Today
02:04 PM
Happy Belated Birthday to Dame Shirley Bassey
Shame on me for forgetting to acknowledge that this phenomenal talent turned 85 back on January 8th, and even at that age, can still sing most of today's so-called "stars" under the table. I guess there for awhile, we were all so caught up in the rash of folks who have been dying left and right and forgot the treasures that we still have left.
So I hope she is still happy and healthy and enjoying her retirement. Supposedly the last CD, which was terrific I might add, was her last but my goodness what a fantastic library is out there.......as she once said herself "Thank You For the Years."
So I hope she is still happy and healthy and enjoying her retirement. Supposedly the last CD, which was terrific I might add, was her last but my goodness what a fantastic library is out there.......as she once said herself "Thank You For the Years."
Yesterday
06:17 AM
The Chi-Lites "Too Good To Be Forgotten" 2CD set [Edsel UK] [3/18/2022]
On June 17, 2020, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the City of Los Angeles, announced that the iconic multi-million selling soul/R&B band, THE CHI-LITES, would be honoured in their Class of 2021, by receiving a star on Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On 30th September 2021, with family friends and other soul legends in attendance, including their legendary label mate, Gene Chandler, Marshall Thompson, co-Founder and last surviving member of THE CHI-LITES, accepted the honour on behalf of the band.
Although they had formed nine years earlier, it was when the Band met record producer Carl Davis in 1968 that they signed a contract with Brunswick Records. They began to achieve commercial recognition and success, with songs predominantly written and composed by band member Eugene Record, who was also their lead singer, although their first charting song, ‘Give It Away’ [US R&B Chart #10] was co-written by Record, with producer Carl Davis.
THE CHI-LITES released more than 15 studio albums and registered on the UK chart on nine occasions, with five Top 10 entries, one of them being the Double-A sided reissue ‘Have You Seen Her’/’Oh Girl’.
In 1976, THE CHI-LITES switched labels from Brunswick to Mercury and recorded two albums ‘Happy Being Lonely’ [1976] and ‘The Fantastic Chi-Lites’ [1977], before teaming-up again with Carl Davis on his own Chi-Sound records label, to record 1980’s ‘Heavenly Body’ and 1981’s ‘Me And You’.
This 38-track/2CD set covers the period 1969-1983 and includes all of their UK hits, as well as most of their international hits. The album also features their original version of ‘Troubles A’ Comin’, which was recently released by The Rolling Stones, despite having been recorded in 1979.
The collection ends in the hard-to-find early-‘80s UK soul weekender classic ‘Changing For You’, which proved that even in the changing musical landscape, THE CHI-LITES were still a force more than a dozen years after their first charting UK single….and more than 40 years later, with their barn-storming ‘Are You My Woman [Tell Me So]’, the intro from which, being famously and expertly sampled by Beyoncé [and featuring Jay-Z], for her worldwide 2003 hit and Transatlantic #1, ‘Crazy In Love’.
Tracklist
[CD1]
1. Are You My Woman [Tell Me So]
2. I Found Sunshine
3. We Are Neighbours
4. Troubles A' Comin’
5. Don't Burn No Bridges - [Jackie Wilson & The Chi-Lites]
6. [For God's Sake] Give More Power To The People
7. The Man & The Woman [The Boy & The Girl]
8. The Devil Is Doing His Work
9. Inner City Blues [Makes Me Wanna Holler]
10. Stoned Out Of My Mind
11. We Need Order
12. You Got To Be The One
13. Here I Am
14. That's How Long
15. There'll Never Be Any Peace [Until God Is Seated At The Conference Table]
16. It's Time For Love
17. My First Mistake
18. Vanishing Love - Single Version
19. You Don't Have To Go
[CD2]
1. Too Good To Be Forgotten
2. Oh Girl
3. A Letter To Myself
4. The Coldest Days Of My Life [Pt 1]
5. Have You Seen Her
6. A Lonely Man
7. I Like Your Lovin' [Do You Like Mine]
8. 24 Hours Of Sadness
9. My Heart Just Keeps On Breakin’
10. Give It Away
11. Let Me Be The Man My Daddy Was
12. I Want To Pay You Back [For Loving Me] - Single Version
13. Homely Girl
14. If I Had A Girl
15. Happy Being Lonely - Single Version
16. Heavenly Body - [The Chi-Lites feat. Eugene Record]
17. Me And You - [The Chi-Lites feat. Eugene Record]
18. Hot On A Thing [Called Love] - [The Chi-Lites feat. Eugene Record]
19. Changing For You
Amazon USA
Available for pre-order soon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PMFY97H/?tag=imwan-20
Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PMFY97H/?tag=imwan-21
On 30th September 2021, with family friends and other soul legends in attendance, including their legendary label mate, Gene Chandler, Marshall Thompson, co-Founder and last surviving member of THE CHI-LITES, accepted the honour on behalf of the band.
Although they had formed nine years earlier, it was when the Band met record producer Carl Davis in 1968 that they signed a contract with Brunswick Records. They began to achieve commercial recognition and success, with songs predominantly written and composed by band member Eugene Record, who was also their lead singer, although their first charting song, ‘Give It Away’ [US R&B Chart #10] was co-written by Record, with producer Carl Davis.
THE CHI-LITES released more than 15 studio albums and registered on the UK chart on nine occasions, with five Top 10 entries, one of them being the Double-A sided reissue ‘Have You Seen Her’/’Oh Girl’.
In 1976, THE CHI-LITES switched labels from Brunswick to Mercury and recorded two albums ‘Happy Being Lonely’ [1976] and ‘The Fantastic Chi-Lites’ [1977], before teaming-up again with Carl Davis on his own Chi-Sound records label, to record 1980’s ‘Heavenly Body’ and 1981’s ‘Me And You’.
This 38-track/2CD set covers the period 1969-1983 and includes all of their UK hits, as well as most of their international hits. The album also features their original version of ‘Troubles A’ Comin’, which was recently released by The Rolling Stones, despite having been recorded in 1979.
The collection ends in the hard-to-find early-‘80s UK soul weekender classic ‘Changing For You’, which proved that even in the changing musical landscape, THE CHI-LITES were still a force more than a dozen years after their first charting UK single….and more than 40 years later, with their barn-storming ‘Are You My Woman [Tell Me So]’, the intro from which, being famously and expertly sampled by Beyoncé [and featuring Jay-Z], for her worldwide 2003 hit and Transatlantic #1, ‘Crazy In Love’.
Tracklist
[CD1]
1. Are You My Woman [Tell Me So]
2. I Found Sunshine
3. We Are Neighbours
4. Troubles A' Comin’
5. Don't Burn No Bridges - [Jackie Wilson & The Chi-Lites]
6. [For God's Sake] Give More Power To The People
7. The Man & The Woman [The Boy & The Girl]
8. The Devil Is Doing His Work
9. Inner City Blues [Makes Me Wanna Holler]
10. Stoned Out Of My Mind
11. We Need Order
12. You Got To Be The One
13. Here I Am
14. That's How Long
15. There'll Never Be Any Peace [Until God Is Seated At The Conference Table]
16. It's Time For Love
17. My First Mistake
18. Vanishing Love - Single Version
19. You Don't Have To Go
[CD2]
1. Too Good To Be Forgotten
2. Oh Girl
3. A Letter To Myself
4. The Coldest Days Of My Life [Pt 1]
5. Have You Seen Her
6. A Lonely Man
7. I Like Your Lovin' [Do You Like Mine]
8. 24 Hours Of Sadness
9. My Heart Just Keeps On Breakin’
10. Give It Away
11. Let Me Be The Man My Daddy Was
12. I Want To Pay You Back [For Loving Me] - Single Version
13. Homely Girl
14. If I Had A Girl
15. Happy Being Lonely - Single Version
16. Heavenly Body - [The Chi-Lites feat. Eugene Record]
17. Me And You - [The Chi-Lites feat. Eugene Record]
18. Hot On A Thing [Called Love] - [The Chi-Lites feat. Eugene Record]
19. Changing For You
Amazon USA
Available for pre-order soon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PMFY97H/?tag=imwan-20
Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PMFY97H/?tag=imwan-21
01-13-2022
08:56 PM
01-14-2022
01:51 PM
01-14-2022
08:55 AM
R&B Trailblazer James Mtume Reportedly Dead at Age 76
From BET.com-
Philadelphia-born percussionist James Mtume has reportedly passed away at the age of 76.
Journalist Dyana Williams reported the news on Twitter, writing, “Warrior, husband, family, friend, musician, producer of hits for Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers, Mary J. Blige, Teddy Pendergrass, Stephanie Mills, New York Undercover, composer, one of the most sampled in hip-hop James Mtume has transitioned.”
At the time of the report, there is no cause of death.
Mtume is most notable for his 1983 song, “Juicy Fruit,” which was sampled by The Notorious B.I.G. for his first official single, “Juicy” in 1994.
An all-around musician, Mtume had a knack for infusing consciousness into his music and delving creatively into the topics of politics, culture, and art.
“Music is a unique art form. I mean all art is special,” he said during his 2019 TedTalk. “But music is unique. It’s the only art form I know that can touch you, but you can’t touch it. What do I mean by that? I can touch a sculpture, I can touch a painting, I can touch a book of poetry. How do you touch a note? How do you touch sound? It runs through your body.”
Mtume, who was born James Forman in 1946, grew up in a musical environment with jazz musicians frequenting his parents’ house. He learned to play piano and percussion, despite having an athletic scholarship for swimming to Pasadena City College in 1966.
That same year, Mtume as Forman would join Hakim Jamal and Maulana Karenga’s US Organization, a Black empowerment group, and would receive his new name, Mtume, which means “messenger” in Swahili. Upon joining Davis’ band, he contributed greatly to albums such as On the Corner, Big Fun, Agharta, and Pangaea, and would appear on numerous projects with a variety of other legendary musicians, including Duke Ellington, Lonnie Liston Smith, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Rollins, to name a few.
Mtume’s transition from jazz pioneer to R&B master enabled his own group, Mtume, to set himself apart from his peers. After teaming up with the late Reggie Lucas, the duo would curate their sound throughout the ‘80s, penning such hits as Stephanie Mills’ Grammy-winning “Never Knew Love Like This Before” and Roberta Flack’s “The Closer I Get to You.”
He is survived by his children Damu Mtume and Fa Mtume.
Philadelphia-born percussionist James Mtume has reportedly passed away at the age of 76.
Journalist Dyana Williams reported the news on Twitter, writing, “Warrior, husband, family, friend, musician, producer of hits for Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers, Mary J. Blige, Teddy Pendergrass, Stephanie Mills, New York Undercover, composer, one of the most sampled in hip-hop James Mtume has transitioned.”
At the time of the report, there is no cause of death.
Mtume is most notable for his 1983 song, “Juicy Fruit,” which was sampled by The Notorious B.I.G. for his first official single, “Juicy” in 1994.
An all-around musician, Mtume had a knack for infusing consciousness into his music and delving creatively into the topics of politics, culture, and art.
“Music is a unique art form. I mean all art is special,” he said during his 2019 TedTalk. “But music is unique. It’s the only art form I know that can touch you, but you can’t touch it. What do I mean by that? I can touch a sculpture, I can touch a painting, I can touch a book of poetry. How do you touch a note? How do you touch sound? It runs through your body.”
Mtume, who was born James Forman in 1946, grew up in a musical environment with jazz musicians frequenting his parents’ house. He learned to play piano and percussion, despite having an athletic scholarship for swimming to Pasadena City College in 1966.
That same year, Mtume as Forman would join Hakim Jamal and Maulana Karenga’s US Organization, a Black empowerment group, and would receive his new name, Mtume, which means “messenger” in Swahili. Upon joining Davis’ band, he contributed greatly to albums such as On the Corner, Big Fun, Agharta, and Pangaea, and would appear on numerous projects with a variety of other legendary musicians, including Duke Ellington, Lonnie Liston Smith, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Rollins, to name a few.
Mtume’s transition from jazz pioneer to R&B master enabled his own group, Mtume, to set himself apart from his peers. After teaming up with the late Reggie Lucas, the duo would curate their sound throughout the ‘80s, penning such hits as Stephanie Mills’ Grammy-winning “Never Knew Love Like This Before” and Roberta Flack’s “The Closer I Get to You.”
He is survived by his children Damu Mtume and Fa Mtume.
New Three Degree
Yesterday, 07:12 PM in Soulful Detroit Forum