|
Corner Talk:
There were eleven editions of this column published in 2014 - we did take December off and focused our radio show as
well as promotional efforts on the holidays. We will continue to strive to bring our readers the most up to date information
on the Southern Soul genre that we can possibly gather with each passing month. We here at Southern Soul Corner wish all the
artists, promoters, fans and readers a very safe and happy 2015!
2014 In Review: Established artists in Southern Soul kept on keeping on in 2014, while some new faces also emerged. A
ton of albums were released in the genre during the year and we did reviews on as many as we could here at SSC. Veteran male
artists that dropped albums included TK Soul, Willie Clayton, Big G, Sir Jonathan Burton, Sir Charles Jones, OB Buchana, Carl
Sims, Vel Omarr, Roy C, Tucka, Grady Champion, Jaye Hammer, David Brinston, Bobby
Rush, Rue Davis, Larome Powers, Avail Hollywood, Nathaniel Kimble, Wilson Meadows, John Cummings, Calvin Richardson, Chuck
Roberson and Patrick Henry. The ladies in Southern Soul were somewhat under represented in album releases this past year with
drops from Nellie 'Tiger' Travis, Sheba Potts-Wright, Candi Staton, Lacee and Uvee Hayes. The deluxe edition with four additional
tracks of Ms. Jody's November 2013 It's All
About Me album came out in January of 2014.
|
Emerging artists releasing full albums included J Wonn, Theo Huff, Louisiana
Blues Brothas, Solomon Thompson, JJ Thames , Lewis (Raw) Shaw, Donnell Sullivan, Big Ro Williams, Jr. Blu and Xavie Shorts. J Wonn and his producer Big Yayo, both in Jackson, Mississippi, the heart of Southern
Soul, are certainly making a strong indentation in the market. Their I Got This Record single was one of the biggest songs of late 2013 and well into this past year. I would have
to say from this column's standpoint, the tune that had the most impact on me in 2014 was the Floyd Taylor/Mel Waiters duet
of It's On Me. Not only was it a simply
awesome groove, it had a special significance as unfortunately we lost Floyd during the year.
Other artists having big years: Nelson Curry, with Klass Band Brotherhood,
had a solo hit tune as well as recording duets with Karen Wolfe, Joe Nice and Peaches Jones. Several tracks from Sir Charles
Jones' Portrait Of A Balladeer album
got major burn. Ditto for TK Soul's Life After
Love release. The diminutive Lil' Jimmie blew up with smokers on on She Was Twerkin' and Next Time. Grady Champion's South Side was just a huge hit.The song that was highly anticipated and finally
came ended the year at #1 here on our final Smokin' Top 45 chart - I Lost My Baby On Facebook by veteran Jesse James. The young guns are also definitely holding their own -
Tucka, Avail Hollywood and Simeo as well as the old dogs - Bigg Robb, Sir Jonathan, Theodis, Wilson and Willie C, along with
many others. Although I know it sounds like a broken record but the reigning queen on the Southern Soul side continues to
be Ms. Jody. Much brilliance, however, was displayed in 2014 by ladies such as Stephanie McDee, LGB, Anita Love, Jureesa McBride,
Lacee, Nellie 'Tiger' Travis and Uvee Hayes, among several others. Forty-five plus year performing veteran Candi Staton released
a strong album, her first in Soul music in many years. The late 2014 drop of
Sheba Potts-Wright's I Came To Get Down! album
should prove to be blockbuster in 2015.
We can count on Ecko Records to give us compilations every year and 2014
was no exception. Blues Mix numbers
13, 14 and 15 (the latter just out, fully reviewed below) came out of the Memphis based studio with a multitude of solid tracks.
Artists past and present are showcased - OB Buchana, Ms. Jody, Carl Sims, Donnie Ray, Sheba Potts-Wright, Sonny Mack, John
Cummings, Jaye Hammer, Barbara Carr and Rick Lawson. CDS Records also did a fine job on compilations - Ricky White Presents: Combination
2 gave us songs from TK Soul, Jerry L, Stephanie Pickett, Betty Padgett, Nathaniel Kimble and Gwen White, among others.
The label's Southern Soul Smashes 4 featured
Blind Ricky McCants, Floyd Taylor, Uvee Hayes, Patrick Henry, Ricky White, Luther Lackey, Charles Wilson, Stan Mosley and
Jim Bennett. Independent Hot Spot Records Volume
3 of their compilation series dropped in late 2013. Some charting tracks that emerged from it came from Pat Brown,
RB & Company, Angel Faye Russell and Willie B.
From the viewpoint here in the Carolinas, we are always looking for songs
originating in Southern Soul music that fill the floor up in the Beach clubs. The big winners out of the genre from 2014 have to be Swing It from Lomax, The Rock
and Still Strokin' by Ms. Jody, Let's
Go Dancin' from OB Buchana, Back In
The Day Cafe from Andre Lee, Shuckin'
And Jivin' by Jaye Hammer and Dancing
With My Baby by Miss Rebekah.
|
|
|
Jimmy Ruffin 1936 - 2014
During the year, we lost some outstanding Soul music veterans in Floyd Taylor,
Eddie Holloway, Bobby Womack, Joe 'Poonanny' Burns, Don Davis, Jo Jo Benson, Blue Lovett, Teenie Hodges and the guy that kept
us all informed in Southern Soul, Funky Larry Jones. Motown legend as well as the older brother of former Temptation David
Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin passed in November. Another significant loss was New Orleans native record producer Cosimo Matassa at
the age of 88 - this music pioneer opened his recording studio way back in 1945,
producing some of the earliest works of such greats as Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, Lee Dorsey, Professor Longhair and Little
Richard.
Where are we heading in 2015: Album drops will be tradionally slow the first couple of months as the year kicks off
in Southern Soul. We continually see new artists dropping singles into the market in hopes of generating a big hit. That is
certainly not a bad thing, it should help to keep the competition level at a higher standard and the industry growing. I heard
a term just the other day that perhaps Southern Soul is evolving to, 'New Swing Soul'. As the younger artists (and those that
aspire to be young!) add a more contemporary sound with each passing year, a little hip-hop/rap in a Southern Soul jam has
also become a more common practice as well.
The flow of new singles has certainly cranked up in recent weeks with the
major emphasis on dance grooves. Alright by me, most folks know that I tend to favor upbeat tunes. Cowgirl is an electrifying jam from Big Yayo that features J Wonn and
T-Baby as the Mississippi connection continues to roll out potential hits. TK Soul introduces a new dance track as well as
the artist, Lady Soul with the Lady Soul Slide.
An artist going by Big Al down San Antonio way has a dance sensation with his version of the Southern Soul Slide. Relative newcomer Solomon Thompson is on the scene
with Time 2 Party. The song was actually
on his 2014 debut album History. Cool
Ricky Blues has a boogie down track with Roll
It. I'm really liking Mobile, Alabama native Geno Wesley's hot biscuit called Roll With It, Baby. How about Urban Mystic? Who? Out of Florida, check out this
new one, Feel Good. The swangin' I'm On Fire by JB Hendricks has been out
awhile and hot in the Louisiana area. Newcomer Catrese West aka Miss Mini says You Can't Stop Me from dancing! Lots of new house party music out there for sure!
More recent stand up grooves include Mad Love and I Wanna Kiss You from Brenda Williams. Remember Gina Brown's 2010 dancer
entitled G-Slide? She is back with a rapping overdub on the mid-tempo Can't Stop. Veteran diva Mz. Pat Cooley gives up the mellow sounds of Hold Still, which is the advance tune to her new album coming shortly. Bigg Robb
hits the streets with a cool joint called Good
Good. Karen Wolfe drops a new one, talking about her B.O.B (Battery Operated Boyfriend, LHM!). Who did the original Mississippi
Boy several years back? Written by Floyd Hamberlin, it was on a
Charles Wilson album but wasn't the artist named Will T? Wilson returns with Mississippi Boy Part 2, featuring J Wonn and produced by Big Yayo. Larome Powers, fresh off his successful
2014 Stepping Out album, lights us
up with Casino Blues. Lomax follows
up the success of his Life's Lessons album
with a new single entitled Please Let Me Hold
You. Andre Lee just released a slow groove entitled Tell Me What You Need and Mr. David is back with Put It On Ya. Big Cynthia has been cranking it up in Southern Soul for going on eighteen years. Lovin' her
new baby mama drama single, I'm Here For You.
He is without a doubt a SSC fave, but we finally have to let go (LOL) of Vick Allen's 2012 Soul Music album after charting and/or playing regularly since it's release Party All Our Blues Away, Crazy For You,
True To Me, Have A Good Time and the title track. Same thing happened
in the industry on Vick's 2009 Truth Be Told
album, where no less than six cuts got widespread airplay. But wait, late breaking news, just a got a new single distribution
on Vick - My Baby's Phone, but wasn't
that also included on Soul Music?
Several new grooves are appearing on our bi-monthly Smokin' Top 45 as we
kick off 2015. All the songs dropped from the previous chart have ridden the wave at least four months, some as many as six
and beyond. We do get a little ahead of the curve at times on charting tunes, so there may be a tendency to drop a song before
it has completed it's cycle in the genre. That does not necessarily mean the song has been completely dropped from our radio
rotation. We do strive to review every new song in the genre that is available at chart time before making placement decisions.
The new Blues Mix 15 CD
was in my mailbox just last week, courtesy of Memphis mainstay Ecko Records. It is the latest in a long line of the Soul and
Blues compilation series from the label that began with Volume 1 in late 2010. The fifteen volumes have covered quite a bit
of ground. In addition to current label frontrunners Donnie Ray, Ms. Jody, Jaye Hammer, OB Buchana, Sheba Potts-Wright and
John Cummings, there have been songs from previous label stalwarts such as Barbara Carr, Charles Wilson, Rick Lawson, Denise
LaSalle, Bill Coday, Carl Sims, Quinn Golden, Lee Shot Williams, David Brinston and Chuck Roberson. Also, songs have been
included by artists who, over the labels' twenty year history, have come in the studio to record a few tunes or maybe an album
or two. That list includes Earl Gaines, Sweet Angel, Luther Lackey, Jewel J, Gerod
Rayborn, Ms. Genii, Sonny Mack, Mr. Sam, Mystery Man, Sir Ced and Lorraine Turner.
Blues
Mix 15 is no exception to the above stated direction. There is a track here from the first artist to be recorded on Ecko
back in early 1995, the late great Ollie Nightengale. Another great one that has since passed, Lee Shot Williams Juke Joint Slide (Club Remix) is included. Songs from current label
favorites: Ms. Jody (My Cat Smells A Rat), OB Buchana (Take My Wife Back), Donnie Ray with the answer song to OB (I Can't Take Your Wife Back) and Sheba-Potts Wright (The Right Stuff).
Artists/songs here not known as regulars on Ecko include Be There, a duet from the late Floyd Taylor and Big Poppa G, was on
the latter's 2014 I Believe album.
Memphis based newcomer Mz. B lets loose with two ribald jams, You Got To Be A Freaker and I'd Rather Wait Until He's Hittin' It. Club joint Who Doo Woman comes from Val McKnight's 2011 Red Hot Lover album. Down
home Blues is the signature sound on Art Benton's You
Doin' The Same Thing. Lakeland, Tennessee native Bertha Payne is a veteran recording artist and performer that has
had several albums over the last ten years. Southern
Soul Party is her rousing track contribution here. Twelve tracks, with eight being previously unreleased on Ecko,
make up this consistently fine mix from what has become the cornerstone label in Southern Soul.
Soul Dog’s Smokin' Top 45 Southern Soul Hits
January/February 2015
$ - new entry
1. I'm Gonna Tighten Up - Wilson Meadows
2. Cold Feet - Nellie 'Tiger' Travis
3. Loveline - Alex
4. I Didn't Come To Sit Down - Sheba Potts-Wright
5. Hammer's Juke Joint Shack - Jaye Hammer
6. I Lost My Baby On Facebook - Jesse James
7. In This Club Tonight - Adrena
8. You're Welcome To The Party - OB Buchana
9. Love On Me - Nelson Curry
10. Roll
With It Baby - Geno Wesley
$
11. Annie
Mae's Cafe Swing Out Song - Stephanie McDee
12. We Do
We - Ves featuring Kenne' Wayne
13. U Got
Me Walking - Nathaniel Kimble
14. She
Was Twerkin' - Lil' Jimmie
15. I Wanna
Kiss You - Brenda Williams
$
16. South
Side - Grady Champion
17. Ms.
Jody's Boogie Slide - Ms. Jody
18. It's
A Good Thing I Met You - Theo Huff $
19. Next
Time - Lil' Jimmie
20. Swing
Out - Donnell & RJ
21. You
Make Me Happy - Uvee Hayes
22. Sugah
Sugah - Leon McMullen
23. Good
Good - Bigg Robb
$
24. I'm
Looking For The Real Thang - Rue Davis
25. I Need
Your Sugar - Larome Powers
26. Lady
Soul Slide - Lady Soul w/ TK Soul
$
27. Gotta
Get My Groove On - Willie Hill
28. Jus
Fell In Love - Ms. Charli'
29. Doing
The Watusi - Mr. X
30. Can't
Stop Me - Miss Mini
$
31. NightTime
Lover - J-Wonn
32. Keep
Knockin' - Anita Love
33. Something's
Telling Me - Big G
34. I'm
Here For You - Big Cynthia
$
35. How
Come The Dog Ain't Barking - Simeo
36. Put
It On Ya - Mr. David
$
37. Hold
Still - Pat Cooley
$
38. Big
Boy Stuff - Sheba Potts-Wright
$
39. Blues
Is Here To Stay - Willie Clayton/Bobby Warren
40. Come
Get It - Rita Monroe aka Lady E
41. She's
Been Good - Jr. Blu
$
42. Roll
It - Cool Ricky Blues
$
43. I'll
Play The Blues For You - Raine $
44. Time
2 Party - Solomon Thompson $
45. I Feel Good - Urban Mystic $
|
