Black Music Month
Curtis Mayfield | Black Music Month
Friday 15 June, 2012 at 4:34 pm Blog 1
[Editor’s note: I’m not sure this will make sense to you by the end. It meanders. But, there are playlists and links galore, so please bear with me.] When I grow up, I wanna sound like Curtis Mayfield. Not as a singer. I’m not giving back all this bass. But his voice, the one he [...]
Read more →Bill Withers | ‘Justments | Black Music Month
Thursday 14 June, 2012 at 2:24 pm Blog 1
Funny, the day I was scheduled to write about Bill Withers’ ‘Justments, Chris Brown got into a fight with Drake over Rihanna. When Brown beat Rihanna, I wrote about his situation with a reference to Withers’ relationship with Denise Nicholas. Of course, Brown has managed to resurrect his career, but the point I made then [...]
Read more →Aretha Franklin | Call Me | Black Music Month
Wednesday 13 June, 2012 at 9:27 am Blog 3
I’m too lazy to go get the iPad, but I once read a book about Van Morrison that described the job of a singer as filling the space between the song and the singer. The best leave no distance between them, essentially becoming the words and melody. Perhaps the reason Aretha Franklin’s so widely considered [...]
Read more →UGK | Ridin’ Dirty | Black Music Month
Tuesday 12 June, 2012 at 9:22 am Blog 2
The other day, a friend of mine — who shall remain nameless — took a picture with Bun-B. I saw it and called him, so excited that he got to meet Bun. When I did an interview with him in advance of Trill in 2005, I would listen to the tape like it was an [...]
Read more →Chuck Berry | Johnny B. Goode | Black Music Month
Monday 11 June, 2012 at 10:07 am Blog 0
Chuck Berry was a great guitar player. I’m sure you heard that once or twice. Thing is, Chuck was a better songwriter. Both his guitar and his words became staples of rock ‘n roll. The reason John Lennon said you could call rock ‘n roll “Chuck Berry” is because so much of what the world [...]
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