Listen Better

“The Duke of Earl” Today we give roses to the Eugene Dixon… better known as Gene Chandler… He is primarily recognized for his hit “Duke of Earl”… However, my favorite work is his 1978 album Get Down… highlights on the album are “I’m The Traveling Kind”, “Please Sunrise” and the popularly sampled “Tomorrow I May […]

“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] […]

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 […]

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, […]