Pickett in Atlanta!

Wilson Pickett - Only I Can Sing This Song

On Thursday I received an announcement on Facebook that the Auburn Avenue Research Library is hosting "25 at the Top," an exhibit about Wilson Pickett and his career that will run until mid-October. After making a few calendar adjustments, I made it to the Library for the exhibit's kickoff reception.

The exhibit has been put together by the Library in conjunction with the Pickett family. At the reception, after some soulful renditions of several Pickett songs by local entertainers, Max Pickett and his wife, Pickett's brother and sister-in-law, made a few remarks and took a few questions. (Several other Pickett family members were present, along with one of Pickett's long-time lady friends. In many ways, the event was truly a family affair!) After the Q&A session, the exhibit hall opened.

The exhibit features lots of great stuff, including the red velvet suit Pickett wore for the cover art of Mr. Magic Man, several gold records and BMI citations, tons of press clippings - both covering his successes, including one album review for Don't Knock My Love that asserts that James Brown should relinquish his "Soul Brother No. 1" title to Pickett, and his personal problems (the moderator of the earlier discussion cheekily said that some elements of Pickett's life were "T.I.-ish"), and some A/V materials. A popular exhibit was Pickett's Stutz sportscar which, although not the spectacle Isaac Hayes's Caddy at the Stax Museum was, quite a sight on its own.

I decided I needed to post "Only I Can Sing This Song" again (a rare "re-up") when I saw a framed lead sheet for it in the exhibit. Please see my original post about the song for that discussion.

I told Max Pickett that I wanted to publicize the exhibit on my blog, and he asked that I invite all of you, first to visit the official Wilson Pickett website, second to come to the Library to see the exhibit, and third, to come see "In the Midnight Hour: The Music of Wilson Pickett", a musical featuring Jennifer Holliday and Ann Nesby, which will be performed at the International Chapel at Morehouse College on October 9. I heartily recommend all of you who live in Atlanta or will be visiting to check out the exhibit and/or the musical!

Eli's Big Break

Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - Help Me

For at least six years now I've been following the career of Eli "Paperboy" Reed and his band, the True Loves, and I've featured several of their recordings here. Last week was the U.S. release of Come and Get It, the group's album for Capitol Records. The album was released in Europe on Parlaphone in the spring to great notices, and the group toured the continent, receiving lots of press attention and getting radio play as well. Having followed Eli since he was a student/church musician in Chicago, it's my hope that American audiences get exposed to his talent and that the album is a success. (It appears that things are on the upswing already: the album has made Billboard's Heatseekers chart and is among iTunes' Pop Album Chart Top 30; he's been featured on CNN, and the album's title track has managed to sneak into the Billboard Hot 100. I wish I could say the same about the R&B charts, but that's a discussion for another day.)

Come and Get It was produced by Mike Elizondo, and the production is top-notch. I have to laugh as I recall the lower-fi nature of his first recordings (and how he bragged about such "sound"); the tracks here are as bright and shiny as a new dime. Although there's been some grumbles among hidebound soul fans about the album being too slickly-produced, I'm fine with it: I mean, first of all, all of us who've known Eli know that he's the "real deal" when it comes to the sounds of soul we all love; secondly, a label like Capitol is not going to accept anything less; and lastly, I want him to reach as many people as possible, and not just those of us whose tastes venture into the esoteric!

Choosing which tune to feature was a bit challenging, as Eli and the band successfully capture several different styles of soul on the album: the title track is a piece of sunny pop-slanted soul with a slight reference to Bob Kuban's "The Cheater" at the end of the first chorus; "Time Will Tell" is a Southern soul ballad; "Young Girl" has a '60s Philly vibe to it, in my opinion; "Explosion" is a bombastic dancer; "Tell Me What I Wanna Hear" has a '60s Motown lope; and "You Can Run On" is another gospel adaptation along the lines of "Take My Love With You" from Roll With You, his last album. I decided to go with "Help Me," which has grown on me over repeated plays.

"Help Me," a nice mid-tempo tune with a Southern soul feel, finds Reed seeking his woman's assistance in keeping him on the straight and narrow of fidelity while out on the road. Over a nice guitar and bass heartbeat Reed makes his plea while a femme chorus and nice horn charts provide nice support. Reed's vocals stay at a relative simmer for the most part, letting the rhythm of the tune convey the song's urgency. When he finally opens up for the coda, the band settles into a nice strut that allows him to take it all home.

Come and Get It is a great album to introduce Reed to newcomers to his sound, and represents the logical "next step" in the progression for those of us who've been following him over the years. You need to have this album! (For you vinyl fans, there's an LP as well!)

POST SCRIPT - The True Loves are in top form on this album, both with respect to instrumental backing and background vocals (their harmonies on "You Can Run On" completely capture the flavor of those great gospel quartets, from bass to falsetto, while Reed seems to channel a Valentinos-era Bobby Womack). They also have a record out. Their single, "Crack Symphony" b/w "Plan B / D.T.M.W.I.S.," is available for listening and purchase from Q-Dee Records (on which Roll With You was released). Check it out!

Pickett, Out of Pocket?

Wilson Pickett - Love Will Keep Us Together



As I write this post I am saddened to realize that it's been nearly five years since Wilson Pickett ascended to "soul heaven." May he continue to rest in piece!

As I noted at the end of a series of tributes to Pickett I did back then, one of his strengths was that he could take just about any song and make it his own. Today's feature is another example. Although I must agree that Pickett's 1976 take on Neil Sedaka's "Love Will Keep Us Together" (a smash hit for The Captain & Tennille in '75) is not a highlight of his catalogue, I think that it has been unfairly dismissed by many, as is the case with most of his post-Atlantic recordings. The single was released on Wicked, a short-lived, T.K.-distributed label set up by the singer after he left RCA, and it managed to make it to #69 on the R&B charts. Pickett even performed the song on "Soul Train," so clearly it wasn't the disaster it is often described as in retrospectives of Pickett's career!

Here, Pickett and producer Brad Shapiro wisely avoided the cheerful bounce of the Captain & Tennille record, choosing instead to use a slower, Miami-flavored groove. With a little support from a femme chorus - whose vocals were less cloying than those on the hit - Pickett sells the song nicely. Again, I wouldn't call it a highlight of Pickett's career, nor would I call it a highlight of his '70s post-Atlantic recordings - his ballads on RCA like "Only I Can Sing This Song" or "I Sho' Love You" would vie for that title - but it's worth a listen.

(By the way, your ever-lovin' Stepfather of Soul must disclaim that though terms like "cheerful bounce" and "cloying" were used in this post to differentiate Pickett's version of the song from that of The Captain and Tennille, whenever their version comes on oldies radio I love hearing it. It's a textbook example of the quirky nature of '70s pop.)

"Get on Down" #37 - The Stepfather's Soulful Allsorts!

Episode 37 of the "Get on Down" podcast is now coming your way with an assortment of soulful goodies! Here's the playlist:

1. Spencer Wiggins - Love Machine
2. Melvin Carter - One Too Many
3. Wilbur Bascomb & The Zodiac - Just a Groove in "G"
4. Bettye LaVette - Ticket to the Moon
5. Irene Scott - Everyday Worries
6. Carla Thomas - Coca-Cola Radio Ad
7. Brooks & Jerry - I Got What It Takes, Pts. 1 & 2 & 3 (If We Have Time)
8. Homer Banks - A Lot of Love
9. Sam Dees - Lonely for You Baby
10. Freddie & The Kinfolk - Mashed Potato Pop Corn
11. Ruby Andrews - You Made a Believer out of Me
12. Big Bill Collins - City BBQ Radio Ad
13. John KaSandra - Down Home Ups / Good Whiskey & Bad Women
14. Howard Tate - Girl from the North Country
15. Little Lois Barber - Thank You Baby
16. Lynn Williams - How Can You Call Love Fascination
17. Little Milton - Coca-Cola Radio Ad
18. Ike Lovely - Fool's Hall of Fame
19. The Superlatives - Don't Let True Love Die
20. The Notations - A New Day
21. Booker T. & The M.G's - Steve's Stroll

A "Triple-Double" of Chicago/Detroit Soul

Jo Ann Garrett - I'm a Now Girl (Do It Now)


Sheryl Swope - Are You Gonna Do Right This Time


The Love Column Featuring John Sibley - You Made Me So Very Happy

It's no secret to any readers of this blog that your ever-lovin' Stepfather of Soul is a serious fan of Chicago soul records. There were so many labels in the Windy City putting out fine soul sounds, and Duo, a lesser-known label run by Chicago record distributors Jack White and Seymour Greenspan, was no exception. Sixteen singles were released on Duo between 1967 and 1971, none of which attained significant national success despite the veritable "Who's Who" of Chicago and Detroit soul involved with most of the releases on the writing and producing end: Andre Williams, The Brothers of Soul (Bridges-Knight-Eaton), Mike Terry, Billy Butler, Leo Graham and Deke Atkins, to name a few, are named on many of the sides. (This sort of Chicago-Detroit hybridization was fairly common at the time; for example, Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" was recorded in Chicago with Carl Davis producing and the Funk Brothers playing!) Fortunately, several of the label's top-notch sides have been championed by rare soul and funk aficionados: "One Woman" by Jo Ann Garrett is a favorite of many, as is the funk monster "The Sad Chicken" by Leroy & The Drivers. Today's selections are a "trio of Duos" - a "triple-double," if you will - that I have been digging these days.

Jo Ann Garrett has appeared in three episodes of the Get on Down podcast - her Duo 45 "That Little Brown Letter" is part of Episode 36 - and her sides for Chess, Duo and other labels comprise a nice body of work that just didn't get the broader audience it deserved. Garrett worked frequently with Andre Williams, who produced and co-wrote the sassy and funky "I'm a Now Girl (Do It Now)" from 1968. Jo Ann's vocals are framed nicely by a strutting groove and some tasty guitar work.

Sheryl Swope crossed paths with B-K-E through a mutual acquaintance, and the Brothers of Soul's usual magic is present on "Are You Gonna Do Right This Time," which was released in 1969. Amidst another strutting groove and some very atmospheric background vocals, Swope expresses cautious optimism in taking back her man. "You were a wanderer, it's true, that's why I strayed away from you," she states. "But if I'll be a little kind, will you promise you'll be mine?" It's good stuff.

I don't know anything about The Love Column or the featured male vocalist, John Sibley, but the group's sole Duo 45 from 1970 was produced by Leo Graham, better known for producing Tyrone Davis's '70s hits, and Floyd Smith. The A-side, a Chicago soul take on the Brenda Holloway / Blood, Sweat & Tears classic "You Made Me So Very Happy" (which was also given a fine soul reading by Lou Rawls, incidentally) shows how the song can really work as a male-female duet, as Sibley and an uncredited female vocalist put over the right chemistry as they switch off lines. The arrangement plays it pretty safe for most of the song, adding some female cooing and (yes, I'm saying it again) some strut to the rhythm and string tracks, but then some chugging background vocals drop in with a neat "can't you love me just one more time" refrain near the end to make the end result pretty unique.

Bigg Robb's "Southern" Soul-Blues

Bigg Robb - The Bigg Woman Song


Da Problem Solvas - Running Out of Lies Medley (some adult themes; listener discretion advised)

It's been quite awhile since any soul-blues has graced the blog, so today's feature is a soul-blues double play. Bigg Robb (born Ohio Robert Smith) has made quite a name for himself during this decade among the soul-blues crowd with his "grown folks music" CDs, but he has been involved with show biz since the age of 11(!), when he began broadcasting on Cincinnati's WAIF as the "Sugar Daddy from Cincinnati." After his preteen and teenage radio years, he hooked up with Roger Troutman and toured with Zapp before making his own music, both as a solo act and as part of a trio named Da Problem Solvas.

Robb's music is marketed as "Southern soul," a term which makes old-school soul fans like me somewhat uneasy, being that that term is generally used by our ilk to mean Otis Redding, James Carr, Candi Staton, etc. to the exclusion of the synth-heavy moden soul-blues sound. The reality of the issue is, however, that his soul-blues sound is mostly popular with Southern black folks, and his songs have particular appeal to the ladies in that audience, who seem to appreciate his pro-woman lyrics. Marketing labels aside, however, he does have some appealing tracks, like the two featured today.

"The Bigg Woman Song" is Robb's paean to the full-figured woman, and though it's synth-heavy arrangement is probably not for everyone's tastes, in my opinion, it's just a nice slab of fun. The tune starts off with some deejay patter praising big women, after which a swaggering Zapp-flavored groove kicks in and Robb takes his time encouraging said women to be proud of who they are and explaining what he likes about them.

"Running Out of Lies" immediately captured my attention, as it totally appropriates the sensuous, almost-sinister groove of the Johnnie Taylor classic. To refer to the song as a "medley" is inaccurate, as Da Problem Solvas discard the original lyrics and instead issue a warning to the male listeners that "ladies are getting tired" of being mistreated and neglected. It's clearly the stronger of the two tracks here today, but listener discretion is advised: this is truly "grown folks music," with some frank discussion of where men are going wrong and how to correct the problem!

Bettye LaVette's 1969 Interpretation!

Bettye LaVette - Hey Love

Bettye LaVette's newest album is entitled Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook and, in keeping with Bettye's track record over the last few years, the soul veteran continues to make converts out of her listeners. It is insufficient to say that Bettye covers songs; her very personal style turns others' songs into her own (Ray Charles' similar skill comes to mind right away). Her version of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" from her "comeback" album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, her duet with John Bon Jovi at the Obama pre-inaugural concert on Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and her thrilling version of The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" from the new project exemplify LaVette's skill.

Take note, though, that Bettye's been showing off her ability to masterfully interpret songs for many years. Although Bettye's take on the Kenny Rogers classic "What Condition My Condition Was In" is often presented as one of her classic '60s covers by rare soul fans, I am very partial to her version of Stevie Wonder's "Hey Love." I consider "Hey Love" to be one of my favorite '60s sides of Stevie's, in part because to my ears the song sounds more like a Chicago soul floater than a Motown record. Ollie McLaughlin produced the LaVette record and released it on Karen in 1969. The "blue light" groove of the original is augmented by a nice strutting groove over which LaVette's intense vocals really shine.

That Thing (That Thing, That Thi-i-i-ing) The Esquires Did!

The Esquires - Ain't Gonna Give It Up (Baba-Daba-Dop)

I had intended to include today's selection in Episode 35 and then in Episode 36 of the podcast, but in the former case the playlist veered from a good fit, and I simply forgot about it last weekend. I heard the song in my car yesterday, however, and I knew that it had to grace the blog today!

The Esquires, a Chicago soul group based in Milwaukee, hooked up with Bill "Bunky" Sheppard in the mid-'60s and found themselves enjoying a smash hit with "Get on Up." The group stayed with Sheppard for the rest of the '60s and into the '70s, picking up hits along the way but never reaching those lofty heights again. That, as always, is not to say that they didn't make good records, as evidenced here. "Ain't Gonna Give It Up (Baba-Daba-Dop)" was the flip to their early-'70s hit "Girls in the City," and although I find "Girls" to be a beautiful piece of laid-back Chicago soul, the bright, cheerful groove and vocals captured here really are the bee's knees for me. It hit the spot for Lauryn Hill, too, as she interpolated some of the song in her '90s smash "Doo Wop (That Thing)."

"Get on Down" Episode 36 Is Now Available!

The new podcast is now online and available at iTunes! Here's the playlist:

1. Jesse James - Don't Nobody Want to Get Married (Pt. 1)
2. Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Hey There Jim
3. The Isley Brothers - Cold Bologna
4. Stacy Lane - No Ending
5. Bethea the Maskman & The Agents - Get Away Dreams
6. Rufus Thomas - "Pink Pussycat Wine" Radio Ad
7. Susan King - I Got a Good Thing
8. The Festivals - Checkin' Out
9. Tony Clarke - (No Conception) No Sense of Direction
10. The Profiles - You Don't Care About Me
11. Martha & The Vandellas - Bless You
12. Sly & The Family Stone - Advice
13. John R - "Soul Medallion" Radio Ad
14. Jimmy "Soul" Clark - If I Only Knew Then (What I Know Now)
15. Jo Ann Garrett - That Little Brown Letter
16. King Hannibal - Good Times
17. Marva Whitney - This Girl's in Love with You
18. Gloria Barnes - I'll Call You Back Later
19. Kool Cigarettes Radio Ad
20. George & Teddy - It's a Heartache
21. Barbara Randolph - Can I Get a Witness
22. Emanuel Laskey - Never My Love
23. Bobbe Norris - Thank You Love
24. Little Milton - More and More
25. The Jazz Crusaders - Way Back Home

It's a Promo Day: Stax Is Back on the Scene!

Leela James - Let It Roll

When the Concord Group bought Fantasy Records and the panoply of label catalogues it owned, Concord announced plans to revive the Stax label. On the Internet, various soul fans worried about possible damage to the Stax legacy, particularly should the "new" Stax feature music not aligned with the label's legend. (Previously, a rumor that Justin Timberlake planned to revive Stax had set off a similar spate of handwringing.) Honestlly, I dismissed such fears. Motown has kept an active artist roster from its founding to the present day, and although some of its artists veer far from the legendary '60s and '70s classics, its "aura" has not been diminished. Why should Stax, whose history did not reach the ascendant heights of Motown's, be locked into a 1959-1975 timeline (conveniently omitting Fantasy's revival of the label for a couple of years in the late '70s and an attempt to revive Volt in the '90s) when its legendary recordings have stood the test of time and continue to do so?

As a fan of neo-soul, I have been pleased with the direction Concord has taken with the revived Stax label, mixing new releases by both newcomers/non-Stax artists and Stax veterans with repackaged reissues and first-time issues of vintage material, such as the Live at the Bohemian Caverns and Live at the Summit Club sets on Carla Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, respectively, and I am extra happy to see that two projects from the label featuring new material have done particularly well. Angie Stone's Art of Love and War did well, with the single "Baby" giving Stax it's first Billboard chart hit since the late '70s. Now Leela James, neo-soul songstress (some of you may remember her excellent version of "A Change Is Gonna Come" from a few years back) and BET's My Black Is Beautiful co-host, has come out with My Soul, whose lead-off single, "Tell Me You Love Me," has helped the album make it into the top ten of Billboard's R&B Album Chart and into the top thirty of the Top 200 Album Chart. Stax is back on the scene!

The good folks at Giant Step sent me a review copy of the album, and I must say that though several of the tracks on My Soul won't meet with approval from the Stax purists, there are several tunes that make James' statement in the liner notes that it's appropriate to have a home at a "real soul" label like Stax quite valid. "Let It Roll" is one of the more retro-sounding tracks, full of swagger and energy. I would recommend the CD heartily to readers of this blog who do have a thing for neo-soul, because James is in great form throughout.

Soul on the Air #15 - Dr. Bop, 1973

Upload Music Files - Audio Hosting - Dr. Bop - WAWA Aircheck, Nov...

The "Soul on the Air" feature returns to "Get on Down ..." with Hoyt Locke aka Dr. Bop from WAWA, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I don't know much about Dr. Bop except that he was a popular R&B jock who passed away in 1976. The good Doctor is in good form in this 30-minute aircheck from November 1973. After a boisterous series of boasts made while Jr. Walker's "Way Back Home" plays in the background, he lays down some solid soul sounds, including James Brown's "Stone to the Bone," two of Al Green's hits, "Show and Tell" by Al Wilson, and the Patterson Twins' exquisite "Back in Love Again." WAWA's AM frequency signed off at sundown, and at the end of the aircheck, we're told to switch over to the FM band to keep on jamming. Oh, if I only could! This is a fun aircheck that's just too short!

Soul Brothers Six, Soul Preachin'!

Soul Brothers Six - Don't Neglect Your Baby

Willie John Ellison and his group, the Soul Brothers Six, have graced this blog and the podcast previously, so I'll simply present today's selection, one of the group's first singles. "Don't Neglect Your Baby," a 1966 Lyndell 45, finds Ellison spending over half of the song's length preaching about how men need to get out of the street and take care of their homework over a slow, churchy groove and the groups' moaning background vocals. After explaining how such behavior results in good women going bad, he exhorts, "You'd better wake up before it's too late! Don't be like me! See, I overslept, so I ain't got nobody." After the message is thusly delivered, Ellison launches into song to carry the record home.