WRAG Radio Raggedy

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."  Marcel Proust



Your old Raggedy wishes you all a happy Thanksgiving. Before I head to the kitchen to prepare the meal to celebrate the holiday, I would like to share a few thoughts with you.

While I'll be chopping onions, cleaning vegetables, kneading dough, I will also be thinking of those who are less fortunate than my husband an myself. There are people with no food, no shelter; there are people who feel unloved and unwanted; there are people who are grieving and hurting inside; there are people who are ill and dying. If you are a person who prays, please include them in your prayers, asking God to grant them the blessing of finding something -- no matter how trivial it may appear -- to say thank you for, too. The ability to say "Thank you" is empowering in itself.

On the other hand, hearing these words gives some of us the strength and encouragement to  keep performing the everyday lackluster tasks that have to be carried out to make the world keep turning -- but never ever are appreciated. Say "Thank you" to those who work for us unseen and unknown.

I, for myself, would like to thank all the health care workers, whether doctor, nurses or others involved in averting the spread of Ebola in our country. Thank you for the work you've done!
And thank you to those who gave their lives to keep us safe. My thoughts are with their families.

And don't forget to be genuinely grateful for all the good that happened to you during the past year. Genuinely and consciously grateful, I mean. Don't just pay lip service to the reason this holiday exists.

Most of all, though, show and tell your loved ones that you care for them, that you feel blessed and thankful for having them in your life.

George Jackson -- "Let Them Know You Care"



Monday, November 24, 2014

The Fantastic Four -- "I Had This Whole World To Choose From"

Happy Monday to all!

Today's pick is the B side of "If You Need Me, Call Me (And I'll Come Running)." The 7" was released on Eastbound Records in 1973.
James Epps sounds a lot like the great Levi Stubbs; he definitely knows how to sing. (Levi, however, remains unmatched.)



Today's track serves as a great reminder that, in the end, the choices we make either come back to haunt us or make us happy contented people. They can be the source of pride or shame, create memories or nightmares ...


Sunday, November 23, 2014

Reggae Sunday at SOTS!




Shark Wilson -- "Make It Reggae "




Fall Is Here! Stop, Look And Listen

At last! Fall and all the beauty it brings along has arrived. Sure, it's a bit rainy and grey now and then, but even such days are welcome after a long and dry summer.
So, just to let you all know: Your old Raggedy is quite happy. And she also has a little more time now to blog ...
Yayyyya!
Not enough fall colors to brag about -- but enough to touch my soul.

Soul Generation -- Stop, Look And Listen





Saturday, November 22, 2014

Jimmy Hughes -- "Why Not Tonight" and "I Like Everything You Do"


Jimmy Hughes was born in 1938 in Leighton, Alabama.

His musical career began with the gospel group The Singing Clouds. Having switched to secular music, he had his first hit in 1964 with "Steal Away," which he released on the Fame label. In 1967, he released today's pick, "Why Not Tonight." The song was also quite successful.
After his initial success with Fame, he released two more notable singles on Atlantic and Stax.
In the mid 70's, however, he quit the business.

In 1970, he released an album on VOLT, Something Special, which included today's second track.

Kent Records has a great compilation of his early Fame recordings out.

"Why Not Tonight"



"I Like Everything You Do"








Thursday, November 20, 2014

A Candle For Jimmy Ruffin (1936 - 2014)





Rest in peace, Jimmy.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Nashville Soul



Hubby and I have been visiting the beautiful state of Tennessee again. This time, we spent a little more time in Nashville before heading to Memphis.
Nashville is a beautiful city with a cleanliness that is probably hard to match by any other American city. Unfortunately, however, we had not enough time to really delve into the musical side of the city -- but we visited the Kandinsky exhibit at the Frist Center For The Visual Arts. That was definitely a wonderful experience.
In preparation for our trip I tried to find out what R&B/Soul artists were connected to Nashville, the music city of America.

And here is a short playlist with some of the artists I came up with.


Enjoy!

Lucille Mathis -- Somewhere Out There
Rodge Martin -- Wasted Nights
Roscoe Shelton -- I Want To Keep You
Sam Baker -- Best Of Luck





Thursday, November 6, 2014

Soultaker's Treasure Chest 11-06-2014





Posted by Soultaker
 
Hope everyone is doing well.  Since my last post, things have gotten alot better.  My girlfriend is doing well with her new bladder.  We even went out this weekend for the first time since the operation.  We went to a friend's birthday party and had a good time.  Everyone was glad to see her and notice how good she looked.  I'm very happy and relived that everything is going well.
 
With that said, here is my latest set of tunes.  I have to give a shout out to DJ Supreme La Rock for the first track on this set, "Come In Out Of The Rain" by Parliament .  Thanks to him I was able to check this off my bucket list of records that I'm hunting down.
 
Hope everyone enjoys.
 
1.  Come In Out Of The Rain - Parliament - Invictus
2.  Check Your Bucket Pt. 1 - Eddie Bo - Action
3.  I Know Where It's At - Lavell Kamma and his Afro Soul Review - Tupelo Sound
4.  Stepping On Up - The Natural Four - ABC Records
5.  They Get Down - Lloyd Price - GSF Records
6.  I'm So Tired - Bobby "Blue" Bland - Duke
7.  You're Gettin A Little Too Smart - Detroit Emeralds - Westbound Records
8.  Look What You've Done - ZZ Hill - United Artist
9.  Time Is On My Side - Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly - Capitol
10.  Hey Look At Me, I'm In Love - Love Unlimited Orchestra - 20th Century Fox
11.  If By Chance - 21st Century - RCA