Happy Music Monday! I hope this missive finds you smiling and well. It’s your musical motorist back again with a new collection to enjoy today and all week long.
Here’s over ten hours of duets and collaborations between artists of many styles. From the rock and soul collabs of Mary J. Blige and U2 “One” and Jack White and Beyoncé’s “Don’t Hurt Yourself” to love ballads of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and Rick James and Teena Marie’s “Fire and Desire”, there are duets of all ilk.
There’s new tracks from Burna Boy and Shaboozey’s “Change Your Mind”, Alice Smith and Miles Caton’s “Last Time I Seen The Sun” and many more.
There are songs included like “Stand Back” by Stevie Nicks and “Why Should I Love You” by Kate Bush that have shadow arrangements and backing vocals by Prince.
The Roots have longstanding collaborators like Jill Scott and Bilal and they are represented on this playlist too.
There are so many wonderful duets out there I didn’t even get around to Jazz duets. So stay tuned for another playlist of Jazz collaborators coming to another Music Monday near you.
For now, please enjoy this collection of soul and rockin’ duets.
Being your groove chauffeur at GBN is the closest I’ll ever come to having a blog or column. In the years I’ve pecked write-ups for these Music Monday playlists, I have often discovered new tracks and artists in an attempt to be comprehensive in my collections.
I have more than once received wonderful additions and suggestions to my playlists. I’ve taken them all, too. I have also advocated for the broader appreciation of various artists here.
With the announcement of his passing I was struck by how little I knew about that talented artist. I had never seen or read an interview with Frankie Beverly. Never seen a tabloid headline about his drug use, trashing hotels, affairs, or his violent temper. I’d never seen him glad-handing on a late-night or daytime talk show.
Frankie Beverly, in my experience, spoke through his music only. For all I knew, Frankie Beverly could have been a benevolent celestial being who came to Earth to commune with a people in need of his message of joy, passion, and hope. He could have been an ebony immortal, like those of Tananarive Due’s books, who shared his insight of the human heart and soul gained through the centuries he had walked the earth.
That is how warm and enigmatic our dear brotha, Frankie Beverly, was to me. The native of Philadelphia and California transplant never gained the crossover success of Marvin Gaye, Al Green or Maurice White. Though as Essence magazine declared back in 2017: “There isn’t a cookout, not a wedding or family reunion in Black America where you won’t hear” him and Maze.
Frankie Beverly (via Flickr)
That has been true for nearly 50 years. It was Marvin Gaye that suggested to Beverly that he change the name of his band from Raw Soul to Maze. He helped get them signed too, which led to nine albums that all were certified gold.
Here is what I’ll offer as a quintessential collection of Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly. Please enjoy. Dig what New York Times writer, Ben Ratliff, had to say about the voice of Beverly:
“His voice was half-scorched, and some of the usual traces of Donny Hathaway and Sam Cooke weren’t coming through. But he managed by keeping it in the middle register and by adding small vocal gestures to the rhythm cycles — percussive uh-uhs and dibba-dibbas, gospel grunts.”
Frankie Beverly spent a lifetime singing about joy and desire. Though he dealt in reality, as well as the perils of hurting those around him. See you all next month.
And as always, stay safe, sane, and kind.
Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
Editor’s Note: Marlon’s piece on the late, great Frankie Beverly was lovingly crafted by him days ago and scheduled to post today. Last night’s untimely passing of musical legend Tito Jackson and the legacy he left behind will be addressed by GBN in the very near future.
Happy MLK Holiday and Music Monday. Here is our first playlist of 2024.
“MLK Day 2024” is a collection of songs and music from across the globe. They are tracks devoted to struggle, liberation, and celebration.
I’ve included songs like “You’re A Winner,” “How I Got Over,” and “A Change Is Gonna Come” that were the real-time soundtracks to the America’s civil rights struggle in the 1960s.
There’s tracks from the turbulent 1970s and ‘80s from Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Freda Payne,Gil Scott-Heron and others.
We got new and old school hip-hop by Lupe Fiasco, KRS-One, M.I.A. and Kendrick Lamar to name a few.
This 13-hour exploration on shining a light into our societies dark places and making the world a better place features jazz, soul, reggae and afrobeat.
Nina Simone and Max Roach are here beside Uganda’s Bobi Wine and Ivory Coast’s Alpha Blondy.
Please enjoy this daylong celebration of tenacity and hope. See ya next month!
For many of us 2022 was a time of recovering from lockdown. It was a return to normalcy for many of us. I am wishing you all safe and wonderful Holiday Season.
I am more than delighted to share this week’s playlist, Groove Christmas 2022, just in time to share and gather with friends and family.
As usual this is freewheeling and “afroclectic” collection season tunes from several genres. Soul, Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, and many other styles are on hand for the Christmastime collection. You know, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Eartha Kitt, Donny Hathaway, Sharon Jones and other Christmas standard-bearers are on hand.
Though there are artist like Aloe Blacc, Vika & Linda, Kontawa, and DRAM with recent releases.
Whether you are staying home, or traveling, please have a wonderful, and peaceful, holiday season.
It has been an honor and delight to share music with you all here on Good Black News for another trip around the sun. I’ll see you back here in January with a round-up of this year.
If you are a regular listener of Good Black News’ Music Monday playlists, we’re sure you’ve noticed by now that we’ve got some serious Stevie Wonder fans in the house. In 2020, we even celebrated his 70th birthday with a whole month of fantastic playlists (some links below).
And now that Mr. Wonder’s birthday week again (on this Friday the 13th), we’ve got a new playlist to share – this one built around songs that he composed for other artists – it’s called “Written By Wonder, First Sung By Another”:
This playlist is comprised of over 90 songs spanning from the mid-60s when he was still just a teenage songwriter, up through the list’s most recent composition, a 2011 release from smooth jazz vocalist Maysa called “Have Sweet Dreams.”
Many people already know of the hits Stevie wrote for others – classics such as The Spinners’ “It’s A Shame,” Jermaine Jackson’s “Let’s Get Serious,” Third World’s “Try Jah Love,” Rufus feat. Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good,” and of course, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ “The Tears of a Clown.”
But his writing legacy goes so much deeper than that.
[Photo: GBN Contributor Joyce Lakin (l) and GBN Editor-in-Chief Lori Lakin Hutcherson (r) in Maui, 2005]
Good Black News wants to take a moment on this day to honor and remember the women who gave us life, who nurtured and raised us, and also offered us solace, counsel, wisdom, humility and humor.
To all the mothers out there – be they Aunties, Grandmothers, Cousins or Friends – thank you for all you do!
And to one mom out there in particular — Joyce Lakin — we want to thank you for all of the above and also for agreeing to put together a playlist of some of your all-time favorite songs to share with all the other moms and children out there who grew up on their mom’s music!
On this list there’s clearly songs you grew up on (Johnny Mathis, Etta James, Sammy Davis, Jr.), songs that were your jams that became our jams (Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Prince) and songs that are refreshing surprises — Jay Z and J. Lo — who knew?!
If anyone out there is still lucky enough to have their mom, we encourage you to ask them for their playlist — and you’ll learn more about your mom and yourself than you’d imagine!
Marvin Gaye is known worldwide as a key R&B, soul and pop music innovator from the 1960s on. But what may not be well known about Gaye is that his earliest musical ambitions were to sing and perform jazz.
As it’s #JazzAppreciationMonth in addition to what would have been Gaye’s 83rd birthday, we honor his contributions to the genre in today’s daily drop. To hear it, press PLAY:
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. Full transcript below:
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, April 2nd, 2022, based on the format of the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
The incomparable musician and artist Marvin Gaye was born #onthisday in 1939 in Washington D.C.
From the 1960s on, he helped define the sound of R&B, soul and pop music, as well as blazed a trail for singer-songwriter concept albums exploring personal and social issues in depth with his classic 1972 LP What’s Going On.
But what may not be well known about Gaye, even though he started his professional career in the 1950s as a doo wop singer in the New Moonglows with Harvey Fuqua, it’s that his earliest musical ambitions for himself were to be a jazz singer and player in the ilk of Nat King Cole.
When Fuqua moved to Detroit in 1960, Gaye followed and soon signed his own solo contract with Motown subsidiary Tamla Records.
And even though his maiden release was titled The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, as Berry Gordy had other ideas in mind for Gaye than Gaye had, 9 of the 11 tracks on it were, at Gaye’s insistence, jazz standards, such as “My Funny Valentine”:
[Excerpt of “My Funny Valentine”]
“Witchcraft”:
[Excerpt of “Witchcraft”]
and “How High The Moon”:
[Excerpt of “How High The Moon”]
Even though Gaye’s first album and the singles released from it didn’t sell well, the title track of his next album, That Stubborn Kind of Fellow became a Top 10 R&B hit and the trajectory of Gaye’s musical path in the public’s – and Berry Gordy’s — perception was set.
But Gaye, still a lover of jazz, returned right to it on his 1964 release When I’m Alone I Cry, this time with way better production value and input from respected jazz musicians and arrangers Melba Liston and Ernie Wilkins. The album starts with Gaye’s smoldering version of “You’ve Changed”:
[Excerpt of “You’ve Changed”]
The LP also includes Gaye’s takes on “I’ll Be Around”:
[Excerpt of “I’ll Be Around”]
“I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”:
[Excerpt of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”]
And “Because of You”
[Excerpt of “Because of You”]
In 1965, Gaye even did a tribute album to Nat “King” Cole after Cole’s passing called A Tribute to the Great Nat “King” Cole where Gaye covered “Straighten Up and Fly Right”:
[Excerpt of “Straighten Up and Fly Right”]
“Mona Lisa”:
[Excerpt of “Mona Lisa”]
“It’s Only a Paper Moon”:
[Excerpt of “It’s Only a Paper Moon”]
and, of course, “Unforgettable”:
[Excerpt of “Unforgettable”]
After this album, the majority of Gaye’s recordings were contemporary soul, pop and R&B, even though he still managed to include a gorgeous, bluesy remake of “One for My Baby (And One for the Road)” on his 1966 The Moods of Marvin Gaye LP:
[Excerpt from “One for My Baby”]
Only after Marvin Gaye’s untimely passing in 1984, did more of his jazz-influenced recording sessions from the late 1960s and 1970s come to light on the posthumous albums Romantically Yours, which was issued in 1985 and Vulnerable which came out in 1997. On those you can hear Gaye’s takes on “I Won’t Cry Anymore”:
[Excerpt from “I Won’t Cry Anymore”]
His experimental version of “Shadow of Your Smile”:
[Excerpt from “Shadow of Your Smile”]
“Funny, Not Much”:
[Excerpt from “Funny, Not Much”]
And the arresting “I Wish I Didn’t Love You So” which seems to capture every nuance of Marvin Gaye’s voice, style and innovations across all the genres he loved:
[Excerpt from “I Wish I Didn’t Love You So”]
Even though Gaye’s indelible legacy was forged from different genres of music entirely, Gaye also gave us much to appreciate about him in the realm of jazz.
To learn more about Marvin Gaye and his jazz leanings, check out the “Standards of Marvin Gaye” episode of WFIU’s weekly music show Afterglow hosted by Mark Chilla, read Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gayebiography by David Ritz and of course, stream or buy all of the albums mentioned during this drop to hear even more of Marvin Gaye’s forays into jazz.
Links to these sources 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 format of “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022,” published by Workman Publishing. Intro and outro beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.
All excerpts of music from Marvin Gaye are included 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, you can 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.
Happy Holiday Season, you all! I am thrilled to offer this “afroclectic” of music to round out 2021’s Christmastime. With more that a little help from my friends I’ve assembled another freewheeling collection.
There are tracks from fellow contributor, Jeff Meier’s ULTIMATE SOUL OF THE SEASON SOUNDTRACK, and our fearless leader, Lori Lakin Hutcherson’s A MERRY MOTOWN playlist, plus dozens of favorites and recent discoveries of my own.
Of course, Donny Hathaway, Sharon Jones, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye and other Christmas standard-bearers are present. Though there are 2021 holiday releases by Bill Will, Nao, Mandisa, José James, Shaggy and others as well. Here’s over thirteen hours of soul, jazz, reggae, gospel, hip hop, and more to for a Christmas musical journey.
Whether you are staying put, or travel far, please do have a wonderful, peaceful, and safe holiday season. It has been a pleasure and honor share music with you all here on Good Black News for another year.
Stay safe, sane, and kind. And I’ll see ya back here in the ‘22!
Less that two weeks away, Christmas 2021 is fast approaching. Which means (if we’re lucky), more shopping, more gatherings, more cooking, eating and more time with loved ones. Which in turn means –more holiday music!
This week, we’re offering a collection near and dear to our ears that includes classic and modern takes on holiday favorites by artists who recorded on the legendary Motown label:
From Stevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Temptations, Four Tops, Jackson 5 to the Supremes, the Hitsville U.S.A. first gen hitmakers are doing their thing, as are next gen artists Ne-Yo, Boyz II Men, Kim Weston, Tiana Major 9 and more.
Wishing you all the best as we celebrate the season. Enjoy!
