Better Soul

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 15: Lonnie Liston Smith

15 February 2011

“Believe me… You know my style…” It’s, admittedly, wrong to roll up an artist’s entire body of work into one piece of art… Especially, with such a decorated journeyman as Lonnie Liston Smith, Jr… But bottom line… he’s the brother that gave you this… [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=487W_vBeGFQ] …where it all began… …due to this… [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ue1CbwcpI] […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 14: Sylvia Robinson, Happy Valentine’s Day…

14 February 2011

Happy Valentine’s Day from Sylvia Robinson [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CT0iDjqLhc]“Hey there, Sweet Stuff…” Check out her tribute from the Ladie’s Reign posts…

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 11: Bobby Womack

11 February 2011

Your talented crazy uncle… Robert Dwayne Womack. I’m not sure why he feels like family but Bobby Womack does… Maybe it’s his handling of “Harry Hippie”… He approaches the song like story-time chat at the card table after Thanksgiving dinner… Both sharing the tale and resolving the issue of dealing with Harry, all the while […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 10: Roberta Flack, Happy Birthday!

10 February 2011

Happy Birthday Lady Roberta… Check out her tribute from the “Ladies Reign” posts…

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 9: Gil Scott-Heron

9 February 2011

Getting ready to style on Whitey on the Moon… I was formally introduced to Scott-Heron as a freshman in high school… My English teacher decided it was the right time to reveal some revolutionary poetry to a bunch of wide-eyed Black kids…”Whitey on the Moon” was played… Instantly, Gil Scott-Heron became all of my classmates, […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 8: Billy Paul

8 February 2011

He had a lot more going on than just with Mrs. Jones… Brother Billy Paul… aka Paul Williams is owed a great “My Bad, Player”… When going through the list of unsung artists to “give roses”… of those still walking among us… I didn’t even consider him… It was definitely not because he isn’t worth […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 5: Les McCann

5 February 2011

Built the bridge from Jazz to Soul… To a certain degree Les McCann’s groundbreaking and breaking of other artists can be compared to Little Richard… Minus the eccentricities… Les pioneered a new genre of soul jazz… Most notably his rendition of “Compared To What”, along with Eddie Harris, merged protest song with jazz… In addition […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 4: Ann Peebles

4 February 2011

The Stand By Woman… You’ve heard her voice and didn’t know it… You’ve sung her words and had no idea… Whenever clouds appear and rain begins to fall… If you can’t stand it… Well, you can thank Miss Ann Peebles for penning a song that fits your mood… There are few voices as soulful as […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 3: Sonny Rollins

3 February 2011

The Saxophone Colossus A fixture in the jazz scene and community from the early fifties to present day… Theodore Walter “Sonny” Rollins was also a mainstay on Saturday mornings during my childhood… Two of his albums were in heavy rotation from my Pops collection… Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus (1956) is regarded as his best work and […]

Black Music History “Giving Them Roses” – Day 2: Al Jarreau

2 February 2011

The Grammy Man Although he was the 2nd artist in history to win a Grammy in three separate categories (1st being MJ…), personally I feel he’s underrated in pop culture… It’s rare that someone would mention his name among the great soul artists of all-time… However, Alwin Lopez Jarreau’s debut album “We Got By” should be […]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →