Betty Harris - Ride Your Pony

Sunday, time for a classic.

Betty Harris (born September 9, 1939 in Orlando, Florida, United States) is an American soul singer. Her recording career in the 1960s produced three hit singles that made the U.S. Billboard R&B and Billboard Hot 100 charts: "Cry to Me" (1963), "His Kiss" (1964) and "Nearer to You" (1967). However, her reputation among soul music connoisseurs far exceeds her commercial success of the 1960s, and her recordings for the Jubilee and Sansu record labels are highly sought after in the 2000s by fans of Southern Soul, Northern soul and deep soul.

Soul Jazz Records' fantastic collection Betty Harris' "The Lost Queen of New Orleans Soul" available in new one-off limited-edition heavyweight gatefold special edition green vinyl coloured pressing + download code exclusively for Record Store Day 2022!

Betty Harris's powerful, fiery soulful vocals found a perfect accompaniment with the New Orleans' players that Toussaint put together to back her, which by the time of her funk classic 'There's A Break In The Road' were the legendary super-tight, super-funk New Orleans group THE METERS.

With the extraordinary song-writing skills of Allen Toussaint alongside the powerful, soaring, confident and emotive singer and the groove of THE METERS, you have an unbeatable combination. That Harris never, in fact, lived in New Orleans (she flew in from Florida for all her sessions with Toussaint's local in-house players) seems almost an irrelevance, a geographical aside to the defining New Orleans sound captured on the recordings featured here.

All of these singles featured here were released on Allen Toussaint and his business partner Marshal Sehorn's local New Orleans label Sansu, widely distributed in the southern city but in only limited quantities elsewhere. As a consequence, Betty Harris' music failed to achieve the commercial success of other New Orleans artists such as Lee Dorsey (whom she recorded with) and THE METERS (who backed her). And so at the end of the decade, she stopped recording, retired from the music business to raise her family in Florida.

This is no reflection of the stunning musical quality of all these songs which encompass everything from southern soul, heavy funk, deep soul ballads and northern soul. Betty Harris has been a cornerstone of Soul Jazz Records' New Orleans Funk and New Orleans Soul compilations. Always soulful and always funky, Betty Harris' music contains the essence of New Orleans music. She is the Lost Soul Queen of New Orleans.

Today's tune "Ride Your Pony" is taken from the "The Lost Queen of New Orleans Soul", enjoy today's classic.



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Monophonics - Warpaint

Bay Area-based MONOPHONICS announced their upcoming full-length "Sage Motel", out May 13th via Colemine Records. The psychedelic soul band, MONOPHONICS, cordially invites you to attend the grand re-opening of the once thriving, once vibrant establishment, the legendary "Sage Motel". A place where folks experience the highs and lows of human existence. A place where big dreams and broken hearts live, where people arrive without ever knowing how they got there. It’s where individuals find themselves at a crossroads in life.

The album announcement comes with a video for the first single “Warpaint,” which is directed by Kassy Mahea, see it below.

"Sage Motel" is the MONOPHONICS fifth studio album since 2012. Once again the album is produced by bandleader Kelly Finnigan. “Warpaint”, the leading single from "Sage Motel", reveals the vices of each resident and confronts the struggles of substance abuse and addiction. Their warpaint becomes compulsory to face the day, tolerate the struggle, get through the hardest parts of the world, humanity, life and to fight the good fight. Cloaked in heavy riffs and robust vocals, “Warpaint” gives you the first look through the doors of the Sage Motel.


What started as a quaint motor lodge and a common pitstop for travelers and truckers in the 1940s morphed into a bohemian’s hang by the 1960s and 1970s. Artists, musicians, and vagabonds of all types would stop there as seedy ownership pumped obnoxious amounts of money into high end renovations, eventually attracting some of the most prominent acts of the era. But when the money ran out, The Sage Motel devolved into a place where you rent by the hour.

If these walls of the "Sage Motel" could talk, this is what they'd say. So join us as we examine where the stories are told and experiences unfold.....and sink into a soft pillow of soulful psychedelia.....down at the Sage Motel. (visit Sage Motel here!)

Today's tune "Warpaint", taken from the bands upcoming fifth studio album "Sage Motel". Enjoy!



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Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs

Sunday, time for a classic.

"Les Fleurs" is a song by American singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton, taken from her debut studio album "Come To My Garden" which was produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney and released in 1970 under GRT Records. It was re-released in 1974 on the Janus label, in the same time frame as Riperton's album Perfect Angel and her hit "Lovin' You."

The album was first released on CD in 1990, and has since been made available in digital form. None of the CD editions have material transferred directly from the original master tapes. All CD editions were mastered in UK, USA and other countries using LP records and different noise reduction methods. It is quite possible that original tapes that belonged to GRT were lost forever.

Riperton decided to go solo in the early 1970s, and was introduced to the great jazz composer Ramsey Lewis, who originally wrote a more laid-back version of this song, and it became the opener on Riperton's 1971 debut album, Come To My Garden. With the help of Charles Stepney's orchestration and conducting and more work by Riperton's husband Richard Rudolph, it turns into a grandiose, soaring classic with that gentle rocking rhythm, soaring vocals, and glorious swelling, orgasmic orchestration. The lyrics? A hippie flower track certainly, literally about being a flower, and a certain amount of innuendo too, though nothing like as explicit as her track Inside My Love. Les Fleur was also covered, with great similarity, by the electronic duo 4hero in 2001 on their album Creating Patterns, but below let's also enjoy Ramsey Lewis's piano jazz original from 1968.

Enjoy today's tune "Les Fleurs".



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Mavis Staples - Change

For over six decades, Mavis Staples has spoken out against injustices with her music and activism. Both as a solo artist and a member of the legendary THE STAPLE SINGERS, Staples has made countless contributions to the canon of socially conscious music.

Still going strong at 82 years of age, she released the album, “Live in London,” on February 8, 2019. A follow-up, “We Get By,” on May 24, 2019 were we pick today's tune "Change" from, the album’s lead single is a bluesy call to action which highlights issues such as inequality and gun violence (“Fingers on the trigger around here/ Bullets flying, mothers crying / We gotta change around here”).

Mavis Staples is an important artist whose music bridges the gap between the past and present. She continues to pave the way for current and future generations of socially conscious musicians.

During the album release she released a statement, Staples said, "These songs are delivering such a strong message. We truly need to make a change if we want this world to be better."

The album's cover features the photograph "Outside Looking In" by Gordon Parks from his 1956 photo essay The Restraints: Open and Hidden.

Today's tune "Change", taken from "We Get By", the fourteenth studio album by American R&B, soul and gospel singer Mavis Staples. The clip is a live performance "Live from Here with Chris Thile" October 26, 2019, enjoy!



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Etta James - Miss You

Thursday, time for a cover.

"Miss You" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It was released as a single by THE ROLLING STONES in May 1978, one month in advance of their album "Some Girls", and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the UK Singles Chart.

"Miss You" was written by Mick Jagger jamming with keyboardist Billy Preston during rehearsals for the March 1977 El Mocambo club gigs, recordings from which appeared on side three of double live album "Love You Live" (1977). Keith Richards is credited as co-writer as was the case for all Rolling Stones originals written by either partner or in tandem.

Jagger and Ronnie Wood insist that "Miss You" wasn't conceived as a disco song, while Richards said, "'Miss You' was a damn good disco record; it was calculated to be one." In any case, what was going on in discotheques did make it to the recording. Charlie Watts said, "A lot of those songs like 'Miss You' on 'Some Girls' ... were heavily influenced by going to the discos. You can hear it in a lot of those four-to-the-floor and the Philadelphia-style drumming."

For the bass part, Bill Wyman started from Preston's bass guitar on the song demo. Chris Kimsey, who engineered the recording, said Wyman went "to quite a few clubs before he got that bass line sorted out", which Kimsey said "made that song". Wyman recalled: "When I did the riff for 'Miss You' – which made the song, and every band in the world copied it for the next year: Rod Stewart, all of them – it still said Jagger/Richard. When I wrote the riff for 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', it became Jagger/Richard, and that's the way it was. It just became part and parcel of the way the band functioned."

Unlike most of Some Girls, "Miss You" features several studio musicians. In addition to Sugar Blue who, according to Wood, was found by Jagger busking on the streets of Paris, Ian McLagan plays understated Wurlitzer electric piano, and Mel Collins provides the tenor saxophone solo for the instrumental break.

Today's tune "Miss You" is made by the American singer Etta James. The tempo of "Miss You" is slowed down to a "sensual simmer" and she does it so good, so good! The tune was on her twenty-fourth studio album "Matriarch Of The Blues", released in December 2000 through the record label Private Music.



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Robert Finley - Souled Out On You

"Sharecropper’s Son" is the career-defining new album from Robert Finley, “The greatest living soul singer” who in a bizarre twist, found overnight success after 67 years of hard work.

Following Finley’s semi-finalist appearance on America’s Got Talent, he returned to the studio to follow-up his critically acclaimed record, "Goin' Platinum!" The resulting Dan Auerbach produced album is a soulful masterpiece, rooted in the vintage sounds of southern harmony, rhythm and blues. Recorded at Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville with legendary music studio veterans, Finley’s formidable vocals and lyrical stylings take center stage, sharing personal stories inspired by his Louisiana country childhood during the Jim Crow era south. His tales of pain and joy uplift as Finley reflects on his belief that you are never too young to dream and never too old to live.

Today's tune "Souled Out On You" is taken from "Sharecropper's Son", released May 21, 2021. Enjoy!



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Allison Russell - Nightflyer

Though deep and wide may be the world, it is within dim and narrow rooms ––airless and mundane–– that the true stories of our lives are enacted; are bartered and brokered –– enslaved and empowered; held in and sung out.

And Song most surely began as a cry or a prayer ––though no need discerning between the two, for they are the same ––and both sacred: the prayer and the wail becoming Song as soon as shared.

Some of us come, later in life, to find our knees; while others slip young into trauma like a quarry stone gone under, held down by the weight of their own world.

Many of those, alas, never come back up. But those able are wont to be luminous, struggle having landed their hearts on the outside of their bodies: a swinging lantern within that aforementioned dim room ––where stories are unraveled, thus to be reconstructed… purposefully reanimated.

It was also within such a room that Allison Russell ––singer, songwriter, poet, and activist–– bore witness to herself in descent. But the abused child she was played mother to the brave woman and fierce artist she would become ––surviving being one of only two options, and not the most likely.

Blessed be.

Allison’s new album, "Outside Child" ––that draws water from the dark well of a violent past–– is her first solo offering, she also being a pivotal voice in two bands: Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters. And telling her own story sounds now to have made her free –– not from it all, but free within it: to reframe and reclaim her identity and its singular authority.

The songs themselves ––though iron-hard in their concerns–– are exultant: exercising haunted dream like clean bedsheets snapped and hung out into broad daylight, and with the romantic poet’s lust for living and audacity of endurance.

Nina Simone comes to mind, as well Edith Piaf: two shamanistic practitioners who turned their faces into the blade of storm and roared back dignity and hope.

This music, no less ––no less–– is a triumph: a courageous work ––burnished and bright; unspeakably beautiful as she sings the unspeakable.

Above all, it is an act of remarkable generosity: a cathartic, soulful, buoyant and redeeming gift to us all and, one must believe, to herself as well.

-Joe Henry Bath, Maine

Today's tune "Nightflyer" is taken from the debut solo album "Outside Child", the album was produced by Dan Knobler. The tune "Nightflyer" is written by Allison Russell and Jeremy Lindsay aka JT Nero.

"When I was sixteen I read The Thunder: Perfect Mind for the first time - it’s an exhortatory poem discovered among the Gnostic manuscripts in the Nag Hammadi library in the 40’s. It has never left me. I’ve been meditating on the nature of resilience, endurance, and grace more deeply since becoming a mother. I was trying to bridge the divide and embrace shame and my inner divinity equally with this piece…"- A



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Nina Simone - I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free)

Sunday, time for a classic.

"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a jazz song written by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas. Taylor's original version (as "I Wish I Knew") was recorded on November 12, 1963, and released on his Right Here, Right Now! album (Capitol ST-2039) the following year. His 1967 instrumental take was later used as the theme music for the Film... review programme series on BBC Television.

Taylor said: "I wrote this song, perhaps my best-known composition, for my daughter Kim. This is one of the best renditions I’ve done because it is very spiritual."

Enjoy today's tune with Nina Simone performs “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1976. This version can be found on the DVD and Album "Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976". A widely played version was recorded by Nina Simone in 1967 on her "Silk & Soul" album.

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.



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Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - This Land Is Your Land

Thursday, time for a cover.

"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940, based on an existing melody, a Carter Family tune called "When The World's On Fire", in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." When Guthrie was tired of hearing Kate Smith sing "God Bless America" on the radio in the late 1930s, he sarcastically called his song "God Blessed America for Me" before renaming it "This Land Is Your Land."

In 2002, "This Land Is Your Land" was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (/ˈɡʌθri/; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, who is considered to be one of the most significant figures in American western folk music. His music, including songs such as "This Land Is Your Land", has inspired several generations both politically and musically.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", from the second album "Naturally", plays over the opening credits of the 2009 film, "Up In The Air". The song is also the first track on the "Up In The Air" soundtrack album. The tune is also available on the "Record Store Day - Black Friday" album "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In) (covers collection) (2020)"

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a revivalist movement recreating mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. In December 2014, the band was nominated for a Grammy, in the category Best R&B Album of the Year for "Give The People What They Want".

Sharon Jones died in 2016, with the band releasing the posthumous final album "Soul Of A Woman" in 2017. Her backing band have since performed together live and worked with other artists.

Enjoy today's lovely soulish cover of this classic.



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Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster

Sunday, time for a classic.

Dark, starting to get cold, day dreaming about the summer and July. Today's tune will bring you back a few months.

"Master Blaster (Jammin')" is a 1980 single by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder from his 1980 album "Hotter Than July".

The song, built on a heavy reggae feel, is an ode to reggae legend Bob Marley; Wonder had been performing live with Marley (billing him as an opening act) on his US tour in the fall of that year. Lyrics mention "children of Jah", "Marley's Hot on the box" and the end of the civil war in Zimbabwe.

Enjoy today's tune that was the leading single from Wonder's "Hotter Than July" album. It was a major hit, spending seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B singles chart, reaching number five on Billboard's pop singles chart in the fall of 1980 and peaking at number two on the UK Singles chart and number one in New Zealand.



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Celeste - Strange

Friday, continue on the singer songwriter theme, but for tonight we have a upcoming female star, winner of the BRITs Rising Star Award this year, is the alluring and talented Celeste, Brighton’s American–born British 25 year old soul singer songwriter. Earning comparisons to the likes of Amy Winehouse with her heartfelt textured vocals, her music blends soul and jazz-tinged blues over subtle R&B melodies. Suffice to say Celeste is definitely one to follow.

Today's tune "Strange" is a song by British singer and songwriter Celeste. The song was released on 4 September 2019 through Both Sides and Polydor Records. It was written by Celeste, Stephen Wrabel, and Jamie Hartman, who also produced the track. She released a live version of the song on 20 September 2019, as well as the song's music video in November 2019, see it below. The original version has been edited for radio play, therefore excluding an extra verse towards the end of the song.

"Strange" is "a tale of lost friendships and broken relationships". In the chorus, Celeste ponders: "Isn't it strange? / How people can change / From strangers to friends / Friends into lovers / And strangers again" over silky strings and a "haunting and delicate" piano melody. The song was written and recorded in Los Angeles during the 2018 California wildfires. Robin Murray from Clash noted that the damaged areas were "transformed into these hideous alien realms which Waite began to view as counterpoints to her own emotional turmoil." She told Idolator, “I began to think of all the destruction the fires caused, the loss, the isolation, people finding themselves in a situation where they have no home, no sense of familiarity,” After hearing Celeste sing "Tried to see through all the smoke," David Smyth from Evening Standard wrote, "her voice trails off close to silence, as though she isn’t quite sure of the words." Celeste commented on this statement, saying "It’s become one of my favourite songs I’ve written, because it allows me to live in the imperfections of my voice... The air was thick with smoke, which is why my voice sounds more husky than it is usually.” Modestas Mankus from Our Culture Mag wrote, "Celeste brings us a melancholic mood through a melodious voice and soft ad-like piano." I really dig her voice, along with a good glas of red she makes the evening very romantic. Enjoy!

Check this version out, holy freaking moses what a vocal feeling, Live Session - La Blogothèque



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Big Brother And The Holding Company - Piece Of My Heart

Sunday, time for a classic.
50 Years ago and the year 1970.

That September is a eventful month during a very musical year. On September 6 – During his final European tour, guitarist Jimi Hendrix is greeted by booing and jeering by German fans as a result of his late appearance on stage and incoherent stage performance. Bassist Billy Cox quits the tour and returns to the United States. September 17 – Jimi Hendrix makes his last appearance, with Eric Burdon & War jamming at Ronnie Scotts Club in London. Hendrix, aged 27, dies the following day from a barbiturate overdose at his London hotel. On October 4 – Janis Joplin is found dead in her bedroom in the Landmark Motor Hotel in Hollywood. She died from a heroin overdose, at the age of 27. So today's tune is dedicated for her.

During September there was a few bands that got disbanded over various cercumstances. THE BEATLES breaka up permanently. THE NICE got disband. BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND splits, with reunions in 1972, 1988, and 2006. Simon & Garfunkel – both members of the duo go on to solo careers, although they have reunited and performed together numerous times since breaking up. THE TURTLES disbands (reform in 1983). Dave Clark 5 Many members would leave and new members formed 'Dave Clark & Friends' which lasted until 1973.

September was a great month for album releases.

"Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" with THE ROLLING STONES, "Third Album" with THE JACKSON 5 got released on the 4th. "Encouraging Words" with Billy Preston, "The Byrds" with THE BYRDS, "Kiln House" with FLEETWOOD MAC, "Paranoid" with BLACK SABBATH, "After the Gold Rush" with Neil Young, "Abraxas" with SANTANA, "Idlewild South" with THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, "Beaucoups of Blues" with Ringo Starr, "Leftover Wine" with Melanie and "A Pocket Full of Miracles" with THE MIRACLES among many others.

Today's tune "Piece Of My Heart" is a romantic funk/soul love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. The song became a bigger pop hit when recorded by BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY in 1968 with lead singer Janis Joplin. The song was taken from the group's album "Cheap Thrills", recorded in 1968 and released on Columbia Records. This four-minute, 15-second rendition made it to #12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album release was the culmination of a hugely successful year for Joplin with acclaimed performances at the Monterey Pop Festival, Anderson Theater in New York, Wake For Martin Luther King Jr. (with Jimi Hendrix) in New York and on TV's prime-time The Dick Cavett Show.

The song's instrumentation was arranged by Sam Andrew, who also performed three distorted, loud guitar solos giving the song a psychedelic touch. The B-side was "Summertime". Another version had the B-side "Turtle Blues".

Franklin said in an interview that when she first heard Joplin's version on the radio, she didn't recognize it because of the vocal arrangement.[17] Noted cultural writer Ellen Willis wrote of the difference: "When Franklin sings it, it is a challenge: no matter what you do to me, I will not let you destroy my ability to be human, to love. Joplin seems rather to be saying, surely if I keep taking this, if I keep setting an example of love and forgiveness, surely he has to understand, change, give me back what I have given". In such a way, Joplin used blues conventions not to transcend pain, but "to scream it out of existence".

Until her death in 1970, "Piece of My Heart" was Joplin’s biggest chart success and best-known song. ("Me and Bobby McGee”, which Kris Kristofferson wrote, eclipsed "Piece of My Heart" when it appeared after her death in 1970. It went to #1 in 1971). "Piece Of My Heart" remains most associated with Joplin and continued to get airplay long after her death. Berns never got to hear Joplin's version, dying of a heart attack on December 30, 1967.

Enjoy today's tune and have a great Sunday!



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Gloria Jones - Tainted Love

Sunday, time for a classic.

Somehow it turned out to be a girls week, so why not end it with a high head and a real classic that most folks do not know.

"Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group THE FOUR PREPS, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964.

It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by English synth-pop duo SOFT CELL in 1981 and has since been covered by numerous groups and artists. Buoyed by the then-dominant synth-pop new wave sound of the time and a memorable performance on the BBC's Top of the Pops, "Tainted Love" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, and was the best-selling single of 1981 in the UK. A major hit in the US during the Second British Invasion, the song spent a then-record 43 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight.

American artist Gloria Jones recorded the original version of "Tainted Love" in 1964; the song was written and produced by Ed Cobb and arranged by Lincoln Mayorga. It was the B-side of her 1965 single "My Bad Boy's Comin' Home", which was a commercial flop, failing to chart in either the US or the UK. According to Nick Talevski, before Jones recorded the song, Cobb had offered it to THE STANDELLS, whom he managed and produced, but they rejected it. THE STANDELLS say that the song was never offered to them and that they were not signed to Cobb's company Greengrass Productions until 1966, some two years after Jones's recording.

In 1973, British club DJ Richard Searling purchased a copy of the almost decade-old single while on a trip to the United States. The track's Motown-influenced sound (featuring a fast tempo, horns, electric rhythm guitar and female backing vocals) fit in perfectly with the music favoured by those involved in the UK's Northern Soul club scene of the early 1970s, and Searling popularised the song at the Northern Soul club Va Va's in Bolton, and later, at Wigan Casino.

Owing to the new-found underground popularity of the song, Jones re-recorded "Tainted Love" in 1976 and released it as a single, but it also failed to chart. This version was released on her album "Vixen" and was produced by her boyfriend Marc Bolan.

The story behind the song "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones, in a short documentary by Top 2000 a gogo (Dutch Public TV) from 2010.


Here is a clip from German TV, not sure about the time but approx 10-15 years ago or so.


Here is the original version of the tune, enjoy!



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Neal Francis - Changes

Soulful 70's funk is what Neal Francis do with his latest tune "Changes", the title tune from his latest album.

"The reincarnation of Allen Toussaint", as Craig Charles on BBC Radio 6 said about Neil.

"I just wanted to be honest about everything, from my musical influences to my story," muses Neal Francis. After years of dishonest living -- consumed by drugs, alcohol, and addiction -- such sincerity is jarring from the 30-year-old Chicago-based musician. Liberated from a self-destructive past and born anew in sobriety, Francis has captured an inspired collection of songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms and Chicago blues. His music evokes a bygone era of R&B's heyday while simultaneously forging a new path on the musical landscape. Ohio-based Karma Chief Records (a subsidiary of rising soul label Colemine Records) have already released two singles earlier this year, "These Are The Days" and "Changes, Pt. 1", with the full LP Changes to follow this fall. There is a deep connection between Francis' childhood -- his obsession with boogie woogie piano, his father's gift of a dusty Dr. John LP -- and the songs he's created. The result is an astonishing collection of material without parallel in the contemporary funk and soul scene. The influences are unmistakable: the vocal stylings of Allen Toussaint and Leon Russell; the second line rhythms of The Meters and Dr. John; the barroom rock 'n' roll of The Rolling Stones; the gospel soul of Billy Preston; the roots music of The Band. Francis pays tribute to the masters but has his own story to tell: "It's the life I've lived so far."

And what a life it's been. Born Neal Francis O'Hara, the piano prodigy found himself touring Europe by the age of 18 with Muddy Waters' son and backing up other prominent blues artists coast-to-coast. In 2012, Francis joined popular instrumental funk band The Heard. With Francis at the creative helm, The Heard transformed into a national act, touring with boogaloo progenitors The New Mastersounds and chart toppers The Revivalists and appearing at Jazz Fest and Bear Creek. As The Heard's star rose, however, Francis sunk deeper into addiction. Once a promising sideman, by 2015 he had been fired from his band, evicted from his apartment, and was perilously close to self-destruction. "When you get close to death like that you can feel it," Francis recalls. An alcohol-induced seizure that year led to a broken femur, dislocated arm, and, finally, the realization that he needed to get clean.

The journey from a hospital bed to launching his solo career was neither predictable nor straightforward. There were musical fits and starts, relapses, and broken relationships. Yet the overwhelming passion driving Francis in this second act has been an overabundance of creative energy. "Drinking held my music in a half-cocked slingshot. I was always so consumed by drugs and alcohol that I didn't have the time, money or creative energy to do it. Sobriety let it loose."

Determined to realize the songs swirling in his head, Francis assembled a crack team of musicians, calling on bassist Mike Starr (THE HEARD) and drummer PJ Howard (THE REVIVALISTS, THE HEARD). He linked up with producer and analog-obsessive Sergio Rios (ORGONE, Cee Lo Green, Alicia Keys) and self-funded a trip to Killion Sound in Los Angeles to record the initial batch of material. "I learned to trust my instincts in that room," says Francis. Buoyed by classic horn arrangements and Rios' fierce guitar work, the resulting tracks illuminate a lifetime spent studying the masters of soul music.

From the RMI electra-piano riff that kicks off "She's A Winner" to the screaming organ swells of "This Time," Francis and company let it all hang out. This is fun music, dance music. Yet verse after verse and chorus after chorus, Francis wrestles with his past in a straightforward manner: "It's 5 o'clock in the morning, but I'm not home/ I'm surrounded by people, but I'm really alone." Like Toussaint and Russell before him, he's married the upbeat rhythms of New Orleans R&B with the lyrical approach of a confessional singer/songwriter. The refrain on "This Time" serves as a foxhole prayer for a better future: "Let me get it this time/I won't let you down/Let me get it this time/I won't fool around."

Francis finished recording basic tracks for "Changes" in Los Angeles in February of 2018 and spent the following months doing overdubs in Chicago with engineer Mike Novak (who also recorded demos for the project). Soon after he was eager to begin his touring career. After signing with Paradigm Talent Agency, Neal played shows across North American supporting Australian band THE CAT EMPIRE. He has received praise on several notable radio outlets including KEXP, KCRW’s The Morning Becomes Eclectic, and BBC Radio 6. Francis and his four-piece band recently performed during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, sharing the stage with THE METERS and other legends. This summer he performed at Summer Camp and Chicago’s Chi-Soul Festival, and hit the road with Lee Fields & THE EXPRESSIONS, DUMPSTAPHUNK and others. Francis pledges to tour relentlessly to promote his own music. “I’m doing this to fulfill a drive within myself, but also to pay tribute to the gifts I’ve been given. And it comes from a place of immense gratitude."

Today's tune "Changes" is the title tune from Neal's latest album, released on 9/20/19


NEAL FRANCIS 2019 TOUR DATES:

SEP 20 FRI - Knuckleheads Saloon - Kansas City, MO [w/ Lee Fields & The Expressions]
SEP 21 SAT - Schubas - Chicago, IL [Changes Record Release Show!]
OCT 10 THU - Meow Wolf - Santa Fe, NM [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 11 FRI - Globe Hall - Denver, CO [w/ Black Pumas] (SOLD OUT)
OCT 12 SAT - Globe Hall - Denver, CO [w/ Black Pumas] (SOLD OUT)
OCT 14 MON - The State Room - Salt Lake City, UT [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 16 WED - Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, Canada [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 17 THU - Shakedown - Bellingham, WA [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 18 FRI - Neumos - Seattle, WA [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 19 SAT - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 21 MON - The Independent - San Francisco, CA [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 22 TUE - The Independent - San Francisco, CA [w/ Black Pumas] (SOLD OUT)
OCT 23 WED - Regent Theater DTLA - Los Angeles, CA [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 24 THU - Lodge Room Highland Park - Los Angeles, CA [w/ Black Pumas] (SOLD OUT)
OCT 25 FRI - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA [w/ Black Pumas] (SOLD OUT )
OCT 26 SAT - Rhythm Room - Phoenix, AZ [w/ Black Pumas]
OCT 27 SUN - 191 Toole - Tucson, AZ [w/ Black Pumas]



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Amadou & Mariam with The Blind Boys of Alabama - Bamako To Birmingham

A collaboration out of the ordinary. An unusual but no less fruitful fusion. We know Amadou + Mariam as something of musical ambassadors for Mali and also among the most joyful acts you can experience live. Amadou Bagayoko lost his vision in his teens and Mariam Doumbia became blind as a child. The couple married in 1980 and started playing music together three years later. The music they make are very inclusive and embraces styles from all over the world, yet it never fail to expose Mali-blues for the world. In 2007 Amadou + Mariam were part of Damon Albarn’s project and tour Africa Express. On recordings the duo has worked together with Albarn, Manu Chao, Santigold and TV On The Radio, to name just a few.

If you think THE ROLLING STONES have been around for a while, they’re rookies compared to THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA. This year the gospel ensemble celebrate their 80th anniversary. The current line-up hasn’t been part of the whole journey from then to now, but member Jimmy Carter joined in 1944 (founder Clarence Fountain held on until 2018, when he died of complications from diabetes). The group is living American music history, and so much more. In the sixties they sang at rallies for the civil rights movement, they have performed at the White House, influenced several generations of r’n’b/soul singers and collaborated with everyone from Bon Iver and Prince to Mavis Staples and Lou Reed. At Way Out West they did perform in the company of Amadou + Mariam. And it was like nothing else.

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the Bamako-born couple Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) (born 24 October 1954) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals) (born 15 April 1958).

The Blind Boys of Alabama (or simply Blind Boys of Alabama) is an American five-time Grammy Award-winning gospel group who first sang together in 1939. The Blind Boys have toured for eight decades and created an extensive discography. In 2016 the on-stage configuration of the group consisted of eight people: four blind singers—Jimmy Carter, Ben Moore, Eric "Ricky" McKinnie, Paul Beasley – guitarist and musical director Joey Williams, and a keyboardist, a bass guitarist, and a drummer.

The Blind Boys of Alabama sing mainly spiritually uplifting songs, as well as giving encouragement to those with disabilities. Blind group member Ricky McKinnie said "Our disability doesn't have to be a handicap. It's not about what you can't do. It's about what you do. And what we do is sing good gospel music."

Today's tune "Bamako To Birmingham" is a colloboration between the acts.



A clip from Way Out West, enjoy!




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Eugene McDaniels - Outlaw

"She's an outlaw, she don't wear a bra.... 

She cannot dig machismo, 

 but she really can dig some masculinity."

That's part of the lyrics of today's Sunday Classic. A tune that surprised many back in the early 70´s.

"For those expecting the McDaniels of 'A Hundred Pounds of Clay,' they might have been surprised by the opening and title track on Outlaw, when he sings 'she’s a nigger in jeans…' leading the Washington Post to suggest, after catching a few of McDaniels’ sets at Washington DC’s legendary Mr. Henry’s in June of 1970, that his 'songs are filled with words and imagery that some may find difficult to take, but they concern some of the most important issues of our time.' McDaniels had no illusions about the shift in focus of his musical career: 'I’m not out here to make any money. I’m out here to have some fun and tell the truth.'" -Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of African & African-American Studies at Duke University

Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an African-American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, and had continued success as a songwriter with songs including "Compared to What" and Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love".

Liberated from financial worries, McDaniels revived his own recording career with two albums, "Outlaw" (1970) and "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" (1971), in which, now rechristened Eugene McDaniels, he presented a strong and sometimes bitter social and political message set to stripped-down street-funk and quasi-rock rhythms.

The cover photograph of Outlaw depicted a multiracial group of armed urban guerrillas, an explicit statement that seemed to align him more closely with the rage of Amiri Baraka and the Last Poets than with the gentler black protest music of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Curtis Mayfield's Back to the World.

Today's tune "Outlaw" is the title tune from the album "Outlaw", released 1970, enjoy!



More info @

Official Eugene McDaniels Web

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