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San Diego Jazz Fest – Jill Scott

Posted on: May 16th, 2014 by tommyj

jill_scott_hiThe San Diego Jazz Fest welcomes the beautiful and talented singer Jill Scott for the second edition of great show shows by BTWConcerts.com.
Click Here to Check out Jill and Anthony So in Love video
Jill Scott began her performing career as a spoken word artist, appearing at live poetry readings to perform her work. She was eventually discovered by Amir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots. Questlove invited her to join the band in the studio. The collaboration resulted in a co-writing credit for Scott on the song, “You Got Me”. In 2000, Erykah Badu and The Roots won a Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for “You Got Me”, and Scott debuted as an artist during a Roots live show, singing as original artist/singer of the song. Subsequently, Scott collaborated with Eric Benet, Will Smith, and Common, and broadened her performing experience by touring Canada in a production of the Broadway musical Rent.

Scott was the first artist signed to Steve McKeever’s ‘Hidden Beach Recordings’ label. Her debut album, Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 was released in 2000. She experienced some notice and chart success with the single “A Long Walk”, eventually earning a Grammy nomination in early 2003 for Best Female Vocal Performance. Scott lost that award, but won a 2005 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative R&B Performance for “Cross My Mind”. The live album, Experience: Jill Scott 826+, was released November 2001. Scott’s second full-length album, Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, followed in 2004.

Scott continues to write poetry; a compilation volume of her poems, The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours, was published and released by St. Martin’s Press in April 2005.

In early 2007, Scott was featured on the George Benson & Al Jarreau collaboration single “God Bless The Child” (written by Billie Holiday), which earned Scott her second Grammy award, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, at the 2007 Grammy Awardsceremony. Scott shared the win with Benson & Jarreau. In 2006, Scott was prominently featured on hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco’s single “Daydreaming”, which won a 2008 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance and also appeared on a new Scott collection called Collaborations on January 30, 2007.

The Collaborations collection served as “an appetizer” for her next studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 released September 25, 2007. A clip of the title track was released on a bonus disc from Hidden Beach Records and included with Collaborations. The lead single “Hate on Me”, gained airplay in May 2007 with a video released in mid-July. In advance of the album’s release, Hidden Beach released a 17-minute album sampler through their forums. Interspersed between the dozen songs previewed on the sampler was a personal explanation from Jill for the inspiration behind some of her songs.

On the advice of her good friend, director Ozzie Jones, she began pursuing a career in acting in 2000. She joined a fellowship at a theater company in Philadelphia. For two years, she took small, menial jobs in exchange for acting lessons. In 2004, Scott expanded her resume by appearing in several episodes of season four of UPN’s Girlfriends, playing Donna, a love interest to main character, William Dent (Reggie Hayes). She also appeared in the Showtime movie Cavedwellers, starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

Her first feature film appearances occurred in 2007, when Scott appeared in Hounddog (as Big Mama Thornton) and in Tyler Perry’s movie, Why Did I Get Married? The next year, in 2008, Scott appeared as Precious Ramotswe in Anthony Minghella’s film adaption of Alexander McCall Smith’s series of books The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency playing a detective. Scott then filmed additional episodes for the series in Botswana in late 2008, co-funded by the BBC and HBO, that were broadcast as a seven-part series on BBC1 in March 2009; and on HBO, which debuted March 29, 2009. BBC and HBO are contemplating whether to produce a second round of episodes of the series.

In 2010, she voiced Storm of the X-Men on the BET series Black Panther. On March 24, 2010, Scott guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She reprised her role as Sheila in Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010). The movie was shot in August 2009 and received an April 2, 2010 release. That same year, Scott starred in the Lifetime Movie, Sins of the Mother, as Nona, an alcoholic mother confronted by her estranged daughter, whom she neglected. At the 42nd NAACP Image Awards, Jill Scott was awarded Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for her role in Sins of the Mother.

In May 2012, Jill Scott appeared on VH1 Storytellers. Scott performed a few of her most notable songs such as “Golden” and “He Loves Me.” With wig as well as costume changes, Scott created characters to fit each song in order to convey the message of the song.

Later in 2012 she starred alongside Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard, Phylicia Rashad, Adepero Oduye and Condola Rashad in Steel Magnolias, a remake of the 1989 original for Lifetime. She played the role of Truvy Jones, which was originated by Dolly Parton.

In December 2012, Scott appeared in “The Human Kind”, the eighth episode of the fifth season of Fringe.

Scott starred alongside Paula Patton and Derek Luke in Baggage Claim (2013), the film adaptation of playwright David E. Talbert’s 2005 novel of the same name.

In 2008, Scott released her second live album, Live in Paris which consists of 8 songs recorded during her set list of the “Big Beautiful Tour” in Europe. The bonus DVD contains the same concert (shot and directed by J.G BIGGS), plus some live cuts from The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. In the same year, “Whenever You’re Around”, a single from The Real Thing, which features George Duke, was a moderate hit on urban radio.

During Jill’s stint at the Essence Festival, she announced her intentions of releasing two studio albums. One at the end of 2013 and the other during the spring of 2014. She first began kicking around the idea for Brown Baby Lullabies several years ago prior to giving birth to her son, Jett. With the finishing touches on it, she says the album will provide affirmations for babies and children. “The lyrics are meant to be encouraging and nourishing to the spirit,” she explained proudly. “The ultimate goal, however, is for the album people to purchase the album, but not actually hear it because they’ll be too busy sleeping,” she said with a smile. “Turn that joker up [and] walk out the room,” she ordered. “Let them learn how to go to sleep.”

Jill Scott take the stage at the San Diego Jazz Fest at 8:30PM at the luxurious Omni La Costa Resort.  For more show details visit www.sandiegojazzfest.com

International Natural Hair Meetup Day

Posted on: May 16th, 2014 by tommyj

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The International Natural Hair Meetup Day is an annual one-day event. Its purpose is to allow the opportunity for women across the country to meet in their own communities while networking, sharing and meeting (virtually) other women across the country participating in meetups on the same day. Natural hair meetups are events designed to share information, techniques, inspiration and products to aid individuals in their natural hair journey.

Attendees of the natural hair meetup will be able to:

  • Meet other naturals in their area
  • Gain exposure to natural hair product lines and companies
  • Learn the process of planning and executing a natural hair meetup (event hosts)
  • Meet natural hair and beauty bloggers and Youtube vloggers
  • Network with other natural hair meetup organizers (event hosts)
  • Discover resources, techniques, products and people that can serve as inspiration and information for the natural hair care journey
  • 6.13-picAdeea Rogers, a.k.a. The Trendy Socialite, is a speaker, blogger and YouTube vlogger. People who follow The Trendy Socialite blog or YouTube Channel set their own trends and definition of beauty and success and are engaged and active in their communities; thereby demonstrating what a “Trendy Socialite” embodies.In 2011, Adeea began to host meetups to meet an overwhelming need for camraderie and education regarding natural hair in her own community. Drawing on her 12+ years of event planning and programming experience, Adeea has successfully hosted meetups for approximately 150 women in the Greenville, NC and surrounding communities.In 2012, Adeea founded International Natural Hair Meetup Day. With over 50 cities, 35 states and several countries internationally, INHMD is the #1 multi-city natural hair meetup day in the world. Adeea has extended her expertise and ability into training and consulting with up and coming event hosts. In July 2013, Adeea created iGrind Naturally–a private FaceBook Group for bloggers, vloggers, event planners and brand owners in the natural hair, fashion, beauty and wellness communities.Adeea is a proud alumna of East Carolina University where she currently works in the Department of Student Involvement and Leadership. Adeea is committed to reinstituting values, style and class many have forgotten. The Trendy Socialite woman has manners, style, grace and elegance. She seeks to influence and encourage other women in all of her interactions–online, in person, through her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. or through championing the social cause of Domestic Violence Prevention.When she thinks no one may be looking, Adeea likes to sing loudly in her car and is never too far away from Twitter.

    Quintella BesterQuintella Bester  is in her 2nd year of her journey of healthy natural hair.  This journey has brought her many challenges  but also many opportunities.  She founded the meetup group “STL Naturalle Divas”.  She hopes that her experiences will help others on their journey.

    *Returning Committee Member


    Kimberly CarswellKimberly Carswell began her career in cosmetology at Regis Salon in the late 1980s after attending the American Beauty College in Gulfport, MS. After moving to Macon, Ga, Kim worked in different salons until she opened her own salon, Kim’s Upscale Salon, in 2007.  Kimberly is also an educator with Design Essentials since 2010.

    Kimberly Carswell proudly serves as First Lady of the church pastored by her husband of 27 years, Pastor Bobby Carswell, Sr. They have three sons and she also have six grandchildren.  Kim enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and teaching her clients how to properly care for their hair.

    Kimberly Carswell can be reached at her Facebook page and on Twitter.


    terran dampierTerran Dampier, from St. Louis, MO, has always been a lover of hair, skin, and nails. After cosmetology school she received her undergraduate degree in Sports and Entertainment Management with a minor in Marketing and a graduate degree in Corporate Management. Despite the journey into corporate American she remained extremely passionate about the natural hair industry; moving from actually performing hair services to consulting new naturals, transitioners, as well on skincare. In 2009, through her love for research and consulting she created a natural based hair and skin care product line called TuShea Butter Cream.  With awesome reviews TuShea Butter Cream has serviced clients all over the United States as well as in parts of Canada. “Beyond the sky is the limit” is what Terran uses to encourage others to pursue and reach their dreams. Terran can be found online viaFaceBookTwitter and Instagram (@TuSheaButter)


    fae loveFarah Etienne a.k.a Faeluv25 on You

    tube, helped to create Naturals in the Sun™ as a support system for those who embrace their natural hair in the South Florida area. Though regular meet-ups, social events, and community service Faeluv25 and Naturals in the Sun™ are promoting camaraderie amongst naturals regardless of texture or length of time being natural.

    *Returning Committee Member


    jiquayJiquay Glenn discovered the natural hair community last year and fell in love with it. She immediately submerged herself in “all things natural,” and hasn’t looked back since. She finds that her transition to natural hair goes hand in hand with not only her personal quest to live authentically but also with the Self empowering advice she gives to her many clients as a “Life” Mentor. She thoroughly enjoys sharing and exchanging advice with as many people and naturals as possible.

    *Co-Chair, Social Media Committee and Returning Committee Member


    photo (1)Keiann Gravesande currently works as a Customer Care Representative for the leading mobile network provider in the country.  As she became more holistically health conscious, she decided to go natural in December 2011. At this time, she discovered the natural hair community and immediately fell in love. “I then found myself wanting to know about my natural hair and how to care for it” stated Keiann.

    Not too long thereafter, Keiann became addicted and started developing her own natural hair products.  After receiving so many compliments and questions about her hair, she started making these natural hair products for others who consulted her to use for themselves. Keiann Gravesande is currently in the process of developing her natural hair care product line.

    She loves to educate others on what she has learned along her wonderful natural hair journey.


    samantha hortonI am Samantha Horton, Co-Founder of FCA Naturals, I am a mother of two boys, a wife to a wonderful man, a recent recipient of a Master of Arts in Public Administration and a licensed cosmetologist for over 15 years. I started my natural hair journey in March of 2010 after being relaxed for over 28 years. I received my first relaxer at age four, and after years in cosmetology, always felt the need to end the chemical process for health reasons. After taking the leap an cutting off the relaxer, my eating habits changed, I lost 45 pounds, I became a Zumba instructor and a vegetarian. My eradicating the relaxer lead to a deeper sense of consciousness that I passionately share with others. The word “natural” has a such a rich an broad meaning and I absolutely love the journey!

     


    Bridgette LeeBridgett Lee is Houston, Texas native currently living in Austin, Texas. She obtained her Masters Degree in Public Administration from Texas State University San Marcos and her Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Huston-Tillotson University.

    She created Tresses Kinks & Twists in 2012 to address the need for natural hair information and community in the Austin area. After hosting her first INHMD event she knew that the natural hair community is where she belonged. Hosting events and meeting other naturals is her passion.

     


    Lu McCray

    Lufituaeb HairWhisperer McCray is a Natural Hair Care Specialist in Statesboro, Ga. and the Owner & Operator of That’s No Lye: Natural Hair & Braiding Boutique. Lu is also the administrator of Natural In The Boro. You can find her and her group on FaceBook, on Twitter and on Instagram at @thatnolye.

     

     


    Print color-2 (3)April McKisick is from Forrest City, Arkansas and has an intense passion for education, wellness and natural hair. After working in higher education for several years, she completed her MBA from University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in 2011. She also co-founded FCA Naturals in 2010, due to the increasing need for information on natural hair in her community. FCA Naturals, LLC, a Facebook group, page and website offers information, support and guidance for those transitioning to natural hair. Currently, April enjoys life as a mother, working full time in her business, creating natural hair products, and planning informational natural hair and wellness events. The concept of self love and acceptance is extremely important part of her everyday life and is at the heart of her company’s message.

    *Chair, Meetup Coordinators and Returning Committee Member


    DariceDarice Rene is a sales professional by day and an event planner for the natural hair community based in Indianapolis (Naptown) Indiana. With rave reviews, Darice creates opportunities for women to become more educated and empowered about how to grow healthy, natural hair. She is an avid reader and researcher who develops natural hair products atwww.curllyNAPtress.com. When Darice is not immersed in all-things natural hair, she publishes articles on the web and dishes on life at her personal blog as grownupforeal.

    *Chair, Content Committee and Returning Committee Member


    marciMarci Toliver is the creator and developer of Coily Encounters, and can be found socially, on her Youtube channel through Coily Encounters andTwitterCoily Encounters is also a Facebook community which hosts conversations about natural hair with its members who are mostly from Upstate, SC. Marci has always been known for being innovative and having a flair for the imaginative! Marci incorporates her African Heritage into an annual Natural Hair Event held in September, “9-1-1 What Is Your Hair Emergency®” featuring The Imani School of Dance. Marci Toliver is also one of the co-founders of Natural Connections, which partners with stylists, to present various natural hair events across the country, and can be located at www.connectingnaturals.com.

 


AusetAuset Price is the owner of Hair Esteem Internatural, a natural hair and wellness company.  Her philosophy has always centered around a holistic approach to the maintenance and styling of hair.  With over 13 years experience as a natural hair specialist and stylist, she conducts and facilitates workshops and serves as the organizer of the San Diego natural hair meetup, and natural hair specialist for Sol City Beauty (Design Essentials).  Auset also works as a health consultant and massage therapist, with her company Organik Sol Therapy.  She has been a fellow “Naturalista” for over 19 years as well as a proud mother of 4 beautiful children.

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Posted on: April 5th, 2014 by tommyj

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Flashback Friday’s The God Father of Soul

Posted on: February 28th, 2014 by tommyj

James_Brown-1There is no better way to end Black History Month and Flashback Friday’s than with musical legend and industry influencer James Joseph Brown, Jr. (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) James Brown was an American recording artist and musician. One of the founding fathers of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century popular musicand dance, he is often referred to as “The Godfather of Soul”. In a career that spanned six decades, Brown profoundly influenced the development of many different musical genres. Born in Barnwell, South Carolina, Brown moved to Augusta, Georgia, to live with relatives at the age of five. After a stint in prison for robbery, Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. Joining an R&B vocal group called the Avons that later evolved to become The Famous Flames, Brown served as the group’s lead singer. First coming to national public attention in the late 1950s as a member of The Flames with the ballads “Please, Please, Please” and “Try Me”, Brown built a reputation as a tireless live performer with singing group The Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. Brown’s success peaked in the 1960s with the live album, Live at the Apollo, and hit singles such as “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”, “I Got You” and “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”. During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly “Africanized” approach to music-making that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of The J.B.’s with records such as “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” and “The Payback”. Brown also became notable for songs of social commentary including the 1968 hit, “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud”. Brown continued to perform and record for the duration of his life until his death in 2006 from congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Brown recorded seventeen number-one singles on the Billboard R&B charts. Brown also holds the record as the artist to have charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 which did not reach number-one on that chart. Brown was honored by many institutions including inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn’s analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Hot R&B Songs, James Brown is ranked as number one in The Top 500 Artists. Brown is ranked seventh on the music magazine Rolling Stone’s list of its 100 greatest artists of all time. Brown joined Byrd’s group, which highlighted under two names, as an a cappella gospel group called the Gospel Starlighters, and an R&B band known as the Avons. Brown had allegedly joined the band after one of the group’s members, Troy Collins, was killed. With Brown and Byrd, the group consisted of Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups such as Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, The Orioles and Billy Ward and His Dominoes, the group changed their name, first to the Toccoa Band, and then to the Flames. Nafloyd’s brother Baroy later joined the group on bass guitar and Brown, Byrd and Keels switched lead positions and instruments, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined while Pulliam and Oglesby had long left. Berry Trimier became the group’s initial manager booking them at parties near college campuses in the Georgia and South Carolina areas. The group had already gained a reputation for being a live act when they renamed themselves the “Famous Flames”. By 1955, the group had gotten in contact with Little Richard, who Brown idolized, while performing in Macon. Richard convinced the group to get in contact with James-Brown_11Richard’s manager at the time, Clint Brantley, at his nightclub. Brantley agreed to manage them after seeing the group audition for them. Brantley then sent them to a local radio station to record a demo session, where they performed their own composition “Please, Please, Please”, which was inspired when Little Richard wrote the words of the title on a napkin and Brown was determined to make a song out of it. The Famous Flames eventually signed with King Records’ Federal subsidiary and issued a re-recorded version of “Please, Please, Please” that March. The song became the group’s first R&B hit, selling over a million copies. None of their follow-ups produced similar success. By 1957, Brown had replaced Clint Brantley as manager and hired Ben Bart, chief of the Universal Attractions Agency. That year, the original Flames broke up after Bart changed the name of the group to “James Brown and The Famous Flames”. In October 1958, Brown released the ballad, “Try Me”, which hit number-one on the R&B chart in the beginning of 1959, becoming the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B hits. Shortly afterwards, Brown recruited his first band, led by J. C. Davis and reunited with Bobby Byrd, who joined a revived Famous Flames lineup that included Eugene “Baby” Lloyd Stallworth and Bobby Bennett, with Johnny Terry sometimes coming in as the “fifth Flame”. Brown,The Flames, and his entire band debuted at theApollo Theater on April 24, 1959, opening for Little Willie John.[24][35] Federal Records issued two albums credited to Brown and the Famous Flames. By 1960, Brown began multi-tasking in the recording studio involving himself, the Famous Flames and his band, sometimes named the James Brown Orchestra or the James Brown Band. That year, the band recorded the top ten R&B hit, “(Do the) Mashed Potatoes” on Dade Records, owned by Henry Stone, under the pseudonym “Nat Kendrick & The Swans”, due to label issues. As a result of its success, King president Syd Nathan shifted Brown’s contract from Federal to King. While under King, Brown, under the Famous Flames lineup, released the album, Think! and the following year, released two albums with the James Brown Band earning second billing. With the Famous Flames, Brown sung lead on several more hits including “I’ll Go Crazy” and “Think”, songs that hinted at his emerging style.

Mr. Dynamite

By 1962, Brown scored a hit with his band with their cover of the instrumental, “Night Train”, becoming not only a top five R&B single but also Brown’s first top 40 entry on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, the ballads, “Lost Someone” and “Baby You’re Right”, the latter a Joe Tex composition, added to his repertoire and increased his reputation with R&B audiences. On October 24, 1962, Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan’s beliefs that no one bought live albums due to the fact that Brown’s singles were already bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers. Live at the Apollo was released the following June and became an immediate hit, eventually reaching number two on the Top LPs chart and selling over a million copies, staying on the charts for 14 months. In 1963, Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard, “Prisoner of Love”. He also launched his first label, Try Me Records, which included recordings by the likes of Tammy Montgomery, Johnny & Bill (Famous Flames associates Johnny Terry and Bill Hollings) and the Poets, which was another name used for Brown’s backing band.

Brown (middle) & The Famous Flames (far left to right, Bobby Bennett, Lloyd Stallworth, andBobby Byrd), performing live at the Apollo Theaterin New York City, 1964

In 1964, seeking bigger commercial success, Brown and Bobby Byrd formed the production company, Fair Deal, linking the operation to the Mercury imprint, Smash Records. King Records, however, fought against this and was granted an injunction preventing Brown from releasing any recordings for the label. Prior to the injunction, Brown had released three vocal singles, including the blues-oriented hit, “Out of Sight”, which further indicated the direction his music was going to take. Touring throughout the year, Brown and the Famous Flames grabbed more national attention after giving a high-octane performance on the live concert film, The T.A.M.I. Show. The Flames’ polished choreography and timing as well as Brown’s energetic dance moves and high-octane vocals upstaged the show from proposed closing act, the Rolling Stones. With a new deal with King, Brown released his composition, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”, which became his first top ten pop hit and won Brown his first Grammy Award. Later in 1965, Brown issued “I Got You”, which became his second single in a row to reach number-one on the R&B chart and top ten on the pop chart. Brown followed that up with the ballad, “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” which confirmed his stance as a top-ranking performer, especially with R&B audiences from that point on.

jamesincapeSoul Brother No. 1

By 1967, Brown’s emerging sound had begun to be defined as funk music. That year, he released what some critics cited as the first true funk song, “Cold Sweat”, which hit number-one on the R&B chart and became one of his first recordings to contain a drum break and also the first that featured a harmony that was reduced to a single chord. The instrumental arrangements on tracks such as “Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose” and “Licking Stick-Licking Stick” (both recorded in 1968) and “Funky Drummer” (recorded in 1969) featured a more developed version of Brown’s mid-1960s style, with the horn section, guitars, bass and drums meshed together in intricate rhythmic patterns based on multiple interlocking riffs. Changes in Brown’s style that started with “Cold Sweat” also established the musical foundation for Brown’s later hits, such as “I Got the Feelin'” (1968) and “Mother Popcorn” (1969). By this time Brown’s vocals frequently took the form of a kind of rhythmic declamation, not quite sung but not quite spoken, that only intermittently featured traces of pitch or melody. This would become a major influence on the techniques of rapping, which would come to maturity along with hip hop music in the coming decades. Brown’s style of funk in the late 1960s was based on interlocking syncopated parts: funky bass lines, drum patterns, and iconic guitar riffs. The main guitar ostinatos for “Ain’t It Funky” and “Give It Up or Turn It Loose” (both 1969), are examples of Brown’s refinement of New Orleans funk; irresistibly danceable riffs, stripped down to their rhythmic essence. On both recordings the tonal structure is bare bones. The pattern of attack-points is thejames_brown-3 emphasis, not the pattern of pitches. It’s as if the guitar is an African drum, or idiophone. Alexander Stewart states that this popular feel was passed along from “New Orleans—through James Brown’s music, to the popular music of the 1970s.” Those same tracks were later resurrected by countless hip-hop musicians from the 1970s onward. As a result, James Brown remains to this day the world’s mostsampled recording artist, with “Funky Drummer” itself becoming the most sampled individual piece of music. “Bring it Up” has an Afro-Cuban guajeo-like structure. In fact, on a 1976 version, Cuban bongos are used. All three of these guitar riffs are based on an onbeat/offbeat structure. Stewart states: “This model, it should be noted, is different from a time line(such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle.” It was around this time as the musician’s popularity increased that he acquired the nickname, “Soul Brother No. 1”, after failing to win the title “King of Soul” from Solomon Burke during a Chicago gig two years prior. Brown’s recordings during this period influenced musicians across the industry, most notably groups such as Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Booker T. & the M.G.’s as well as vocalists such as Edwin Starr, David Ruffin andDennis Edwards from The Temptations, and Michael Jackson, who, throughout his career, cited Brown as his ultimate idol. Brown’s band during this period employed musicians and arrangers who had come up through the jazz tradition. He was noted for his ability as a bandleader and songwriter to blend the simplicity and drive of R&B with the rhythmic complexity and precision of jazz. Trumpeter Lewis Hamlin and saxophonist/keyboardist Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis (the successor to previous bandleader Nat Jones) led the band. Guitarist Jimmy Nolen provided percussive, deceptively simple riffs for each song, and Maceo Parker’s prominent saxophone solos provided a focal point for many performances. Other members of Brown’s band included stalwart Famous Flames singer and sideman Bobby Byrd, drummers John “Jabo” Starks, Clyde Stubblefield and Melvin Parker, saxophonist St. Clair Pinckney, trombonist Fred Wesley, guitarist Alphonso “Country” Kellum and bassist Bernard Odum. In addition to a torrent of singles and studio albums, Brown’s output during this period included two more successful live albums, Live at the Garden (1967) and Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968), and a 1968 James-Brown_3television special, James Brown: Man to Man. His music empire expanded along with his influence on the music scene. As Brown’s music empire grew, his desire for financial and artistic independence grew as well. Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine. The call letters were changed to WJBE reflecting his initials. WJBE began on January 15, 1968 and broadcast a Rhythm & Blues format. The station slogan was “WJBE 1430 Raw Soul”. Brown also bought WEBB in Baltimore in 1970. Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band. In an attempt to appeal to the older, more affluent, and predominantly white adult contemporary audience, Brown recorded Gettin’ Down To It (1969) and Soul on Top(1970)–two albums consisting mostly of romantic ballads, jazz standards, and homologous reinterpretations of his earlier hits—with the Dee Felice Trio and the Louie Bellson Orchestra. In 1968, he recorded a number of funk-oriented tracks with The Dapps, a white Cincinnati band, including the hit “I Can’t Stand Myself”. He also released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.

ff144f88e4cf48cb78f80c1308d0a6f1In March 1970, most of Brown’s mid-to-late 1960s road band walked out on him due to money disputes, a development augured by the prior disbandment of The Famous Flames in 1968. Brown and erstwhile Famous Flames singer Bobby Byrd (who elected to remain in the band during this tumultuousbootsy_collins_db-62_0 period) subsequently recruited several members of the Cincinnati-based The Pacemakers, which included Bootsy Collins and his brother Phelps “Catfish” Collins; augmented by the remaining members of the 1960s road band (including Fred Wesley, who rejoined Brown’s outfit in December 1970) and other newer musicians, they would form the nucleus of The J.B.’s, Brown’s new backing ensemble. Shortly following their first performance together, the band entered the studio to record the Brown-Byrd composition, “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine”; the song and other contemporaneous singles would further concretize Brown’s influence in the nascent genre of funk music. This iteration of the J.B.’s dissolved after a March 1971 European tour (documented on the 1991 archival release Love Power Peace) due to additional money disputes and Bootsy Collins’ use of LSD; the Collins brothers would soon become integral members ofParliament-Funkadelic, while a new lineup of the J.B.’s coalesced around Wesley, St. Clair Pinckney, and drummer John Starks. In 1971, Brown began recording for Polydor Records which also took over distribution of Brown’s King Records catalog. Many of his sidemen and supporting players, including Andre Beeka, Fred Wesley & the J.B.’s, Bobby Byrd, Lyn Collins, Vicki Anderson and former rival Hank Ballard, released records on the People label, an imprint founded by Brown that was purchased by Polydor as part of Brown’s new contract. The recordings on the People label, almost all of which were produced by Brown himself, exemplified his “house style”. Songs such as “I Know You Got Soul” by Bobby Byrd, “Think” by Lyn Collins and “Doing It to Death” by Fred Wesley & the J.B.’s are considered as much a part of Brown’s recorded legacy as the recordings released under his own name. That year, he also began touring African countries and was received well by audiences there. During the 1972 presidential election, James Brown openly proclaimed his support of Richard Nixon for reelection of the presidency over Democratic candidate George McGovern. The decision led to a boycott of his performances and, according to Brown, cost him a big portion of his black audience. As a result Brown’s record sales and concerts in the United States reached a lull in 1973 as he failed to land a number-one R&B single that year. Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne. That year, Brown also faced problems with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, charging he hadn’t paid upwards of $4.5 million, five years earlier, the IRS claimed he owed nearly $2 million. Black_caesarIn 1973, Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar. He also recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off. Following the release of these slaughter-movie-poster-1972-1010204558soundtracks, Brown acquired a self-styled nickname, “The Godfather of Soul”, which remains his most popular nickname. In 1974, he returned to the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts with “The Payback”, with the parent album reaching the same spot on the album charts; he would reach No. 1 two more times in 1974 including “My Thang” and “Papa Don’t Take No Mess”. Later that year, he returned to Africa and performed in Kinshasa as part of the buildup to The Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Admirers of Brown’s music, including Miles Davis and other jazz musicians, began to cite Brown as a major influence on their own styles. However, Brown, like others who were influenced by his music, also “borrowed” from other musicians. His 1976 single “Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)” (R&B #31) used the main riff from “Fame” by David Bowie, not the other way around as was often believed. The riff was provided to “Fame” co-writers John Lennon and Bowie by guitarist Carlos Alomar, who had briefly been a member of Brown’s band in the late 1960s. Brown’s “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” would be his final single to reach the No. 1 spot on the R&B charts and his final Top 40 pop single of the 1970s, though Brown continued to occasionally have Top 10 R&B recordings. Among his top ten R&B hits during this latter period included “Funky President” and “Get Up Offa That Thing”, the latter song released in 1976 and aimed at musical rivals such as Barry White, The Ohio Players and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Brown credited his then-second wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS. Starting in October 1975, Brown produced, directed, and hosted Future Shock, an Atlanta-based television variety show which ran for three years.

Decline and resurgence

James Brown performing in Hamburg, 1973

Although his records were mainstays of the vanguard New York underground disco scene exemplified by DJs such as David Mancuso and Francis Grasso from 1969 onwards, Brown did not consciously yield to the trend until 1975’s Sex Machine Today. By 1977, he was no longer a dominant force in R&B. After “Get Up Offa That Thing”, thirteen of Brown’s late 1970s recordings for Polydor, failed to reach the Top 10 of the R&B chart, with only “Bodyheat” in 1976 and the disco-oriented “It’s Too Funky in Here” in 1979 reaching the R&B Top 15 and the ballad “Kiss in ’77” reaching the Top 20. After 1976’s “Bodyheat”, he also failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. As a result, Brown’s concert attendance began dropping and reported disputes with the IRS caused Brown’s empire to collapse. In addition, Brown’s former band mates, including Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker and the Collins brothers, had found bigger success as members of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic collective. The emergence of disco also stopped Brown’s success on the R&B charts as its slicker commercial style had superseded his rawer funk productions. By the release of 1979’s The Original Disco Man, Brown was not providing much production or writing, leaving most of it to producer Brad Shapiro, resulting in the song “It’s Too Funky in Here” becoming Brown’s most successful single in this period. After two more albums failed to chart, Brown left Polydor in 1981. It was around this time that Brown changed the name of his band from the J.B.’s to the Soul Generals (or Soul G’s). This band’s name remained that way until his death. Despite a decline in record sales, Brown enjoyed something of a resurgence in this period starting with appearances in the feature films The Blues BrothersDoctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest starring in the Miami Vice episode “Missing Hours” (1987). In 1984, Brown teamed with rap musician Afrika Bambaattaa on the song “Unity”. A year later he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and issued the moderately successful album, Gravity, in 1986. It included Brown’s final Top 10 pop hit, “Living in America”, marking his first Top 40 entry since 1974 and his first Top 10 pop entry since 1968. Produced and written by Dan Hartman, it was also featured prominently on the Rocky IV film and soundtrack. Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed’s final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as “The Godfather of Soul.” 1986 also saw the publication of Brown’s autobiography, James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, co-written with Bruce Tucker. In 1987, Brown won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Living in America”. In 1988, Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced album I’m Real. It spawned his final two Top 10 R&B hits, “I’m Real” and “Static”, which peaked at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, on the R&B charts. Meanwhile, the drum break from the second version of the original 1969 hit “Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose” (the recording included on the compilation album In the Jungle Groove) became so popular at hip hop dance parties (especially for breakdance) during the late 1970s and early 1980s that hip hop founding father Kurtis Blow called the song “the national anthem of hip hop”. After his stint in prison during the late 1980s, Brown met Larry Fridie and Thomas Hart who produced the first Biopic, James Brown, The Man, The Message, The Music. The Story of James Brown. James Brown returned with the album Love Over-Due in 1991. It included the single “(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On”, which peaked at No. 48 on the R&B chart. His former record label Polydor also released the four-CD box set, Star Time, spanning Brown’s career to date. Brown’s release from prison also prompted his former record labels to reissue his albums on CD, featuring additional tracks and commentary by music critics and historians. That same year, Brown appeared on rapper MC Hammer’s video for “Too Legit to Quit”. Hammer had been noted, alongside Big Daddy Kane, for bringing Brown’s unique stage shows and their own energetic dance moves to the hip-hop generation, with both Hammer and Kane listing Brown as their idol. Both musicians also sampled Brown’s work, with Hammer having sampled the rhythms from “Super Bad” for his song, “Here Comes the Hammer”, from his best-selling album, Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em. Before the year was over, Brown, who had immediately returned to work with his band following his release, organized a pay-per-view concert following a show at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre, that was well received.

Brown during the NBA All-Star Game jam session, 2001

Brown continued making recordings. In 1993, his album Universal James was released. It included his final Billboard charting single, “Can’t Get Any Harder”, which peaked at No. 76 on the US R&B chart and reached No. 59 on the UK chart. Its brief charting in the UK was probably due to the success of a remixed version of “I Feel Good” featuringDakeyne. Brown also released the singles, “How Long” and “Georgia-Lina”, which failed to chart. In 1995 Brown returned to the Apollo and recorded Live at the Apollo 1995. It included a studio track titled “Respect Me”, which was released as a single; again it failed to chart. Brown’s final studio albums, I’m Back and The Next Step, were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively. I’m Back featured the song “Funk on Ah Roll”, which peaked at No. 40 in the UK but did not chart in his native US. The Next Step included Brown’s final single, “Killing Is Out, School Is In”. Both albums were produced by Derrick Monk. Brown’s concert success, however, remained unabated and Brown kept up with a grueling schedule throughout the remainder of his life, living up to his previous nickname, “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business”, in spite of his advanced age. In 2003, Brown participated in the PBS American Masters television documentary James Brown: Soul Survivor, which was directed by Jeremy Marre. Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler james brown_001Ernest “The Cat” Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro. Brown was then featured in Tony Scott’s short film, Beat the Devil, in 2001. Brown was featured alongside Clive Owen, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. Brown also made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown’s act after Brown was accidentally knocked out by Chan. In 2002, Brown appeared in Undercover Brother, playing himself. The beginning of 2005 saw the publication of Brown’s second book, I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul, written with Marc Eliot. In February and March he participated in recording sessions for an intended studio album with Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and other longtime collaborators. Though he lost interest in the album, which remains unreleased, a track from the sessions, “Gut Bucket”, appeared on a compilation CD included with the August 2006 issue of MOJO. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”. He also performed a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, a week earlier on the United Kingdom chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Before his death, Brown was scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song “Vengeance” for her new album Venus, which was released in 2007. In 2006, Brown continued his “Seven Decades of Funk World Tour”, his last concert tour where he performed all over the world. His final U.S. performances were in San Francisco on August 20, 2006, as headliner at the Festival of the Golden Gate (Foggfest) on the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. The following day, August 21, he performed at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA, at a small theatre (800 seats) on campus. His last shows were greeted with positive reviews, and one of his final concert appearances at the Irish Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006 was performed for a record crowd of 80,000 people. He played a full concert as part of the BBC’s Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes. Brown’s last televised appearance was at his induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2006, before his death the following month. If you never had a chance to see James Brown live, just image wrapping Michael Jackson, Prince and this new kid you may have heard of by the name of Bruno Mars. The Godfather of Soul’s impact reached far beyond the borders of the US.  He was so influential to every music segment in the world.  This is evident by watching two legends from to different worlds, come together and combine musical greatness into one beautiful sound.

Enhancing Southeast San Diego

Posted on: February 25th, 2014 by tommyj

Walgreens-2Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI) joined District 4 Councilmember Myrtle ColeInterim Mayor Todd Gloria, and over 100 dignitaries and community members at a celebratory groundbreaking ceremony for a long awaited Walgreens – a key milestone in continuing community revitalization efforts in the district.

“Breaking ground on this community asset is a major step forward on a path towards a vibrant, sustainable community,” said JCNI President & CEO Reginald Jones as he welcomed the supporters in attendance at this community celebration. “We stand here committed to continue to work together to help deliver community assets, create jobs, and enhance our neighborhood.”

On hand for the celebration was Councilmember Myrtle Cole, who spoke enthusiastically about the construction milestone. “We want the residents in our news2.wideacommunity to stay in our community and a new Walgreens provides a much needed service, as well as new jobs. Walgreens has committed to hiring locally – both for construction and operations. That means more jobs and that is good for all of us!”

Also providing congratulations on the collaborative redevelopment project was Interim Mayor Todd Gloria, County Supervisor Ron Roberts, and Encanto Planning Board member Ken Malbrough. All spoke positively about the need to find innovative solutions to development and the importance of working in partnership. todd-gloria Ron-Roberts-2

JCNI Board Chair Andrew Hapke, the third generation of the Jacobs family to work with this community, put it simply when he congratulated the community. “This planning and work has truly been a community driven process with resident teams working to identify the amenities and needs of the neighborhood. We have been privileged to work with you over the years and witness the power of resident ownership of neighborhood change. I am inspired by your enthusiasm, commitment to strengthening community, and your tireless energy.”

Students from the Morse High School Culinary Arts Program working in partnership with Market Creek Events & Venues, a Jacobs owned social enterprise with a focus on providing local employment and job training, served food and refreshments. Students from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts Monk Combo Jazz Band provided entertainment for the event.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Toni Robin,tr@trprsandiego.com, 858.483.3918

Flashback Fridays with Rick James

Posted on: February 21st, 2014 by tommyj

Rick+James+liahyzvhTv1qb9wbfo1_500Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr.; February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an American musician and composer.

James started his singing career fronting doo-wop and rhythm and blues bands in his hometown of Buffalo, New York in the early 1960s, with his vocal style influenced by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and David Ruffin. After entering the United States Navy to avoid conscription after he dropped out of high school, James deserted and relocated to Toronto, Canada where he resumed his music career. While there, James formed the rock-soul fusion band Mynah Birds, whose lineup once included a young Neil Young. James’ tenure with the Mynah Birds was interrupted after he was discovered recording with the group in Motown in the 1960s, and surrendered to military authorities serving out a one-year sentence in a prison in Buffalo. James returned to Canada where he resumed the Mynah Birds, though the band eventually split; James relocated to California where he started a series of rock bands. He also had a period where he served as a staff writer with Motown (under an assumed name) before he left the label.

In 1977, he signed with the Gordy Records subsidiary of Motown as a recording artist where in 1978, he recorded his first album, Come Get It!, which sold over a million copies at the time of its release. He would go on to score several popular hits on the pop and R&B charts, including four number-one hits on the latter chart. James became noted not only as a hit maker on his own recordings but also produced successful recordings for the likes of Teena Marie, the Mary Jane Girls, the Temptations, Eddie Murphy and Smokey Robinson. His best-selling recording, 1981’s Street Songs, sold over three million copies helping to renew sagging fortunes in Motown.

James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York to Mabel (née Gladden) and James Ambrose Johnson, Sr. Though renowned Temptations bass vocalist Melvin Franklin cited James as his nephew, that has sometimes been disputed. James’ father, an autoworker, left the family when he was around ten years old. James was one of eight children. James’ mother briefly danced for Katherine Dunham and allegedly ran errands for a Mafia-connected mob, just to feed her family. James’ early life consisted of music and, sometimes, crime. Influenced by the then popular doo-wop sound and the emerging soul musicscene, James began singing on street corners with neighborhood friends. James recounted that a school performance while on congas changed his life and he decided to become a professional musician. James would attend Orchard Park High School and Bennett High School before dropping out at 15 to avoid a possible draft due to his street criminal activity and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. A year later, James left the Reserve after he began to miss weekend training, because it interfered with his music career.

Using the stage name Big Jimmy, he formed his first band with future Steppenwolf member Nick St. Nicholas, initially called the Sailor Boyz. The band soon changed their name to the Mynah Birds, bassist Bruce Palmer took over for St. Nicholas in early 1965, and the group soon released their first single, “Mynah Bird Hop”/”Mynah Bird Song” for Columbia Records of Canada.

James and Palmer soon formed a new Mynah Birds lineup with guitarists Tom Morgan and Xavier Taylor, and drummer Rick Mason. In early 1966, the Mynah Birds auditioned for the Motown label in Detroit. Morgan was unhappy with the label’s attitude towards the musicians and left, with Neil Young taking his place. With Young on board, the Mynah Birds returned to Motown to record an album, but their manager Rick+James+rick_james2pocketed the advance money the label had given the band. The band fired their manager, who in turn told the label that James was actually a seaman who had gone AWOL. Motown told him to give himself up to the FBI, and the Mynah Birds’ album was shelved. James spent a year in a naval prison, after which he briefly returned to Toronto. During the summer of 1967, he formed a new version of the Mynah Birds (sometimes spelled “Myna Byrds”) with Neil Merryweather. The band returned to Detroit and recorded a new version of James and Neil Young’s “It’s My Time”, but the band broke up soon afterwards. During early 1968, James returned to Motown and became a songwriter and producer, writing under the assumed name “Rickie Matthews” and working with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Canadian band Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers and the Spinners.

In late 1968, James and Greg Reeves moved to Los Angeles, California and formed a rock band called Salt and Pepper (under the Rick Matthews alias) with drummer Steve Rumph from T.I.M.E and Michael Rummans from the Yellow Payges. A later version consisted of Coffi Hall from Mama Lion and Merryweather and guitarist Dave Burt and Keyboardist Ed Roth from Merryweather.[2] Former Buffalo Springfield roadie Chris Sarns played bass for a while, before Ron Johnson from Kaleidoscope stepped in the following year. The group recorded a demo for Atlantic Records, and played at the Fillmore West with Jethro Tull. In 1971, James and Roth both appeared on Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer’s solo album, The Cycle is Complete. Then they returned to Toronto, where they recorded two singles – “Big Showdown” and “Don’t You Worry” – as part of Heaven and Earth, a band that also featured guitarist Stan Endersby, bass player Denny Gerrard, and drummer Pat Little. Heaven and Earth, minus Little, then merged with another local group, Milestone, to form Great White Cane with horn players Bob Doughty and Ian Kojima, drummer Norman Wellbanks, Nickolas Balkou[disputed – discuss] on Guitar. and keyboard player John Cleveland Hughes. The group recorded an album for Lion Records in Los Angeles in March 1972, but by that summer, they had disbanded.

In 1973, A&M Records released the first Rick James single, “My Mama”, which is likely to have been recorded in Los Angeles. In 1976, James and South African guitarist Aidan Mason co-wrote “Get Up and Dance!”, which was released as a single but failed to chart. In 1977, he returned to Motown as a songwriter/producer. He soon began recording for Motown’s Gordy label, first with the Hot Lips and then with a083111-fashion-guys-womens-styles-rick-james new version of the Stone City Band.

In 1978, James released his debut solo album, Come Get It!, in which he played most of the instruments on the album (as he would for his next two albums afterwards before including members of his Stone City Band to back him in the studio). The album launched his solo career, thanks to the funky disco hit, “You and I”, and the much smoother, soulful “Mary Jane”. In early 1979, he released his second album, Bustin’ Out of L Seven, which like his previous album, focused on producing a concept project. “L Seven” was named after a street on which James grew up in Buffalo. Referring to himself as “one of the baddest and best looking mother-fuckers of all time,” he followed this success with Fire It Up, and headlined his first tour in support of the album, which saw then rising former artist Prince opening for him. James’ cordial relationship with Prince coined his catchprases “THE MILKS GONE BAD!” causing the tour to become strained after Prince, according to James, stole all the biscuits from his act to hype the audience. He got so fed up with this that he canceled the rest of the tour.

After a setting fire to his fourth album, Garden of Love, in 1980, in which he traded most of his disco/funk origins for a more pop-R&B flavored project, he returned to the top with the grittier Street Songs, which was also the first to include rock and new wave elements, particularly in the album’s leading single, “Super Freak”, which became James’ biggest pop hit, reaching number-sixteen on theBillboard Hot 100 and later winning him a Grammy Award nomination. Due to this single, the follow-up top 40 smash, “Give It to Me Baby”, the Teena Marie duet “Fire and Desire”, and “Ghetto Life”,Street Songs peaked at number-one on the R&B album chart and number-three on the pop chart, going on to sell more than three million copies; this became James’ biggest-selling album and made James famous. In 1982, just as the hype from Street Songs dropped, he released the gold-selling Throwin’ Down album, and followed that up with another hit album, Cold Blooded (1983), which included the hit title track. James continued to score hits with Motown into 1985 but by the end of that year he had begun to have struggles with the label.

Following the release of The Flag in 1986, James left Motown and signed a lucrative deal with Warner Bros. Records, releasing the album, Wonderful, in 1988, which yielded the R&B hit, “Loosey’s Rap”. The video for the song was banned on MTV and BETfor sexual content, which James labeled hypocritical. After the release of the UK-only 1989 album, Kickin’, James’ recording career slowed as he struggled with personal and legal problems. In 1997, a year following his release from prison for assault charges, James released his first new album in eight years, Urban Rapsody. Though James returned to live performances to promote the album, he stopped performing for a while after suffering a stroke following a show in Denver in 1998. Prior to the concert, James was interviewed on VH-1’s Behind the Music, where he openly talked about his life and career and also mentioned his drug use, which he said was behind him.

During James’ Motown heyday in the late seventies and early eighties, James found himself in demand and was asked to produce Teena Marie’s long-awaited debut album. James originally had planned to produce a full album for Diana Ross but when Motown told him they only wanted four songs from James, he gave the songs up to Marie, including the duet, “I’m a Sucker for Your Love”, for her debut album, Wild and Peaceful. The album launched not only Marie’s career but a personal and professional relationship between James and Marie, which continued until James’ death. In 1982, he was asked to produce a song for the Temptations’ upcoming album, Reunion, after former members Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin returned to the group for their ill-fated reunion. The song, “Standing on the Top”, became a top ten R&B hit and James was credited in the song not only as a writer but as a duet singer, as well.

Mark WeissIn 1983, he collaborated with longtime idol Smokey Robinson on their hit song, “Ebony Eyes”, which became a top 30 hit on the R&B charts. That same year, he produced his longtime background vocal group the Mary Jane Girls, with their self-titled debut album, featuring the hits “All Night Long” and “Candy Man”. The Mary Jane Girls originally consisted of Joanne “JoJo” McDuffie (lead/background vocals) and longtime session singers Julia Waters and Maxine Waters. The trio had long sung with James, who later included Kimberly “Maxi” Wuletich, Candice “Candi” Ghant and Cheryl Bailey (who used the stage name Cheri Wells) to join the group, though they didn’t sing on the original records. After Wells left, she was replaced by Yvette “Corvette” Marine. In 1985, the group’s second album, Only Four You included their biggest hit, “In My House: “JoJo” continued to sing lead and contributed to the backgrounds with the Water Sisters, as the other group members could not sing at all or were extremely limited vocally. Rick’s band sang for the group with JoJo for concert tours. James also produced a couple of albums for his Stone City Band, releasing material by the group in 1980 and 1982 respectively. Also in 1985, James produced and wrote the Eddie Murphyhit “Party All the Time”; he also sang on the track. Following James’ descent into drug abuse and his exit from Motown, the Stone City Band and the Mary Jane Girls both dissolved in 1987. Both groups reunited following James’ release from prison in 1996. >

Flashback Friday – Luther Vandross

Posted on: February 14th, 2014 by tommyj

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For those who grew up listing to music in the 80’s – 90’s, you could not have been out on a date, slow dance to love song or have a late night evening dinner that lead to a early sunrise breakfast without playing the unmistakeable voice and songs of Luther “LUTHA” Vandross. There wasn’t a woman on the planet that would turn you down if you had one of his songs playing on your eight-track or cassette tape made up of nothing but Slow Jams.  Known as the premiere balladeer of his time, Luther Vandross made lovers out most hardcore, gansta type thugs, they just won’t admit it to the “homies”.  Wall Street brokers secretly cued up a luther melody when at home making mergers & acquisitions, then playing the status quo Michael Bolten in their plush Jag or Bentley.  His smooth voice and melodic sound made lovers out of anyone who wanted to be with a certain someone…and made the mission of the night much easier.  We give you…

Luther Vandross

Luther Ronzoni Vandross (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was a prolific singer-songwriter and record producer. Throughout his career, Vandross was an in demand background vocalist for several different artists including Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer. He later became the lead singer of the group Change which released its certified gold debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much in 1981.

His hit songs include, “Never Too Much”, “Here and Now”, “Any Love”, “Power of Love/Love Power”, “I Can Make It Better” and “For You to Love”. Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as “If This World Were Mine” (duet with Cheryl Lynn), “Since I Lost My Baby”, “Superstar” and “Always and Forever”. Duets such as “The Closer I Get to You” with Beyoncé, “Endless Love” with Mariah Carey and “The Best Things in Life Are Free” with Janet Jackson were all hits in his career.
During his career, Vandross sold over 25 million records[1] worldwide and received eight Grammy Awards[2] including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. He won four Grammy Awards inluther 02 2004 including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, “Dance with My Father”. The song was co-written with Vandross’ friend and protégé, Richard Marx.

Luther Ronzoni Vandross was born on April 20, 1951 at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, United States. He was the fourth child and second son of Mary Ida Vandross and Luther Vandross, Sr.

Vandross was raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the NYCHA Alfred E. Smith Houses public housing development. His father was a crooner and his mother, a nurse, was singing gospel. At the age of three, having his own phonograph, he taught himself to play the piano by ear. His family moved to the Bronx when he was thirteen. His sisters, Patricia “Pat” and Ann began taking Vandross to the Apollo Theaterand to a theater in Brooklyn to see Dionne Warwick or Aretha Franklin. Pat Vandross sang with the vocal group The Crests, which had a number two hit in 1958/59 with “16 Candles”, although she left the group before the song was recorded.

Vandross’ father died of diabetes when Vandross was eight years old. In high school, Vandross performed in a group, Shades of Jade, that once played at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He was also a member of a theater workshop, “Listen My Brother”, which released the singles “Only Love Can Make a Better World” and “Listen My Brother”. He also appeared in the second and fifth episodes of Sesame Street in November 1969.  Vandross attended Western Michigan University for a year before dropping out to continue pursuing a career in music.

Vandross sang on Delores Hall’s Hall-Mark album (1973). He sang with her on the song “Who’s Gonna Make It Easier for Me”, which he wrote, and he contributed another song, “In This Lonely Hour”. Having co-written “Fascination” (1974) forDavid Bowie’s Young Americans (1975), he went on to tour with him as a back-up vocalist in September 1974. Vandross wrote “Everybody Rejoice” for the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz and appeared as a choir member in the movie.

Diana_Ross_2000Vandross also sang backing vocals for artists including Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, Ben E. King, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, and Donna Summer, and for the bands Chic and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia.Before his solo breakthrough, Vandross was part of a singing quintet in the late ’70s named Luther, consisting of former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, as well as Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, signed to Cotillion Records. Although the singles “It’s Good for the Soul”, “Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)”, and “The Second Time Around” were relatively successful, their two albums, the self-titled Luther (1976) and This Close to You (1977), didn’t sell enough to make the charts. Vandross bought back the rights to those albums after Cotillion dropped the group, preventing their later re-release.  Vandross also wrote and sang commercial jingles during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and continued his successful career as a popular session singer during the late 1970s.

In 1978, Vandross sang lead vocals for a disco band called Greg Diamond’s Bionic Boogie on the song titled “Hot Butterfly”. Also in 1978, he appeared on Quincy Jones’s Sounds…and Stuff Like That!!, most notably on the song “I’m Gonna Miss You In The Morning” along with Patti Austin. Luther also sang with the band Soirée and was the lead vocalist on the track “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”; he also contributed background vocals to the album along with Jocelyn Brown and Sharon Redd, each of whom also saw solo success. Additionally, he sang the lead vocals on the group Mascara’s LP title song “See You in L.A.” released in 1979. Vandross also appeared on the group Charme’s 1979 album Let It In, most notably on a remake ofToto’s hit single “Georgy Porgy”.

Vandross finally made his long desired career breakthrough as a featured singer with the vaunted pop-dance act Change, a studio concept created by French-Italian businessman Jacques Fred Petrus. Their 1980 hits, “The Glow of Love” (by Romani, Malavasi and Garfield) and “Searching” (by Malavasi), both featuring Vandross as lead singer, opened up the world for Vandross. And there was no doubt about whether Vandross liked the song “The Glow of Love”. In an interview that Vibe Magazine did with him in 2001 Vandross said, “This is the most beautiful song I’ve ever sung in my life.” Both songs were from Change’s debut album The Glow of Love.  Vandross was originally intended to perform on their second and highly successful album Miracles in 1981, but declined the offer as Petrus didn’t pay enough money. Vandross’ decision led to a recording contract with Epic Records that same year, but he also provided background vocals on “Miracles” and on the new Petrus-created act, the B. B. & Q. Band in 1981. During that hectic year Vandross jump-started his second attempt at a solo career with his debut album, Never Too Much. In addition to the hit title track it contained a version of the Burt Bacharach / Hal David song “A House Is Not a Home”.

The song “Never Too Much”, written by himself, reached number-one on the R&B charts. This period also marked the beginning of songwriting collaboration with bassist Marcus Miller, who played on many of Marcus_Miller_3-450x350the tracks and would also produce or co-produce a number of tracks for Vandross. The Never Too Much album was arranged by Vandross’high school classmate Nat Adderley, Jr., a collaboration that would last through Vandross’s career.

Vandross released a series of successful R&B albums during the 1980s and continued his session work with guest vocals on groups like Charme in 1982. Many of his earlier albums made a bigger impact on the R&B charts than on the pop charts. During the 1980s, two of Vandross’ singles reached #1 on the Billboard R&B charts: “Stop to Love”, in 1986, and a duet with Gregory Hines—”There’s Nothing Better Than Love.” Vandross was at the helm as producer for Aretha Franklin’s Gold-certified, award-winning comeback album Jump to It. He also produced the disappointing follow-up album, 1983’s Get It Right.

In 1983, the opportunity to work with his main music influence, Dionne Warwick, came about with Vandross producing, writing songs, and singing on How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye, her fourth album for Arista Records. The title track duet reached #27 on the Hot 100 chart (#7 R&B/#4 Adult Contemporary),[9] while the second single, “Got a Date” was only a moderate hit (#45 R&B/#15 Club Play).

Vandross wrote “It’s Hard for Me to Say” for Diana Ross from her Red Hot Rhythm & Blues album. Ross performed the song as an a cappella tribute to Oprah Winfrey on her final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show. She then proceeded to add it to her successful 2010-12 “More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour. Vandross also recorded a version of this song on his Your Secret Love album in 1996. He made two public appearances at Diana Ross’s Return to Love Tour at its opening in Philadelphia at First Union Spectrum and its final stop at Madison Square Garden in 2000.

In December 1985, the singer filed a libel suit against a British magazine after it attributed his 85-pound weight loss to AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Vandross said he weighed 325 pounds when he started a diet in May that year.

In 1985, Vandross first spotted the talent of Jimmy Salvemini, who was fifteen at the time, on Star Search. Vandross thought Salvemini had the perfect voice for some of his songs, and contacted Salvemini, who was managed by his brother Larry. A contract was negotiated with Elektra records for $250,000 and Vandross agreed to produce the album. He even contacted old friends Cheryl Lynn, Alfa Anderson (Chic), 0Phoebe Snow and Irene Cara to appear on the album.After the album was completed, Luther, Jimmy, and Larry decided to celebrate. On January 12, 1986, they were riding in Vandross’ 1985 convertible Mercedes-Benz on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, in the north section of Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. Luther was driving at 48 mph in a 35 mph zone when his Mercedes veered across the double yellow center line of the two lane street, turned sideways and collided with the front of a 1972 Mercury Marquis that was headed southbound, then swung around and hit a 1979 Cadillac Seville head on. Luther Vandross and Jimmy Salvemini were rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Larry Salvemini, who was riding on the front passenger seat, was killed during the collision. Vandross suffered three broken ribs, broken hip, several bruises and facial cuts. Jimmy, who sat in the back of the car, had cuts, bruises and contusions. In the same year, Vandross faced vehicular manslaughter charges as a result of Larry’s death, and his driving license was suspended for a year. There was no evidence Vandross was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The singer pled no contest to reckless driving. At first, the Salvemini family was supportive of Vandross, but later filed a wrongful death suit against him. The case was quietly settled out of court with a payment to the Salvemini family for $700,000. The album called “Roll With It” was released later that year.

Vandross also sang background vocals in Stevie Wonder’s 1985 hit “Part Time Lovers”.  In 1986, Vandross voiced a cartoon character named Zack for three Saturday morning animated PSA spots for ABC Television called ‘Zack of All Trades’.  The 1989 compilation The Best of Luther Vandross… The Best of Love included the ballad “Here and Now”, his first single to chart in the Billboard pop chart top ten, peaking at number six. He won his first Grammy award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1991.  In 1990, Vandross wrote and sang background for Whitney Houston in a song entitled “Who Do You Love?” which appeared on her “I’m Your Baby Tonight” album.

More albums followed in the 1990s, beginning with 1991’s Power of Love which spawned two top ten pop hits. He won his second Best Male R&B Vocal in the Grammy Awards of 1992, and his track “Power of Love/Love Power” won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in the same year. In 1992, “The Best Things in Life Are Free”, a duet with Janet Jackson from the movie Mo’ Money became a hit.  In 1993, Vandross had a brief non-speaking role in the Robert Townsend movie The Meteor Man. He played a hit man who plotted to stop Townsend’s title character.

Mariah-Carey-Luther-VandrossVandross hit the top ten again in 1994, teaming with Mariah Carey on a cover version of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’s duet “Endless Love”. It was included on the album Songs (Luther Vandross album), a collection of songs which had inspired Vandross over the years. He also appears on Frank Sinatra’s posthumous Duets album. At the Grammy Awards of 1997, he won his third Best Male R&B Vocal for the track “Your Secret Love”.

A second greatest hits album, released in 1997, compiled most of his 1990s hits and was his final album released through Epic Records. After releasing I Know on Virgin Records, he signed with J Records. His first album on Clive Davis’s new label, entitledLuther Vandross, was released in 2001, and it produced the hits “Take You Out” (#7 R&B/#26 Pop), and “I’d Rather” (#17 Adult Contemporary/#40 R&B/#83 Pop). Vandross scored at least one top 10 R&B hit every year from 1981-1994.

In 1997, Vandross sang the American national anthem during Super Bowl XXXI at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.

In September 2001, Vandross performed a rendition of Michael Jackson’s hit song “Man in the Mirror” at Jackson’s 30th Anniversary special, alongside Usher.

In 2002, he gave some of his final concerts during his last tour, The BK Got Soul Tour starring Vandross featuring Angie Stone and Gerald Levert.

In the spring of 2003, Vandross’ last collaboration was Doc Powell’s “What’s Going On”, a cover of Marvin Gaye from Powell’s 2003 album 97th and Columbus.

In 2003, Vandross released the album Dance with My Father. The title track, which was dedicated to Vandross’ memory childhood dances with his father, won Vandross and his co-writer, Richard Marx, the 2004 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The song also won Vandross his fourth and final award in the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance category. The album was his first to reach number one on the Billboard album chart. The video for the title track features various celebrities alongside their fathers and other family members. The 2nd single released from that album, “Think About You” was the Number One Urban Adult Contemporary Song of 2004 according to Radio & Records.

In 2003, after the televised NCAA Men’s Basketball championship, CBS Sports gave “One Shining Moment” a new look. Vandross, who had been to only one basketball game in his life, was the new singer, and the video had none of the special effects, like glowing basketballs and star trails, that videos from previous years had. This song version is in use today.

luther2Vandross suffered from diabetes and hypertension, both of which may have been brought on by family genetics as well as lifestyle and nutrition. He had just finished the final vocals for the album Dance With My Father (2003), on which he collaborated with pop rock artist Richard Marx, when on April 16, 2003 he suffered a severe stroke at his home in New York City. The stroke left him in a coma for nearly two months, during which time he also had to fight both meningitis and pneumonia (which required atracheotomy). The stroke also left Vandross with noticeable difficulty speaking and singing, as well as confinement to a wheelchair. Vandross appeared briefly on videotape at the 2004 Grammy Awards to accept his Song of the Year Award for “Dance With My Father”. In addition to thanking his fans for their support throughout his ordeal and recovery, he said, “When I say goodbye it’s never for long, because I believe in the power of love” (he sang the last six words). Following an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he was never seen in public again. Vandross died on July 1, 2005 at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey at the age of 54. His apparent cause of death was a heart attack.

FlashBack Friday’s – Rick James

Posted on: February 13th, 2014 by tommyj

Rick+James+liahyzvhTv1qb9wbfo1_500Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr.; February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an American musician and composer.

James started his singing career fronting doo-wop and rhythm and blues bands in his hometown of Buffalo, New York in the early 1960s, with his vocal style influenced by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and David Ruffin. After entering the United States Navy to avoid conscription after he dropped out of high school, James deserted and relocated to Toronto, Canada where he resumed his music career. While there, James formed the rock-soul fusion band Mynah Birds, whose lineup once included a young Neil Young. James’ tenure with the Mynah Birds was interrupted after he was discovered recording with the group in Motown in the 1960s, and surrendered to military authorities serving out a one-year sentence in a prison in Buffalo. James returned to Canada where he resumed the Mynah Birds, though the band eventually split; James relocated to California where he started a series of rock bands. He also had a period where he served as a staff writer with Motown (under an assumed name) before he left the label.

In 1977, he signed with the Gordy Records subsidiary of Motown as a recording artist where in 1978, he recorded his first album, Come Get It!, which sold over a million copies at the time of its release. He would go on to score several popular hits on the pop and R&B charts, including four number-one hits on the latter chart. James became noted not only as a hit maker on his own recordings but also produced successful recordings for the likes of Teena Marie, the Mary Jane Girls, the Temptations, Eddie Murphy and Smokey Robinson. His best-selling recording, 1981’s Street Songs, sold over three million copies helping to renew sagging fortunes in Motown.

James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. was born in Buffalo, New York to Mabel (née Gladden) and James Ambrose Johnson, Sr. Though renowned Temptations bass vocalist Melvin Franklin cited James as his nephew, that has sometimes been disputed. James’ father, an autoworker, left the family when he was around ten years old. James was one of eight children. James’ mother briefly danced for Katherine Dunham and allegedly ran errands for a Mafia-connected mob, just to feed her family. James’ early life consisted of music and, sometimes, crime. Influenced by the then popular doo-wop sound and the emerging soul musicscene, James began singing on street corners with neighborhood friends. James recounted that a school performance while on congas changed his life and he decided to become a professional musician. James would attend Orchard Park High School and Bennett High School before dropping out at 15 to avoid a possible draft due to his street criminal activity and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. A year later, James left the Reserve after he began to miss weekend training, because it interfered with his music career.

Using the stage name Big Jimmy, he formed his first band with future Steppenwolf member Nick St. Nicholas, initially called the Sailor Boyz. The band soon changed their name to the Mynah Birds, bassist Bruce Palmer took over for St. Nicholas in early 1965, and the group soon released their first single, “Mynah Bird Hop”/”Mynah Bird Song” for Columbia Records of Canada.

James and Palmer soon formed a new Mynah Birds lineup with guitarists Tom Morgan and Xavier Taylor, and drummer Rick Mason. In early 1966, the Mynah Birds auditioned for the Motown label in Detroit. Morgan was unhappy with the label’s attitude towards the musicians and left, with Neil Young taking his place. With Young on board, the Mynah Birds returned to Motown to record an album, but their manager Rick+James+rick_james2pocketed the advance money the label had given the band. The band fired their manager, who in turn told the label that James was actually a seaman who had gone AWOL. Motown told him to give himself up to the FBI, and the Mynah Birds’ album was shelved. James spent a year in a naval prison, after which he briefly returned to Toronto. During the summer of 1967, he formed a new version of the Mynah Birds (sometimes spelled “Myna Byrds”) with Neil Merryweather. The band returned to Detroit and recorded a new version of James and Neil Young’s “It’s My Time”, but the band broke up soon afterwards. During early 1968, James returned to Motown and became a songwriter and producer, writing under the assumed name “Rickie Matthews” and working with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Canadian band Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers and the Spinners.

In late 1968, James and Greg Reeves moved to Los Angeles, California and formed a rock band called Salt and Pepper (under the Rick Matthews alias) with drummer Steve Rumph from T.I.M.E and Michael Rummans from the Yellow Payges. A later version consisted of Coffi Hall from Mama Lion and Merryweather and guitarist Dave Burt and Keyboardist Ed Roth from Merryweather.[2] Former Buffalo Springfield roadie Chris Sarns played bass for a while, before Ron Johnson from Kaleidoscope stepped in the following year. The group recorded a demo for Atlantic Records, and played at the Fillmore West with Jethro Tull. In 1971, James and Roth both appeared on Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer’s solo album, The Cycle is Complete. Then they returned to Toronto, where they recorded two singles – “Big Showdown” and “Don’t You Worry” – as part of Heaven and Earth, a band that also featured guitarist Stan Endersby, bass player Denny Gerrard, and drummer Pat Little. Heaven and Earth, minus Little, then merged with another local group, Milestone, to form Great White Cane with horn players Bob Doughty and Ian Kojima, drummer Norman Wellbanks, Nickolas Balkou[disputed – discuss] on Guitar. and keyboard player John Cleveland Hughes. The group recorded an album for Lion Records in Los Angeles in March 1972, but by that summer, they had disbanded.

In 1973, A&M Records released the first Rick James single, “My Mama”, which is likely to have been recorded in Los Angeles. In 1976, James and South African guitarist Aidan Mason co-wrote “Get Up and Dance!”, which was released as a single but failed to chart. In 1977, he returned to Motown as a songwriter/producer. He soon began recording for Motown’s Gordy label, first with the Hot Lips and then with a083111-fashion-guys-womens-styles-rick-james new version of the Stone City Band.

In 1978, James released his debut solo album, Come Get It!, in which he played most of the instruments on the album (as he would for his next two albums afterwards before including members of his Stone City Band to back him in the studio). The album launched his solo career, thanks to the funky disco hit, “You and I”, and the much smoother, soulful “Mary Jane”. In early 1979, he released his second album, Bustin’ Out of L Seven, which like his previous album, focused on producing a concept project. “L Seven” was named after a street on which James grew up in Buffalo. Referring to himself as “one of the baddest and best looking mother-fuckers of all time,” he followed this success with Fire It Up, and headlined his first tour in support of the album, which saw then rising former artist Prince opening for him. James’ cordial relationship with Prince coined his catchprases “THE MILKS GONE BAD!” causing the tour to become strained after Prince, according to James, stole all the biscuits from his act to hype the audience. He got so fed up with this that he canceled the rest of the tour.

After a setting fire to his fourth album, Garden of Love, in 1980, in which he traded most of his disco/funk origins for a more pop-R&B flavored project, he returned to the top with the grittier Street Songs, which was also the first to include rock and new wave elements, particularly in the album’s leading single, “Super Freak”, which became James’ biggest pop hit, reaching number-sixteen on theBillboard Hot 100 and later winning him a Grammy Award nomination. Due to this single, the follow-up top 40 smash, “Give It to Me Baby”, the Teena Marie duet “Fire and Desire”, and “Ghetto Life”,Street Songs peaked at number-one on the R&B album chart and number-three on the pop chart, going on to sell more than three million copies; this became James’ biggest-selling album and made James famous. In 1982, just as the hype from Street Songs dropped, he released the gold-selling Throwin’ Down album, and followed that up with another hit album, Cold Blooded (1983), which included the hit title track. James continued to score hits with Motown into 1985 but by the end of that year he had begun to have struggles with the label.

Following the release of The Flag in 1986, James left Motown and signed a lucrative deal with Warner Bros. Records, releasing the album, Wonderful, in 1988, which yielded the R&B hit, “Loosey’s Rap”. The video for the song was banned on MTV and BETfor sexual content, which James labeled hypocritical. After the release of the UK-only 1989 album, Kickin’, James’ recording career slowed as he struggled with personal and legal problems. In 1997, a year following his release from prison for assault charges, James released his first new album in eight years, Urban Rapsody. Though James returned to live performances to promote the album, he stopped performing for a while after suffering a stroke following a show in Denver in 1998. Prior to the concert, James was interviewed on VH-1’s Behind the Music, where he openly talked about his life and career and also mentioned his drug use, which he said was behind him.

During James’ Motown heyday in the late seventies and early eighties, James found himself in demand and was asked to produce Teena Marie’s long-awaited debut album. James originally had planned to produce a full album for Diana Ross but when Motown told him they only wanted four songs from James, he gave the songs up to Marie, including the duet, “I’m a Sucker for Your Love”, for her debut album, Wild and Peaceful. The album launched not only Marie’s career but a personal and professional relationship between James and Marie, which continued until James’ death. In 1982, he was asked to produce a song for the Temptations’ upcoming album, Reunion, after former members Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin returned to the group for their ill-fated reunion. The song, “Standing on the Top”, became a top ten R&B hit and James was credited in the song not only as a writer but as a duet singer, as well.

Mark WeissIn 1983, he collaborated with longtime idol Smokey Robinson on their hit song, “Ebony Eyes”, which became a top 30 hit on the R&B charts. That same year, he produced his longtime background vocal group the Mary Jane Girls, with their self-titled debut album, featuring the hits “All Night Long” and “Candy Man”. The Mary Jane Girls originally consisted of Joanne “JoJo” McDuffie (lead/background vocals) and longtime session singers Julia Waters and Maxine Waters. The trio had long sung with James, who later included Kimberly “Maxi” Wuletich, Candice “Candi” Ghant and Cheryl Bailey (who used the stage name Cheri Wells) to join the group, though they didn’t sing on the original records. After Wells left, she was replaced by Yvette “Corvette” Marine. In 1985, the group’s second album, Only Four You included their biggest hit, “In My House: “JoJo” continued to sing lead and contributed to the backgrounds with the Water Sisters, as the other group members could not sing at all or were extremely limited vocally. Rick’s band sang for the group with JoJo for concert tours. James also produced a couple of albums for his Stone City Band, releasing material by the group in 1980 and 1982 respectively. Also in 1985, James produced and wrote the Eddie Murphyhit “Party All the Time”; he also sang on the track. Following James’ descent into drug abuse and his exit from Motown, the Stone City Band and the Mary Jane Girls both dissolved in 1987. Both groups reunited following James’ release from prison in 1996.
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Flashback Friday’s

Posted on: February 7th, 2014 by tommyj

Flashback-FridaysWelcome to the all new post site for FLASHBACK FRIDAY’S.  New post of songs, grooves dances and just down right partying to kick of your weekend every Friday, with special interviews and guest coming through out the year.  We play the B Side, and the LP 12″ extended version and video’s from the past that will make anyone from 8 – 80 wiggle with it.

For this of you from San Diego, here’s the first installment… Can you say ABBY ROADS, ABBY ROADS, ABBY ROADS.  The one spot where you can get your 4 wheel, quarter too skate on and dance on the side.  If they sone doesn’t bring back memories, you were either a little too young to eat at the big table at the time or just buried into writing code for the first Apple II floppy disk.

A former keyboardist for The Trammps and a veteran of the ’70s Philadelphia music scene, Kersey invited O’Bryan to join a group he was putting together. That group quickly folded, so Kersey later introduced O’Bryan to “Soul Train” television show creator and host Don Cornelius, with whom Kersey formed Friendship Producers Company. Cornelius took the young artist to Capitol Records, where O’Bryan released four albums that charted on the Billboard R&B charts.

The first album, Doin’ Alright was released in April 1982 and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart. The lead single, “The Gigolo,” was a slice of funk with new wave and rock elements that emphasized O’Bryan’s falsetto. Released in January, “The Gigolo” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard R&B Singles charts.

The follow-up single was an updated cover of The Four Tops’ “Still Water (Love),” peaking at No. 23. Among the other standouts on O’Bryan’s debut include the mid-tempo title track; the elegant ballad “Love Has Found Its Way;” and the sentimental “Can’t Live Without Your Love.”

O’Bryan released his sophomore effort You and I (O’Bryan album) in March 1983. The album was named after his cover of the Stevie Wonder ballad. Given a more contemporary twist, the title track was the second single (peaking at No. 19) and since has become one of O’Bryan’s signature songs.

The lead single, “I’m Freaky,” was an upbeat, synth-funk song that peaked at No. 15. Album tracks also receiving notice and airplay were the romantic “Together Always;” the fluid instrumental “Soft Touch;” and the energetic “Soul Train’s A Comin,’” which became the theme song for Cornelius’ show from 1983 to 1987. The album peaked at No. 13.

In May 1984, O’Bryan released Be My Lover (O’Bryan album) which became his highest charting collection of songs (peaking at No. 3). The first single — the insistent, chugging “Lovelite” — marched to the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart. The success of “Lovelite” prompted Capitol to release “Breakin’ Together” as the next single. But it was O’Bryan’s penchant for ballads — the quiet storm staple “Lady I Love You;” the lovelorn “You’re Always On My Mind;” and “Go On And Cry,” which was the third single — that shone as the album’s highlights. The title track also became known as one of O’Bryan’s better uptempo songs.

Because of a lengthy negotiation with Capitol, a fourth album — Surrender (O’Bryan album) — was not released until December 1986. The single choices were the up-tempo “Tenderoni” and “Driving Force,” but arguably the strongest cuts on the album were three ballads — “You Have Got To Come To Me,” “Maria” and “Is This For Real” — that displayed O’Bryan’s musical and vocal development.

After a lengthy hiatus, O’Bryan formed his own label, Headstorm, and on Valentine’s Day 2007 released the ballad-driven album F1RST (O’Bryan album). The set derived its name from what O’Bryan calls “the first step of a new musical journey,” highlighted by the songs “Just Like Doin’ It,” “Can I Kiss Your Lips,” “Man Overboard,” “Gotta Let You Go” and “Gratitude.” Longtime fans of the singer welcomed his return and responded to “F1RST” with enthusiastic reviews on music buyer-driven sites such as CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon.

 

Respect Yourself, The Stax Record Story

Posted on: February 3rd, 2014 by tommyj

Месяц афроамериканской истории Интервью, выступления, редкие плёнки из личных архивов артистов, и многое другое, в документальном фильме о величайшем звукозаписывающем лейбле 60-х – “Стакс Рекордз”.