Popular Music

Hermes Handbags Louis vuitton Replica Handbags Christian Louboutin handbags

Legends of Soul - Aretha Franklin

I have a confession to make. For a good part of the Sixties, I was in love with Aretha Franklin. Now, I knew it was not to be. After all, I was this pasty white boy who had problems even getting a date, let alone a steady girl. And Aretha was this fantastic singer who sounded to me like the angels of heaven were singing every time I heard her. She lived in Michigan and I lived in Michigan, so I thought there just might be a chance.

Alas, it never happened. Actually, I’ve never even met Aretha Franklin, let alone dated her, but I have listened to her sing and have dreamed about what might have been if she had known I was even alive.

This is the first of a new series of tributes to the world of Soul Music. You might have come across my books called “Legends of Rock & Roll”. There are several about the greats of rock and roll. And there will be more. As long as Amazon lets me publish these little books, I will continue to do so.

Aretha could easily be put into the category of rock and roll. In fact, she has done it all. She sings rock, soul, R&B, gospel, jazz and blues and we’ll talk a little about these as we review her life. But, I really wanted to put her in a special category. I know there are others who sang soul music, and hopefully we will get to them but Aretha is truly “The Queen of Soul”.

Here’s a link to my latest Kindle book which outlines the life and music of Aretha Franklin.

Here is a video of Aretha singing her most famous song:

Filed Under Sixties | Leave a Comment

Archie Bell & The Drells - Tighten Up

In 1968, I was living in New Orleans with a new wife and a new son. Archie Bell hit the number one spot in April of 1968 with his funky toe-tapping “Tighten-Up” “He says My name is Archie Bell and I’m from Houston and I can dance just as good as I walk”. A great dance song for the time. Today, Sept 1 is Archie’s birthday, so I want to extend a Happy Birthday to Archie. The ironic thing about Bell and one of the best dance songs of the 60’s, is that at the time Bell had just returned from Vietnam with a leg injury and he couldn’t dance. Others had to fill in for him when they went on tour.

“Tighten Up was written by Archie and Billy Buttier. It was originally meant to be the B-side of the record, but when Bell’s promoter pushed the A-side and nothing happened, they decided to turn it over and “Tighten-Up” went to number one on both the Hot 100 on Billboard and the R&B charts. Bell could not repeat the feat, however. His second hit was “I Can’t Stop Dancing” which did a respectable number 9 on the Hot 100, but their third effort “There’s Gonna Be a Showdown” peaked at number 21 and that was the end of Archie Bell & The Drells. The group had splt up by the 80’s.

If you don’t remember this one, here’s a link to YouTube where you can listen to it again: Archie Bell & The Drells

Filed Under Sixties | Leave a Comment

Nick Ashford and Jerry Leiber Both Gone

I’ll bet not too many people who read this have ever heard of Nick Ashford. Maybe Jerry Leiber is a name you may have heard. But both of these men wrote some of the greatest songs that we have been listening to over the past fifty years. Both have died this past week, Ashford at age 70 and Leiber at age 78.

Nick Ashford

Nick and his wife Valerie Simpson wrote some of Motown’s greatest hits. Like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which was recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It only reached number 19 on the Billboard charts, but almost anyone in this country would recognize it when they heard it. They also did “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” which was also done by Gaye. They wrote “Reach Out and Touch Somebosy’s Hand”, recorded by Diana Ross and “I’m Every Woman” recorded by Chaka Khan. Ashford and Simpson also recorded a few albums under their own name. They hit the Top 40 with “Found a Cure’ in 1979 and “Solid” in 1985.

More recently, they collaborated with Amy Winehouse on her tune “Tears Dry On Their Own” which contains a sample of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. They were great songwriters and will be missed. I don’t know if Valerie Simpson will keep writing without her husband, but I hope so.

Here is a short youtube video that summarizes what Ashford and Simpson have done for modern American music: Nick Ashford video.

Jerry Leiber

As I was growing up, one of my favorite groups was the Coasters. They were labeled a novelty group and did songs like “Charlie Brown”, “Yakety Yak”, “Searchin”, and “Poison Ivy”.  All of these, I believe were written by the writing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

Leiber and Stoller have written over 200 songs and I’ll bet you would recognize most of them. Let’s start with “Hound Dog” which was originally written for Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton in 1952. It was a hit on the R&B charts but nobody outside the black community heard it. The Elvis Presley recorded it in 1956 and it was a number one hit. Leiber also wrote “jailhouse Rock”, one of Elvis’ best and most well known songs.

Leiber also wrote for The Drifters and Ben E King and many others. A true icon of early American rock and roll.

Here is a short video honoring Jerry Leiber on his death at 78: Jerry Leiber video.

Leiber and Ashford should rightly be honored, in their own different ways, as two greats of American popular songwriting.

Filed Under Fifties | Leave a Comment

« go back — keep looking »