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Eddie Floyd and Gene Chandler
Soul Dog with Ms. Jody
at The 2013 CBMA Awards
Photos courtesy of FotozbyRickie Photography
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L to R Soul Dog, Sir Jonathan Burton, Larry
Chambers, Andre' Lee
at the 2013 CBMA Awards Show After Party
Photo Courtesy of OD Mafia Photography
Soul music old and new was well represented at this year's 19th Annual Carolina Beach Music Awards held at North Myrtle
Beach November 6th through the 10th, culminating with a spectacular Awards show on Sunday. I shouldn't call them old, the
vintage line of artists that attended, most of which performed, included Gene Chandler, Eddie Floyd, The Joe Pope Tams, as
well as Danny Woods and Ken Knox, who formed two thirds of The Chairmen of the Board for many years. Current Southern Soul
stars on the Awards show and/or performing at the After Party included Ms. Jody, Andre' Lee and Sir Jonathan Burton. On the
show two years ago as well, once again Ms. Jody brought the house down with a medley of The Bop, Still Strokin' and a heavy
dose of twerking! She is so much fun to be around, Jody's upbeat personality alone makes her a star!
I really enjoyed talking with Andre' Lee, who came all the way from his home outside of Jackson, Mississippi to be
with us on this special weekend. He is truly an outstanding talent as well as a humble individual. Andre' may be relatively new to some music fans but he is certainly not new to the music industry. His
first album, So Good, was released in 1997 on the Avanti label. Andre' has since recorded subsequent albums on the Mardi Gras,
Capetown and Coday labels. Two of his hit tunes, One Night Stand and Back In The Day Cafe, have made huge splashes in Beach
music. Look for more good things to come from this exciting performer.
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Corner Talk: Soulful veteran Pat Cooley has had strong success this year with the singles
Dirt Road Double Wide and Bring It Baby
from her Talking To You album. She
has just released a jammin' dance groove entitled Shake
That Belly and expects to have more new music out there in early 2014..........It is not well known that Mel Waiters
was a successful Radio DJ prior to getting into recording. He started as an intern at KEDA in his hometown of San Antonio
before moving on to a Soul/R&B air chair at KAPE for several years..........I was singing the praises of Lacee last month
but I forgot to include mention of her recent duet success with Theodis Ealey on Think It Over. A great version, the song was written by Rodney Maurice Cathey
and originally recorded by Doc Blakey and LaToya Cathey several years back................LJ Echols has had a strong following
since his Well Runs Dry album debut
back in 2007. His sister Krishunda is also now stepping into the limelight with recent singles Mad Dogg 20/20 and Mama Said (You Can't Raise
Him). The careers of both siblings got their start by being part of their parents Gospel group The Echols Family.....
True to form, Vick
Allen's latest album, Soul Music, is
following his pattern in recent years of producing one hit at a time. Such was the case with his 2009 Truth Be Told CD as well, which had a string of charters for well over
two years. The current release has already yielded sequential charting hits on Soul Music, I'm Tired Of Being Grown, My Baby's Phone, Party All Our Blues Away
and Crazy Over You, although, the sequence
depends somewhat on whose charts you are reviewing, LOL, it's all good...........
I jumped the gun
on reviewing the Klass Band Brotherhood's We Call The Shots In Soul album back
in our June column before the CD was actually released. Since then, the hits from that drop have been rolling off the table
like marbles with charting singles on Good Love, Dance Floor, The Blues Is Alright
and Best Day (My Wife).........Last's
month column containing extensive coverage of Johnny Rawls omitted one individual that he has worked with quite a bit over
the last several years, his name is Gerome Durham. Gerome just released his fifth album since 2005 – the latest burn
is titled Old Dog (Just A Hound Dog) with ten cuts.......
Slowly but surely, Malaco Records is easing back into the Southern Soul market with selective releases. The most recent
unleashes a rising star in the business by the name of Queen Emily. Her only previous entry into the genre was a four track
EP in 2011, which was also on Malaco. Those four soaring cuts, Just Got Starting Love You, There's No Easy Way To Say
Goodbye, Use Me and Still Crazy are joined here by eight new tracks.
The Queen's easy rhythmic singing tends to favor a slow to mid-tempo styling,
which is not normally what I gravitate to when picking songs. Her mellow crafting and strong vocal warbling, however, makes
this CD one that I am keeping on the car player right now. I love Emily's funky rendition of the Paul Kelly written Hold
You To Your Promise, the same song that Ricky Godfrey knocked out of the park with the Sugarbees several years back.
An immediate charter for me will be the Queen's covering of Willie Clayton's Going Crazy, which she slowly approaches
until the killer horns pick up the tempo.
The overall song selection is outstanding – the late George Jackson's Throw Away Me, Frederick
Knight's funky horn laden Keep Gettin' Up, log on the fire burner Your Used To Be, straight ahead
groover Don't You Know and the Clayton Ivey / Terry Woodford penned classic Angel In Your Arms.
Queen Emily's searing vocals are complemented by the
entire Malaco staff, production by Frederick Knight, arrangements by Vick Allen, engineering from Wolf Stephenson and the
'who's who' lineup of musicians including Harrison Calloway, David Hood, Clayton Ivey and Jimmy Johnson. Definitely one of
the best drops in 2013 and I am all over it!!
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Relatively new and exciting in the Beach, Boogie, Soul and Blues Internet radio market is the Carolina Breeze Network.
Based in upstate South Carolina, the Internet station is co-owned by Jeff Foster and Buck Crumpton. Program manager duties
are handled by Jeff in addition to his daily morning on air live broadcast. The station employs as many as nine on air jocks
covering either daily or weekly time slots. The daily song rotation includes a strong dose of Southern Soul tunes, both new
and old. Listed below is the station's current Top 10 in the genre.
The Carolina Breeze.Com Top 10 Southern Soul
Hits
1. Run, Run, Run - Chocolate Thunder
2. Still Strokin - Ms. Jody
3. Baby It's Over - Lomax
4. Creepin - Lola
5. Red Shoes - Diedra
6. Think It Over - Theodis Ealey & Lacee
7. Party Time - Jeff Floyd
8. Mr. Right Now - Mr. David
9. Hit The Road Jack - Latimore
10. Best Day - Klass Band Brotherhood
Veteran performer and musician Barbara Lynn has been caught between being
defined as a Soul, R&B or Blues singer for most of her career. She was and still is a fine left handed guitarist as well
as an excellent songwriter, which was very unusual for a female artist coming along in the early '60's. The Beaumont, Texas
native got her professional start in New Orleans, first recording at the now legendary Cosimo Matassa owned J&M Studio
on the Jamie label. In 1962, at the age of 20, she scored a Pop Top Ten and R&B #1 hit with the self composed You'll Lose
A Good Thing. Lynn had ten more charting singles over the next nine years including the dynamite This Is The Thanks I Get,
one of my definite favorites on the jukeboxes of the late '60's and early '70's. Barbara had the earliest charting version
of the great Rick Hall/Dan Penn written You Left The Water Running, also covered by James & Bobby Purify, Otis Redding,
Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett and Maurice & Mac, among others.
Somewhat frustrated with trying to balance her career and raise a growing family to that point, Barbara dropped out
of the music scene for almost twenty years. By the time she returned, her re-entry point was pretty much in the Blues market.
The Bullseye Blues label released Lynn's first full studio album in two decades, So Good, in 1994. Beach music soloist Rhonda
McDaniel recently has revived the single I Love You Babe from that album turning it into a hit in the genre. The song, actually written by Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds, should have done much better in the '90's for Barbara.
The Blues market, however, is very
much regionalized and seldom gains national attention – Blues music and artists often tend to have a bigger following
overseas, where Barbara has performed in the UK and other European locales as well as Japan.
Lynn followed up over the next several years with albums on the ITP, Antone's and Dialtone labels and with occasional
performances at Blues festivals throughout the Southeast. Barbara, who continues to reside in her native Beaumont, Texas,
is another example of an outstanding artist that did not get the recognition in the music business that she certainly deserved.
Soul Dog’s Smokin' Top 45 Southern Soul Hits
November/December 2013
1) Can't Touch This – Sir Jonathan Burton
2) Pouring Salt - Mel Waiters
3) Can You Hang – Wilson Meadows
4) Creepin – Lola
5) Baby It's Over – Lomax
6) Sexy Man – Nellie Travis
7) It's A Groove Party - Donnie Ray
8) Tell Somebody - Gina Brown
9) Goin' Crazy - Queen Emily
@
10) Keep On Dancing
- Theodis Ealey and J Red
11) Looking For A
Good Thing – Jesi Terrell
12) Dance Floor –
Klass Band Brotherhood @
13)Bring It Baby – Pat Cooley
14)Just Go Dancin' – OB Buchana
@
15)Red Shoes – Diedra
16) I Don't Need No Man – Stephanie Pickett
17) Fill
It Up – Bigg Robb
18) Don't Blame The
Man - Walt Luv w/ Roy C @
19)Shuckin' And Jivin' – Jaye Hammer
20) Down To Earth
Woman – Patrick Green @
21) Mr. Right Now
– Mr. David
22) Party Time –
Jeff Floyd
23) I Am Who I Am
(Jody's Baby Girl) – LGB
24) Crazy For You
- Vick Allen
@
25) The Rock - Ms. Jody
@
26) Stepping With
You - Andre Lee
@
27) Good Love –
Klass Band Brotherhood
28) Woman Enough
To Leave - Chuck Roberson
29) It's On Me –
Floyd Taylor & Mel Waiters @
30) I'm Gonna Keep
My Love At Home – Donnie Ray & Ms. Jody @
31) Run Run Run –
Chocolate Thunder
32) Wait For Me - Prince Ronnie Love
33) Juking At The Hole
In The Wall – Sweet Angel @
34) Good Love - Maurice Davis
35) Cheat Up –
Simeo
@
36) Bring It Back
- Mr Sam @
37) Good Woman -
Bill Avery
38) Creole Shuffle
– Avail Hollywood
39) Get It Get It
Man - Chandra Calloway
40) Hit The Road
Jack – Latimore
41) I Need It – Gerod Rayborn
42) Put Your Cookie In My Milk – Jureesa McBride
43) Bad
Boy - Simone De @
44) Your Lovin' Is So Good – Alonzo Reid
45) Carolina Shuffle – KCO @
@ - first time entry
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