Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

In 1975, Waylon Jennings asked in his song: “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”. His point was to criticise the rhinestone commercialism of country music, but it’s a question that may be applied to this Hank Williams Songbook. Well, Waylon, the answer is that, musically, most of these songs very much are not the way Hank done them. But, I venture, Hank would probably have approved of most of these versions of his songs anyway.

On September 17, we mark the 100^th anniversary of Hank Williams’ birth. Born Hiram King Williams in Mount Olive, Alabama, Hank was a pivotal figure in the development of country music, and therefore also of rock & roll (even if rock & roll covers of Hank’s songs are pretty scarce). “The Hillbilly Shakespeare”, as he came to be dubbed for his lyrical faculties, was a big star in the late 1940s and early 1950s during which he created an astonishing number of great songs.

But the stardom came with personal challenges and health issues, including dependence on alcohol and pain killers, the latter due to chronic back pain caused by spina bifida occulta, a birth defect of the spinal column. When he died at the age of 29, he looked 20 years older.

Williams was scheduled to perform in Charleston, West Virginia, on New Year’s Eve 1952, having cancelled a number of shows before that due to his poor health. While he was being driven there in his blue Cadillac by his friend Charles Carr, Hank’s condition suddenly deteriorated. He never made it there, and the two went on to Canton Ohio, for a gig on January 1, 1953. Somewhere on the way to Canton, Hank died in the back seat of his Cadillac. Carr found him dead when he stopped at a filling station in Oak Hill, West Virginia. As Hank once sang, “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive”.

The official cause of death was listed as heart failure. The coroner’s report also mentioned the presence of alcohol and morphine in Williams’ system. Hank left behind his recently divorced wife. country singer Audrey Sheppard whom Hank had married in 1944, and their three-year-old son, future country star Hank Williams Jr.

Hank left a rich legacy of songs, including 55 Top 10 hits in the Billboard Country & Western Charts. Some of them have become standards which have been covered dozens or even more than 100 times. Some went on to become even bigger hits as pop songs, such as 1951’s Cold, Cold Heart for Tony Bennett in 1953. It later became a signature tune for Dinah Washington, whose version features here. Bennett is represented her with another hit Hank cover, There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight.

Other Hank standards include Hey Good Lookin’, Your Cheatin’ Heart, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, Kaw-Liga, Move It On Over (later ripped off for Rock Around The Clock), You Win Again, and Jambalaya.

Three of these feature twice in this mix: Al Green’s and Barbara Lynn’s versions of I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, Fats Domino’s and James Brown’s interpretations of Your Cheatin’ Heart, and Johnny Cash’s 1958 version of You Win Again is echoed in 1978 by The Rolling Stones (who themselves were the subject of a Songbook in June). You Win Again also featured in The Beatles’ film Let It Be, sung by John Lennon.

Hank Williams and wife Audrey Sheppard with Hank’s band The Drifting Cowboys.

The two Hanks, Senior and Junior, open the mix in a pairing that anticipates Nat and Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable duet by 25 years (Nat, by the way, covered Hank at least twice). In 1965 the technology wasn’t quite so advanced as it would be in 1990, so the recording of Move It On Over basically is an overdub of Hank Jr mixed with the original recording from 1947.

The line-up of artists in this collection shows just how adaptable Hank’s songs were: from various types of country to the jazz crooning of Tony Bennett to the rock & roll of Little Richard to the soul of Isaac Hayes to the new wave of Elvis Costello to the folk-rock of Patty Griffin to the indie of Camper Van Beethoven to the jazz of Madeleine Peyroux. Even the Red Hot Chilli Peppers recorded Hank on their 1984 debut, though I won’t feature their version of Why Don’t You Love Me, because it isn’t very good (here we have Elvis Costello’s version).

I can imagine that some people might be put off from investigating Hank Williams’ music because they don’t like his voice, or the songs’ arrangements, or because they are just suspicious of country music, or don’t know where to start. I hope this mix will serve as a decent introduction to the songs of one of the greatest songwriters in popular music.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-movedonovered covers, and the above text in an illustrated PDF.

1. Hank Williams Sr. & Hank Williams Jr. – Move It On Over (1965)
2. Johnny Cash – You Win Again (1958)
3. Hawkshaw Hawkins – Kaw Liga (1953)
4. Roberta Lee with The Blue Diamond Melody Boys – We’re Really In Love (1952)
5. Joni James – I’m Sorry For You My Friend (1959)
6. Tony Bennett – There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight (1953)
7. Dinah Washington – Cold, Cold Heart (1962)
8. Ray Charles – Hey, Good Lookin’ (1962)
9. Fats Domino – Your Cheatin’ Heart (1964)
10. Little Richard – Settin’ The Woods On Fire (1971)
11. Professor Longhair – Jambalaya (1974)
12. Townes Van Zandt – Honky Tonkin’ (1972)
13. Waylon Jennings – Let’s Turn Back The Years (1975)
14. Elvis Presley – Men With Broken Hearts (live) (1970)
15. Al Green – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (1973)
16. Isaac Hayes – I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love In Love With You) (1973)
17. Madeleine Peyroux – Take These Chains From My Heart (2012)
18. Cat Power – Ramblin’ (Wo)man (2008)
19. Patty Griffin – House Of Gold (2010)
20. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – My Heart Would Know (2021)
21. Billy Bragg & Joe Henry – Lonesome Whistle (2016)
22. Bap Kennedy – Angel Of Death (1999)
23. Emmylou Harris & Mark Knopfler – Alone & Forsaken (2001)
24. Patty Loveless – I Can’t Get You Off Of My Mind (1988)
25. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used To Do (1981)
26. John Prine – Dear John (I Sent Your Saddle Home) (1999)
27. Tompall And The Glaser Brothers – A Mansion On The Hill (1981)
BONUS TRACKS
28. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – I Saw The Light (1972)
29. Asleep At The Wheel – I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (1973)
30. James Brown – Your Cheatin’ Heart (1969)
31. Barbara Lynn – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (1969)
32. George Jones – I’m A Long Gone Daddy (1987)
33. Huey Lewis & The News – Honky Tonk Blues (1983)
34. Camper Van Beethoven – Six More Miles To The Graveyard (1993)
35. The The – I Can’t Escape From You (1995)
36. The Rolling Stones – You Win Again (1978)

GET IT! or HERE!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Sly Stone
Steely Dan

More Songbooks
More Covers Mixes
More CD-R Mixes

In Motown’s happy family it was common that the same songs would be recorded by different artists. So it is with Papa Was A Rolling Stone, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.

The Undisputed Truth, who may be remembered for their hit Smiling Faces Sometimes (which was originally recorded by the Temptations), recorded Papa Was A Rolling Stone as a single release in 1971. It did not perform well, peaking at #63 in the US charts. A year later, Whitfield gave the song to The Temptations when he produced their 1972 All Directions album on which it appeared as a 12-minute workout of the kind that recalled the epic soul symphonies of Isaac Hayes (though the Undisputed Truth version sounds more like an Ike arrangement). The shortened single version went on to top the US charts. The original is discussed further in Any Major Originals: Motown Edition.

The Temptations line-up for that period differed significantly from that of the 1970s glory days, with only Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin remaining. Dennis Edwards had replaced David Ruffin; Richard Street, who had been a member of a Temptations precursor, had replaced the troubled Paul Williams; and Damon Harris had replaced Eddie Kendricks.

The Temptations perform Papa Was A Rolling Stone on Soul Train in 1973.

Recorded in June 1972 and released the following month, all but Otis Williams took lead vocals on Papa Was A Rolling Stone (see below), backed by Motown’s in-house session band, The Funk Brothers, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. It topped the US charts, but only made #14 in the UK, two positions lower than the Was (Not Was) 1990 cover.

Cover versions sprung up almost immediately. The earliest featured here is by jazz multi-instrumentalist Jay Berliner, in 1972. The same year Stevie Wonder performed it on TV, using the then little known vocoder. Billy Wolfer’s electronic version in 1982 featured the artist on the vocoder, and Michael Jackson — who had been party to the Jackson 5’s live cover in 1973 — contributing to the background vocals. In 1996 Isaac Hayes, who clearly influenced Whitfield in both of his versions, finally got around to recording Papa Was A Rolling Stone, live with Soul II Soul.

A couple of other versions of the 30 featured here are worth mentioning. Malik Adouane gives it the Arab-Funk treatment, and Los Lobos’ soft acoustic version is quite splendid. I’ll spare us the recent versions by Phil Collins and Craig David.

Back to The Temptation’s version, here are the vocal leads:

Dennis Edwards:
It was the third of September.
That day I’ll always remember, yes I will.
‘Cause that was the day that my daddy died.
I never got a chance to see him.
Never heard nothing but bad things about him.
Mama, I’m depending on you, tell me the truth.
And Mama just hung her head and said,

Dennis Edwards: It was the third of September. That day I’ll always remember.

ALL (lead Edwards)
“Son, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.
Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.”

Edwards
Well, well.
Hey Mama, is it true what they say,
that Papa never worked a day in his life?

Melvin Franklin: And that ain”t right.

Melvin Franklin
And Mama, bad talk going around town
saying that Papa had three outside children and another wife.
And that ain’t right.

Richard Street
Heard some talk about Papa doing some store front preaching.
Talking about saving souls and all the time leeching.
Dealing in debt and stealing in the name of the Lord.
Mama just hung her head and said,

All (lead Street)
“Papa was a rolling stone, my son.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.
Hey, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.”

Richard Street (left) and Damon Harris, both died in February 2013

Damon Harris
Hey Mama, I heard Papa call himself a jack of all trade,
Tell me is that what sent Papa to an early grave?
Folk say Papa would beg, borrow, steal to pay his bill.
Richard Street
Hey Mama, folk say that Papa was never much on thinking,
Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking.
Damon Harris
Mama, I’m depending on you to tell me the truth.
Mama looked up with a tear in her eye and said,
All (lead Harris)
“Son, Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.
Papa was a rolling stone.
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.
I said, Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home.
And when he died, all he left us was alone.”

Here are the featured versions:

The Undisputed Truth (1971) • The Temptations (1972) • Stevie Wonder (1972) • Jay Berliner • Fausto Papetti (1973) • The Pioneers (1973) • Roy Ayers (1973) • The Jackson 5 (1973) • The Temptations (live, 1973) • Gene Ammons (1973) • Sidney, George and Jackie (1973) • 20th Century Steel Band (1975) • Bill Wolfer (1982) • Precious Wilson (1983) • Was (Not Was) (1990) • South Central Cartel (1992) • Isaac Hayes & Soul II Soul (1996) • Third World (1996) • Los Lobos (1999) • Paul Bollenback (1999) • Ray Brown, John Clayton, Christian McBride (2001) • Malik Adouane (2002) • Lee Ritenour feat Lisa Fischer & Chris Botti (2003) • Leningrad Cowboys (2003) • Rare Earth (2005) • Horace Andy (2005) • Gilbert Montagné (2006) • Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry (2009) • Papa John Defrancesco (2011)

GET IT

And more pictures from Soul Train on my Flickr series.

***

More Song Swarms

August’s In Memoriam actually drops in August, due to commitments that prevent me from posting this month’s instalment at the usual time. September’s In Memoriam will, obviously, include all the music deaths that are still coming or are yet to be reported.

This month we lost people who were subjects to three fine documentaries: Robbie Robertson (as a member of The Band) in The Last Waltz, Sixto Rodriguez in Searching For Sugar Man, and Clarence Avant in The Black Godfather (the latter two also crossed paths at one point).

Oh, and Tom Jones died.

The Band Man
I would argue that The Band were among the most influential musical groups of their time, but I wager that only their fans and deep-cut rock fans would be able to list all their members. In fact, I reckon that most people would know only Robbie Robertson, and maybe Levon Helms. With Robertson’s death, only Garth Hudson is still with us. And at the intervals at which we are losing Band members, Hudson might remain so for another dozen years: Richard Manuel died in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, Levon Helm in 2012, and now Robbie Robertson in 2023.

All of them brought something special to The Band but guitarist Robertson was its primary songwriter, contributing classics like The Weight, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, The Shape I’m In, Up On Cripple Creek, and (my favourite Band track) It Makes No Difference. Though, it must be noted, Helm and Danko strongly disputed Robertson’s claims to sole authorship. Later reunions excluded Robertson…

After The Band’s initial split, Robertson produced albums for acts like Neil Diamond and Eric Clapton. And Robertson wrote film scores for films directed by Martin Scorsese, who had also directed the docu for The Band’s break-up concert, The Last Waltz. These films include Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, The Color of Money, Casino, The Wolf Of Wall Street, The Irishman, and the recently released Killers Of The Flower Moon.

Robertson released his eponymous debut solo album only in 1987. It was a critical and commercial success, even if I didn’t like it too much — there is a reason why Robertson very rarely took lead vocals in The Band.

The Sugar Man
Having released a single (as Rod Riguez, the label’s bright idea) and done session work on Motown, Sixto Rodriguez had reason to hope that his superb 1970 debut album Cold Facts would become a hit. But the socio-political folk-funk flopped in the US, as did the 1971 follow-up Coming From Reality, both released on Clarence Avant’s Sussex label. But somehow his two records became cult-items in South Africa, especially in student circles spanning several generations.

The records were also heard in Australia and New Zealand, where Rodriguez toured in 1979 and 1981, but it was in South Africa that the Detroit-born singer was a cult figure, no doubt fed by the mystique surrounding him, with the prevailing rumour declaring Rodriguez dead by suicide.

The quest by a South African fan in the 1990s to locate Rodriguez and get him to tour the country would be told in the 2013 Oscar-winning documentary Searching For Sugar Man. Incredibly, Rodriguez had no ideas that he was popular in South Africa; her found out when his daughter spotted a website dedicated to him. His first concert in Johannesburg in 1998 was an area affair, broadcast on TV. Imagine, one moment you live in your derelict Detroit home, assuming your art has been forgotten; next moment you play an arena in Africa where everybody knows the words to the songs you wrote almost three decades earlier, including people who weren’t even born when you recorded them.

Searching For Sugar Man gave Rodriguez as second shot at a career in the last decade of his 81-year-long life.

The Philly Soulman
As lead guitarist of the session band MFSB, Bobby Eli played on most of the great Philadelphia soul classics. Apart from Philly acts, over the years he also backed the likes of David Bowie, Hall & Oates, Wilson Pickett, Grady Tate, Elton John, George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Grace Jones, Jay-Z, and Shaggy.

But apart from backing artists —and having a global hit as a member of MFSB with TSOP, which for a while was also the Soul Train theme — the man born as Eli Tatarsky was also a songwriter of several hits and producer of stars.

Among the Philly soul hits he co-wrote are Love Won’t Let Me Wait for Major Harris, Blue Magic’s Sideshow and Three Ring Circus, and Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely by the Main Ingredient (originally written for Ronnie Dyson). He later also co-wrote the 1982 hit Zoom for Fat Larry’s Band and Love Town for Booker Newberry III.

He produced the Major Harris and Blue Magic hits, and others for those acts, as well as Jackie Moore (including her disco classic This Time Baby), Sister Sledge, Brenda & The Tabulations, Engelbert Humperdinck (in his porn-actor moustache phase), early Atlantic Starr, Rose Royce, Booker Newberry III, Deniece Williams and others.

The Axeman
Perhaps best-known for his work in Whitesnake, guitarist Bernie Marsden was admired for his ability to blend melodic solos, drawn from his love of blues, with powerful rhythm playing. Marsden co-founded Whitesnake in 1978 — when he might have joined Paul McCartney’s Wings instead — and also co-wrote many of their hits, including Here I Go Again (he played on the 1982 version, but not on the 1987 hit re-recording) and Fool For Your Loving.

Before he joined Whitesnake, Marsden played with UFO, Cozy Powell’s Hammer, and Wild Turkey, and co-founded the Deep Purple spin-off band Paice Ashton Lord with Deep Purple members Ian Paice and Jon Lord. Marsden also released many solo albums.

Gibson Guitars made a limited edition number of Marsden’s 1959 Les Paul guitar, known as “The Beast”.

The Black Godfather
His nickname “Black Godfather” might suggest some kind of nefarious character, but Clarence Avant, the music executive who has died at 92, received that moniker for presiding over an incredible network of contacts in the fields of entertainment, business and politics which enabled him to strike an abundant number of deals.

He started off by managing acts like Little Willie John, Sarah Vaughan, Kim Weston, Freddie Hubbard and others. In 1969 he founded the Sussex label, on which he mentored especially Bill Withers to stardom. Another Sussex artist was Sixto Rodriguez, whose two albums were release on the label. The documentary Searching for Sugar Man strongly that Rodriguez had been cheated out of the royalties due to him. Sussex folded in 1975.

Avant went on to co-found Tabu Records in 1975, which really took off in the 1980s when Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced acts like The S.O.S. Band, Alexander O’Neal, and Cherrelle. Tabu became part of the Sony empire in 1989, and in 1991 became a subsidiary of A&M Records (more on whom in a moment). When Avant was appointed to run Motown, Tabu was incorporated under that label (complicated stuff: both A&M and Motown were owned by PolyGram by that time).

In 1973, Avant was the executive producer of Save the Children, the film of the Operation PUSH concert in Chicago, which included the greatest line-up of black performers ever assembled.

Avant advocated for diversity and equal representation in the entertainment industry, and used his influence to help create opportunities for African American artists and professionals. He was the subject of the 2019 Netflix documentary The Black Godfather, produced by his daughter.

Avant died 20 months after his wife of 54 years, Jacqueline, was shot dead by an intruder in their Beverly Hills home on December 1, 2021.

The M in A&M
Three days after Avant, the M in A&M Records died. Jerry Moss founded the label in 1962 with Herb Alpert (the A in the name), having previously gone by the name of Carnival Records. A&M first built its fortunes on the records of Herb Alpert and Sergio Mendes, but soon included in its roster best-sellers like Burt Bacharach, The Sandpipers, Carpenters, Captain and Tennille, Flying Burrito Brothers, Quincy Jones, Rita Coolidge, Gino Vannelli, Joan Baez, Peter Frampton, Styx, Supertramp, Chuck Mangione, Billy Preston, Brothers Johnson, The Police, Sting, OMD, Nazareth, Joan Armatrading, Janet Jackson, Atlantic Starr, The Go-Go’s Bryan Adams, Suzanne Vega, The Human League, Joe Jackson, and loads others.

In 1989 Alpert and Moss sold A&M to PolyGram for $500 million, but continued to manage the label until 1993, when they quit due to interference from the parent company. In 1998, the two sued PolyGram, settling for another $200 million payment. Moss and Alpert were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 in the non-performer category.

Less than two weeks after Moss, one of A&M’s pivotal execs, promotions man Harold Childs, died at 80.

The Hit Writer
When the British invasion hit in the 1960s, New Yorker Rob Feldman and some of his young songwriting and producing colleagues sought to cash in on it, and founded The Strangeloves — initially pretending to be Australian, because their British accents weren’t very good. The studio band released a few hit records, particularly I Want Candy (later a UK hit for Bow Wow Wow), Cara-Lin, and Night Time.

With his partners Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, Feldman also produced the McCoys’ Hang On Sloopy, and wrote for them the song Sorrow, a b-side that later became a hit for David Bowie. Before that, they had written and produced My Boyfriend’s Back for The Angels. With Goldstein, Feldman later recorded as Rome & Paris.

Feldman went to school with Neil Sedaka, and was a member of the All-City Choir with Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. He was the father of actor Corey Feldman.

The Jazz Diva
It is a huge shame that South African jazz singer Sylvia Mdunyelwa, only ever released two albums, one of them a live set. The Cape Town singer started her music career in the 1970s, performing with a variety of local jazz acts.

The diminutive singer with a big voice was versatile: she also acted on South African television, had a weekly jazz show on a popular Cape Town radio station, owned a TV- and film-production company, and set up a jazz school up in the township where she was born, serving the community there in various forms of activism.

The Italian
One of Italy’s most popular pop stars, rough-voiced Toto Cutugno was a regular at the country’s popular Sanremo Music Festival, which he won in 1980 with “Solo noi”. In 1990 won the Eurovison Song Contest with “Insieme: 1992”, a song that celebrated the European Union.

Seven years earlier, Cutugno had a big international hit with “L’Italiano”, which basically listed things that define Italianess (eating pasta al dente, that sort of thing). Expats apparently loved it. Earlier yet, Cutugno had some success as singer and songwriter of the band Albatros, which he had co-founded. They had two hits in the mid-1970s with Africa and Volo AZ 504.

He also wrote prolifically for others, including the huge French disco hit “Monday Tuesday… Laissez moi danser” for Dalida and “Soli” for Adriano Celentano, as well as songs for Joe Dassin, Johnny Hallyday, Mireille Mathieu, Domenico Modugno, Claude François, Gigliola Cinquetti, Hervé Vilard, and others.

The Pistols’ Artist
If you have ever beheld any Sex Pistols record, you will have seen the art of Jamie Reid, 76, the British visual artist who designed the covers of the Never Mind The Bollocks LP and of singles like God Save The Queen and, in comic book style, Holiday In The Sun.  The magenta-on-yellow ransom-letter style Sex Pistols logo was also his work.

In 2011, Q magazine named the cover of God Save The Queen the greatest singles cover of all time. The original design was shocking, with Cecil Beaton’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II adorned with a safety pin through her nose and swastikas in her eye. In the end, the single release featured the queen with a banner displaying the song’s title covering her eyes, a banner with the band’s name over her lips, and HRH’s schnozzle unmolested by fastening devices.As always, this post is reproduced in illustrated PDF format in the package, which also includes my personal playlist of the featured tracks. PW in comments.

Dom Minasi, 80, jazz guitarist, composer and producer, on Aug. 1
Dom Minasi – I’ll Only Miss Her (When I Think Of Her) (1974)

Wendell B, 65, R&B singer, on Aug. 3
Wendell B. – When It Don’t Make Sense (2012)

Carl Davis, 86, US-British classical and film composer, conductor, on Aug. 3
Carl Davis – Theme of The French Lieutenant’s Woman (2009, as composer and conductor)

Tom Pintens, 48, Belgian indie singer and musician, on Aug. 4

John Gosling, 75, keyboardist of The Kinks (1970-78), on Aug. 4
The Kinks – You Don’t Know My Name (1971)

Slim Lehart, 88, American country singer, on Aug. 5

David LaFlamme, 82, singer and violinist of psych-rock band It’s A Beautiful Day, on Aug. 6
It’s A Beautiful Day – White Bird (1969, on vocals and as co-writer and producer)

Louis Tillett, 64, Australian rock singer and musician, on Aug. 6
Louis Tillett & Charlie Owen – Midnight Rain (1995)

Toussaint McCall, 89, soul singer, on Aug. 7
Toussaint McCall – Nothing Takes The Place Of You (1967)

Erkin Koray, 82, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist, on Aug. 7

DJ Casper, 58, DJ and songwriter, on Aug. 7
DJ Casper – Cha Cha Slide (2000)

Jamie Reid, 76, British visual artist, designer of Sex Pistols covers, on Aug. 8
The Sex Pistols – Holiday In The Sun (1977, as cover designer)

Sixto Rodriguez, 81, folk-rock singer-songwriter, on Aug. 8
Rod Riguez – I’ll Slip Away (1967)
Rodriguez – I Wonder (1970)
Rodriguez – I Think Of You (1971)
Rodriguez – Sugar Man (Live) (2009)

Robbie Robertson, 80, Canadian songwriter, musician (The Band), film composer, on Aug. 9
Bob Dylan & The Band – Nothing Was Delivered (rec. 1967)
The Band – It Makes No Difference (1975, also as writer)
The Band – Up On Cripple Creek (Live) (1978, also as writer)
Robbie Robertson – Broken Arrow (1987, also as writer)

Peppino Gagliardi, 83, Italian singer, on Aug. 9
Peppino Gagliardi – Che vuole questa musica stasera (1967)

Brad Thomson, grindcore guitarist, announced Aug. 10

Carlos Camacho, 73, singer with Puerto Rican vocal band Los Hispanos, on Aug. 11
Los Hispanos Quartet – Pena (1967)

Tom Jones, 95, musical lyricist, on Aug. 11
New World – Try To Remember (1968, as lyricist)

Ron Peno, 68, singer-songwriter with Australian rock band Died Pretty, on Aug. 11
Died Pretty – Everybody Moves (1989)

Clarence Avant, 92, music executive and label founder, on Aug. 13
Willie Bobo & The Bo-Gents – Do What You Want To Do (1971, as co-producer, label owner)
Cherelle & Alexander O’Neal – Saturday Love (1985, as label owner)

Patricia Bredin, 88, English actress and singer, on Aug. 13

Magoo, 50, rapper and songwriter, announced Aug. 13
Timbaland & Magoo feat Missy Eliott & Aaliyah – Up Jumps Da Boogie (1997)

Jerry Moss, 88, co-founder of A&M Records, producer, on Aug. 14
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – Whipped Cream (1965, as co-producer)
Waylon Jernnings – The Real House Of The Rising Sun (1965, as producer)
Michelle Phillips – No Love Today (1976, as producer)

Bobby Eli, 77, Philly soul guitarist, songwriter, and producer, on Aug. 16
MFSB – TSOP (1974, as member on lead guitar)
Blue Magic – Sideshow (1974, as writer and producer)
Fat Larry’s Band – Zoom (19832, as co-writer)
Luther Vandross – Love Won’t Let Me Wait (1988, as writer)

Walter Aipolani, 68, Hawaiian music singer, songwriter and guitarist, on Aug. 16

Gary Young, 70, drummer of indie band Pavement (1989-93), on Aug. 16
Pavement – Summer Babe (1991)

Chico Novarro, 88, Argentine singer-songwriter, on Aug. 17

Ray Hildebrand, 82, half of duo Paul & Paula, songwriter, on Aug. 17
Paul & Paula – Hey, Paula (1962, also as writer)

Václav Patejdl, 68, member of Czechoslovakian rock band Elán, on Aug. 19

Luc Smets, 76, singer, songwriter and musician with Belgian pop band The Pebbles, on Aug. 20
The Pebbles – Seven Horses In The Sky (1969, as lead singer and co-writer)

Denis LePage, 74, half of Canadian disco duo Lime, songwriter, on Aug. 21
Lime – Your Love (1981, also as co-writer)

Toto Cutugno, 80, Italian singer-songwriter, Eurovision winner (1990), on Aug. 22
Albatros – Volo AZ 504 (1976, as member, vocalist and co-writer)
Toto Cutugno – Solo noi (1980)
Toto Cutugno – L’italiano (1983, also as co-writer)

Bob Feldman, 83, songwriter and producer, on Aug. 23
The Angels – My Boyfriend’s Back (1963, as co-writer and co-producer)
The Strangeloves – I Want Candy (1965, as member and co-writer)
The McCoys – Sorrow (1965, as co-writer and co-producer)
Dusty Drake – And Then (2002, as co-writer)

Bernie Marsden, 72, English rock guitarist and songwriter, on Aug. 24
Cozy Powell’s Hammer – Na Na Na (1974, on guitar)
Bernie Marsden – Still The Same (1979, also as writer)
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again (1987, as member and co-writer)

Sylvia Mdunyelwa, South African jazz singer, on Aug. 25
Sylvia Ncediwe Mdunyelwa – That’s All (1998)
Sylvia Ncediwe Mdunyelwa – Abazali (1998)

Carlos Gonzaga, 99, Brazilian singer, on Aug. 25
Carlos Gonzaga – Diana (1958)

MC Marcinho, 45, Brazilian funk singer, on Aug. 26

John Kezdy, 64, singer of punk band The Effigies, traffic accident on Aug. 26
The Effigies – Something That… (1984)

Bosse Broberg, 85, Swedish jazz trumpeter and composer, on Aug. 26

Harold Childs, 80, music executive (A&M, PolyGram), on Aug. 27

Brian McBride, 53, ambient musician, announced Aug. 27
Stars of the Lid – Dungtitled (In A Major) (2007, as member)
Bell Gardens – Through The Rain (2010, as member)

Eddie Skoller, 79, Danish singer and actor, on Aug. 27

Denyse Plummer, 69, Trinidadian calypso and gospel singer, on Aug. 27
Denyse Plummer – Woman Is Boss (1988)

James Casey, 40, saxophonist with rock group Trey Anastasio Band, on Aug. 28

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Nobody vaguely sane has ever claimed that 1983 represents a pinnacle in soul music. Still, there was enough good stuff around to produce a fine mix — one on which synth stabs and lazily programmed drum machines, which blighted so much soul in the ’80s, are in short supply. So the music on this mix is relatively timeless, rather than being a time capsule.

If Patti LaBelle’s Love, Need And Want You sounds vaguely familiar, then it is because it was prominently sampled by Nelly for his 2002 hit with Kelly Rowland, the superb Dilemma. In the video, LaBelle appeared as Kelly’s mother, which was a great touch.

The Mary Jane Girls’ All Night Long has also been liberally sampled, most famously by LL Cool J on his 1991 hit Around The Way Girl, and a few years later by Mary J Blige on Mary Jane (All Night Long), which was more tribute than sample. But in recording the Mary Jane Girls song, Rick James did a bit of copying themselves: the bassline borrows from Keni Burke’s song Risin’ To The Top from a year earlier.

Perhaps the most sampled song on this mix is Between The Sheets by the Isley Brothers. Wikipedia counts 50 samples, including on Da Brat’s Funkified, The Notorious B.I.G.’s Big Poppa, Doja Cat’s Like That, Gwen Stefani’s Luxurious, and Pretty Ricky’s On The Hotline.

One place you probably would not begin a search for soul music is Sweden. And yet, our Scandinavian friends are represented here in the form of the band Shine. The band’s creative main man was the Ghanaian/Dutch jazz funk musician Kofi Bentsi-Enchill, who also takes lead vocals on So Into You, along with Swedish-French jazz singer Babette Kontomanou. Shine released one album, and then faded away. Babette went on to have a good solo career.

Joyce Lawson has three albums to her credit. Her eponymous 1983 debut was followed by an album in 1987, and a third set 14 years after that. Her career took off after winning the US talent programme The Gong Show. I have found no further biographical info on Lawson, except that she appears to be no longer with us.

I think I ought to issue an earworm warning in regard to Baby I’m Scared Of You by Womack & Womack. That line, “Houdini, was great magician, he could crack a lock [dut dut] from any position”, has kept me awake as it refused to leave my ear. And once I succeeded to dispel it, there was Cecil Womack sitting in my ear: “Oh, like Rudolph Valentino, I can fall down on my knees…” You’ve been warned!

The great cover version of Superstar by Luther Vandross was one of the first tracks on my shortlist, but at nine minutes it’s rather too long to be included on a CD-R length mix. It’s included as a bonus track. Superstar is the redeeming feature of the album it closes, Busy Body, which I regard as Luther Vandross’ weakest effort.

By the way, all Any Major Soul mixes from 1964 onwards are up again.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-houdinied covers. PW in comments.

1. Rufus & Chaka Khan – Ain’t Nobody
2. Lionel Richie – Love Will Find A Way
3. Isley Brothers – Between The Sheets
4. The Manhattans – Forever By Your Side
5. Womack & Womack – Baby I’m Scared Of You Baby
6. Patti LaBelle – Love, Need And Want You
7. Al Jarreau – I Will Be Here For You (Nitakungodea Milele)
8. Randy Crawford – Why?
9. Roberta Flack & Peabo Bryson – Maybe
10. Enchantment – Don’t Fight The Feeling
11. Gwen Guthrie – Oh What A Life
12. Shine – So Into You
13. Joyce Lawson – Try Me Tonight
14. Sister Sledge – Gotta Get Back To Love
15. Atlantic Starr – Touch A Four Leaf Clover
16. Mtume – Juicy Fruit
17. Mary Jane Girls – All Night Long
Bonus Track:
Luther Vandross – Superstar

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More Any Major Soul

Sometimes the lack of feedback can kill off a series of mixes. So it was with the Any Major Telephone series which I started in April 2013 with Volume 1. Any Major Telephone Vol. 2 dropped a few months later, and Vol. 3 in March 2014. The first two mixes got a lot of comments; the third only four (which in those days was rather little. Nowadays it would be a pleasing reaction). I thought the thing had run its course.

I had cause to revisit the Any Major Telephones when reader Jungle Jim (possibly not his real name) asked me to re-up Vol. 1 in the series, which he had somehow lost. I was happy to oblige — as I always am, provided I still have the requested mixes. Jim still had the other two volumes, but I have re-upped them as well. I reckon Vol. 2 is the best of the three.

And as I looked up the folder with Vol. 1, I noticed that I still had a long shortlist of telephone-related songs. So, after nine years, here’s Volume 4!

On the first two mixes, I used only songs that featured actual phone calls, direct or implied. Vol. 3 featured mostly tracks nominated by readers. This mix, like Vol. 3, places no restrictions on the nature of telephone-related subject matter, so there are a lot of ruminations about the potential of phone calls, usually involving a theme around the invitation or hope to receive a call.

The present mix closes with a French cover of Andy Williams’ Music To Watch ls Go By. Since our French singer from 1967 is a girl, who doubtless had her share of unnerving men watching her go by, she changes the subject to telephone games. Both song’s lyrics would have little application in the 2020s, when neither telephones and advocacy of sexist attitudes are appropriate subject matters in pop music.

Conversely, the song by the Drive-By Truckers, from almost 20 years ago, has a great message for our current age. When you drive, leave that cellphone alone! Or you might end up like country star George Jones, who in 1999 crashed into a bridge and was lucky to survive for another 14 years. He blamed talking on his cellphone while driving, though he later admitted to also having been under the influence of alcohol. The experience drove the hard drinker to sobriety. So, obviously, don’t drink (or smoke weed) and drive — and, please, don’t text and drive!As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and include home-payphoned covers. PW in comments.

1. Curiosity Killed The Cat – Name And Number (1989)
2. Blondie – Call Me (1980)
3. City Boy – 5.7.0.5. (1977)
4. Foreigner – Love On The Telephone (1979)
5. RAH Band – Clouds Across The Moon (1985)
6. Deacon Blue – When Will You Make My Telephone Ring (1988)
7. Prince – How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore (1982)
8. Chaka Khan – Telephone (1992)
9. Corinne Bailey Rae – Call Me When You Get This (2006)
10. Mayer Hawthorne – You Called Me (2011)
11. The Sylvers – Hot Line (1976)
12. Aaron Neville – Wrong Number (I’m Sorry, Goodbye) (1962)
13. Billy Fury – Phone Call (1960)
14. Hawkshaw Hawkins – Lonesome 7-7203 (1963)
15. Mel Tillis – Coca Cola Cowboy (1979)
16. Drive-By Truckers – George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues (2009)
17. Shelby Lynne – Telephone (2003)
18. Sheryl Crow – Callin’ Me When I’m Lonely (2013)
19. Wings – Call Me Back Again (1973)
20. 10cc – Donna (1972)
21. ABBA – Ring Ring (1973)
22. Natacha Snitkine – Le Jeu du telephone (1967)

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The word “iconic” is overused and abused, deployed and misapplied to the point that it has lost any meaning by content creators who meander through the landscape of wordsmithery without the solid foundation of having been trained in writing. It is a term used and enjoyed with extreme caution. But it seems proper to describe three of our deaths this month by the term “iconic”, in as far as they were figureheads or trailblazers (another cliché?) who by their persona or work had some quality of the unique and even irreplaceable.

The Legend
You would have expected the obits to be kind to Tony Bennett, one of the last survivors of the great crooning generation of the 1950s. Well, they were indeed glowing accounts of the man in ways that suggest that Bennett really was a quality man. Of course, we knew of his decency, and his political engagement for civil rights when that kind of thing could cost you (as it had cost Sinatra in the late 1940s). But it seems everybody who ever met him had only kind things to say about Bennett — as they did in his lifetime.

Bennett deserved the adulation he received when he made his big comeback in the 1990s, after more than two decades in the wilderness. He was a survivor. And he showed his vigour even when Alzheimer’s had taken residence in him, still recording and, remarkably, still performing live. Tony Bennett, we salute you!

The Protest Singer
A lot more has been written about Sinead O’Connor than I might have anticipated, had I ever contemplated her death at the young age of 56. The Irish singer left a cultural imprint out of proportion with the successes of her career. That scarcity of commercial success was self-inflicted, by choice and by circumstance, for Sinead was above all a protest singer, not a commercial proposition. And a protest singer, to be true to the definition, doesn’t seek success, doesn’t compromise.

It is somehow appropriate that Sinead once had a protective wing cast over her by Kris Kristofferson (see him tell the story and Sinead and KK sing a duet). Kristofferson once sang: “And you still can hear me singing to the people who don’t listen to the things that I am saying; praying someone’s gonna hear. And I guess I’ll die explaining how the things that they complain about are things they could be changing; hoping someone’s gonna care.”

I hope Sinead O’Connor, a troubled woman of aggressive courage and mild temperament, and of (unconventional) religious faith, indeed beat the devil.
La fille de Chelsea
My mother had the single of Je t’aime…Moi non plus, the groan-and-moan-fest by Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, with Birkin staring in all her beauty from the cover. When I was five, I loved it and played the single ad nauseam on my little suitcase record player, to the point that much later in life, I found myself a vinyl rip MP3 to experience the proper sound of childhood nostalgia. The crackling belonged to the song as much as Birkin’s moans. Obviously I had no interest in what the nice lady was singing or groaning, less even why she seemed to be in pain. I just loved that groove.

Contrary to the popular narrative, Jane and Serge did not have sex while recording Je t’aime…, but were in separate booths, unlike the version Gainsbourg had done earlier with Brigitte Bardot. Apparently the recording of the Bardot version involved some personal contact — reportedly in the form of heavy petting.

Bardot begged Gainsbourg that her version not be released because her husband objected to it. Given that Günter Sachs’ approach to marital fidelity was not widely known to be uncompromisingly observant, I suppose his objection centred mainly on BB’s orgasmic noises going public, not the idea that said (putative) orgasm was caused by another man.

As for Birkin, she would appear on one of the great albums of the 1970s, Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson, briefly on vocals and prominently on the cover, on which she holds her toy tiger to cover up her breasts (not that Birkin was particularly shy about public nudity). Her musical career in general was not an extraordinarily fertile ground for the classics of French pop music, but even when the music was mediocre and her voice thin, it was carried by Birkin’s enigmatic personality.

The Eagle
By all accounts, bassist Randy Meisner was a very nice guy, so it seems harsh that his bandmates in Poco and the Eagles treated him so poorly. As a founder member of Poco, he recorded the group’s debut album, but quit the band when he was excluded from participating the final mix, by order of guitarist Richie Furay. Meisner’s bass and backing vocals were retained, but on the cover drawing, his likeness was replaced by that of a dog. In Poco he was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit.

Meisner went on to co-found the Eagles, where he wrote and sang lead on a few songs, including the wonderful Take It To The Limit. He recorded six albums with the Eagles, leaving after 1976’s Hotel California. Again, he was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit.

When the Eagles reformed for the Hell Freezes Over tour, Meisner was deliberately and explicitly excluded. He was hurt by it, but said he felt no grudge towards Frey and Henley. Likewise, he later performed with Furay, who had treated Meisner so poorly in Poco.

After his time with the Eagles, Meisner recorded a few decent but commercially indifferent albums, and ran a few projects with other musicians.

The Trailblazer
As the new millennium kicked off, one of my big jams was Coco Lee’s Do You Want My Love, an infectious dance number that always put me in a good mood. So I was all the more saddened to learn that Hong Kong-born Lee’s life ended with suicide.

In 2001, Lee became the first Chinese-American singer to perform at the Oscars, with A Love Before Time from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lee recorded both in English and Mandarin, and seemed to be well-connected: her 2011 wedding in Hong Kong included performances by Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys and Ne-Yo. She died at 48, three days after attempting suicide on July 2.

The Hornblower
Count Basie rated trumpeter Oscar Brashear so highly, he showcased him in his concerts in the 1960s, as he did in this clip from 1968. Brashear was best-known as a trumpeter, but played any horn instrument. Apart from contributing to jazz acts, that versatility ensured him a place in many horn sections that appeared on countless soul and pop records. He played on virtually all Earth, Wind & Fire album, and on tracks like The Crusaders’ Street Life or Webster Lewis’ glorious Give Me Some Emotion.

Brashear backed acts like Donny Hathaway, John Lee Hooker, Solomon Burke, Zulema, Bonnie Raitt, Marvin Gaye, Patrice Rushen, The Blackbyrds, Randy Newman, Etta James, Esther Philips, Carole King (including the wonderful Sweet Season), Neil Diamond, James Taylor, Natalie Cole, Michael Franks, Ry Cooder, BB King, Deniece Williams, Maria Muldaur, Patti Labelle, Letta Mbulu, Tavares, The Sylvers, Teena Marie, Rick James, The Whispers, Was (Not Was), Frank Sinatra (on the Duets album), Thomas Dolby, Kenny Rogers, Dr John, Quincy Jones, Babyface, Lionel Richie, Tamia (on You Put A Move On My Heart), and many more…

Aside from Basie, he recorded with jazz acts such as Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderley, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Blue Mitchell, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson, Sergio Mendes, Henry Mancini, Alice Coltrane, Earl Klugh, Stanley Turrentine, Gabor Szabo, Jon Lucien, Ramsey Lewis, Norman Connors, Hubert Laws, Sadao Watanabe, Rodney Franklin, Pharoah Sanders, Hubert Laws, Lalo Schifrin, Freddie Hubbard, Nelson Riddle, Toots Thielemans, Horace Silver, Herb Alpert, David Axelrod, Diane Schuur, Joe Sample, George Duke, Herbie Hancock and others.

The Bassist
Although he released a number of solo records and was part of the jazz-fusion trio RMS, English multi-instrumentalist Mo Foster was best known as a backing musician for acts like Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Gil Evans, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Joan Armatrading, Gerry Rafferty, Meat Loaf, Cher, Scott Walker, Cliff Richard, George Martin, Judie Tzuke, Olivia Newton-John, Dr John, Stephen Bishop, Elkie Brooks, Michael Schenker, Heaven 17 and many others. He primarily played the bass guitarist, especially on Jeff Beck records.

He also played on soundtracks for many TV shows (including the distinctive bass on the theme of Minder), musicals (including Evita) and for films such as For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, Revenge of the Pink Panther, and Clockwise.

Foster was also a songwriter and producer, and wrote a humorous history of the British rock guitar, with a foreword by Hank Marvin.

The TV Composer
If you have watched any episode of the UK crime show Midsomer Murders (or “Tories Killing Tories”, as I call it), you will have heard the compositions of Jim Parker, who has died at 88. He scored the internationally popular show, and wrote its theme, with the ghostly theremin. Parker also wrote the theme and score for 1990s superb House of Cards series (and its sequels, which deteriorated in quality. The first season, however, still towers over the US copy with Verbal). Parker also wrote for Foyles’ War and Victoria Woods’ TV programmes, and the scores of several films.

Once he made it into the UK charts, having set a poem called Captain Beaky by Jeremy Lloyd to music, with Keith Mitchell reciting. Recorded in 1977 — as part of a project that also included recitals by Peter Sellers, Twiggy and Harry Secombe — it reached #5 in 1980. Parker also set poems by John Betjeman to music, with the poet laureate reciting his own words.

The Brazilian Legends
Tony Bennett once described jazz singer Leny Andrade, who died at 80 only three days after him, as “Brazil’s Ella Fitzgerald”. Like Fitzgerald, Andrade recorded with some of the biggest names in her field, including João Donato, whom we also lost this month.

On the same day Andrade died, her longtime friend and fellow legendary singer Dóris Monteiro passed away, at the age of 88. A joint wake was held at the venerable Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro.

Monteiro’s recording career went back as far as 1951, with some film appearances following. By 1956 she was so big a star that she got her own TV show. She recorded regularly into the 1990s, and toured into her 70s.As always, this post is reproduced in illustrated PDF format in the package, which also includes my personal playlist of the featured tracks. PW in comments.

Jerry Masters, 83, sound engineer, bassist and songwriter, on June 30
Clarence Carter – Patches (1969, on bass)
Tony Joe White – I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby (1972, as engineer and on backing vocals)

Vicki Anderson, 83, soul singer (James Brown Revue), on July 3
Vicky Anderson – The Message From The Soul Sisters (1970)

Mo Foster, 78, English multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, on July 3
Affinity – I Am And So Are You (1970, as member)
Phil Collins – It Don’t Matter To Me (1982, on bass)
Meat Loaf – Piece Of The Action (1984, on bass)
Mo Foster – The Light In Your Eyes (1988)

Lincoln Mayorga, 86, pianist and arranger, on July 3
The Four Preps – Big Man (1958, on piano)

Canelita Medina, 84, Venezuelan salsa singer, on July 4
Canelita Medina – Canto a la Guaira (1981)

Martin Stevens, 69, Canadian pop singer, on July 5
Martin Stevens – Midnight Music (1979)

Ralph Lundsten, 86, Swedish electronic music composer, on July 5

George Tickner, 76, rock guitarist, founding member of Journey, announced July 5
Journey – Of A Lifetime (1975, as member and co-writer)

Marcello Colasurdo, 68, Italian singer-songwriter and actor, on July 5

Coco Lee, 48, Hong Kong-American dance singer-songwriter, suicide on July 5
Coco Lee – Do You Want My Love (1999, also as producer)
Coco Lee – I Just Wanna Marry U (2013, also as writer)

Rob Agerbeek, 85, Dutch jazz pianist, on July 5

Caleb Southern, 53, pop-rock musician, producer and computer scientist, on July 6
Ben Folds Five – Magic (1999, as producer)

Peter Nero, 89, pianist and conductor with the Philly Pops, on July 6

Oscar Brashear, 78, jazz trumpeter, on July 7
Count Basie – Switch In Time (1968, on trumpet)
Earth, Wind & Fire – In The Stone (1979, on trumpet)
Crusaders feat Randy Crawford – Street Life (1979, full version, on trumpet)
Double Scale feat. Oscar Brashear – Smooth (1999)

Özkan Uğur, 69, member of Turkish pop band MFÖ, on July 8

Greg Cook, 72, singer with soul band The Unifics, on July 8
The Unifics – The Beginning Of My End (1968)

Bob Segarini, 77, US-Canadian pop musician and radio presenter, on July 10
Segarini – When the Lights Are Out (1978)

Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, 89, German free jazz musician, on July 10

Toni Carbone, 62, bassist of Italian new wave band Denovo, on July 11
Denovo – Persuasione (1987)

Anthony Meo, drummer of hardcore band Biohazard, announced July 14

Dano LeBlanc, 55, Canadian musician and cartoonist, on July 15

Jane Birkin, 76, English-French singer and actress, on July 16
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg – Je t’aime moi non plus (1969)
Jane Birkin – Lolita Go Home (1975)
Jane Birkin – Norma Jean Baker (1983)

Marc Herrand, 98, singer with French vocal group Les Compagnons de la Chanson, on July 17
Les Compagnons de la Chanson – Le marchand de Bonheur (1960)

João Donato, 88, Brazilian jazz and bossa nova pianist, on July 17
Donato e Seu Trio – Só Danço Samba (1965)
João Donato – E Menina (1975)

DJ Deeon, 56, house music DJ and producer, on July 17
DJ Deeon – Freak Like Me (1996)

Mark Thomas, 67, British film composer, on July 19
Mark Thomas – Opening Titles of ‘Shadows In The Sun’ (2006, as composer, conductor)

Tony Bennett, 96, jazz vocalist, on July 21
Tony Bennett – Rags To Riches (1953)
Tony Bennett with the Count Basie Orchestra – I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plans (1959)
Tony Bennett – I Left My Heart In San Francisco (live) (1994)
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga – Anything Goes (2014)

Neal Langford, 50, bassist of The Shins (2000-2003), on July 21
The Shins – Caring Is Creepy (2001)

Knut Riisnæs, 77, Norwegian jazz musician, on July 22

Arthur Rubin, 97, stage-singer and actor, on July 22

Vince Hill, 89, English singer and songwriter, on July 22
Vince Hill – Merci Cherie (1966)

Peter Austin, 78, singer with Jamaican ska band The Clarendonians, on July 22
The Clarendonians – Rudie Bam Bam (1966)

Raymond Froggatt, 81, English songwriter, on July 23
Raymond Froggatt – Callow La Vita (1968)

Cecilia Pantoja, 79, Chilean singer-songwriter, on July 24
Cecilia – Te Perdí (1965)

Dóris Monteiro, 88, Brazilian singer and actress, on July 24
Dóris Monteiro – Se Você se Importasse (1951)
Dóris Monteiro – Mocinho Bonito (1957)
Dóris Monteiro – Coqueiro Verde (1970)

Leny Andrade, 80, Brazilian singer and musician, on July 24
Leny Andrade – O Amor e a Rosa (1961)
Leny Andrade – Flor de Liz (live) (1984)
Leny Andrade – Rio (1991)

Brad Houser, 62, musician and co-founder of the New Bohemians, on July 24
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Nothing (1988, on bass and as co-writer)

Paul ‘Biff’ Rose, 85, comedian and singer-songwriter, on July 25
Biff Rose – Fill Your Heart (1968; original of the Bowie song)

Andreas Tsoukalas, 60, Greek pop singer, on July 25

Sinéad O’Connor, 56, Irish singer and songwriter, announced on July 26
Sinead O’Connor – Mandinka (1987)
Sinead O’Connor – Black Boys On Mopeds (1990)
Terry Hall  & Sinead O’Connor – All Kinds Of Everything (1998)
Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me (2014)

Roseline Damian, 39, Kenyan gospel singer, on July 26

Randy Meisner, 77, musician, singer, songwriter with the Eagles, on July 26
Poco – Calico Lady (1969, on bass and backing vocals)
Eagles – Take It To The Limit (1975, on lead vocals, bass and as writer)
Eagles – Try And Love Again (1976, on lead vocals, bass and as writer)
Randy Meisner – Gotta Get Away (1980)

Bea Van der Maat, 62, Belgian singer, TV presenter and actress, on July 27

Jim Parker, 88, British TV music composer, on July 28
Sir John Betjeman – Slough (1981, as composer and producer)
Jim Parker – Francis Urquhart’s March (Theme of ‘House of Cards’) (1990, as composer)
Jim Parker – Theme of ‘Midsomer Murders’ (1997, as composer)

Tommi Stumpff, 65, German electro-punk musician, on July 28
Tommi Stumpff – Alarm (1982)

Edgar Pozzer, 84, Brazilian singer, on July 29

Manolo Miralles, 71, musician and singer with Spanish folk band Al Tall, on July 29
Al Tall – Cant de la Muixeranga (2009)

Paul ‘Peewee Herman’ Reubens, 70, American actor, on July 30
Peewee Herman – Surfin’ Bird (1987)

Alice Stuart, 81, blues and folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, on July 31
Alice Stuart – Woman Blue (1964)

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Tomorrow, on July 26, Mick Jagger will turn 80, which is a good time to run the first of two Rolling Stones Songbooks.

The first of these Songbooks covers the years up to 1968, which roughly coincides with the Brian Jones years. Jones was hugely responsible for the sound of the Stones, but he didn’t write much material — the great hits were all written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The latter’s 80^th birthday later this year will be an occasion for Volume 2 of the Rolling Stones Songbook. A third volume might follow that.

The Stones started out as a covers band until manager Andrew Loog Oldham encouraged Jagger and Richards to write their own songs — to maximise profits — with further encouragement from Paul McCartney. Clearly, the pair had a great talent for the songwriting gig.

Some of the early material was derivative; The Last Time, the Stones’ first self-written A-side, is effectively a cover version of a Staples Singers gospel song from 1954, This May Be The Last Time. Richards acknowledged the pair’s songlifting but also justified it by saying that the tune was a traditional gospel tune, and thus preceded the Staples Singers’ version. Maybe so, but Pops Staples ought to have received a credit — without it, The Last Time stands as an example of white musicians ripping off black music without letting their original creators share in the credits. I don’t include The Last Time in this Songbook.

I would also have excluded the nasty Under My Thumb, which in the voice of a man is misogynistic and cruel. Happily, Tina Turner turned the tables and has her man under her thumb. It is still a nasty song, but in Tina’s voice it becomes one of defiant liberation, knowing how Ike treated her as modelled by Jagger’s lyrics. And, my word, Stray Cat Blues is one hell of a dodgy jailbait number — Mick, Keef, it might not be a hanging matter, but it is a crime.

But the problems with some of the lyrics (which will re-occur in Volume 2) should not detract from the genius of Jagger/Richards (or Richard, as Keith styled himself until 1978). The fact that the London Symphonic Orchestra managed to create an album of Stones songs and made it sound better than the novelty idea it was, testifies to that genius.

The weirdest cover here is that of Paint It Black, sung by Czech singer Karel Gott in German. Karel (pictured right) was a crooner who’d obsequiously grin at the aunts in the TV audience, velvet bow-tie and side-parted hair in perfect place. So on Paint It Black, our man rocks out in ways that suggest the accidental consumption of substances which Mick and Keef were themselves familiar with. It’s glorious.

In compiling this set, I have found that it isn’t easy to cover a Stones song well, but if it comes off, it’s great. I suppose that to my (our?) ears, these songs are so tied to the Stones sound, and especially to Mick’s vocals, that it requires something quite special or different to suspend the association with the original. Most of the songs here accomplish that, but why is that circumstance so evident with the Stones and not with The Beatles? Answers on a postcard.

As ever, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, includes home-satisfied covers, and the above text in an illustrated PDF.

1. London Symphonic Orchestra – She’s A Rainbow (1994)
2. Otis Redding – Satisfaction (1965)
3. Tina Turner – Under My Thumb (1975)
4. The Flamin’ Groovies– 19th Nervous Breakdown (1979)
5. Arthur Brown – Out Of Time (1974)
6. Alexis Korner – Get Off My Cloud (1975)
7. Johnny Winter – Stray Cat Blues (1974)
8. Jon English – Play With Fire (1976)
9. Melanie – Ruby Tuesday (1970)
10. The Love Affair – She Smiled Sweetly (1967)
11. Nancy Sinatra – As Tears Go By (1966)
12. Bobby Darin – Back Street Girl (1967)
13. The Rotary Connection – Lady Jane (1967)
14. Mary Coughlan – Mother’s Little Helper (1990)
15. Lindsey Buckingham – I Am Waiting (2006)
16. Miranda Lee Richards – Dandelion (2001)
17. The March Violets – Miss Amanda Jones (1987)
18. Smith – Let’s Spend The Night Together (1969)
19. Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – Connection (1968)
20. Chris Farlowe – I’m Free (1966)
21. Karel Gott – Rot und schwarz (Paint It, Black, 1969)
22. Joe Pass – What A Shame (1967)

Here’s a treat for the audiophile soul fans. Reader Mark P. from London has gone through the trouble of recreating all Covered With Soul mixes so far in a bitrate of 320 kbps, which gives a better audio quality than the more compressed but size-effective bitrates I use. He says that 95% of the tracks are now 320k mp3 files, while the rest are at least 192k — except one song that stubbornly remains at 160k.

Mark has kindly made the collection available to the friends of Any Major Dude With Half A Heart. The file is just over 4GB. To see what you can expect, have a look at the tracklistings. PW in comments.

GET THE LOT!

EDIT: Reader Fredrick Beondo has kindly made the lot available on his Google Drive. Same password as usual.

It has been a fairly quiet month, certainly after last month’s havoc. Though it is a little bit spooky that within four days, the surviving brothers of bluegrass sibling duos died: first Jesse McReynolds of Jim & Jesse, then Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers. It was also a bad month for musicians who were also noted as artists: three of them left us this month.

The Songwriting Legend
With her life-long husband Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil was one of the great songwriters on the Brill Building scene, with Weil doing lyrics and Mann the music. Their big hits included Uptown, He’s Sure The Boy I Love (The Crystals), You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, You’re My Soul And Inspiration  (Righteous Brothers), On Broadway, Saturday Night At The Movies (The Drifters), Blame It On The Bossa Nova (Edye Gorme), Walking In The Rain (The Ronettes), Looking Through The Eyes Of Love (Gene Pitney, The Partridge Family), We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (The Animals), Kiss, Hungry (Paul Revere & The Raiders), I Just Can’t Help Believing (BJ Thomas, Elvis Presley),  Make Your Own Kind Of Music, It’s Getting Better (Mama Cass), Here You Come Again (Dolly Parton), Just Once (James Ingram), Black Butterfly (Deniece Williams), Never Gonna Let You Go (Sergio Mendes),  Somewhere Out There (James Ingram & Linda Ronstadt), and I Don’t Know Much (Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville).

Other hits Weil co-wrote without Mann include He’s So Shy (Pointer Sisters), Running With The Night, Love Will Conquer All (Lionel Richie), If Ever You’re in My Arms Again (Peabo Bryson), and Through The Fire (Chaka Khan).

Weil and Mann were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Bossa Nova Queen
The story of Astrud Gilberto is not a happy one. She charmed the world with her vocals for The Girl Of Ipanema, with the ghastly Stan Getz claiming, falsely, her to be a housewife whom he had discovered. In fact, Astrud had been in the studio with her husband João Gilberto, when (according to one story) the writer of the English text, this blog’s old ‘friend’ Norman Gimbel, suggested that Astrud night take the English vocals, since João couldn’t handle them.

Astrud was paid a nominal session fee of $120, and when the song became a mega hit, Stan Getz actively lobbied that Astrud not receive any royalties. But the asshole had her singing for him on tour, where he apparently was abusive towards her. Years later, Astrud recorded a disco version of the song; again she was excluded from sharing in the proceeds.

She recorded a number of albums, which included songs she had written, in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese, and toured extensively. Astrud retired in 2002, reportedly leaving the music industry with total disgust for it.

The Independence Singer
When Jamaica gained its independence from Britain in 1962, the theme song to the event, titled Independent Jamaica, was sung by an artist born in Trinidad, Lord Creator. The single was also the first-ever release by Island Records.

The man born as Kentrick Patrick had started out in Trinidad as a calypso artist, but he was a man of diverse genres: R&B, ska and rocksteady, all of which were foundation blocks for what would be called reggae. His big rocksteady hit in 1970, Kingston Town, went on to become a global hit in 1989 in the feckless version by UB40. Lord Creator’s career had mostly stopped after Kingston Town, but for all its dreadfulness, the UB40 hit not only revived his career but also set him up financially, as the song’s writer. Lord Creator received Jamaica’s Order Of Distinction last year.

The Actor
In February 1957, The Banana Boat Song was in the US Top 10 in two very different versions: one by Harry Belafonte, the other by folk trio The Tarriers, who added elements of another Jamaican song, Hill And Gully Rider, to their version. Belafonte’s version is now the standard, but it was The Tarriers’ take that was initially most often covered. Playing guitar and singing with the folk-trio was co-founder Alan Arkin, who went on to become a rightfully acclaimed actor. He also took part in the recording of the chart-topper Cindy Oh Cindy with Vince Martin before leaving the band for the stage and screen. For some time he sang on stage and was the guitarist of the children’s folk-music band The Baby Sitters. Then he hit the big screen.

The Originals Singer
In his career, Jack Lee never had a hit, neither with his short-lived proto-new wave band The Nerves nor as a solo artist. But he wrote and first recorded two big hits: Hangin’ On The Telephone, recorded in 1976 with The Nerves, was a global hit for Blondie in 1980. Lee re-recorded the song in 1982. Come Back And Stay, a solo effort in 1981, was a hit for Paul Young in 1983.

The Bluegrass Brother 1
In 2002, the brothers and bluegrass legends Jim & Jesse were diagnosed with cancer. Jim died later that year, breaking up a duo that had been performing for 55 years. Jesse McReynolds beat cancer and lived to the ripe age of 93.

The duo had recorded since 1952, but hit it big in the 1960s. Jesse played the mandolin with a self-invented crosspicking and split-string method. After Jim’s death, Jesse continued to record and perform with the duo’s long-time backing band, The Virginia Boys. With them, he incorporated music by the likes of Grateful Dead in their repertoire. Jesse was such a fan that he produced a tribute album to Gerry Garcia and Robert Hunter in 2010, with his grandson Garrett McReynolds on guitar.

The Bluegrass Brother 2
Within four days, the surviving brothers of great bluegrass sibling duos died: first Jesse McReynolds, then Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers, whose brother Sonny left us in October 2021. Within their genre, the Osbornes were innovators, introducing new harmony styles and instruments like drums (the first in bluegrass to do so), percussions and electronic instruments. Having first recorded in the 1950s, they were members of the Grand Ole Opry. Their 1967 hit Rocky Top was named an official Tennessee state song in 1982. After Sonny retired, Bobby continued to perform with two sons in his band Rocky Top X-press.

The Composer
If middle-aged adults in Europe with a jones for instrumentals bought two records in the 1970s, they might well have been 1974’s Dolannes Mélodie and Ballad Pour Adeline, a 1978 hit for Richard Clayderman. Both sings were composed by Paul De Senneville, who recorded the former with Olivier Toussaint, his songwriting partner, and trumpet player Jean-Claude Borelly. Those two tunes were everywhere in Europe! De Senneville had a background in scoring French films, even though he could neither read music nor play an instrument. He would hum his melodies into a tape recorder and had a pianist play the melodies.

With Toussaint, De Senneville wrote for French-speaking stars such as Mireille Mathieu, Michèle Torr, Christophe, Hervé Vilard, Dalida, and Claude François, selling more than 100 million records sold internationally.

In 1988, De Senneville founded Delphine Software International, a French video game company named after his daughter.As always, this post is reproduced in illustrated PDF format in the package, which also includes my personal playlist of the featured tracks. PW in comments.

Jack Lee, 71 guitarist and songwriter with new wave band The Nerves, on May 26
The Nerves – Hanging On The Telephone (1976, also as writer)
Jack Lee – Come Back And Stay (1981, also as writer)
Jack Lee – Sex (1985)

Cynthia Weil, 82, legendary songwriter, on June 1
The Animals – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (1965, as lyricist)
Mama Cass – It’s Getting Better (1969, as lyricist)
Dolly Parton – Here You Come Again  (1977, as lyricist)
Barry Mann – Don’t Know Much (1980, as lyricist)

Pacho El Antifeka, 42, Puerto Rican rapper, shot, on June 1

Roy Taylor, singer and bass player of Irish pop group Jump the Gun, on June 1
Jump The Gun – Take Him Home (1988)

Pedro Messone, 88, Chilean folk singer, composer, actor and fascist, on June 1

George Winston, 74, new age music pianist, on June 4
George Winston – Living In The Country (1991)

Dora María, 89, Mexican folk singer, on June 4

Astrud Gilberto, 83, Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer, on June 5
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto – Corcovado (1963, on vocals)
Astrud Gilberto – O Morro (Não tem Vez) (1965)
Astrud Gilberto feat. Chet Baker – Far Away (1977, also as co-writer)
Astrud Gilberto & George Michael – Desafinado (1996)

Philippe Marcade, 68, singer of punk band The Senders, on June 5
The Senders – 6th Street (1981)

Tony McPhee, 79, guitarist of English blues-rock band The Groundhogs, on June 6
The Groundhogs – Soldier (1970, also as writer)

Peter Belli, 79, German-born Danish singer and actor, on June 8

Lee Clayton, 80, rock and country musician and composer, on June 12

Christy Dignam, 63, singer of Irish rock band Aslan, on June 13
Aslan – This Is (1986)

Blackie Onassis, 57, drummer and songwriter with alt.rock band Urge Overkill, on June 13
Urge Overkill – Sister Havana (1993)

Sylvan Morris, 74, reggae sound engineer, on June 17
Dandy Livingstone – No Matter What The Question (1978, as engineer)

Dan Lardner, singer and guitarist of indie band QTY, announced June 15
QTY – Cold Nights (2017)

Sergey Kolchin, 45, guitarist of Russian rock band Zemlyane, on June 15

Don Kloetzke, 71, folk-rock musician and artist, on June 15
White Duck – Black-Eyed Susan (1972, as member on keyboards)

Luiz Schiavon, 64, keyboardist of Brazilian rock band RPM, on June 15
RPM – Rádio Pirata (Ao Vivo) (1985)

Dave Maclean, 78, Brazilian singer-songwriter, on June 17
Dave Maclean – We Said Goodbye (1974)

Teresa ‘Nervosa’ Taylor, 60, drummer of the Butthole Surfers, on June 18
Butthole Surfers – Cherub (1984)

Krzysztof Olesiński, 70, bass player of Polish rock band Maanam, on June 18

Big Pokey, 45, American rapper, on June 18
Big Pokey – Hardest Pit (1999)

Ryan Siew, 26, guitarist of Australian metalcore band Polaris, on June 19

Max Morath, 96, ragtime pianist, composer, TV presenter and author, on June 19
Max Morath – Hello, Ma Baby (1964)

Paolo Zavallone, 90, Italian singer and composer, on June 20
El Pasador – Amada mia, amore mia (1977, as El Pasador)

Choi Sung-bong, 33, South Korean pop singer, on June 20

John Waddington, 63, guitarist of English rock band The Pop Group, on June 20
The Pop Group – She Is Beyond Good And Evil (1979, also as co-writer)

Peter Brötzmann, 82, German free jazz saxophonist, on June 22

Robert Black, 67, electric and double bass player, on June 22

Jesse McReynolds, 93, half of bluegrass duo Jim & Jesse, on June 23
Jim & Jesse – Diesel On My Tail (1967)
Jim & Jesse – Ashes Of Love (1976)
The Virginia Boys – Where the Soul Never Dies (2017, as leader)

Sheldon Harnick, 99, lyricist and songwriter, on June 23
Zero Mostel – If I Were A Rich Man (1964, as lyricist)

Paul de Senneville, 89, French composer and producer, on June 23
Paul De Senneville & Olivier Toussaint – Dolannes Mélodie (1974)
Richard Clayderman – Ballad Pour Adeline (1977, as composer and producer)

Lee Rauch, 58, founding drummer of Megadeth, on June 23

Claude Barzotti, 69, Belgian singer, on June 24
Claude Barzotti – Le Rital (1981)

Ysabelle Lacamp, 68, French singer, actress and author, on June 26
Ysabelle Lacamp – Baby Bop (1987)

Carmen Sevilla, 92, Spanish actress, singer and dancer, on June 27

Bobby Osborne, 91, half of bluegrass duo Osborne Brothers, on June 27
Osborne Brothers – Once More (1958)
Osborne Brothers – Tennessee Hound Dog (1967)
Osborne Brothers & Mac Wiseman – Midnight Flyer (1972)

Alan Arkin, 89, actor and guitarist-singer with folk group The Tarriers, on July 29
The Tarriers – The Banana Boat Song (1956)
Vince Martin with The Tarriers – Cindy, Oh Cindy (1957)

Anita Wood, 85, American singer, actress, Elvis’ ex-girlfriend, on June 29
Elvis Presley & Anita Wood – I Can’t Help It (1958, home recording)
Anita Wood – I’ll Wait Forever (1961)

Lord Creator, 87, Trinidadian-Jamaican singer-songwriter, on June 30
Lord Creator – The Cockhead (1956)
Lord Creator – Independent Jamaica (1962)
Lord Creator – Kingston Town (1969)

Rick Froberg, 55, indie musician and artist, on June 30
Drive Like Jehu – Bullet Train To Vegas (1992, as member)

Monte Cazazza, 68, artist and industrial music composer, on June 30
Monte Cazazza – To Mom On Mother’s Day (1979)

(This post is recycled from February 2019)

The term commonly used for white people doing R&B, or music influenced by the genre, is “blue-eyed soul”. I’m not sure I like the term much, because it suggests that only black people are able to produce authentic soul music. This mix shows that this notion is nonsense.

This lot of songs draws from, the period 1964-73, the prime of soul music. For the challenge of it, I’ve even left out some obvious choices, such as the Righteous Brothers, The Four Seasons or Motown’s Chris Clark. And not all of the acts here were strictly or always soul, but they all produced records that nonetheless merit inclusion in the genre. Including the effort by a future country superstar.

Linda Lyndell, targetted by racist assholes for singing soul music.

One of the artists here had her career destroyed by the Ku Klax Klan. Linda Lyndell was beginning to enjoy some success on Stax records with the original version of the Salt N Pepa hit What A Man when death threats by the KKK, which objected to a white woman singing black music on a black label, persuaded her to go into retirement. She made a comeback much later, and still performs occasionally.

Another white singer, from a country background, once recorded soul music before selling records by the shedload to audiences which included KKK types. Charlie Rich started his career in the late 1950s as a rock & roll singer. In the mid-1960s he branched out into soul, recording with Willie Mitchell at Hi Records, including the original recording of the Sam & Dave classic When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (which went unreleased until 1988). The Silver Fox escaped commercial success as a soul singer and the wrath of racists, and went on to become the self-appointed guardian of pure country.

Another exponent of blue-eyed soul who went country was Roy Head, whose Treat Her Right is something of a blue-eyed soul anthem, having been kept off the US #1 by The Beatles’ Yesterday.

On December 9, 1967, Mitch Ryder played with Otis Redding on a Cleveland TV station (the song was Knock On Wood.) The following day, Otis Redding died in a plane crash. Had Otis lived, he might well have made a star of a white teenage kid with a real soul voice whom he had discovered in Pittsburgh, Johnny Daye. In the event, Daye released just a few singles on Stax before retiring from music in 1968. The featured song is the flip side of his best-known song, What’ll I Do for Satisfaction (which Janet Jackson covered in 1993 as What’ll I Do).

Bob Kuban & The In-Men, with the ill-fated lead singer Walter Scott in front.

Bob Kuban & The In-Men occupy a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s one-hit wonder exhibit for their 1966 #12 hit The Cheater, which features here. The eponymous Bob Kuban was the bandleader and drummer. The singer on The Cheater was Walter Scott. In a cruel twist of irony, Scott was murdered with premeditation in 1983 by his wife’s lover, who had also killed his own wife. There’s another murder coming up later.

We know Robert John better for his 1979 hit Sad Eyes (which featured on Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 1). He had enjoyed his first chart action as a 12-year-old in 1958 under his birth-name, Bobby Pedrick Jr. His claim to blue-eyed soulness dates to his short-lived time at A&M records, which saw the release of only two singles.

Jimmy Beaumont was the lead singer of the doo wop band The Skyliners – who had hits with their superb Since I Don’t Have You and Pennies Of Heaven – before he tried his hand as a soul singer. Commercial success eluded him, but soul aficionados know to appreciate his vocal stylings. Later life Beaumont returned to The Skyliners, whom he fronted until his death in 2017.

We have a few UK artists doing their soulful thing; Dusty Springfield‘s meddling in the genre is well-known, especially her Dusty In Memphis album, whence the featured track comes. Kiki Dee is less celebrated for her soul exploits (and internationally most famous for her 1976 duet with Elton John, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart). Early in her career, Kiki Dee was styled as a Spectoresque girl singer. She also did backing vocals for Dusty Springfield. She was doing well enough as a soul singer to become the first white British artist to be signed by Motown in 1970. Other UK acts featured here are the Spencer Davis Group and Junior Campbell, whom I introduced in the Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 9 post.

South African soul singer Una Valli, pictured in 1964.

Geographically most remote is South Africa’s Una Valli, who as a white woman singing black music probably did not earn the love of the apartheid regime. Valli performed almost exclusively cover versions of soul and pop songs. In any other world, she might have become a stone-cold soul legend (she previously featured on Covered With Soul Vol. 6 and Vol. 11 and Covered With Soul: Beatles Edition). Stop Thief is one of her more obscure covers, a Carla Thomas b-side written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Half of Valli’s 1968 album Soul Meeting was recorded with the backing of a pop group called The Peanut Butter Conspiracy; the other half (including Stop Thief) with a soul-funk band called The Flames, whose Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin later joined the Beach Boys on three albums.

Two years after the featured song by Bill Deal and the Rhondels was released, saxophonist Freddy Owens joined the group. In 1979 the band was playing in Richmond, Virginia, when Owens was shot dead in the pursuit of a man who had raped his wife. Bill Deal never really got over that and four years later quit the music industry. He died in 2003.

Several of the songs featured here were favourites on England’s Northern Soul scene, in which DJs would compete to find the most obscure 1960s soul records to be played in specialist clubs which were located mostly in northern England. The most famous venue in this sub-culture, which had its own dress codes and dancing styles, was the Wigan Casino. When the venue closed in 1981, Dean Parrish‘s I’m On My Way was the last record to be played there. Six years earlier, the popularity of the 1967 tune on the Northern Soul scene had led to its re-release, selling a million copies in the UK – and Parrish earned no money from it.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-irised covers, and the above text in an illustrated PDF. PW in comments.

1. The O’Kaysions – The Soul Clap (1968)
2. Soul Survivors – Expressway To Your Heart (1967)
3. The Young Rascals – A Girl Like You (1967)
4. Robert John – Raindrops, Love And Sunshine (1970)
5. Bill Deal and the Rhondels – What Kind Of Fool Do You Think I Am (1969)
6. Charlie Rich – Don’t Tear Me Down (1966)
7. Johnny Daye – I Need Somebody (1968)
8. Linda Lyndell – What A Man (1969)
9. Roy Head – Treat Her Right (1965)
10. Sunday Funnies – Whatcha Gonna Do (When The Dance Is Over) (1967)
11. Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels – Sock It To Me Baby (1967)
12. Bob Kuban & The In-Men – The Cheater (1966)
13. Jimmy Beaumont – I Never Loved Her Anyway (1966)
14. Flaming Ember – The Empty Crowded Room (1971)
15. The Box Tops – Turn On A Dream (1967)
16. Kiki Dee – On A Magic Carpet Ride (1968)
17. Laura Nyro – Stoned Soul Picnic (1968)
18. Dusty Springfield – Just A Little Lovin’ (1969)
19. The Illusion – Falling In Love (1969)
20. Una Valli and The Flames – Stop Thief (1968)
21. The Monzas – Instant Love (1964)
22. Len Barry – 1-2-3 (1965)
23. The Grass Roots – Midnight Confessions (1967)
24. Junior Campbell – Sweet Illusion (1973)
25. Dean Parrish – I’m On My Way (1967)
26. The Spencer Davis Group – I’m A Man (1967)
27. Chi Coltrane – Thunder And Lightning (1971)
28. Tommy James & The Shondells – Crystal Blue Persuasion (1969)

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