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June 15, 2013:
 O. B. BUCHANA: Starting All Over (Ecko) Five Stars ***** Can't Miss. Pure Southern Soul Heaven. Larry Chambers from Ecko Records sent a note citing O. B. Buchana's new album as "his best in years," and your Daddy B. Nice couldn't agree more. Even those fans who have grown skeptical of O.B.'s annual product will be pleasantly surprised by Starting All Over. The singing is energetic and focused, the song selection is the best in memory, and the arrangements are crisp and different from one another.
I think anyone who knows anything about southern soul gives O. B. his due. He's carved out a huge corner of Southern Soul musical territory with his spectacularly-rural vocals and his fearlessly-carnal lyrics. I recently did a piece on a young singer/songwriter from Clarksdale, Mississippi (O. B.'s hometown), and I was surprised when he cited someone else--not O.B.--as his "biggest influence," because without O. B.'s music and O. B's success this young performer's music probably wouldn't exist.
Having said that, most of us would admit that O.B. isn't usually the first music we'd pull out to impress someone completely unacquainted with Southern Soul. The highest praise I can give this new O. B. album is that I'd offer it to any stranger as an example of how infectious and uplifting true southern soul music is.
The set begins with "Let's Go Dancing," a prototypical lead-off track with snappy arranging, solid singing and a bizarre but appealing little novelty sound inserted incongruously into each line of verse, like a little mouse scurrying across the floor.
Next up is one of the album's standouts (and in most markets the second single), a duet with Sir Charles Jones titled "Can't Get You Off My Mind," anchored by a cozy, mid-sixties-rock-and-roll keyboard. Charles is in top vocal form, as is O. B.
"I'm Rowdy Rowdy," written by "Let's Get Drunk" co-composer Aubles Buchana, received the nod as first radio single. "Rowdy" is a Buchana anthem in the mold of "You're Just Playin' With It," arranged and mixed with meticulous care in spite of its apparent spontaneity.
One of four William Norris (aka performer Sonny Mack) compositions on the disc, title-track "Starting All Over" is a majestic ballad in the tradition of "Southern Soul Country Boy" and other robust Buchana ballads. Taken as a piece, this opening quartet of songs is about as flawless as O. B. has ever done.
Penned by Ecko veteran Raymond Moore, one of Buchana's most dependable writers over the last decade (and author of the opening track), "Dream Lover" is nevertheless further evidence that Moore's composing star has gradually dimmed recently, hampered by sameness and lack of dimension.
But another Norris tune, "I Was Searching," a charismatic, briskly-tempo-ed rocker sung with the nasty conviction we expect from O. B. at his best, almost immediately returns the set to head-turning tunefulness.
And "Another Blues Man From Clarksdale," written by John Cummings and John Ward, is the latest in O. B.'s heartfelt and masterful eulogies to his hometown, blues hub Clarksdale, Mississippi.
"You Do It Right," a so-so, mid-tempo tune written by Gerod Rayburn, segues into another fine Norris ballad, "You Said," which in turn defers to the final track, a truly inspired selection based on the gospel-drenched oldie--
Listen to Doc McKenzie & the Hi-Lites singing "Hold On To What You Got" on YouTube.
--O. B., who should do more of these covers of great songs (remember his cover of Bobby Womack's "I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much"?), sounds like the best vocalist--bar none--in Southern Soul music.
What this album reiterates is that O. B. is a brilliant singer, only dependent upon focus and first-rate material. Starting All Over showcases O. B. with re-engaged soul and strength to match and is highly recommended.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample/Buy O. B. Buchana's new STARTING ALL OVER CD.
Read Daddy B. Nice's new 21st-Century Countdown Artist Guide to O. B. Buchana.
O. B. Buchana's STARTING ALL OVER on iTunes.
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May 27, 2013: 
VICK ALLEN: Soul Music (Soul 1st) Five Stars ***** Can't Miss. Pure Southern Soul Heaven. I knew Vick Allen's new Soul Music song and CD rated five stars when I gave a friend a ride and turned on "Soul Music" on my CD player. I had been feeding this friend certain Southern Soul tunes, including "Soul Music," in an effort to acquaint her with the genre and all it has to offer, but I wasn't prepared to hear her singing along, phrase by phrase, word for word, while the song rocked through the speakers at the high volume she'd requested.
"Like Donny Hathaway,
Like Aretha,
Like Johnnie Taylor
When he sang
'Cheaper To Keep Her.'"
"That's such a happy song," she said when it was over.
Listen and Watch the Vick Allen "Soul Music" Video on YouTube.
See Daddy B. Nice's #1 Southern Soul Single of the Year (2012): "Soul Music"---Vick Allen
Vick Allen's new Soul Music CD is filled with such good-time music, and the first-time listener will find in Vick Allen an artist with a sophisticated sense of the soulful side of pop (Michael Jackson, Al Green, Bobby Womack, Sam Cooke) with all the arranging tools and taste of those great forbears.
One of the key contributors to the new album is Allen's label mate at Reggie McDaniels' Soul 1st Records, fellow Southern Soul star Omar Cunningham. Cunningham wrote and co-sung Allen's "If They Can Beat Me Rockin'" from Allen's hit-laden Truth Be Told album, which more than any other Vick Allen song seemed to signal this was the right artist at the right time.
The opening track of Soul Music, "Have A Good Time," had me wondering if Vick was doing a cover of Cunningham's "Party, Have A Good Time" from his WORTH THE WAIT CD, but this tune has a different melody and lyrics. Cunningham also co-wrote this album's masterpiece, "Soul Music," and the bouncing, piano-riffing jam, "True To Me," which peppers away at its tidy hook like insistent rain on a window glass.
Unlike the anthem-like "Soul Music," which boasts a panoramic cultural snapshot of the social and musical South, both "True To Me" and "Have A Good Time" hew to modest "B-side" expectations. "Have A Good Time" turns into a stepping song, with the interesting addition of a Bigg Robb-like, voice-over verse. In other words, even the filler--the tunes between the hits--carry a certain pop heft.
The fourth Omar Cunningham-composed tune, "My Baby's Phone," is in its way as spectacular as "Soul Music." Although the subject matter is very different, My Baby's Phone may remind and please fans of another of Allen's breakthrough singles, "Forbidden Love Affair (The Preacher Song)."
My Baby's Phone is about listening to a lover's cell phone connection (mistakenly left on) while said lover is immersed in a sexual betrayal with a third party. The melody, lyrics and arrangement are stellar, but what raises the song to a rare, classic level is the indelible chorus, in which a vocally-enhanced, somewhat mysterious-sounding female background sings:
"Go slow, baby,"
and
"I don't get this at home."
The effect is as memorable as any Top Forty hook of any era, and "My Baby's Phone" is a cinch to become a popular radio single.
"My Baby's Phone," by the way, is the kind of weeper Sir Charles Jones used to churn out like pancakes, and the thought of Charles singing this song--or maybe just the chorus, as a duet with Vick--sends chills up my spine.
"Party All Our Blues," written by Patrick Hobson, is also a significant candidate for radio-chart play. Allen has a special ear for mixing and contrasting lead and background vocals, always looking for that little bit of shading that makes a song different and distinct.
Recent singles from Vick Allen's new Soul Music CD that have already entered Daddy B. Nice's "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles Review include:
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From...
Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles Review for January 2013...
5. "Crazy Over You" -----Vick Allen
"Say it ain't so, Vick!" you'll be muttering when you hear Allen's natural, cello-sensitive voice twisted up an octave, i.e. vocally-enhanced-baby!, but there's a lot of the natural Vick Allen, too. This isn't a home-run record on the order of "Soul Music," but the third time through I swear I heard the ghost of Sam Cooke.
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From...
Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles Review for April 2013...
2. "I'm Tired Of Being Grown"---------Vick Allen
An idiosyncratic but brave, pushing-the-envelope original from the indefatigable Vick Allen, who extends a singles winning streak second only to the Miami Heat's recent NBA run. "I'm Tired Of Being Grown" sounds like one of those top-forty tunes from yesteryear that started out sounding real weird but had a way of working themselves into your brain's inner recesses.
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Two songs from the collection were published previously. "I Gotta Have It" was a featured single on Tre' Williams & The Revelations' Concrete Blues CD, which appeared in late 2011 (Nia). Vick wrote the song with the band's Wes Mingus and other members of The Revelations and collaborated with Tre' Williams on the lead vocals.
"I'm Thankful For My Woman On The Side" first appeared on Vick's previous album, Truth Be Told, and was the latest-breaking of many successful radio singles from that disc.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample and Buy Vick Allen's Soul Music CD or individual mp3's from the album.
Comparison-Priced Soul Music CD
Read Daddy B. Nice's new 21st Century Countdown (#12) Artist Guide to Vick Allen.
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May 4, 2013: TWO SAMPLERS: Club Southern Soul, Vol. 3 (CDS)/ Blues Mix 10: Super Soul Music (Ecko) Four Stars **** Distinguished Efforts. Should please old fans and gain new. 
Drawing: Lee "Shot" Williams
Frustrated by the checkered schedules and sometimes disappointing fare on southern soul radio and internet stations? The best remedy is to buy a couple of Southern Soul samplers and put them in the CD player back to back, netting a good....well let's do the math....25 total tracks at approximately 4 minutes each is 100 minutes....make that almost two hours of fresh (and varied) music.
Two new samplers from Ecko and CDS--the two labels who churn out these compilations three or four times annually--feature tracks from the old and trusted to the new to the rare and overlooked.
CDS's Dylann DeAnna goes out of his way to salvage a little bit of the Southern Soul limelight for any number of marginal performers, including Jody Sticker, Charlie Brown, and Little Phil, bringing their redeeming qualities back to the forefront, while Ecko's John Ward uses the occasion to test the waters with some new product by O.B. Buchana, Jaye Hammer and Sonny Mack.
Both compilations feature opening tracks vying to become hot new singles. Jonathan Burton of "Too Much Booty Shakin'" fame kicks off CDS's Club Southern Soul, Vol. 3 with Burton's trademark-fast-tempo-ed, stylishly-arranged "Can't Touch This," which by the way bears no musical relation to M.C. Hammer's sadly more lucrative cover ("Can't Touch This") of Rick James' "Super Freak." Burton, by the way, also led off CDS's Club Southern Soul, Vol. 2.
And Ecko's Blues Mix 10: Super Soul Music commences with a marquee match-up of O.B. Buchana and Sir Charles Jones on a new tune very much in the O.B. vein ("Back Up Lover," etc.) written by Aubies Buchana and William Norris (Sonny Mack) titled "I Can't Get You Off Of My Mind."
The track from the Ecko collection with the most hit-single potential, however, may be Jaye Hammer's "One Stop Lover." Hammer (Jaye, not M.C.) has progressed beyond his talented but idiosyncratic debut. Here he sounds like a true, larger-than-life hero, an effect augmented in no small part by the great arrangement, a fine, stuttering, Wilson Meadows-like guitar lick and the newest and best added feature at Ecko's Memphis's studio: a measured, classic-sounding, Stax-style organ-keyboard.
Ecko's Blues Mix 10: Super Soul Music also features recent or presently-charting singles in Mr. Sam's "Just Like Dat" (here done in Remix) and "All I Need" and Ms. Jody's "You Didn't Appreciate What You Had When You Had It."
CDS's Club Southern Soul, Vol. 3, on the other hand, delves a couple of years back for its popular Southern Soul singles, most prominently Floyd Taylor's "I'm 'Bout 'Bout It," written by Simeo Overall. The set also boasts Jim Bennett's "The Body Roll."
(See Daddy B. Nice's Top 25 Southern Soul Songs of 2011: #4.)
Both samplers offer treats by vintage performers. Club Southern Soul 3 includes the beguiling song "I'm Satisfied" from the album of the same name by one of Chicago's last remaining giants of classic R&B, Cicero Blake.
Blues Mix 10 features a song that will be sure to make fans of the late Lee "Shot" Williams experience a renewed spasm of loss for the man and his bluesy, atmospheric recordings, here represented by the seldom-heard "Who's Knocking The Boots." The tune was originally released as "Who's Knockin' Boots" on "Shot's" 2006 Everything I Like Starts With A 'P' CD.
Blues Mix 10 also dips back historically to present remixes of O. B. Buchana & Ann Hines' ornery anthem, "You're Just Playin' With It" and Denise LaSalle's bawdy "Pay Before You Pump." David Brinston also emerges with a vintage track that will have you doing David Ruffin doubletakes.
Club Southern Soul, on the other hand, concentrates on a number of often-overlooked, younger performers: for instance neglected songwriter Charlie Brown (who wrote Carl Sims' "Hell On My Hands") singing a remix of his 2009 debut, "Grown Folks Party," and Little Phil, one of the rare Caucasian performers in Southern Soul, postulating on the same theme ("Grown Folks").
This brief summary doesn't begin to address the depth and richness of the two collections, with additional songs by Carl Marshall (w/ Rue Davis), Simeo, Stephanie Pickett, Will Easley, Bobbye Doll Johnson, Earl Duke and Jody Sticker--all from Club Southern Soul, Vol. 3--not to mention selections by Sheba Potts-Wright, Sir Ced (a new artist) and Sonny Mack rounding out Blues Mix 10: Super Soul Music.
--Daddy B. Nice
Go To Daddy B. Nice's CD Store To Browse And Buy These And Other Ecko and CDS samplers.
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April 2, 2013: CHARLES "BIG DADDY" STALLINGS: Call Me Big Daddy (Tai Jeria) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort. Should please old fans and gain new.  Born into a family of ten siblings in Columbia, South Carolina and raised on a farm near Hobbsville, North Carolina, Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings joined the military in the sixties (the liner notes to his new CD includes a vintage picture of Stallings with Southern Soul performer Willie Hill in France) before returning to civilian life and settling in Baltimore, Maryland.
Stallings' first album, One Night Lover, came out in 2004. Blues Evolution followed in 2007 and Blues Party in 2009.
Stallings's updated blues hadn't secured much notice by the Southern Soul audience until 2011, when Daddy B. Nice heard the song "In Love By Yourself" from the Blues Party album and suggested to Stallings that he market the ballad to Southern Soul fans.
"Southern Soul amounts to great themes and melodies sung by gritty, powerful blues singers," Daddy B. Nice wrote in awarding "In Love By Yourself" the #1 Southern Soul Single of 2012. "Nothing in Stallings' first two albums with all of their contemporary blues technique hinted at this one-of-a-kind, surefire Southern Soul classic. "In Love By Yourself" isn't just a story, it's an entire moral code."
There's nothing quite as deep and affecting as "In Love by Yourself" on Stallings' new CD, Call Me Big Daddy, a marathon-length, twenty-track collection, although the more generic ballad "Don't Cry" is similar in mode and features the same, marvelous and easy-going Stallings' baritone.
There are two treatments of the album's probable first single, "Boody Pop & Lock" (Stallings spells "booty" as "boody") a couple of throw-away "intro-outro" tracks, and three selections (based on three different blues variations) devoted to the down-home theme of Stallings' roots in rural Hobbsville. Those overlappings notwithstanding, Call Me Big Daddy is still an exceptionally generous collection.
Stallings throws everything but the kitchen sink into this project. Primary contributors include Stallings-guitar and lead vocals, Michael Devison-drums, Leroy Flowers, Jr.-bass, Steve Levine and Anthony "Swamp Dog" Clark-mouth harp, Joe Thomas-saxophone, Clarence Ward-trumpet, Dawoud Said-piano and Nova Peele, Deborah Brown and Nadine Ray-background vocals.
Stallings' use of female background singers on the new disc reminded me of an early-seventies group "Big Daddy" may never have heard of: the Django Reinhardt-derived, seventies' novelty group Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks. Big Daddy's female co-singers and horn charts add the same kind of sparkling overlays as Hicks' Hot Licks (two female singers) and violins did.
Stallings' arranging acumen is put to best use in the ambling, ingratiating "Boody Pop & Lock," in which the girls sing, "Big Daddy, can you handle this?" and vamp on the title's words with impressive charisma. See Daddy B. Nice's #4 and #10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles for March 2013.
Other notable songs on the set include "Call Me Big Daddy" (a signature-type song with great lead and background vocals), "Levine's Boogie" (with a rousing mouth harp accompaniment) and "My New Chevy Van" (with "wall-to-wall carpet on the floor"), a potential "sleeper" hit.
James Brown's Flames are credibly eulogized in "James #2," and the jazzy instrumental "City Life" and the Stan Getz-like guitar and female vocalizing of "E Groove" loft nice changes of pace into a set that otherwise features blues to fit just about every taste ("Lost And Found," "Million Dollars," "Bunny Hop" and "Young Boy, Young Man").
"Big Daddy" Stallings has blossomed into a masterful arranger/producer, and Call Me Big Daddy represents his fullest musical sound yet. I remember opening up a promotional copy of Stallings' Blues Evolution in 2007 and taking a quick listen and throwing it into the "jus'-blues-not-southern-soul" pile, never to be listened to again. Now, even if you're more inclined toward Southern Soul and R&B, you're likely to succumb to "Big Daddy" Stallings' loving take on the 21st-century blues.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample/Buy Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings' Call Me Big Daddy CD.
Go to Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings' Official Website.
To automatically link to Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings' awards, citations and other references on the Southern Soul website, go to Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.
P.S. Here's a place to buy "In Love By Yourself" as an mp3 only.
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February 24, 2013: MR. SAM: Just Like Dat (Ecko) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort. Should please old fans and gain new.
 As a young man Sam Fallie (aka Mr. Sam) formed and played with a number of local Memphis bands, where he caught the attention of Allen Jones, then producer and manager of the Memphis-based, soul-funk group The Bar-Kays. Jones hired Fallie as a writer in 2003, and the young man has come a long way in the decade since, writing, arranging and singing songs for a "Who's Who" of Southern Soul recording acts.
To cite only one example, in 2006 Fallie went to work for an even more iconic Memphis musician (and Bar-Kays alumnus), J. Blackfoot, composing the bulk of the songs on Blackfoot's It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over CD (JEA/Right Now), including the title track. The Blackfoot album--one of his best--also featured a Fallie composition entitled "Picking Up Pieces," which Fallie would record himself as a solo artist years later. Another co-authored Fallie composition from the CD, "I'm Just A Fool For You," became a big hit for J. Blackfoot in two versions, a duet with Lenny Williams and a subsequent duet with Sir Charles Jones.
Fallie made his debut as a solo artist (Mr. Sam) in 2007 with Lookin' 4 Love (Milaja), by any measure one of the most tuneful coming-outs by any Southern Soul artist in contemporary Southern Soul. Featuring a series of radio-friendly tunes including "Work Your Body," "Since You've Been Gone," "12 Steps For Cheaters" and "Dirty South Stepping," Lookin' 4 Love won "Best New Artist Of The Year" awards from both Daddy B. Nice's "Southern Soul RnB" and Blues Critic.
Mr. Sam followed it up in 2008 with VOICEMAIL (Milaja), including Southern Soul hits, "Voicemail," "Picking Up Pieces" and "Pound For Pound." In 2010 he released his third album, LOVE ATTACK (Lifetime Lover). The same year, he recorded an EP, Somebody (Milaja), which included "Put Your Foot In It," the single Sam had recorded with O. B. Buchana in 2009.
Late last year (2012) Fallie signed a contract with Ecko Records, hired new management (the talent-prescient Kim Coles) and published his fourth full-length CD, Just Like Dat. The new collection is far better than 2010's LOVE ATTACK, appreciably better than 2008's VOICEMAIL (which included previously-recorded work), and rivals Fallie's breakthrough debut LOOKING 4 LOVE in material and execution.
Overall, Just Like Dat has a more mainstream sound than LOOKING 4 LOVE. Buffeted by the "winds" of urban R&B, and in Fallie's case the urban-Memphis sounds of his mentors, that's to be expected. "Good Good Love," for example, is pure Bar-Kays in DNA, with Archie Love's guest vocal accentuating the bloodlines. Even the guest vocal of the inimitable O. B. Buchana out of Mississippi blends into the Bar-Kay mix.
Some longtime Mr. Sam devotees may think something is lost when comparing the crisply-produced-and-arranged but somewhat bombastic "Just Like Dat" with the more rough and humble, now classic-sounding "Dirty South Steppin'" from the debut. "Just Like Dat" does boast an immensely likable background chorus, however, a deep, vintage, almost novelty-sounding bass vocal that evokes singing quartets of early R&B.
Many of the songs on this CD were solid Southern Soul radio singles--if not outright hits--in 2012. "Cheatin' Feels So Damn Good" is Mr. Sam at his best. A first-class melody, a confident, lucid arrangement, and a vivid vocal in the tradition of "Voice Mail" and "Picking Up Pieces." Fallie's singing chops don't match, say, someone like the late Reggie P. (to whom, by the way, this CD is dedicated), but they get the job done.
Another radio favorite from 2012, "Put A Little Water In It," contains a bluesy, mid-tempo hook. The vocal arrangement is near-brilliant, three layers--a lead vocal, background vocal and voice-over--vying for attention like overlapping dialogue in a Robert Altman film. "All I Need," another classic-sounding Sam Fallie ballad, is riding the Southern Soul singles charts this winter.
A number of Memphis-area musicians contribute to the CD, including Quinton Smith, Michael Raiford, Kurt Clayton, Frank Ray, the Bar-Kays' Tony Gentry (co-writer of "How Do You Keep,") Ezra Williams (producer EZ Rock), William Norris (Sonny Mack) not to mention the previously noted Archie Love and O. B. Buchana.
My favorites from the new CD, at least for the moment, are what most folks would probably consider "B-side" tunes: "Down At Cee Cee's," (a tribute to a notorious Memphis club) and "How Do You Keep," which, with its gorgeous musical textures and searching vocal, is like walking down an unfolding carpet of pure soul. (See Daddy B. Nice's #2 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles for January 2013.)
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample/Buy Mr. Sam's Just Like Dat CD at CD Universe.
Sample/Buy Mr. Sam's Just Like Dat songs or CD at iTunes.
Read more about Mr. Sam in Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Mr. Sam.
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January 29, 2013: MS. JODY: Still Strokin' (Ecko) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort. Should please old fans and gain new. Coming after the career pinnacle reached with Ms. Jody's In The House (Ecko, late 2011) and its crowning achievement, the song "When Your Give A Damn Just Don't Give A Damn Anymore," I'll admit to having low expectations for this new Ms. Jody album, with the probability of B-sides, out-takes and miscellaneous tunes.
And in truth, Jody's new collection--Still Strokin'--does represent a step down from the dizzying heights of Ms. Jody's In The House. But the good news is that it's a positive step forward, not a pratfall, with plenty of energetic if not superhuman signs of Southern Soul life.
The musicianship is very much in the classic Ecko mold, with all the usual suspects--John Ward, Raymond Moore, Morris Williams, John Cummings, Gerod Rayburn, Sherilena Banks, not to mention JoAnne Delapaz (Ms. Jody) herself--contributing to a sound which compared to classic Stax and Hi tracks of yesteryear could best be described as Memphis Lite.
The ace in the hole is Ms. Jody herself, constantly making things work and just as tirelessly making sure they remain interesting.
The chorus of "Still Strokin'," the mid-tempo title song, is the highlight of the CD, trumpeting the Southern Soul way. One can imagine fans singing along to these verses through the coming year:
'Cause Clarence Carter's still strokin',
And Bobby Rush is still wearing it out.
Theodis Ealey is still standing up in it,
And Ms. Jody is still in the house.
Mel Waiters still got his whiskey,
And Bobby Womack's still looking for a love.
And Denise, she's still trapped, y'all
And she will just keep on backing it up.
We're still strokin',
We're still strokin'...."
The get-out-of-your-chair jam from the CD is the catchy "Just Let Me Ride," with a riptide-pulling bass line and a drum-tight arrangement.
Listen to Ms. Jody singing "Just Let Me Ride" on YouTube while you read.
"Just Let Me Ride" was the #2 song in Daddy B. Nice's Top Ten "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles for September 2012 as follows:
2. "Just Let Me Ride"-----Ms. Jody
Killer hook. Think "The Bop" with a 426 Hemi engine. The only element missing is a spectacular crescendo with full brass section and background chorus. But be warned, the band's in overdrive from the first bars.
Buy Ms. Jody's "Just Let Me Ride" on Ecko Records' Blues Mix Vol. 8, Juke Joint Soul CD.
Quinn Golden's "Dance Party," one of the classics of contemporary Southern Soul, is given a new spin via Ms. Jody, with the distinctive guitar hook from the original (also recorded at Ecko) buried in the mix. Ms. Jody doesn't surpass the original with her version, but she does bring it back to life.
The sleeper from the album is the modest but melodic "Another Get Drunk Party," which dives straight into the appealing chorus, with Ms. Jody singing dual harmony lines.
Ms. Jody dips back further into the vaults of soul for "Ms. Jody Don't Mind Breakin' Up Somebody's Home," an homage to Ann Peebles' "Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home."
I had to look hard for "Shake Your Booty," given a
remix to close out the CD. Ms. Jody recorded it way back in 2006, on her debut album, You're My Angel.
Of the remaining original songs on the album--"It's A Reunion," "Good Love," "You Didn't Appreciate What You Had When You Had It," "Where Can I Find A Good Man" and "Your Man Was looking For That Good Thang"--I'll give the nod to the anthemic "Where Can I Find A Good Man" as the most promising single, beating out by a nose the tongue-exhausting "Your Man Was looking For That Good Thang (While You Were Out Somewhere Looking For That Good Thang Man)" and the generic but tantalizingly-sung "Good Love."
"I won't let another man in my door,"
Ms. Jody sings in "Where Can I Find A Good Man,"
"Until I find what I'm looking for."
At its finest moments, "Where Can I Find A Good Man" achieves the country-western simplicity of Ms. Jody's seminal "I Never Take A Day Off."
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample or Buy Ms. Jody's Still Strokin' at iTunes.
Sample or Buy Ms. Jody's Still Strokin' at CD Universe.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
O. B. Buchana, Starting All Over, 6/16/13
Vick Allen, Soul Music, 5/27/13
Club Southern Soul, Vol. 3 (CDS)/ Blues Mix 10: Super Soul Music (Ecko) 5/4/13
Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings, Call Me Big Daddy, 4/2/13
Mr. Sam, Just Like Dat, 2/24,13
Ms. Jody, Still Strokin', 1/30/13
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Send CD's to Daddy B. Nice, P. O. Box 19574, Boulder, Colorado, 80308 to be eligible for review on this page.
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Recently reviewed:
Lina, The Love Chronicles Of A Lady Songbird, 12/30/12 (Contained in the Lina Artist Guide. Click link.)
Clayton Knight, I'm Coming Home!, 12/2/12
Chuck Roberson, The Devil Made Me Do It, 11/4/12 (Scroll down this column.)
Big Cynthia, It's My Time, 10/1/12 (Contained in the Big Cynthia Artist Guide. Click link.)
Donnell Sullivan, Back It Up 9/1/12 (Scroll down this column.)
Sweet Angel, Mr. Wrong Gonna Get This Love Tonight, 8/4/12 (Contained in Sweet Angel Artist Guide. Click link.)
Jaye Hammer, Hammer, 7/4/12 (Scroll down this column.)
Luther Lackey, The Contender 6/10/12 (Contained in Luther Lackey Artist Guide, Tidbits #4. Click link.)
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Rating Guide:
Five Stars ***** Can't miss. Pure Southern Soul heaven.
Four Stars **** Distinguished effort. Should please old fans and gain new.
Three Stars *** Solid. The artist's fans will enjoy.
Two Stars ** Dubious. Not much here.
One Star * A disappointment. Avoid.
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SouthernSoulRnB
P.O. Box 19574
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December 2, 2012:
CLAYTON KNIGHT: I'm Coming Home (C&S) Three Stars *** Solid Southern Soul Debut by a New (But Actually Vintage) Male Vocalist.
Although Clayton Knight is listed as the producer of his new I'm Coming Home! CD, the hands of Morris J. Williams, musical jack-of-all-trades (most visibly as the airy background singer on dozens of Ecko recordings over the years) are all over this new album. In 2008 Williams produced his wife Brenda's debut album, Let Me Rock You One More Time. That disc never gained much air play, although it did garner some critical notice (i.e. "Living Blues").
That kind of obscurity surrounds this release. I had never previously heard any of the songs, nor any of the tracks from Knight's only other available CD, Call Me What You Wanna, nor have I seen a blip of media attention.
So it will be incumbent upon Knight, Williams, et. al. to focus on distributing the music--at least the singles--to deejays around the circuit. Out of 8-Mile, Alabama, an unincorporated hamlet eight miles outside Mobile, C&S will likely be confused with CDS Records but not its media mojo.
Clayton Knight's roots go way back. Starting in the music business playing guitar in the early 70's for Little Joe Blue, Knight's main claim to fame remains his stint as O. V. Wright's guitarist from 1973 until the legendary performer's death in 1980. Knight's first solo CD release was Having A Party on Butler Records in 2000. Thankful For Your Love came out on Blues River Records in 2006, and Call Me What You Wanna on C&S Records in 2009. The new album is also out on CD Baby and readers are welcome to sample tracks from I'm Coming Home! as you read.
What does the obscurity and the Morris Williams connection mean? On the bright side, it means adherence to a classic Southern Soul sound. On the dark side, it means a typically modest Southern Soul budget. The programmed horns put me off at first--not the fact that they were synthesized, which I became accustomed to years ago--but that they sounded too familiar, too close to the brass-section sounds of other Ecko recordings. But once I got past that snag (a couple of listens) the general current of the record took over.
The opening cut, "So Good Looking," doesn't tell you much beyond the refreshingly casual style and interesting real-guitar work--never taken for granted in modest studios of Southern Soul. Knight's vocal sounds something like Jaye Hammer, with O. B. Buchana's influence looming over both. Towards the end, Knight shows off his chops by growling, snarling and literally squealing in falsetto.
The second track and title cut, "Coming Home," really gets things going, embracing the listener with its comfy Southern Soul arrangement, and you expect great things, but the song doesn't quite fulfill the promise of its great first verse.
Big John Cummings, who's been instrumental in crafting the Ecko Records sound, co-wrote the songs on the CD with Clayton Knight, but not the first three songs, including this one. The song is written by Knight, and it's flawed--and held back--by the first chord change, which leads nowhere musically, and is heralded by dowdy horns. From then on Knight's inspired guitar-picking flutters like a butterfly pinned to a board.
"Doghouse" starts off crisply with a nice, anthemic piano riff, but doesn't rise above a certain generic level. There's a brief guitar solo. The credits for guitar work, the only "real" instrumentation, on the album go to "Clayton, Chip and Boyo."
The "music"--again from the flyleaf credits, and meaning all other musical parts on the album--is the work of longtime Ecko associate Williams, and, all derision about programming aside, the background tracks are focused and energetic. Whether they can make the leap to "hit singles" is another matter, and that tension between "good" and "real good" runs through every song on the set.
"Certified Freak," done twice on the album, is one of the likely candidates for a single. It begins like David Brinston's "Hit And Run," and I checked to see if Cummings had written the song back in the day--but no, it was Marshall Jones. In the process I ran across Brinston's 2001 similar-sounding "You're So Freak, Girl," by Linda Stokes (who wrote Brinston's "Party 'Till The Lights Go Out" and "Kick It").
Clayton Knight's "Certified Freak" has the warm and mellow quality of Brinston's classic period, and that's saying a lot. That's saying if you're starved for some old-school Southern Soul, you might want to check this out.
The words and the way Knight delivers them buoy "Reminiscing" and highlight the heartfelt aspect of the material as a whole. The lyrics (co-written by Knight and John Cummings) are as warm as a cabin fireplace.
"Reminiscing
About the good old days,
I was in love...."
"Grapevine Will Lie" boasts a doo-wop-styled introduction, and the song defies expectations, evolving into a full-blown exercise in doo-wop filtered through contemporary Southern Soul. Knight's vocal captures the exceptional emotion the genre--popular in the late fifties and early sixties--was able to tap into.
"You let the grapevine
Make a fool of you."
"Grapevine's" nice call and response between Knight and an unnamed female singer (or maybe Morris Williams himself) is especially recommended for baby-boomers.
"Hold On," a fast slice of soul-funk, goes against the mellow, mid-tempo grain of the album. Knight sounds somewhat diminished against the larger-than-life, Sam-and- Dave-like background.
"Ex Love, Next Love" (credited to Knight and Cummings), is actually a cover of Chuck Strong's "Ex Love Next Love," and a fairly faithful one--the resemblance is especially evident in the choruses. That being said, it's one of the most successful cuts on the album and could become a single.
Another strong candidate for a single is "Back It Up." The only thing wanting from this seductive mid-tempo tune is the title, which is far too easily confused with prior hits, most recently L. J. Echols" "From The Back." The song also traces an umbilical cord back to the Love Doctor's "Slow Roll It." The chorus lyrics are:
"Back it up.
And let me hit you
With a slow roll."
Knight sounds like David Ruffin or Smokey Robinson, and Williams delivers his thin, out-of-breath background vocal to complement it. The production touch is delicate and at times fuzzy, the antithesis of--for example--a song like Grady Champion's "Make That Monkey Jump." But what Williams--or, in effect, Clayton Knight--lacks in intensity and high-definition is more than compensated for by a refreshing attention to the musical sound of the 90's and 00's, which has become a little passe' and hard to find lately.
You might get impatient at times and wish Bigg Robb did a remix, but then you'd be in danger of losing that delicate, old-school Southern Soul ambience to which I'm Coming Home adheres too so admirably and entertainingly.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample or Buy Clayton Knight's I'm Coming Home CD
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November 4, 2012: CHUCK ROBERSON: The Devil Made Me Do It (Desert Sounds) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort. Should please old fans and gain new.
I suspected this CD would be a winner when I first heard Chuck's new "Chuck Strut" single last summer. The nifty, muted (think MJ's "Billy Jean"), disco rhythm track insinuated itself into Daddy B. Nice's Top Ten "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles in August at:
2. "Chuck Strut"----------Chuck Roberson
This is a new and much better-tempo-ed and more melodic version of the "Chuck Strut" that graced Roberson's 2003 Woman Wants A Freak CD. In fact, Chuck hits this one out of the Southern Soul ball park. Congratulations to Desert Sounds producers/writers Pete Peterson and Eric "Smidi" Smith for helping make it happen.
"Chuck Strut" has a cruising vibe and I can imagine people driving and--yes--even waiting in traffic a little more patiently while listening to this light-hearted Chuck Roberson fare. Chuck is in fine form. He's not out to impress you. He's out to soothe you, to give you a lift, and that he does as well as--and perhaps better than--he's ever done before.
In the microbrewery of contemporary Southern Soul singers, Roberson has always been "lite" and imitative. But on his new album, The Devil Made Me Do It (Desert Sounds, 2012), the downsides of derivation--for example, his uncanny conjuring of Roy C on the album's last cut, "After Our Love Affair"--are outweighed by the joy, wit and skill Roberson takes in surveying the current scene and creating his own portrait.
After "Chuck Strut" the song that practically jumps out of the stereo console is "They Got A Room," an inspired rendition of the single Millie Jackson and Jesse James made popular last year as "Let's Get A Room Somewhere."
Millie Jackson and Jesse James were willing participants in the motel fun in "Let's Get A Room Somewhere." On the other hand, Chuck Roberson's lyrics in "They Got A Room"--from a third person perspective--give the story its own special twists, for instance:
"I went by her mama's place
And she wasn't there,
I said, 'Please don't tell me
She's in a room somewhere.'"
Chuck's version is at least as good, maybe better, with lazy, saucy horns and a rhythm section to grovel for. I drifted off for a few seconds and drifted back and thought I was listening to reggae's premier reggae section, Sly & Robbie.
Eric "Smidi" Smith on programming gets the credit, but it's all tied together by the elaborate and playful fretwork of Stevie J. on guitar.
Stevie J., who plays guitar throughout, contributes country-style inflections to his bluesy runs on Roberson's "Hometown Blues." Halfway through the song, we're treated to a full-blown steel guitar verse that all but turns the song inside-out.
"I'll Take Care Of You" will remind hardcore fans of Bobby Jones' "You Ain't Got No Proof" and/or Ghetto Cowboy's "Staying In Love With You," two other songs with kangaroo-bouncing, background tracks by--coincidentally--Desert Sounds producers Pete Peterson and Eric "Smidi" Smith.
Roberson returns to cover-song mode with less success in "Woman Enough," a redo of the already-classic Karen Wolfe single, "(If You're) Man Enough (To Leave, I'm Woman Enough To Let You Go)." The song doesn't grate--in fact, it's pleasant to hear the melody in Chuck's light and unfettered delivery.
But unlike the Millie Jackson/Jesse James original, which had a desultory air and tempo that Roberson could easily improve upon, Roberson's remake of "Man Enough" suffers when compared to the soulful emotional depth of the Karen Wolfe original.
This tendency to retool published music in a streamlined, sometimes-vanilla style has been Chuck's Achilles heel historically, but with The Devil Made Me Do It he buries those questions under an avalanche of otherwise fine tracks, including "It Should Have Been Me" (featuring the album's well-cast background singers, Levy Marie and Misty Lundey), "Spare Me The Heartache" (a seriously-sung ballad) and the distinctive, mid-tempo" It's Not Over."
But it's "Chuck Strut" that will define this CD for years to come. It's got the Georgio Moroder through Donna Sumner thing going, and Chuck's vocal is (never thought I'd say this) nothing short of amazing. Chuck deserves all the credit in the world. He still believes, and this album is good listening from beginning to end.
Sample or Buy Chuck Roberson's The Devil Made Me Do It CD, MP3's.
Read Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide To Chuck Roberson.
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September 1, 2012:
DONNELL SULLIVAN: Back It Up (Turning Point) Three Stars *** Solid Southern Soul Debut by a New Male Vocalist.
First, confessions and amends. In Daddy B. Nice's Best of 2011, under the category Best Debut, your Daddy B. Nice listed among the nominees the song "Back Door Lover" by a new artist named Ronnie Love.
Turns out that I was wrong. The artist behind "Back Door Lover" is in fact a young man named Donnell Sullivan from St. Francisville, Mississippi, a pretty and quaint little town perched above the Mississippi on a bluff so disorienting I once spent a night there not knowing if I was on the east or the west side of the river, in Mississippi or Louisiana.
After receiving Donnell Sullivan's Back It Up in the mail this month, and after initially reporting it as a "cover" song as follows on--
DADDY B. NICE'S TOP TEN "BREAKING" SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: AUGUST 2012
5. "Back Door Lover"----------Donnell Sullivan
Unless I'm mistaken, this is a cover of a song by fellow youngster Ronnie Love, honored as a "Best Debut" Daddy Award nominee in 2011. It's certainly the same song, which points to a Southern Soul underground beneath even the underground that Southern Soul already occupies. . .
--Subsequently, after listening to both versions of the song, I can assure readers it is the very song I heard and was impressed by last year, and that Ronnie Love, a name I heard only over the radio, was a mistake. (And, unless any new information is forthcoming in the near future, I'll be changing the citation for 2011 from Ronnie Love to Donnell Sullivan for the record.)
The thing I like about this album is the way it aims at the heart of the Southern Soul sound. Sullivan has an easy-going tenor reminiscent of a young Tyrone Davis, and he writes songs that betray a thorough knowledge of Davis standards like "Carried Away," "Leavin' (On The First Train Smokin')" and "Come To Daddy."
The performances aren't always successful, and as a whole Back It Up (Turning Point Records, 2011) is by no means a fully fleshed-out presentation.
However, in an era when even Southern Soul-friendly producers like Dylann DeAnna and Carl Marshall (CDS Records) and Mel Waiters (Britany Records) seem to favor young, urban R&B/hiphop-influenced artists over Southern Soul-oriented artists--ostensibly for commercial reasons--it's refreshing to hear a new collection that harks back to the heart of contemporary Southern Soul pioneered by artists like David Brinston, Ernie Johnson and Sir Charles Jones.
In fact, in its faithfulness to the turn-of-the-century Southern Soul sound, Donnell Sullivan's music reiterates one of 2011's most successful debuts: the Klass Band Brotherhood and their hit single, "Sugar Shack."
How ironic (and yet typical) then, that despite a plethora of YouTube offerings for the songs on Back It Up, Donnell Sullivan hasn't elected to feature "Back Door Lover" on the ubiquitous music video site. Hopefully, this CD review will change that.
"Back Door Lover" has a simple but effective hook, with an arrangement that is admirably focused and a lyrical framework that revels in its Jody-like naughtiness.
"Now ladies, think about it.
I know you have a good man,
And he pays all your bills.
He keeps food on your table,
But he works hard all day.
When he gets home,
There's no time to play.
So if you ladies really
Want to feel good,
All you ladies have to do
Is open your back door
And let me in."
Donnell Sullivan's Back It Up offers nine more songs, all plying the slow to mid-tempo time signatures of Southern Soul's mainstream.
"Baby I Got It" is an admirably-sung ballad in the mode of Brinston's "Hit And Run," albeit with less flair.
Slightly more uptempo, "Back It Up" negotiates the Nathaniel Kimble/Sheba Potts-Wright/L.J. Echols-traveled territory of "bagging" and/or "backing" it up.
"Bedroom" borrows an oft-used, spot-on rhythm guitar lick you've heard in Southern Soul songs like Sterling Williams' "Secret Love Affair" before and fashions it into a mid-tempo invitation to lovemaking.
"No More Tears," like its predecessor, will have you scratching your head wondering where you've heard certain phrases and hooks--in this case, a more mainstream R&B ballad in the Charlie Wilson mode.
"Shake It Girl" perks things up in a Mel Waiters style, again with a surprisingly-relaxed vocal delivery for a debut artist.
"She Gave Me Some," with lyrics that say "You gave me some,/ I can't get enough," betrays the influence of O. B. Buchana and the Ecko Records studio sound, although Sullivan's vocal is nowhere near as idiosyncratic as the one-of-a-kind stylist Buchana.
"She's A Freak" and "Move Your Body" are mid-tempo, derivative exercises that feature Donnell Sullivan's sugary, breathy, mid-range, still-developing vocal style, while "My Sweet Woman" slips in one last slow-to-mid-tempo ballad in the Tyrone Davis manner. All of these songs except "My Sweet Woman" and "Back Door Lover" are available for listening from beginning to end on YouTube by clicking the links.
As with so many aspiring singers vying for big-time exposure, Donnell Sullivan has an ace-in-the-hole in partner Antonio "Tony T" Turner, who provides all of the musical backgrounds and, along with Damon Turner and Sullivan, co-produced. Donnell Sullivan wrote all the songs and shares executive producer credits with Bennie Bolden.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample Bargain-Priced Donnell Sullivan Back It Up CD or MP3's
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July 4, 2012:
JAYE HAMMER: Hammer (Ecko) Three Stars *** Solid Southern Soul Debut by a New Male Vocalist.
Jaye Hammer's Hammer is actually the second CD by a young artist named Jeremy George from Friars Point, Mississippi. His first album Work It On Me (Blues River/East-West) passed with little notice under the performing pseudonym Jay'E Hammer in 2005.
This 2012 offering from Memphis's Ecko Records streamlines the name to Jaye Hammer and effectively introduces him to the Southern Soul audience.
The first single from the CD, "Soul Train Dancer," went into rotation in 2011, and another single, "Mississippi Slide," has garnered air time in the first half of 2012. Deejays have nibbled at many other cuts from the album, among them "I'm Leaving You," "I Thought It Was Jody," "I Can Love You Like That," "Making That Booty Roll" and "Strawberry Ice Cream Woman."
My first reaction to each song cited was negative, deterred by the screeching tone of Hammer's voice and the twice-tread, jingle-familiar melodies, and yet, over time, via Southern Soul radio, the songs have gradually sunk in and become something close to contemporary standards.
The process reminded me of how it used to be when music radio was really radio and you'd hear songs you just didn't like at first, but after getting used to hearing them on the radio, you'd actually reach the point where you enjoyed them.
First-time listeners should be warned that this is some pretty unusual, off-putting music, abrasive like Bob Dylan, high and whiney like Jimi Hendrix, as attenuated as O. B. Buchana through an Alvin & The Chipmunks filter.
When I first heard the song "Institutionalize" by veteran Southern Soul diva Dorothy Moore on the radio, I thought it might be Jaye Hammer.
The CD commences with "I'm Leaving You" and "I Thought It Was Jody (But It Was Judy)," traditional Ecko numbers in structure, but Hammer's vocals are like no one I can remember, with background vocals (Hammer and Morris Williams) on "I Thought It Was Judy" that add to the strangeness with straining falsetto figures an octave above middle C.
"Mississippi Slide" and "Slow Train Dancer" epitomize the contradictions of Hammer's style. Both songs manufacture professional, well-wrought arrangements around pinched-tenor leads by Hammer.
Both achieve a memorable quality if you give them time and can adjust to Hammer's peculiar style, a style that nevertheless employs well-versed, seasoned Southern Soul phrasing and technique.
"Can I Love You Like That" is the finest ballad on the CD. Hammer, however, omits the long, luxurious, cushion-like notes that most Southern Soul singers insert in their verses and choruses to seduce their fans. The song is done twice.
"Making That Booty Roll" returns to the good-times, juke-joint feel of "I'm Leaving You" and "I Thought It Was Jody."
"Fussin' And Naggin'" and "Go Ahead On" qualify as filler, but "(I'm In A) Party Mood" (also done two times) and "Strawberry Ice Cream Woman" possess the same high-pitched and memorable if uneasy qualities of the best tracks on the CD.
"I want to flirt with the women,"
Hammer sings in "Party Mood,"
"Get down with the guys."
Hammer is both competent and uncompromising. If you have the patience to acclimate to the style of the singer, you'll be rewarded with a number of songs you'll be saving for posterity.
The John Ward-produced CD, with songs written by Hammer (Jeremy George), Fred Hicks, John Cummings, Aaron Weddington and Ward, is rich in material. But I suspect that Jaye Hammer is one of those freakishly-talented artists whose best may be yet to come.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample or Buy Hammer CD or MP3's.
Hammer on I-Tunes
There is only one full-length song from Hammer on YouTube.
Listen to Jaye Hammer singing "Making That Booty Roll" on YouTube.
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