The Soul of John Black - Good Thang

 
Big generalization.

I don't like R&B, but I love Soul.

The difference? Well . . . it's soul.  Soul has it.  R&B doesn't.  In my small, over-generalizing mind, soul is the music of musicians, reaching down deep into their inner beings to tell a story.  R&B is the province of producers sitting in the booth playing with vocal effects to make a buck.  You can keep your Usher's, I'll take Maxwell.  Not interested in Chris Brown, I'm into Bill Withers.  Don't want Beyonce.  I'll take Me'shell Ndgeocello.

Actually, right now, the only thing I want is The Soul of John Black.

The Soul of John Black is the work of one immensely talented John Bigham (JB), a long time veteran of the music scene. This guy's resume is his calling card in soul credibility, having worked with and written songs for Miles Davis, played guitar and keyboards with Fishbone for eight years, and toured and recorded with the likes of Eminem, Joi, Bruce Hornsby and Ripple favorite, Everlast. And let me tell you that experience shows on this magnificent outing.

It was back in 2009 that I first heard the enormously groovy vibes of The Soul of John Black and his album Black John.  Back then, I had no hesitation in labeling him a "soul savior" and hailing his album as "the soul album of the year." And wouldn't you know it, the cat has gone out and outdone himself on his newest album Good Thang.  If you're taste veer towards the grand ol' days of Stax, or the truly tasty sounds of pure '70's soul, Bill Withers and Al Green with a touch of the bluesy vibe of Robert Cray, this is the album for you.

I remember a while back, I did an interview with John, trying to dig down into his influences and methods.   When the interview was done I got an email from his publicity firm, apologizing --saying sorry over and over for his curt answers like:  

Me: "Genre's are so misleading and such a way to pigeonhole bands. Without resorting to labels, how would you describe your music?"

John: "My Music."


Personally, I couldn't understand what they were apologizing for.  I loved it!  I loved the authenticity of his answers.  I loved the fact that he had no time or patience for my meandering missives and instead preferred to let his music do the talking.  And that's exactly what he does on Good Thang.  This isn't an album of fancy production or over-the-top choruses.  This isn't an album designed to become the latest craze on YouTube or whatever.  It's an album of amazingly pure warmth, deeply organic, and teeming with authenticity of soul. 

Good Thang is every deep-rooted soul album you loved in the seventies, given a glorious shine and freshened up for 2011.  That's not to say the album is "retro."  It's not.  True soul is timeless, and that's what The Soul of John Black has fashioned here.  An album of timeless grooves and ageless emotions. Since his last album, John went out and got engaged and had a baby, and the transformation that's had on his life is rapturous.  Ignoring just-for-fun songs like "Digital Blues," and what comes across is the overwhelming theme of the album: how John found contentment in this sometimes cruel, not always fair world.  He's loving his family, loving his life, and that joyous flood rains over me like water to a man dying in the desert.  This is an album of joy and love, and really when was the last time you found one of those that didn't reek of being contrived?

Not here, John's passion and "life is good" emotion fills every groove of this album.  Forget anything else you've heard, this is the feel-good album of the summer in the truest sense of the word and it's just begging to bring the groove to your backyard BBQ or warm summer night of lovin'.

Song's like "Good Thang," and "Strawberry" elevate with the thrill of a man fulfilled with the woman in his life and the family he's creating.  Honesty here.  True honesty.  Whether played over a deep, retro-Al Green groove or played with a loose strung, backyard blues vibe. It's real, and that's all that matters.  Other songs, like "Digital Blues," or the massively funky "Oh That Feeling" keep the energy flowing and the butts ready to shake.  Throughout, the guitar work is perfect.

But I'm not going to go into each song here, and I'm not going to describe the guitarwork.  Really, if you dig old soul and blues, you owe it to yourself to explore these veins.  But no review of this album could be complete without a special nod towards "Lil' Mama's in the Kitchen."  This is the story of John waking up one day and staggering out of bed heading towards the kitchen.  He can smell the coffee brewing as he peers around the corner and see's his lady making breakfast.  There, he pauses.  Not to interrupt her, but just watches.   In that moment, everything crystallizes for him, everything about his life, his woman, his new baby.   His newfound joy for life.

It's such a moment of honesty that it nearly took my breath away.  His words are so clear I can almost smell the coffee and the bacon, see the baby perched up in the high chair in the corner.  He's watching her "in her family way" moving about, drifting from the stove to the refrigerator and suddenly it's so clear what he's working for.  What each song he writes is for.  What all the struggle is about.  There's nothing contrived here.  It's a man in love, determined to make the best of himself he can for his family.  He's watching his woman doing the most routine thing in the world and he's falling in love all over again.  He's "feeling good today" and damn . . . so am I.  Just hearing this song shot me immediately to all the times I just watched Mrs Racer sleeping with that little smile on her face, or dancing, or laughing at some horrible joke on television.  That's what love is all about. Not the grand gestures, but the littlest moments.

Ok, enough proselytizing.   But really, when is the last time you heard a song that made you feel something that powerful in your own life. 

And that's why I loved my "silent" interview with The Soul of John Black.  He really didn't have to answer my questions, and I really didn't have to ask them.  We just needed to let the music do the talking.

--Racer

Buy here: Good Thang


http://thesoulofjohnblack.bandcamp.com/

Otis Redding - Live on the Sunset Strip

It’s hard to believe that Otis Redding was only 24 years old when these live shows were recorded in Hollywood, California back in April 1966. Even though he was still a young man, he was an old pro by the time he hit the stage of the famous Whiskey A Go Go having experienced many hit singles and successful albums on the legendary Stax-Volt label. Otis usually recorded with Booker T & The MG’s but rarely toured the United States with them since they were so busy with studio work in Memphis.

There are plenty of live documents of the 1967 European tour and landmark performance at the Monterey festival, but this 2CD set lets you hear exactly what Otis did to audiences night after night with his road band. Most of these have been available in edited form, first on 1968’s LP In Person at the Whisky a Go Go and then more selections were released in 1993 as Good to Me: Live at the Whisky a Go Go, Vol. 2. Even if you already have those, you need to pick this up. You get 3 complete sets of Otis and his tighter than hell road band rocking the stage of a small club. Taj Mahal’s old band Rising Sons (also featuring Ry Cooder) were the opening act for these shows. In the liner notes he’s quoted as “His was one of the most amazing performances I’d ever seen and I’ve seen some great performances. I’m talking about being in the same room, not watching a film or being at some big festival. This cat just had the rafters falling down.” You gonna argue with that

It’s all here. Every grunt, whoop and holler from the Otis and from the crowd, too. When they do fast ones like “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” “I’m Depending On You” or his version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” you can feel the everyone rocking. Otis liked to do his uptempo ones twice as fast at the record, but he also liked to do ballads twice as slow. “These Arms Of Mine” is even more powerful than the original and “Chained and Bound” gets the full dramatic treatment with some heartfelt testifying in the middle. His hit “Respect” is given a high energy workout. It’s interesting to compare it to the live version from Monterey a year later when he mentions that “some girl” just stole his song, meaning Aretha Franklin’s hit version. Two of the sets come from the last night of his 4 night run at the club. Otis mentions that now that they’ve been paid they can “goof off.” His idea of goofing off includes an incredible 10 minute version of James Brown’s “Papas Got A Brand New Bag” that gives JB a run for his money.

Since it was the norm for artists to do 2 shows a night, several songs are duplicated but when it comes to The Big O can you really have too much? Otis gave us so much incredible music in his way too short life and this is guaranteed to make you feel good no matter how bad your day is going. Play this one loud.

--Woody

buy here: Live on the Sunset Strip

James Brown – Live At The Garden (Expanded Edition)

Despite the title, this was not recorded at New York’s Madison Square Garden or any other venue with Garden in the name. It was in fact recorded at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ over a stretch of dates in January 1967. When it was originally issued it was marred by fake crowd overdubs and edited jams. At long last, this classic album has finally been issued on CD with over an hour of unreleased music. If you’re a James Brown fan or a soul music enthusiast, it’s an essential purchase.


Disc one presents the original album but without the dubbed crowd. That alone right there is worth the price because you get a killer but compact taste of JB and his awesome band in full flight and an excited crowd. 1967 is also an important year for James Brown. After revolutionizing music with “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” in 1965 he was about to do it again in May 1967 with “Cold Sweat.” Both songs featured very little in terms of chord changes or musical sophistication but had incredible rhythms that had never been heard before. Musicians and record producers literally didn’t know how to respond to the challenge that James issued them. This live album catches JB in transition from more traditional R&B and creating what would be termed Soul and eventually Funk.


Older songs like “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Bring It Up” are done much faster than the recorded versions and ballads like “Prisoner of Love” are played slower. Without the fake crowd dubbed in, you can hear the interaction between JB and the audience. When the band goes into a fast vamp or solo section and the crowd roars you know James is doing some outrageous dance maneuver with The Famous Flames. When he says he feels so good he wants to scream, the audience goes nuts and screams with him. And this is at a swanky dinner club in suburban New Jersey, not the Apollo Theater in Harlem.


“Ain’t That A Groove” and “Hip Bag ‘67” (an excerpt of the jam during “Papa’s Bag”) are extended features for the supremely tight and talented band. Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis (tenor sax) had recently become musical director of the band and had a strong jazz background. He got to work with the amazing Jimmy Nolen on guitar, the powerhouse drummers John “Jabo” Starks and Clyde Stubblefield and all the other top notch musicians. No deadweight in JB’s band!


Hardcore James Brown fans will wet their hot-pants over the extras at the end of disc 1 and all of disc 2. Everyone knows that James was a great singer and entertainer but most are unaware of his musical skills. Before the main event, James would come out and join the band and get down on the organ to help warm up the crowd. You can tell he’s already sweating all over the keys during the first song “The King” before a spirited take on Ramsey Lewis’ “Wade In the Water.” “Night Train” ends the warm up set and then James would take a break.


If you’re ready for STAR TIME, then pop in disc 2 and get ready for a full set of uncut energy exactly how it went down over 40 years ago. The energy level is unprecedented and remains unmatched to this day. James starts off the show with a fast medley of “Out Of Sight” and “Bring It Up” before drastically slowing things down with “Try Me” and “Come Rain Or Come Shine” (featuring Miles Davis bassist Ron Carter). “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” is much faster than the original record and clearly points to the direction he was about to unleash with “Cold Sweat,” “Mother Popcorn,” etc. The band stretches the groove out for almost 10 minutes and it never gets dull.


The ladies in the crowd audibly swoon when James and the Flames harmonize on the ballads “Prisoner of Love” and “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” The Famous Flames were at one point 3 voices plus James, but at this point it was just Bobby Bennett and Bobby Byrd. Soon James would get rid of the Flames and drop songs like “Maybe The Last Time” from the show so it’s nice to hear James saying farewell to the past. Of course, Bobby Byrd would remain with James for years to come and his voice would be loud and strong on many hits to come.


The show wraps up with a triple whammy of “Ain’t That A Groove,” “Please, Please, Please” and a reprise of “Bring It Up.” You can hear the crowd go wild as James tries to leave the stage while his valet tries to put a cape on him and get him off the stage. They’re not having it. Even though James worked it into the stage act, he could make everyone believe he was exhausted and had to go but the crowd riled him up he had to come back and scream just one more time. You don’t get showmanship like that anymore.


If that wasn’t enough, after the crowd left James brought the band back on stage to record his next single “Let Yourself Go.” There’s an instrumental jam, a false start and finally the master take that was released. How many bands can you think of that would even attempt something like that now?


Ain’t that a groove? HELL YEAH!!

--Woody

Buy here: Live at the Garden

Adams And Friends - Stomp The Floor

What do you get when you combine the vocal register of the Philly Soul of the Ojay’s lead singer Eddie LeVert, and B.B. King and George Benson guitar styles with Tower of Power and the Crusaders type of horns? You get Arthur Adams and his dynamic new album Stomp The Floor.

Adams is a mainstay of the Los Angeles Blues scene. For a long time he has gigged as the house bandleader at B.B. King’s Los Angeles niteclub and has been a sideman for everyone from Henry Mancini to Jerry Garcia. Born in Medon, Tennessee, he started by playing around Nashville in 1959 when he was about 25 years old. He wrote a song recorded by Sam Cooke in 1961, Somebody’s Going To Miss Me, and co-wrote "Truckload of Lovin’" for Albert King. He has recorded at least five of his own albums prior to the new one, Stomp The Floor, appeared on one of them with B.B. King; and co-wrote two songs for B.B. King’s 1991 album There Is Always One More Time. Yet, he is virtually unknown by the public.

Stomp The Floor is produced by Adams with the help of bassist Lou Castro (a 1970’s funk bassist and vocalist who played with dozens of successful musicians from Wayne Newton to Keiko Matsui.) Adams is the author of all twelve tracks. The producers round out the musical talent with former Tower of Power trumpeter Lee Thornberg and his accomplice in the World’s Smallest Big Band, saxophonist Dave Woodford; former the Crusaders trombonist Garrett Adkins; legendary session Blues keyboard player Hense Powell; one of the most recorded Blues drummers in history, James Gadson; well-known session percussionist Stacy Lamont Sydnor; and virtually unknown percussionist David Leich. With all this talent one expects superior results and, in most cases, that is what Adams and Castro got.

The album feels a bit erratic at first as it flips from B. B. King and Albert King style blues to soul jazz to George Benson-like smooth jazz. Most of the songs, standing alone, seem to work. Unfortunately, the first and title song, "Stomp the Floor," comes off a bit forced and was my least favorite tune on the album. The mood of the music just doesn’t seem to fit the subject matter of the lyrics. Track 2, "You Can’t Win For Losing," is much catchier! I would have liked it even better had Adams not been as subdued in his solo in the middle of the song. It is too hesitant for a song that calls out for Adams to wail. "Don’t Let the Door Hit You" brings a less restrained feel to Adams’ Blues. Then the album morphs into something else!

The tracks "I Know What You Mean" and "So Sweet" change the electric blues feel of the first three tracks by using background vocals with a sound that made me think of the O’Jays, Al Green and the Isley Brothers. The sound again flips with the funk-tinged jazz instrumental, "You Got That Right," but goes back to Philly Soul with Marvin Gaye sensibilities in "Callin’ Heaven." The gospel blues synogism is fully on display on the track "Nature Of The Beast,"which follows.

But, again, the album jumps and warps. This time to a soul jazz, almost disco, sound in "Thrive On Your Vibe" that is followed by the track "You Are Invited" which sounds like it may have been written for B.B. or Albert King. In "You Are Invited" Adams' lead solo is emotional and has the lack of restraint that I was craving for. The album concludes with two technical instrumental beauties "Around the Sun" and "Blue Roots" which will make you first think you are listening to vintage George Benson and, then, Robert Cray.

Upon reflection, maybe it is Adams’ versatility – the ability to change styles – that has left him so obscure. Most successful albums will define an artist with a single sound that is the artist’s most bankable product. Deviation from that sound risks loss of an established fan base. On the other hand, versatility will keep a musician working and all but guarantee that a larger pool of artists will be calling on him to do session work. Adams has the chops but seems disinclined to define himself with one musical style. As a result, he is a great who is likely to stay obscure. In the end I have got to think that maybe that is the way he likes it

--Old School

Buy here: Stomp The Floor