DEEP # 1/2011 (April)

 There are some essential CDs among the fifteen compilations, which form the first section of this column.  All but one are retrospective records, but it’s that one I’m going to kick off with, because, among other things, it features the last recorded material from both Ron Banks, and Levi Stubbs.  L.J. Reynolds tells more about the project further down.

  There are also ten new albums from indie artists, who all represent Southern soul, except one, and again I’ll start with that one West Coast gem.  Abraham Wilson’s double-CD is now finished, and below Russ Terrana tells about the new tracks on it.

  The last time I talked to Louisiana’s Lil’ Fallay was almost nine years ago, so, leaning on his latest recorded material, I called him and asked him about the state of Southern soul today as well as other questions, and it turned into an interesting interview.  The third section of the column introduces three recent books on our music.

Content and quick links:

COMP-ART-ment

MOTOR CITY HITS

  L.J. Reynolds: “The idea for this new CD comes from a guy by the name of Herb Strather and from me.  Herb Strather was a big fan of Motown and so was I.  We knew we couldn’t be and we didn’t even want to be Motown Records, so we decided we want to bring the music back to Motown, and we decided to call it Motor City Hits.”

  CEO Herbert J. Strather is an influential figure in Michigan’s real estate and casino businesses, and in January his label, Motor City Hits Records, signed a long-term marketing and distribution deal with the Texas-based Thomkins Marketing & Media Group and recently released a CD called Motor City Hits, vol. 1 (www.motorcityhits.com, MCH-8119; 10 tracks, 48 min.).  L.J.: “It was recorded at Harmony Park Studios here in Detroit, Michigan, and we used a lot of live musicians.”

  The opening track is L.J.’s strong mid-tempo interpretation of Marvin Gaye’s Come Get to this from 1973.  L.J.: “I learned a lot by listening to Marvin Gaye as a kid, and he was a great guy.  I got to know him personally.  I used to sing that song at home fifteen-twenty years ago, just playing the bass, along with a lot of Marvin Gaye records.  At the time we were putting together the Motor City Hits project we didn’t have a lot of love songs.  Then Mr. Herb Strather actually said ‘why don’t you cut a Marvin song for this album?’  After he had asked again, I said ‘okay, I’ll cut something I’ve been singing for years.  I’ll cut Come Get to this.’  I thought ‘ain’t no way you can record Marvin Gaye and don’t do something special, something different.’  So in comes this bonus called Steppin out Tonight.”

  “Now the record is currently in the top-20 here in the U.S.A., and it’s gaining momentum.  I just shot the video for it – over forty dancers on stage, my band and everything... a great video!  You’re going to love it (it’s already on YouTube).  Each of these artists on the album, if they get to top-20 like I just did, get to do their own solo album.  I’m working on my album right now.  It’s called Get to this.  I’m going to release it within months.”

  The second track on the CD, Bad Girl by the Dramatics, was co-produced by L.J. and cut a couple of years ago, and this slow and slightly dragging song in a more contemporary style was written by two members of the group, Larry (L.J.) and Winzell Kelly.  L.J.: “We were experimenting on that one, because I didn’t use any drums at all.  I used a different type of technology.  It’s never been officially out.  For the buying public it’s a brand new record.  I’m now putting it in the mainstream.” 

  “If we get into the top-20 with Bad Girl, there’ll be a new Dramatics album released soon.  As a matter of fact, I’ve already got half of the album finished.  The album will be called Bad Girl.”

“Ron Banks is on that song Bad Girl.  That’s the last recording he did before he passed.  We will eventually find a replacement for Ron.  It took us two years to replace Lenny Mayes, and it might take us three years to replace Ron.  I’m not in a hurry, because I don’t want to get anybody that’s not going to fit or causes me problems.  You get a lot of problems, when you deal with a lot of entertainers.  We just want to make sure that we’ll get the right sound and the right person.”

  For the third track, a slow and seducing cover of Smokey Robinson’s ’73 Tamla hit, Baby Come close, was cut by Keith Washington.  “Keith was always around the Dramatics as a kid, and we were like uncles to Keith.  Keith is now over at Motor City Hits with us, and he’s going to be back on the map again.  We know how to hit the marketplace now.”

  Michael Powell is the producer on Keith’s track, as well as the co-producer on Bad Girl.  “Michael Powell is a great producer.  He produced a lot of the Anita Baker records, Kirk Franklin and the Dramatics, a lot of artists.  Michael Powell is also a part of all the songs I’ve recorded so far for my new CD.”

  Written and co-produced by Larry and co-written by Tamika Brown, a snappy and hooky beater titled Could It Be that All I’m Missing (In My Life Is You) is sung by Carla Cooke, Sam’s youngest daughter.

  A mellow and enjoyable floater named Miles Away is performed by the Four Tops.  “This song was recorded around the time Bad Girl was, but for the main public it’s never been out.  I thought it was a great record and that’s why I put it on this album.  We’re getting a great response for it, and again it’s produced by Michael Powell.”  Theo Peoples is the main vocalist on this song.  “He’s currently been replaced in the group.  They have a great guy by the name of Spike DeLeon (aka Harold Bonhart), and he sounds a lot like Levi Stubbs.”

  Written and produced by Luther Jackson, a modern mid-tempo “stepper” called Step on By is interpreted by Winzell Kelly.  “Winzell is trying very hard to establish himself in this business as a songwriter.  He has already established himself as a member of the Dramatics, and now he wants to ‘step on by’ and establish himself as a solo artist, and I gave him – what they call – an opportunity.  I am the vice president of Motor City Hits, and I decided I would allow Winzell to develop his career to the best that he could.”  To woo a younger audience, one thing Winzell is using on this track is autotune.

  Quentin Dennard wrote and produced Nothing Compares, a sort of speedy and even loud slowie, which he sings himself.  “Quentin Dennard is a sound man.  He has also worked on the road with us doing our sound.  He and I engineered and mixed Come Get to This.  He’s also a drummer and he’s also a singer... and a writer.  Nothing Compares was such a great record that I wanted to sing it.  Then I said ‘I’m going to put this on this album.  I’m going to give you an opportunity, because you’re too talented not to have it’.”

  Paul Hill co-produced his own cover of the Marvelettes ’67 Tamla hit, The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game, and this interpretation certainly is different.  You can hardly recognize the melody in its new, slowed-down and slightly jazzy arrangement.  “Paul Hill is a singer that’s been working with George Clinton for years.  He’s one of those thousands of people on stage with the Parliament.  You can’t put a face to nobody but George, when they’re up there.”  Paul also wrote Miles Away for the Four Tops.

  In the line-up of Bobby Rogers, Marc Scott, Dave Finley and Tee Turner, the Miracles excel at vocal interplay on their self-penned mover, Leaving You.  “They are all the current Miracles.  Bobby Rogers is one of the Miracles that used to write with Smokey Robinson.  He’s the only surviving member other than Smokey of the group that existed back then.  Smokey’s wife is still around, but the other guys have passed on.”

  The concluding track brings all the artists together on a swinging and jazzy show-tune titled Motorcity Hits Hall of Fame, and it features real instruments, including horns.  “The horns were arranged by a guy named Harry Kim.  He’s a great arranger.  He worked with Phil Collins, and he did the horns also on my signature song, Key to the World.”

  “This song was written and produced by myself along with Michael Powell.  I had a variety of artists on there.  That’s Freda Payne singing the first verse.  In the song you hear Levi Stubbs.  He was in his wheelchair.  That was his last performance ever on any record before he died.  On that record we also got the Dramatics, the Four Tops, the Miracles, the Contours... the Marvelettes, the Vandellas, even Laura Lee and Pat Lewis.  There were so many that wanted to be on that record that I couldn’t get them all on.”

  L.J. is really excited about this new project, as well as the upcoming ones.  “I haven’t had a record in top-20 in the past twenty-five years.  To me it’s like another chance.  It’s a blessing, and I’d like to thank everybody for the support.” (Interview conducted on April 22.  Acknowledgements to Iris Smith).

THE CONTOURS

  Dance with the Contours (Kent, CDTOP 350, www.acerecords.com, 26 tracks, 66 min.) is a perfect compilation for the lovers of romantic, late-night ballads, right?  Actually there is one slow blues moan on this CD called Throw You out of My Mind, which has Billy Hoggs on the lead.  Otherwise it’s a cavalcade of wild uptempo jungle tracks, a dance fiesta, with a few more moderate movers thrown in.

  Subtitled “featuring unissued Motown recordings 1943-64”, only two songs on this set have been out earlier as single sides, Can You Do It and Can You Jerk Like Me.  The rest 24 unreleased tracks contain an 11-track album that was scheduled for a ’64 release.  In the booklet Keith Hughes tells the history of the group in a profound way and offers a detailed track-by-track annotation.

  In the line-up of (the late) Billy Gordon (lead), Joe Billingslea, Billy Hoggs, Hubert Johnson and Sylvester Potts, the group is said to have been quite a stage act.  By music you can believe it.  On the other hand, when you don’t have the visual effect, the mere scorching, raw shouting & support harmonizing on the record may numb you in the long run.  I counted that on this set there are as many as fifteen such dance tracks.  Some were primitive (Foot Stomping Time) and some downright silly (Minnie the Ugly Duckling).

  First Andre Williams was the main producer for the group, but also Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, Norman Whitfield, Harvey Fuqua and even Sylvester Potts, a member of the group, oversaw some tracks.  These were mainly more mid-tempo numbers, more melodic and more pop - even calypso (Tonight) - but they also brought out more to the front the musical talent in the group.

TED TAYLOR

  Keep What You Get/The Rare and Unissued Ronn Recordings (Kent, CDKEND 348; 24 tracks, 79 min.!, liners by Tony Rounce) offers eight officially issued tracks, while the rest sixteen are either unissued at the time or alternate versions.  These early 70s recordings were mostly produced by Miles Grayson, Tim McQueen and Jewel Akens.

  Ted’s high-pitched voice is one of the most distinctive ones in the world of our music.  He recorded for numerous labels ever since the 50s, but his Ronn period - starting from 1967 - is his most consistent one.  Among those official releases on this set there are Ted’s four duets with Little Johnny Taylor in ’73 and ’74.  My picks among them are Cry It out Baby, a perky toe-tapper, and Pretending Love, an uptempo, melodic ditty.

  Alongside six straight blues numbers, there are two soulful slowies with a blues undercurrent, Got to Have a Woman and (Long As I Got You) I Got Love.  Four funky cuts are balanced by two light mid-tempo songs, a “Tyrone” type of a bouncer called Farewell and the tuneful Fair Warning.

  Finally we reach the cream cuts, Ted’s heavenly and so-soulful ballads.  Sweet Lovin’ Pair is a beautiful soul song, while I’ll Be Here is a memorable swayer.  Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere is a fascinatingly high-pitched interpretation, and Make up for Lost Time is a soft and tender love ballad.  Ted’s music has really stood the test of time.

MANHATTAN SOUL

  Drawn from the Scepter, Wand and Musicor catalogues, Manhattan Soul (Kent, CDKEND347; 24 tracks, 61 min.; liners by Ady Croasdell) contains uptempo dance tracks from the 60s and early 70s.  Six are previously unissued.  There are only three slower songs on display – Walking with Pride by Dan & the Clean Cuts, a beat ballad with a heavy arrangement called Will There Ever Be Another Love for Me by Winfield Parker and a fascinating Philly mid-pacer named So Help Me Woman by George Tindley.

  In some cases the tracks featured here represent the poorer side of the repertoire of the artist in question, like with Marie Knight, Maxine Brown, Ed Townsend, Johnny Maestro and Jackie Moore.  Then there are quite a few lesser-known acts, whose contribution can only be described as “equipped with minor musical values.”

  But there are also goodies hidden in-between.  One of them is the familiar Platters song, I Love You 1,000 Times, and another one is Take My Love Along With You, an uptown pop & soul ditty by the Tabs.  Lee Thomas’ mid-tempo cover of Millionaire is also a pompous (in a positive way) uptown song, while Ann Bailey’s Sweeping Your Dirt under My Rug is a big-voiced scorcher.  I’m sure that all the northern soul fans have grabbed this CD by now.

ETTA JAMES

  Subtitled “Rare Chess Recordings from the 60s and 70s”, Etta’s Who’s Blue? (Kent, CDKEND 345; 24 tracks, 68 min.) covers the period from 1960 to 1976 and features mainly album tracks and b-sides.  16 tracks are from the 60s and the rest 8 derive from the 70s.  In the booklet Etta’s history is told by Mick Patrick, and he also wrote the annotation.

The CD can roughly be divided into three parts.  First six tracks are either funky numbers (Only a Fool, Fire, I’ve Been a Fool), or fast and ripping dancers, such as the Motown-influenced I’m so Glad (I Found Love in you) from 1967.

  The second part consists mainly of Etta’s earlier 60s input, and here we have a variety of styles on display.  The only previously unreleased track, Can’t Shake It, is a captivating ‘64 dancer with a big orchestration.  Then there are uptown type of pop & r&b movers like Seven Day Fool (’61), You Can Count On Me and Street of Tears.  Country & soul meets post-doowop on Look Who’s Blue, and in Nashville Etta cut a fast boogaloo titled Do Right, which could easily be one of the later Ikettes numbers.  In Chicago she recorded a mid-pacer named That Man Belongs Back Here with Me, which has even some Latin elements to it.  The only jazzy track is the fast It Could Happen to you.

  The last eight songs are all slowies, either tear-jerkers, or strong testimonies.  Are My Thoughts with you, I Worry ‘Bout you and Sweet Memories are all on the country side of soul music, while My Man Is Together features already straight and intense soul singing.  Let Me Know (’62) and What Fools We Mortals Be (’70) are both big-voiced, big-production ballads from different periods.  Today we have lost Etta to dementia, but there certainly isn’t any shortage of her recorded music available.  If you want to listen to not only her biggest hits, this CD is a good choice.  (www.myspace.com/myspaceetta).

DAVE BARTHOLOMEW

  Dave is a musician, singer, bandleader, arranger, producer and - most of all - a songwriter, who was born in Louisiana in 1920.  His most significant contribution was for the Imperial label in the 50s and early 60s.  In Ace’s songwriter series they have now released The Big Beat/The Dave Bartholomew Songbook (Kent, CDCHD 1303; 25 tracks, 61 min,), which draws most of the tracks from the 50s, but also seven from the 60s and four from the 70s.  Three tracks are previously unreleased.  Tony Rounce has written Dave’s history and a track-by-track annotation.

  The start of it all was The Fat Man, which Dave wrote together with his main partner in New Orleans in the 50s, Fats Domino, and which turned into a # 2 r&b hit in 1950.  Rightfully that song has the honour to open this CD.  Dave himself sings on the original recording of the self-penned My Ding-A-Ling from ’52 and talks his way through a novelty titled The Monkey (1957).

  Other delights from those days include Shirley & Lee’s slow ’52 hit, I’m Gone, Annie Laurie’s previously unissued, jazzy r&b jump, 3 x 7 = 21, Smiley Lewis’ fast boogie-woogie, Down the Road and Roy Brown’s uptempo but quite restrained Let the Four Winds Blow.  A slow blues called Every Night about This Time by The World Famous Upsetters (in ’62) is vocally penetrating, but mainly due to their undisclosed lead singer, Little Richard.  Let me add still the Del Vikings, and their rendition of the title song, The Big Beat.

  It is understandable that this set wants to shed light on Dave’s songs from many and even surprising angles, but I believe that here they have gone too far in terms of variety of different styles.  All by Myself by the Johnny Burnette Trio is rockabilly, Valley of Tears by Buddy Holly is teeny pop, I’m Walkin’ by Larry Storch is supposed to be humour, Sick and Tired by Neville Grant is reggae and I Hear You Knocking by Dave Edmunds is rock. 

  Merle Kilgore (Please, Please, Please) is a country singer and Keith Powell is a sloppy British pop singer.  Georgie Fame (Blue Monday) and, of course, Elvis Presley (Witchcraft) fare better, and I really liked Brenda Lee’s version Walking to New Orleans and Tami Lynn’s intense soul cover of One Night of Sin.  Otherwise, once the 50s period is covered in the first half of the set, it becomes a hotchpotch.

JOE TEX

  Joe’s late 60s and early 70s Dial singles, which were recorded both in Nashville, and in Memphis under the guidance of Buddy Killen, are now available on Singles A’s & B’s, vol. 3, 1969-1972 (Shout 72; www.shoutrecords.co.uk, 23 tracks, 74 min., liners by Clive Richardson).  Almost each song written by Joe himself, the biggest hits from this period were Joe’s slow recitation with a lesson in lyrics and a hooky chorus in music called Buying a Book, a funky scorcher titled I Gotcha and almost like a sequence to that, You Said a Bad Word.  The funky Give the Baby Anything the Baby Wants didn’t do bad either.

  Everything Happens on Time and The Only Way I Know To Love You are both big ballads, whereas Joe’s opening monologue covers the whole part 1 of the only outside song on this set, Bacharach’s & David’s I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.  That’s the Way is quite similar to Buying a Book, Takin’ a Chance is a beautiful and soothing floater and the concluding song, It Ain’t Gonna Work Baby, is a sad farewell ballad – all gorgeous tracks.

  However, this Dial period concentrates more on Joe’s showmanship and the upbeat side of his music.  There are fun songs like Chicken Crazy, which carries on where Skinny Legs and All left off, fooling around (It Ain’t Sanitary, Bad Feet), carnival music (Sure Is Good) and a lot of funk.  Everything Happens on Time is an interesting, experimental number with tempo changes, and the mid-tempo I Knew Him is actually inspirational.  Papa’s Dream is an exhilarating, story-telling hand-clapper.  I can only say that Joe is a true icon in our music. 

Z.Z. HILL

  Arzell Hill was another mighty music man in our genre.  Unfortunately Joe Tex passed away in 1982 and Z.Z. only two years later.  Snap your Fingers with Z.Z. Hill (Shout 70; 23 tracks, 71 min.; liners by Clive Richardson) combines Z.Z.’s first and third United Artists albums, The Best Thing That’s Happened To Me (1972) and Z.Z. (1978).

  All six sides of the first three UA singles can be found on that first album, produced by Matt Hill, Z.Z.’s brother, and arranged by his partner from the 60s Kent period, Arthur Wright.  Two first singles, however, missed the charts.  Your Love was a mid-tempo toe-tapper, backed with Dream Don’t Let Me Down, a heavy, bluesy slowie.  Both sides were written by Fred Hughes, and the latter one Fred recorded on himself, too.

  The plug side of the second single was a great Southern soul ballad called I’ve Got to Get You Back, which Jimmy Lewis had originally written for Bobby Womack.  Backed with another Fred Hughes composition, a mediocre toe-tapper named Your Love Makes Me Feel Good, this 45 for some strange reason flopped as well.

  A rather close cover of Bobby Bland’s ’64 Ain’t Nothing You Can Do finally did the trick in the charts (# 37-soul, # 114-pop) in the summer of 1973.  On the flip there was a melodic and mellow mid-tempo toe-tapper called Love in the Street.  Other tracks on the album were Z.Z.’s funky cover of his own ’63 debut single, You Were Wrong, a quite rough take on Joe Simon’s My Adorable One, a messy arrangement of Marvin Gaye’s ’63 Can I Get a Witness and a funky remake of Willie Dixon’s The Red Rooster.  The absolute cream cut is Jimmy Lewis’ soul deepie, Friendship only goes So Far.

  Next UA released an album called Keep on Lovin’ You in 1975, for which Lamont Dozier produced four tracks, Allen Toussaint with friends four and Matt Hill two.  That album gave birth to such charted singles as I Don’t Need Half a Love, Am I Groovin’ you, I Keep on Lovin’ you and I Created a Monster.

  Two years after Z.Z. had left UA and scored at Columbia, UA gathered the leftovers and released the “Z.Z.” album in ’78 to cash in on Love Is So Good When You’re Stealing It and other Columbia hits.  Produced by Matt Hill and partially recorded at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, among three funky numbers (the slow It Ain’t Safe, the storming Am I Grooving You and the message-carrying Clean Up America) there are some familiar tunes, too.  Z.Z.’s straight-forward reading of Little Willie John’s Let Them Talk could easily have been cut for Kent in the 60s and Joe Henderson’s hit, Snap Your Fingers, gets an almost “Tyrone” type of a treatment.

  As some sort of a surprise there were as many as five straight country tracks on the b-side of the album.  They are all pretty and nice, but they make you wonder what the purpose was.  In which direction were they heading?  After all, they are in a big contradiction with Z.Z.’s specific, accustomed style.  I guess we’ll never know, since Matt also passed away, in late 1975.

EVELYN KING

  I’m In Love (CDBBR 0036; www.bigbreakrecords.co.uk; 13 tracks, 58 min., liners by Justin M. Kantor) is Evelyn’s fourth RCA album and released in 1981, but even though it was a top-ten soul LP it didn’t strike gold like her Smooth Talk, Music Box and Get Loose did.  Half of the tracks and all the single releases produced by Morrie Brown and the other half produced by Willie Lester & Rodney Brown, the main writers were Kashif, Paul Lawrence and the producers.  The eight original album tracks are bonused here with five single versions and dance mixes.

  The title tune with an infectious beat shot up to # 1 on the soul and disco charts, but the follow-ups, a slightly dragging, big-voiced ballad named Don’t Hide Our Love and a poppy club dancer titled Spirit of the Dancer didn’t fare as well (# 28-soul and # 51-soul, respectively).  Three more disco dancers (including the sax-filled What Are You Waiting for), one sweet ballad (The Best Is Yet to Come) and one relaxed mid-pacer (The Other Side of Love) round up this pulsating album.  (www.evelynchampagneking.com).

MELBA MOORE

  Melba (CDBBR 0034; 11 tracks, 61 min., liners by Christian John Wikane - including an interview with Melba) was her first album on Epic in 1978.  Produced by McFadden & Whitehead with Jerry Cohen, arranged by Jack Faith and recorded for the most part at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead also wrote most of the songs on the LP.

  The first single, a mellow disco bouncer called You Stepped Into My Life (# 17-soul, # 47-pop), was a cover of the Gibb Brothers (the Bee Gees) song a couple of years back.  A catchy dancer titled Pick Me up, I’ll Dance followed it up to a more moderate success (# 85-soul, # 103-pop), and on the album there were still two more disco dancers, It’s Hard not to Like You (first by Archie Bell & the Drells) and I Promise to Love You.

  The four downtempo songs were all sweet & tender, romantic and pretty.  Melba herself wrote a love ballad called Together Forever, and she did a convincing job on Dexter Wansel’s big ballad named Where Did You Ever Go, which Jean Carne had cut two years earlier.  With two disco smashes and four delicious slowies, this is a very worthwhile re-release. (www.melbamoore.com).

PATTI LaBELLE

  The self-titled Patti LaBelle (CDBBR 0033; 10 tracks, 51 min., liners with interviews by J Matthew Cobb) was her first solo album - after LaBELLE - on Epic in 1977 (# 16-soul, # 62-pop).  Produced and arranged by David Rubinson & Friends Inc together with Jeffrey Cohen, there were three singles culled off from this 9-tracker, all with modest results sales-wise.

  Ray Parker, Jr. co-wrote a quite melodic and airy dancer named Joy to Have Your Love (# 31-soul), which was followed by an overwhelming, gospelly ballad titled You Are My Friend (# 61-soul), which Patti co-wrote.  Dan Swit Me, a fast stomping ditty, was the third one.

  Other uptempo tracks had connections with familiar names.  Rocking Funky Music was cut by Edwin Starr earlier, Willie Dixon’s You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover is here discofied and similarly Bob Dylan’s Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) is turned into funk.  Angelo Nocentelli from the Meters fame wrote a quite melodic and infectious jogger called I Think about You.

  There are still two outstanding, big-voiced ballads in a genuine Patti style, Do I Stand a Chance and a powerful cover of the Skyliners’ hit, Since I Don’t Have You.  Not a bad solo debut!  (www.pattilabelle.com).

EDWIN STARR

  Edwin’s second 20^th Century album in 1978 was titled Clean (CDBBR 0027; 9 tracks, 44 min.; liners by Christian John Wikane), and for it Edwin produced three tracks and Lamont Dozier four.  Edwin wrote or co-wrote six out of the seven songs on display.  It’s still worth mentioning that the string and horn arrangers on Lamont’s tracks are H.B. Barnum, Hense Powell, David Blumberg and Paul Riser.

  Edwin’s restrained but captivating dancer called I’m So into You was tested as the first single, but to no show on the charts.  The story goes that after actually finishing this album Edwin went into a small studio to still cut a disco dancer titled Contact at his own expense and added it to the LP.  True or not, Contact put Edwin back on the charts (# 13-soul, # 65-pop) after a year and a half.  Although Contact was a speedy and energetic dancer, it was the product of the day with disco elements that sound funny today, such as the cow-bells.  Similarly to Contact, Edwin’s second long disco cut on the album, Working Song, exceeded seven minutes.

  I rate Lamont’s 70s production work high, and although this particular album isn’t among his best achievements, his music is all the same very enjoyable.  Two tracks that stand out among his contributions are Storm Clouds on the Way, Lamont’s own energetic, driving scorcher, and Don’t Waste Your Time, a melodic ballad, which also is the cream cut for this writer and the only slow song on the set.  For me, among Edwin’s three 20^th Century albums, Clean is the best.  (www.edwinstarr.info).

MARLENA SHAW

  Released in 1979, Take a Bite (Expanded Edition) (Soul Music.com Records, SMCR 5008; www.soulmusic.com; 12 tracks, 53 min.) is Marlena’s third CBS album, and in the booklet David Nathan, the founder of Soulmusic.com and Marlena tell more about this album.  Produced by Meco Monardo, Tony Bongiovi, Harold Wheeler, Bobby Bryant and Marlena herself, besides the ten original album tracks this CD offers still two bonus ones - a special disco version of Love Dancin’ and a remix of Touch Me in the Morning.

  Marlena has a strong jazz and soul background, so there’s much more to this lady than being just another disco diva.  That’s why I’m not too crazy about the close to 20-minute nonstop disco medley, where melodies merge into each other.  This was commonplace thirty years ago, but hasn’t stood the test of time.

  On the b-side of the album, however, there are a couple of Marlena’s own songs that suite her style better.  She wrote the recitation titled Shaw Biz for a jazzy slow jam called Suddenly It’s How I like to Feel, and composed a brassy mover named No One Yet and still a churchy uptempo number with minimal backing called I’ll be Your Friend.  Duality dominates this record.

ESTHER PHILLIPS

  I must start by confessing that I’ve always been a big, big fan of Esther Phillips.  I like all of her recorded material ever since 1950, but for me her peak period artistically fell on her early Kudu years, highlighting in From a Whisper to a Scream in 1971.  After Kudu, Esther moved on to Mercury, cut four albums and now they are available on Soul Music.com Records.

  You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby & All about Esther Phillips (SMCR2 5006; 17 tracks, 80 min.!; essay with interviews by David Nathan) reintroduces the first two albums from 1977 and ’78.  Unfortunately none of the four Mercury albums – not to mention Mercury singles - saw any chart action.

  Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis produced and arranged the music on the nine tracks on You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, which was for the most part recorded in New York.  Denise LaSalle and her hub, James Wolfe, wrote a driving funky number and Esther’s first single titled Love Addict.

  During the latter part of her Kudu era and especially after What a Diff’rence a Day Makes Esther got caught up in discofying standards and familiar tunes, and not all had the same spark as that ’75 top-20 pop hit.  On this album If I Loved You, My Prayer and also Grey & Hanks’ Unselfish Love suffer from worn out, repetitive formula.

  You’ve Been a Good Ole Wagon and the oft-recorded I’ve Never Been a Woman Before are both bluesy slowies, whereas on a jazzy, downtempo song named Somewhere along the Line Esther revisits Dinah Washington’s songbook.  In a Soft and Subtle Way is a rather “soft” beat-ballad, but the real gem on this set is Esther’s subdued but still expressive interpretation of Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic.

  Wayne Henderson produced Esther in L.A. for the All about Esther Phillips album.  Again a funky cut, The Man Ain’t Ready, was tested as a single, and Odyssey’s Native New Yorker was the obligatory disco track on this album, but now the outcome was effortless and quite enjoyable. 

  The emphasis this time, however, was on downtempo, almost late-night material, which inspired Esther into rather intimate interpretations.  The keyboardist Bobby Lyle wrote a twilight, lush tune called You Think of Him (You Think of Her), and Obie Jessie’s Pie in the Sky was also an atmospheric song.  David Oliver’s beat-ballad Ms. had more punch to it, but again the best is saved for the last – If I Fall in Love by Morning, a melodic and touching song, co-written by Otis Blackwell.

  Here’s Esther, Are You Ready & Good Black Is Hard to Crack (SMCR2 5007; 17 tracks, 77 min.) were released in 1979 and 1981.  Harvey Mason, a drummer and a recording artist himself, produced the Here’s Esther album, and now we step back onto the dance & disco territory with such tracks as Mr. Melody (Natalie Cole), Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John), Love Makes a Woman (Barbara Acklin) and Our Day Will Come (Ruby & the Romantics), which was released as a single.  Another forty-five from the LP was a fast and catchy dancer titled Oo Oop Oo Oop, which was typically sparkling music from its co-writer, Michael Zager. 

  Two beat-ballads – I Hope You’ll Be Very Unhappy without Me and Bedtime Stories – and one jazzy supper lounge song (I’ll Close My Eyes) round up this set, which is the most uptempo and indifferent one among these four Mercury albums.

  On Good Black Is Hard to Crack the music was produced and arranged by Benny Golson, but Bobby Martin and Esther herself acted as executive producers.  Recorded in Hollywood, California, Sam Dees’ fine soul ballad, Cry to Me, was the only single release off the album, but unfortunately it didn’t score, either.  Sam himself sings on the track.  The flip was Crazy, which as Esther’s rendition turned more into soul than country.

  Co-written by Cissy Houston, Reaching out for Love with Love is a light toe-tapper, as well as the Jackson 5’s We’ve Got a Good Thing Going.  For orthodox disco-goers there are two tracks, You Can’t See Thunder, with Hank Crawford’s sax solo in the middle, and Changin’, co-written by Jesse James.  Although – besides Cry to Me - there are no real highlights on this last Mercury album, this is the smoothest and most laid-back of the four.

NEW WESTERN & SOUTHERN SOUL INDIES

ABRAHAM WILSON

  After two and a half years, Abraham Wilson’s Smooth (20 tracks, 95 min.) is finally ready, and you should be able to purchase it any day now.  What started as one ten-song album, evolved into a 20-track double-CD.  You can read not only about all the songs on the first edition of the CD and its making, but also about Abraham’s background and his haphazard re-acquaintance with Ralph Terrana at http://www.soulexpress.net/deep309.htm#abrahamwilson.

  The only song that was dropped from the first edition was Abe’s gentle rendition of Rainy Night in Georgia.  Russ Terrana: “You have to get a license, because it’s not an original song.  You have to pay royalties.  It just gets so complex.  We can always re-release it or release it as an extra.  Abe did a really nice job on that song.”  All twenty songs are penned by the producers of the CD - Ralph Terrana, Abraham Wilson and Teddie Morrow (for more information on him, please see that linked article above).  A mixing and engineering wizard and Ralph’s twin brother, Russ, is one of the co-producers, too.

  The first of the eleven new songs is a fast and a driving scorcher called It Only Seems like Yesterday, which starts and ends with a Spanish guitar but has a rock guitar in the middle.  Russ: “The guitar player we used on all these songs is Tom Ayers.  This guy could play anything from rock to r&b to country to you-name-it.  He just comes up with these things, and if it feels good then it is good” (laughing).

  Say Say starts as a slow and tender love song but grows towards the end.  “This song is from a few years back.  A lot of the stuff that we used was when Ralph and Teddie were writing and doing stuff together.”  It is followed by a gorgeous and touching country & soul ballad named For the Rest of My Life, which has Abe and Nancy Jones sharing the lead and which captivates you for its whole 7-minute duration.

  In order to break the downtempo stream every now and then, they had to include some grittier songs, and BYOB (“bring your own baby”) is actually a funky number.  It is, however, followed by another fascinating country & soul big ballad titled One Wish, which is even slightly churchy.  It’s Abe’s and Nancy’s duet again.  “These two voices really seem to complement each other.  Abe has that smooth, r&b kind of a thing, and she’s got that more in-your-face kind of a sound” (laughing).

  The opening song on the second CD, One More Mountain, is an uplifting, almost inspirational mover with Abe and Nancy letting really loose.  “It is one of my favourites.  I really like that song.  It’s very pop, it’s very catchy, kind of a sing-along thing.  I think it would have a mass appeal, because it crosses many boundaries from pop to r&b and even country.”

  This Band is a honky-tonk beater, which even Creedence Clearwater Revival could have cut back in the day.  “It’s Tommy on guitar again.  He put a great country feel on that song.  One thing I like this album is that it doesn’t restrict itself to just one style.  It has a blend of various from pop to r&b to country.  It has a lot of different colours.”  According to Ralph Terrana “This Band was going to be used by Garth Brooks and Reba McIntyre for a planned duet album.  For some reason, the project never got off the ground and the song was shelved.  While working with Abe and Nancy, I pulled it out of the can and re-worked it.”

  Waiting for my Baby to Call is like a show-tune, ragtime jam – Russ: “this album has something for everybody” – whereas Freedom is an upbeat chant with a message.  Forgiven is a spiritual, swinging mover, and finally the closing song, Plains of Darkness, is a driving spirit-lifter, which could have been a part of the musical Hair.  Russ: “All these songs have something to say, and I like the versatility of them all.  They are all unique in their own way.”

  What does Russ do, when he gets a new song to work on?  “It’s a lot of trial and error.  You have to envision, where you want to take it.  You want the verses to be a bit more subdued and hit harder on the choruses, or, when you get to a solo, let a track open up a lot more there?  It’s just a matter of dynamics, actually.  I’m a big fan of dynamics, ever since I was mixing all this stuff at Motown.”

  “For me, if you get on a roller-coaster that didn’t have any hills, it would be kind of a boring ride.  If the roller-coaster has steep hills, that’s the dynamics right there.  I think the same thing applies to music.  You need those thrills, you need those quiet moments exploding to bigger times and then come down again.  That’s what makes it interesting, getting that emotional rush here and there.”

  “I live in Santa Cruz and the others live down in Monterey, so normally we just work on Saturdays.  We were in no rush to finish this record up.  We wanted to take time to do it right.  Hopefully we could satisfy quite a few people.” Do yourself a favour and become satisfied with the wonderful music on this CD.  (Interview conducted on April 22).

MENTA MALONE

Menta Malone, a.k.a. Lil’ Morris J is the son of Morris J. Williams, and he was a member of Gnarls Barkley Band and sang background on their album, St. Elsewhere.  Produced, arranged and written by M.J. Williams and James Cain, Love Gangsta (Tip Records, out of Memphis) offers eight songs, plus two remixes and a radio edit. 

  Among those repetitive mid-tempo tracks and dancers there are certain titles I won’t even mention simply because they are poisoned by that awful voice box.  She’s the Real Deal is an easy, melodic mover, though.  By far the best cut on the CD is a gentle floater called Ever Lasting Moments.  Otherwise the music sounds cheap and clichéd.  It’s not unpleasant as such - with the exception of that voice box - it’s just indifferent.

MS. JODY

  John Ward and Raymond Moore are the main writers on Ms. Jody’s Keepin’ It Real (ECD 1130, www.eckorecords.com), but Ms. Jody a.k.a. JoAnne Delapaz co-wrote four tunes, too.  There seems to be a change in her image, as a vulnerable girl has given way to a more determined and strong-willed lady, witness such dancers as Move On and I’m Keepin’ It Real.  There are as many as seven uptempo cuts on this set, and the effortless Take Me and the quick-tempoed The Jody Juke and I needed that sound the most stimulating.

  The laid-back I Wanna Rock It in Your Rocking Chair and I’m Staying with My Man Tonight are both pleasant mid-tempo numbers, although the latter one bears a remote resemblance to Tony Troutman’s Your Man Is Home Tonight.  Ms. Jody has always excelled at slowies, but unfortunately this time there are only two of them, the sweet and dreamy The First Time and a “walking out” or “staying out” ballad called I’ve Got the Strength to Stay Gone.

CARL SIMS

  It’s been over three years since Carl put out his previous CD, Can’t Stop Me, on Ecko Records.  Now his Hell on My Hands (CDC 1041; www.cdsrecords.com) is available on CDS Records and it’s produced by Ron Johnson and Alex Johnson, who also play guitar and keys on this set.  Ron wrote most of the new songs together with Renee Caldwell.  Machines unfortunately take over the drums and horns, but Carl himself is as real as he can be and his gruff voice is as soulful as ever.

  Two monotonous beaters (Trail Ride and Sugar Daddy) and one bluesy slowie with a dirty guitar solo (Hell on My Hands) aside, a mid-paced cover of Tony! Toni! Toné!’s Thinking of You (’97) - which has always sounded like an Al Green song – and a remake of Marilyn McCoo’s and Billy Davis, Jr.’s You Don’t Have To Be a Star (’76) are both convincingly intensified in terms of soulfulness, and actually Willie Hutch’s easily flowing ballad, I Choose You, belongs to the same league.  On the Star track Debra Benson sings Marilyn’s part.

  Other soul slowies include the relaxed Still the One, the moaning New Address and a beat-ballad named Go On, but - in spite of their good quality singing-wise - I give preference to an intense and close to 6-minute-long soul ballad called Just One Night, which Carl wrote and produced together with Jazzy Johnson and which has been around for a while by now.  It’s even spiced with a sax solo.  Carl has come up with a no-nonsense Southern soul CD.

NELLIE “TIGER” TRAVIS

  Nellie has abandoned Southern soul for blues; temporarily, at least.  Her latest CD, I’m Going Out Tonight (BEN 8; www.benevolentblues.com), was produced and the music arranged by Max V and recorded in Chicago.  Nellie wrote or co-wrote seven songs and Dylann DeAnna three.  She’s backed with a real live rhythm section, mostly her own band.

  There are six blues romps, which are at times plagued by long rock guitar solos, and four slow songs.  Among the latter ones there is a rework of the wistful Koko, which in its original form appeared on Nellie’s previous CD, and a tender and plain ballad called There’s a Queen in Me.  Blues wins over by eight to two. (www.nellietravis.com).

PATRICK GREEN

  Patrick is another creditable vocalist with a flexible and emotive voice, but here mostly the melodies and programming – and especially those terrible toy horns - let him down.  Produced by Carl Marshall, Rated PG was released on Patrick’s Across The Board Records out of Houston, Texas.

  If we start from the brighter side, Rated PG is a nicely swaying, laid-back beat-ballad and Let Me Be a Part of You is another mellow floater and there’s still one very slow and very intense ballad, I’m Tired of Missing You.

  Although there are mostly downtempo songs on display, either the songs are monotonous and almost drift you into a light sleep, or they are ruined by programming.  Patrick can do much better.  For the concluding beater called Shake it all the horror items were added – voice box, rock guitar... It doesn’t get any worse than this.  For me this is Patrick’s poorest album so far. (www.thepgman.com).

WILSON MEADOWS

  When listening to the latest CD by “the Gentleman of Soul” titled Man Up! (M&M Records/Brimstone), I was first delighted, because the first five tracks sounded really good.  The rest five with blues, funk and loud dancers - even rap - didn’t impress me anymore, but the overall feel was that all this sounded faintly familiar.  After a little research I found out that Wilson has recorded at least six of the ten songs here on his earlier albums.

  Aided by Harrison Calloway and Terry Montford, the opening perky mid-beater named Personal Matter has hit potential to it, and the other one that I liked a lot was the title tune, a pleading ballad with strong social comments.  (www.myspace.com/yourwilsonmeadows).

MEL WAITERS

  After a long stint with Malaco/Waldoxy, Mel has now released his latest CD, Say What’s on Your Mind (www.melwaiterslive.com) on his own Brittney Records.  Mel wrote or co-wrote all nine songs on the set.  Although his musical trademark still consists of a hard-hitting beat, heavy saxophone and energetic vocalizing, he has mellowed down and become more restrained.  The sound is not as full and powerful as before.  The music is more hollow and tame, and consequently more mediocre.

  The opening mid-beater, When You Get Drunk, shows that Mel still sticks to whisky and drinking topics.  If I Fall in Love and Let Me See You Twist are similar in tempo, and the latter one introduces an awful bass imitation.  Among the four slow songs, a personal favourite is the quite melodic Friends.  Then there are still two fast dancers left, and the final track, All I Want Is a Beat, is the closest to what it used to be.  I defy you to stand still to this.  Other than that track, Mel’s music doesn’t leave you breathless anymore.

LIL’ FALLAY

  Christopher John Andrus has released a few months ago a CD titled, Lucky # 7 (www.myspace.com/lilfallayboy) - his 7^th CD, you see.  I first talked to him about ten years ago, and you can read about Lil’ Fallay’s early career here.  These days he has a company called Hot Like “FIRE” Management in Scott, Louisiana.  “It’s my own management label, because I have other people also.  I manage some acts down in Louisiana.”  Besides music, Lil’ Fallay also does community work, as within The Northside Community Cares Concert Series he and Matt Noel organize charity concerts and present checks to local schools.

  On the Lucky # 7 set there are some funk (Uptown Coolie Brown) and party (Par-ta) tracks, which makes one wonder, if Lil’ Fallay wants to become a Southern soul funkateer.  “We definitely down in New Orleans got some f-o-n-k going on.  The writers that helped me on this particular album were different from previous albums.  They are new writers.  They took my ideas and brought them to somewhere else.”

  With rock, rap and even zydeco (Lucky # 7), the album sounds somewhat experimental.  “We definitely were experimenting there.  We saw that zydeco itself had gained itself a Grammy place.  For four years they’ve been having their own slot with the Grammys, and we thought that – being from Louisiana – adding from zydeco to what we were doing could take us to another level.  And, of course, hip-hop and rap is on another level also.  It was always good to have different music out there.”  Lil’ Nate is playing accordion on the Lucky # 7 track.

  There were guitar and sax players in the studio, but keyboards created the rest of the sound.  On the opening track, Uptown Coolie Brown, there are a lot of Andruses on vocals.  “Kris is my son.  Andre and A.J. are my nephews.  I brought them all in the studio to give them a taste of what’s it all about.”

  A mid-tempo beater named Hard Time has a lady by the name of Joyce Sorrell singing on it, too.  “She is also on an independent record label that I’m on.  She is a lady from Loreauville, Louisiana, who came out about two years ago.  She’s a gospel singer.  We just thought that her voice would fit that message song, Hard Time.”

  You can clearly hear Mel Waiter’s stamp on another mid-pacer, Eyes on the Prize.  “That was a very interesting situation.  My manager from Houston, Texas, who passed away about three years ago, was from the hometown of Mel, San Antonio, Texas.  She always kept saying ‘you and Mel Waiters, you’re gonna make a record’.  She introduced me to so many people.  She used to be with Tyrone Davis for twelve years.  She was also on the road with Little Milton for four years.  Her name was Beverly Goody.  She helped Mel Waiters to get his music played in Houston a long time ago.  Every time we played there and Mel was there, she used to say ‘one day you’re gonna make a record’.”

  “When Ms. Goody passed away, we went to San Antonio.  Mel Waiters was at the funeral and he said ‘Fallay, I really don’t know you, but on the strength of your friendship with Ms. Goody one day we’re gonna make a record’.  And that came true.  Mel Waiters called me up ‘I’ve got a track that I’d like you to listen to, when you come to San Antonio’.  I went to San Antonio, he let me hear the record, I wrote the lyrics and that became the song.”

  The second Southern soul male artist that pays a visit on the CD is Andre’ Lee, who is featured on a light and easy mid-tempo number called Love Will Never Change.  “Unlike a lot of musicians, I make it a point to speak to other musicians and find out what they are doing.  I met Mr. Andre last year at a local Southern soul concert I was a part of.  He was playing guitar for Mr. Wilson Meadows.  He told me he was releasing his own album and asked for help getting it played in my city.  I told him I would try to help with that.  I listened to the album and thought that one of his songs, Love Will Never Change, would be great as a duet from two men about a woman playing both of us.  He agreed and we redid his song.  That’s how our music relationship started.”

  True Love Blues is a slow moan in the Drown in My Own Tears vein.  “The way I write and put records on my album, I’m always looking for ‘it might not fit this radio station, but this song might fit this radio station’.  You always got to have at least one blues song, and that song there is doing real good in Dallas for me.”

  My Brother’s Dedication is a tribute to Lil’ Fallay’s late brother.  “Unfortunately I lost my brother at forty-nine.  He was only a year older than I was, so everything we did together throughout life.  He was always encouraging me.  The last ten years he saw me going through ups and downs, but he always would tell me ‘be true to yourself, write your music’.  I dedicated that album to him.”

  “The CD is doing well.  Unfortunately my father is ill, so I’m unable to really, really get out there and do it.  I had to come off the road.  And I’m still a fire-fighter in the city of Lafayette.  The record is doing well, but surely could have done better.”

  Lil Fallay’s preceding CD, Strong Enough (A True Story), has practically the same writers as the latest one.  “We were taking the music in different direction.  We handed that record to a young lady by the name of Lola Love out of California (LHB Entertainment & Consulting, in L.A.), and she was able to introduce it to the Music Academy Awards.  I know for a fact that there are thousands of people, who have introduced their music every year trying to win a Grammy.  There was one more Southern soul artist on the list that I was on.  There were 59 artists.  There were Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Charlie Wilson, Frankie Beverly & Maze...  From that list they picked the five people that were actually going to win the Grammy.  That was a big thing for us.”

  The CD is filled with uptempo party songs, including a new hiphoppish dance called My Swagger, featuring Polo & Cupid.  “We were trying to get away from the straight Southern soul music that the world just doesn’t see as worldly. I’m glad we did a couple of songs on the record that people have seemed to like, and we were able to get our name on the list.”

  “Be Honest (featuring Charli) is the only slow song on that particular record.  Our fan base is so locked in what we call in Louisiana ‘Swingout music’.  My fans will not let me make them a strong love song.  They always want my fast stuff, and that’s why that record only had one slow song.”

  How does Lil’ Fallay see the state of Southern soul these days?  “Unfortunately we’re losing our great mentors.  I pray that they were helping young apprentices and young artists coming up, because if they pass on and don’t pass on the information, Southern soul is in a bad place.  But I see a bright spot in Southern soul.  It’s starting to be more acceptant to music coming from different states.  If it comes from Louisiana, it’ll have a little zydeco, a little swing... uptempo.  If it comes from Memphis, it might have some blues and some booty kind of a situation.  As long as Southern soul is starting to accept everybody’s genre in music, it’s starting to get a little bit more open instead of just one style.”

  These days Lil’ Fallay and his partners are sufficiently employed.  “We’re in a nice little spot.  In Louisiana there are festivals every weekend.  We not only do the Lil’ Fallay Southern soul party stuff, but we do cover music.  There’s always something going on.  If Southern soul doesn’t have a concert or a festival in our area, there’s always something else we can pick up on, like casinos.  There are a lot of casinos in Louisiana.”

  “Right now we are definitely in the process of recording new songs.  I told the record company that I would be ready in 2012, and it’s going to be different.  It’s going to be the music that the world can enjoy.”

BLACK BOOKCASE

FROM SAYIN’ TO SHOUTIN’

  It’s always nice to read the memoirs of long-standing music fans, because you can just feel the enthusiasm, you can compare and reflect your own experiences and in a small way re-live some of that past.  In Really Sayin’ Something/Memoirs of a Soul Survivor (ISBN 9781904408758, www.bankhousebooks.com, 226 pages + 28 illustrated) Clive Richardson fondly looks back on the music scene he was involved in ever since the late 50s.  He writes about the U.K. labels that released black music those days, fan clubs, shows, tours and concerts.

  The book is so crammed with names and facts that there’s no need for an index, otherwise everything would be repeated all over again.  Clive first ran a Don Covay Fan Club magazine in the 60s, became after that a member of the editorial team of Soul Music and proceeded to Shout and Black Echoes magazines.

  In terms of record labels he tells about Soul City, Deep Soul and others, until we come to Clive’s current company, Shout! Records, and in this section he goes through each issued record on that imprint so far.  He also keeps himself busy with internet broadcasting on Solar Radio.

  I assume that this book appeals mostly to British readers, but this is a nice read for soul music fans in other European countries, too... all over the world, actually.  For me the most interesting part was Clive’s stories from his frequent trips to New Orleans.

DIANA ROSS

  Diana Ross – Queen of Motown (ISBN 9781904408697, Bank House Books; 300 pages + 24 illustrated) is a British perspective on one of the leading songstresses of our era.  Actually it’s a book written by a hardcore fan, Ian Phillips.  Sharon Davis wrote the foreword.

  It’s a bit challenging for me to go with the flow of the text, since at times Ian’s writing is so overly worshipping that it becomes distracting.  He praises even lesser tracks.  Maybe if I were a big Diana Ross fan, I would be nodding in full agreement, but I’m not.  I have a neutral, indifferent approach to her music.  I like many of her records, but I regard her more as a pop/show/cabaret artist than a soul singer.  I especially disagree with Ian on the quality of her 80s recordings – which I have all, believe it or not!  In the 90s I stopped following her career altogether.

  Ian borrows quotes from many sources, because there are no face-to-face or telephone interviews here.  Fortunately leaving rumours aside, Ian concentrates on music, which means that this book is actually a cavalcade of record reviews and a list of Diana’s public appearances.  There are some minor mistakes and omissions – e.g. Ian doesn’t seem to be aware of the origins of Someday we’ll be Together, The Impossible Dream and To Be Loved – but generally this is an easy read and proceeds chronologically.  The first third of the book covers the Supremes days (I was secretly hoping for more information about the Primettes days, but no!), then comes Diana’s solo era and there’s still a part covering her acting career.  With recommendations, tributes from other artists and industry people and the US and UK chart discographies at the end, this tome documents profoundly Diana’s professional achievements and in that sense can be considered as a solid reference book on her.

BOBBY “BLUE” BLAND

  I still remember Bobby’s performance here in Finland at the Pori Jazz Festival in 1994.  He’s now 81, but in spite of a triple by-pass heart surgery, congestive heart failure, pneumonia and other illnesses he keeps on performing, and as far as I know there’s a new CD in the making, too.

  I was impatiently waiting for this book, Soul of the Man (University Press of Mississippi; ISBN 978-1-60473-919-0; 330 pages with 18 illustrated), but after receiving it I was first bitterly disappointed, when I found out that Bobby declined to be interviewed.  Instead the author, Charles Farley, interviewed Roderick Bland, Joseph Hardin, Jr., B.B. King, Benny Latimore, Willie Mitchell, Gerald “Wolf” Stephenson and collected information and quotes from many published sources.  There’s only a selected discography in the book, but you can find the complete one at www.souloftheman.com.

  After I started reading the book, my disappointment wore gradually off.  Charles is very detailed and profound and he paints a vivid picture of the early 50s Memphis music scene and the city itself.  He creates short profiles on Bobby’s partners and band members throughout the years and goes a bit deeper with such names as the Beale Streeters, B.B. King, Don Robey, Little Junior Parker, “Deadrick Malone”, Joe Scott, Wayne Bennett, Dave Clark, Wolf Stephenson and Larry Addison.

Born in Rosemark, Tennessee, in 1930, Robert Calvin Bland cut his first record for Modern in 1951.  It may be now hard to believe, but allegedly in the 50s Bobby was quite wild on stage and very popular among ladies.  He made his home, where his main lady at the time was living (Memphis – Houston - Detroit – Memphis).  Charles reviews Bobby’s recording output first during his twenty-year stint at Duke, then on ABC -> MCA and finally on Malaco since 1985.  The music varied from blues and r&b to jazz, country and even disco and easy listening.

  There are a couple of inconsistencies that I noticed.  I wrote down that the blues singer Big George Jackson is mixed up with Southern soul’s George Jackson (this probably derives from allmusic.com) and then there’s the old question about the originator of (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right.  It may well be that Bobby is one of those, who made an early demo of the song alongside the Emotions and Veda Brown, but the fact remains that Luther Ingram’s hit single was to the first finished and released recording of the song.

  Soul of the Man is a very thorough bio on Bobby Bland, and it would have been excellent, had the man himself commented on his life and music.  If you’ve never seen Bobby live, there’s a good DVD available, “Live” From Beale Street (Malaco, MDVD 9036; 1997).

© Heikki Suosalo