Happy springtime from your friend and selector, Marlon!
Here’s a freewheeling playlist, and a seemingly random collection of tunes. Though what they all have in common is famous folks, sometimes uncredited, singing backup.
In some cases it is an established artist leading a hand, like Stevie Wonder contributing to Jermaine Jackson’s “Let’s Get Serious,” or a then-unknown protege like Lou Rawls singing behind his childhood pal Sam Cooke on “Bring It On Home To Me.”
In some tracks, you won’t be able to pick them out. Though in others you will never be able to hear the same again without recognizing them. Here is a breakdown of each song and who’s helping out in the background. Enjoy!
[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!
On Easter Sunday, GBN celebrates Thomas A. Dorsey, who once worked as Ma Rainey‘s pianist and musical director, and wrote and sang blues songs as the “Georgia Tom” half of the Georgia Tom and Tampa Red duo before revolutionizing gospel music by integrating the feeling of the blues into sacred songs.
To read about Dorsey, read on. To hear about him, press PLAY:
[You can subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.comor create your own RSS Feed. Or listen every day here on the main page. Full transcript below]:
Hey, this is Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Sunday, April 17, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.
Gospel music existed before Georgia native Thomas Dorsey turned his ear and pen to it, but it was never the same after.
Working most famously as the piano player and musical director for blues legend Gertrude “Ma” Rainey in the 1920s under the moniker “Georgia Tom.” Despite this success, Dorsey fell into a prolonged period of depression for almost two years and barely performed.
In 1928, Dorsey attended a spirited church service where he claimed a minister pulled a live serpent from his throat. From that point on, Dorsey vowed to dedicate himself to composing gospel music. Dorsey wrote “If You See My Savior” in honor of a friend who passed, which combined a blues feeling into a more traditional hymnal structure:
[Excerpt of “If You See My Savior”]
Dorsey tried to sell his new sacred songs directly to publishers and churches but initially had no luck and returned to writing the blues. With duet partner Tampa Red, as “Georgia Tom” Dorsey had a big hit in 1928, selling over seven million copies of “It’s Tight Like That”:
[Excerpt of “It’s Tight Like That”]
This type of “dirty blues” or “Hokum” songs proved to be popular and the duo recorded and performed for years until Dorsey finally turned to gospel music for good.
He formed a gospel blues choir in Chicago, which helped the new style catch on, and soon became the musical director for Pilgrim Baptist Church and running his own music publishing company.
Dorsey worked with a young Mahalia Jackson in the late 1920s and originally composed for Jackson what became a beloved song not only in gospel blues circles, but country & western as well.
[Excerpt of “Peace in the Valley” by Red Foley & the Sunshine Boys]
“Peace in the Valley” has been recorded by over the decades by artists such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Little Richard, Red Foley & the Sunshine Boys, Johnny Cash,Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton.
And while he was still in his gospel group in the 1960s, Sam Cooke and his Soul Stirrers took their turn in the valley as well:
[Excerpt of “Peace in the Valley” by Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers]
In Dorsey’s lifetime, which was long – he lived to 93 – Dorsey composed over 3,000 songs, including the one Martin Luther King, Jr. said was his favorite, the one Mahalia Jackson ended up singing at his funeral, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”:
[Excerpt of “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”]
Dorsey’s songs changed the sound of sacred music and influenced generations to come, which is why he is often called “The Father of Gospel Music.”
Dorsey has been inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Dorsey by adding his album Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey, to the United States National Recording Registry.
You can also watch 2005’s The Story of Gospel Musicdocumentary, which is currently available on DVD.
And every year, Dorsey’s hometown of Villa Rica, Georgia holds an annual Thomas A. Dorsey Birthplace Heritage Festivalof gospel music. This year’s will be held on June 25thand 26th.
Links to these sources and more are provided in today’s show notes and the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.
And before we go, let’s hear a clip of Thomas Dorsey himself speaking on the meaning of gospel:
“Down through the ages gospel – what? What did they say was? You mean to tell me you don’t know that good news? On down to the ages, gospel was good news. Now if you don’t know that I’ll rush you out of here myself.”
This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, written, produced and hosted by yours truly, Lori Lakin Hutcherson. Intro and outro beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.
“Roll Jordan Roll” by the Fisk Jubilee Singers is in the Public Domain.
Excerpts of songs composed by Thomas A. Dorsey are included under Fair Use.
If you like these Daily Drops, follow 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.
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Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. As this past Saturday was what would have been Sam Cooke’s 91st birthday, and since Marlon Westcrafted such a lovely tribute playlist to the “King of Soul” in honor of his 90th last year, I thought it fitting to share it once again in case anyone missed it:
What I’d like to add this time around — you can read Marlon’s words about Cooke and his indelible contributions to music and the genre of Soul here — is a couple of great podcasts I heard about Cooke’s musical journey in the past year.
The first is the “Don’t Know Much About History” episode of Chris Molanphy‘s Hit Parade podcast, which covers the chart history and influence of Sam Cooke’s singing and songwriting on American popular music:
The second is an in-depth look at “You Send Me” as one of the pivotal songs in the long term development and metamorphosis of the genre called Rock music (which has its roots in jazz, blues, R&B, country and soul) in Andrew Hickey‘s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs:
There may be even more in depth looks at Cooke and his music in the podcast verse, but these are two that I’ve heard and can assure you are worth your time.
The two documentaries available on Amazon Prime, I gotta admit, not as much. Worth it if you want to know more about the parts of Cooke’s life and his untimely death that sometimes overshadow his contributions to music. I’ve watched them both, and the archival footage of Cooke’s performances in Legend makes it the superior choice.
Lastly, as one of the inaugural members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, it should be no surprise that Cooke’s music has been sampled and covered for decades by artists as diverse as Beyoncé, The Game, Amy Winehouse, Terence Trent D’Arby, Bruce Springsteen and Beenie Man. To check out the entire list, go here: https://www.whosampled.com/Sam-Cooke/
I hope you enjoy all the Sam Cooke options available, and that you, as Marlon says, stay safe, sane and kind!
Hello on this MLK Day Monday! Hope this missive finds you all well. I put together this collection of tracks to celebrate this day. I’ve included songs that speak directly to the struggle for Civil Rights.
Some of these tracks were favorite songs of Dr. King’s and other leaders of the movement. While other tracks both classic and new are inspired by their efforts and sacrifice.
I have also included a few excerpts for the great man’s speeches as well. Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke, Gil Scott-Heron, and Nina Simone are all present. Though so are Common, Steel Pulse, Killer Mike, and others that came in their wake.
Hope you enjoy the collection of soul, jazz, gospel, reggae, and hip-hop track to celebrate the King Holiday.
As always, stay safe sane, and kind. “See” ya soon!
Happy Music Monday from your friend and selector, Marlon. Hope this playlist and missive finds you safe and well.
For most of this lockdown, I have not been able to listen to crowds enjoying great music. While I’m still months away from attending a live show myself, the vaccine rollout has me seeing light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
To that end, I have made this collection to celebrate great live music performances. Live records aren’t nearly as plentiful as they once were. Though to many old-school music lovers, live albums were ubiquitous especially in the 1970s and ’80s, where live-recorded albums seemed to come out every week.
That being said, there are recent offerings by The Black Pumas, Beyoncé, and Gary Clark Jr. Along with B.B. King at Cook County Jail, Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, and Sam Cooke at The Harlem Square Club, there are “Unplugged” performances by Jill Scott, The Roots, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill.
At upwards of 12 hours, I am still sure to have missed some gems. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments so I may add them. This is another eclectic journey through hip-hop, R&B, reggae, and rock ‘n roll. I didn’t even touch on jazz.
Next week’s offering will be devoted to live jazz recordings.
Until then, stay safe, sane, and kind.*
Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
*A note to those listening to Spotify on a desktop or laptop. This is a good one to put your crossfade settings at the 12-second maximum. It will carry the crowd reactions across the tracks, making it feel like one long show. Kinda.
Cooke’s magical voice animated a long string of hits that came to a sudden end, when he was shot and killed in a motel manager’s office in 1964. The brotha was 33.
As the lead singer of the gospel group, The Soul Stirrers, and a solo artist he was a writer and singer of great impact. Today folks still speculate about his violent and senseless death.
Certainly director Regina King and writer Kemp Power’s One Night in Miamiwill introduce a new generation to Cooke though the beautiful performance of Leslie Odom Jr. Please enjoy this collection of Sam Cooke’s finest offerings.
Happy Monday, you all. Hope you had a good and safe Thanksgiving. Time will tell though.
While most of these offerings are genre and theme-based, I do like to feature a favorite, and often underrated, artist from time to time. This week, it’s Bobby Womack.
While never a household name, Womack had a long and impactful career. He, like so many in his generation, started in a family gospel group with his brothers.
Womack became the protégé of gospel and R&B/pop star Sam Cooke, a session musician, a successful solo artist with decades of hits, a writer of his own and others’ songs, and along with Mos Def, and surviving members of The Clash, was a core member of Gorillaz.
Quincy Jones arguably stands alone in having a longer and more wide-ranging career. 10-year-old Bobby started touring with his brothers on the midwest gospel circuit as The Womack Brothers.
Johnny Nash had no particular episode of personal hardship in mind when he composed “I Can See Clearly Now” in the early 1970s, though over the years it has struck a firm chord with generations who appreciate its feeling of new hope emerging from the despair: “I can see clearly now the rain has gone / I can see all obstacles in my way / Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind / It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sunshine-y day.”
He died last week at age 80.
Nash was American but spent time living in Jamaica in the mid-1960s, and the island’s influence on his music came to the fore in 1968, when his rock-steady compositions “You Got Soul” and “Hold Me Tight” were Top 10 hits in the UK, helping to kickstart a period of mainstream interest in reggae that remains to this day.
His reggae-fied version of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” made it to No. 6 in the UK the following year, followed by “Stir it Up,” written for him, and later reclaimed, by his friend Bob Marley. That was a UK No. 13 in 1972, only months before the release of “I Can See Clearly Now.”
This playlist includes many of Johnny Nash’s recordings, songs by him, Bob Marley, and other early reggae artists, plus many of the cuts that dominated the radio in 1972 alongside Johhny Nash’s enduring song of hope.
Hope you enjoy this tribute collection. Next week I’ll be back with a more “seasonal” offering.
Until such time, stay safe sane, and kind… and vote!
Through good years and bad, years of triumph and years of struggle, there are some things that remain steady. Like the seasons (at least before climate change).
Today, June 20, is officially the first day of summer, the longest day of the year (for us folks in the Northern Hemisphere), and the welcoming of our warmest weather season.
Packed together this year with Juneteenth yesterday and Father’s Day tomorrow, this weekend can be a true kickoff to summer vacation. Even amid ongoing protests and social distancing rules, school is now over, the grill is now out, the pool is inflated, and maybe, just for a few days, the mood is a little lightened.
And with that, we offer this playlist of “summer” songs – and by that, we mean songs that literally tell you in the title they are about “summer.”
From the swaying Isley Brothers cover of Seals & Croft‘s “Summer Breeze” to DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince‘s rap anthem “Summertime” to Sly & The Family Stone‘s warm, feel good “Hot Fun in the Summertime'” to the contemporary mellow moods of Childish Gambino‘s “Summertime Magic” (with over 156M Spotify spins), our list is packed with summer classics.
In the process we’ve also hopefully rediscovered some “shoulda-been” classics, like the mostly forgotten Nat King Cole standard ‘This Morning It Was Summer” (with arrangements by Nelson Riddle), the breezy Larry Graham album track “I’m So Glad It’s Summer Again” (trying to capture a little of the “Hot Fun In the Summertime” mood) and the driving ’60s Joe Simon track “Long Hot Summer.”
In the last couple decades, music archivists have uncovered hundreds of previously unreleased Motown tracks – many that measure up to the hits from the ’60s we all know and love. In that vein, we’ve included two sunny Marvelettes tunes “I Can’t Wait Til Summer Comes” (co-written by Gladys Knight) and “So Glad It’s Summertime” that both remained unreleased in the Motown vaults until a 2011 rerelease.
Finally, no soulful “summer” playlist would be complete without the haunting “Summertime” from Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess,one of the most recorded songs in history.
We’ve sprinkled our playlist with musically different takes on this classic, ranging from the ’60s pop hit version by Billy Stewart to the disco instrumental from MFSB to the recent American Idol revival by Fantasia, also including versions by icons like James Brown, Sam Cooke, Ethel Waters, Miles Davis, opera legend Leontyne Price, world music star Angelique Kidjo, and a funky treatment by Bobby Womack with The Roots.
by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)
