Etta James – Tell Mama

The Radients – Hold On

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• Reading a comment on my blog.  Thank you, Lily. You made my day.
• The sunset out of the office window this afternoon.  Having floor-to-ceiling windows in the office defnitely has its advantages.
• Now, listening to Etta James.

Today’s random photograph:

Another sunset. This one was in Norway, in June 2007.

Most folks when they think of  Etta James think of her classic At Last. That is one of her best, but I also think about her other songs as well.  Today I feel a bit sassy, a bit feisty. So, when this Etta James song popped up on my iTunes, I was thrilled. It fit me perfectly in this moment, and so I thought I would share. The first time I heard I Want To Make Love To You was in a Diet Coke commercial with a male model named Lucky Vanous. Eleven-thirty took on a whole new meaning after this commercial.

That commercial is always the first thing I think of when I hear this, however, I do love the song in its entirety so I am posting that as well. Its fun, its sassy and it’s incredibly sexy. This song just begs you to give the one you love, some good loving!!

Here’s the songs that are topping my playlist this week. As always, a couple of these will be used in the music round on Nov. 18. The link will take you to iTunes to hear a sample of the songs.

• Super Freak – Bruce Hornsby & Ricky Skaggs
• Don’t Wait Up – Diane Birch
• Island in the Sun – Weezer
• You Get What You Give – New Radicals
• Tell Mama – Etta James
• Slow Down Baby – Christina Aguilera

Ya sabemos el significado de “cosmic blues”, comprendemos que su contenido es positivo, cultural y estamos enterados de que es uno de los mejores programas de radio de blues a nivel nacional. A estas alturas, ya debe ser un hábito encender nuestros estéreos cada domingo en punto de las 19 horas para sintonizar el 89.7 del f.m.

Todo esto se debe gracias a los dos años consecutivos de osadía y trabajo arduo para crear conciencia en nuestra radiofonía en la ciudad de Monterrey y su área metropolitana. Sin embargo, a su vez, esto no hubiera sido posible sin el esfuerzo de su conductor, Chester Draven y, por supuesto, de su productor, Ángel Lozano.

“Dos años” se dice fácil, pero seguramente no lo son. Es por esto que el día de hoy, hago una pequeña mención y una gran felicitación y las buenas vibras a estos dos grandes personajes que han conseguido ganarse nuestra simpatía cada fin de semana durante este grato periodo. Este Domingo 15 es el festejo magno de la segunda celebración del blues en su máxima expresión en nuestra ciudad a través de la frecuencia modulada, y para ello, Chester nos amenazó con arrojar la casa (bueno, la cabina) por la ventana y aseguró prepararnos una sorpresa de locos (por cierto, yo también tengo la mía).

Desgraciadamente y por alguna razón inexplicable, no soy digna de decir que vengo escuchando a los máximos exponentes del blues desde el inicio de la transmisión  dominical, pues apenas llevo alrededor de  medio año recopilando información y descubriendo cuan grande el mundo del blues puede llegar a ser. No obstante, he aprovechado cada emisión a tope, al grado de reunir a los artistas que Chester nos ha regalado a lo largo de los últimos 20 programas (aproximadamente).

No puse fecha y es muy probable que el orden de aparición en esta lista no sea correcto, pido una disculpa, pues perdí la orientación. Además, también es posible la ausencia de algunos músicos mencionados en los últimos seis meses, pero si la idea es hacer una colección con lo relevante del blues, el siguiente catalogo esta en muy buena disposición para lograrlo:

Little Walter
Howlin’ Wolf
Miguel Botafogo (Don Vilanova)
Mississippi Blues Band
Texas Blues
Lester Williams
Johnny Copeland
T-bone Walker
Sunset Heights
Howling Wolf
Carey Bell
Sonny Boy Williamson
Victor Uris
Rory Gallagher
Gary Moore
Jonny Lang
Debbie Davies
Rory Block
Deborah Coleman
Ana Popovic
Susan Tedeschi
T44 Blues Band
Albert Collins
Kansas City blues
Robert Johnson
Jeff Beck
Derek Trucks
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Big Mama
Ray Charles
John Ussery
Al Green
Eric Clapton y Babyface
Tracy Chapman y B.E. King
Christina Aguilera y Dr. John
Clarence Gatemouth
Eric Clapton y buddy guy
Jimmy Vaughan
Leann rimes
Quincy Jones
Etta James
John Mellencamp

Así que no se pierdan el programa de mañana, pues promete ser de primera clase y no es para menos, es claro que dos años bluseando no se cumplen todos los días…

ENHORABUENA PARA COSMIC BLUES Y MUCHOS AÑOS MAS DE VIDA PARA EL PROGRAMA!!!

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Rodney Hall (left) with Wilson Pickett (right)

Reaching its half-century mark, the FAME Music Group with offices in Nashville and Muscle Shoals, Alabama remains a family-owned company whose survival as a studio and as an independent publisher–rests heavily on the shoulders of Rodney Hall, president/co-owner of FAME Publishing, House of FAME, and Muscle Shoals Records.Hall, who is also the studio’s manager/engineer, has spent years at the complex supervising demos to masters of such artists as Alabama, Marie Osmond, Clarence Carter, Jason Isbell, Drive-By-Truckers, Bettye Lavette, Russell Smith and others.He also oversees the catalogs of FAME Publishing (BMI), and House of FAME (ASCAP).

FAME—its name derived from the acronym for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises—was founded in 1959 by Rodney’s father Rick, along with Billy Sherrill, and Tom Stafford. Its in-house writers, Hall, Sherrill, and Dan Penn soon wrote songs that were covered by such artists as Roy Orbison, Brenda Lee, and Tommy Roe before Hall assumed sole ownership of the firm.A native of Freedom Hills in Franklin County, Alabama, Rick Hall rose from a humble background to come to the Shoals’ region in the late 1950s. By 1960, he had moved FAME across the Tennessee River to Muscle Shoals.In 1961, Hall produced Arthur Alexander’s breathtaking “You Better Move On” at an old abandoned tobacco and candy warehouse. Issued by Dot Records, the single reached #24 on Billboard’s pop chart. “You Better Move On” was later covered by the Rolling Stones, the Hollies, George Jones & Johnny Paycheck, and Mink DeVille. Alexander’s follow-up hit “Anna” was later covered by the Beatles.

The first song recorded at FAME’s Avalon Avenue studio location, and the first release on the FAME label (after sitting on the shelf for three years), was Jimmy Hughes’ signature hit, “Steal Away.” It reached #17 on Billboard’s R&B and pop charts in 1964.The FAME label roster would grow to include Clarence Carter, Dan Penn, Arthur Conley, Mac Davis, Paul Anka, and Candi Staton.World renowned for creating “The Muscle Shoals Sound”–along with such powerhouse studio players as Norbert Putnam, Spooner Oldham, Jerry Carrigan, Earl “Peanut” Montgomery, Terry Thompson, David Briggs, Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, Eddie Hinton, David Hood, Jimmy Johnson and others–Hall has attracted and worked with an astonishing number of great acts to his FAME studio.

Lynard Skynard’s “Sweet Alabama” famously paid tribute to the region’s musicians“Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers And they’ve been known to pick a song or two,Lord they get me off so much,they pick me up when I’m feeling blue, now how about you”?Among those who have made the trek to the FAME studio are Aretha Franklin (her sole session there yielded her breakthrough“I Never Loved A Man”that the band Aersosmith released 4 years ago on their album”Honkin on Bobo”,an unfinished version of “Do Right Woman Do Right Man”,Wilson Pickett,Etta James,Otis Redding,Joe Tex,the Staple Singers,the Tams,the Osmonds,Tom Jones,as well as such country acts as the Gatlin Brothers,Jerry Reed,T.G. Sheppard,Shenandoah and many others.It was Hall who,after catching guitarist Duane Allman playing a session with his band Hour Glass,hired him to play on Pickett’s 1969 album,“Hey Jude” (1969). Allman was then quickly hired on as a full-time session player.While at FAME only less than a year,Allman was featured on releases by Clarence Carter,King Curtis,Otis Rush,Ronnie Hawkins,Percy Sledge,Johnny Jenkins,Boz Scaggs,and jazz flautist Herbie Mann.

Along the way,Hall’s publishing companies FAME Publishing and Rick Hall Music signed writers like Walt Aldridge and Tommy Brasfield who scored country hits with Ronnie Milsap,Earl Thomas Conley,Alabama,and Ricky Van Shelton.After selling the publishing rights to songs in the FAME Publishing and Rick Hall Music catalogs to EMI Music Publishing in 1989,Hall began to rebuild his publishing interests with his three sons,Rodney,Mark,and Rick Jr.FAME Publishing and Rick Hall Music continued to have hits throughout the ’90s.Writers,including Walt Aldridge,Gary Baker,Mark Narmore,Brad Crisler,Bruce Miller,Tony Colton,and Mark Hall had songs recorded by John Michael Montgomery,Pam Tillis,Blackhawk,Tim McGraw,Reba McEntire,All 4 One and Shenandoah.In 1996,Mark Hall co wrote “I Like It I Love It” which reached #1 on the Billboard country charts.In 1999,Rick Hall sold chunks of FAME Publishing,and Rick Hall Music to Los Angeles-based publisher Music and Media.Rodney and Mark Hall then bought the unrecorded songs,and assets of the two publishing companies from their father Rick,and renamed Rick Hall Music as House of FAME.Afterwards,FAME began to replenish its writing staff with a batch of new young writers.Today,it’s roster includes James LeBlanc and his son Dylan,Jason Isbell,Gary Nichols,former“Nashville Star”winner Angela Hacker,and members of the Mobile,Alabama band,Ugly Stick.In the past decade,FAME has had songs recorded by the Dixie Chicks,Tim McGraw,Leann Rimes,Reba McEntire,Rascal Flatts,George Strait,Jason Aldean,Joe Diffie,Martina McBride,Travis Tritt,Sara Evans,Aaron Tippin,Billy Ray Cyrus,Alabama,John Michael Montgomery,Chris Ledoux, Rebecca Lynn Howard,Kenny Chesney,Gary Allan,and Bo Bice.In 2001,Rodney Hall established the subsidiary label, Muscle Shoals Records which has released albums by Russell Smith,James LeBlanc,and the Muscle Shoals band the Decoys.

There are currently many up and coming rising stars & inspiring songwriters based out of Muscle Shoals,Alabama & surrounding areas that are paving their way into the Music Industry.Some which are making not only local headlines but National headlines and I would’nt be surprised at all if a few of them becomes the next history hit makers from Muscle Shoals Alabama.While reading this article,Soundbitenew’s conducted a quick search on the area and let’s just say we’ve been more than inspired. We’ve been knocked off of our feet with information that’s not in this article. So we will be bringing you more stories and hopefully a few of our own candid interviews from other Muscle Shoals artist very soon.One duo group specifically called ”State Line Mob” has already agreed for an article,so they can tell their side of the legacy and talk about their music that seems to keep growing called “The Muscle shoals Sound”!

 This concludes part 1 of this article. Part 2 below this article will include an candid one on one up to date interview with Rodney Hall of Fame Recording Studio and Fame Music Group.You don’t want to miss reading it!

Credits: The ENCORE Digital Weekly Magazine  , revised by Soundbitenews                                                                             taken from the original article posted by Larry LeBlanc

We hope you enjoyed part 1 of the Fame Music Group article as much as we did.So now we begin with part 2 of the artcicle,Rodney Hall of Fame Music group speaks out,in this very recent candid interview.

As a company, you have a strong brand name.

Absolutely. We really have two brand names, FAME and we have Muscle Shoals. We’ve come to the conclusion that the Muscle Shoals brand is probably bigger than the FAME brand. Just because it is a bit more famous. Lynyrd Skynard didn’t say “FAME’s got the Swampers.” (in “Sweet Home Alabama.”) They said “Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers”.

How did you come to work at the studio?

When I was younger, I would come in and do odd jobs. After I graduated, I got a masters from (University of) Alabama in business, and I went to work in Huntsville (Alabama) selling computers for a corporate computer company. We sold to NASA, and The Boeing Company. The 486 computer had just come out, and it was screaming (selling well). It’s a funny story today, but I sold a 486 computer to NASA for $20,000. It had a gigabyte of hard drive, 4 Megs of RAM on the video card and, maybe, 12 or 16 Megs on the RAM. Now, you couldn’t even give that away.

I’m surprised with your business degree that your dad didn’t seek you out to work in the family business. At that point, he was busy producing country acts like Shenandoah and T.G. Sheppard.

When I got out of college, the last thing I wanted to do was go to work for my family.

Well, it’s often hard for someone to work for their father.

Especially, if he’s mine.

Those stories of your dad being pugnacious are true?

He’s definitely one of a kind. He’s got his own way of doing things. That’s the way he wants it done. Of course, a lot of that (attitude) has changed over the years.

How did you jump from selling computers back to Muscle Shoals in 1990?

I was doing well selling computers, but I wasn’t very happy doing it. I was sitting an hour away (in Huntsville) thinking, “My family has a world famous business, and that is what I want to do, if I can just put up with the whole family business thing.” One day, I just said, “I’m going to try it.” (The music business) is what my passion is. Even though I was making good money selling computers, it was not what I wanted to do the rest of my life.

Did you then have to establish ground rules of conduct with you dad?

I’m doing that now (laughing). At the time, my brother Mark was in Nashville, and he was pitching songs for us. We needed someone to come back here and take the reins. Mark didn’t want to move back to Muscle Shoals. So, I went ahead and made the plunge.

You didn’t sit down with your dad and say, “I will come if…..”?

Well, we had some of those conversations. At that time, he wasn’t in every day. He was kind of doing his own thing. He had just sold the publishing catalog to EMI, and we were rebuilding the catalog. So, it was a good time to get into it. He produced Alabama in 2000, and he did some things that never came out. He did some things with Marie Osmond on Curb that never came out. He did Vern Gosdin, Billy Joe Royal and other things. The real big act that he was working with was Shenandoah.

Muscle Shoals had once seriously challenged Memphis’ claim to be the capital of southern soul. But the glory days had gone by the time you returned.

Oh, the glory days were definitely gone. And I knew that. I knew that it was going to be up to me to rebuild (the business), and keep it going. I looked around, and everybody in Muscle Shoals was 10 or 15 years older than me, at best. Some were even older than that. There weren’t many up-and-coming talents around at that point. I think a lot of that was the fact that (our company) had gotten so big. It was a little different back in those days. It was a closed door situation. It wasn’t like you could walk over here and play someone a song.

Nashville, two hours away, had become the draw for young songwriters and musicians throughout the south.

Absolutely.

Muscle Shoals isn’t Nashville.

Leaving (Nashville), I can’t wait to see the city limits sign in my rear-view mirror. They’ll chase their tail there (trying to come up with hits). It’s “Oh, we have to write a song for Taylor Swift.” By the time, the writers get the song written, demoed, and get it to her, she’s gone onto something else.I think the thing about Muscle Shoals is that we don’t put boundaries on people like Nashville does. A song has to have this or has to have that there. We just do what we like, and what we feel. We don’t worry about whether it’s country or rock and roll or whatever. We just make music that we like.

Memphis is the blues center; Nashville is a country center; but Muscle Shoals is part of the triangle with both soul and country.

We say that it’s “The crossroads of country rock and soul.” There’s a little bit of all of that mixed in whatever we do. No matter what we are doing, whether we are doing country or whatever, we feel that there is a thread of soul there.

George Jones recently said that new country stars have stolen country’s music’s identity. He said they should find their own genre name.

I know what George was talking about, but I think that it is also just evolution. You go look at who was considered pop in the ‘50s and ‘60s, artists like the Lettermen and Dion. All that was pop then, but what they call pop now doesn’t resemble that.I think there’s a market for a music that is not country, but has some country feel to it. Everybody throws (such acts) into the Americana (format) which is never going to work until they go to a singles’ driven market because you can’t get any kind of grip at radio or anywhere else. There’s nobody playing the same songs.

It’s a shame that Delbert McClinton, Lucinda Williams or Roseanne Cash aren’t heard more on mainstream radio when their music is so popular with a segment of the population.

It’s the same thing with soul music. People love Wilson Pickett. They love that kind of music but nobody’s making it because there’s no way to make money on it anymore.

Have you heard Rod Stewart’s “Soulbook” album? It’s quite good.

I bet it is. He’s a singing fool. Always has been. I was a huge Rod Stewart fan with “Maggie May” and all of that. I hated his “American Songbook” series. But, he sold a bunch of them.

What’s happening with the FAME label?

We will probably be doing more records, but they will likely be on Muscle Shoals Records, and not on FAME. Digital is the way to go now. If you press up any CDs, a thousand is the most you need to press, most likely, unless you are going to get into Wal-Mart, which you are not.

The radio promotion game is too expensive to play.

We tried that on the James LeBlanc record. You spend $75,000 promoting one single. You can’t do it.

Your dad sold off the catalogs of FAME Publishing and Rick Hall Music to EMI in 1989, but he didn’t sell the studio.

No. The publishing side he sold to EMI in ’89, and then we rebuilt the catalog and sold it to Billy Meshel (CEO & owner, Music & Media International) in 1999. Dad never sold the studio. I don’t know of another studio that has been owned by the same owner for 50 years and is still in business.

Look at the recording studios that closed their doors during that period, like The Record Plant.

I know. Over the past 10 years, studio owners have been gnashing their teeth, and going under. We’ve had that (tight economic) situation for 25 years. We are used to it. We branched out long ago. We still do a lot of studio work. We just hired Tom Swift, who used to work at The Record Plant, as chief engineer. We long ago realized that we had to use the studio as a tool to build our publishing and production companies up rather than trying to make a living on the studio. That’s just not a possibility anymore.

[Tom “Swifty” Swift has won two Grammy Awards and worked with Eric Clapton, Don Henley, AC/DC, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, B.B. King, and Tania Maria. He has also worked on several soundtracks including "The Color Of Money,” "Postcards from the Edge,” and "Let's Spend the Night Together-Rolling Stones."]

Today, it’s tough to own a studio when so many producers have home studios with Pro Tools, and labels are hardly signing anymore.I know. It’s a scary time. However, we are in the process of revamping everything here, including upgrading our Pro Tools to HD. We have to hire some new people. We think that when the business is down that is the time to take advantage of opportunities. There’s a lot of talented people out there who are looking for gigs.

Over the years, have you collected much obsolete studio equipment?

I’ve got a roomful of stuff–ADATs, and DATs (recorders). We probably have every piece of studio equipment that has come along over the past 30 years. Even something like a Rhodes (electric) piano, every keyboard in the world today has a Rhodes’ sound on it, usually as good as the Rhodes. The only two things I have found that a synthesizer can’t emulate is a (Hammond) B-3 organ, and a Wurlitzer.

How many people work for the company?

On the studio side, we have three. On the publishing side, there’s five, including Steve Williams in Nashville. He was A&R head at Arista Records (Nashville) for years. We have 10 writers.

Do you have any access to the former FAME catalogs held by EMI Music?

No. I once went to them, and pitched the idea of letting us work the catalog and give us a piece of anything we got cut. They told me that they don’t do that kind of stuff. So (the publishing) sits there. It makes me sick to my stomach.

What was sold to Music & Media International in 1999?

That was the catalog that was built afterwards (1989-1999). We didn’t sell the entire catalog. We just sold what (songs that) had been recorded.

You then rebuilt the roster?

Exactly. With all new people that we signed. We basically gave them an opportunity.Very little in the way of advances. None of them had ever had a cut before or even a hold before they came here. Now, they are all doing well.

How many copyrights does the company have?

It’s a good size catalog with about 3,000 songs. The thing is that what we did in 1999 was that we sold only the songs that had generated income. So, we kept the catalogs on a lot of big writers that we had over the past 20 years.

How active are you in the day-to-day of the company’s publishing?

I am very active daily.I work with the writers.I work with the guys in Nashville.I pitch songs.I sign writers.So I am very,very active in it.I also produce and engineer (in the studio) some. But everything has changed so much that it is hard to keep up (with the technology).It is insane trying to keep up with Pro Tools, and all of the updates (on equipment).

Who are your writers?

We have James LeBlanc and his son Dylan. He’s 19-years-old, and he’s going to be a superstar. We’ve got Jason Isbell who was one of the Drive-By-Truckers for several years (2001-2007). Now, he’ a solo act (with accompanying band, The 400 Unit] who was up for Americana Music Album of the year (for “Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit”) this year. We’ve got Gary Nichols, who is a writer/artist with a James Otto cut out now (“Your Good Thing Has Gone Bad”), another cut on Bo Bice (“Ain’t Gonna Die”) and a few others. We have Angela Hacker, who won (USA Network talent show) “Nashville Star” two years ago.We’ve got Ugly Stick, which is a funk hip hop kind of a band. We also have two or three up and comers that are on their way.

You’ve recently have had some good covers.

Yeah, we had two hits this past year with James LeBlanc and Matt Warren scoring two cuts (“Learning How to Bend” and Yesterday’s Rain”) on Gary Allan’s “Living Hard” CD; and James LeBlanc and John Paul White wrote the title cut of Jason Aldean’s CD (“Relentless”). We’ve got three cuts on the Rascal Flatts’ CD (“Feels Like Today”).

Most of the songwriters you’ve worked with in the past decade, other than Canadians Victoria Banks and Bruce Miller, seem to be local writers.

Some are; some aren’t. It is probably about half and half. The LeBlancs are from Shreveport (Louisiana); Jason Isbell, Gary Nichols, and Angela Hacker are locals; and Ugly Stick are from Mobile (Alabama). For the most part, we are drawing from within the region.We had Tony Colton writing for us for awhile. He’s from the U.K. He was in Heads, Hands & Feet.They had that song “Country Boy” (by group members Colton, Albert Lee, and Ray Smith) that was not really a country song when they did it, but Ricky Skaggs covered it. Tony came over here (to the U.S.) to accept the Song of the Year Award, and never left. (Canadian) Bruce Miller had a cut (“Once You’ve Loved Somebody” with Thom McHugh) on the first Dixie Chicks’ album (“Wide Open Spaces”) that sold 15 million copies, and he had a hit single on Reba McEntire with “Fear of Being Alone” (co-written with Walt Aldridge).

At what age did you begin coming into the studio?

I was coming up here when I was a kid all of the time. Just hanging out, and playing in the baffles. We had these great baffles that were about 12 feet high. Some of them had windows, and some had doors. You could put them together and make little club houses. I was hanging out here but, at that point in time, my dad didn’t want us up here too much. There were some strange people hanging around here, like Duane Allman and other long-haired people.Probably,I was about 12 when I really started hanging around up here.I would come up here in the summer, and stuff records in envelopes and help the secretary ship them out.

You never were in the original studio?

No. It was torn down. I don’t remember seeing that building standing. Wilson Dam Highway was still standing when I was kid. Every time we would drive up my dad would say, “There’s my first studio.”

Were you aware by high school of what you dad was doing and how well known he was in the music business?

In high school? Oh, yeah, I knew. It’s a little different here probably than other places. In the ‘70s here, it was still a very small town, and we had very few hotels. A Holiday Inn and a Howard Johnson’s (hotel). So most of the (people) coming to the studio would stay at our house. I was hanging out, and listening to my dad talk to (Atlantic Records co-head) Jerry Wexler and talking to all of these guys who would come from all over the world. I had a pretty good grasp of what was going on by the time I was in my teens, simply because I got to spend a lot of time with him.I was 8 or 9 when the Osmonds came here. So that was big.

[In 1970, Curb Records’ head Mike Curb brought his new young act, the Osmonds to FAME where they recorded a string of hits including “One Bad Apple,” “Yo-Yo,” and “Down By The Lazy River.” Donny Osmond also recorded several solo albums at FAME.]

The Osmonds were regulars on Andy Williams TV show in the ‘60s. By the time they started to record at FAME, they were very popular.That was the only time we had to have a security guard at the studio. They were the Backstreet Boys of the ‘70s. I remember that Donny came over to our house once when they were taking a break. Him and my brother got on bikes and rode around the block. By the time they got back, there were girls chasing Donny. He was only 12 or 13. it was early on (in their careers).

The Osmonds have been here off and on for their entire careers. The brothers came here in the late ‘80s, and did a country record. It was kind of funny because you’d be out in the yard playing football with them, and it was funny to hear them arguing a little bit, “Dang you, Wayne.”

Marie Osmond recorded at FAME as well.

Well, I’ve known Marie pretty much my whole life. She recorded here when she was about 16. She did the album “This Is The Way That I Feel” here (in 1976). It didn’t do very well. It was when she was trying to go pop a little bit more. She’s a sweetheart. All of the Osmonds are. They are exactly what you see.

Working at the studio was a summer job for you and your brothers?

When it was raining, it was. When it wasn’t raining, our summer job was working on the ranch taking care of cattle, bush hogging (cutting pastures with a large mower attached to a tractor), mowing, and hauling hay. The ranch was about 15 minutes south from the studio.

When you are only young, 15 minutes by car anywhere is another world.

We moved out there when I was 12. it was hard. All of the sudden, I went from living right in the middle of town, literally three minutes from the studio, with all of my friends to a really isolated area. We had 1,500 acres, and we were right in the middle of it.

It was a working farm?

Oh yeah. It was a working cattle ranch. We raised our own food. The whole bit. My dad wanted us to be raised the way he was raised. He grew up very poor. His dad was a sharecropper, and a saw miller. He was a vagabond kind of guy who went from place to place, wherever he could figure out a way he could raise his kids and make some money.

You have two brothers?

Mark is in the music industry, and Rick is an attorney. I am the youngest. Mark is co-owner of our company, and he’s also a songwriter. He co-wrote a big Tim McGraw hit “I Like It, I Love It” in the ‘90s.

You being the youngest, everything fell on you?

Pretty much. They all left (home). I was still out there on the farm bush hogging and hauling hay as they went off to college having fun. But, it was a good experience for me. (Working on the farm) is something that I can never replace. I can do a lot of things that my friends can’t do. Like raising my own garden, and changing a tractor tire. We didn’t do a lot with the horses (we had). We ended up getting rid of them because we never rode ‘em. We were too much into sports to do that kind of stuff.

Were you any good in sports?

Yeah, I was a good baseball player.

What music did you listen to growing up? Were you a fan of R&B, rock, or country?

I was a little bit fan of all of it. I liked rock. I liked R&B and I even liked some dance stuff. I listened to a lot of country in my teen years. Mostly Randy Travis, Alabama, Clint Black, Hank Williams Jr. and, more importantly, demos of our great songwriters like Walt Aldridge, Robert Byrne, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Tommy Brasfield, and George Jackson.

You didn’t listen to any music that made your dad crazy?

He wasn’t crazy about my Kiss collection. He figured if you had to put make-up on, you didn’t have talent. He wasn’t crazy about Judas Priest either. I was really into the Eagles, and Toto. The Doobie Brothers were my number one band when I was growing up, from the time of “Black Water” (in 1974). I went back and bought their older albums. I was a fan all of the way through until Michael McDonald left.

Did you listen much to the records your dad recorded?

I listened to a lot of his records because I got ‘em free. But I loved them too. I have my favorites that he did. My favorites are (Wilson) Pickett “Land of a Thousand Dances,” “Mustang Sally,” “Funky Broadway,” and “Hey Jude.” That (Duane Allman) guitar solo on “Hey Jude” still gives me chills. And, I liked “Fancy” by Bobby Gentry.

It was the Wild West in the music business in the ‘60s. Producers and production companies had to beg labels to pay them.

Oh yeah, I’ve got hand-written letters here from my dad begging Vee-Jay to pay him for some Jimmy Hughes releases. It was right as Vee-Jay going under. He couldn’t get them to pay. The good news is that they gave him back the masters instead of paying him.

Your dad worked with various labels. including Chess Records. Etta James recorded “Tell Mama” at FAME in 1967 with your dad as producer.

Absolutely. She recorded “Tell Mama,” “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and “Security” here. That “Tell Mama” album was done here. There are some good stories around that. Leonard Chess came down with some friends.. My dad says they all went to the Howard Johnson’s and played cards all day while (the musicians) were cutting the session. From what dad says, he had to pretty much make Etta sing “Tell Mama.” She didn’t want to sing it. It ended up being one of her biggest hits. Later on, she thanked him.

[“Tell Mama” was written by Clarence Carter and published by FAME Publishing.]

FAME wasn’t always credited for the outside production done there. Stax recordings by the Staple Singers, and Otis Redding, for instance.

You go to the Stax Museum today in Memphis, and you’d think everything was recorded over there. A bunch of their big records were cut here with our rhythm section, including (The Staple Singers’) “I’ll Take You There,” and Let’s Do It Again.”Looking back at the quantity of material that came out of Muscle Shoals, not just at this studio, but the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Wishbone Studio (where Hank Williams Jr., the Commodores, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, Thelma Houston, the Temptations recorded) and all of them, it is pretty astonishing, especially with the technology at the time. Man, I’m still running across records from here all of the time. I didn’t know until this past year that Laura Lee’s “Dirty Man” (released by Chess Records in 1967) was cut here. It really is phenomenal the amount of material, and hit material that came out of here.

With the former FAME studio guys leaving, and opening up Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, it was pretty competitive for awhile.

Oh yeah. They had a good run for about 10 years. They did some Rod Stewart stuff. The Rolling Stones recorded there.

The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was in Sheffield, Alabama.

Yeah, that’s always been (an issue) between all of the (studio) guys. At 65 or 70, they are still arguing, “How could the guys from Muscle Shoals be the Muscle Shoals Rhythm section if they were in Sheffield?” And Jerry Carrigan, Norbert Putnam and all of the early guys will argue, “We were the first Muscle Shoals rhythm section.”

Do Muscle Shoals’ city officials appreciate the music legacy there?

No. It’s amazing. They have no clue. They don’t get it at all. There have been some big power players from the state (government) come in and point out to them, “Hey, you’ve got this music thing that you could tie tourism to.” And, the city is starting to look at that. The Alabama Hall of Fame is here, and the W.C. Handy home is in Florence.

Will you be celebrating being in business for a half-century?

This is our 50th year in business, going back to the drug store with the publishing. In 2011, it will be our 50th year since “You Better Move On” which was the first hit. That’s when we are going to celebrate. We want to put together some shows, and have some major artists come in, and sit in with the rhythm section. That’s something, we will be working on for the next couple of years.

Larry LeBlanc who conducted this interview was the Canadian bureau chief of Billboard from 1991-2007 and Canadian editor of Record World from 1970-89. He was also a co-founder of the late Canadian music trade, The Record. He has been quoted on music industry issues in hundreds of publications including Time, Forbes, the London Times and the New York Times.

Soundbitenews looks forward to bringing you our own Exclusive one on one interviews with some of the best new talent from the Muscle Shoals,Alabama. The rich history of this area & the new rising talent has inspired us so much,that we hope to inspire you next. The duo group State Line Mob has agreed for an soundbitenews interview. Hold on to your seats.It’s gonna be a ride,literally.           Yee hawww!

Credits: The ENCORE Digital Weekly Magazine , revised by soundbitenews taken from the original article posted by Larry LeBlanc. 

… sem mais nada a acrescentar…

I mentioned the other day my abiding love of sports. As strong as that affection is, it took a while to develop. While I’d enjoyed watching St. Cloud State football when I was quite young – nine or ten years old – I hadn’t had any great passion for sports at the time. We went as a family to St. Cloud State basketball games – the Huskies had a very good small college team for most of the 1960s – and went occasionally across town to see the local minor league baseball team, the St. Cloud Rox. (And given the history of granite quarrying in the St. Cloud’s area, that has to be one of the great team nicknames of all time!) I enjoyed all of it, but it wasn’t a focal point of my life.

I’ve never figured out why, but that changed in September 1967. One of the reflections of that change, of my new-found interest in sports and competition, was my request – granted rapidly – to subscribe to Sports Illustrated. The first edition I got showed Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals on the cover, as the Cardinals were facing the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. The writing was crisp and clear, the photos were remarkable, and the magazine covered a wide variety of sports, including some things that I’d never considered as sport: Dog shows, chess, yachting. I absorbed it all, and it fueled the metamorphosis in me from casual fan to informed fan.

Why write about that metamorphosis today? Because of a confluence of events and anniversaries.

A man named Earsell Mackbee died Monday in Vallejo, California, ten days after being transferred there on a medical plane from a hospital in Minneapolis. Vallejo was where Mackbee grew up, and gravely ill as he was, he wanted to die at home. He got his wish, through the help of friends and the help of his former colleagues in the National Football League.

Mackbee was a defensive back for the Minnesota Vikings for five years, from 1965 through 1969. As I was learning about pro football in the fall of 1967 – through Sports Illustrated and through the Minneapolis and St. Cloud evening papers – Mackbee’s name was one that I recognized. Most likely because it was a different name – I knew no kids named Earsell – and also, I would guess, because he played a position that occasionally put him in the spotlight, whether for a lapse that resulted in a big play for the opponent or for a good play that benefitted the Vikings. He wasn’t an anonymous lineman, and one heard his name relatively frequently while watching the Vikings on television.

So Mackbee’s name – he wore jersey No. 46, I think – was one that I knew on a chilly Sunday in November 1967 – forty-two years ago tomorrow – when my dad and I set out from St. Cloud to go see the Vikings play the Detroit Lions. The tickets were ridiculously cheap by today’s standard: Five dollars each. (It’s good to keep inflation in mind, though. An online calculator tells me that what cost five dollars in 1967 would now cost almost thirty-two dollars.) And Dad and I settled into our seats in the front row of the second deck.

The Vikings and the Lions tied that afternoon, 10-10. The Vikings’ only touchdown came when Earsell Mackbee picked up a fumble and returned it fifty-five yards. It was one of two touchdowns he scored during his NFL career.

That game against the Lions and Mackbee’s touchdown have crossed my mind occasionally over the past forty-two years, but the memories came back with a rush ten days ago, when I saw in the Minneapolis newspaper the news story about Mackbee being flown to California to die. There was a twinge of sorrow, but even stronger – and I think Mackbee would have liked this – was a flash of memory, a vision of the purple-clad Earsell Mackbee carrying the ball into the end zone on a grey November day in 1967.

A Six-Pack from November 1967
“Incense and Peppermints” by the Strawberry Alarm Clock
“Stag-O-Lee” by Wilson Pickett
“Tell Mama” by Etta James
“Lady Bird” by Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood
“Like An Old Time Movie” by Scott McKenzie
“Desiree” by the Left Bank

“Incense & Peppermints,” as I’ve likely said here before, is one of those records that powerfully bring back a time and place: I’m in the gym at South Junior High in St. Cloud during the last few minutes of the lunch period, and the rest of the guys and I are watching the girls dance to the Strawberry Alarm Clock. I imagine I’ve posted the song before, too, but it’s such a good single, at least to these ears, that I can’t help myself. The record peaked at No. 1.

The Wilson Pickett record is one of multiple versions of a song that’s been sliding around America for more than a hundred years, titled as “Stagger Lee,” “Stag-O-Lee,” “Stacker Lee” and more. (The two earliest versions I have were recorded in 1927: “Billy Lyons & Stack O’Lee” by Furry Lewis and “Stackalee” by Frank Hutchinson.) Pickett’s version, which went to No. 22, is pretty good, but it’s difficult for any R&B performer to top the 1959 version by Lloyd Price. (There seems to be some confusion about the exact title of Pickett’s recording: the Billboard chart and All-Music Guide have the title as “Stagger Lee,” while Joel Whitburn’s Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits has it as “Stag-O-Lee.” I’ve gone with Whitburn.

Etta James’ “Tell Mama” came out of sessions that took place in Muscle Shoals in 1967 and 1968. Those sessions provided James with her last two Top 40 hits: “Tell Mama” went to No. 23, and the Otis Redding-penned “Security” went to No. 35 in the spring of 1968. “Tell Mama” is a hard-hitting piece of Southern soul, and the entire Tell Mama album is worth a listen or two. (The album was released a few years ago in a remastered version with ten additional tracks from the sessions.)

“Lady Bird” is one of those odd and evocative singles that Lee Hazlewood wrote and produced for Nancy Sinatra, sometimes – as in this case – singing on the record as well. Maybe it’s just me, but when I hear one of those Hazlewood-produced records, it’s like being for a few moments in a mildly alternate universe: Things are just a little off-kilter but they still seem to all somehow make sense. It’s an interesting place to be for a short time. The record went to No. 20.

When a singer’s previous record was “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair),” what the heck do you do for a follow-up? In the case of Scott McKenzie, you go back into the studio with John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and record another one of Phillips’ songs. “Like An Old Time Movie” was the result, and it’s not a bad single. It’s got a decent lyric although McKenzie oversings it at points. It got to No. 24, and, as McKenzie’s second hit, it’s the only thing keeping him from being a One-Hit Wonder, as he never got into the Top 40 again.

“Desiree” was another attempt by the Left Bank to replicate the success of the group’s 1966 hit, “Walk Away Renee.” It’s not bad, but the vocals sound thin at times, especially given the busy backing they have to contend with. The record was newly listed in the November 11, 1967, Billboard as one of the songs bubbling under the Hot 100. By the next week, it was gone.

(I think these are all the single versions and I’ve tagged them as such, but I’m frankly not sure: Some of these might be album tracks. Whichever they are, the single versions were all in the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 11, 1967.)

Beyonce discusses a bit of her career, and singing Etta James’ signature song at the inaguration

Un film. O poveste. Sentimente. Doi oameni. Despărțiti dar împreună, împreună dar departe. 500. Zile. Ale ei. Cu ea…

O melodie. Pătrunde adânc în suflet. O ador. Îmi aduce aminte de trecut…

Allem Casting-Krempel zum Trotz gibt es zum Glück immer wieder Newcomer, die beweisen, dass es trotz häufiger akustisch-musikalischer Unfälle keinen Grund gibt vom Glauben abzufallen, sondern einem den Ölzweig reichen und mit dem Musikbusiness versöhnen: Paloma Faith legt ein überzeugendes Debut-Album hin.

Wie, billige Kalauer? Also bitte! Erstens sollte der geneigte Leser dieses Blog(zine)s dahingehend schon abgehärtet sein, zweitens wäre ich nicht ich, wenn ich solche Vorlagen nicht sicher nach Hause bringen würde, und drittens ist die Assoziation »Hans Albers« und »Reeperbahn« gar nicht so weit ab vom Schuss – immerhin war unsere Protagonistin (dieses schöne Wort habe ich mal bei dem wohl skurrilsten Gig meiner Barpianisten-Karriere aufgeschnappt) schon als Performerin in Burlesque-Shows tätig oder ließ sich als Assistentin eines Magiers in zwei Hälften sägen. Na, das riecht doch schon mächtig nach »Rampensau Deluxe«…

Zuallererst mal aber ein ganz GROSSES Dankeschön an Jule, denn sie hat mich überhaupt von der Existenz dieser Künstlerin in Kenntnis gesetzt. Ich muss zugeben: Rein optisch wurden da bei mir gleich mal Erinnerungen an die wunderbare Kate Pierson wach. Von deren Organ unterscheidet sich Paloma Faith zwar schon, ist stimmlich aber alles andere als ein »Windei«, sie hat das, was man gemeinhin als »schwarze Stimme« bezeichnet. Sieht man ihr so nicht ohne Weiteres an, was da raus kommt.

Toll toupierte Tolle – Kate Pierson läßt grüßen ©Alice Hawkins/Paloma Faith Official Press Photos

Dafür umso mehr, dass es sich bei ihr vielleicht nicht lediglich um ein weiteres Major-Modepüppchen handelt. Allein das Art-Deco-mässige Cover ihres Debut-Albums läßt auf ihr Faible für 20er/30er/40er-Jahre schließen sowie auf einen gewissen schrägen Humor. Auch scheint Paloma Faith selbst dem ein oder anderen Wortspiel nicht abgeneigt zu sein. Auf diesem ironischen »Heiligenbildchen« ist alles versammelt: Glaube, Taube, Liebe…und die Hoffnung schimmert im Hintergrund auch noch durch. Und ein Heizkörper. Und überhaupt Frau Faith höchstpersönlich –  eine im besten Sinne »komische Heilige«: Gleich aus »Alice im Wunderland« oder einer 30er-Jahre-Revue entsprungen, wirkt sie mit ihrer Ausstrahlung und den beiden Tauben-Tattoos auf Rücken und Schulter wie eine Pin-up-Kreuzung aus Judy Garland und Betty Page. Toll!

Paloma Faith – Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? (2009)

Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? – schon der Titel des Albums lässt den Liebhaber des schwarzen Humors wie mich schmunzeln (auch wenn ich trotz allem doch zu den Menschen gehöre, die die Schönheit der Wahrheit dennoch am meisten schätzen). Mit ihrem Anti-Drogen-Song »Stone Cold Sober« hat sie gleich einen Kracher als Opener platziert, wo sie zeigt was sie kann und was den Hörer erwartet. Und neben einer wirklich durchgehend sehr guten Performance sind das einfach ausnahmlos gut geschriebene und arrangierte Songs. Punkt. Mit ausgefeilten und eingängigen Melodien und auch guten Texten, von traurig-überraschend (»New York«) bis witzig (»Romance Is Dead« – wobei ich persönlich den eigentlich gar nicht so lustig finde, sich Mühe geben, kümmern und kreativ sein lohnt sich nämlich nicht, wird nicht geschätzt und bringt nix und überhaupt *grummel*)

Wie schon gesagt, hat Paloma Faith ein ausgeprägtes Faible für vergangene Dekaden, Show, Theater, Kino (immerhin ist sie ja auch selbst ab und zu als Schauspielerin unterwegs, aktuell im neuen Film von Terry Gilliam), und man nimmt ihr die Rolle als Zeremonienmeisterin, die grosse Geste problemlos ab. Es liegt ihr einfach, wirkt nicht nur gepost, sondern natürlich. Und die Retro-Zitate sind schlüssig: Dinge wie der Charleston bei »Upside Down« sind witzig, aber absolut stimmig und wirken nicht aufgesetzt. Man fühlt sich beim Hören des Öfteren in das Auditorium einer klassischen Musical-Revue versetzt (z.B. bei »Broken Doll«), was nicht zuletzt auch an eingesetzten Instrumenten wie Harfe oder Celesta liegt. Überhaupt, die Streicher- bzw. Orchesterarragements – ganz grosses Kino! Egal ob gefühlvoll oder verspielt (so dass man sich wirklich ein bisschen wie »Alice im Wunderland« fühlt) oder auch mit ungewöhnlichen Effekten oder einem typischen »Agentensound« (»Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?«): die Arrangements sind ausgefeilt, geschmack- sowie effektvoll und nicht zuletzt gut eingespielt. Soll man ja nicht vergessen. Ebensowenig wie die tollen Backgroundsätze.

Mal Hase statt Taube ©Robert Erdmann/Paloma Faith Official MySpace

Ok, Retro ist in, vor allem auf der Insel. Und natürlich wurden schon die erwarteten Vergleiche zu Amy Winehouse (gab es eigentlich schon jemals jemanden, bei dem der Name SO deutlich Programm war?) und Duffy gezogen. Allerdings greift das meiner Meinung nach nicht. Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? ist nicht eine weitere 60ies-Soul-Revival (bzw. Rip-off)-Scheibe. Wir haben es hier mit einem durchaus modernen Pop-Album zu tun, hier wurde schon auch programmiert, der ein oder andere Synthie oder Drumloops eingesetzt. Doch obwohl man hier also schon etwas »urban-mässig« arrangiert und abgemischt hat, geht es auch nicht in eine Richtung wie etwa Christina Aguilera’s Back To Basics-Album – und vor allem lässt sich Paloma Faith nicht auf nervige Melismen-Exzesse ein! Ihr nehme ich die Vorbilder Etta James und Billie Holiday da mehr ab (siehe auch dazu die kleine Session mit Jools Holland während des Interviews im unten stehenden Video). Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? ist eine gekonnte Melange aus modernem Sound mit Retrozitaten, die so vor allem den »Geist« vergangener Epochen atmet und transportiert als ihn schlicht kopiert. Übrigens: Dass an dem Album verschiedene Produzenten(-Teams) beteiligt waren, hört man der Scheibe überhaupt nicht an. Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? klingt absolut wie aus einem Guss, hier hat sich niemand auf Kosten des Gesamtwerks in den Vordergrund gespielt – da ein Executive Producer nicht angegeben ist, geht dafür ein besonderer Dank an die A&Rs Jo Charrington und Nick Raphael.

Den Titel des letzten Tracks (»Play On«) nimmt man dann gerne wörtlich und drückt auf »repeat«. Außerdem ist leider schon nach knapp 38 Minuten und zehn Songs Schluss. Dafür hat man aber wenigstens nicht den Eindruck, dass man mit zwei, drei Hits und ansonsten nur Füllmaterial abgespeist wurde.

»La Paloma« bringt Glanz selbst in die größte Backstage-Tristesse ©Scott Trindle/Paloma Faith Official MySpace

Wer also auf Popmusik mit Retroeinschlag, Cabaret, klassische Revuen, Blues und Jazz, schräge Outfits, das große Gefühl mit dem leichten Bruch bzw. einfach in jeder Hinsicht sehr gut gemachte Musik und eine tolle Stimme mit Ausstrahlung steht, der sollte sich Paloma Faith unbedingt anhören bzw. ansehen: Denn wie es der Teufel will, ist sie demnächst in deutschen Landen unterwegs (Tourtermine s.u.). Interessenten mit halbwegs gescheiten Ohren und/oder Anlage empfehle ich übrigens den Kauf der CD anstelle der iTunes-Download-Version, die sich einem meiner Meinung nach recht penetrant in den Gehörgang drängt. Und wer Anregungen für Outfits braucht, kann mal einen Blick auf ihre Kolumne »Paloma’s Wearing« werfen, die sie im Blog ihrer MySpace-Page gestartet hat.

Übrigens: Kürzlich wurde ihr (wie schon angedeutet) auch der Ritterschlag in Form der Einladung in Jools Holland’s »Later…with«-Show zuteil (s.u.). Na, wer sagt’s denn! Frau Faith hat sich den Titel »La Paloma« wirklich verdient, und ich freue mich, dass so ein Talent nicht – sorry, aber der MUSS zum Schluss noch sein – auf (T/)taube Ohren stösst.

Paloma Faith – Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?
VÖ: 25.09.2009 Epic/Sony Music

Paloma Faith live in Deutschland:
28.11.2009 Berlin @Postbahnhof (w/ Josh Weller)
29.11.2009 Hamburg @Grünspan (w/ Josh Weller)
01.12.2009 Köln @Luxor (w/ Josh Weller)

Paloma Faith Website
Paloma Faith bei MySpace
Paloma Faith bei Facebook
Paloma Faith auf Youtube

Paloma Faith bei »Later…with Jools Holland« (2 Songs inkl. kleinem Interview):

Offizielles Video zu »Stone Cold Sober«:

Bild Header/Teaser ©Alice Hawkins/Paloma Faith Official Facebook Page

spoonful, duet with harvey fuqua

Starting down the stairs, thoughts pressed my mind:

Errands – cleaners, grocery, class

On this day, November, I had no time to stay still

No time to check the weather

But I prepared for anything.

Umbrella, hat, coat, scarf – check

On a mission I walked

Then the sun playfully hit me

As did the cool breeze of DC

That on any other day – on any colder, drearier day

Would bite me in my face and snap the nape of my neck

But today, the cool breeze caressed my cheeks

It partnered with the sun who kissed my forehead

And the people who smiled

Teeth spread as I walked down the street,

“Hey Sister! Where you going today?”

“To the cleaners. To class”

“Got any time for me?”

“Not today, brother, but you have a good one”

And too soon my walk was over

Too soon did I have to retreat inside

To only dream of the beauty I’d just beheld on a November day

But the beauty never faded

Sitting in this char, I still see my sun

It envelops me as the breeze blows through the oaks lining the sidewalk

And the people still smile

And the world is still right

Tomorrow may not be this beautiful

The sun may not kiss my forehead

The breeze may return to its wintry snare

But if you smile, my dear

As long as YOU smile, my dear

I can never imagine a more beautiful day

-Adia

Howard University - "The Yard" on A Beautiful Day - View of Douglass Hall

The Shuffle Report: 10 songs I listened to, in order, on my iPod in shuffle mode at a given point in time. No editing, no skipping. It is what it is.

Nothing like a massive morning subway delay to end an already stressful week. Here’s hoping the weekend is better. Even had time listen to all 17 minutes of song #2.

1. I’m The Greatest—Ringo Starr (Photograph: The Very Best Of) [Fun John Lennon-penned track from 1973.]
2. Dogs—Pink Floyd (Animals) [Never was a huge Floyd fan, but always liked this album. Think it's the longest song on my iPod.]
3. Little Queenie—Chuck Berry (The Chess Box) [A rock 'n roll classic.]
4. Who Loves You—Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (The Very Best Of) [Mid-70's hit from the powerhouse vocal group.]
5. One Gun—54-40 (Show Me) [Great Vancouver band.]
6. Monkey Wrench—Foo Fighters (The Colour and the Shape) [Kick-ass.]
7. Watchin’ You—Kiss (Alive!) [From the album that launched them into the stratosphere.]
8. Jesus He Knows Me—Genesis (We Can’t Dance) [From the last studio effort Phil and the boys released. A decent record.]
9. Saturday Night—Earth Wind & Fire (Greatest Hits) [70s funk at its finest. Not a single dud track on this compilation.]
10. Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby—Etta James (Rocks The House) [Excellent live blues recording from 1963.]

So in considering what to post for Around The Web Wednesday this week, I decided to keep in theme of writing absolutely nothing that has anything to do with our web design and content writing services. After all, what is the fun of running a company if you can’t put whatever the F#*$@ you want on the company blog? So here it is, the At Last Inaugural Ball controversy that everyone on the planet, with the except of yours truly, has forgotten about.

Beyonce singing At Last:

As most of us may know and recall, Etta James was a little insulted that Beyonce was chosen by Obama to perform At Last at the Inaugural Ball. Okay, that may be a bit of an understatement. Her actual public reaction was this

“Your President, the one with the big ears … he had that woman singing my song. She gone get her ass whipped.” (TMZ.com)

The odd thing is, while James has clearly taken ownership of the song, it was not her’s to begin with. Here is a recording of Nat King Cole singing an earlier rendition:

And here is Etta James’ version:

While the battle between Etta and Beyonce may have been on (in James’s mind anyway), they are not the only two amazing female vocalists to perform At Last. There is of course  Christina Aguilera:

But my absolute personal favourite, and this came as a shock even to me, is Cyndi Lauper. Holy Geez, this is great!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-t7ceb4DBk

So here we are. You can decide who you think sang it best or you can leave a link to another performance that is in the same league as these. Either way, Happy Around The Web Wednesday!

Rapper Michael Nhat’s new self-titled album releases Tuesday, Oct. 27, on How To Be A Microwave and his record release show is this Saturday at the House of Vermont. He presents L.A. RECORD with a mixtape—which he titled I Love Bread—and a story to go with every song.

Mozart “Fantasy In F Minor”
One of my girlfriends in 1997 played it live at her school and it made me really appreciate classical music because I didn’t before.

Sonic Youth “Panty Lies”
This song influenced me to start rapping. I had been doing it for fun but this one encouraged me to rap professionally. When people ask me one of my greatest influences, I refer to this—Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth.

Wu-Tang Clan “Can It Be It Was All So Simple”
This is what I was listening to in 1993. I bought my first 4-track and was making music for fun. I played this a lot. The beats and the music inspired me because it was at a time when rap had just finished its MC Hammer era and they were dividing themselves on East and West Coast. And I was East Coast.

Wayne Newton “Danke Schoen”
When I was a kid I heard it in the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off movie. I didn’t know who sang it. But this song started my obsession with hunting down songs I would hear places. This was before the Internet.

Etta James “Trust In Me”
This came on in Chicago at a party on the Southside, and it was my first time encountering her. I immediately liked it. I wish I could sound like Etta James.

PJ Harvey “Is That All There Is?”
I heard it when it first came out in 1996 and maybe a little after that my dad died. This is the first song I played after that so it takes me back there.

Radiohead “Fitter Happier”
The writing of this song is probably the deepest influence in how I write my songs. It changed how I see the writing process. I didn’t get it at first. I just liked it for music’s sake. But as I started paying attention—I would say I emulate this style, as opposed to what everyone else confuses me with. People think I am influenced by Anticon and Busdriver. I am not. I’d never even heard of these people until I moved out here.

Johnny Mathis “It’s Not For Me To Say”
This was when I decided to quit making music as a hobby in 1997. I wanted to be normal and go to school and get a job. I had a daughter and this makes me think of her. I was going to school for film and I made a short and put this song in for her.

Otis Redding “I’ve Got Dreams”
This reminds me of the last time I robbed a house. We were looking up obituaries and found someone who had just died and went to his place. We tried to get as much as we could, but ended up just with his guns and sold them. This was something I’d been doing since I was 16. Also at that time, I got in trouble for storing crack for a friend. My dad found it and flushed it down the toilet. My friends thought I sold it or smoked it.

Sesame Street Kid “Sesame Street”
In Iowa at the parties, DJs would play songs like this at the end of their set. It opened my ears to this type of funny happy song. I started collecting songs like that. Eventually this began to influence my music, which is why my songs are so poppy.

DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE “I LOVE BREAD” MIXTAPE here: http://larecord.com/radio/2009/10/22/mixtape-michael-nhat-i-love-bread/

MICHAEL NHAT WITH VOICE ON TAPE, HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM, NARWHAL PARTY, REDEMER, BLUE TAPE RED TAPE AND LUNA IS HONEY ON SAT., OCT. 24, AT THE RELEASE PARTY FOR MICHAEL NHAT’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM AT THE HOUSE OF VERMONT, 1515 S. VERMONT AVE., LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / DONATIONS / ALL AGES. HOWTOBEAMICROWAVE.COM. MICHAEL NHAT’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM RELEASES TUE., OCT. 27, ON HOW TO BE A MICROWAVE. VISIT MICHAEL NHAT AT MICHAELNHAT.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/MICHAELNHAT.

Etta James

The Temptations

ALTON SMITH AND BILL BRICKEY’S

Motown Ensemble

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2009, AT 5:00 P.M.

Aretha Franklin

THE OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC,
LINCOLN PARK ANNEX at 909 WEST ARMITAGE,
CHICAGO, IL

Stevie Wonder

Also performing that evening:   That 70’s and The Tom Petty Ensembles.

* For those of you who wish to imbibe, 909 Armitage doesn’t have a liquor license; however, there are two 7-11s within mere blocks of the school, making it easy for you to BYOB.

NYC venue Drom, located in the East Village area of Manhattan, will be hosting artists for the CMJ 2009 Music Marathon and Film Festival this week in New York City.  CMJ ‘09 will be running Oct. 20 – Oct. 24.  According to the CMJ web site, “CMJ Network connects music fans and music industry professionals with the best in new music through interactive media, live events and print.”  For more info go to the CMJ web site. I have been browsing some of the artists participating in CMJ 09 and there is a lot of talent that is well worth checking out. If you can make it to any of the events, I would highly recommend it.

boomBOOM & Bloom Effect present The Fire And Reason, Miz Metro & Terry Poison

Of particular interest to theSound is the showcase at 10pm Wed, 21 at Drom, featuring The Fire and Reason, Miz Metro and Terry Poison.  I have blogged about Terry Poison before, so if you don’t already know, they are an Israeli band currently playing a few dates in the U.S., and I’ve just found out that this is their first ever show in NYC! Exciting right?

The Fire and Reason is a group based in Brooklyn formed in 2006 by Bella Saona(from Brazil) and Steve Narvaez(from Ecuador). They have been described as rock/baile funk/electro-pop/dance .  If you think the Ting Tings are a little too soft and don’t have enough sleazy rock n roll in ‘em, then The Fire and Reason might be just what you are looking for. They are danceable and fun, but with a little rougher and harder edge than most pop.  Back in June, The Fire and Reason won the Brink of Fame award at LOGO’s NewNowNext Awards. You can watch a video of their performance at LOGO’s NewNowNext Awards at the LOGO website. Meanwhile, here is a fun video clip of their song Mi Corazon…

Miz Metro hails from Manhattan and has been described as post modern pop, hip hop and soul. On first listen of the song samples on her web site, I can already tell you this is an artist that will be hard to pin down. she has a very ecclectic style with a wide range of influences too long to list, including Fiona Apple, Madonna, Etta James and many more. Here is the video for Miz Metro’s song Trashion…

Terry Poison is a band from Tel Aviv, Israel, and this will be their first appearance in NYC. Described as electro, rock n roll, electroclash, Terry Poison’s music is fun sexy synthesizer pop. They have been nominated for Best Israeli Act at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards and opened for Depeche Mode in their first Israeli appearance in Ramat-Gan stadium, back in May. Here’s another video from Terry Poison, ’cause I just like ‘em that much!

Stevie Wonder

Aretha Franklin

ALTON SMITH AND BILL BRICKEY’S

Motown Ensemble

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2009, AT 5:00 P.M.

THE OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC, LINCOLN PARK ANNEX
909 WEST ARMITAGE, CHICAGO, IL

Also performing that evening:   That 70’s and The Tom Petty Ensembles

* For those of you who wish to imbibe, 909 Armitage doesn’t have a liquor license; however,
there are two 7-11s within mere blocks of the school, making it easy for you to BYOB.

Etta James

The Temptations

“The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.” – Joseph Campbell

It’s time once again for Great River Radio. Our “Confluence” theme this week is “Teachers.” We’ve dug up some interesting teacher-learning related songs, and many of you have offered us a suggestion or two as well. You’ll hear from likely classroom pests Rufus Wainwright, Paul Westerberg, Matt and Kim, Lyle Lovett, Indigo Girls and Rockpile.

As always, we have some exciting new music to share with you. You might recall Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová from the movie “Once.” Well, the impossibly perfect romance between the two musician/actors may have fizzled, but the two continue to make music together under the name The Swell Season. They have a new, deeply personal album out, and we will be playing a track from that release. We also have new tunes from the Avett Brothers, Heartless bastards, Rickie Lee Jones and Grizzly Bear. Echo & the Bunnymen, giants of late 80s alternative music scene, have released their 11^th studio album, “The Fountain.” Well play the first single, “I Think I Need It Too.”

One of the great advantages of connecting with so many music lovers around the country is that we get to hear about your “must-listen-to” music discoveries. We owe Aaron from Boston a tip-of-the-hat for turning us on to Mumford & Sons. They are part of the London folk rock scene that includes Noah and the Whale and Laura Marling. The group’s first release, “Sigh No More,” was released on Oct. 6 in the UK. Well spin a tune from the album and see what you think. Thanks for the rec, Aaron.

All this and so much more today on Great River Radio!

NEXT WEEK’S ASSIGNMENT – With upcoming film releases of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” and a new documentary on Jack Kerouac, “One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur,” we thought an interesting theme for next week’s “Confluence” segment might be ROAD SONGS. We’ve done “best road music” theme shows before, so let’s get creative with this topic. Email us your requests or post them below.

Playlist
Peace Like a River-Spoon
I Think I Need It Too-Echo and the Bunnymen
Blank White Page-Mumford and Sons
Slow Life-Grizzly Bear
Hell-Teigan and Sara
Jesus, Etc-Wilco
The Art Teacher-Rufus Wainwright
Baby Learn To Crawl-Paul Westerberg
Lessons Learned-Matt and Kim
Closer-Indigo Girls
Teach Me Tonight-Etta James
Teach Me About Love-Lyle Lovett
Gloomy Monday Morning-Black Hollies
Use Somebody-Bat For Lashes
One Fast Move Or I’m Gone-Jay Farrar/Ben Gibbard
Feeling The Pull-Swell Season
Angel’s Share-Doveman
Lissie Maurus-Little Lovin’
The Mountain-Heartless Bastards
Suspicious Minds-Rusted Root
Never Ending Love-Delaney and Bonnie and Friends
Laundry Room-Avett Brothers
Old Enough-Rickie Lee Jones
Angels on the Banks-Katie Herzig

Wow, it’s been so long since I posted on here I almost forgot how.

So first let me apologize and explain why it has taken me so long to provide the updates that absolutely no one was asking me for during the downtime.

Firstly I bought a house! Regular readers of this site will know that was a long arduous process (and I’ve only put the first half of the story on here!) and I am so glad to have it finished. Kelly and I found a place in Fridley that we liked quite a bit, and having lived there almost two months we’re happier with it each day. I’ll throw some pics up here possibly once we have things we a little more situated.

Secondly I got married last month. This obviously took up a lot of my time and attention and I just wasn’t able to make pop culture commentary a high priority during that period. The wedding was awesome. Anyone who knows me well knows I love making mixes and playlists and consider myself pretty good at it (despite virtually nobody else thinking so). The wedding was the ultimate chance to put a playlist together and I had a great time doing it. I had a 4 hour cocktail hour/dinner playlist that Kelly also heavily contributed to that featured a lot of the classics like Dean Martin and Etta James as well as weirder stuff like Richard Cheese and tracks of the Ren and Stimpy “You Eediot” album. Putting together the music for the dance took over a year to finish but I think it went really well and as it was one element of the wedding that was almost exclusively left to me to plan myself I was super proud watching all those rumps shaking on the floor.

Thirdly, and you can consider this a full Champion of the Sun ‘admission of guilt’, I got banned from using the internet at work. It wasn’t just me, the entire credit department was banned from the ‘net due to overusage. Now I shouldn’t admit this, but a large portion of my posts were made from work, at the time I started this site I didn’t even have the internet at home. The day the posts began to really dry up on the site was the day I was told using personal internet sites at work could get me fired. I love this site, but not that much.

Despite those three reasons I really have no excuse for the fact that I pretty stopped posting completely. And I promise to rectify this situation from here on out with somewhat regular posts. My thanks to Brendon for doing his part to keep at least some new content up on the site.

By way of apology here’s five embarrassing Admissions of Guilt.

1. I love the song ‘Since U Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson. Not like, love.
2. I think Seth Meyers is a great anchor for Weekend Update. I think he’s funny and I don’t get the criticism that he’s too smug.
3. I consider the score one of the weakest aspects of ‘There Will Be Blood.’
4. I compiled a list of about 10 things WWE could do to improve their product and it wasn’t even for this site, just a conversation piece with my friend Dave.
5. The list of movies I’ve never seen all the way through includes: “Chinatown”, “Pyscho”, and “The Crying Game.”

The Temptations

Stevie Wonder

Alton Smith and Bill Brickey’s

Motown Ensemble

Sunday, October 25, 2009, at 5:00 p.m.

The Old Town School of Folk Music, Lincoln Park Annex
909 West Armitage, Chicago, IL

Also performing that evening:  That 70’s and The Tom Petty Ensembles

* For those of you who wish to imbibe, 909 Armitage doesn’t have a liquor license; however,
there are two 7-11s within mere blocks of the school, making it easy for you to BYOB.

Etta James

Aretha Franklin