dimanche 27 février 2022
Mary Wilson The Motown Anthology (2-CD Set) 2022
The Motown Anthology features 38 songs, of which 33 are only available physically in this CD format. Featured songwriters include Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Deke Richards, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Thom Bell and Linda Creed. It features the worldwide CD debut of the 1979 Mary Wilson album, which was digitally released in expanded form after her sad and sudden death in February 2021.
Rarities, remixes, testimonials
The anthology also features solo tracks, on CD for the first time, produced by the late Gus Dudgeon, the much-respected producer of Elton John’s classic early albums among many others. It has Eric Kupper’s remix of “Red Hot,” from the 1979 album, as well as seven songs unheard anywhere before. These are “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and the newly-available “Falling in Love with Love,” from the unheard January 13 performance by the Supremes at the Frontier, “Send Him to Me,” “If You Let Me Baby,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” “Witchi Tai To,” and “Anytime at All.”
mardi 22 février 2022
samedi 19 février 2022
David Tyson of The Manhattans dies at age 62
(February 17, 2022) We are devastated to inform SoulTrackers of the passing today of singer David Tyson of The Manhattans, for nearly three decades an integral part of one of the great vocal groups. He was 62. Tyson’s family had just informed fans a week ago that he was sick, and his passing comes as a blow to the group's millions of fans.
The Philadelphia native grew up in a musical family, and his admiration for his older brother, Ron Tyson stoked that musical love even more. Ron was an accomplished Philadelphia songwriter who became the falsetto lead for the Temptations in the 1980s (continuing to this day) and David saw through that a possible future career.
Tyson formed the group Final Touch and began making waves in the Philadelphia area. But it was his call from Ron in 1993 that changed his life, informing David that the legendary vocal group the Manhattans were reuniting – led by Gerald Alston and Blue Lovett – and were looking for a tenor singer. David auditioned and became part of the quartet, along with Troy May. He has kept that role ever since, continuing with Alston even after the passing of Lovett in 2014. Tyson also recorded a solo single, "What Would I Do" in 2014, giving soul music fans a better sense of his expressive tenor voice outside of the group setting.
In 2021, the Manhattans (Alston, Tyson and May) released their first album in more than a decade, The Legacy Continues. The followed it at the end of 2021 with their version of “The Christmas Song,” and started 2022 picking up where they left off before COVID, treating their fans to a brand new national tour.
We offer our condolences to Mr. Tyson’s family and to everyone in the Manhattans community.
Betty Davis: 'Godmother of Funk' dies aged 77
Betty Davis, the pioneering US singer and musician who was dubbed the "Godmother of Funk", has died aged 77.
Davis blazed a trail with her raw brand of funk and sexual lyrics that would go on to influence stars including Prince and Madonna.
News of her death was confirmed on her website by her friend Constance Portis.
Tributes have been paid to Davis by stars including US rocker Lenny Kravitz and the estate of Prince, which wrote about her influence on him.
Born and raised as Betty Mabry in North Carolina, Davis became a mainstay on the 1960s New York music scene, with tracks like Get Ready for Betty. Her 1967 song Uptown (to Harlem), which she wrote for the Chambers Brothers, recently re-emerged in Questlove's Oscar-nominated documentary, Summer of Soul.
"I wrote about love, really, and all the levels of love," she told The New York Times in 2018, in a rare interview after the release of the documentary Betty - They Say I'm Different. "When I was writing about it, nobody was writing about it. But now everybody's writing about it. It's like a cliché."
She was the second wife of jazz star Miles Davis, and although they were married for just a year, she's widely credited with helping to turn the trumpeter and bandleader on to the era's rock, introducing him to artists like Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone. His subsequent jazz-rock fusion phase brought the classic album Bitches Brew.
"Every day married to him was a day I earned the name Davis," she said in the documentary about their turbulent time together.
The recordings they made together were shelved after they split, but she finally released her self-titled debut album in 1973.
Betty Davis was one of the first black women to get recognition for writing, arranging and producing her own albums, such as They Say I'm Different and Nasty Gal. But she disappeared from the music industry at the end of the 70s.
While her music was not commercially successful, she has proved to be influential for the generations that followed.
Janelle Monae has previously described Davis as "one of the godmothers of redefining how black women in music can be viewed", while Erykah Badu once commented: "We just grains of sand in her Bettyness."
Male rappers including Ice Cube and Talib Kweli have also sampled her work.
After a brief stint living with silent monks in Japan, she moved back to the Pittsboro area of North Carolina and stayed out the limelight for most of the rest of her life. "When I was told that it was over, I just accepted it," Davis told the New York Times. "And nobody else was knocking at my door."
In a statement on her website, Portis, her friend of 65-years, described her as a "a multi-talented music influencer and pioneer rock star, singer, songwriter, and fashion icon".
Primal Scream bass player Simone Butler also paid tribute on Wednesday.
mardi 15 février 2022
Melba Moore Feat. Carmichael Musiclover [2022] - Company [Anala Records]
I've known about this release for a couple of weeks but hadn't realised that it was 'allegedly' released 'quietly' with a release date of 31 Jan 2022. I'm not convinced that it was released then as it seems to have only appeared today, as with the J'Cenae album which also had an incorrect release date, and it would appear that no one else seems to have found it or has been playing it! Having asked around, it was sent as a US promo only this morning.
Kevin Robinson (BB&Q BAND) I Can’t Stop Dancing 2022
Serious dancers will know all about the BB&Q BAND. Originally a studio concept created by Euro disco don Fred Petrus, the group was eventually named for New York boroughs, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens (where the original musicians came from).
They soon enjoyed success with ‘On The Beat’ and after guitar man Kevin Robinson joined the team, the band took on a more defined, permanent line-up and more dance floor success followed with their 1982 album ‘All Night Long’ securing them a place in the dance/disco pantheon. However, when Petrus’ various projects got into financial difficulties, BB&Q struggled; though with some new members (including Curtis Hairston) they enjoyed some renewed success with tunes like ‘Dreamer’. In 1987 the increasingly erratic Petrus was murdered by unknown gunmen and in the aftermath, that seemed to be the end of the BB&Q Band.
That was then of course and this is now. So to mark the fortieth anniversary of ‘All Night Long’ sometime band members Kevin Robinson, Tony Bridges, and Bernard Davis are back together and working on a new album, aptly titled ‘The Legacy’ from which a big, dance single ‘I Can’t Stop Dancing’ has just been released. The title really says it all. It’s big and brash with booming beats and a macho-fuelled, old school soul vocal that sounds a lot like dear old Bobby Womack – little wonder… singer on the track, Kevin Robinson cites Bobby as his biggest influence!