Tag Archives: Soul

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan recording sessions, Music Calendar

April 27: Bob Dylan – The 15th Infidels recording session in 1983


infidels

April 27: Bob Dylan – The 15th Infidels recording session in 1983

…..I did the album, and I call it that, but what it means is for other people to interpret, you know, if it means something to them. Infidels is a word that’s in the dictionary and whoever it applies to… to everybody on the album, every character. Maybe it’s all about infidels.
~Bob Dylan (to Kurt Loder in March 1984)

Foot of Pride:

 “Bob’s musical ability is limited, in terms of being able to play a guitar or a piano,….. It’s rudimentary, but it doesn’t affect his variety, his sense of melody, his singing. It’s all there. In fact, some of the things he plays on piano while he’s singing are lovely, even though they’re rudimentary. That all demonstrates the fact that you don’t have to be a great technician. It’s the same old story: If something is played with soul, that’s what’s important.”
~Mark Knopfler

“I’ve made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot”
~Bob Dylan (from “I and I”)

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Blues, Bob Dylan, Cover versions, Gospel, Jazz, Soul

Etta James sings Bob Dylan

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etta james_yellow

Etta James sings Bob Dylan

The great late Etta James would have been 77 years old today we celebrate her here at Alldylan by presenting her Bob Dylan interpretations. As far as I know there are only two. Gotta serve somebody is good but Blowing in the wind has a strangely artificial drum sound. Listen to it and make up your own minds.

Etta James – Gotta serve somebody:

Etta James – Blowing in the wind:

– Hallgeir

Blues, Jazz, Music Calendar, Soul

October 1: The late Donny Hathaway was born in 1945

donny hathaway

Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American jazz, blues, soul, and gospel vocalist and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, “The Ghetto, Part I” in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine “marked him as a major new force in soul music.” His collaborations with Roberta Flack scored high on the charts and won him the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the duet, “Where Is the Love” in 1973. At the height of his career Hathaway was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. On January 13, 1979, Hathaway’s body was found outside the luxury hotel Essex House in New York City; his death was ruled a suicide.

He was a tremendous singer.

These are my 5 favorite Donny Hathaway songs:

The Ghetto
Flying Easy
Someday we’ll all be free
A Song for you (Leon Russel)
“I (Who Have Nothing)” (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Carlo Donida) with Roberta Flack

All his studio albums are good, but his live album, Live is fantastic!

Spotify Don Hathaway – Live:

Hallgeir

Funk, Great albums, Music Calendar, Soul

September 23: Isaac Hayes released Hot Buttered Soul in 1969

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Isaac Hayes - Front

September 23:  Isaac Hayes released Hot Buttered Soul in 1969

This is one of my favorite soul albums ( I should do a post with a top 20 list…). It defines a new kind of soul at the end of the 60s into the 70s. It showed the way soul music would be heading in the next decade.  This is intense soul, very skilled both vocally and musically.

Hot Buttered Soul is Isaac Hayes’ second studio album. Released September 23, 1969, it is a landmark in soul music.

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Blues, Music Calendar, Soul

August 21: Etta James released Tell Mama in 1968

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etta-front

August 21: Etta James released Tell Mama in 1968

Something told me it was over
When I saw you and her talking.
Something deep down in my soul said cry girl,
When I saw you and that girl walking.

I would rather,
I would rather go blind, boy,
Than to see you walk away from me, child.

Tell Mama is the eighth studio album by Etta James. The album was released August 21, 1968 on Cadet Records and was produced by Rick Hall. Tell Mama was James’ first album since 1963 to enter the Billboard 200 albums chart and contained her first Top 10 and 20 hits since 1964. It was her second release for the Cadet record label.

Tell Mama (on US TV, Happening ’68, 1968):

Leonard Chess sent Etta James to Muscle Shoals in 1967 (2 August – 6 December), and it really paid off with what might be her best  Cadet album. The record has a fantastic title cut, it has the moving soul ballad I’d Rather Go Blind, it has the incredible The Love of My Man and a many more very fine soul numbers. The tight studio band at Fame Studios really shone next to Etta James. The music they made is timeless soul/blues, it’s a masterclass in record making.

An incredibly good version of I’d Rather Be Blind (Live at Montreux 1975):

“The question of why a rural Alabama town became a conduit for some of the most memorable and instantly identifiable grooves may still be up for debate. The evidence exists in droves and Tell Mama could certainly be considered exhibit A. “
– Lindsay Planer (Allmusic)

One of the best soul albums ever made, and certainly among Etta James’ best records!

Listen to Miss James testify in a  country church style  on It Hurts Me So Much, oh my God how good it is!

Etta James – Tell Mama (Album, The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions, Spotify):

– Hallgeir

Sources: Liner notes Tell Mama, Wikipedia, Allmusic