Mace2theO Webcast #12 - Mellow
A re-issue now up on mixcloud
Sit back, light a candle and relax
Tracklist
1. Maybe I'm Amazed (live) - Bettye LaVette
Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” is transformed from a majestic pop song into a stark, almost desperate expression of devotion by Bettye Lavette. She recorded her first single at 16 in 1962 and finally achieved fame in 2005 with her album, 'I've Got My Own Hell to Raise.' Her eclectic musical style combines elements of soul, blues, rock and roll, funk, gospel, and country music, which has prevented her from being easily marketed - which makes me like her even more. This live version is from a vid my boy Extplay took when he saw her in concert.
2. Last Train to Clarksville - Cassandra Wilson
A Grammy award winning jazz singer, Cassandra is one of those artist who has been successful at re-inventing herself so that she does not become boxed in. She followed her Grammy award winning jazz album "Blue Light 'Til Dawn" with "New Moon Dawn" which ditched the traditional jazz setting (ie no piano for starters) for a darker tone. that allowed her to turn the Monkees' pop gem "Last Train to Clarksville" into a slow-burning erotic vignette.
3. Thank You - Lizz Wright
Lizz Wright finally started getting the recognition she deserved with her third album 'The Orchard.' She does a wonderful blend of jazz, folk, gospel, and soul - best exemplified on this Led Zep (?!?) cover. Saw her live at outdoor festival and she was mesmerizing.
4. Hopeless - Dionne Farris
Another of my personal favorites, Dionne first came to my attention when she was with Arrested Development and sang the killer vocals at the end of "Tennessee". After her first solo album, she did this song written by Van Hunt for the 'Love Jones' soundtrack.
5. Hidden Charm (original version) - Van Hunt
van Hunt was born in Dayton, Ohio and his father, Van Hunt, Sr., was a factory worker, who was a friend of Ohio Players drummer Jimmy "Diamond" Williams. After college, he moved to Atlanta where he started producing a few hip-hop demos for Atlanta rappers in order to pay bills. Hunt met up-and-coming record producers and artists like Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri and TLC through his work on demos. He wrote songs for artists such as Dionne Ferris before releasing his debut album in 2004. This is his version of one of the other songs he wrote for her.
6. Lookin' for Another Pure Love - Stevie Wonder (with Jeff Beck)
Released after Wonder toured with the Rolling Stones in 1972, 'Talking Book' became an immediate hit. The popular appeal of the recording helped destroy the myth that R&B artists were incapable of creating music that could be appreciated by rock audiences, and marked a unique period for R&B artists. Talking Book saw Wonder enjoying more artistic freedom from Motown. Guest appearances include Jeff Beck, Ray Parker, Jr., David Sanborn, and Buzzy Feton (Howard "Buzz" Feiten). While "Superstition" and "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" were the hits, it was album cuts like this one that made the album special (and one of my all time favorite albums).
7. Keep Your Head to the Sky - Earth Wind & Fire
'Head to the Sky' is the 4th studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1973 and was EWF's first commercially successful album. This classic song - another personal favorite - "will treat your ears to what sounds like angels ascending from heaven as the sitar/fender rhodes intro began with Verdine purculating underneath on bass and Al Mackay and Johnny Graham doing their thing subtlely. Then a 21 yr old Phillip Bailey, one of the greatest falsetto voices ever, at the height of his gifts, began to sing and I was transfixed! When that angelic sounding chorus kicked in, I felt like I had left my body! And just when I thought I couldn't go any higher..Philip and Jessica Cleaves, who would leave the group soon after this album was released (later one of the Brides of Funkenstein), chimed together like songbirds from nirvana! That did it!...I was disciple from then on!" (MUZIK4THAPEOPLE)
8. Love T.K.O - Teddy Pendergrass
Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade. "Love T.K.O." is from his 1980 album 'TP' and reached #2 on the Billboard R&B charts. It has been covered by several artists, including Deborah Harry, Regina Belle, Hall & Oates, Bette Midler, Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald, and is responsbile for many babies born in the 70s.
9. God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday
"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded in 1941. In her autobiography 'Lady Sings the Blues' Holiday indicated an argument with her mother over money led to the song. She indicated that during the argument she said the line "God bless the child that's got his own." The anger over the incident led her to turn that line into a starting point for a song, which she worked out in conjunction with Herzog.
10. At Last - Etta James
"At Last" is a song performed by legendary R&B singer Etta James, ultimately becoming her signature song. Chess Records head producer, Leonard Chess imagined James as a classic ballad stylist who had potential to cross over onto the Pop charts. Chess began backing James up on her recording sessions with violins and other string instruments, which was first heard on this 1961 hit. Rolling Stone ranked Etta number twenty-two on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
11. My One and Only Love - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
Most of you are probably familiar with Coltrane, but less so with Johnny Hartman. Hartman has such a beautiful voice that one of boys decribed it as "making Frank Sinatra sound like he was singing in a garbage can. This is from (yet again) another of my favorite albums - 'John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman' is a 1963 studio album featuring the great saxophonist and vocalist. Hartman is the only vocalist with whom Coltrane would record as a leader. 'Nuff said.
12. Walking A Tightrope - Johnny Adams
Johnny Adams, was a New Orleans born blues and jazz singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto. He could sing a ballad like the cool Jazz cats but also sing a very deep and sad blues. This is the title cut from his tribute to songwriter Percy Mayfield ("Hit the Road Jack").
13. This Masquerade - George Benson
For many 80's folk, it may actually be news that George Benson was a jazz guitarist for 20 years before his pop career with Quincy Jones. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA (my home town!), Benson recorded his first solo album at 21 years old. By the mid to late 1970s, 14 years and 14 albums after his debut, a whole new audience began to discover Benson for the first time. With the 1976 release 'Breezin', Benson began to put his vocal on tracks such as "This Masquerade". He had used his vocals infrequently on songs earlier in his career, notably his rendition of "Here Comes the Sun" on the Other Side of Abbey Road album. Breezin was a significant album in terms of popular music history - the first jazz release to go Platinum and the first indication that something new was about to happen. "This Masquerade" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year
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