Category: Soul Music

No. 2 “Spanish Harlem”/”Mr. Big Stuff

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These two songs placed #1 on the *Best Selling Soul Singles (R&B) weekly charts and stood out for me (on the #2’s list) because I bet I’m not alone in still listening to them: “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight and “Spanish Harlem” by Aretha Franklin, both from 1971.

“Spanish Harlem” was a cover of Ben E King’s original hit song, and Aretha peaked at #2 with her version and was #49 at year-end on Billboard’s Hot 100. Her song was stopped by “Go Away Little Girl” from Donny Osmond, (you just can’t make this stuff up!).

“Mr. Big Stuff” finished the year (1971) at #1 on the Best Selling Soul Singles (R&B) year-end charts but peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 weekly charts and ended the year at  #18. It was held back by the Bee Gees first American #1 song “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”.

“Mr. Big Stuff” was released by Stax Records and written by Joseph Broussard, Carrol Washington and Tony Clarke. There are only 23 versions of this song, perhaps because it’s just too distinctive to attempt. However enough of the song was used by Heavy D. & The Boyz (1986) to be classified as a ‘Cover’ as it used too much of the song to be called a ‘Sample’. The video has a long lead in but it’s pretty entertaining.

“Spanish Harlem” was written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector. Aretha had changed the “red rose” lyrics to “There’s a rose in Black ‘n Spanish Harlem. A rose in Black ‘n Spanish Harlem.” There were over twenty versions between the original and Aretha’s and the song now has 196 recordings, which includes many dozen’s of instrumentals.

Cliff Richard covered this song in 1962 and also recorded it German “Das Ist Die Frage Aller Fragen”.

*From August 23, 1969, the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart was renamed to Best Selling Soul Singles. It was changed to Hot Black Singles in late June of 1982. Typically we say R&B charts and I think most people understand the reference as there have been a dozen changes over the years. The next name was Hot R&B Singles, then Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks and now it’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Personally I think if we have the Hot 100, why they did not go with the Hip 100 is a mystery to me. Yes I know the think-tanks will be lining up to ask my advice – not.

More to read about at Music Mondays by Leon.

Sharon Jones (Music I like)

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“The Game Gets Old” was the lead song from I Learned the Hard Way, the fourth album from Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings released in 2010. The production on all her video’s is so great!

I first learned of Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings after her duet on a cover version of “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” with Michael Bublé on his album Crazy Love, released in 2009. As soon as I heard this cut from the album I knew I needed to find out more about Sharon.

“Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” Michael Bublé (with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)

Sharon Lafaye Jones was born May 4, 1956 in Georgia but she grew up in Brooklyn. She died of cancer on November 18, 2016. While she always had her music her day jobs included being a guard for Wells Fargo and at the NYC Jail on Rikers Island. Remarkably her full time music career did not start until the age of 40 thanks to an association with American R&B artist Lee Fields. Things really started happening for her with the formation of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and their first album, Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings in 2002. They have such a great retro R&B feel.

“100 Days, 100 Nights” written by Bosco Mann and the title track from the 2007 album
“Searching for a New Day” from her last recording sessions, the album Soul of a Woman was released in November of 2017, one year after her passing.
“Better Things” from the album “I Learned the Hard Way” (2010)
A fantastic version of the Allman Brothers song “Midnight Rider”
“Mama Don’t Like My Man” also appeared on “I Learned the Hard Way”

I could go on but I will leave it there. She was positively incredible.

Rock Artists Sing Soul

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 Rock Artists Sing Soul

I’ve blogged about Soul and there are dozens’ of songs sprinkled throughout my posts, but I want to focus on covers by Rock artists. While R&B was the main inspiration of most Rock musicians, Soul music is not far behind. Most of the biggest names in Rock history covered Soul songs and the influence can often be heard in their original material. Most notably this was a trend in the 1960’s and there are plenty to choose. As with the Blues, bands from the UK were all over the Soul music scene. While I’ve dedicated some writing to Soul icons such as Ray Charles, James Brown and the legendary Aretha Franklin, I wanted to feature other artists today.

“Some Other Guy” by Richie Barrett (who discover discovered artists such as Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, the Chantels, Little Anthony & the Imperials, the Valentines, and the Three Degrees) co-wrote this with the famous duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, released in April 1962. Not the typical ‘Blues’ song that was being listened to “across the pond” but more soul oriented and it was not a chart topper in the US. The British band ‘The Big Three‘ (March 1963) took a liking to it and covered it first and had a top 40 hit, in the UK. The Beatles (Live at the BBC June 23, 1963) included it in their early repertoire but their version was not released until 1994. Not quite a “Louie Louie” for unintelligible words but the lyrics are hard to make out hence the difference from record to record.Read More »

Sweet Soul Music

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Sweet Soul Music

Sam Cooke

Arthur Conley co-wrote this song with Otis Redding and it’s a tribute to some of the early greats of Soul Music. The song’s melody (and words for that matter) borrowed heavily from the Sam Cooke song “Yeah Man” and a subsequent lawsuit brought by A.W. Alexander who managed Cooke’s songs after his untimely death, added his name to the song credits. The resulting song however was a huge hit for Conley and it reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and R&B Chart in 1967 and #7 in the UK where Soul Music was gaining popularity particularly amongst a subset of British youth known as the Modernists or Mods. The lyrics reference the co-writer Otis Redding, James Brown and songs by The Miracles, Lou Rawls, Sam & Dave and Wilson Pickett, some of the key figures in early Soul Music. “Sweet Soul Music” covered 30 times, The Jam (1977).Read More »

Aretha Franklin

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Aretha Franklin

 Aretha Louise Franklin, March 25, 1942-August 16, 2018 (age 76),  born in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
 A sad day for music on the passing of the Legendary Aretha Franklin. There are plenty of tributes to this amazing singer and rightfully so and if you have been reading my blog you will know I’ve mentioned her before. You will be able to read all about her career and life story elsewhere, what you may not get is a bit of the story behind songs she gave new life too and her originals that have been remade.

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