Mickey Guyton’s 2020 song “Black Like Me,” released amid the national racial justice protests, was nominated for a Grammy, making her the first Black solo female artist to be nominated in a country music category.
A recent study from the University of Ottawa found a mere .03 percent of all songs on country radio from 2002 to 2020 were by Black women. Less than 1 percent of the over 400 artists signed to the three major country music labels are people of color, according to that study.
Still, Black women artists are making a mark. Valerie June, Yola, Brittney Spencer, and Yasmin Williams are just a few sisters resonating with existing country music lovers, and with an entirely new group of fans.
Many historically turned off a genre that has almost exclusively been marketed to white audiences. They see the industry changing and say their music can resonate not only with existing country music lovers, but with an entirely new group of fans who have been turned off by a genre that has almost exclusively been marketed to white audiences.
There are many emerging artists on this playlist actively shifting conversations in country music around inclusion and diversity. I’ve also included to long-standing artists like Tina Turner and Mavis Staples that have made an impact on country music.
Hope you all enjoy my GBN contribution Women’s History Month. I’ll be back next month. And as always, stay safe, sane, and kind.
It’s about Grammy-nominated R&B and gospel singer Erma Franklin, who was born #OnThisDay in 1938 and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Yes, she’s one of those Franklins:
You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.comor create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):
SHOW TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a bonus daily drop of Good Black News for Sunday, March 13th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
Today we’re going to celebrate R&B and gospel singer Erma Franklin, eldest daughter of Barbara Siggers and the Reverend C.L. Franklin, and she was born #OnThisDay in 1938.
Though known chiefly for touring with and singing backup for her younger sister (you might have heard of her – Aretha Franklin?) on songs such as “Respect” and “Jump To It,” Erma was a recording artist in her own right. When Aretha Franklin was signed early in her career to Columbia Records, Erma in kind was signed to Epic and released her one and only album for that label in 1962 entitled Her Name is Erma. The music was basically jazz standards and R&B covers and didn’t perform well.
Erma toured for a time as a featured vocalist with Lloyd Price until in 1967, she signed to a new label and scored a Top 10 R&B hit and Grammy nomination with her original recording of “Piece of My Heart”:
A few years later, that song would become a rock n roll staple when remade by Janis Joplin. Erma Franklin also recorded another Top 40 R&B hit “Gotta Find Me A Lover (24 Hours A Day)”:
[Excerpt of “Gotta Find Me A Lover (24 Hours A Day)” by Erma Franklin] She also covered “Son of a Preacher Man” on her Soul Sister album before her sister Aretha did on the same on her This Girl’s In Love With You album:
And not to be outdone by her songwriting sisters, Erma even wrote some of her own material, such as the could-have-been-a-hit with-proper-promotion song “You’ve Been Cancelled”:
Although Erma’s singing career had its peaks and valleys, her career in public service in her home state was steady.
Erma devoted most of her time and energy to Boysville of Michigan Inc., the largest childcare agency in the state, and acted as the liaison for twenty-five or more similar agencies in Michigan for decades.
In 1992, Erma Franklin’s singing career experienced a resurgence when in Great Britain, her original version of “Piece of My Heart” was re-released after its use in a popular Levi’s Jeans commercial.
It hit number nine in the UK, and Erma made her first and only solo music video, which is available on YouTube.
To learn more about Erma Franklin, check out the sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org. And of course, you can stream or buy her music online.
Intro and outro beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot. Excerpts of music by Erma Franklin were included in today’s episode under fair use.
If you like these Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links of your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.
For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.
Third time is the charm. The twice-pandemic delayed Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala will take place on June 16, 2022, at the Marriott Marquis New York’s Times Square, according to Variety.com.
Originally set for June 10, 2020, the June 16 ceremony will celebrate previously announced songwriters Mariah Carey, Pharrell Williams / Chad Hugo (the Neptunes), Ernie Isley / Marvin Isley / O’Kelly Isley / Ronald Isley / Rudolph Isley / Chris Jasper (the Isley Brothers), Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Steve Miller, , Rick Nowels and William “Mickey” Stevenson.
Paul Williams will receive the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award and Universal Music Publishing Chairman-CEO Jody Gerson will receive the Abe Olman Publisher Award.
Full biographies and a complete list of inductees are available on the Songwriters Hall of Fame website at https://www.songhall.org.
With all that’s going on in the world, we thought we’d offer some comfort this Music Monday in the form of a playlist of remakes and covers called “Cover Me Softly: Soul-Filled Remakes and Covers.”
Sometimes the songs are reimagined, elevated and fully remade, and other times they are faithful covers by the right artist, offering just the right notes and voicing.
We’ve got “Killing Me Softly,” originally by Robert Flack and reimagined by Fugees, Maxwell’s soul stirring take on Kate Bush‘s “This Woman’s Work,”Rihanna’s hauntingly similar yet very much her own gorgeous version of Tame Impala’s “Same Ole Mistakes,”Luther Vandross’ famous redo of Dionne Warwick’s “A House Is Not a Home,”Mariah Carey’s version of Prince’s “Beautiful Ones” with Dru Hill and more.
One song on our list poses the question: Can you successfully remake/cover your own song? In the case of Lionel Richie, that’s exactly what happened with “Lady.” “Lady” was written and produced by Richie and first recorded by American country music artist Kenny Rogersin 1980.
“Lady” is the first record of the 1980s to chart on all four of Billboard magazine’s singles charts – country, Hot 100, adult contemporary and Top Soul Singles. Almost two decades later, Richie revisited the hit by recording the song himself in 1998.
We highlight singer/songrwriter Gaitana and athlete-turned-politician Zhan Belenuik, two Black Ukrainians or Afro Ukrainians who represent a small but important part of the Ukrainian citizenry affected by the recent Russian invasion of that nation.
You can follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.comor create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a bonus daily drop of Good Black News for Saturday, February 26th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” format, published by Workman Publishing.
As the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces dominates global news, I’d like to dedicate this week’s bonus daily drop to the small but very real population of Afro-Ukrainians who are part of the citizenry that is struggling to survive as a nation.
Two Afro-Ukrainians with prominent international profiles are singer/ songwriter Gaitana, and politician and athlete Zhan Belenuik.
Gaitana made history when she represented Ukraine in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest and performed the song “Be My Guest,” placing 15th in the final.
Gaitana has a lovely, soulful voice and you can learn more about her and her music, sung mostly in her native tongue, on her website, gaitana.com, and you can stream her songs on Apple Music and Spotify.
Zhan Belenuik also made history in Ukraine with his 2019 election to Parliament as a member of President Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. In addition to being a former member of the Ukrainian Army, Belenuik has also represented Ukraine as a Greco Roman wrestler.
Belenuik competed and won the silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics and brought home the gold from the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Gaitana and Belenuik both have spoken about facing racism in their home country, but also embrace their and support their homeland.
I’d also like to shout out The Root reporter Terrell Jermaine Starr, who has reported about the history of Blacks in Ukraine, about Ukraine in general, hosts a podcast called Black Diplomats, and is currently in Ukraine reporting for CNN on the war as well as posting about it on Twitter.
To learn more about Belenuik, Gaitana and other Afro Ukrainians, check out the links to sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
This has been a bonus daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com,Amazon, Bookshop and other online retailers. Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.
For more Good Black News, you can check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodbinlacknews anywhere on social.
In it we talk about legendary duo Eric B. & Rakim and the song that became their industry calling card and helped up the game in hip hop – 1986’s “Eric B. Is President.”
You can also follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.comor create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
With the 1986 release of their first single, “Eric. B is President,”Eric. B & Rakim shook up the proverbial hip-hop tree. Deploying complex rhymes, internal musings, and visual storytelling, Rakim revolutionized the MC game, referencing Greek mythology in one bar and Janet Jackson songs in the next.
Eric B., meanwhile, as the DJ scratched, mixed, and sampled the bassline from Fonda Rae’s 1982 single “Over Like a Fat Rat,” added in drums from James Brown’s “Funky President (People It’s Bad),” threw in bits of “The Champ” by the Mohawks, along with the Honey Drippers’ “Impeach the President,” a few more samples, and one of the all-time classic punch lines ever rapped, “Eric B. Is President” was just the ticket to land them a major record deal at RCA and solidify their place in hip hop history.
To learn more about “Eric B. Is President,” check out the links to sources provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com, Amazon,Bookshop and other online retailers.
Intro and outro beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.
For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.
Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. As yesterday was what would have been song stylist Nancy Wilson’s 85th birthday, I have crafted an 85-song tribute playlist that spans her six decades-long recording career.
A prolific singer who recorded and released 52 albums, three-time Grammy Award winner Wilson was one of the greats who often is not given her just due in popular music history. For a time in the 1960s, Wilson was the second biggest recording artist at Capitol Records – the biggest being the Beatles.
Born on February 20, 1937 in Chillicothe, Ohio, Nancy Sue Wilson knew by the time she was four years old she would be a singer. By her teen years she won a talent contest and began performing on a local television program called Skyline Melodies, then became its host.
She soon met jazz saxophonist and bandleader Julius “Cannonball” Adderley, who was impressed with her talent and suggested she move to New York City. The move lead to Wilson landing a recording contract with Capitol and releasing her first single and album in 1960.
The first five songs that kick off this compilation are some of Wilson’s best known recordings, some of which charted on Billboard Magazine’s pop and/or R&B charts: “(You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am” – Pop #11; “Save Your Love For Me” – R&B #11; “Tell Me The Truth” – R&B #22 – others which are considered Nancy Wilson standards.
From Wilson’s rendition of “Fly Me To The Moon” off her first album, Like in Love, until the playlist’s conclusion, I’ve ordered the songs to play mostly in chronological order, to offer a sense of how Wilson’s music and voice developed from the 1960s on.
Highlights include her recordings with George Shearing and Cannonball Adderley (The Swingin’s Mutualand Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderleyare two classic Nancy Wilson albums that deserve to be purchased and heard in their entirety), and the live tracks from The Nancy Wilson Show recorded live at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the tracks from one of my personal favorite Nancy Wilson albums, 1971’s But Beautiful, where she is backed brilliantly by the Hank Jones Quartet.
I’d also like to point out Wilson’s superlative cover of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” from her 1970 album Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and the utterly surprising and borderline funky “Tell The Truth” from her 1974 All in Love is Fair LP written by Wilson along with Tennyson Stephens. And YES, the first line is “Bitches taking money and they livin’ well.” Seriously, enjoy.
There are more treasures than I can count in this playlist, especially her later recordings towards the end of her career before she stopped recording such as “When October Goes,” “Peel Me A Grape” and “The Golden Years.”
Wilson passed in 2018 but her music deserves and needs to continued to be appreciated and shared for generations to come. To quote GBN music contributor Jeff Meier from his Facebook tribute to Wilson when she passed:
“While she was probably not a jazz purists favorite jazz performer, a pop fan’s favorite pop singer, nor a soul fan’s top soul artist, she was something in the middle, an accurately self-proclaimed ‘song stylist’ who was a true pioneer in African-American ‘supper club’ entertainment, blending the best from the American songbook – pop, jazz, blues, show tunes into one stylish mix.
In the vein of Johnny Mathis and Lena Horne, she was beautiful, elegant, classy – and therefore also the perfect archetype of ‘guest’ to help integrate television in the early ’60s, when she was regularly featured on variety shows like Andy Williams, Hollywood Palace, Danny Kaye, Smothers Brothers, Carol Burnett and many more.
She is undoubtedly what Columbia Records was trying to turn Aretha Franklin into before Aretha broke free for Atlantic to become her true self. Good thing, because just as there was only one Aretha, there was also only one Nancy Wilson.”
I hope you enjoy this playlist, and please know we are still working behind the scenes on re-creating and offering our playlists via Apple Music for those who would like a non-Spotify option. As soon as they are ready, I’ll be sure to post and let you know.
2/22/22 UPDATE:
Good Black News is now officially on Apple Music! Going forward, we will offer all MUSIC MONDAY playlists on both platforms. Slowly but surely, we will add the playlists from past Music Mondays on Apple Music as well. Enjoy!
Today’s GBN Daily Drop Podcastis based on the Saturday, February 19 entry in the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 about the multi-talented former Disney Channel star, global box-office phenom and fashion icon Zendaya Coleman, in the category of what else… Black Girl Magic!
You can also follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.comor create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Friday, February 18th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing. Today’s category? Black Girl Magic. The person? Zendaya.
“Euphoria” must describe the feeling Zendaya Coleman has on the regular. Not only did she become the youngest person ever to win a Primetime Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2020 for her performance in HBO’s Euphoria, the multi-talented performer has landed Top 40 hits as a musical artist, starred in blockbusters such as Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and The Greatest Showman—she can even do a convincing trapeze act!
The Duneand Malcolm and Marie star also claimed fashion icon status with various magazine covers, red carpet arrivals and the 2019 launch of her Zendaya x Tommy collection with Tommy Hilfiger.
To learn more about Oakland native Zendaya, check out the links to sources provided in today’s show notes or in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com, Amazon, Bookshop and other online retailers. Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.
For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.
You can also follow or subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.comor create your own RSS Feed. Or just check it out every day here on the main website (transcript below):
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Thursday, February 17th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
In the wake of New York Fashion Week, today we take a look at designer Daniel Day, best known as “Dapper Dan.”
Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day made his mark in the 1980s by reworking luxury label products with a hip-hop aesthetic and a signature style.
Known first for his jackets and coats, the self-taught tailor dressed artists such as LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Eric B. & Rakim and Salt-N-Pepa and athletes such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather.
After legal trouble with several designer brands, Dan made a comeback in 2017 by partnering with Gucci to create a new menswear line. Dan and Gucci built on that success and in 2018 opened the first luxury fashion house in his home neighborhood called Dapper Dan’s of Harlem.
Links to these and other sources on Dapper Dan are provided in today’s show notes and also in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing, and available at workman.com, Amazon, Bookshop and other online retailers. Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.
For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.
Happy 14th of February! It’s your friend and selector, Marlon!
We are halfway through Black History Month. It’s Valentine’s Day! If you are like my kid, it could be your birthday too. And of course, it is Music Monday here at GBN.
I am thrilled to offer this collection of mushy stuff. Here is a full workday wit of music devoted to affairs of the heart. Love is the thing all right here, at Good Black News.
This playlist brings together classics by Aretha, Stevie, Marvin, Sade, and others, along with new voices of artists like Tamia, Mario, and Liza.
There are songs here about new and enduring love. Tracks about the peril and pain of romance, everything in between.
Hope you enjoy this Valentine’s Day offering. See you all next month.
When Aretha Franklin was signed early in her career to Columbia Records, Erma in kind was signed to Epic and released her one and only album for that label in 1962 entitled Her Name is Erma. The music was basically jazz standards and R&B covers and didn’t perform well.
She also covered “Son of a Preacher Man” on her Soul Sister album before her sister Aretha did on the same on her This Girl’s In Love With You album:
