brandosoul
05-31-2017, 07:23 AM
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lPp5m1fueXg/VT_m4pM17FI/AAAAAAAAM4Y/vKKWBDpLLwU/s1600/9fsgnd-1.jpg
New feature written to commemorate 45th anniversary of Eddie Kendricks' People...Hold On
http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-45-years-of-eddie-kendricks-people-hold-on [[http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-45-years-of-eddie-kendricks-people-hold-on).
In his eleven-year tenure with the Temptations, Eddie Kendricks’ creamy falsetto was one of the distinctive hallmarks of the group’s first-class, debonair sound. His delightful buoyancy and tender vulnerability oozed firmly over timeless staples like “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Get Ready,” “You’re My Everything,” and “The Girl’s Alright With Me.” The Temptations’ mercurial standing as soul music’s definitive male vocal group couldn’t be denied either, as their sheer versatility and unrivaled impact was felt everywhere.
However, by the late 1960s, internal drama, personnel changes, and business pursuits that unfolded within the group began to take its toll on Kendricks, resulting in his exit to pursue a solo career. The Temptations’ 1971 hit “Just My Imagination [[Running Away with Me)” marked his swansong from the group that positioned him as a charming, sweet-toned heartthrob, while pushing his compelling voice to the forefront. For many observers and admirers alike, it all proved to be a bold, yet dubious move.
His aptly titled debut, 1971’s All By Myself was a classy, albeit guarded pop-soul effort, logically affixed on the Temptations’ signature pop-soul mold. Mature and supple, the albumstretched the gossamer whispers of “Just My Imagination” across a soulful showcase of sumptuous come-ons [[“Can I,” his grand cover of Jimmy Webb’s “Didn’t We,” and “I Did It All for You”), weepy lovelorn stunners [[“This Used to Be the Home of Johnnie Mae” and “It’s So Hard for Me to Say Goodbye”), and snappy proto-funk steamers [[“Something’s Burning” and “Let’s Go Back to Day One”). It was the sound of a suave stylist searching for his footing and grappling with his imminent break from the Tempts.
While its intent for solidifying his solo career was abundantly clear, Kendricks and production demigod Frank Wilson weren’t acclimated to the stylistic transitions that were surfacing under Motown’s fold. Their approach echoed the fabled label’s “Sound of Young America” playbook, right during its final gasps in Detroit.
However, change was on the horizon.
As the early 1970s rolled around, the Black Power Movement moved to the center of the black political base, underscoring a period of determination and pride. It was a time when the politically active resisted the white gaze that dictated black possibility and fueled racial antagonism. They fought for their own freedom as well as demanded full acceptance and respect in society. The movement not only intensified political ideology, but style and art too. Many blacks withdrew their conservative styles, in favor of embracing their natural selves. Afrocentric fashion stood as a statement, reflecting blacks’ uninhibited pride and sociopolitical views. Black art voiced the political frustrations and complexities of the changing times through poetry, literature, stage, and dance. Black popular music was hugely impactful, with several artists using their music as a response to the shifts and turmoil that occurred on the national front.
Ambitious and deeply personal artistic statements heavily engulfed black pop in the early 1970s. Barely a year before Kendricks released his sophomore album, 21-year-old Stevie Wonder [[http://www.albumism.com/search?q=Stevie%20Wonder) was breaking free from Motown’s pop machinations with Where I’m Coming From in April 1971, igniting his cherished adult period. A month later, Marvin Gaye [[http://www.albumism.com/search?q=Marvin%20Gaye) encapsulated his personal struggles and societal philosophies in the immortal concept album, What’s Going On [[http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-45-years-of-marvin-gaye-whats-going-on), captivating the world.
Kendricks struck a similar chord with 1972’s People...Hold On, exerting his tremendous inspiration and concern for the unprecedented promise and possibility unfurling in black America. The album’s provocative cover, shot by noted Philadelphia soul singer-songwriter Weldon Arthur McDougal III, reconceived the iconic, Eldridge Cleaver-shot portrait of Black Panther leader Dr. Huey P. Newton. Where Newton sat in a wicker chair, wearing a direct gaze into camera, with a spear and rifle in his hands, Kendricks sits on an ornate African-styled throne, gripping a spear. He wears a dapper tuxedo, with subtle calmness in his demeanor. On the back cover, Kendricks has his arms folded, with assured warmth. He’s surrounded by an array of beautiful brothers and sisters, wearing African attire with tribal percussion on the floor. The symbolism in these stunning photographs reaffirms one vital concept: the black experience is resiliently beautiful and interconnected, in all its glory.
On the album, Kendricks’ knack for employing varied emotionality in a song reaches a scorching height. Counterbalanced between delicate balladry and storming funk, he expands his position as a lover-man crooner, by dipping firmly into progressive conscious soul. His noted Washington, D.C.-based band, the Young Senators, also dominate the album, carving rhythmically complex, yet hard-driving grooves that burn with esotericism and exuberance.
Collaborators Frank Wilson and Leonard Caston Jr. eschew the subtle pleasures that defined All By Myself and move toward a grittier, yet adventurous edge throughout People. It kicks off on a bright note with the album’s second single “If You Let Me” [[US pop #77, R&B #35). The song retains a summery, mid-tempo groove that finds Kendricks jubilantly crooning in his mild tenor, devoting wondrous promises to his lover. The ultra-electric “Let Me Run into Your Lonely Heart” pushes the funk pulse into high-gear. Crackling with a neck-breaking backbeat, tantalizing trumpet charts, and swarms of off-kilter clavinets, Kendricks’ unique voice alternates back and forth between his laid-back falsetto and esteemed tenor. The sacred intensity of “Day by Day” puts you in the center of a Sunday morning church service, with its rousing piano and organ work, underscored by the conviction of Kendricks’ beautiful falsetto.
New feature written to commemorate 45th anniversary of Eddie Kendricks' People...Hold On
http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-45-years-of-eddie-kendricks-people-hold-on [[http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-45-years-of-eddie-kendricks-people-hold-on).
In his eleven-year tenure with the Temptations, Eddie Kendricks’ creamy falsetto was one of the distinctive hallmarks of the group’s first-class, debonair sound. His delightful buoyancy and tender vulnerability oozed firmly over timeless staples like “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Get Ready,” “You’re My Everything,” and “The Girl’s Alright With Me.” The Temptations’ mercurial standing as soul music’s definitive male vocal group couldn’t be denied either, as their sheer versatility and unrivaled impact was felt everywhere.
However, by the late 1960s, internal drama, personnel changes, and business pursuits that unfolded within the group began to take its toll on Kendricks, resulting in his exit to pursue a solo career. The Temptations’ 1971 hit “Just My Imagination [[Running Away with Me)” marked his swansong from the group that positioned him as a charming, sweet-toned heartthrob, while pushing his compelling voice to the forefront. For many observers and admirers alike, it all proved to be a bold, yet dubious move.
His aptly titled debut, 1971’s All By Myself was a classy, albeit guarded pop-soul effort, logically affixed on the Temptations’ signature pop-soul mold. Mature and supple, the albumstretched the gossamer whispers of “Just My Imagination” across a soulful showcase of sumptuous come-ons [[“Can I,” his grand cover of Jimmy Webb’s “Didn’t We,” and “I Did It All for You”), weepy lovelorn stunners [[“This Used to Be the Home of Johnnie Mae” and “It’s So Hard for Me to Say Goodbye”), and snappy proto-funk steamers [[“Something’s Burning” and “Let’s Go Back to Day One”). It was the sound of a suave stylist searching for his footing and grappling with his imminent break from the Tempts.
While its intent for solidifying his solo career was abundantly clear, Kendricks and production demigod Frank Wilson weren’t acclimated to the stylistic transitions that were surfacing under Motown’s fold. Their approach echoed the fabled label’s “Sound of Young America” playbook, right during its final gasps in Detroit.
However, change was on the horizon.
As the early 1970s rolled around, the Black Power Movement moved to the center of the black political base, underscoring a period of determination and pride. It was a time when the politically active resisted the white gaze that dictated black possibility and fueled racial antagonism. They fought for their own freedom as well as demanded full acceptance and respect in society. The movement not only intensified political ideology, but style and art too. Many blacks withdrew their conservative styles, in favor of embracing their natural selves. Afrocentric fashion stood as a statement, reflecting blacks’ uninhibited pride and sociopolitical views. Black art voiced the political frustrations and complexities of the changing times through poetry, literature, stage, and dance. Black popular music was hugely impactful, with several artists using their music as a response to the shifts and turmoil that occurred on the national front.
Ambitious and deeply personal artistic statements heavily engulfed black pop in the early 1970s. Barely a year before Kendricks released his sophomore album, 21-year-old Stevie Wonder [[http://www.albumism.com/search?q=Stevie%20Wonder) was breaking free from Motown’s pop machinations with Where I’m Coming From in April 1971, igniting his cherished adult period. A month later, Marvin Gaye [[http://www.albumism.com/search?q=Marvin%20Gaye) encapsulated his personal struggles and societal philosophies in the immortal concept album, What’s Going On [[http://www.albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-45-years-of-marvin-gaye-whats-going-on), captivating the world.
Kendricks struck a similar chord with 1972’s People...Hold On, exerting his tremendous inspiration and concern for the unprecedented promise and possibility unfurling in black America. The album’s provocative cover, shot by noted Philadelphia soul singer-songwriter Weldon Arthur McDougal III, reconceived the iconic, Eldridge Cleaver-shot portrait of Black Panther leader Dr. Huey P. Newton. Where Newton sat in a wicker chair, wearing a direct gaze into camera, with a spear and rifle in his hands, Kendricks sits on an ornate African-styled throne, gripping a spear. He wears a dapper tuxedo, with subtle calmness in his demeanor. On the back cover, Kendricks has his arms folded, with assured warmth. He’s surrounded by an array of beautiful brothers and sisters, wearing African attire with tribal percussion on the floor. The symbolism in these stunning photographs reaffirms one vital concept: the black experience is resiliently beautiful and interconnected, in all its glory.
On the album, Kendricks’ knack for employing varied emotionality in a song reaches a scorching height. Counterbalanced between delicate balladry and storming funk, he expands his position as a lover-man crooner, by dipping firmly into progressive conscious soul. His noted Washington, D.C.-based band, the Young Senators, also dominate the album, carving rhythmically complex, yet hard-driving grooves that burn with esotericism and exuberance.
Collaborators Frank Wilson and Leonard Caston Jr. eschew the subtle pleasures that defined All By Myself and move toward a grittier, yet adventurous edge throughout People. It kicks off on a bright note with the album’s second single “If You Let Me” [[US pop #77, R&B #35). The song retains a summery, mid-tempo groove that finds Kendricks jubilantly crooning in his mild tenor, devoting wondrous promises to his lover. The ultra-electric “Let Me Run into Your Lonely Heart” pushes the funk pulse into high-gear. Crackling with a neck-breaking backbeat, tantalizing trumpet charts, and swarms of off-kilter clavinets, Kendricks’ unique voice alternates back and forth between his laid-back falsetto and esteemed tenor. The sacred intensity of “Day by Day” puts you in the center of a Sunday morning church service, with its rousing piano and organ work, underscored by the conviction of Kendricks’ beautiful falsetto.