
Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song
Best Cover Song
Best Arranger/Producer
Best Songwriter
Best CD
Hardest-Touring Crowd Pleaser.

THIS LIST IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

Mel Waiters is my man. I think I like his voice better than Luther Lackey's. Ms. Jody and Denise Lasalle have great voices as well.