Sweet Soul Music - Dan Penn, Donnie Fritts, Eddie Hinton, Muscle Shoals sound in general, etc - C or C?

Surprisingly few threads covering this. What are some of your favorite records to come out of FAME studios? Favorite tunes? Production jobs? Been on a big Donnie Fritts kick this weekend. Prone To Lean is killer.

Classic, of course, but often overlooked outside of random (and not so random) boosters such as the Drive-By Truckers, Neil Young, Nick Lowe and a few others. Gotta love the Staples' "I'll Take You There," Stones' "Wild Horses," among many, many others. The roll call here is kind of awe-inspiring:

http://www.fame2.com/recording-studios/

Good book pertaining to this subject is Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues: The Arthur Alexander Story, by Richard Younger.

Better than you might expect:

Eddie Hinton's album of late demos 'Letter from Mississippi'

timely thread -- was just thinking about getting this
Sweet Inspiration - The Songs of Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham
1. OUT OF LEFT FIELD - Percy Sledge
2. I'M YOUR PUPPET - Dionne Warwick
3. SWEET INSPIRATION - The Sweet Inspirations
4. A WOMAN LEFT LONELY - Charlie Rich
5. I WORSHIP THE GROUND YOU WALK ON - Etta James
6. I'M LIVING GOOD (VERSION 2) - The Ovations
7. TAKE ME (JUST AS I AM) - Solomon Burke
8. CRY LIKE A BABY - Arthur Alexander
9. IT TEARS ME UP - Jeanne Newman
10. SLIPPIN' AROUND - Art Freeman
11. I MET HER IN CHURCH - Tony Borders
12. ARE YOU NEVER COMING HOME - Sandy Posey
13. LET IT HAPPEN (ALTERNATE TAKE) - James Carr
14. EVERYTHING I AM - The Box Tops
15. FEED THE FLAME - Ted Taylor
16. WATCHING THE TRAINS GO BY - Tony Joe White
17. IN THE SAME OLD WAY - Arthur Conley
18. DENVER - Ronnie Milsap
19. DREAMER - Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles
20. GOOD THINGS DON'T COME EASY - Irma Thomas
21. I NEED SOMEONE - The Wallace Brothers
22. HE AIN'T GONNA DO RIGHT - Barbara Lynn
23. WISH YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO - Tommy Roe
24. LET'S DO IT OVER - Joe Simon

http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Inspiration-Songs-Spooner-Oldham/dp/B004FEDV8A

Despite having lived in Muscle Shoals for six years, I'm woefully undereducated on the history outside of the big names that came through.

Used to eat in a diner right next door to FAME all the time, though. It was called Biscuit Village and it was fun to take a n00b there and just order one biscuit.

"Is one biscuit going to be enough?"
"You'll see."

And then they'd bring out a HUGE biscuit that was, no exaggeration, the size of the plate it was sitting on. I don't think I ever finished one.

They tore it down a few years ago and now a CVS is sitting there. A goddamn C V S!!!!

x-post
Mesage from amazon re that UK label compiled comp:
Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available

Huh, no "Dark End of the Street" on that comp. Isn't that their ringer?

yeah that seemed weird to me, too. too predictable? i don't know. that and i'm your puppet are the big ones i think. comp still looks pretty rad.

Interview with Donnie Fritts, with some funny stories about his interactions with famous people : http://swampland.com/articles/view/title:funky_donnie_fritts_the_gritz_interview

Some interesting stuff on this board: http://launch.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/southernsoul/message/59?threaded=1&var=1&p=1

Wow, the teenage Jonathan Rosenbaum that was hanging around during the early Muscle Shoals days was indeed the film critic of the same name.

Interesting

Other famous people originally from the Quad Cities: Sam Phillips and his brother Jud, who released the first Arthur Alexander single on his Judd Records, Helen Keller, who was born in Tuscumbia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auGUm2r0cLs

Anyone managed to see this yet?

As a former Muscle Shoals resident for a most of the nineties, I feel like a doc of this nature is long overdue.

Is another one of those awesome looking docs that never seem to get a release beyond the pitch-perfect trailer? See also: Big Star doc, Mekons doc, Wrecking Crew doc ...

This looks great, but yeah, the licensing hurdles don't bode well for a DVD release.

This getting stuck in licensing hell would be a crime against humanity imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uadZxOlZZrM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQldHnYWaDU

At least this one has a release pending ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftnY_xx_5Zc

Distro deal!

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/indies/1551706/muscle-shoals-documentary-picked-up-by-magnolia-pictures-during#Dr8E5WCkJvrdOD1l.03

Awesome.

Just saw the movie doc yesterday. Mostly good telling of the story and some great old clips plus recent interviews. Rick Hall has had some heartbreak in his life. Bad---too much Bono barely any Dan Penn; and not enough interview questions to the African-American artists re race issues.

Touching moment afterwards in the q & a with the director, when a woman stands up and says, "Hi, I'm Wilson Pickett's youngest daughter," and then she proceeds to thank the director for the portions of the movie regarding her father

Some great Aretha and Etta and Candi performance footage. Lots of anecdotes-- I did not know that "Respect" was recorded in NYC with the Muscle Shoals band (minus the horn player who Aretha's then husband believed was getting flirtatious with Aretha)

Ooh, can't wait to see it!

want to see!

how did i miss this thread? i love the donnie fritts album.

awesome, v excited

I saw it at the AFI Docs film fest, director said general release will happen in September

More anecdotes:
I did not know that Duane Allman encouraged Wilson Pickett to cover "Hey Jude".

A consulting producer on the film, writer Holly George-Warren, did a presentation at the EMP Pop Conference in New Orleans that went into way more detail re Arthur Alexander, great singer, produced by Rick Hall, who had songs covered by the Stones and Beatles and Bob Dylan. Mick and Keith do talk briefly in the doc about Arthur at least.

I need to listen to Donnie Fritts. Who is in the movie if I recall correctly.

Regretting that I never saw Wilson Pickett perform. The footage of him in this is great.

I need to check and see if this will be screened in Muscle Shoals. I would think so, and if that's the case I might drive over and see it there.

The director said they already did a special screening down there for some of the folks that are in the movie. Oh, the movie also devotes a fair amount of attention to the Allman Brothers and Lyrnard Skynard. "Sweet Home Alabama" plays over part of the closing credits. This part of the movie did not interest me as much (but that's my music tastes).

Was looking at "Muscle Shoals" in twitter, and saw a funny tweet from a college kid working at a CVS down there wondering why folks with British accents were in the store.

Also, this just happened:

http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/06/post_44.html

http://www.timesdaily.com/news/local/article_127ef32a-da1f-11e2-a98d-10604b9f1ff4.html

Muscle Shoals Sound studio (the studio owned at one point by the musicians--not the Fame Studio of Rick Hall) has now been bought by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation. The person who had owned it would not let the movie documentary folks inside.

Muscle Shoal's Dan Penn re Bobby Bland (an old interview reposted)but he also talks a lot about the role of radio back then and what he discovered via it

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2013/jun/25/issue-2728-bobby-blands-influential-voice/

When I was living there in the 90s, the original Muscle Shoals Sound building at 3614 Jackson Hwy was a run down washer-dryer repair and parts shop. It made me sad. The studio itself had moved to a larger structure a few miles away by then. I'm glad they're finally taking steps to preserve the original.

http://www.magpictures.com/dates.aspx?id=827e9dcf-98b7-4b01-a504-81bdf2f9acb7

Opening

10/4/2013
Brooklyn, NY: Nitehawk 3
Chicago, IL: Landmark's Century Centre Cinema

10/5/2013
Bridgeport, CT: Bijou Theatre

10/10/2013
Miami, FL: O Cinema

10/11/2013
Asbury Park, NJ: The ShowRoom
Berkeley, CA: Shattuck Cinemas 10
Cambridge, MA: Kendall Square Cinema 9
Minneapolis, MN: Lagoon Cinema
Nashville, TN: Belcourt Theatre
Philadelphia, PA: Ritz at the Bourse
San Diego, CA: Ken Cinema
San Francisco, CA: Opera Plaza Cinemas 4
Santa Fe, NM: The Screen
West Los Angeles, CA: Nuart Theatre

10/14/2013
San Rafael, CA: Smith Rafael Film Center

10/18/2013
Atlanta, GA: Midtown Art Cinemas 8
Bellingham, WA: Pickford Film Center 3
Birmingham, AL: Edge 12
Denver, CO: Chez Artiste
Durham, NC: Carolina Theatre - Durham
Florence, AL: Regency 12
Greensboro, NC: Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema
Little Rock, AR: Market Street Cinema
Palm Desert, CA: Cinemas Palme D'Or 7
Seattle, WA: Varsity Theatre
Tallahassee, FL: Tallahassee Film Society / All Saints Cinema
Washington, DC: West End Cinema
West Newton, MA: West Newton Cinema 6
Winston-Salem, NC: Aperture Cinema

10/22/2013
Boulder, CO: Boedecker Theater

10/24/2013
Milwaukee, WI: University of WI - Union Theatre

10/25/2013
Asheville, NC: Carolina Asheville 14
Athens, GA: Cine Theatre
Mobile, AL: Crescent Theatre
Montgomery, AL: Capri Community Film Society
San Luis Obispo, CA: Palm Cinema

11/1/2013
Bellingham, WA: Pickford Film Center 3
Charleston, SC: Terrace Theatre
Richmond, VA: Criterion Cinemas at Movieland

11/3/2013
Ooltewah, TN: Barking Legs Theater

11/5/2013
Boulder, CO: International Film Series

11/11/2013
Albuquerque, NM: Guild
Lafayette, LA: Acadiana Center for the Arts

11/15/2013
Fort Worth, TX: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Park City, UT: Park City Film Series

11/26/2013
Houston, TX: The Museum of Fine Arts

12/26/2013
Huntsville, AL: Flying Monkey Arts Center

Go see it (despite the movie having some flaws)

Tonight on Late Show with David Letterman, catch a special musical performance from the film Muscle Shoals, featuring R&B legend Candi Staton, Jason Isbell, John Paul White (The Civil Wars) and The Swampers (Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson & David Hood). They will perform "I Ain't Easy To Love" which is featured in the Magnolia Pictures film Muscle Shoals, in theaters now & available on iTunes and On Demand everywhere.

Oh y'all, so good!

I won free tickets and saw it again.

kill Bono

I didn't mind anything Bono had to say, but his fucking stupid glasses were killing me.

heard mixed reviews of this from a few friends.
one friend was real bummed that they didn't talk to penn/oldham abt their songwriting at all.

If you go into it with the knowledge that it's largely the story of Rick Hall and what was going on in his sphere, you'll realize that veering off into things like Penn and Oldham talking about the writing process didn't have any relevance to the story being told. Anecdotes, perhaps. But no real meaty content.

yeah, i think it was a problem of her expectations w/r/t the film.

That said, I'd like to think there is A LOT of good interview excerpts that would show up on a dvd release.

Joe McEwen talking about Dan Penn on Peter Guralnick's blog:

http://www.peterguralnick.com/post/40594431605/a-word-from-mr-c-dan-penn-the-fame-recordings

This is coming to my town next month, with a post-screening q&a with the director! Can't wait.

If you go into it with the knowledge that it's largely the story of Rick Hall and what was going on in his sphere, you'll realize that veering off into things like Penn and Oldham talking about the writing process didn't have any relevance to the story being told. Anecdotes, perhaps. But no real meaty content.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, October 21, 2013

Not sure I buy this completely. I think adding more in about Hall benfited from Arthur Alexander's singing and songwriting early on; and about how Hall benefited from Penn/Oldham's writing and from Candi Staton and others vocals, would tell a fuller and more complete story about Rick Hall and the studio and region. Instead we got more Bono, plus Skynard.

about how Hall benefited

You act like Bono was all over the film. He had probably a minute of screen time.

Alright, then how about a minute less of Skynard, who Hall didn't really work with.

watched it tonight - loved it

I didn't really know anything about Hall's personal life going in - helluva lot of tragedy he's carried around with him.

:D

Any word yet on when PBS is going to air it? I should've gone back for a second screening while it was here.

Monday April 21, 2014 - 9-11pm ET

(according to the PBS/Independent Lens site)

Yes!

also I need to FP curmudgeon for suggesting there be LESS skynyrd

cmon mayne

If the choice is between Muscle Shoals soul folks and Skynyrd, I have to stand my ground and stick with the soul folks

imagine there's a skynyrd, and a muscle shoals

imagine alllll the peeeeeoppllleeee

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2014/09/today_tickets_on_sale_for_perc.html

Percy Sledge has liver cancer and the following folks are doing a benefit show to help him with his expenses: Eddie Floyd, Pat Upton, Gary Baker, Walt Aldridge, Donnie Fritts, The Decoys, Travis Wammack and Three Wheel Drive are scheduled to perform on September 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center

Best wishes to Percy.

Tried to watch that doc but it was painful. Of the talking heads I'll take Keef and Jimmy Cliff and leave the rest.

Looking forward to Ed King and Gregg Allman though.

ok

Changed it up. Watched "A Band Called Death" instead.

Okay giving this another try. That Irish guy with the tinted glasses I can take or leave.

Just enjoy the good and fascinating stuff, persevere through the rest and don't think about what was left out( that is, how Hall benefited from Arthur Alexander's singing and songwriting early on; and about how Hall benefited from Penn/Oldham's writing and from the vocals of Candi Staton and others; and how all of those folks together made Muscle Shoals)

That's the approach I decided to take, more or less, thanks, enjoy the good stuff, sit through the humdrum stuff, go back to Sweet Soul Music and Get A Shot of Rhythm and Blues for the details.

Okay, there is some good stuff in there, great retelling of the story of Duane Allman convincing Wilson Pickett to record "Hey Jude," or how the sessions with Aretha finally got going but then went astray. But there was a lot of stuff that was under-emphasized or ignored, including your examples of Arthur Alexander's star power that ignited the whole thing (or in fact the entire musical scene centered around the movie house across the street from the drugstore and studio, is that theater even mentioned) and the Penn/Oldham contribution (do they ever really explain what Dan Penn did at all?) There was also no mention of any of the Memphis musicians that took part in these recordings-especially Tommy Cogbill and Chips Moman. Chips played lead guitar on "Land of a Thousand Dances" and Tommy played bass on all of those Wilson Pickett tracks as far as I know.

I know, I know, some people think it is all about Rick Hall and the rest is just superfluous detail but...

Chips and Tommy also played on "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"

David Hood might have still been mainly playing trombone at that time.

Hm. David Hood actually has that tune listed on his discography on his website, even though every other source says he was working on a horn chart that wasn't used and Tommy C played the bass.

I saw Holly George-Warren (who did that Chilton book) do a presentation on Arthur Alexander at the EMP in New Orleans. I think she is also credited with having worked on the movie, so I am guessing the director and producer of the movie made the decision to keep the story focussed on Hall and not mention all those folks whom Hall worked with

For whatever reason, they decided the story was easier to tell if it focused on Rick Hall and then filled in space around him with whatever details would fit. That was the wrong way to go about it imo, but it was still an exceedingly pleasing doc to watch and I learned some stuff I never even knew despite living there for most of the 90s.

Convenience link to brief discussion of Muscle Shoals reggae connection: Big Star

David Hood interview: http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/post_266.html

Great interview!

Interesting stuff

RIP Percy Sledge. There's a separate thread on his passing

Hadn't seen this before, great stuff. Ye olde Southern Rock thread has some relevant bits as well (ditto the Big Star thread, occasionally). So far, I'm digging the way Alabama Shakes are finding self-expression in reconfigurations of sounds usually confined to nostalgia these days: like the mix is the remix, but no turntables etc., far as I can tell.
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/12/398068310/first-listen-alabama-shakes-sound-color

Have not been a fan of the Shakes so far, while the singer's voice can be impressive, other times she is too Janis Joplin like. The band's playing I like even less. Have not heard their new one yet, though.

That link leads to the new album, Sound and Color, which I got into a lot faster than the debut full-length (liked the EP before that right away). I think they re-work/respond to their influences in a pretty creative way.

Oh yeah, do yall know Beale Street Caravan? Weekly sets, from clubs, concerts, festivals, even cruises sometimes. Pretty good range of artists and styles, usually blues and vintage R&B.
Another young band making good use of classic influences, whom I think of as soul-rock (horns and arrangements def soul, guitar and vocals can be more impulsive, keys--!): Birmingham's St. Paul and the Broken Bones. good at Coachella, even better here: http://bealestreetcaravan.com/listen/shows/2015-04-08Shows can be streamed or downloaded, usually.

They got a sweet set by Allen Toussaint too!
http://bealestreetcaravan.com/listen/shows/2012-01-18

American Routes also post shows, 2 hours weekly. Unlike Beale Street Caravan, AR's mostly from records (with an original interview in each hour). The Original Pinettes Brass Band are a find: immediately engaging sound of young female players, who have a lot of dayjob and family obligations, but they've really gotten it together. The following playlist gives the title of the track, then the album (the latter italicized in AR's original post).

Can stream or (if have Firefox's FlashGot, maybe other apps elsewhere) download: http://americanroutes.wwno.org/archives/show/895/soul-sisters

Hour One

Open Bed: Soul Sister Yusek Lateef
1984, Impulse
I Can't Stand It The Soul Sisters
The Sue Story: The Sound of Soul, New York City, Parlophone
I'm a Woman Peggy Lee
The Best of Miss Peggy Lee, Capitol
Sally Go Round the Roses The Jaynetts
Chess Rhythm & Roll, MCA/ Chess
SEGMENT Justine "Baby" Washington
Listen
Workout Baby Washington
45rpm, Neptune
Clean Up Woman Betty Wright
Best of Betty Wright, Rhino
Instrumental: The Soul Explosion Illinois Jackquet
The Soul Explosion, Prestige
Reconsider Me Margaret Lewis
Shreveport Stomp: Ram Records Volume 1, Ace
Why Not Me The Judds
Why Not Me, RCA
Soul Deep Tina Turner
Country My Way, K-tel
Five Long Years Tina Turner
Bold Soul Sister: Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings , Blue Thumb
Tramp Otis Redding and Carla Thomas
The Complete Stax Volt Singles 1959-1968, Stax/ Volt
Instrumental: Soul Twist King Curtis & The Noble Knights
Rock Instrumental Classics, Vol.4: Soul, Rhino
SEGMENT Maxine Brown
Listen
Soul Serenade Maxine Brown
Greatest Hits, Tomato
Angel from Montgomery Bonnie Raitt
Streetlights, Warner Bros.
Far Celestial Shore Mavis Staples
One True Vine, Anti
End Bed: Soul Serenade Willie Mitchell
Hot Rods Rock: Big Boss Instrumentals Vol. 3, Right Stuff

Hour 2

Open Bed: All For You The Funk Brothers
The Best of the Funk Brothers, Motown
Go To The Mardi Gras The Original Pinettes
Finally, self-produced
Mary Mack Lilly's Chapel School, recorded by Harold Courlander
Negro Folk Music of Alabama, Vol.6: Ring Game Songs and Others, Folkways
Spirit in the Dark Aretha Franklin
Spirit in the Dark, Rhino
Soul Sister Allen Toussaint
The Complete Warner Recordings, Rhino
SEGMENT Chris Clark
Listen
Instrumental: Whitey Lambchop
Nashville: The Other Side of the Alley, Bloodshot
These Boots are Made for Walking Loretta Lynn
Honky Tonk Girl, MCA
I'm a Honky Tonk Girl Eilen Jewell
Eilen Jewell Presents Butcher Holler, Signature Sounds
Blues a Catin Bonsoir Catin
Blues a Catin, Bridgetown
Down on Me Big Brother & The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin
Big Brother & The Holding Company, Sony
You'll Lose a Good Thing Barbara Lynn
You'll Lose a Good Thing, Jaime/ Arctic
Careless Love Dr. Michael White with Cynthia Girtley
Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part I, Basin Street
Instrumental: One Naughty Flat AFO Executives
Compendium, AFO
SEGMENT The Original Pinettes Brass Band
Listen

Oh nice---Concord's Stax/Volt series continues (would also like to check new McCrary Sisters release at end of this column: they were compelling in recent public media fundraise--joined by Lee Ann Womack, even---and on archived Music City Roots livestream [show re Nashville's soul side history] w Fairfield Four, one of whom is their Dad) http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/20150416_Stax_leads_a_pack_of_strong_roots_releases.html

Some interesting discussion on the Yahoo southern soul email digest re who worked with Percy Sledge in the early days and where-Sheffield or Florence, Al vs Muscle Shoals ( and with Marlin Greene, later Malaco label heads Tommy Couch and Mitchell Malouf, Jimmy Johnson), and other great songs of his-- "Out Of Left Field", "Cover Me" and "It Tears Me Up".

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/03/-country-soul-by-charles-hughes-review.html

I heard Charles Hughes speak at an EMP conference in New Orleans a few years back. I was impressed. I rarely read Paste, but this was one of the first reviews of the book that I have seen.

Country Soul, a brilliant new exploration of the racial politics of the southern music recording scene from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, paints a less black-and-white picture than Sweet Soul Music or any other book on southern music that’s come before it.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/author-charles-l-hughes-takes-a-swing-at-conventional-wisdom-about-country-soul-and-race/Content?oid=5228976

I need to get and read that book

paints a less black-and-white picture...

o rly?

Another set from xpost Beale Street Caravan: The City Champs, veteran back-up for Rufus Thomas, Alex Chilton, Otis Clay, many others, and one of 'em's currently in St. Paul and The Broken Bones (whose own BSC show is posted upthread).
But this is not just the typical result of support aces left to their own jammy, foggy notions:
http://bealestreetcaravan.com/listen/shows/2015-01-14

http://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/457263-muscle-shoals-to-become-johnny-depp-produced-series

Johnny Depp wants to produce a scripted series based on the events/people in the Muscle Shoals doc. I...don't know about this.

idk, seems like a cool project? he seems like a p thoughtful dude in interviews, even if his movies are annoying

i mean unless he makes everyone wear thirty scarves & dumb hats who cares if he's just producing it

i imagine it'll be like "tremé" just in alabama

in other words, boring as fuck

Duck Dunn DeMarco

Oh wait

Will it just focus on uh, Depp as Rick Hall, and not have Jamie Foxx as Arthur Alexander and I dunno, Chiwetal Ejiofor as Percy Sledge, and Beyonce as Candi Staton

Beyonce already played Etta James...

I know

Might create problems down the line if they want to do a crossover with the Cadillac Records universe

Ha ha

Just read a little of the Charles L. Hughes book curmudgeon mentioned. So far, so good. Seems like the guy knows what he is talking about, has carefully read the existing literature and can write and think clearly about the seemingly contradictory complications that have been glossed over in what has become the official narrative up until now without the "the Aha, you are RONG!" moments capsizing his argument.

Okay, just finished. Both of you guys should read.

Okay, just finished. Both of you guys should read.

Still not used to latest zing app sorry for double post

No problem. Looking forward to reading the Charles L. Hughes book. I was impressed with a presentation I saw him do at an EMP Pop Conference in New Orleans.

At the end he mentions the EMP and all the great people he met there including Ned

http://lcoutofdoors.org/events/muscle-shoals-all-star-band

Awww man, this was streamed live last night and I missed it.

The Muscle Shoals All-Stars
with special guests Patterson Hood, Bettye LaVette, Sam Moore, and Dan Penn
Donnie Fritts and John Paul White

Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Damrosch Park

A friend says it might still work:

http://lcoutofdoors.org/events/muscle-shoals-all-star-band http://lcoutofdoors.org/events/muscle-shoals-all-star-band

Sometimes LC streams come and go so it might be worth watching sooner rather than later -- plus you'll need this weekend to watch Porretta soul webcasts!

http://www.porrettasoul.it/pdf/2015/Porretta%20Soul%20programma%20generale.pdf

Soul fest in Italy this weekend

http://www.undeniablydonnie.com/

20 minute movie doc on Donnie Fritts online here

Cool thanks.

Yeah thanks, I really enjoyed that.

Here, NPR's Tom Moon claims that vintage journeyman Charles Bradley's new Changes moves past the Stax/Volt tropes of his first two, Daptones-backed albums, but, although the horns aren't as prominent, the reverb rhythm guitar and/or keys maybe move it from associations with '67 to dawn of the 70s, very cautiously. Which is fine when he occasionally creates an effective contrast with the relatively cool backing, or eases up just a bit himself--on the the final three tracks mainly---but most of the time he's singing too insistently, like "Notice Meeee, my time has finally come!", which is when I tend to notice that he's not a distinctive stylist, so get out of my face with the "drama," esp. when the songs aren't that distinguished either---the other albums aren't at hand, but seems like he did better when candidly or overtly writing from his own experience (getting past this is also supposed to be a refreshing step, claims Moon, lest the "well of experience runs dry" or something like that).
Mostly he wants to stay rough and wired, so maybe just speed it up more next time? Anyway, some of it's pretty okay, and more may grow on me: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/22/471312866/first-listen-charles-bradley-changes

Oh, and speaking of Fritts, here's my Rolling Country 2015 take:

Spent most of my lunch break w Oh My Goodness, by Donnie Fritts, mostly known as a songwriter and Kristofferson's long-time keyboard player (saw him with KK in Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, so yeah goes back pretty far). Not a good place to soak up the good vocal influences, so maybe that's why it took me a few tracks to get into this. Not that he sounds like his boss, but at times just a bit like a sub-Levon, sub-Bobby Charles, even---he knows how to phrase, but thin pipes can make him a little bit too Mr. Pitiful. Still, musical smarts win out, and he gets aboard the studio bus, which never seems crowded, despite having members of the Swampers, Alabama Shakes, St. Paul And The Broken Bones, John Paul White, even John Prine at one point. It's actually an intimate, mostly late night, sometimes slightly surreal setting, with Spooner Oldham's (and maybe Fritts', and even Will Oldham's) elegant keys, especially, suggesting early Randy Newman (or, you know, vice versa; Spooner's been around a long time too). "Lay It Down" is even a Sir Doug-worthy, anguished call (to self and other) for no-bullshit face-to-face. "Choo Choo Train" could even be a Newman---or Loaded-era VU---track. I think. It is a down home geezer album, but rec to those who like any of the musical associations mentioned, without being dependent on them.

Tom Moon can get a bit over-enthusiastic about albums, in my view. I haven't heard the new Bradley yet though



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2017

COUNTRY SOUL PIONEER ARTHUR ALEXANDER’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM
RETURNS IN EXPANDED EDITION FROM OMNIVORE RECORDINGS
In Stores July 28

1972 release is reissued with six bonus tracks, plus liner notes
from Barry Hansen (Dr. Demento and former Warner Bros. staff writer)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — When the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Humble Pie, Dusty Springfield, George Jones & Johnny Paycheck, Bob Dylan, the Bee Gees and countless other artists cover your songs, you must be on to something.

Arthur Alexander was a songwriter and song stylist whose first records in the early 1960s—such as “Anna (Go To Him)” and “You Better Move On”—were some of the earliest hits recorded at Rick Hall’s Fame Studios and to feature the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. After a short break at the end of the decade, Alexander released the second of only three albums that he made in his lifetime—a self-titled “comeback” album in 1972.

On July 28, 2017, Omnivore Recordings will reissue Arthur Alexander, expanded with six bonus tracks—two previously unissued.

With new liner notes by Barry Hansen (better known to most as Dr. Demento), the package also features the piece he wrote for the album’s original issue. Arthur Alexander’s 12 tracks were produced by Muscle Shoals bassist Tommy Gogbill, and include a version of “Burning Love”—covered by Elvis Presley shortly after the album’s release. Alexander’s two Warner Bros. follow-up singles are also here, as well as a pair of tracks from the original sessions, unearthed and unheard until now.

As Hansen wrote in the original notes, “Arthur is especially proud of the variety and versatility of his work on this album. All of it is strong medicine, and should be a fine antidote for a lot of bad scenes.”
He adds in the current notes, “[The Omnivore volume] honors the soulful wonderment that Arthur brought forth from his difficult time on earth. “
Arthur Alexander, inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, is a music legend. Arthur Alexander is a legendary recording.

Track Listing:
1. I’m Comin’ Home
2. It Hurts To Want It So Bad
3. Go On Home Girl
4. In The Middle Of It All
5. Burning Love
6. Rainbow Road
7. Love’s Where Life Begins
8. Down The Back Roads
9. Call Me Honey
10. Come Along With Me
11. Call Me In Tahiti
12. Thank God He Came 


Bonus Tracks:
13. Mr. John
14. You Got Me Knockin’
15. Lover Please
16. They’ll Do It Every Time
17. I Don’t Want Nobody
18. Simple Song Of Love 


Tracks 17 & 18 previously unissued 

# # #

Watch (and feel free to post) the Arthur Alexander trailer:
http://youtu.be/IpyqLmjVZ9w

Nice.

I'm gonna go do a tour of the Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio tours. Hopefully will be entertaining and educational and all that.

Enjoyed the tours. Fame Studio just has tours at 9am and 4 pm in the afternoon, and is a functioning studio in between tours and after. At 9 am we were waiting as the place was locked up. Then 2 interns showed followed a few minutes later by a guy saying how tired and hungover he was from a late-night session. He was an engineer there and the tourguide and the only one with a key.

Thu. Sept 28 - Dan Penn - Vernon City Auditorium, Vernon, Alabama -

https://highway61music.blogspot.com/

Rick Hall, of Muscle Shoals/Fame Studios

https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/rick-hall-father-of-muscle-shoals-music-dead-at-85-w514854

Charles Hughes writing in Country Soul re Rick Hall is a must read

I finally got around to talking to Donnie Fritts late last year: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/20985423/donnie-fritts-the-cream-interview

Cool. Look forward to reading.

Charles Hughes writing in Country Soul re Rick Hall is a must read

Cover Me: The Eddie Hinton Songbook is an ace Ace import, easily findable for a nice price, on at least one ecommerce behemoth: Dusty Springfield, Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin, Box Tops, Candi Staton, Sweet Inspirations, Tony Joe White, Cher, Lulu (both of whom do well (a duet might be even better), and a bunch of people I never heard of: one guy just walked in to sell a song, and the studio cats were like omg you gotta cut something, and he did and it's good but he sailed on somewhere---others are still in the biz, but not as singers,, and then there's an early protege of Bacharach and David (he doesn't sound like Dionne Warwick, maybe a little smooth but r&b for sure, and I want to hear him on some B&D songs.

Hinton's offerings can seem a bit generic at times, but they're usually good vehicles for better singers, and though his own voice (heard here on demo of "It's All Wrong But It's Alright"), is thin and he tends to strain it, otherwise canny phrasing provides a handy template for stronger vox, as compiler Tony Rounce points out in typically astute liner notes. Don't quite hear Left Banke in the one he does, but do hear it (as a joke on sensitive Southern Gothic x LB-type sentiment?) in some of "Poor Mary Has Drowned," as lead sung by The Brick Wall's Eddie Marshall, future daddy of Chan.
(speaking Hinton demos, the well-produced series on UK's Zane label is also worth checking out).
I don't like all of these---Willy Deville has always seemed tiresome, Don Varner's track is a Northern Soul fave, so what---but overall, oh mah soul.
track list:
1. Breakfast in Bed - Dusty Springfield
2. Down in Texas - Oscar Toney JR
3. Cover Me - Jackie Moore
4. A Little Bit Salty - Bobby Womack
5. Sure As Sin - Candi Staton
6. 300 Pounds of Hongry - Tony Joe White
7. Masquerade - Don Varner
8. Always David - the Sweet Inspirations
9. Poor Mary Has Drowned - Brick Wall
10. It's All Wrong But It's Alright - Eddie Hinton
11. Help Me Make It (Power of a Woman's Love) - Mink Deville
12. Save the Children - Cher
13. Every Natural Thing - Aretha Franklin
14. If I Had Let You in - the Box Tops
15. Satisfaction Guaranteed - Judy White
16. Standing on the Mountain - Percy Sledge
17. I Got the Feeling - the Amazing Rhythm Aces
18. Home for the Summer - the Hour Glass Featuring Greg and Duane Allman
19. Lay It on Me - Gwen McCrae
20. People in Love - Lou Johnson
21. Where You Come from - Bonnie Bramlett
22. Seventeen Year Old Girl - Mickey Buckins & the New Breed
23. Love Waits for No Man - Al Johnson
24. Where's Eddie - Lulu

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/donnie-fritts-songwriter-dead-obit-877617/

Aww. I need to check out Fritts most recent effort, a tribute to Arthur Alexander I believe. RIP

hadn't heard of that one, will look it up, thanks. My take on his 2015 album is posted on this thread, along with Edd's link to his interview, and other Fritts links.From April of this year, here's a good two-part Alabama Arts Radio interview I should have already linked. (stream/download):
Pt. 1:
http://www.arts.state.al.us/news_detail.aspx?ID=13261
Pt. 2:
http://www.arts.state.al.us/news_detail.aspx?ID=13260

Spooner Oldham:
http://www.arts.alabama.gov/actc/1/listserverindividual/20151124oldham.aspx

Rick Hall:
http://www.arts.alabama.gov/news_detail.aspx?ID=9717

David Hood:
http://www.arts.alabama.gov/news_detail.aspx?ID=8670

Jimmy Johnson:
http://www.arts.alabama.gov/news_detail.aspx?ID=8565

Thanks for posting those links dow - working my way through them and enjoying them a lot.

Listening to Donnie Fritts album June: A Tribute to Arthur Alexander , from 2018. He's sounding like a more soulful Randy Newman on first couple of cuts

Totally forgot about Arthur Alexander being called “June.” /pvmic

Me too.

Some cuts sound a bit like The Band

@JasonIsbell
Donnie Fritts was a legend back home, and a guide for many of us when we started writing and making music. I met Prine while working on Donnie’s album, and when I met Kristofferson and Willie all I had to say was “I’m a friend of Donnie Fritts.” Very proud to be able to say that.
10:24 AM · Aug 28, 2019

Aww man, now Jimmy Johnson of the Stompers at 66

https://www.al.com/life/2019/09/swampers-guitarist-jimmy-johnson-has-died.html

Johnson recorded w/ Aretha; &
cuts by Etta James (“Tell Mama”), Wilson Pickett (“Mustang Sally,” “Land of a 1000 Dances”), Paul Simon ""Kodachrome," “Loves Me Like a Rock”), Staple Singers (“I’ll Take You There," ”Respect Yourself"), Jimmy Cliff (“The Harder They Come”); Arthur Conley “Sweet Soul Music “

Age 76 not 66

Quite an impressive list of songs he played on.

Incredible list

Patterson Hood pieces on Donnie Fritts and Jimmy Johnson

David Hood on Jimmy Johnson, as told to Matt Wake---looked a lot better in the News, but just keep scrolling past the ads---and at the very bottom, see links to Wake's in-depth overage of Roger Hawkins, also pieces about Fritts, Johnny Sandlin and maybe others:
https://www.al.com/life/2019/09/a-swamper-a-brother-david-hood-talks-jimmy-johnson.html

Bham Newsman Mike Oliver's memory of a late and not so great Hinton gig:
https://www.al.com/alabama/2018/11/this-alabama-man-was-the-best-soul-singer-few-have-heard-mvc-confirms.html

Good interview w Dan Penn:
https://www.al.com/life/2019/07/shoals-songwriting-icon-talks-aretha-royalty-checks.html

Johnson & Hood holding forth just a few months ago:
https://www.al.com/entertainment/2016/12/muscle_shoals_has_got_the_swam.html

First listen to Reggie Young's Guitar Session Man has my headphones spinning: so much to take in, so much goodness coming at me from all directions, and would be so even if there weren't 24 tracks on one CD. Most thread-relevant elements noticed so far:
The only Muscle Shoals-recorded track is Little Milton's '02 version of Vince Gill's '90s country hit "Whenever You Come Around," here with a questing soul orchestra, layered and strong as the ones released like hounds in '60s Memphis, on the Box Tops' cover of Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" and Elvis's run with Percy Mayfield's "Stranger In My Own Hometown."
Most of this is from Memphis, incl. duh Dusty Springfield's performance of Gerry Goffin & Carole King's "Don't Forget About Me," which was on a single w the Fritts-written "Breakfast in Bed."
Fritts' KK bandmate Billy Swan rolls out of Nashville with a fast version of his own "Lover Please," a big late-doo wop hit for Clyde McPhatter :this take is more like what Ringo was doing at his 70s solo peak.
We also get the prime of James Carr, Solomom Burke, Bobby Blue Bland, and many others---my absolute fave rave at the moment is Jackie DeShannon's departure with "I Wanna Roo You," here a fast crashy waltz, mostly (slowing down for the bridge, but it's a set-up, like the mellow verses on "I'm Movin' On), and she's often, though not always, wailing the chorus as "I want to ruin ruin ruin you. Ruin you tonight."

Wow

Yeah! And Ace Records annotator Bob Dunham mentions Young's hot solos on the Swan track as prob not the sort of thing released on Nashville product since Mac Gayden's previous work with Area Code 615, which reminds me that this selection is immediately followed by the Gayden-written "Morning Glory," vigorously presented by James & Bobby Purify---they and the Box Tops also did versions of "I'm Your Puppet," right?

Yes. They had the hit on that one.

thanks discogs:

Tracklist
1 –Eddie Bond & His Stompers* Slip, Slip, Slippin' In
2 –Bill Black's Combo Carol
3 –Bobby Bland A Touch Of The Blues
4 –Jerry & Reggie* Dream Baby
5 –The Box Tops* I'm Movin' On
6 –Willie Mitchell The Champion - Part 1
7 –Solomon Burke Meet Me In Church
8 –Joe Tex Chicken Crazy
9 –King Curtis & The King Pins* In The Pocket
10 –James Carr More Love
11 –Dusty Springfield Don't Forget About Me
12 –Elvis Presley Stranger In My Own Home Town
13 –Jackie DeShannon I Wanna Roo You
14 –Dobie Gray Drift Away
15 –Sonny Curtis Rock'N Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)
16 –Delbert McClinton Victim Of Life's Circumstances
17 –Billy Swan Lover Please
18 –James & Bobby Purify Morning Glory
19 –J.J. Cale Cocaine
20 –Merle Haggard I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink
21 –Waylon Jennings / Willie Nelson / Johnny Cash / Kris Kristofferson Highwayman
22 –Natalie Merchant Griselda
23 –Little Milton Whenever You Come Around
24 –Waylon Jennings Where Do We Go From Here

The Joe Tex track is not up to several of his hits mentioned in the notes, where Dunham says they would have picked "Skinny Legs and All," but it's already on another Young-inclusive Ace comp,Memphis Boys. Damm it, whiiiine

Judy Hood, self-dubbed "Swampette" (she's Mrs. David Hood), is now performing weddings* at Muscle Shoals Sound, still located at 3614 Jackson Highway---in the Before Times, revenue was mostly from studio tours, "merch sessions," fundraisers, and. oh yeah, recording---now not so much; they've had to augment. Base price for wedding experience(studio rental/ceremony): $400. Looks like fun, and something to keep in mind: https://www.al.com/life/2021/01/weddings-rock-at-iconic-muscle-shoals-recording-studio.html
*Judy: "I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a bona fide religious leader." She doesn't have to be! All you need to get married in Alabama now is a notarized contract (so nobody has to perform a gay marriage).

I did the tour there a few years ago. Did Fame studios first and then Muscle Shoals Sound. A fun, interesting day that was part of a great vacation that also included Nashville, Memphis, Clarksdale, and more .

Oh yeah, you saw the permanent Nashville Skyline exhibit, right? Think there's something like that, since installed, related to the Outlaws and Armadillos: Country's Roaring 70s comp.

Um, I don't think so re Nashville Skyline

If I did see a Nashville Skyline exhibit, it would likely have been in Nashville or maybe Memphis . Although once saw a bunch of Jon Langford paintings of J Cash ( and Dylan too I think) at Other Music in NY. But not in Muscle Shoals.

Nashville Skyline exhibit, -- is that the Dylan exhibit at the Country Music HOF?

This is the one I meant, at the Country Music Hall of Fame: "Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats::
https://cmhof.imgix.net/content/uploads/2019/05/11071546/Dylan-Cash-long-exhibit-image.jpg

https://countrymusichalloffame.org/education/school-programs/teacher-resource-portal/dylan-cash-the-nashville-cats/

Much more here, though don't know how it went, with quarantine etc:
https://countrymusichalloffame.org/press-release/country-music-hall-of-fame-and-museum-announces-2020-exhibition-schedule/

Really appealing Memphis Commercial Appeal feature by Bob Mehr, re The Last Soul Company: The Story of Malaco Records, by Rob Bowman, ethnomusicologist and author of Soulsville U.S.A., a study of Stax. He also wrote the notes to a Malaco box in the 90s. That was for the label's 30th Anniversary--for the 50th, a Malaco co-founder pitched him the idea to write "a lavish coffee table book that would tell the company's complete history." (So it's authorized, I take it, but on this piece, Bowman doesn't always agree w co-founder's comments). "It's the longest-running independent record label in American musical history," RB mentions, and and Mehr specifies, "It's existed in various forms: first as a booking agency, then a recording studio, then home to a hot house band, and ultimately a record label that has flirted with and found success across a number of genres from soul-blues to gospel." Mississippi Fred McDowell, King Floyd, Jean Knight, Little Milton, Johnny Taylor, Denise LaSalle, and (I think) ZZ Hill, many more were on there, and the house band also recorded with the Pointer Sisters, Rufus Thomas, and Paul Simon as mentioned here.
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/03/23/malaco-records-the-last-soul-company-rob-bowman-music-books/4735772001/

Oh, speaking of Nashville museums, the one of African-American Music is intriguing:
https://nmaam.org/

And speaking of hit house bands, May will see a legit release of the Alex Chilton x Hi Rhythm live album, from a Memphis benefit show, Fredstock---details in here:
Alex Chilton S&D

Just came scross ilxor Alfred Soto's most enticing review of latest Dusty re-collecion:

The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971 collects most of the magisterial Dusty in Memphis (1969), its lesser follow-up A Brand New Me (1970), and a bevy of tracks orbiting the albums like lonely satellites. Yeah, it's all been scooped up before, but the way he describes so much of it, incl. what's highlit in "sparkling new mix," makes me want to get it: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dusty-springfield-the-complete-atlantic-singles-1968-1971/
Also liked "Old Soul, revisiting the sounds of Dusty Springfield, " in Feb. 8 New Yorker, much more than I usually do the writing of Amanda Pretrusich.

Judging by "Boogie Shoes" on YouTube, most of the appeal of the Alex Chilton/Hi Rhythm live album might be insrumental, which reminds me: here they are with Terry Manning, better known as a producer and engineer at Ardent etc. but his rough-and-ready vocal approach works better with HRS live than Chilton's (comparing just one track to another):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5lyZHzReSk

(Chilton seems a bit cautious by comparison---their set was a one-off, but so was Manning's w HRS---filling in at the last minute for a no-show, and just taking the plunge, what the hell---this is the only live track on his album, and really seemed like the only keeper---according to the press sheet, he did a Box Tops Chilton parody for kicks, and was ordered to create an album around it, which mostly seemed like filler, but I didn't listen much)

David Hood interviewed just after news of Roger Hawkins' death (keep scrolling past the ads, or blanked space for same, heh), says it was time, after long-ass illness:
https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/david-hood-remembers-fellow-muscle-shoals-music-legend-roger-hawkins.html

From January---another inviting presentation: Memphis Commercial *Appeal* indeed:

'From Elvis in Memphis': New book explores hometown sessions of the King at creative peak
Bob Mehr
Memphis Commercial Appeal
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/06/elvis-presley-books-from-elvis-memphis-chips-moman-hometown-sessions/4128498001/

Does sound appealing, but probably would be more so if Bob Mehr had written it.

V.tempted by the Elvis American Sound 1969box Mehr mentions---here's an interview w Roger Hawkins in 2019:
https://www.al.com/life/2019/08/swampers-drum-legends-hot-beats-and-cold-winter.html

(Also see the upthread link to him and Hood talking about then-recently deceased Jimmy Johnson)

This has some links, and an intriguing quote, “I was a better listener than I was a player and I think the other guys were too,” Hawkins said in 2019. “Because they loved music and they had catalogs of music in their brains, just like I had a catalog of stuff where I could pull out certain things and make it work with newer stuff.”
https://www.al.com/news/2021/05/swampers-drummer-muscle-shoals-sound-studio-cofounder-roger-hawkins-has-died.html

Maybe my favorite part of his, which I was miscrediting for years, is “Rock Steady.”

xxxxpst So Chilton does okay after all, though yeah of course Hi Rhythm Gang is the main interest, esp. horns and bass, though everybody steps up--most songs go on a little over four minutes and a half minutes; the studio originals were at least a minute shorter, but but we get more solo turns and full Section flexing, comfortably. Fave is the penultimate performance, "Hello Josephine," where a Hi man starts the vocal, Chilton coming in later: a very robust 7:12 work-out, calm as ever. Also: Motown gets the Memphis treatment on "Where Did Our Love Go," with Chilton as okay stand-in for Diana Ross, though this is one of he shorter ones, as it probably should be).Does not sing as high, loud and fast there as on "Lucille" or "Maybelline." Sounds like Pat Boone looking to go rong on "Kansas City." Any of yall heard this one? xgau sez:
On the Loose [Hi, 1976]
In which Al Green's sidemen, perhaps disgruntled at Al's unwillingness to record their material, get together and cut it. Some stickler for detail is sure to point out that the singing on side two is completely out of tune, but that's OK--so is most of the singing on side one, which I prefer to Full of Fire. One of the more carefully thought out tracks features a mildly malicious lyric about Green himself, but it's the eccentricity of the music, which sounds as if it includes a banjo, that does him in. Loose indeed. A-
Anyway, very good music for a holiday weekend, has me looking to go for b-b-q chicken.

In the wake of Summer of Soul and Respect, Fresh Air is excerpting a lot of archived interviews, starting today w Aretha, bookending Wexler and and Penn; going through Labor Day, we'll also get Gladys Knight, ?uestlove, several others.
Did not know Aretha did an autobiography!

Dan Penn?

Or

Penn Jillette?

Yeah, in the middle, with Aretha interviews as strong start & finish.

That interview series concludes today w Mavis Staples and Gladys Knight.
From a group email discussion, my two cents on Respect:

1. As you've prob read by now, Respect is a helluva biopic, if you have any tolerance for the usual biopic arc---which, as reviewer Justin Chang pointed out is def. the/an arc of some artists' lives . quite plausibly Aretha's. within this '52-'72 segment: her father, as portrayed by Forest Whittaker in all evidence I know of (incl. hos own records, with sermons built around for inst "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," heard on black Sunday radio in early 70s B'ham) could be an overwhelming presence, an inescapable influence, for good and bad (deserving his own biopic and biobook), Also, in his own strenuous way, part of the collaborative experience of her music-making, along w John Hammond Sr (reaching his limit, self-admittedly), Jerry Wexler, the initially fraught Muscle Shoals sessions, and with her sisters, whose fills make the title song even more ir-re-re-re-sistable than Otis's original (otehrwise, his and Aretha's versions might be a draw) Another kind of collaboration comes from unexpectedly table-tossing Dinah Washington (Mary J Blige), deliveringl home truths. I've never seen nor heard Jennifer Hudson before, but her singing and acting are otm, in scenes that take as much time as they need. Would like to see the whole mini-series too.

Two hours of v. enjoyable streams, frequently sporting singles I didn't remember as sounding this good, also several I hadn't heard at all, interspersed with (not too many)good comments, backstories:

SWEET INSPIRATION: DAN PENN & TRUDY LYNN
Singer Songwriter Dan Penn is the master behind so many well loved R&B songs, from James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet” to Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and Alex Chilton and the Box Tops “Cry Like a Baby,” and many more. We’ll talk with him about his prolific catalog of songs, plus stories behind the scenes at Fame Records in Muscle Shoals and American Recordings in Memphis, and scoring his very first with a rockabilly Conway Twitty. Then, from Houston’s Fifth Ward, it’s Blues singer Trudy Lynn, who got her start as a high schooler singing with Albert Collins and Archie Bell and the Drells before going on to her own career in blues and R&B.
Playlists and links:
http://americanroutes.wwno.org/archives

Despite having lived in Muscle Shoals for six years, I'm woefully undereducated on the history outside of the big names that came through.

Used to eat in a diner right next door to FAME all the time, though. It was called Biscuit Village and it was fun to take a n00b there and just order one biscuit.

"Is one biscuit going to be enough?"
"You'll see."

And then they'd bring out a HUGE biscuit that was, no exaggeration, the size of the plate it was sitting on. I don't think I ever finished one.

They tore it down a few years ago and now a CVS is sitting there. A goddamn C V S!!!!

can confirm the CVS is still there. in March 2020 its shelves were, overnight, depleted of their toilet paper, because Covid fears were spreading but nobody really knew what to do.

About a block down from FAME there's a meat-and-three place where you can get a four sides plate that'll make you believe in God, though

Inside Fame Studios 1970 pic.twitter.com/q5AfhhlRRY

— Record Lovers (@recordlovers) March 18, 2022

Inside Fame Studios 1970 pic.twitter.com/OLweU73aql

— Record Lovers (@recordlovers) March 18, 2022

that's what I'm talking about

Living Blues magazine contributor, professor, radio dj, Mississippi resident Scott Barretta recently noted in a public FB post that in late July he saw Dan Penn do a gig

Great show last night with Dan Penn, now 80, at his former high school in Vernon, Alabama. He played two sets on the stage of the auditorium where he used to perform as a teen. His two sets included his first hit, Is a Bluebird Blue, recorded by Conway Twitty when Dan was just 16, the same year he and his wife Linda started dating.

setlist: I met her in church
I’m your puppet
Sweet Inspiration
Cry like a baby
Do right woman
You left the water runnin’
Dark end of the street
Out of left field
Nobody’s Fool
Woman Left Lonely
I’m Living Good
Old Folks
Is a Bluebird Blue?
Nine Pound Steel
Memphis Women and Fried Chicken
I Do
Junkyard Junkie
In the Garden
Old Shep - (used to play on this stage in HS)
I Hate You
Zero Willpower

Dan Penn has upcoming gigs in Columbus, Ga and Memphis, TN

Speaking of gigs---knew Hendrix played with Little Richard, the Isleys, many more, but didn't know about this:

Wilson Pickett, backed by a 23-year-old Jimi Hendrix on guitar, 1966. pic.twitter.com/f6LeGulmfn

— Sheet Music Library (PDF) (@LibrarySheet) September 3, 2022

Nice

Seconded.

Has anyone read that recent WIlson Pickett bio?

Hadn't heard of that, thanks! He and I are from the same town, which now hosts the annual Wilson Pickett Festival, but have heard that his family urged him to migrate back when he was more outspoken than was safe for a young Black man in the Alabama boonies (still not a sure thing, but somewhat better).
Speaking of his work w soon-to-be-famous Rock-identified guitarists, I 'ppreciate the contribution as accompanist that Duane Allman brought to their cover of "Hey Jude," and the fact that he talked Pickett and Wexler into doing it at all, but the solos are a bit predictable, and prefer the crispness of this (the original of which featured more organ than guitar, I think):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbphIqZTMQw

But yeah okay got to give it up, still good on the radio etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbphIqZTMQw

oops, meant to do this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPki6mUDzOw

ANTI- RECORDS TO RELEASE 20th ANNIVERSARY RE-ISSUE OF SOUL LEGEND SOLOMON BURKE’S 2002 ALBUM
‘DON’T GIVE UP ON ME’

OUT NOVEMBER 18

Solomon Burke, the King of Rock & Soul, the Bishop, was a big man with an even bigger talent and a revered vocalist whose mastery is unmatched by any other proponent of the style he largely originated. Burke embodied deep soul with a fifty-plus year career that produced a series of records consistently profound in emotional, artistic and spiritual gravity. Today ANTI- Records is announcing a 20th anniversary re-issue of his 2002 album ’Don’t Give Up On Me’ which features an all-star roster of song contributors including Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Tom Waits and Joe Henry. The re-issued vinyl will be available on November 18 in black and a limited edition opaque red and a clear version in Europe.

Pre-order it here: https://solomonburke.ffm.to/dontgiveuponme

In 2002 music critic Peter Guralnick noted, ”Burke has served far too long as "The King In Exile"; despite a towering reputation among peers and fans alike, and his 2001 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the singer remains somewhat of a mystifyingly under-appreciated figure. With the release of ’Don't Give Up On Me’ the widely acknowledged King of Rock & Soul is liable to ascend to a height equal to his glorious 1960s reign at Atlantic Records.”

In addition to the contributors listed above, legendary veteran writers like Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil all contributed commercially unreleased original compositions, either specifically custom tailored to, or innately suited for the interpretive genius of this unrivaled singer. Never before has such a cross-section of revered pop talent enthusiastically converged on one album, but there are precious few vocalists on the aerie artistic level of Solomon Burke.

‘Don't Give Up On Me’ was recorded live in the studio over a four-day period, with an ensemble anchored by Burke's church organist Brother Rudy Copeland. Produced by Joe Henry, the record also features contributions from Daniel Lanois and revered gospel outfit The Blind Boys of Alabama.

On working with Burke producing this record, Joe Henry wrote: “I was simply a facilitator. And I say this not to diminish my contributions to the man’s story, nor his ultimate appreciation of them; but I can see as well that though many of the songs written for him and offered up to the project ––and by historically significant songwriters–– hung and clung, at first blush, like ill-fitting clothes...he was like Matisse: the subject ––be that a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit; a reclining nude I Need A Holiday –– was of little consequence; for he would use them regardless to speak exactly as he meant to, transfiguring their familiar forms beyond architecture and into something with far more ethereal and spiritual implications.”

Burke's vocals, power undiminished and tempered by decades of performing and recording experience, is nothing less than a force of nature. With a healthy dose of honky-tonk weeper psychology and the clinical reality of his training as a mortician (a business he was still active in at the time), Burke has unique philosophical and physiological insights into the human condition, that infuse the delivery of his songs.

"The entire album was very exciting, and it was heartrending to think all these writers, the Bob Dylans, Elvis Costello's, would even think of me,” Burke said. “I would characterize these as art, pieces of art, songs that were designed in some way with me in mind, in each one of these writers’ minds--all of them are beautiful. I wanted each piece of that art to hang in my own palace. To me, they all belong in a special place. It was remarkable."

1. Don’t Give Up On Me
2. Fast Train
3. Diamond In Your Mind
4. Flesh And Blood
5. Soul Searchin’
6. Only A Dream
7. The Judgement
8. Stepchild
9. The Other Side Of The Coin
10. None Of Us Are Free
11. Sit This One Out

For More Info on Solomon Burke, Contact:
Kelly Kettering | ANTI- Records Publicity |kelly at epitaph dot com

I really wanted to like this album, and I gave it another try after discovering his two Rounder albums from the '80s, Soul Alive! and A Change Is Gonna Come (both recommended), but it hasn't connected. I feel like his singing lost too much command, and unfortunately the record's built around his voice. There are singers like Billie Holiday who made something great from their disintegrating voices, but Burke's phrasing was never that inventive - with him, it was much more about presence, and he sounds too diminished here compared to his earlier recordings.

Too bad because there are some interesting song choices here like Dylan's "Stepchild" (an otherwise unreleased song from his short but bizarre Vegas-style tour) and two underrated Van Morrison gems ("Only a Dream," "Fast Train") from his 2002 album Down the Road.

Is it this one? Good track from a good alb, there's also a suitable live version by JLL somewhere, but not seeing it today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBeqPCPNQfU

I haven't heard the Burke, just passing along the news.

Yes, that's the one! Jerry Lee Lewis and Solomon Burke recorded different versions of that song though, and I'm not sure how much of Burke's may have been rewritten for him or rewritten by himself (IIRC he seems to ad lib on the fly, name-dropping Dylan.)

FWIW, Dylan changed the lyrics a few times on that 1978 tour, which you can see here: https://dylanchords.info/00_misc/am_I_your_stepchild.htm

Anyway, people should still check out the album if they like Burke because quite a few DID like it when it came out. It even placed at #12 on that year's Pazz & Jop poll.

Stax Records Founder Jim Stewart, Who Introduced Soul Legends, Dies at 92

RIP

The social media posts coming from the Stax Museum have been moving, particularly their retelling of his first public appearance there, when he donated his fiddle and surviving members of the Stax label (artists and staff alike) paid tribute. He really was a good guy who got into the business for the right reasons, and it sucks that Atlantic and then CBS screwed him and Stax over.

Bob Mehr's obit is really good:

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/12/06/jim-stewart-obituary-stax-records-rock-n-roll-hall-of-fame-memphis-music-history/69702156007/

(Also speaking of Atlantic, apparently Ahmet Ertegun is being investigated for sexual assault against two different women.

Speaking of Stax, did yall see this? Posted by unperson on Rolling Reissues:

Stax Records and Craft Recordings are proud to announce the release of multiple new titles paying homage to the iconic Wattstax Benefit Concert which took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20th, 1972. Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection, Wattstax: The Complete Concert, and The Best of Wattstax, plus 2-LP reissues of the original soundtrack albums Wattstax: The Living Word and The Living Word: Wattstax 2 will all be released on February 24 and are available for pre-order today.
In celebration of the 1973 Columbia Pictures music documentary, Sony Pictures will re-release Wattstax at participating Alamo Drafthouse locations throughout the U.S. from February 24.

Created in conjunction with the annual Watts Summer Festival to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts uprising in Los Angeles, the Wattstax benefit concert was attended by more than 100,000 people. It featured performances from Stax Records’ most popular artists of the time, including, but not limited to, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas and The Bar-Kays. These releases are the first complete audio collections of what Wattstax creator and then-President of Stax Records, Al Bell calls the “most jubilant celebration of African American music, culture, and values in American history.”

Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection is a 12-CD box set featuring the complete 1972 L.A. Memorial Coliseum concert plus recordings from the Summit Club, including 31 previously unreleased tracks across the collection. These recordings are housed in a folio with a 76-page, full-color book featuring an introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, and new essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway. A previously unreleased version of the iconic soul funk anthem “Theme From Shaft” by the legendary Isaac Hayes from his headline set at Wattstax is available to stream and download here today.

Wattstax: The Complete Concert includes the full L.A. Memorial Coliseum concert and is available on both 6-CD and 10-LP formats. In addition to musical performances, it features all the speeches and other stage banter from the event, including event MC, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s often referenced “I Am Somebody” speech. Both formats of this collection include the full-color book with introduction by Wattstax creator Al Bell, and essays by Rob Bowman and A. Scott Galloway that is also included in Soul’d Out: The Complete Wattstax Collection.

A 1-CD title, The Best of Wattstax, brings together a handpicked selection of twenty of the best musical performances from the Wattstax concert. Including performances by Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, Kim Weston, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Eddie Floyd and more, and serves as a great introduction to the event and the many iconic artists that it featured.

Newly cut from the original analog tapes, reissues of the two original soundtrack albums Wattstax: The Living Wordand The Living Word: Wattstax 2—which feature highlights from the concert and subsequent documentary film—will also each be reissued on 2-LP formats on the same date.

Just now saw this, in xgau's freed-up 2022 reviews, on his site:

Dusty Springfield: Dusty Sings Soul (Ace) Still in her twenties with a vast if less than consistently canonical African-American songbook hers to convey to a wide-open '60s U.K. youth market, she applies her considerable heart, enthusiasm, IQ, and let us not forget voice to its array ("Can I Get a Witness," "Nothing," "Oh No Not My Baby," "All Cried Out") **

more from him:

Ann Peebles: Greatest Hits (Hi '15) Beyond the towering Aretha Franklin--plus Etta James and Mavis Staples and if you insist Diana Ross via their respective side doors--soul music was short on heroines. I mean, the outspoken Millie Jackson and after that who? Sure I could pull a few more out of my memory book, as maybe you could yours. But this lean, clean, tough, sweet, lucid St. Louis woman, married 48 years to Memphis native and Hi Records songwriting stalwart Don Bryant though a stroke ended her performing career in 2012, was and remains more memorable than that. Beyond the towering Al Green, she was the most distinctive singer ever to hook up with Hi Rhythm, regarded by many who should know as the equal of the Stax-Volt and Muscle Shoals bands and by more than one as the class of the field. "Part Time Love" was her 1970 breakout. Her 1972 "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" was covered by guess who on her Divine Miss M follow-up. "I Can't Stand the Rain" was her indelible 1973 classic. Too cool to be forgotten. A MINUS

Ann Peebles & the Hi Rhythm Section: Live in Memphis (Memphis International) It's 1992, she's 45, Howard Grimes lives, and she wants us to know that "Just because I say I feel like breakin' it up don't necessarily mean that I'm gonna go out there and do it" ("I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home," "I Didn't Take Your Man") **

https://www.nodepression.com/album-reviews/album-review-stax-songwriter-demos-showcase-the-stars-behind-the-big-names/?utm_source=No+Depression+Newsletter&utm_campaign=877f72af22-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_24_23_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_659325596f-877f72af22-226384157&mc_cid=877f72af22&mc_eid=b850f832a1 Several videos in there too.

https://www.memphisflyer.com/summit-of-the-scribes-a-gathering-of-stax-legends?fbclid=IwAR3pRLeeSgeJ-jtziema0AC0DHSAZ1W5iqUIvXVwqdIqf4aXfZqan2Ex33w_aem_AQtNmt_rve377MyK9KzJanI-PdRqyP0LLoJxsXWmBuU5Svx3hT9f3xU3Z_NRKUOcOLo&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Learning about Henderson Thigpen who wrote for Stax in late years including Shirley Brown “Woman to Woman”

Maybe should have put that on Memphis music thread that includes Stax

There's a Memphis thread? Memphis posts are pretty standard on here too, it's cool.
that xpost Dusty Sings Soul comp isn't on any streams that I've come across, although Spotify has a playlist from whatever sources, might be okay. Meanwhile I just checked hot excerpts of all 24 tracks via label site: https://acerecords.co.uk/sings-sou

Was thinking of 100 Great Records from Memphis thread

100 great records from Memphis

This is cool: https://www.discogs.com/release/4364232-The-Meadows-The-Meadows

I've been mildly obsessed with Wilson Meadows the past few years for his later southern soul stuff (check out Transformation) and never realized he did an album in muscle shoals back in 1981 with his brothers.

My Love Was Sleeping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP2fBxLCbeg

Nice song there. Not familiar with Meadows brothers. Will have to dig in