True Soul
I have to make a confession to you guys. Ever since I saw that Whole Foods commercial with this song in it, I’ve gone crazy I think.. I absolutely love this song. This 1963 song was a huge hit 4 years before I was born. I’ve listened to such a variety of music growing up, I can’t say for sure I’ve heard it before. But man…. If this was out on a 45rpm record to day, I would have certainly played this to the ground. LOLOL It has a catchy tune. This girl group is loud, yet talented. Their harmonization on this record reminds me a lot of groups like The Bluebells. I highly recommend my followers check the song “Every Beat Of My heart.” In fact, I’ve heard quite a few of their music since then. Look for them on your favorite streaming service.
Now, first off, I never heard of Lee Fields and The Impressions. Surprisingly, they’ve been around since the late 60’s, and I’m kind of a shamed that I never heard of them, ’cause their music is darn good. I guess this only proves just how vast our music culture actually is. You know, his music and sound reminds me a lot of Charles Bradley (in fact, he kind of looks like him too). I’ve searched hard on the net, and I can’t seem to find any of his songs on the billboard charts. However, I did see an article written about him on the Billboard website. That is such a beautiful thing, this can only mean that he has worked with a lot of big names in the business, and the fact that Billboard recognizes his contribution (a long with his band) to music is huge (despite not landing anywhere on the charts)!
I 🖤 the fact that he kept practically all his albums’ vibe Black old school!
I love the fact that he kept his vibe old school. In fact, I had no idea that most of his albums in the last 10-15 years where not 70s music. The classic authentic(ness) was unreal! The soul in his voice was so present… It was phenomenal guys. I’m not sure if my young followers could understand. But, this was what people of my age group considering real talent, real soul, and real voices. I don’t even have a song to recommend, because I’ve liked so many. If you love jazz and soul music, definitely listen to these guys album, “Big Crown Vaults (2020)” The first song, “Two Timer,” I really loved. But, I think I’ve enjoyed the entire Album. Check it out!
Oh man, I found a beauty of a gem here! This is a relatively young band called “The Fightnrs.” I never heard of them before to be honest. However, I stumbled upon a cover they did called “I’d rather Go Blind. I’m not sure who originally sang this, but I first heard this song, it was song by the late, legendary Etta James. I loved the way she sung this song! This reggae cover is smooth, and I really appreciate the fact that they kept the old ska feel to the music. This song sounded so authentically classic, I was in disbelief that these young dudes came up with a musical interpretation I could jive to.
These talented young men are from Queens, New York. But their music travels in time to Jamaica, in the Rock Steady, 60s era. I enjoyed their cover so much! I don’t mean to sound like I’m putting down other artist that do old covers; but at the same time, it’s incredibly rare that young artists/bands keep the spirit of the original songs they’re doing. Everyone wants to do something “different for a change.” Whatever the hell that means. Look them up, I think you’ll enjoy their music too (that is if you love reggae).
Well, I don’t know if this was Teddy’s greatest album, but certainly no doubt it was one of his popular ones. One of the biggest songs I remember from this album is “Love T.K.O.,” this song was almost anthem like in the Black Community. This was a song that almost everyone enjoyed listening to when I was growing up. It’s a shame, we lost an incredibly talented voice at a young age. This is why it’s important to keep our Black music history alive. Oh, yeah, check out “Feel The Fire,” another huge hit for Teddy.
Song: Fallin’
Artist: Alicia Keys
Album: Songs In A Minor (2001)
Genre: R&B
You know I’m old, when I struggle accepting the fact that I now have to label an artist such as Alicia Keys as “old school” now. Darn it! I just can’t believe it is now 20 years since this album came out? Twenty years! Time really moves fast, which is one of the many factors as to why we’re losing our music history. I really love Alicia Keys music because; she was one of the few (then) young female artist that performed hip hop/R&B blends that I felt truly had talent. I really love the fact that although she sang a lot of love songs, she didn’t do a lot of that moaning and begging “come back to me baby” kind of music.
Her First Album Hit Big! And Was A Force To Be Reckoned With!
Keys’ song called “Fallin’,” from her album “Song In A Minor,” was her money maker. On Spotify alone, the song reached almost 275M plays. This was significant, as music streaming just started to become popular. The song hit number one in many places around the world, including the UK and Netherlands. Because of the fast pace of music streaming, I really think a lot of people forgot about this gem. But, forgot about it not in a sense that we wouldn’t remember it if we heard it, but in a sense if we were looking for her music, I’m sure most likely people would be looking for her newer music. It’s a shame that a song that literally became not only her signature song, but an anthem in many of our Black communities has been forgotten. ?
Keys Is Very Musically Diverse, I Like That!
Alicia is very diverse with her music. I don’t think any of her music sounds the same. That’s a true artist! She really wasn’t trying to be like anybody else but her! Not that many artist has the balls to do that! Kudos girl! ? I also love the fact that she’s one of the few artist that has an old school sound to many of her music. And I think that her songs “A Woman’s Worth,” “If I Ain’t Got You,” and “You Don’t Know My Name,” really showcased this. Not only did she bring back the art of old school song writing, she showed us her power to command an audience. There are many new artist who perform new classic sounds, but very few have become international in the way Alicia Keys did. By the way, check out her cover “Every Little Bit Hurts,” from her “Unplugged” 2005 album. Unfortunately, I could only find the live performance on Spotify. I could have sworn she had a studio version. Anyway, she did this one really nice too. I love Alicia, her music is one of the very few new ones that I consider timeless.
Song: End Of The Road
Group: Boyz II Men
Album: Cooley High Harmony (1991)
Genre: Slow Jams
Wow.. Talk about forgotten talent. In my opinion, arguably Boyz II Men were one of the biggest and most talented male groups of the nineties! I mean, in terms of male groups of color, the only other group I loved equally as much was Dru-Hill (who also fell off the face of the earth). Now again….. I know I’ve said the same thing multiple times about quite a few artist I write about, but it’s true…. Back in the day, you could not turn on the radio without first hearing at least one of Boyz II Men’s music first! And if you didn’t hear their music first, guaranteed it will be heard no more than three songs later ?. That was how popular Boyz II Men were.
To Date: 173.5M Plays, Yet The Song Was Released Before The Popularity Of Streaming!
Now, today, I would imagine it would be a little difficult to understand the magnitude of a classic group’s popularity if we look at streaming numbers. Why? Because when it comes to streaming, we have more than quadrupled our music consumption. So, relatively speaking, Boyz II Men’s biggest hit was “End Of The Road (1991)” received well over 173M plays on Spotify alone. If we take in to account when the song was released, and the fact that streaming wasn’t even a thing yet back then, those numbers are a huge accomplishment. However, by today’s standards, you don’t have a hit song unless your song is streaming by the billions of plays.
Michael McCary, Single Handedly Brought Young Romance To The Group’s Music
Michael McCary was like the equivalent of a young 20’s version of an older Barry White. I mean, he had such a strong bass in his voice, that when we heard it on radio, or on a record, the speakers just vibrated. Just made you feel like OMG! Take me! Just take me now! ? Unfortunately, McCary had to eventually leave his very famous group due to early stages of MS. Check out some of my other favorite hits by them, such as “One Sweet Day,” “I’ll Make Love To You,” “Motownphilly,” and “Water Runs Dry.”