"Try Me"
T. K. Soul (Now #6 on the New Generation Chart)
Composed by Terry Kimble
January 1, 2021:
T.K. Soul is now the #6-ranked southern soul artist on Daddy B Nice's new Top-100 Chart---The New Generation.
Click here.
November 28, 2020:
"Time will tell
Rejoice, T.K. Soul fans. SOUTHERN SOUL ROYALTY is hands-down the best collection of T.K. Soul singles ever, from the song that started it all, "Meet Me At The Spot," to
--Daddy B. Nice
About T. K. Soul (Now #6 on the New Generation Chart)
T. K. Soul is a reedy tenor in the Michael Jackson mode, one of the few Southern Soul singers not to tout gospel-singing in childhood (it shows in his vocal style, which has a lighter touch) and the composer of many songs that have gone on to become Southern Soul standards (with a wide spectrum of styles and arrangements).
Terence Kimble, aka T. K. Soul, was born in Winnfield, Louisiana in 1964. Kimble started out as a songwriter ("Wiggle," "Party Like We Used To"), producer and keyboard player for Willie Clayton, his first big break coming in 2000 and 2001 on the Call Me Mr. C and The Little Giant Of Soul albums by Clayton.
Kimble wrote all tracks (as would become his custom) on One Woman Man, his recording debut as a solo artist, released in 2002 on his own imprint, Soulful Records/Raw Entertainment.
"Meet Me At The Spot Tonight," from ONE WOMAN MAN, became T. K. Soul's first radio single. Although it had a different, "slicker" sound than the southern soul of the day, "Meet Me At The Spot" gained a foothold in Jackson, Vicksburg and Greenville, Mississippi, the small but vastly influential hub of the Southern Soul universe.
"Straight, No Chaser," "My Life" and "One Woman Man" from the album also garnered some radio play.
T. K. Soul: The Bad Boy Of Southern Soul (Raw Ent. Soulful 2003), seized the "bad boy of Southern Soul" label from fellow recording artist (the late) Reggie P., causing some short-lived hostility in some circles. Soul later said he hadn't realized he'd encroached on another's name. "My Kind Of Girl" was the most commonly-played single from the set, but the CD wasn't well-received at the time and posterity has generally regarded it as T.K.'s most dispensable.
The performer followed with his third album, Love Games (Soulful 2004), now considered T. K. Soul's "break-out" into Southern Soul "headliner" status. The album began with five songs that achieved considerable radio popularity:
"Cheating And Lying," which grafted a pop-like melody onto a sure-fire chitlin' circuit theme, became Soul's most important song to date, defining his street-wise, story-telling personality.
"Let's Stay Home Tonight" burnished Soul's already-growing reputation for interestingly tempo-ed, melody-rich ballads.
"Candy Girl" had the bouncing, snare-heavy beat of "Cheating And Lying" and the soon-to-be-recorded (on the next album) "Party Like Back In The Day."
"We Be Slidin'" was Soul's first successful synth-vocal. Although it sounds fairly ordinary now, it was viewed as strange and experimental in southern soul circles at the time.
Finally, "You Ring My Bell" constituted T. K. Soul's first legitimate stab at a masterpiece.
Here's a contemporaneous account from Daddy B. Nice at the time:
1. March 16, 2006. T. K. Soul's "You Ring My Bell" continues to please. In fact, the Love Games CD, with both "Cheating And Lying" and "You Ring My Bell," is slowly but surely headed for Southern Soul classic status. In an informal survey of chitlin' circuit station playlists through the first quarter of 2006, it was hard to find a deejay who was not including either "Cheating And Lying" or "You Ring My Bell" in his priority queue. This is an incredible feat when you recall that material from Love Games hit the air waves back in 2004. That's over a year of constant radio exposure for "Cheating And Lying" in particular.
So why does Daddy B. Nice have such a fondness for "You Ring My Bell"? T. K. Soul delivers his best vocal ever on this track, and the chorus is a roundelay with a tidal pull as strong as the full moon.
Meanwhile, T. K. Soul is capitalizing on his success by touring extensively, including spring dates headlining concerts at the Main Street Heritage Fest in Port Gibson, Ms. and a date (along with Reggie P. of "Why Me" fame) at the Vicksburg, Ms. City Auditorium.
(The reference to the joint live concert appearance with Reggie P. underlines the apparent lack of acrimony between the two performers by this time.)
If LOVE GAMES was an admirable outing, Undisputed, Soul's fourth LP (Soulful 2007), was still better. Again, the contemporaneous account:
August 10, 2007. T. K. Soul's new disc, Undisputed: The Album, powered by two strong chitlin' circuit singles, "Party Like Back In The Day" and "It Ain't Cheatin' Til You Get Caught," has entered the Billboard R&B chart at #85, not to mention the Billboard Blues chart at #9, a rare feat for a Southern Soul album. The chart success testifies to the pent-up demand for the CD, released and distributed nationally in late June, due to heavy airplay of the two singles on the Stations of the Deep South throughout the late winter and spring.
The CD artwork features T.K. in the boxing robe (emblazoned with "undisputed bad boy of Southern Soul") he uses onstage in concert. DBN.
But "Party Like Back In The Day" and "It Ain't Cheatin' Til You Get Caught" were not the only singles from the album. In due time "#1 Fan," "Good Love" and--most prominently--"Try Me" all captured the fancy of the Southern Soul fan base. "Try Me," especially, was revered.
From an unapologetically-gloating section of an article entitled IN PRAISE OF "REHAB" that ran at the time (Daddy B. Nice's Corner October 31, 2009):
Nobody--and I mean nobody--writes a better Southern Soul love ballad than T. K. Soul. When The Undisputed album (his last) came out, I felt lonely standing at the platform while the bandwagon for "Party Like Back In The Day" and "It Ain't Cheatin' Until You Get Caught" took off. While I acknowledged the former's danceability and the latter's thematic strength, they just didn't enthuse me.
"Try Me," the love ballad from the album, captivated me from the very beginning. I pegged it as the "soul" of the album and the "very best cut" on the album, and time has born me out. "Try Me" has gone on to become one of the most heavily-played classics on Southern Soul radio. DBN.
T. K. Soul's fifth album, The Evolution of Soul (Soulful 2009), continued the unprecedented upward trajectory of the artist's output since 2004'S LOVE GAMES, securing popular singles with "Rehab," "Zydeco Bounce" and "They Wanna Party (With Me)." Even the album's second-tier songs--"You Got To Cheat," "She Told On Herself," "That's How I Feel," "Soul Ship" and "Baby I Love You"--garnered considerable air play.
"Rehab" in particular drew critical kudos.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Rehab" on YouTube while you read.
From Daddy B. Nice's "In Praise Of Rehab" (Daddy B. Nice's Corner (October 31, 2009):
One seldom finds such fine technique in the company of such convincing emotion. The song is tight. The vocal is as masterful as they come. Every musical phrase is a pleasant surprise. You can listen to it again and again, marveling at this or that melodic element.
"Rehab" begins in the musical territory first turned over by "It Ain't Cheating Until You Get Caught," but "Rehab" only takes that song's considerable accomplishments as a starting point.
T. K. pares down the sound for "Rehab," substituting a more contemplative organ-keyboard sound in addition to a traditional piano in places. His rhythm section is impeccable, finalized with simple but echo-prone, hand-clap/wood block punctuation.
Words, however, don't do justice to the melody. Like some of the early Lennon/McCartney songs, the stanzas of "Rehab" are so musically original they almost leave you gasping. The stanzas are so good they sound like inspired bridges, and the bridge, when it comes--
"She was so stimulating,
Had me always waiting.
Wasn't loving me like she should,
So when she did I thought it was so good. . . "
--is supremely successful.
Whatever else can be said about EVOLUTION OF SOUL (and there is much more to the album), I can confidently predict one thing. "Rehab" will join "Try Me" and "You Ring My Bell" and "#1 Fan" as T. K. Soul slow classics for posterity. From a purely musical standpoint--disregarding lyrics, theme, and topicality--"Rehab" may very well be the best song T. K. Soul has ever recorded.
But "Rehab" was by no means the album's only claim to fame. Despite less-than-unanimous reaction from Southern Soul traditionalists, "Zydeco Bounce"--a fast-tempo-ed, Southern Soul-Zydeco hybrid, secured unheard-of national exposure when big-label Universal Records took over the hot dance single's distribution.
"They Wanna Party," a vocally-enhanced vehicle in the mode of "We Be Slidin'," became a "sleeper" radio hit. And years after the album's release, solidly-melodic, skillfully-arranged "B-sides" like the anthem-like "That's How I Feel," "(Stepping On The) Soul Ship" (named after T.K.'s annual winter Bahamas cruise ship "tour"), "Baby I Love You," "She Told On Herself" and "You Got To Cheat" were still Southern Soul radio fodder.
As solid as his material was over the three-album span, T.K. backed it up with extensive touring--the most consistent of any of the younger-generation stars--doing shows in one small Delta town after another (along with larger festival shows). His road band became regionally famous and went on to back up friendly rival Sir Charles Jones.
In 2010 T.K. Soul joined fellow artists Vick Allen and Omar Cunningham (both on the Reggie McDaniel Soul 1st indie label) in recording the single "Haters Gone Hate" (T.K. Soul/Soulful).
Soul went all-digital with his sixth album, following the example of fellow Louisiana artist Cupid (among others), and the results were mixed. Whether it was the the lack of hard product in the still ephemeral world of digital marketing, or whether it was just a rare outing of sub-par, unrealized material, Ghetto Superstar (Soulful 2012) never seemed to "materialize" to any extent on the Southern Soul circuit nor inspire much attention from Southern Soul media and fans.
Marking the first time since THE BAD BOY OF SOUTHERN SOUL that a T.K. Soul album had not notched a five-star "recommended single" in Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide, the collection had an aura of experimentation. Despite ending Soul's run of smash Southern Soul singles, however, the Ghetto Superstar set contained some worthy tracks: among them "Street Light," a quasi-acapella slice of autobiographical nostalgia, "We Gonna Party Tonight" (a slow-bubbling, likable dance floor ditty) and "Ghetto Superstar" (a full-blown, mid-eighties-like disco arrangement grafted onto a funk rhythm track).
The Hit Maker: 10 Years of T. K. Soul, a "best-of" compilation bringing together such singles as "Try Me," "Rehab," "Party Like Back In The Day," "Zydeco Bounce," "Meet Me At The Spot," "It Ain't Cheatin' Until You Get Caught," "Cheating And Lying" and more, was released in 2012 (Terence Kimble/Soulful Records).
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August 25, 2013:
I once wrote that young Southern Soul stars shouldn't worry about writing "southern soul" songs, just write the best songs they can come up with--songs that transcend all genres--and the "southern soul" will take care of itself.
T. K. Soul does that. He goes his own way. That's why, at this point in time, I don't fault him at all for the experimentation in "Ghetto Superstar." (After a trilogy of great albums? Are you kidding?) T.K.'s just doing his thing, stretching out, and he'll come back even stronger. You wait and see, #1 fan.
--Daddy B. Nice
Tidbits
1.
August 18, 2013:
T. K. Soul on YouTube:
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Cheating And Lying" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "From Blues To Southern Soul" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Party Like Back In The Day" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Try Me" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Zydeco Bounce" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "You Ring My Bell" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Rehab" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Try Me" Live Onstage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "#1 Fan" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "My Life" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Straight No Chaser" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "(Stepping On The) Soul Ship" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "You Got To Cheat" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Meet Me At The Spot" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "That's How I Feel" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Street Light" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Soul Ship" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "My Kind Of Girl" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "It Ain't Cheatin' Until You Get Caught" on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Zydeco Bounce" Live Onstage at Harlow's Casino in Greenville, Mississippi on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Party Like Back In The Day" Live Onstage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "It Ain't Cheatin' Until You Get Caught" Live Onstage at The Blues is Alright Tour in Shreveport, Louisiana on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "Flowers" Live Onstage in Laurel, Mississippi on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "We Gonna Party Tonight" on YouTube.
Listen to T K. Soul singing "#1 Fan" Live Onstage on YouTube.
Listen to T. K. Soul singing "She Told On Herself" on YouTube.
2.
From The Archives:
Your Daddy B. Nice just heard a riveting interview on WMPR (Jackson, Ms.) between DJ Ragman and Willie Clayton (Thursday, 9/21/06) in which "Rag" goaded Willie about how good T.K. Soul, "the bad boy of Southern Soul," was.
They were talking about an upcoming concert at the Laurel, Mississippi fairgrounds featuring Clayton (with whom T. K. Soul once apprenticed), Bobby Rush, T. K. Soul and Sheba Potts-Wright.
Well, Willie wasn't having any of it. Wouldn't say anything positive about T.K., and took umbrage with Ragman for talking about another artist on "his" interview time. Rag kept teasing him about T.K. Soul, however ("You ain't seen 'bad boy' lately, have ya?"), as if he were warning Willie that the competition at the concert was going to be stiff. DBN.
*****
3.
August 23, 2013:
T.K. debuted at #70 on Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 Southern Soul Artists (90's-00's). T.K. Soul has risen farther--from seventy to number four--than any other artist on the chart.
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4.
August 25, 2013:
Daddy B. Nice says T. K. Soul owes it to his fans (and to himself) to re-record (or re-mix) "Try Me" with real horns.
I've long carried the idea of writing a column entitled:
T.K. Soul's ground-breaking new album, LIFE AFTER LOVE, defers to the audience's wishes and needs as perhaps no other Southern Soul album has in years. It features T.K. at the peak of his creative and technical powers, with his love for his listeners at such a high level the album fairly pulses with emotional solace and buoyant optimism.
For many years, your Daddy B. Nice has teased Oxford, Mississippi, home of the University of Mississippi and "Living Blues" magazine, for completely ignoring (in terms of gigs and media) the southern soul musicians teeming just to the south. At last, a bona fide southern soul concert will be held Saturday, November 18, 2017, at The Martin Center, 1013 Jackson Avenue East. And who else but indefatigable touring artist T.K. Soul to initiate the town in southern soul music? See Daddy B. Nice's Concert Calendar.
In his first set of new material since 2014's LIFE AFTER LOVE, T.K. Soul abandons the pristine, guitar-driven sound that captivated so many fans of that album. (Tucka seemingly appropriated that instrumental sound for his new album, WORKING WITH THE FEELING.) In its stead T.K. returns to a more simplistic, at times glib, keyboard/synthesizer instrumentation recalling Carl Marshall's later work. While interesting and at times experimental, as a whole the songs lack the heft and durability of T.K.'s many hit singles. Knowing the heart T.K. has poured into his music, fans will forgive the techno-slanted production, but they may be scratching their heads at this release--and adjusting expectations may be in order. Two of the more compelling, if not slam-dunk-successful, tunes from the set are "The Ladies Love To Slide" and "Girl Bye," the former "techno" and the latter "experimental".
7. "The Ladies Love To Slide"
Honorary "B" Side
"Rehab"
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