madison blogs
January 2007
Hello and Goodbye in 2006
Say hello to these 2006 album releases:
John Legend, Once Again
The simmering Once Again is head and shoulders above most of what passes for Urban or R&B these days. John Legend's brand of soul music was a surprise hit in 2005, but since his style of music is so different from most of what's popular in the world of contemporary R&B, it remained to be seen if he could duplicate the success of his Get Lifted album. Interestingly, instead of going for more of a pop sound this time out, Legend heads in an even more sophisticated mix of old school soul music and his own distinctive style to create some wonderful songs. The results are excellent.
Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
For Back to Black Amy Winehouse has taken her inspiration from some of the classic 1960's girl groups like the Supremes and the Shangri-Las, a sound particularly suited to her textured vocal delivery, while adding a contemporary song-writing sensibility. With the help of producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, "Rehab" becomes a gospel-tinged stomp, while the title track is a heartbreaking musical tribute to Phil Spector, with it's echoey bass drum, rhythmic piano, chimes, saxophone and close harmonies. Best of all, though, is the fact that Back to Black bucks the current trend in R&B by being unabashedly grown-up in both style and content. Back to Black is a refreshingly mature soul album, the best of its kind for years.
The final goodbye:
During 2006 we’ve said goodbye, sadly, to these legends of soul. The music lives on!
Wilson Picket
Lou Rawls
June Pointer from the Pointer Sisters
Billy Preston
Gerald Levert
and
James Brown, the Godfather of Soul
‘He was dramatic to the end, dying on Christmas Day’ Reverend Jesse Jackson.
James Brown transformed gospel music into rhythm and blues, and soul music into his own creation: funk, with its driving rhythms and insistent beat.
During the 1950’s he formed the James Brown Revue. Audiences were delighted and outraged by the group's tight R&B sound, fronted by the charismatic Brown, whose stage antics caused him to shed up to seven pounds a night. In 1956, Brown wrote the song Please, Please, Please. It sold one million copies and propelled the band to stardom. Other hits followed as Brown worked up to 350 nights a year, earning himself another reputation, as the hardest-working man in show-business.
Brown and his band members earned a derisory 150 dollars each for Please Please Please, but he refused to compromise on the quality of his performances. His reason was simple: "When you're on stage, the people who paid money to get in are the boss, even if it cost them only a quarter. You're working for them."
During the 60’s he treated his band like an army, imposing fines for lateness, scruffy costumes and poor playing. By the early 1960s his growing reputation saw him play to packed crowds at the Mecca of black music, Harlem's Apollo Theatre. In 1961, realising that the essence of his music could only be captured live, Brown personally financed the recording of an album at the theatre. The result, the mould-breaking James Brown Show Live at the Apollo, was a sensation. Establishing his reputation throughout the United States, it remains one of the most critically-acclaimed live albums ever recorded.
His status was enhanced by a succession of worldwide hits like Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, I Got You (I Feel Good) and Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine).
Sat 22nd Nov 2008