There was a great moment that happened at last night’s Academy Awards, but because it happened directly after a shocking moment, it’s not getting the all the flowers and love it should.
So for this #MusicMonday, we are fully celebrating the fact that Summer of Soul, the feature documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival directed by The Roots co-founder and musical impresario Questlove, won a much-deserved Oscar. And if you (like so many of us) missed his acceptance speech, here it is:
https://youtu.be/IPbOF4wpEVw
Still streaming on Hulu and available on DVD, Summer of Soul is an education and gift to the eyes and ears and if you don’t currently have access to Summer of Soul, the movie, listening to the music from the acts featured in the film is the next best thing:
I’ve included the playlist of the official soundtrack album along with an extended playlist.
From Sly and the Family Stone to the Fifth Dimension,Stevie Wonder,Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, The Staples Singers, Mongo Santamaria,David Ruffin,Mahalia Jackson,Mavis Staples and others, the music on display and the stories behind the event are close to (if not completely) mind-blowing.
And if you need another push to check it out (or revisit it), here’s the trailer of the documentary:
Thank you, again, Questlove and all the artists involved that helped bring the “Summer of Soul” into our lives for all seasons. You all truly made — and resurrected — important cultural history.
Today we celebrate the one and only Aretha Franklin, who was born 80 years ago #OnThisDay.
Franklin, whose voice was rightfully declared a natural resource by her home state of Michigan in 1985 is the focus of our Daily Drop podcast as GBN takes a brief look at her legacy through career highlights and offers sources to learn even more about the Queen of Soul.
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, March 25th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin was born on this day 80 years ago and offered a heavenly blend of gospel, R&B, blues, jazz, rock and pop (and even classical!) that this Earth may never see again. A piano prodigy from childhood, this Grammy-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famer wrote and performed classics such as “Think”:
[Excerpt from “Think”]
“Dr. Feelgood”:
[Excerpt from “Dr. Feelgood”]
“Day Dreaming”:
[Excerpt from “Day Dreaming”]
“Spirit in the Dark”:
[Excerpt from “Spirit in the Dark”]
and “Call Me”:
[Excerpt from “Call Me”]
Franklin also used her musical genius to turn cover songs into signature masterpieces such as “I Say a Little Prayer” – first recorded and released by Dionne Warwick:
[Excerpt from “Say a Little Prayer”]
“Until You Come Back to Me” – originally recorded by Stevie Wonder, though Aretha released her version first:
[Excerpt from “Until You Come Back to Me”]
And, the mother of all covers and remakes, ever, originally written, recorded and released by Otis Redding… “Respect”:
[Excerpt from “Respect”]
https://youtu.be/6S1_skidDFI
Additionally, Aretha Franklin’s 1972 Amazing Grace double album remains the best-selling live gospel music recording of all time, and her rendition of the title track to this day remains superlative:
[Excerpt from “Amazing Grace”]
Aretha continued to define and redefine singing and the sound of music in the 1980s and 1990s with songs like “Jump to It”:
[Excerpt from “Jump to It”]
“Freeway of Love”:
[Excerpt from “Freeway of Love”]
“I Knew You Were Waiting For Me” with George Michael:
[Excerpt from “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me”]
The anthemic “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” with Annie Lennox:
[Excerpt from “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves”]
and her 1998 collaboration with Lauryn Hill, “A Rose Is Still A Rose.”
Still going strong in the 21st century, in 2014 at the age of 72, Aretha scored a #1 hit on the U.S. Dance Charts with her remake of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”:
You can also check out a few Aretha Franklin playlists curated by me, one of the biggest Aretha Franklin stans around, on Spotify and Apple Music.
Links to these and other sources are 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. Excerpts of songs performed by Aretha Franklin are permitted under Fair Use.
If you like our Daily Drops, please consider following us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon,Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You could give us a positive rating or review, share your favorite episodes on social media, or go old school and tell a friend.
For more Good Black News, you can check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.
Today’s GBN Daily Drop podcast is a bonus episode about rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe who was born #OnThisDay in 1915, for Sunday, March 20 and based on the “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day®️ Calendar for 2022 format:
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 20th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
When gospel and R&B guitar sensation Sister Rosetta Tharpe reportedly said, “Can’t no man play like me,” she might not have had a clue how many would actually try.
Little Richard cited Tharpe as one of his major influences, and Chuck Berry once said his career was “one long Rosetta Tharpe impression.”
Born on this day in 1915, Arkansas native Tharpe’s 1930s and 1940s recordings of “Rock Me”:
[Excerpt of “Rock Me”]
“Strange Things Happening Every Day”:
[Excerpt of “Strange Things Happening Every Day”]
“I Want A Tall Skinny Papa”:
[Excerpt of “I Want A Tall Skinny Papa”]
and the classic “Didn’t It Rain”:
[Excerpt of “Didn’t It Rain”]
These songs melded gospel, jazz and Rhythm and Blues into what was soon and would forever be called rock n roll. In 2018, Tharpe was finally and rightfully inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her musicianship and influence.
This February, Gibson Guitars also debuted the Rosetta Tharpe Collection of merchandise in tribute to her, including a miniature replica of the iconic 1961 Les Paul she used to play.
Links to these sources and more are 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.
Beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot. Excerpts of songs by Rosetta Tharpe permitted 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 to 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.
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.
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 daily drop of Good Black News for Friday, March 11th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
It’s in the category we call “Lemme Break It Down,” where we explore the origins and meanings of words and phrases rooted in the Black Lexicon and Black culture. Today’s word? “Sadiddy.”
“Sadiddy” — s-a-d-i-d-d-y — is a term meaning stuck-up, snobby, arrogant, conceited or superior- acting. What Brandy says she ain’t in her 2004 song of the same name:
[Excerpt from “Sadiddy” by Brandy]
Alternate spellings include “s-e-d-i-t-ty-,” “s-a-d-d-i-t-y,” “s-a-d-i-t-t-y” or basically any two words put together that sound like “suh” and “ditty.” The word is traceable in written form to the 1940s, where it was employed in several African American newspaper columns.
Example usage: “She used to be cool, but ever since she bought that used Mercedes, she’s acting all sadiddy.”
To learn more about sadiddy, there are two great segments on the A Way With Words show on Soundcloud, that discuss the etymology of “sadiddy” in more detail, and I’ll provide the links to both in today’s show notes as well embed them in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
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.
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:
