OTIS REDDING (ABO #394)

OTIS REDDING
RHYTHM & SOUL

One of the most influential soul singers of the 1960s, Otis Redding exemplified to many listeners the power of Southern "deep soul" -- hoarse, gritty vocals, brassy arrangements, and an emotional way with both party tunes and aching ballads. He was also the most consistent exponent of the Stax sound, cutting his records at the Memphis label/studios that did much to update R&B into modern soul. His death at the age of 26 was tragic not just because he seemed on the verge of breaking through to a wide pop audience (which he would indeed do with his posthumous number one single "[Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay"). It was also unfortunate because, as "Dock of the Bay" demonstrated, he was also at a point of artistic breakthrough in terms of the expression and sophistication of his songwriting and singing.

My OTIS REDDING Top Three
1 - Complete & Unbelievable:
The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (1966)
2 - The Dock of the Bay (1968)
3 - Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (1966)

RIYL:
Rufus Thomas, The Temptations, Don Covay

LIVING COLOUR (ABO #393)

LIVING COLOUR
IGNORANCE IS BLISS

Living Colour is an American funk metal band from New York City, formed in 1983. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, and hard rock. Their lyrics range from the personal to the political, in some of the latter cases attacking Eurocentrism and racism in America. The bands were prominent members of the Black Rock Coalition during the late 1980s and early 1990s (a movement which also featured Fishbone, and 24-7 Spyz).
Living Colour rose to fame with their debut album Vivid in 1988. Although the band scored a number of hits, they are best remembered for their anthemic single "Cult of Personality", which won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1989, and their highest charting single "Type". They were also named Best New Artist at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. After disbanding in 1995, Living Colour reunited in late 2000 and released two albums in 2003 and 2009 failing to recapture their past fame.

My LIVING COLOUR List
1 – Vivid (1988)
2 – Time’s Up (1990)
3 – Collideoscope (2003)
4 – Stain (1993)
5 – The Chair in the Doorway (2009)

RIYL:
Bad Brains, Fishbone, 24-7 Spyz, Urban Dance Squad, Body Count, Mother’s Finest

MARVIN GAYE (ABO #392)

MARVIN GAYE
FEEL THE LOVE

One of the most gifted, visionary, and enduring talents ever launched into orbit by the Motown hit machine, Marvin Gaye blazed the trail for the continued evolution of popular black music. Moving from lean, powerful R&B to stylish, sophisticated soul to finally arrive at an intensely political and personal form of artistic self-expression, his work not only redefined soul music as a creative force but also expanded its impact as an agent for social change.
With Gaye's death came a critical re-evaluation of his work, which deemed What's Going On to be one of the landmark albums in pop history, and his 1987 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame permanently enshrined him among the pantheon of musical greats.
Here’s Baistophe’s humble attempt at summing up such a relevant, rich and fruitful career. A three CDs set has been necessary to do so. We hope you’ll enjoy it.

Baistophe's MARVIN GAYE Top 3
1 - What's Going On (1971)
2 - Let's Get It On (1973)
3 - Here, My Dear (1978)

RIYL:
Isaac Hayes, Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder

FISHBONE (ABO #391)

FISHBONE
GETTIN' NUTTZ

Combining equal parts of deep funk, high-energy punk, and frantic ska, the Los Angeles-based Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s. With their hyperactive, self-conscious diversity, goofy sense of humor, and sharp social commentary, the group gained a sizable cult following during the late '80s, yet they were never able to earn a mainstream audience.
(Thanks to [GEMY] for another tasty compilation.)

Baistophe's FISHBONE Top 3
1 - Truth and Soul (1988)
2 - The Reality of My Surroundings (1991)
3 - The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx (2000)

RIYL:
Infectious Grooves, (early) Red Hot Chili Peppers, Murphy's Law, Urban Dance Squad

DONALD BYRD (ABO #390)

DONALD BYRD
UNFINISHED BIZNESS (1958-1976)

Donald Byrd's story parallels the decline of Jazz in America and the changes that transpired in an attempt to remain relevant.
Trumpeter Donald Byrd was 15 years old when he cut his first record as a sessionman for the Robert Barnes Sextet. He didn't record again until eight years later, when in 1955, he guested on a Kenny Clarke recording. The first album under his own name appeared just two months later on Transition Records. That was followed by several years of journeyman work for future jazz stars such as Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and Horace Silver as well as a stint in the Jazz Messegers.
He debuted on Blue Note Records in 1958, and his recordings range from Bop in 1958 to Post-Bop in 1963, to Fusion in 1970. In Byrd's case, it progressed into a jazz/soul/funk hybrid that helped to form the roots of Acid-Jazz. 1972's 'Black Byrd' was the result; the biggest seller in Blue Note history, reaching number two on the R&B albums chart. He assembled and produced a group called the Blackbyrds in 1974, although he didn't play with them. They had two Top 20 singles and are best known for the song "Walking In Rhythm". He has recorded sporadically since then; AllMusic shows nine albums between 1977 and 2006.
This collection covers the twenty four albums recorded during the Blue Note years from 1958 until 1976. I've also included the album Groovin' For Nat; recorded for Black Saint. I just liked it a lot. (Burns)

RIYL:
Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE (ABO #389)

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
FAMILY AFFAIR
(1967-1983)

Sly & the Family Stone harnessed all of the disparate musical and social trends of the late '60s, creating a wild, brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries down without a second thought. Led by Sly Stone, the Family Stone was comprised of men and women, and blacks and whites, making the band the first fully integrated group in rock's history. That integration shone through the music, as well as the group's message. Before Stone, very few soul and R&B groups delved into political and social commentary; after him, it became a tradition in soul, funk, and hip-hop. And, along with James Brown, Stone brought hard funk into the mainstream. The Family Stone's arrangements were ingenious, filled with unexpected group vocals, syncopated rhythms, punchy horns, and pop melodies. Their music was joyous, but as the '60s ended, so did the good times. Stone became disillusioned with the ideals he had been preaching in his music, becoming addicted to a variety of drugs in the process. His music gradually grew slower and darker, culminating in 1971's There's a Riot Going On, which set the pace for '70s funk with its elastic bass, slurred vocals, and militant Black Power stance. Stone was able to turn out one more modern funk classic, 1973's Fresh, before slowly succumbing to his addictions, which gradually sapped him of his once prodigious talents. Nevertheless, his music continued to provide the basic template for urban soul, funk, and even hip-hop well into the '90s. (allmusic)

My SLY & THE FAMILY STONE Top 3
1 – There’s a Riot Going On (1971)
2 – Stand! (1969)
3 – Life (1973)

My SLY & THE FAMILY STONE Bottom 3
1 – Ain’t But the One Way (1983)
2 – Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back (1976)
3 – Back on the Right Track (1979)

RIYL:
The Average White Band, Parliament, The Undisputed Truth

ERYKAH BADU (ABO #388)

ERYKAH BADU
SOUTHERN GIRL
(1997-2010)

She grew up listening to '70s soul and '80s hip-hop, but Erykah Badu drew more comparisons to Billie Holiday upon her breakout in 1997, after the release of her first album, Baduizm. The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's languorous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. A singer/songwriter responsible for all but one of the songs on Baduizm, she found a number 12 hit with her first single, "On & On," which pushed the album to number two on the charts.
Born Erica Wright in Dallas in 1971, Badu attended a school of the arts and was working as a teacher and part-time singer in her hometown when she opened for D'Angelo at a 1994 show. D'Angelo's manager, Kedar Massenburg, was impressed with the performance and hooked her up with the singer to record a cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet "Precious Love." He also signed Badu to his recently formed Kedar Entertainment label, and served as producer for Baduizm, which also starred bassist Ron Carter and members of hip-hop avatars the Roots on several tracks. The first single, "On & On," became a number one R&B hit in early 1997, and Baduizm followed it to the top of the R&B album charts by March. Opening for R&B acts as well as rap's Wu-Tang Clan, Erykah Badu stopped just short of number one on the pop album charts in April. Her Live album followed later in the year.
In 2000 she returned with her highly anticipated second studio album, Mama's Gun, which was co-produced by Badu, James Poyser, Bilal, and Jay Dee and contained the hit single "Bag Lady." Worldwide Underground, a loose affair billed as an EP despite being longer than many full-lengths, was released in 2003. Her next step, 2008's New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, was a heavy and abstract release featuring collaborations with the members of Sa-Ra and Georgia Anne Muldrow; it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh, looser and more playful than Pt. 1, followed in 2010. (allmusic)
(Thanks to our new collaborator [GEMY] for this one.)

RIYL:
Alicia Keys, Kelis, Me'Shell Ndegéocello

ETTA JAMES (ABO #387)

ETTA JAMES
BURNER'S CHOICE

Few R&B singers have endured tragic travails on the monumental level that Etta James has and remain on earth to talk about it. The lady's no shrinking violet; her autobiography, Rage to Survive, describes her past (including numerous drug addictions) in sordid detail.
But her personal problems have seldom affected her singing. James has hung in there from the age of R&B and doo wop in the mid-'50s through soul's late-'60s heyday and right up into the '90s and 2000s (where her 1994 disc Mystery Lady paid loving jazz-based tribute to one of her idols, Billie Holiday). Etta James' voice has deepened over the years, coarsened more than a little, but still conveys remarkable passion and pain.
In concert, Etta James is a sassy, no-holds-barred performer whose suggestive stage antics sometimes border on the obscene. She's paid her dues many times over as an R&B and soul pioneer; long may she continue to shock the uninitiated.

RIYL:
Mavis Staples, Ernestine Anderson, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington

LONNIE BROOKS (ABO #386)

LONNIE BROOKS
SWAMP CRAWLER

Lonnie Brooks is a minor star in a minor genre, the blues. This is a quick and dirty collection culled from two favorite albums (Hot Shot and Roadhouse Rules), and filled out with four tracks from the Alligator Records compilation called Deluxe Edition. It isn't intended as a complete view of the man's work, but it does give you a good idea of how he sounds.
He was born Lee Baker Jr. in Louisiana and began his career playing zydeco music in Clifton Chenier's band under the name Guitar Junior. After moving to Chicago in 1959, he found that there was already another Guitar Jr. in town and changed his name to Lonnie Brooks. The next decade was a struggle but like many American jazz & blues artists, Lonnie finally found an appreciative audience in Europe. His career began to pick up steam in the mid-Seventies and reached a crescendo in 1979 with the album "Bayou Lightning'. Being a blues star is a hollow victory, you're still only pulling in about 200 people a night in a dive on the dark end of the street.
This collection features songs from 1983 to 1996. It has similarities to the Midwest boogie blues/rock that's been posted here recently, but leans more towards the slow soul grinds of Memphis and the South.

RIYL:
Luther Allison, Son Seals, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown