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

x-post- I had not heard that Sweet Angel song before but just checked it out on youtube. Nice. I like the way she emphasizes the "sh" sound when she says "Bobby Rush"

From that memphis blues.org group's more mainstream bluesy nominations linked to above:

Soul Blues Album of the Year
24 Hour Woman, Denise LaSalle
Back in Style, Tad Robinson
Feed My Soul, The Holmes Brothers
Live In San Antonio, Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges
Nothing's Impossible, Solomon Burke
Stomp the Floor, Arthur Adams

Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year
Barbara Carr
Claudette King
Denise LaSalle
Irma Thomas
Sista Monica Parker

Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year
Bobby Rush
Curtis Salgado
Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges
Solomon Burke
Tad Robinson

Only listened to it once, but I was kinda dissapointed in the latest Holmes Brothers album. Not enough energy. Don't think I've ever heard Claudette King or Curtis Salgado.

Tons of these I've still never heard!:

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

DADDY B. NICE'S FINALISTS:
BEST OF 2010 SOUTHERN SOUL
Below is a list of finalists--the best in their categories for 2010--for the 4th Annual Daddy B. Nice Southern Soul Music Awards.
The numbers below do NOT denote rankings.
The award-winner in each category will be announced soon on this page.
Music published before 2010 was eligible if the bulk of its chitlin' circuit airplay came in 2010.

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

Best Mid-Tempo Song:
1. Older Woman (Looking For A Younger Man)---Denise LaSalle
2. Meet Me Tonight---Mel Waiters
3. If They Can Beat Me Rockin'---Vick Allen
4. If She's Cheating On Me, I Don't Wanna Know---Luther Lackey
5. Turn Road---Mr. Ivy
6. We Don't Get Along 'Til We Gettin' It On---O. B. Buchana
7. Trying To Please Two---Doctor D.
8. Personal Matter---Wilson Meadows
9. I Ain't Gone Do It---Mel Waiters
10. She Threw A Monkey Wrench In My Game---Walt Luv
11. Everybody Knows---The Revelations f/ Tre' Williams
12. Knock My Boots---Larry Milton

Best Club Song:
1. Get Out---Pat Cooley
2. I'm The Man For The Job---Lee "Shot" Williams
2. Brand New Man---Captain Jack Watson
4. Preacher Man---Reggie P.
5. Ride It Like A Cowboy (Zydeco Remix)---Kenne' Wayne
6. Slap It Tap It---Jim Bennett
7. The Bop---Ms. Jody
8. Let's Party---Cherone Brown
9. Everything's Going Up---Mel Waiters
10. Too Much Booty Shaking---Jonothan Burton
11. You Make Me Want To Pop A Pill---Ghetto Cowboy
12. P's & Q's---Reggie P. & Sir Charles Jones

Best Ballad:
1. Birthday Suit---Certified Slim
2. I Didn't Wanna Wake Up---Charles Blakely
3. All Of You, All Of Me---Floyd Taylor
4. The Preacher's Wife---Luther Lackey
5. Everybody Makes Mistakes---Bigg Robb
6. Outside Man---John Cummings
7. I'd Rather Be By Myself---Sweet Angel
8. Best Time I Ever Had In My Life---Wendell B.
9. Be A Man---Pat Cooley
10. Why Did You Lie---Jabo
11. You Deserve Better--100% Cotton
12. The Crying Zone---Bigg Robb
13. You Ain't The Father Of The Child---Sir Charles Jones
14. Baby Daddy---Bobbye Johnson

Best Song By Longtime Veteran:
1. I Ain't Gone Do It---Mel Waiters
2. Am I Mr. Right---William Bell
3. My Old Man & Mrs. Jones---Pat Brown
4. Pop That Thang---Big G.
5. Mr. Right Now---Latimore
6. Sorry (Didn't Know It Was Your Mama)---Lenny Williams
7. I've Lived It All---Carl Marshall
8. Into Something---Cicero Blake
9. Beat It Up---David Brinston
10. She Told On Herself---T.K. Soul
11. Older Woman---Denise LaSalle
12. What Do The Lonely Do---Joy
13. Blind Snake---Bobby Rush
14. Gotta Good Woman---Lee "Shot" Williams

Best Female Vocalist:
1. No Ordinary Pussycat---Ms. Jody
2. I'll Be Your Cheating Woman---Jill Sharp
3. Last Night Was Your Last Night---Sweet Angel
4. Be A Man---Pat Cooley
5. All About You---B.B. Queen
6. My Man (I Won't Let My Baby Down)---Lina
7. Baby Daddy---Bobbye Johnson
8. Reality Slowly Walks Us Down---LGB
9. You Won't Miss Your Water---Falisa JaNaye
10. Cheating On The Back Streets---Adrena
11. Older Woman (Looking For A Younger Man)---Denise LaSalle
12. Love That Keeps Us Holding On---Katrina Jefferson
13. Only Time I Get Lonely---Stephanie Pickett
14. Stuttering---Karen Wolfe

Best Male Vocalist:
1. Mister Can I Shine Your Shoes---Luther Lackey
2. Meet Me Tonight---Mel Waiters
3. If They Can Beat Me Rockin'---Vick Allen
4. We Don't Get Along Until We Gettin' It On---O.B. Buchana
5. Birthday Suit---Certified Slim
6. Brand New Man---Captain Jack Watson
7. I've Lived It All---Carl Marshall
8. You Ain't The Father Of The Child---Sir Charles Jones
9. Same Soap---Omar Cunningham
10. Knock My Boots---Larry Milton
11. I Didn't Wanna Wake Up---Charles Blakely
12. Everybody Knows---Tre' Williams w/ The Revelations
13. Come On Let's Dance---Donnie Ray
14. Best Time I Ever Had In My Life---Wendell B.
15. Wanna Make Love---Floyd Taylor

Best Debut:
1. Trying To Please Two---Doctor D.
2. My Man(I Won't Let My Baby Down)---Lina
3. Birthday Suit---Certified Slim
4. Turn Road---Mr. Ivy
5. Outside Man---John Cummings
6. Brand New Man---Captain Jack Watson
7. Cheating On The Back Street---Adrena
8. Mind Your Business---Heart 2 Heart Band
9. Ain't Going Your Way---B.B. Queen
10. I Didn't Wanna Wake Up---Charles Blakely
11. Falisa JaNaye---You Won't Miss Your Water

Best Collaboration:
1. We Both Grown---Willie Clayton & Dave Hollister 2. P's & Q's---Reggie P. & Sir Charles Jones
3. Haters Gone Hate---T. K. Soul, Vick Allen, Omar Cunningham
4. No Ordinary Pussycat---Ms. Jody & J. Blackfoot
5. Good Lovin' Testimony---Carl Marshall & Rue Davis
6. Family Reunion---Bigg Robb & Shirley Murdock
7. Forever Young---Gregg A. Smith, Bobby Rush, Lucky Petersen, Carl Marshall
8. That Girl Belongs To Me---Charles Wilson & Willie Clayton
9. Reach Out---Stan Mosley, Carl Marshall, Rue Davis, Lil' Buck & Jamonte Black

Best Outa-Left-Field Song:
1. I'm Going Solo---Narvel
2. You Deserve Better---100% Cotton
3. Reality Slowly Walks Us Down---LGB
4. Tired---Kelly Price
5. America Rises And Shines---Bobby Bowens
6. Cassanova (Zydeco version)---Lynn
7. Just One More Day---Randy "Wildman" Brown
8. A Girl Like Me---Sweet Angel
9. Don't Blame It On Me---The Winstons

Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song:
1. Repo Woman---Gwen White
2. Ex-Wife Blues---Cherone Brown
3. Don't Do It---Bobby Connerly
4. Bitter With The Sweet---Kenny Neal
5. Blind Snake---Bobby Rush
6. Forever Young---Gregg A. Smith, Bobby Rush, Lucky Petersen, Carl Marshall
7. Too Many Mechanics---Cream Of The Crop Blues Band
8. Jimmy---The Real Brown Sugar
9. I'll Be Your Cheating Woman---Jill Sharp
10. Let's Party---Cherone Brown

Best Cover Song:
1. Older Woman---Denise LaSalle
2. Sam---Angel Sent
3. Barbeque---Mel Waiters
4. Cheat Receipt---Denise LaSalle
5. Return Of The Mack---The BarKays
6. Back In The Streets Again---Ms. Jody
7. Good Lovin' Testimony---Carl Marshall w/ Rue Davis

The Denise Lasalle one is uneven and disappointingly formulaic. Well, actually it's worse than uneven. The formulaic blues chords on some songs and the standard chitlin circuit lyrics re cheating guys, older women sex drives and particular needs are all kinda of meh. But there are a few great cuts there and I always love her voice.

The Mel Waiters one has grown on me alot even if a few of the cuts have a kinda boring "quiet storm" format/ adult r'n'b boring production aspect (as if he wants to be a Luther Vandross imitator without Luther's distinctiveness).

Speaking of Luther's, I still am struggling with Luther Lackey's voice. It's weird, I can listen to bad-voiced rock singers and he's better than that.

I've never heard many of the listed items.

Daddy B. Nice's TOP 25 SOUTHERN SOUL SONGS OF 2010

1. "If They Can Beat Me Rockin'"--------------Vick Allen
Vick Allen comes of age with his finest work to date, and the gifted, songwriting-savvy artist does it with label-mate Omar Cunningham's hootenanny-style song.
2. "I Lived It All"----Carl Marshall
This isn't the guru-of-love, father-figure Carl Marshall you know today. This is the autobiographical, "in extremis" Carl Marshall dispensing the raw emotions of youth with a hurricane force you may not have known he possessed.
3. "My Man (I Won't Let My Baby Down)"------------Lina
The most mind-blowing recording by a new artist since LaMorris Williams' "Impala". Recorded in California in 2008, it seeped into the chitlin' circuit this fall via WMPR'S DJ Handyman.
4. "Knock My Boots"--------------Larry Milton
Who would have imagined that a "Slow Roll It" knock-off (and an underground hit at that) could make you forget the Love Doctor's star-crossed classic? In the space of four atmosphere-packed minutes Larry Milton goes from journeyman to genius.
5. "I'll Be Your Cheatin' Woman"----------Jill Sharp
Real life--the tough side, with no fronting--suffuses this excellent, rap-tinged, slow blues by a young South Carolinian produced by Harrison Calloway.
6. "Brand New Man"--------------Captain Jack Watson
The best Carl Marshall dance groove ever. When the echo effect comes in with "For the last five years" and "I was lonely for love," you're wishing Captain Jack was bellowing the words with stadium-sized reverb.
7. "Turn Road"----------Mr. Ivy
In tried and true Southern Soul fashion, this keenly-arranged tune about a young man bullying his girlfriend into making love outdoors transcends its low-budget production to become an authentic love anthem.
8. "Meet Me Tonight"-----------Mel Waiters
A man with white whiskers shouldn't be able to make music this sweet and original. Stressing the unhappiness at the root of their infidelity, Mel evinces a surprising amount of sympathy for the unfaithful lovers.
9. "I Didn't Wanna Wake Up"-------------Charles Blakely
For sheer Willie-Clayton-esque beauty in 2010 you couldn't do better than newcomer Charles Blakely's exquisitely-produced ballad, the one with the lines, "We were making love/ And we looked like the number 69."
10. "We Don't Get Along Until We Gettin' It On"-----------O. B. Buchana
O. B. delivers a clinic in singing Southern Soul. The smooth falsetto-ranged chorus (O. B. himself, actually) gives the song just the extra dimension needed to balance Buchana's acrobatic, gunnysack-rough leads.
11. "Trying To Please Two"---------------Doctor D.
Jackson, Mississippi's Doctor D.'s debut, "Trying To Please Two" boasts the finest chorus of any song of this year, bar none.
12. . "No Ordinary Pussycat" ---Ms. Jody and J. Blackfoot
"No Ordinary Pussycat" is actually an under-played version of the "Meow" song from J. Blackfoot's Woof Woof Meow CD in which Ms. Jody contributes 95% of the hair-scorching vocal.
13. "Everybody Makes Mistakes" ------------Bigg Robb
From Bigg Robb's overlooked Grown Folks Gospel: Songs Of Encouragement, "Everybody Makes Mistakes" transcends its gospel package, tones down Robb's perfectionism somewhat, and ends up becoming one of the most heartfelt and emotionally-solid songs Robb has ever recorded.
14. "Baby Daddy"-------------Bobbye "Doll" Johnson
Like a beauty mark on the cheek of an actress, a couple of off-pitch notes can't mar the appeal of this tuneful girl-group throwback brimming over with authentic innocence and longing.
15. "If She's Cheating On Me, I Don't Wanna Know"-------------Luther Lackey
The lullaby-like melody and the gospel-drenched choruses have the familiar feel of a childhood nursery rhyme. The lyrics embellish Lackey's reputation as Southern Soul's resident wit.
16. "Be A Man"---Pat Cooley
Pat Cooley continues to impress with this acoustic, Latin-flavored record showcasing her in a minimalist arrangement with stunning results.
17. "Birthday Suit" ----Certified Slim
This classic, understated, William Bell-style ballad features carnal lyrics ("I wanna see you in your birthday suit") delivered with a rough tenderness bordering on awe.
18. "Older Woman (Looking For A Younger Man)" ---------Denise LaSalle
May be Denise LaSalle's best-ever vocal outing. Her verse-singing has a firm, familiar sweetness and her long voice-over rant on men and aging is the best series of one-liners on the subject ever recorded.
19. "The Best Time I Ever Had In My Life"---------------Wendell B.
Contemporary Southern Soul's true successor to the deep, barrel-chested soul of Ronnie Lovejoy.
20. "All Of Me, All Of You"----------Floyd Taylor
He may be the son of Johnnie Taylor, but he could be the son of Johnnie Mathis, the now-neglected superstar of the fifties who sold millions of records catering to the nation's romantic dreams.
21. "Preacher Man"------------------Reggie P.
Reggie always disappoints--well, ALMOST always--but you take what you can get because lurking beneath all the stage fright and petty limitations he imposes on himself is the greatest soul-singing voice of his generation.
22. "I Ain't Gone Do It"------------Mel Waiters
Waiters works hard on his hooks, and it's reflected in his popularity. Here he accomplishes the hardest feat in the music business--an aging artist redefining himself, making his music sound new and relevant.
23. "The Crying Zone" -----------Bigg Robb & The Problem Solvas
Contemporary Southern Soul music was a reaction to just this kind of "techno" music, which makes Bigg Robb's achievement in winning over the Southern Soul audience all the more remarkable and impressive. His synthesizer-enhanced vocals have become like another "human voice" to us.
24. "We Both Grown"----------Willie Clayton & Dave Hollister
Willie Clayton seems to be in the equivalent of his late-period-Beatles phase. His freshest-sounding recent songs--this one and "Boom Boom Boom"--have that studio-wizardry aura about them.
25. "Mister Can I Shine Your Shoes" -------------Luther Lackey
The two opening verses will leave you gasping with amazement. Most overlooked song of the year.

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

That Vick Allen #1 song is almost contemporary pop-r'n'b

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okq7Tg4bpUM

I like the Carl Marshall one--a bit more than the Vick Allen one. Not many youtube views-1,691.

Daddy B Nice on his blogpage, on the year in Southern Soul:

SOUTHERN SOUL 2010: THE TUMULTUOUS YEAR THAT WAS
No use trying to tie a pinafore on a pig. 2010 was a year of dread and discontent in the Southern Soul community.
If Southern Soul was the baby of the blues, it was at that awkward, half-grown stage (like a teenager) trying mightily to define itself.
A scene had been created--a scene that frankly didn't exist ten years ago. The accomplishments of the decade were fairly spectacular. No one will ever be able to take that away from the music-makers of Southern Soul.
And yet, with newfound influence came a lot of fighting, backbiting and paranoia. Agendas conflicted, and each player believed fervently it was his or her way or assured doom for the music.
What was needed was some trusting, forgiving, motivating and cooperating.
All of this played out in the continued hard times of America's most stubborn economic depression since the 1930's.
As CD sales remained sluggish, artists and producers alike became more reluctant and more discerning in what projects, if any, they took on.
Concerts, increasingly with "meet-and-greets" with fans, helped pump some dollars into the pockets of performers, but concerts had to be promoted wisely. Some that didn't failed.
Southern Soul's Internet media scene absorbed some hits. At WMPR longtime deejays Ragman and Outlaw vacated their spots. Chico's Radio went through more changes than a chameleon on a Madras shirt, surviving in the end.
But Chitlin' Circuit, another major site and source for Southern Soul, just disappeared. One day it was there, the next day it wasn't.
Of the industry's labels, Malaco and Ecko and Waldoxy Records survived but pulled back their production of albums. Newcomer CDS continued its run but by year's end confided it too would be scaling back.
And Wilbe, Soul 1st, Ifgam, Brittany, B&J, Milaja and other small independents for the most part simply hunkered down.
But it wasn't all gloom and doom. The Blues Is Alright tour maintained. Extravaganzas like the Jackson Music Awards and the "Jus' Blues" awards in Memphis added buzz. And new Internet sites like Get Blues Info (offering instant music video access to all the stars) and Soul Blues Report (monitoring Southern Soul news across the nation) were welcome godsends.
And new talent--Jill Sharp, Mr. Ivy, Lina, Doctor D., Certified Slim, Captain Jack Watson, Charles Blakely, Adrena and more--swept into the vacuum left by cruising or sidelined veterans.

Above all, 2010 was the year of Mel Waiters. . .
The star finally released the bounty from his recording hiatus, rolling out his new CD and one big Southern Soul single after another--"Everything's Going Up," "I Ain't Gone Do It," "Meet Me Tonight"--topping the Southern Soul singles charts time and again.
Waiters accomplished perhaps the hardest feat in the music business: an aging artist redefining himself, giving his well-known "brand" daring tweaks to make his music sound new and relevant.
And nowhere was this magic more evident than in the title tune of his I AIN'T GONE DO IT album, in which he confessed to trying Viagra ("didn't do a thing") and begged off trying to keep up with the clubbing life.
It was also a big year for Carl Marshall, who as Dylan DeAnna's right-hand man and producer at CDS continued on one of the most productive tears of his or any Southern Soul man's creative life, writing, producing and generally "fathering" an incredible list of albums in addition to his own highly-praised solo CD.
It was also a big year for producer/arranger Harrison Calloway--in demand seemingly everywhere--and for producer/performer Bigg Robb, with two typically well-crafted CD's to his credit.
The women of Southern Soul didn't fare as well in 2010. Excepting Denise LaSalle and Pat Cooley, not much of note happened.
Were the musical formulas that female artists used to "package" their songs for the so-called "chitlin'-circuit" market becoming too familiar, too "yesterday"? Perhaps so.
The emergence of new stars like Lina (from California, of all places), whose "My Man (I Won't Let My Baby Down)" had deejays on their knees in the latter months of the year, and Jill Sharp (from the Carolinas), whose bluesy "I'll Be Your Cheatin' Woman" (produced by Harrison Calloway, incidentally) drew similar rave reactions, was based on the fact that they sounded fresh and original.
There were many memorable lines in 2010, from Pat Cooley's admonition to "stop feeling sorry for yourself" and "be a man" to Jill Sharp's,

"Tried hanging with my friends
To see if I could ease the pain.
But the only thing that brings me around
Is when I see that dirty, low-down, cheating man."

There was Charles Blakely in his tenderly-sung ballad, "I Didn't Want To Wake Up."

"We were making love,
And we looked like the number 69."

And there were the frenzied and fruitless demurrals of Mr. Ivy's girlfriend to having intercourse in the outdoors on the "Turn Road" and Denise LaSalle's rant on getting older and dealing with men in "Older Woman."
But the wittiest lyric--at least for Southern Soul insiders familiar with O. B. Buchana--had to be Luther Lackey's jaundiced lament on a wayward wife.

"If she's with Marvin Sease,
He's a candy licker.
If she's with Theodis,
He's standing up in it.
But I'm in trouble
If she's with my brother.
If she's with O. B.,
He ain't playin' with it."

Meanwhile, I've been liking the new O.B. Buchana album on Ecko, That Thang Thang.

And even more so, I've been liking these songs, from Daddy B Nice's year-end lists (in approximate order):

Carl Marshall – I Lived It All (2010)
Lee "Shot" Williams – I'm The Man For The Job (2010)
Denise Lasalle – Older Woman (2010)
Carl Marshall feat. Rue Davis – Good Lovin’ Testimony (2010)
Mel Waiters – I Ain't Gonna Do It (2010)
Pat Cooley – Be A Man (2010)
Lina – My Man (2010)
Floyd Taylor – All Of Me, All Of You (2010)
The Revelations featuring Tre Williams – Everybody Knows (2010)
O.B. Buchana – We Don't Get Along Until We Gettin' It On (2010)

Interesting essay, and fascinating how this soul world exists now on the internet, but it's even more cut off seemingly from the "mainstream" music media than country. No Jon Caramanica in the NY Times reviews for any of these folks, let alone Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Village Voice, etc.

OB's 2009 cd made my list last year. Haven't heard his latest. The Mel Waiters grew on me even if some is too 'quiet storm' polished. Re women, the Denise Lasalle has some great cuts and many formulaic ones. I heard some nice Miss Jody songs but Daddy B. Nice doesn't seem crazy about her latest. I think she has a new 2011 one coming shortly.

So what's the deal with Willie Clayton? He's got a song called "Tonight" on Billboard's Urban Adult chart this week, along with the Kems and K'Jons and Avants and Mary Marys and Freddie Jacksons and El Debarges and R. Kellys and Faith Evanses etc. -- and, as far as I can tell, he's the only Southern Soul/Blues guy who does. Except this song isn't all that Southern Soul: Just an okay middle-class grown-up r&b ballad, pretty slick and not very gritty. I don't mind it or anything, but I'm curious what his other stuff's like, and how much of an anomaly his charting with this is. (Maybe he's made an attempt to cross over in recent years? Just looking at the album covers of all his albums on Rhapsody -- there's a bunch -- the more recent ones sure seem to look more urbane.)

Not sure what's the deal with Willie. I have seen his name for years but never investigated him. Maybe I should listen to DC's WHUR, a quiet storm station that plays all this slick and not very gritty stuff.

Just realized that this (which I wrote about upthread in the middle of 2009) 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.) must be this (which Daddy B Nice wrote about in his 2009 roundup), cut-and-pasted upthread: Unckle Eddie's "I'm Gone Tell Momma" with schoolgirl-sounding Crystal Dylite

And this (which I wrote about upthread around the same time): duet from what sounded like a gruff old mean jealous husband guy and a sweet-voiced and trusting young wife lady that seemed to be called "Two Different People" turns out to be, apparently, by J. Blackfoot (who turns out to be Sir Charles Jones's uncle, I just found out yesterday).

J. Blackfoot is Sir Charles Jones' uncle. Interesting.

Actually, just noticed Kevin John Bozelka asked about that Unckle Eddie song upthread, too. More from Daddy B Nice:

5. "I'm Gone Tell Momma" --------------------Unckle Eddie w/ Crystal Dylite
The tale of a would-be player brought down by his precocious school-aged daughter (enacted by Crystal Dylite), who is bound and determined to "tell Momma" every last little transgression committed by Daddy in the course of the day's errands. Every venial sin of the chitlin' circuit is catalogued, although it's the relatively tame lines that are most hilarious:
"I told him, 'Momma's gonna get you
For changing it from the gospel station,'
And he told me he ain't worried about you."
Unckle Eddie makes a huge grab at Poonanny's comedy throne.

Also, upthread last year I asked about a Southern Soul "Smooth Operator" song I heard on the radio that references Sade's song of the same name; turns out that's a song from 2007 by Donnie Ray (whose new album Who's Rockin' You has great singing and a few super catchy tunes, but I wish had better songwriting. Still, I'd say it's as playable as the new R. Kelly or Eldra Debarge albums -- both of which I also like, but which I'd like more, and which would seem somehow less perfunctory, with more distinctive/memorable lyrics.)

Also, speaking of Sir Charles Jones, and of something else we were talking about way upthread, he does a great, great Jody song, called "Better Call Jody," on his self-titled 2000 debut album.

"I'm Gone Tell Momma" --------------------Unckle Eddie w/ Crystal Dylite

Oh awesome! Thanks for letting me know the song title. Man this stuff is obscure. Google gives just 32 results for "I'm Gone Tell Momma" and "Unckle Eddie."

Jerry at the boogiereport.com is e-mailing that "reliable sources are reporting that Marvin Sease has died."

RIP Candylicker?

hey curm, haven't read this thread so sorry if it was mentioned, who is the guy who plays this stuff saturday afternoons on 89.3 WPFW? he's hilarious and plays some serious jams.

That's "the Gator". I forget his real name. He is funny, often unintentionally,and does play some good Southern soul.

from boogiereport.com e-mail:

On Tuesday, February 8, 2011 singer Marvin Sease passed away unexpectedly. He resided in Vicksburg, MS. He was 64 years old.

A celebration of Marvin Sease's life will be held on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 1:00 p.m., at Word and Worship Church located at 6286 Hanging Moss Rd. in Jackson, Mississippi 39206. The event is open to the public. Bishop Jeffery A. Stallworth is the designated pastor for the church.

RIP Marvin. In those 64 years, though, he got plenty of good licks in.

What I wrote about him in an Idolator column a couple years back:

MARVIN SEASE
This Tennessee-based Southern soulster, who was born 62 years ago in South Carolina and whose Who’s Got the Power enters the Blues Album chart at No. 6 this week, sings about his chosen topic more than anybody ever has. And it’s a pretty intriguing topic, to say the least. His signature song “Candy Licker” was a huge hit on jukeboxes throughout the South in 1987, and it’s still the first song on his MySpace page, where his slogan is “Hey, let me be your candylicker, baby.” The chorus of the second song on his page goes “put your condom on your tongue/lick me til I come/ baby, I’ll do the same for you”; toward the end of said number, Marvin includes a spoken-word part where he tells both the ladies and the fellas not to be ashamed. His sound is basically ‘70s chitlin circuit, with occasional early ‘80s jheri curl production values to keep things up-to-date; “Hoochie Mama," for instance, features Zapp-style robot-funk freakazoids reciting the names of several of the United States – beat that, T-Pain! Quality cuts on the often-gloopy 2006 Jive/Legacy comp Candy Licker: the Sex & Soul of Marvin Sease include “I'm Mr. Jody," a backdoor-man boast beginning with an ominous phone call, and the 12-step fix-your-life number "I Gotta Clean Up." But though some of his cheating songs do not muff-dive whatsoever, his discography nonetheless includes titles such as Do You Need A Licker? (1994) , A Woman Would Rather Be Licked (2001), and Live With the Candy Licker (2004.) His MySpace page, sadly, has not been flooded with cunnilingual comments.

And my (partially pre-purposing some of the above) Harp review of his best-of CD, a year or two before that:

MARVIN SEASE Candy Licker: The Sex & Soul of Marvin Sease (Jive/Legacy) The Zapp-style robot-funk freakazoids in “Hoochie Mama” recite the names of several states, and much of the rest of this Southern soul retrospective gets a good '70s smooth-jazzy funk-disco groove going, often with pre-old-school preacher’s sermon raps and not always with lyrics about muff-diving. One ballad sounds like "Tell it Like it Is”; the bookends, "Do You Want a Licker?" and “Candy Licker 2005,” are too silly to complain about. But the peaks are the 12-step fix-your-life number and the backdoor-man Jody song that starts with an ominous phone call.

Not sure who else cares here, but I decided to give Sease his own thread:

Marvin Sease "Candy Licker" RIP

There's a Marvin Sease tribute song out

And a new Miss Jody album

I need to go to Ecko's site and see what they've released in '11.

I think Donnie Ray and Ms. Jody are the only 2011 Ecko releases so far. I like them both, don't love them. (Don't think Ms. Jody's album is anywhere near as good as Sweet Angel's last year, for instance.) Also, Ecko put out both Gerod Rayborn's Call Before You Come!!! and O.B. Buchana's That Thang Thang in late 2010, but they didn't send out promos (at least to me) until this year; if I counted them as 2011 releases, which I might, both would rank among my very favorite new albums so far this year. (I've got a loooooooong Southern Soul roundup piece slated to run in the Voice sometime in the next couple weeks; space permitting, all of these albums should get at least a mention in there. Though I added Rayborn at the last minute, which pushed me over the wordcount -- so we'll see.)

Good for you and for the cause, hopefully. I need to write something for my local alt-weekly

Closely related, here's a blog post, then a playlist, on the history of country music by black artists (many of them moonlighting Southern Soulsters), which I did for Rhapsody a few weeks back:

http://blog.rhapsody.com/2011/02/blackcountry.html

http://www.rhapsody.com/playlistcentral/playlistdetail?playlistId=ply.44160337

1550 or so words by me on current Southern Soul, running in the Voice this week:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-03-09/music/southern-soul-guide-sweet-angel-mel-waiters-and-luther-lackey/

Nice overview.

I remember seeing Bobby Rush and his skimpily dressed women dancers shocking folks at a mostly safe roots-rock blues bill at Wolf Trap Park, an upscale location outside DC. He was once on the cover of Living Blues and leaned more to the blues side than soul back then.

Xhuxk, have you gotten any reaction to the piece? I posted it on my facebook page and am curious whether it made its way to other critics and non-fanatics of the V. Voice blog.

Heard an awesome Sweet Angel song on DC radio station WPFW's southern soul show this Saturday.

She's pretty great. And yeah, I got some excellent response to the piece from within the Southern Soul community -- including from Daddy B. Nice, and from a reader of his blog who called "the most comprehensive celebration of the current southern soul scene that any mainstream publication has run in years -- maybe decades. I can't believe how deep this guy goes." Which is extremely flattering, obviously. Here's part of what Daddy B. Nice (not his real name) wrote to me:

I've had the chance to read your piece carefully 2X now. It's really well done.
I particularly liked your last-paragraph analysis of the differences between the media-known "stars" and the Southern Soul stars. That is a pivotal point, and you addressed it well. I thought the Wilbe* comment was right on.
It's funny--I had some other feedback (not a letter I can send you) that did not like your take on that point. Which only proves this will be a flash point (if and) as Southern Soul gets more visible.
Another amusing coincidence: I finally gave my seal of approval to Sharon Jones this past week for "I Learned The Hard Way."

* - I think he means "Wilco" here.

And yeah, that Sharon Jones song (which still doesn't really grab me) is, interestingly enough, the number-two recommended single on his blog (behind a Marvin Sease "Last Will And Testimony" recorded in a church) this month:

Simultaneously sophomoric and slavish in their imitation of vintage soul, the Dap-Kings--critical darlings of the "Nu-Soul" set--have deserved the skepticism of true Southern Soul fans who hear the real thing every day.
No longer. With "I Learned The Hard Way," their full-bodied, orchestra-of-real-instruments now poses a threat and inspiration to the synth-based recordings of most Southern Soul and soul-blues acts.
With Sharon Jones sounding like Darlene Love and Martha Reeves combined and a great arrangement and chorus reminiscent of The Fifth Dimension, "I Learned The Hard Way" is more than ready to enter Southern Soul radio rotation with the rest of the "grown-folks" music.

Sadly, response to my piece from outside the Southern Soul community has been basically nonexistent. Who the heck reads the Voice anymore anyway, right?

By the way, not sure whether you knew this, but Bobby Rush actually played SXSW this weekend -- or at least was scheduled to (I don't know anybody who actually saw the set), on the 18th floor of a Hilton Hotel no less. It was easily the SXSW performance I was most excited about catching, but I couldn't go -- getting from I-35 and 5th to the all-night Kanye extravaganza that Rolling Stone had assigned me to review would've been cutting it way too close. So I went to see Bubble Puppy instead.

Too bad. Maybe you need to tweet or e-mail the piece to critics folks like Will Hermes, Jon Caramanica, Ann Powers(now writing for NPR music as well as LA Times) and to NPR music head Bob Boilen and a Pitchfork editor even if they might find that annoying.

Ann wrote something for NPR's site about how she worries when she goes to SxSW whether she is following the important music. I think your article could alert her to something she's missing.

We need to get these other critics on board

Eh, other critics never believe me anyhow.

Anyway. Another reason I really wish I'd been able to go to Bobby Rush's SXSW show, from this morning's Statesman:

Legendary piano player Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins , who gave Austin a walking, talking monument to the blues when he moved here in 2003, died from cardiac arrest Monday at his home in North Austin....
Even in failing health, Perkins went to Antone's nightclub three or four times a week to sell CDs and DVDs and chat with fans. He was often called onstage to jam, including Saturday at South by Southwest, when he played piano for fellow Mississippi native Bobby Rush.

That would have been nice to see. I think I will add that to the Perkins RIP thread

http://spinningsoul.com/2011/04/breaking-malaco-destroyed-by-tornado/

Malaco Records facilities got destroyed by a tornado. Thankfully noone in the buildings got killed or hurt.

Sounds like they lost some historic master tapes

None of the tv news stories I watched on the tornados even mentioned this.

Maybe they didn't lose tapes:

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110419/NEWS/110419001/Malaco-Records-rebuild-bigger-better-after-tornado?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome

And Malaco's thousands of precious master
tapes weathered the storm in a vault-type building made of concrete blocks and supported by reinforced steel. "A few of them got wet," Couch said, "but they're all OK."

The recording studio was dark and dank Monday. A grand piano and a Hammond B3 organ were barely visible, buried in debris. The sound of music was replaced by the flapping of a blue tarp, serving as a temporary roof. Pieces of the wood tile floor - upon which music legends have walked - were scattered about. Amplifiers and microphones looked soulless and lonely.

I have plenty of catching up to do in this genre

Pretty great Shaila Dewan article from the NY Times travel section a few days ago, about zydeco trail rides in Southern Louisiana -- obviously only tangentially related to Southern Soul, except that my favorite Southern Soul song so far this year (not a single I don't think) is "Trail Ride" by Carl Sims, and I'd been meaning for a couple weeks to google "trail ride" to find out what it meant. So now I wonder whether there are also Southern Soul trail rides, or Carl just likes zydeco too. (There's no zydeco I can detect in his new CD's music, though I would suspect that -- in Southern Louisiana at least -- Southern Soul and zydeco audiences might overlap a bit):

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/travel/24zydeco.html

As a longtime Boozoo Chavis fan, follower of zydeco since the '80s, and listener to a W. DC radio show hosted by transplanted Afro-Creole Texan, Texas Fred the Zydeco Cowboy, I had a pretty good idea of what trail rides were about, but that article nicely spells it out in detail. Yep, there's a crossover between Southern soul and zydeco down in that region of the country.

I should post that article on the rarely used zydeco thread I started here.

A commenter at Amazon says the following about Carl Sims (who I know little about). "Trail Ride" is on his new album

Once upon a time Carl Sims was on the verge of mainstream stardom when his debut LP "House Of Love", (featuring "17 Days Of Loving" & "I'm Trapped") became a worldwide hit in Soul circles. An amazingly Soulful, smoky-voiced Soulman was born. Unfortunately, his sophomore LP didn't measure up in terms of sales and quality so Sims found himself stuck in the "chittlin circuit" and he's has been there ever since. But this new LP, "Hell On My Hands", is going to force everybody to take a second look (listen) to Carl Sims. The title track is a stone classic- a dramatic, midpaced ballad that will sound great on radio. Other top notch ballads like "Go On", "Just One Night" & "Still The One" are mixed with funky dancers ("Trail Ride", "Sugar Daddy) and a fgew choice covers, including a Willie Mitchell/Al Green/Hi Records-inspired take on Tony Toni Tone's "Thinkin' Of You" (renamed "Thinkin' About You" here

Mainstream stardom, huh. Interesting.

I'm liking another song from Richmond Virginia's Big G: "Two-step in the Name of Love"