Tag: Soul Music

Weekly Recommended Listens: April 2017: Week 2: Sixties Rock: Early Sixties Soul Music Continued

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re continuing our month-long look at Early Sixties Soul music.

Our artists for this week are Jackie Wilson, Solomon Burke & Little Willie John.

And our weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Brief Artist Bios

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music*)

III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week

VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

I. Brief Artist Bios:

Jackie Wilson: Wilson was born in Detroit in 1934. And like all the other musicians who helped create the new musical genre of Soul, he started out singing Gospel, then incorporated traditional Rhythm & Blues and Pop influences into his music to produce a classic early sixties Soul sound.

Wilson initially sang as a solo artist before joining Billy Ward’s band, the Dominos in 1953. He took over the singing duties from the great Clyde McPatter who left Ward’s band to form The Drifters. During Wilson’s tenure with The Dominos they had one hit Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet) in which you can clearly hear the styles of Rhythm and Blues, Pop and Swing being woven together.

In 1957, Wilson left Ward’s band and launched his second solo career. He scored numerous hits in the next ten years starting with 1958’s To Be Loved. Other Wilson hits of the era include: Lonely Teardrops, I’ll Be Satisfied, Doggin’ Around, A Woman, A Lover, A Friend, Alone At Last, My Empty Arms, Baby Workout, (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher, and I Get The Sweetest Feeling. Wilson’s was a very energetic singer and a great performer. He was also a consistent hitmaker during the 1960s. However, it is notable that when Wilson recorded albums he focused on creating hits and so sometimes the depth and energy of his singing wasn’t captured in his studio recordings.

All in all though, Wilson richly deserves his place in music history as one of the founder of Soul Music – few singers of the era sang more energetically, and his rich tones when complimented by the right songs/song arraignments are wonderful to hear.

Wilson continued to perform into the nineteen seventies but, unfortunately, suffered a stroke while performing in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 1975, at the very young age of 41, and was never able to perform again. Wilson died in 1984.

Solomon Burke: Burke was born on March 21, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both his mother and his grandmother were preachers so he grew up with the sounds of Gospel woven into his life. And as a young man, Burke worked as a preacher and mortician before turning his launching a singing career.

Burke never had a pop hit, although he had many R&B hits, but he had a huge impact on the genres of Pop and Rock Music and was another founding pillar of the genre of Soul Music. Burke started out singing Gospel in his family’s church and went on to sing music that mixed Rhythm and Blues and Country Music with Pop overtones, polishing and transitioning that music into Soul Music as he went.

In the mid-sixties a radio show host referred to Burke as “The King Of Rock and Soul” and Burke loved the description and went with it, creating a stage persona that showed him larger than life, decked out like a king and sitting on a throne while he sang.

Burke recorded for Atlantic Records during its sixties heyday. And with his smooth vocals, flamboyant style and knack for storytelling, influenced a whole host of subsequent artists and groups including the Rolling Stones who covered two of his songs in their early years– Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Rolling Stones No. 2), and Cry To Me (Out Of Our Heads). Burke’s R&B hits of the sixties included: Cry To Me, Just Out of Reach, Tonight’s The Night, Got To Get You Off My Mind, If You Need Me and Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye).

Post sixties, Burke continued to record and perform and actually died in an airport in Amsterdam while on tour in 2010. He was seventy years old, and according to his New York Times obituary, he was survived by 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.

Little Willie John: John was born in Cullendale, Arkansas on November 15, 1937. He grew up in Detroit and his first hit was 1955’s All Around the World.

John’s vocals had great emotional depth and his voice was youthful in tone giving his music a very vibrant feeling.

John recorded for King Records, a lesser known label that the great sixties R&B/Soul labels Atlantic and Stax, and, was cited as a musical inspiration by many other performers including B.B. King, Al Green, Clyde McPhatter, James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.

John was a passionate individual and hot tempered when it came to slights – particularly those based on his lack of height – he was five feet, four inches tall. And in 1964 he stabbed a man and as a result, was sent to The Washington State Penitentiary. He died there under suspicious circumstances in 1968. Some sources say John died of a heart attack, others that he died of pneumonia and several contemporaries interviewed for his 2011 biography, Fever: Little Willie John A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and The Birth of Soul by Susan Whitall, claim that he was murdered. Whatever the cause of his John’s death, he died at the very young age of 30 leaving behind some great music. His hits include: Are You Ever Coming Back, Fever, Heartbreak, Home At Last, I Need Your Love So Bad, I’m Shakin’ and Let’s Rock While The Rockin’s Good.

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:

http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

Jackie Wilson:Archive ’57-’61:

This album contains a number of Wilson’s best songs including: Reet Petite, To Be Loved, Lonely Teardrops, I’ll Be Satisfied, Doggin’ Around, Night and more!

Here’s a link to stream the album Archive ’57 – ’61:
https://goo.gl/nTDFPN

Solomon Burke: Proud Mary with Bonus Tracks

 The songs on this collection include: These Arms Of Mine, I’ll Be Doggone, Please Send Me Someone To Love, The Generation Of Revelations, In The Ghetto and more.

Here’s link to stream the Proud Mary album:
https://goo.gl/YHQPkO

Little Willie John:

All Around The World by Little Willie John from the Various Artists collection All Star Rock & Roll Revue:

In addition to Little Willie John, this album  features a swinging version of Oh Babe by Lucky Millinder, a bouncy Voo-Vee-Ah-Bee by The Platters and Sixty Minute Man by Billy Ward & His Dominoes featuring Clyde McPhatter on vocals.

Here’s a link to stream the All Star Rock & Roll Revue album:
https://goo.gl/iqT7rV

Fever by Little Willie John from the Various Artists collection 20 Soul Rarities:


Other musicians features on the album include: Big Joe Turner, Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, Eugene Church and more.

Here’s a link to stream the album 20 Soul Rarities:
https://goo.gl/Hw3rII

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

The Complete Sessions with Bobby Hackett by Jackie Gleason:


If you’re only familiar with Jackie Gleason as portraying the everyday common man Ralph Kramden on the classic TV show the Honeymooners, than you are in for a treat! Jackie Gleason also had a musical career! In the fifties, he said that he thought there was a need to create smooth, romantic, easy listening instrumental music like the kind he saw, during romantic scenes in the movies, while he was growing up – and boy did he! Jackie Gleason’s albums feature rich, horn based instrumentals that are perfect to play as back ground music while reading, relaxing, unwinding while working out or even just de-stressing, wine glass in hand, after a hectic day.

If you go to the Freegal checkout page to stream the set you’ll notice Freegal has the musical category listed as Jazz. However, Jackie Gleason’s music really isn’t Jazz – it is the soft background music that later became known as lounge music and it is perfect music to play when you just want to shut your eyes and relax!

Freegal has several different Jackie Gleason albums in its catalog, including this set of Gleason’s featuring albums released between 1953 and 1960 which feature trumpeter Bobby Hackett. This collection features more than 100 songs – so stream away!

Here’s a link to stream the Jackie Gleason Sessions:
https://goo.gl/7JYQ19

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

Jackie Wilson:

Jackie Wilson 7 Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles And Live Tracks:


This multi disc collection includes seven albums originally released between 1958 and 1961 including his first three albums: He’s So Fine, So Much & Lonely Teardrops. Also included are the albums Jackie Sings the Blues and A Woman, A Lover, A Friend both released in 1960 and 1961’s You Ain’t Heard Nothin Yet and By Special Request. Since that is seven albums worth of material to listen to and not everyone has that much free time, I’ll note that the AllMusic site gives the highest ratings to the albums Lonely Teardrops and Jackie Sings The Blues.

Here’s a link to request the Jackie Wilson 7 Classic Albums set  via StarCat: https://goo.gl/kQwm8r

Solomon Burke

The Very Best of Solomon Burke:

This album, unlike the mega Jackie Wilson set, features one single-album of music; sixteen of Solomon’s best songs including: Just Out Of My Reach, Cry To Me, Everybody Needs Somebody To Love and Tonight’s The Night.

Here’s a link to request the Very Best of Solomon Burke CD via StarCat: https://goo.gl/X0MA3U

Little Willie John:

Little Willie John: All 15 Of His chart Hits From 1953 To 1962:

This album is a solid greatest hits collection featuring, as the title says, all of Little Willie John’s hits from the fifties and early sixties. The album includes the songs: All Around The World, Need your Love So Bad, Cottage For Sale, Fever and more.

Here’s a link to request the Little Willie John CD via StarCat: https://goo.gl/pCKUk9

Wild Card CD & DVD Picks Of The Week:


Lost and Found: American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive (Silent):

This collection of silent American films is a great find! The set includes early movies, previously unavailable on video, by John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock and other early American cinematic favorites. The films and were found in a New Zealand archive where they had been carefully stored for over a century – and they are a great find because they are the only known versions of these videos.

The 3-1/4 hour DVD set contains the following short films and film shorts:

John Ford’s Upstream (1927) and a preview for his lost feature Strong Boy (1929)

The White Shadow (1924), 3 reels from the first surviving feature credited to Alfred Hitchcock, the assistant director, art director, writer, and editor

Won in a Cupboard (1914), the first surviving film directed by and starring Mabel Normand

Lyman H. Howe’s Famous Ride on a Runaway Train (1921), reunited with its sound-effects disc for the first time in decades

Stetson’s Birth of a Hat (ca. 1920)

The Love Charm (1928), a South Seas romance filmed in two-color Technicolor by Ray Rennahan and written by Duncan Renaldo (the “Cisco Kid”)

Andy’s Stump Speech (1924), directed by Norman Taurog, following funny-paper favorite Andy Gump (played by Joe Murphy) on the campaign trail

The cartoon Happy-Go-Luckies (1923), 5 newsreel stories, and an episode from Dolly of the Dailies (1914) in which the unstoppable newspaperwoman saves the day and gets the scoop.

Here’s a link to request the Lost and Found DVD set via StarCat:
https://goo.gl/wD2iFZ

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

Jackie Wilson:

That’s Why (I Love You So) – from The Ed Sullivan Show

https://goo.gl/B3RGNR

Lonely Teardrops – from an unnamed TV show:

https://goo.gl/8oIcfc

Solomon Burke:

Cry To Me – studio recording with a montage of photos of Burke from the era and, at the end of the clip, much later in his career

https://goo.gl/T2XM9v

A Picture of You – another studio recording with featuring only a single, vintage, lonely photo of Solomon Burke – but it is great song!

https://goo.gl/fpmjRz

Little Willie John:
Two studio recordings featuring vintage photos of John:

Need Your Love So Bad

https://goo.gl/tfqsKx

I’m Shakin’

https://goo.gl/aGg5cS

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

Fever: Little Willie John, A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul by Susan Whitall with a forward by Stevie Wonder

This week I’m not going to divert from the Soul Music category and go off on a different music path, instead, I’m going to recommend Little Willie John’s biography titled:

Here’s a solid description of the book provided by the Publisher – Titan Books:

Little Willie John lived for a fleeting 30 years, but his dynamic and daring sound left an indelible mark on the history of music. His deep blues, rollicking rock ‘n’ roll and swinging ballads inspired a generation of musicians, forming the basis for what we now know as soul music.

Born in Arkansas in 1937, William Edward John found his voice in the church halls, rec centers and nightclubs of Detroit, a fertile proving ground that produced the likes of Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. One voice rose above the rest in those formative years of the 1950s, and Little Willie John went on to have 15 hit singles in the American rhythm & blues chart, with considerable cross-over success in pop. Some of his songs might be best known by their cover versions (“Fever” by Peggy Lee, “Need Your Love So Bad” by Fleetwood Mac and “Leave My Kitten Alone” by The Beatles) but Little Willie John’s original recording of these and other songs are widely considered to be definitive, and it is this sound that is credited with ushering in a new age in American music as the 1950s turned into the 60s and rock ‘n’ roll took its place in popular culture.

The soaring heights of Little Willie John’s career are matched only by the tragic events of his death, cutting short a life so full of promise. Charged with a violent crime in the late 1960s, an abbreviated trial saw Willie convicted and incarcerated in Walla Walla Washington, where he died under mysterious circumstances in 1968.

In this, the first official biography of one of the most important figures in rhythm & blues history, author Susan Whitall, with the help of Little Willie John’s eldest son Kevin John, has interviewed some of the biggest names in the music industry and delved into the personal archive of the John family to produce an unprecedented account of the man who invented soul music.

And here’s a link to request Little Willie John bio via StarCat:

https://goo.gl/5uX2JY

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:
All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide To R&B And Soul. (Backbeat Books. Fresno. 2003.)

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)
Clyde McPhatter Biography by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/B3Cm7A

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

Jackie Wilson Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/XjFlFS

JACKIE WILSON, ROCK SINGER; RECORDS INCLUDED ‘TEARDROPS’ Published: January 23, 1984. New York Times.
https://goo.gl/G6ZR6t

Little Willie John Biography by John Floyd
https://goo.gl/3jkj8Z

Solomon Burke Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/6hZyRX

Solomon Burke, Influential Soul Singer, Dies at 70 By BEN SISARIO. OCT. 11, 2010. New York Times.
https://goo.gl/MMf1Rr

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and including our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York. Library cards are free and at our library you can obtain one by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features both your name and your current address.

Weekly Recommended Listens: April 2017: Week 1: Sixties Rock: Soul Music

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, this week we’re kicking off a month long look at sixties Soul Music.

And just to refresh our memories, each weekly recommended music posting features the following sections:

I. Brief Artist Bios
II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)
III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week
IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups
V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week
VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

Our spotlighted artists for this week are Sam Cooke, Ray Charles & James Brown.

I. Brief Artist Bios:

Sam Cooke: Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on January 22, 1931. He was one of eight children born to a Baptist minister and his wife and grew up in Chicago. Cooke showed exceptional singing talent as a boy and began his singing career by singing in the choir at his father’s church. As a youth Cooke sang with the Gospel group The Soul Stirrers before kicking off a solo career in the late nineteen fifties.

Cooke had a very smooth voice, a smart pop songwriting style and blended traditional Rhythm and Blues and the power of Gospel with Pop Music to help create a new sound, which has since become known as “Soul Music.” Those us of who came of age after the nineteen sixties don’t remember an era without Soul Music. However, in the early sixties this was a new style of music lighter than traditional Rhythm & Blues and yet, a bit heavier and more substantial than most of the pop music of the day.

Cooke’s first solo hit was You Send Me released in 1957. The record sold more than two million copies which was a huge number for the time. By the dawn of the sixties, Cooke was just hitting his musical stride! He released a number of great soul songs in the early sixties including: Everybody Likes To Cha Cha Cha, Only Sixteen, Chain Gang, Twistin’ the Night Away, Having A Party, Another Saturday Night and the posthumously released A Change Is Gonna Come.

And no doubt, Cooke would have become an even more prominent figure of sixties Soul Music if not for his untimely death. Cooke was shot to death in a suspicious incident at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles in 1964. He was only 33 years old.

Ray Charles: Charles was born in Georgia in 1930 and grew up in Florida. He was born with sight but lost his sight as a child. Charles was musical from an early age. He studied piano at The St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind, moved to Seattle in 1948 and formed his first band in 1954. Like Cook, Charles blended traditional Rhythm & Blues, mixing it with Gospel and Pop to become another founder of the new music genre – Soul.

Charles started his recording career in the nineteen fifties and began to cement his role as a founding pillar of soul when his 1959 hit What I’d Say broke through to the mainstream American audience hitting number 1 on the R&B Chart. Charles’s sixties hits include: Georgia On My Mind, One Mint Julep, Hit The Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can’t Stop Loving You, You Don’t Know Me, Busted, Crying Time and In The Heat of the Night.

By the end of the sixties this new genre of music – Soul – was a bona fide genre in its own right, thanks in no small part to Ray Charles. Charles continued to record and perform until his death in 2004 and was the subject of a biographic movie released that same year and simply titled Ray.

James Brown: Brown was born in South Carolina in 1933. Brown, like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, started out singing Gospel music. And Brown, again, like Cooke and Charles, became a founding pillar of the new musical genre of Soul Music by blending traditional Rhythm and Blues music with Pop and Gospel. However, Brown, with his flamboyant style and passionate singing, took it a step further and also set down a couple of foundation stones for a musical genre that came of age in the nineteen seventies – Funk. And as the musical style of Funk falls outside our discussion of sixties Soul Music I’ll just provide a link to an AllMusic overview of Funk music – you can access the overview by clicking on the following link: https://goo.gl/mwEJaF

Getting back to James Brown, his sixties hits include: Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Part 1), I Got You (I Feel Good), Cold Sweat, I Got The Feeling and Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud (Part 1).

The sixties were Brown’s most prolific era as far as mainstream popularity goes. Brown continued to tour and record during the seventies and eighties, during which time he had a series of minor hits and one last big hit, the top ten hit Living In America, which was released in 1986. He died in 2004

Freegal Notes:

To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link: http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

1. Sam Cooke The Best of Sam Cooke:

This greatest hits collection contains Cooke’s best known songs including: You Send Me, Only Sixteen, (What A) Wonderful World, Chain Gang, Twistin’ The Night Away, Having A Party and Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha.

Here’s a link to stream The Best Of Sam Cooke album:
https://goo.gl/E6KtWr

Also by Sam Cooke – Night Beat:

For those who want to dig a bit deeper into the music of Sam Cooke, whose music is, unfortunately, less well known to those of us who came of age after the sixties than the music of Ray Charles and James Brown, this is a great album to check out! Night Beat was released in 1963 and has Cooke being backed by a small band that sets down a great foundation to show off his stunning vocals. The album includes the songs: Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,  Mean Old World, Please Don’t Drive Me Away, Get Yourself Another Fool, You Gotta Move and a super cool version of the classic blues song Little Red Rooster which features a neat organ compliment to Cooke’s vocals.

Here’s a link to stream the Night Beat album: https://goo.gl/zTA6MA

Ray Charles, Jazz Masters Deluxe Collection:

None of Ray Charles’s sixties studio albums are available in the Freegal Music Catalog. However, there are several greatest hits/best of collections that give you a good idea of what Charles’s music sounds like.

And despite the fact that we’re talking about Soul Music in this posting, and that the title of the album I’m about to recommend has the word “Jazz” in it – it is notable, that Ray Charles played and recorded all kinds of music including R&B, Pop, Country and Jazz – basically, he was a great musician who could play any style of music. And this album, despite the title, really features more of Charles playing and singing a mixture of the foundation styles of Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues, with Big Band and Pop Music influences mixed in for good measure.

The album includes several of his best known songs including: I Got A Woman, Hit The Road Jack, Georgia on My Mind, Ruby, Mess Around and a neat version of the song Blues Is My Middle Name that lets you hear what a big fan Charles was of the great Nat King Cole!

Here’s a link to stream the album Ray Charles, Jazz Masters Deluxe Collection:
https://goo.gl/KZyj9d

James Brown – 16 Original Hits:

This album is a great place to start to hear Brown’s sixties releases. The album includes the songs: Give It Up Or Turn It Loose, It’s Too Funky In Here, Doing It To Death, Try Me, Get Up Offa That Thing, Hot Pants, I Got The Feelin’, Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, Please, Please, Please, I Got You (I Feel Good) and more! Check it out!

Here’s a link to stream the album 16 Original Hits:
https://goo.gl/mvgkMI

Bonus Freegal Suggestion:

Ain’t No Sunshine: Classic Soul and R&B, Vol. 1 by various artists:

I stumbled across this album while researching Soul albums in the Freegal Music Catalog. This is a festive collection of vintage R&B and Soul songs by Al Jarreau, Carla and Rufus Thomas, The Drifters, Ray Charles, Little Joe Curtis, Sam & Dave, Cissy Houston and more. Check it out!

Here’s a link to stream the album Ain’t No Sunshine:
https://goo.gl/1Melct

Freegal Wild Card Streaming Pick Of The Week:

Funk Nights by various artists


This various artist collection features a slice of seventies Funk Music! Included in this collection are the songs Ladies Night by Kool & the Gang, Dance Your Pants Off by Sly Stone & The Mojo Men, Crazy About You by Edwin Starr, Do the Funky Chicken by Rufus Thomas, Brick House by Clarence Carter and more!

Here’s a link to stream the album Funk Nights: https://goo.gl/gKVTyy

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:

Sam Cooke – Sam Cooke Forever:


This European import set features 72 of Cooke’s best songs including the popular Soul hits You Send Me, Twistin’ the Night Away, Wonderful World, Cupid and Chain Gang. Additionally included are a number of the Gospel songs he recorded with The Soul Stirrers including: Peace in the Valley, Nearer To Thee, Were You There and Come And Go To That Land – this is a great collection check it out!

Here’s a link to request the CD set Sam Cooke Forever via StarCat: https://goo.gl/CfYTri

Ray Charles – Ray Original Soundtrack:


This album offers a great overview of Charles’s work and is a good place to start listening to Charles’s music if you’re not familiar with it. And if you are familiar with Charles’s work – this is still a great album to listen to!

The soundtrack includes the original recordings of  17  of Charles’s early hits including: Mess Around, I Got a Woman, Hallelujah I Love Her So, Drown in My Own Tears, (Night Time Is) The Right Time, Hard Times, What’d I Say, Georgia on My Mind, Hit the Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Bye Bye Love and more!

Here’s a link to request the Ray soundtrack on CD via StarCat: https://goo.gl/gErSSr

Live At The Apollo by James Brown


And I can’t say it better than Rob Bowman did in his AllMusic review – so here is his review of the James Brown album Live At The Apollo: “An astonishing record of James and the Flames tearing the roof off the sucker at the mecca of R&B theatres, New York’s Apollo. When King Records owner Syd Nathan refused to fund the recording, thinking it commercial folly, Brown single-mindedly proceeded anyway, paying for it out of his own pocket. He had been out on the road night after night for a while, and he knew that the magic that was part and parcel of a James Brown show was something no record had ever caught. Hit follows hit without a pause — “I’ll Go Crazy,” “Try Me,” “Think,” “Please Please Please,” “I Don’t Mind,” “Night Train,” and more. The affirmative screams and cries of the audience are something you’ve never experienced unless you’ve seen the Brown Revue in a Black theater. If you have, I need not say more; if you haven’t, suffice to say that this should be one of the very first records you ever own.”

Just a little StarCat note: The StarCat record for this album lists the title as “The Apollo Theater presents, in person, the James Brown show.” However, the album is usually referred to by music fans as simply Live At The Apollo.

Here’s a link to request CD Live At The Apollo via StarCat:
https://goo.gl/jOH6hJ

Wild Card CD & DVD Picks Of The Week:

Ella Fitzgerald – Best of the Songbooks


This CD collection by Ella Fitzgerald, an extraordinary Jazz vocalist with the nick name The First Lady of Song. contains three albums: The Best of the Songs Books, The Best of the Song Books: The Ballads and Love Songs and The Best of the Verve Song Books.

Songs in this collection include: Something’s Gotta Give, Love Is Here To Stay, Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered, Oh, Lady Be Good!, It Was Written In The Stars, I’m Beginning To See The Light, The Man I Love, Prelude To A Kiss and more!

Here’s a link to request the Best of Songs Books CD set:
https://goo.gl/rbDGJi

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke Live Twistin’ the Night Away 1963

Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (1964) HD

Ray Charles:

Ray Charles – Hit The Road Jack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rEsVp5tiDQ

Ray Charles – What’d I Say LIVE

James Brown:

James Brown – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag – I Feel Good

James Brown – I Got The Feelin’

Bonus YouTube Video Clip Suggestion: Cream Members Hanging In 1993
This video clip has nothing whatsoever to do with Soul Music – just the fact that I didn’t clear out my browsing history since the last time I went to YouTube! And that was last week, when I went to look for video clips for the final Blues Rock posting in our 2017 series! So today, I went to YouTube and was treated to a bunch of suggested videos that all relate to Blues or Blues Rock. And one of those videos is a fun 8 minute clip of the members of Cream rehearing a bit and just hanging out prior to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1993 – when they were inducted in to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame – here’s a link to that clip which is titled Cream reunites at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rehearsal – 1993:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOVRU5Ijw3s

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:


Hard Hitting Songs For Hard-Hit People Compiled by Alan Lomax, Notes On The Songs by Woody Guthrie, Music Transcribed & Edited & With An Afterward By Pete Seeger.

And wow, what a long title for a great book! As you might expect this book is a folk fan’s favorite! It features many historical protest songs from the early twentieth century, with an emphasis on songs of the nineteen thirties, including several written by Guthrie himself. And the songs chronicle the hard times of the working class experienced during that era. The book was put together by the great musicologist Alan Lomax. The book even has a preface written by Woody’s daughter Nora so if you like folk music and folk songs this is a great book to peruse as it offers a bit of history interspersed with dozens of classic folks songs that Lomax helpfully put into categories. The categories include: Hard Luck On the Farm, You’re Dead Broke, So You’ve Got To Hit The Road, And You Land In Jail, Old Time Songs From All Over and more! Selected songs from the collection include: The Boll Weevil, The Farmer Is The Man, Seven Cent Cotton And Forty Cent Meat, Collector Man Blues, No Job Blues, Starvation Blues, The Old Chain Gang and 66 Highway Blues.

Here’s a link to request the Hard Hitting book:

https://goo.gl/8GEY28

VI. General References & Artist Specific References:

General References:
Ella Fitzgerald Artist Biography by Scott Yanow
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ella-fitzgerald-mn0000184502/biography

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)

Recommended Artists Specific References:

James Brown & His Famous Flames / James Brown
https://goo.gl/d3RH7l

James Brown Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/v5Yg80

James Brown, the ‘Godfather of Soul,’ Dies at 73 By JON PARELES. DEC. 26, 2006. Accessed April 4, 2017.
https://goo.gl/oaGsk6

Ray (Original Soundtrack) AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
https://goo.gl/zdqyP7

Ray Charles Biography by Richie Unterberger
https://goo.gl/WPbl1E

Ray Charles, Bluesy Essence of Soul, Is Dead at 73 By JON PARELES and BERNARD WEINRAUB. JUNE 11, 2004. Accessed April 4, 2017.
https://goo.gl/xAiFQ1

Sam Cooke Biography by Bruce Eder
https://goo.gl/VpM3fJ

Sam Cooke’s Family Approves Biopic Focusing on Singer’s Murder
https://goo.gl/rh10kp

Sam Cooke Biography Songwriter, Singer (1931–1964)
https://goo.gl/Q6rwO

Music: 1964: Sam Cooke dies under suspicious circumstances in LA
https://goo.gl/v4dgCr

SAM COOKE SLAIN IN COAST MOTEL New York Times – December 12, 1964. Accessed April 4, 2017.
https://goo.gl/gvnBpJ

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713.

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and including our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York. Library cards are free and at our library you can obtain one by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features both your name and your current address.