I found the news on Heavy Soul Brother's blog this morning and thought that I had to spread it. Lee Fields, the man with a ton of soul in his voice, is about to have a new CD out. It's name is My World. Lee Fields has been a favorite with me ever I've heard him the first time a couple of years ago. (Go here for an earlier post about him.)
Mr. Lee Fields accompanied by the wonderful Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings: James Brown Medley rehearsal. Y'all get up and ...! Sharon deserves all the credit for making my spine tingle with her take on Try Me. Just give her a good listen.
Unfortunaetly, the clip ends just when Lee is cuttin' loose ... Dammit!
Whenever I think of 70's and disco that catchy If I Can't Have You ... dance floor filler comes to my mind. But if you'd asked me what the name of the singer was before I looked it up, I would have had to pass. I guess I never even knew who sang it.
Neither did I know any other songs by her, and I was quite surprised to find some very nice tracks by Yvonne. I admit they're not exactly breathtaking, but they are definitely listenable.
The two tracks I took to right away are her version of Hello Stranger and Baby Don't Let It Mess Your Mind.
Yvonne began singing in bars and clubs in the early 70's in London which led to a job as backup singer in Eric Clapton's band (and being his girlfriend.) She also sang Mary Magdalene's part on the Jesus Christ Superstar album, the Broadway show and in the the movie. Her IDon't Know how To Love Him peakedat # 28 in the US charts in 1971. The song also earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 1974.(Sorry, I don't have that one.)
Her last album, Simple Needs, was released in 2004 followed by a re-release a year later.
Okay. Today is our last Love Fest day. I enjoyed the music that you've sent me tremendously. The songs made for a colorful mix. Thanks again!
The last set of "most beautiful love songs" comes from my husband. He picked an Intruders and a Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes song. Surprise. Surprise. Being the Bobby Womack and Isley Brothers fan he is, I expected his pick to be a song from these artists ...
Sorry. Ich konnte leider nicht mit unserem Love Fest weitermachen wie geplant: Internetaccess war down und ich war obendrein auch noch ziemlich busy.
Aber jetzt geht's weiter. Und zwar mit ((emmeni's)) Titel.
((emmeni)) und ich haben eine Menge gemeinsam -- nicht nur, dass wir miteinander aufgewachsen sind, sondern auch, dass wir den selben Geschmack in puncto Musik haben.
Wen wundert's da, dass auf ihrer Liste der schoensten Liebeslieder Percy Sledge mit Baby, Baby, Baby steht? Und Al Greens For The Good Times ist auch unter meinen Favoriten. Zusaetzlich hat sie einen Song ausgegraben, den ich fuer eine Weile auf "repeat" stehen hatte: Jimmy Taylors My Woman.
Als Zugabe gibt's eine unglaubliche live Aufnahme des Bee Gee Titels How Can You Mend a Broken Heart mit Al Green. Leider ist die Tonqualitaet eher duerftig. Der Anzug dafuer aber eher --ahem-- gewagt.
((Soultaker's)) Saturday bestows on us two songs by two unrivaled vocalists: Jackie Wilson and David Ruffin. Yes, my David. (No bribes involved, though.) All I Need shows David from his
tender side. With his unique voice, David paints a vivid picture of the vulnerability that loving deeply exposes us too.
Now, here comes Jackie: wild, exuberant, passionate -- totally immersed in the feeling inside him. Nobody But You is love's passion pure!
Thanks ((Soultaker)) for two love songs brimming with emotional intensity.
Some songs vanish into oblivion. Some loves die forever. But certain songs never even age -- just as some couples' love never grows cold -- rather these songs and loves turn into vintage material.
((Debbie)), who chose todays Love Fest songs, knows what I am speaking of, I'm sure of it. Both our marriages are vintage material, and so are the love songs that accompanied us on our voyages through life, love, and music.
Here are two of my favorite musical traveling companions. I chose the scratched and static copy of Midnight Train To Georgia over a cleaner one for a reason, of course. That track is from an album my husband gave me when we were just embarking on our journey together. The second track, Du, is from a time when I hadn't even met my husband, but when I already knew what kind of man would be the right one for me.
((Sawyer)) from Germany has some 90's music to contribute to the Love Fest at SOTS. Beautiful music, indeed. What is even more beautiful is that the songs he sent me remind us that love and what we asscociate with it does not change.
Candlelight is one such association.
There were candlelight dinners in the 1790's as well as in the 1990's. Lovers in antiquity wanted their beloved to stay around, wanted to kiss them and turn off the lights -- all for the sake of the same beautiful feeling we still cherish in the 21st century.
((Sawyer)) thanks for your songs! They are of timeless beauty.
I know these are not the words of a liberated, self-sufficient woman living in the 21st century. In my opinion, though, they express what we all long for deep inside: a place that's safe and warm where no one and nothing can harm us. That place needs not be a location per se. It is, as Theola Kilgore says in her song, the love we receive from another person. The song was contributed by ((Gua)), and to him this is the song that conjures up memories of his mother, just as When A Man Loves A Woman has me remember my own mother. Theola Kilgore's The Love Of My Man is a tender and loving tribute to love itself.
Thanks ((Gua))!
Let's see what more is there to sing about comforting and fulfilling love.
((DC)) was the first to send me one of the songs he considers the most beautiful love songs ever. I almost expected him to choose a Four Tops title because he, like me, is a professed Levi Stubbs admirer.
Levi could reach deep into the soul with a voice at whose core reigned the love for music and singing. Together with the flawless harmonies of his co-Tops, Abdul Fakir, Renaldo Benson and Lawrence Payton, Levi created some of the most passionate love songs ever!
Thanks ((DC)) for your participation. I could not have thought of a better opening song for our Love Fest.
Although Levi Stubbs left this world October 17, 2008, he is still with us through each and every song he sang. He made them his own with his incomparably passionate approach. There is hardly a more beautiful version of I Believe In You And Me available than Levi's.
Get ready for the FEST! It'll start with tomorrow's post. I am so excited and glad that so many of you cared enough to come up with a song (or two or three ...) they consider the most beautiful love song ever.
... and what would a Love Fest be without a bit of summer sunshine? That's why I've got us a bagful of that stuff -- just to be on the safe side.
1. The O'Jays, Sunshine
2. Laurel Aitken, Sunshine
3. The Futures, Sunshine And You (feat. Harry McGilberry, one time bass singer of the Temptations)
Sometimes I think the best voices are hidden from a wide audience on purpose. Otherwise an expressive, warm voice as Lea Roberts' would have been as well known as Pattie Labelle's, for example. (Although I consider Patti Labelle the most obnoxious screamer far and wide, and I cannot see what made her such a success.)
I've never heard of Lea Roberts up to now, and it was impossible to find any information on this gifted artist. I really wish I could find at least one shred or another about her life. I think she definitely belongs in a league with the true divas in Soul music.
The album these songs are from, Lady Lea, is a gem, showcasing Lea's versatility of which I try to to give you an idea via the posted tracks.
She is one of the few female vocalists I actually enjoy listening to. Her voice is reminiscent of Aretha Franklin's and Gloria Gaynor's, in my opinion.
She had two major albums released between 1975 and 1976, Lady Lea and Excuse Me, I Wanna Talk To You.
Her third album, My Silent Place, was released in 1982 and shows yet another capability of this incredibly versatile singer. On My Silent Place Lea's mellowed voice blends harmoniously with beautiful jazz arrangements.
It's been pretty difficult to decide on only a handful tracks to post while the rest of her album was playing in the background.
Jarvis Jackson is another artist whose work has not been appreciated as it should have been. He has a good voice, and the three tracks I've heard by him are definitely very listenable.
I found him on Sir Shambling's, the best source, in my opinion, for obscure and underrated soul music.
Sir Shambling writes about Jarvis Jackson's Something I Ain't Never Had that "Jackson really cuts loose" over the song's "wonderful guitar licks, and subdued organ." And I totally agree with this assessment.
I also like the simple approach to a song like My Love Is True. The song's lyrics could have been emphasized by overly sweet music -- which, in the Deep Soul genre, happens all too often. Thank goodness, the producers did resist that temptation and delivered a beautiful, clean and crisp love song.
Die Musik von Bloodstone ist ein eigenartiges Gemisch aus Soul, Funk und Rock/Pop. Aber gerade eben dieser Mix verschiedener Stilrichtungen verleiht ihren Songs ihre Eigentuemlichkeit.
Einer meiner liebsten Lieblingssongs ist That's How Strong My Love Is. Ich kann mich jedoch nicht entscheiden welche Version die beste ist. O. V. Wright hielt lange Zeit die Nummer 1, gefolgt von Candi Statons Version. Vor kurzem habe ich die Laura Lee Version entdeckt, und ich muss gestehen, Lauras Reibeisenstimme gibt dem Song einen ganz besonderen twist. Bill Coday ist auch nicht uebel.
Dann fand ich auch noch eine Version der Stones auf YouTube!!!! Die gefaellt mir wahnsinnig gut ...
Also, also! Mick und seine Mannschaft sind einfach unschlagbar. Ohne Schnoerkel und unnoetigen Ballast kommt dieser Song glaube ich am besten zur Geltung. Ich wusste bisher gar nicht, dass die Stones That's How Strong ...aufgenommen haben.
Was denkt meine werte Leserschaft? Wem gebt Ihr den Zuschlag?
I am approaching my 200th blog in a few more days. And since I would love to celebrate this milestone, I would like for you to send me some of your favorite love songs.
Just sent your "most beautiful love song" to btexpress944@gmail.com and add a few words to introduce yourself. Or, you may also link to a YouTube clip of the song you love most. It would also be nice to hear a little love story about the song of your choice.
I can't decide what love song I consider to be the most beautiful ever. There's When A Man Loves A Woman, Unchained Melody, Always And Forever, If You Don't Know Me By Now, Sunshine ... One Thing is for sure, though. I love For Your Precious Love sung by Jerry Butler. And of course David Ruffin's Just Let Me Hold You For A Night.
John Gary Williams singt den Four Tops Hit Ask The Lonely dermassen einfuehlsam, dass selbst ein eingefleischter Levi Stubbs Fan wie ich es bin, in eine Loyaltitaetskrise geraet.
John begann als Leadsaenger der Mad Lads, einer Gruppe, die ich persoenlich nicht unbedingt bemerkenswert finde. Aber John Gary Williams hat m. E. eine ausgezeichnete Stimme.
Zum Vergleich die Four Tops Version von Ask The Lonely.
Just in case anyone missed me -- I spent a few days in New Mexico with my husband and very dear friends. Santa Fe is a beautiful place. I've never seen a bluer sky before in my life. The food was splendid, the people wonderful, and the weather was simply heavenly.
I got me a beautiful topaz pendant and took tons of pictures.
But now I am back to normal and looking forward to post some more of my favorite music.
The Undisputed Truth war sozusagen Norman Whitfields Testgruppe. Mit ihnen propierte er seinen psychedelic sound aus bevor er Motowns Paradepferd The Temptations darauf ansetzte. Smiling Faces wurde allerdings zuerst von den Temptations gesungen, aber ich bevorzuge die Undisputed Truth Version. Meine Lieblingsversion bleibt jedoch die von David Ruffin.
Zusammen mit Rose Royce verliess die Gruppe Motown und folgte Norman Whitfield zu seinem eigenen Label. Leider erlosch ihr Star aber schon bald und man hoerte nichts mehr von den Undisputed Truth.
It is horrible. Some artists who deserve much better are being neglected, forgotten, and underrated while way too many are overrated. I could not even find a picture of this artist.
One such artist whose work lies buried in obscurity is Levert Allison. (His brother Gene is better known for his song "Almost Sundown" and "If I Ever Needed Your Love". ) Levert has a beautiful baritone voice, and his forte clearly is the ballad.
I have to warn you. Don't listen to That River, if you are sad; that song will pull you down even more.
I was not feeling very well for a couple days: I think I was suffering from -- no, not the swine flu -- but Reggae withdrawal symptoms ...
And since I'm not "the kind of girl who gives up just like that" I got to work right away and dug out some sweet Reggae.
I bet some of you are surprised to hear The Tide Is High sung by someone else than Blondie. In fact, it is a composition of John Holt, who started out with a group named The Paragons. So the song was around long before Blondie made it famous.
John Holt is from Kingston, Jamaica and he started his career at age 12 when he participated in various talent contests. His debut single, I Cried A Tear, was reacorded in 1963. He left The Paragons in 1970 to establish himself as a solo artist.
