It Ain't No Fun to Al, But It's Fun to Me!

Al Green - It Ain't No Fun To Me

Al Green's early Hi 45s are interesting to listen to, as Al and producer Willie Mitchell hadn't worked out the silky soul style that would catapault Green to immense success. These recordings find Al doing a lot of hard soul singing in a brassy tone and the Hi musicians matching his crackling energy. Some of that energy exists in "Tired of Being Alone," but most of his hits afterward were smoother (although that energy always rumbled beneath the surface and peeked through in places). The fact that Hi was not committed to the older Al Green sound can be found with today's selection. "It Ain't No Fun to Me" is a hard-hitting mid-tempo number on which Al adds a little gospel stylings to a blues-based song. Al's singing hard, and the Hi band is borrowing a page or two from Stax in its accompaniment, with great results. It was one of the first Al Green songs I ever heard, as my mother preferred it over the A-side of the 45, which was Al's 1973 hit "Livin' For You," which featured the smoother sound. "It Ain't No Fun" was not included in the Livin' For You LP but eventually was comped on a reissue of Let's Stay Together. It's one of the better non-LP B-sides out there.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - "(You) Got What I Need," from yesterday's post, was the fastest-downloaded song I've put on here so far - 97 downloads in one day. Thank you all for your continued interest in this site; it's gratifying to know that people are enjoying this stuff!)

Shoutin' With Freddie Scott

Freddie Scott - (You) Got What I Need



As a kid, Biz Markie's off-key, overwrought singing on the rap classic "Just a Friend" was funny but strangely soulful: "You ... got what I nee-eed ... but you say he's just a friend, you say he's just a friend - oh bay-bee ..." It wasn't until I was an adult that I heard today's selection, from which Markie created his tune, and I am so glad I heard it, because otherwise Biz would have to be the last word on the topic! (Just for the record, I do think "Just a Friend" is a great record in its own right; a recent remake of the tune by Little Mario, with a guest appearance by Markie, reflects the song's staying power.)

Freddie Scott had hit big for Bert Berns' Shout concern with the 1966 #1 R&B hit "Are You Lonely For Me?" This success was a break in what had been a drought for Scott, who had hit earlier for Colpix but then floundered when that label went under and Columbia Records, who inherited his contract, attempted to pass him off as a pop-oriented balladeer. "Are You Lonely For Me?" brought a funky Southern soul vibe to Scott's work that really showcased his deep vocals. They stuck with the funk but gave it a more uptown flair for today's selection, with great results. "(You) Got What I Need" starts off with the piano riff that Biz Markie built "Just a Friend" out of and then opens up into full orchestration. The background singers are not as churchy as they were on "Are You Lonely For Me?" but they lend strong support right out of the gate. But the tune belongs to Scott, who slings the lyrics over that great rhythm (check out the second verse for a master class on how to sing over a breakbeat) and really captures the spirit of the song. It's a great record, and it ended up being Scott's last big hit.

When In a Rush, Pick Joe Tex!

Joe Tex - For My Woman

Work is hectic and so all I'll say about today's selection is that if you have a wife or a girlfriend and your love is real, you can feel Joe Tex's testimony on this one. Back to work!

Two Looks At Fontella Bass

Fontella Bass:

Safe and Sound
How Glad I Am



Fontella Bass' 1965 smash "Rescue Me" is part of the canon of immortal soul songs due in part Fontella's full-throttle delivery (one writer referred to her performance as being "Aretha before Aretha" - at that time, Aretha was still doing jazz and pop for Columbia; her meeting with Jerry Wexler was a good year or so away)and the awesome groove laid down by the Chess house band. Naturally, follow-up records were made to ride out the hit's momentum. "Safe and Sound" was the second such tune (the first being "Recovery") and it's pretty good despite its derivative nature. Today's second selection came from Fontella's LP The New Look, her third Checker LP. The New Look was an attempt to show off Bass' versatility as a singer and it features some deep soul and soul and pop covers. Bass' readings of "Our Day Will Come" and "How Glad I Am" are my favorites from that set. Over a sweet, jazzy background, Bass sings in an almost conversational tone, with great results. Despite Bass' mega-hit, her jazz chops were very strong and her marriage to Lester Bowie would lead her further in that direction as the '60s gave way to the '70s.

Soulful Staples

The Staple Singers - Praying Time

The Staple Singers' countryfied harmonies and Pop Staples' reverb-laden guitar put the group on the map in gospel circles in the late '50s with great recordings, mostly on Vee Jay. The teenaged Mavis Staples' contralto was in full flower, as evidenced on the major gospel hit "Uncloudy Day," and their switch to "message songs" for Stax took Mavis and the group to the top of the charts and mainstream success.

Today's selection came from the mid-'60s, when the Staples had moved from the defunct Vee Jay label to Columbia's Epic imprint. The Staples' work during this era is not as celebrated as the Vee Jay sides or the '70s Stax classics, but plenty of good material came out of the relationship with the major, especially the anthem "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)." "Praying Time" smolders along with a bluesy sound and Mavis' testifying after the first couple of verses. The group doesn't get loud, but the intensity of the record is thrilling.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Sorry for the delay in today's post, but Blogger was experiencing some difficulties earlier!)

Soul-Blues Saturday: Call Tyrone!

Tyrone Davis - Mom's Apple Pie



Tyrone Davis' vulnerable voice and tender songs made Davis an R&B heartthrob from the late '60s through the end of the '70s. Like Johnnie Taylor, Davis' main body of work came while signed to an independent label (Dakar, 1968-76), and like Taylor, Davis moved on to Columbia Records, where he had some more big hits before changing times did him in as a major R&B chart force (most notably with the Chicago soul "Give It Up (Turn It Loose)" and the ballad "In the Mood"). From the early '80s through to around 1996, Davis recorded for a wide range of small labels, getting some chart action with records like "Are You Serious" but keeping the chitlin' circuit ablaze with his strong stage show (his band was considered one of the best working bands, a fact to which I can attest; I saw Tyrone in 1998 and they were smokin') and soul-blues records that continued to play up his romantic but rhythmic vocals.

During a sojourn for the Atlanta-based Ichiban label (which gave the world Clarence Carter's "Strokin'") Davis recorded "Mom's Apple Pie," which made significant noise in the soul-blues world upon release in 1991. Davis' paean to a woman who's giving him the run-around is a solid toe-tapper with a sing-along chorus. I used to have a tape of Davis and his band doing this with his band for a WGN special ("Blues Goin' On"; if anyone has a video of any editions - I know of at least two - of this special this please contact me), and it was a highlight of the program.

Like Johnnie Taylor, Davis found his final label, Malaco, to be a perfect fit, and his albums that followed were very strong, featuring great covers of older soul material ("For the Good Times," from 1997, was a great cover of the Al Green song, itself a cover) and the love-man stuff for which he was well known ("Kiss You Where I Miss You," "Call Tyrone," "Sugar Daddy"). His long illness in 2004 made Chicago headlines (after an erroneous news story declared him dead), and his death in 2005 was a sad one in the history of Chicago soul.

I need to do more Tyrone stuff on this blog, as it is of a very high quality and, like Bobby Bland, Davis' material did not have the mainstream impact that many other soul artists had. The best example is "Turning Point," one of Davis' most popular songs. On its 1976 release the record shot straight to #1 on the R&B charts, but it missed the Billboard "Hot 100" entirely!

Just a Touch of Miami Soul!

Charlie Whitehead - Between The Lines

As mentioned in a prior post, Swamp Dogg's productions on Charlie Whitehead, aka Raw Spitt, are worth checking out if you are a fan of Swamp Dogg and of Southern soul. Today's selection was a single on Stone Dogg, a mid-'70s joint venture between Swamp Dogg and Miami record man Henry Stone, who was sitting pretty with quite a few hits by the likes of Clarence Reid and Betty Wright and was on the cusp of immense success with his TK label (more on that in a moment). "Between The Lines" features Swamp's usual good songwriting and Whitehead's strong singing with a nice dash of the Miami soul groove thrown in for good measure, especially with the guitar work (this just has to be Willie "Little Beaver" Hale; the other night I listened to this on headphones for the first time and his busy, single-string playing, isolated to the left stereo track, is outstanding). It's a nice piece of steppin' soul to take into the weekend!

In an interview with Roctober, Swamp Dogg mentioned that when he was working with Stone there was an eager young go-fer in Stone's Hialeah studios named Harry Casey, whom he showed a few things on the piano and what-not. Swamp pointed out that he nearly ended up as that go-fer's valet, as Casey phoneticized his last name to "K.C." and rode the disco wave to immense stardom on TK as the decade progressed!

Shakin' a Leg With Billy Guy

Billy Guy - If You Want to Get Ahead, Shake a Leg

Billy Guy was one of the lead singers for The Coasters, and his sly, instantly recognizable lead graced several of their bigger hits. By the late '60s Guy was working as a solo act, both musically and as a stand-up comic, and The Coasters were about to split into warring "Coasters" groups. I first learned of Guy's solo stuff from a December 2002 episode of "Downtown Soulville" which aired after Guy's death, and it's a pretty interesting body of work, ranging from soul to funk. Today's selection appeared on the show and made its way into my record collection. "If You Wanna Get Ahead, Shake a Leg" was a Verve single, and on it Guy motor-mouths his way through the "go-go-go" lyrics. The end result is a pretty good up-tempo number. The flip, "I'm Sorry About That," tries to be a deep soul ballad, but Guy's vocals lack the gravitas to make it convincing.

Writing this post reminds me that I need to try to get the best Billy Guy 45 I've ever heard - "Lookin' Like a Nut Nut" (featured on the "Downtown Soulville" show), a nice piece of funky soul. Off to eBay I go!

Fast, Funky and Fabulous!

Bobby Womack - Lillie Mae



Soul legend Bobby Womack got his start in show biz when Sam Cooke took an interest in the erstwhile gospel group The Womack Brothers, whom he signed to his SAR label. Despite some pretty good gospel sides, Sam and the group decided to take on secular music (to the Womacks' father's chagrin) and, as The Valentinos, yielded dividends right away with the hit "Lookin' For a Love." Bobby was particularly close to Cooke, perhaps too close: when Sam was killed in 1964, Bobby promptly married Sam's widow, Barbara, to the horror of Sam's family, Sam's fans, and R&B disc jockeys. Womack would soon start his solo career, but the fallout from his marriage to his mentor's widow was such that R&B DJs rejected his initial recordings; Womack has interviewed that the DJs were throwing his records in the garbage! The rehabilitation of his career came as a session musician in Memphis and as a songwriter for Wilson Pickett, who took "I Found a True Love," "I'm in Love" and other songs to the top of the charts. The successes Womack had with Pickett gave him momentum to sign to Liberty Records' Minit label and have some of his first solo hits as the '60s came to a close. By the early '70s Womack had major hits for United Artists and continued his hitmaking ways into the early '80s, when "If You Think You're Lonely Now" gave him his final smash hit.

Today's selection was a 1969 Minit single which also appeared on his Fly Me To The Moon LP. "Lillie Mae" is a quick (1:57) and dirty piece of funk that sounds like it was recorded in Memphis at the American studios. The guitar lines crackle with energy, the horns hit hard where they are supposed to, and Womack channels Wilson Pickett in his singing. It's a fun record, and to quote John R, the only thing wrong with it is that it's too short!

You're Gonna Lose Your Blue Cross Plan!

Sammy Ward - Bread Winner

Today's selection is another foray into the diverse musical styles of the early days of Motown. Although by 1964 Berry Gordy's record empire was picking up serious steam with hits by The Miracles, The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and others, the label was still dabbling with other styles of music in search of additional hits. "Singin'" Sammy Ward had recorded for Berry Gordy from the earliest days (his "What Makes You Love Him" appears on Episode #9 of the podcast). I find his recordings to be some of the best of the early material, as Ward brought a gospel intensity to the blues he sang. In a perfect word Ward's stuff would appear on comps alongside Bobby Bland and he would get the praise that he would deserve. In this imperfect world, however, we at least have wider access to his material thanks to the Complete Motown Singles series. "Bread Winner" is strictly about the latter half of "romance and finance," as Ward warns his woman what financial disasters will ensue since she's done him wrong. Such lyrics wouldn't work in today's time, but something about "you're gonna lose your Blue Cross plan" rings true in a world of rising health care costs!

B.B. King Is a Soul Man!

B.B. King - Who Are You

As mentioned in my "TSOBB" post from March, blues legend B.B. King entered the '70s receptive to incorporating soul music into his repertoire, an approach that paid immediate dividends with a nice string of hits that lasted throughout the decade. "Who Are You" was a #27 R&B chart hit in 1974. After a groovy opening featuring the tune's catchy bass line and some tinny electric piano, King lays out the song's quirky lyrics with support from a nice male chorus (who also appear on "I'd Like To Live The Love") and good horn charts.

Finally!

Finally, Episode #10 is online! The theme for this episode is "GET DOWN," so all of the tunes are dance-oriented. The playlist is as follows:

1. Bobby Boseman - Astrological Soul Train
2. Joe Cobb - It's LB Time
3. A.C. Reed - Boogaloo-Tramp
4. Harvey Scales & The Seven Sounds - Get Down
5. The Olympics - The Bounce
6. The Lyrics - The Side Wind
7. Johnny Larand & The Internes - The Eel
8. Alvin Cash - Poppin' Popcorn
9. Little Milton Coca-Cola Ad
10. Jr. Walker & The All-Stars - Do the Boomerang
11. King Coleman - Do The Boogaloo
12. Eddie Kirk - The Hawg (Pt. 1)
13. Jerry-O - Funky Charge
14. Lee Dorsey - Four Corners (Pt. 1)
15. Bernie Hayes - Cool Strut
16. Kool Cigarettes Ad
17. The Fantastic Johnny C - Cool Broadway
18. The Capitols - Zig Zaggin
19. Bobby Miller - Uncle Willie Time
20. Dyke & The Blazers - Funky Bull (Pts. 1 & 2)
21. Lowell Fulsom - Funky Broadway
22. The Johnny Otis Show - Watts Breakaway
23. Judson Moore - Everybody Push and Pull
24. J. Hines & The Fellows - Victory Strut (closing theme)

Enjoy!