It seemed like everyone in my dorm my freshman year in college had this album by Hot Chocolate....."Every 1s A Winner" baby! LOL!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SFFRaIUisY
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It seemed like everyone in my dorm my freshman year in college had this album by Hot Chocolate....."Every 1s A Winner" baby! LOL!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SFFRaIUisY
We only get snapshots of these folks' lives. I like the "Unsung" series, but there's no way you can show decades worth of back story, complete with fights, smiles, tears, pain, triumph, failure and all that comes in life in 44 minutes. Think about all of the conversations and moments in your life that you remember but almost nobody else knows about. There had to be a reason, but we as fans will never know his connection to East Stroudsburg [[unless we get nosy).
I recall listening to the Temptations after reading about their back story and watching the movie about them [[which was just so-so). Suddenly, all of their songs had much more depth than I recalled hearing before. You could almost hear the pain and sense the arguments and problems that they heard when you listened to the singers' voices.
I never heard that. I remember watching the mini-series and soon after, "My Girl" played on the radio and it sounded different. I'll be honest with you, I always equated the Memphis/Muscle Shoals sound more with soul music than Motown, but after seeing [[and later reading) about what the people went through to bring that joy, even a song that is as sweet and uplifting as "My Girl" now has pain and depth that makes it as soulful as anything else that I hear. I was already a David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks fan but I hear stuff in their recordings now that I never heard before.
Speaking of which:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDakhsaPTE0
And speaking of Memphis, I bet I'm the only one on this forum who likes this version of "Dedicated To The One I Love" more than the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WYKj6Rzv7c
Here's a song that I hadn't heard until about five years ago. This is as soulful as anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcsuktmUuzw
There comes a time when everybody realizes that a singer no longer needs his band. Jeffrey Osborne clearly became the reason everybody bought LTD records and Lionel Ritchie was pretty much the main reason to listen to the Commodores. This is the song that made it abundantly clear that Lionel didn't need his bandmates any more. It's pretty much a solo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oTxaL2NDkc
And this is the one that made it obvious that Jeffrey Osborne could do without the headaches associated with being in a band and still make great music. This song sometimes brings me to tears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woNb40lnDMw
He's a playboy-the drifters.
Seeing "Rockit" posted made me remember this song from my high school days. I also thought about an article I read in a jazz magazine when Herbie Hancock [[one of the greatest jazz pianists ever) was telling a story about talking to Miles Davis after Wynton Marsalis chastised Hancock about making pop/disco/soul music instead of focusing on jazz. Clearly it played on his mind. Miles told him that Wynton needed to check himself and that Hancock could make any kind of music he wants to. He wasn't worried about "losing the music [[jazz)" because in the words of Davis, "That's what records are for." I always loved that story, even though I wished Herbie would have done more jazz too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1n5NsxhVyM
There was time when I couldn't get enough Pieces Of A Dream. Such a fantastic outfit, even from when they were very young. This is one of the few vocal records they had that blew up on Urban radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eosik4T6gKc
Here's another one that went big for them. It's an instrumental that is somewhere between jazz and soul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-_jpoo_-X0
Miles was something else. He was also right. I was lucky enough to meet him almost a year before he died. We both were staying at the Luxford Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. One morning I was in the lobby with a few co-workers that were there with me for training and Miles Davis was at the check in counter. I recognized him immediately and went up and said hello to him and introduced myself to him. His voice was almost completely gone by that point but he was nice and tried talking to me for a few minutes.
Interesting! I always thought that it was named for Mt. Airy, North Carolina because I never heard of Mt. Airy in Philadelphia.
When I think about R&B, the sound that comes to mind first is from the early '70s. There was a bunch of fun soulful music in that era. The O'Jays. Mandrill. Brick. Kool & the Gang. And AWB, which was hot for several years. Love this track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki5aS5LSrQM
And don't forget this one. In my opinion, this song is as iconic as the great EW&F songs from the same era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnH_zwVmiuE
If I had to pick out my top 10 O'Jays songs, I would lose my mind. But I'm sure this would be on the list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vTKmVvyNRc
One of the greatest songs ever. Everything about this song is perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30LqNEBDkTY
A long time ago in this thread, I mentioned my love for the Spinners. I have the same problem with picking songs by them that I'd have with the O'Jays.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em_6THb7OdE
And Brick was lighting it up back then. An iconic bass line from the '70s. OoooooooWee!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUvR5JTB3c
Another classic from that era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqqAnjY2Rmo
Jerry, every one of those songs you just posted, other than AWB have been posted here already. It's all good, I agree with the point you are making. Growing up during the Motown era in the Detroit area, I welcomed the new sound coming out of Philly.
And when Teddy Pendergrass left Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, he was the hottest soul artist in the world. He was selling out concerts for ladies only! Yeah, his light waned much too soon and it was sad how it flickered out, but this brother was fire. He's still a first-name-only star. Michael. Diana [[yes). Teddy. RIP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIdJrFeilAs
Ronald Isley might be the most underrated soul singer of all since he was part of a family ensemble. But have no doubt, the Isley Brothers were great as a band - really, really great in my opinion - but Ronald's voice made a great band even better. I'm a huge fan of the T-Neck years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMdBs7uTLHw
This song was sublime. I don't think there's another Isley song with a similar arrangement and Ernie's guitar solos knock it out of the park. People in my neighborhood played this out but it didn't get played a lot on the radio. I'm not even sure it was a single.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh6lGI1bOkw
I think this might be my brother's favorite song from the '70s. Another one of those songs that I have to sing when it's playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gru4IfbKlfU
Boz Scaggs' "Jojo" might not be considered a soul song, but if not then I think of it as such. He toed the line between pop and soul in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt4Jf7tQo18
Another fantastic Boz Scaggs song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-hKBmTAADo