Continue reading “The Best Albums 2016: 30 to 21 (part 1/3)”
Soul
September 21: I Second that emotion by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles was recorded in 1967
“I Second That Emotion” is a 1967 song written by Smokey Robinson and Al Cleveland. First charting as a hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on the Tamla/Motownlabel in 1967.
“I second that motion” is a common phrase heard at meetings in America where policy is being determined. It’s what Motown producer Al Cleveland meant to say when he was on a shopping trip with Smokey Robinson. As Robinson recalls in his 1989 autobiography, he and Cleveland went to a Detroit department store called Hudson’s to do Christmas shopping in December, 1967. Smokey’s wife, Claudette, had recently given birth to twins that didn’t survive the premature birth, and he was looking to get her a gift. At the jewelry counter, Smokey picked out some pearls and asked Robinson what he thought. “I second that emotion” was his reply, and later that afternoon the pair wrote a song around the misspoken phrase. Robinson and Cleveland produced the song, and it was released in October, 1968, entering the US Top 40 in December, about a year after it was written. The song was also a #1 R&B hit. (Songfacts)
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The Legendary Music Man – Lincoln Wayne “Chips” Moman passed away June 13 – R.I.P.
R.I.P. Chips Moman
Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and guitarist Lincoln Wayne “Chips” Moman, who wrote and produced hits for Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, B.J. Thomas, Dusty Springfield and many others, died at a hospice facility in his hometown of LaGrange, Georgia, on Monday, one day after his 79th birthday.
– rollingstone.com
One of the most important characters in the Memphis music scene in the 60’s. Chips Moman helped start Stax Records, then American Sound Studios, which cut 122 chart hits from 1967 to 1972 — an unparalleled achievement.
Lincoln Wayne “Chips” Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman was known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee, during the 1960s. As a songwriter, he was responsible for standards associated with Aretha Franklin, James Carr, Waylon Jennings, and B. J. Thomas. He was asession guitarist for Franklin and other musicians.
May 21: Marvin Gaye released What’s Going On (album) in 1971
May 21: Marvin Gaye released What’s Going On (album) in 1971
What’s Going On is not only Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece, it’s the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist.
~John Bush (allmusic.com)… Marvin Gaye then did something no other Motown artist had ever dared. With What’s Going On (1971), he started a revolution. Although it spawned three hits—the antiwar title song, the ecological plea “Mercy Mercy Me,” and “Inner City Blues”—this was Motown’s first true album. Its blend of unembarrassed spirituality and unflinching social realism, as well as relentless percussion set against lush orchestration, was unlike anything that came before it in both form and content. For Gaye, it was a self-produced declaration of independence.
~ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
What’s Going On:
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March 25: Aretha Franklin was born in 1942
If a song’s about something I’ve experienced or that could’ve happened to me it’s good. But if it’s alien to me, I couldn’t lend anything to it. Because that’s what soul is all about.
~Aretha Franklin
I Say A Little Prayer – “The Cliff Richard Show” 1970:
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Feb 21: Nina Simone was born in 1933
Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.
~Nina SimoneOnce I understood Bach’s music, I wanted to be a concert pianist. Bach made me dedicate my life to music, and it was that teacher who introduced me to his world.
~Nina SimoneNina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)
Ain’t Got No…I’ve Got Life: