Thursday, September 22, 2011
flip flop stevens - "let's do that thing" part 1and 2 on shiptown! soul funk 45
Monday, September 19, 2011
Syl Johnson "Different Strokes"
Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi,
Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic
Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior
Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording
with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay in 1959. He made his
solo debut that same year with Federal, a subsidiary of King Records of Cincinnati,
backed by Freddie King on guitar.
He then began recording for Twinight Records
of Chicago in the mid 1960s. Beginning with his first hit, Come On
Sock It to Me in 1967, Johnson dominated the label as both a
hitmaker and producer. His song Different Strokes, also from
1967, featured recently on the Ultimate Breaks and Beatsbreakbeat
compilation.
Like other black songwriters of the period, several of his records at
this time explored themes of African-American identity and social
problems in songs including Is It Because I'm Black, which
reached Number 11 in the R&B charts in 1969.
In 1971, Willie Mitchell brought Johnson
to Hi
Records, the two recording three albums which spawned a number of
singles. Produced in Memphis with the Hi house band, these yielded music of
power and enduring value, including the hits We Did It, Back
for a Taste of Your Love and Take Me to the River, his
biggest success, reaching Number 7 on the R&B charts in 1975.
However, at Hi Johnson was always to some extent in Al Green's
shadow commercially, if not artistically. Mitchell also chose to use
mainly in-house material rather than Johnson originals.
After the Hi years ended, Johnson produced two LPs for his own Shama
label, the latter of which (Ms. Fine Brown Frame, 1982) was
picked up for distribution by Boardwalk Records and produced Johnson's last hit record,
the title cut.
Around the mid-1980s, Johnson started a fast-food fish restaurant
business, and became semi-retired from performing, only making
occasional appearances at blues club gigs.[1]
In 1992, Johnson found out that his song "Different Strokes" had been
sampled by number of rappers Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Kool G
Rap, Hammer, and the Geto
Boys. Stimulated by this fact, he decided to make a comeback in the music industry.[1]
In 1994, he released the album Back in the Game on Delmark Records. The album featured the Hi rhythm section
and his youngest daughter Syleena Johnson.
including
Blues guitarist and singer Jimmy Johnson, and bassist
Mack Thompson are his brothers.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
MR. JAMES CARR
(June 13, 1942 - January 7, 2001), was an American
Rhythm & Blues and soul
singer.
Born to a Baptist preacher's family
in Coahoma, Mississippi, Carr began
singing in church and was performing in gospel
groups and making tables on an assembly line in Memphis, Tennessee, when he began recording in the mid-'60s
for Goldwax
Records, a small Memphis based label.
Carr first made the R&B charts in 1966 with "You've Got My Mind
Messed Up", followed by his most famous song "The Dark End of the Street",
written by Dan Penn and Chips
Moman. Carr continued to record for Goldwax until the label closed
in 1969 but failed to reach the same heights with his subsequent
releases.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
PRESSURE DROP!!!!!! SEPT.24TH!!!! RVA!!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
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