Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and a trip to St. Louis for the first time in 15 months put this brotha in a mood for mushy stuff.
In this, more than a year of making playlists for GBN, I haven’t done a collection of love songs. Haven’t even done one for Valentine’s Day. Well, here’s an eclectic dose of lovey dove songs:
Some are overtly romantic, others about longing, and still some about loss. Jazz, R&B, Reggae, Rock ‘n Roll, and other genres are presented here.
Hope you enjoy these hours of love songs. Have a great week.
We’ve been wanting to post to acknowledge all the fathers, uncles, stepfathers and loved ones who have been parenting, raising and advising the next generations, but our site has been having serious server issues since dawn.
So even though we are nearing dusk, and we posted what we could on our social media, we’re taking advantage of this moment of connectivity to say “Happy Father’s Day” on our main page and offer a playlist dedicated to the dads called “Color Him Father” – A Father’s Day Collection:
This 20-songs compilation offers praise, introspection, dreams, admonition and advice from myriad genres and perspectives – from The Winstons‘ appreciation of a stepfather on “Color Him Father,” to Will Smith‘s heartfelt expression of how it feels to become a dad on “Just The Two Of Us,” to Beyoncé’s appreciation of different aspects of her father on “Daddy” and “Daddy Lessons.”
Also included are Prince‘s declaration of love for his father amid complexities on “Purple Rain” and Kirk Whalum‘s soulful, jazz cover of “Because You Loved Me” which Diane Warren wrote about her relationship with her father, DMX and Usher‘s heartbreaking plea “Letter To My Son (Call Your Father)”, and classics like “Daddy’s Home” – the popular cover by Jermaine Jackson as well as the original version by Shep and The Limelites.
We hope it’s been a great day for all those in the dad role today, and hope you enjoy the above, knowing you are seen, honored and loved through thick and thin.
Here is a collection of Black women guitarists and bassists. While woman singers and songwriters often are spotlighted, we want to celebrate women’s fiery musicianship with this playlist.
We are showcasing the legends—many of whom have unfortunately been overlooked, dismissed, or forgotten—who should be recognized as pillars of music history.
This playlist was inspired by SheShreds.com. They are all about steps “taken towards exposing the truth.” It’s for all of us who can’t count the names of Black women guitarists on one hand.
It’s for the young Black girls aspiring to be musicians but seldom see a history that represents them. It’s to learn about our past and evolve into our future—and without Black history, we cannot accurately do so.”
So here’s a playlist to sistas who’s names you’ve heard countless times, such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Elizabeth Cotten, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Odetta and Barbara Lynn, though there are others who took some digging to find. Please enjoy! There are plenty of treasures to get got.
Tania León for Music for Stride, Marcia Chatelain for History for Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, Mitchell S. Jackson for Feature Writing for Twelve Minutes and a Life, Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch for Commentary (link to Williams’ winning works here) and Wesley Morris of the New York Times for Criticism (link to Morris’ winning works here).
Pulitzer gave its 2021 Special Citation Award to Darnella Frazier, the young woman who recorded the murder of George Floyd on her phone, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice. Past recipients in the special citation category include investigative journalist Ida B. Wells and Aretha Franklin.
Mitchell S. Jackson’s winning essay from June 2020, Twelve Minutes and a Life, offered a deeply affecting account of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery that combined vivid writing, thorough reporting and personal experience to shed light on systemic racism in America.
A formerly incarcerated person, Jackson is also a social justice advocate who engages in outreach in prisons and youth facilities in the United States and abroad.
Georgetown University professor Marcia Chatelain’s Franchise offers a nuanced account of the complicated role the fast-food industry plays in African-American communities, a portrait of race and capitalism that masterfully illustrates how the fight for civil rights has been intertwined with the fate of Black businesses.
Hall’s Hot Wing King is a deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived, filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.
Tania Leon’s Stride premiered at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City on February 13, 2020, a musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the US and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric.
To see the complete list of 2021 Pulitzer Prize recipients and more details about them, click here.
[Photo collage: top l-r are Darnella Frazier, Wesley Morris, Tania León; bottom l-r are Katori Hall, Michael Paul Williams, Marcia Chatelain via pulitzer.org]
Well, it is always African American Music Appreciation Month (aka Black Music Month) around these parts! We celebrate Black music every week here at Good Black News.
It’s been more than a year since I started making weekly playlists honoring African American music in its many forms.
If you’ve been tuning in with any regularity, you know I am no stranger to a free-wheeling and hours-long playlist.
When it comes to a collection that tracks Gospel, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Rock, Hip-Hop, and everything in between, this one was bound to be a long one:
Have a great week.
Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
[Editor’s Note: ICYMI, below are links to some of Marlon’s most popular playlists from 2020. Enjoy!]
Michelle and Barack Obama announced yesterday that they have executive produced and Netflix will stream We the People, a 10-episode television series aimed at educating children on United States civics lessons, starting on July 4 of this year.
Across all three-minute music videos, the Obamas have enlisted artists such as Grammy and Academy Award winner H.E.R., Andra Day, Janelle Monáe, rapper Cordae, rock singer Adam Lambert, Frozenand Frozen 2composers Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Hamilton‘s Daveed Diggs, Brittany Howard, In the Heights and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brandi Carlile, KYLE, Bebe Rexha, , and Biden inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to perform original songs and compositions that will soundtrack each narrative.
Episodes were directed by Peter Ramsey, Trisha Gum, Victoria Vincent, Benjy Brooke, Mabel Ye, Tim Rauch, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Daron Nefcy, Everett Downing, and Kendra Ryan. Each episode will offer lessons on basics of U.S. citizenship and rights, evoking the beloved Schoolhouse Rock series that originally aired on ABC in the 1970s.
Other producers on the project include Black-ishcreator Kenya Barris and Doc McStuffins creator Chris Nee.
Ahead of We the People‘s July 4 premiere date on Netflix, the show will premiere at a free screening in the DOCS Talks section of the American Film Institute‘s DOCS film festival on Thursday, June 24.
It’s more than fitting that this year’s Black Music Month begins with the release of a tribute anthem honoring the legacy of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the 100th anniversary of its purposeful destruction, which was officially acknowledged by President Joe Biden in a speech yesterday.
“We Will Never Forget” is the featured track from LeBron James’ Springhill Company and CNN Documentary film, Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street, that premiered on CNN on the centennial anniversary of the Black Wall Street Massacre May 31, 2021.
This soul stirring song recorded by Omarion, Lalah Hathaway and Kierra Sheard, written and produced by Greg Curtis and executive produced by Michelle Le Fleur, honors the families and descendants of the 1921 Greenwood District massacre in Tulsa.
Proceeds from the single benefit social change grassroots organization Color of Change to aid the social justice movement to end systemic racism and racially motivated violence.
Color of Change currently has a campaign going to demand the Centennial Commission and City of Tulsa give 80% of the $30 million raised to the survivors and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Learn more about it here.
Happy Memorial Day, you all. I also need to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Black Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Last week included the 95th anniversary of the birth of Miles Davis. His hometown of East St. Louis, Missouri was the site of another race massacre in 1917.
So much has been written about Miles Davis. Including is his own autobiography. There have been documentaries long and short about him, so I won’t go on.
At over 10 hours this collection is still the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes his creative output. Miles was a giant in American music, and one of this nation’s most iconic and influential figures in music and culture.
In a career that spanned five decades, he kept at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz. From being of the vanguards of bebop and blazing the trail of electric jazz.
The list of his collaborators is far too long, but here are just a few: Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Max Roach, Gil Evans, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, and Joe Zawinul.
Miles Davis gave many of these now-legendary artists, who all appear on this playlist, their first break. Davis was tough as nails from all reports, though he seemed more than willing to imbue great vulnerability and tenderness in his playing.
Happy Monday from your friend and selector, Marlon. This collection features Calypso classics from the late 1930s to the 1960s, where this musical style reached many through the internationally popular recordings of Harry Belafonte.
I have included many of his predecessors: Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion, The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Invader to name but a few. Lord Invader’s “Rum and Coca-Cola” was covered with great success by the Andrews Sisters.
Another “Lord,” Lord Kitchener, was one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history. He continued to release hit records until his death in 2000.
The roots of Calypso music started in 17th century Trinidad. The Africans brought to toil on sugar plantations, were stripped of all connections to their homeland and family, and not allowed to talk to each other.
They used calypso to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. It is characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals and is usually sung in a French creole and led by a griot.
While Calypso is most often danceable, there often much social commentary, and innuendo laced in the lyrics.
Hope you enjoy this collection of music that would go on to influence Ska, Rocksteady, and Reggae.
Have a great week! And as always stay safe, sane, and kind.
