When The Going Gets Tough ...

I hope each and everyone of you stays healthy and will not be seriously affected by the health crisis. We all will have to sacrifice habits that are dear to us -- but if we want to get through this, we can't afford to be selfish. Yours old Raggedy wishes you all the best.

 

... " As long as you've seen something being born
As long as you keep something living warm
You'll know the feeling soon enough I'm sure
The feeling of weathering the storm"

L. J. Reynolds -- "Key To The World"

Theo Peoples -- "Listen To Your Heart"

Now, this is one of my favorite "non-original-five" Temptation. Theo's voice wasn't really a Tempts voice, though, in my opinion. It's hard to explain, but I think he sounded too young for the guys. His voice was absolutely gorgeous though (as were his looks). Unfortunately, his solo career didn't result in the success he definitely deserved.

And just because I love his voice ... here's more of it!

 

The Temptations -- "If I Gave You My Heart"

 I just can't help it, but whenever I don't know what songs to listen to I automatically turn on some Tempts music. Old habits ... This one is from their excellent Phoenix Rising album (Motown, 1998).

I will listen to the entire album again. It definitely is a great release.

The line-up: Terry, Bo, Otis, Ron, and Harry.

... and since I am an old-school woman I give the album 3 out of 3 hearts. Stars just won't do it!

John Edwards -- "Walls That Separate Our Love" and "You Were Made For Love"

There's hardly any other song that is more touching and beautifully delivered than John Edwards' "Walls That Separate Our Love." I love this song so so much. Its sheer beauty of sound and lyrics is almost impossible to match.


And because John Edwards deserves so much more attention for the fantastic songs he gave us, here is another one. "You Were Made For Love" is from his 1973 album "John Edwards." If this song doesn't melt a woman's heart no other song will ...

Bob Marley -- "Coming In From The Cold"

Another chilly morning in Texas ...I will not go outside — so, no coming in from the cold for me later. Y’all have a wonderful day!

David Sea -- " I Wish It Would Rain", "Do It Right Now"

David Sea is one of the best vocalists I can think of. And if there is anyone who can sing this song as well as the great David Ruffin, it sure is David Sea.



And here's even more proof of David Sea's great talent.

The Intruders — “Together”

Gosh! I can't believe this song really is from 1967. It sounds as fresh and true as if it were brand-new.

 

The Intruders were one of the first groups that introduced the unique Sound of Philadelphia. They started as a doo wop group and actually were the group who made Gamble and Huff successful as songwriters.

Facts Of Life -- "Love IsThe Final Truth"

Amen to that!

Bill Brandon -- "Tag Tag"

This is one of my all time favorite songs.

WRAG Radio Raggedy -- I Don't Know (Rainy Sunday Mix)

Playlist WRAG Rainy Sunday Mix

Intro

Little Archie — I Need You

These Gents — Yesterday Standing By

King Diamond — That’s All She Wrote

Tomorrow’s Promise — He Don’t Love You Like I Do

The Montclairs —Make Up For Lost Time

Allspice — I Don’t Know

Joe Wilson — Sour Love, Bitter Sweet

Odyssey 5 — Peace Of Mind

J. J. & G — That’sWhat I Get For Loving You

Outro

The Independents -- "Let This Be A Lesson To You"

This fantastic group was only active from 1971 to 1975. Their famous "Leaving Me" earned them a gold record in 1973. "Let This Be A Lesson To You" was released in 1974 and is soul music at its finest.
Just beautiful!

Fats Domino -- "It Keeps Raining"

Rainy day in Texas again ... It's not only good for the plants, but also has me pause from all the busyness that goes on around here. And guess what? I actually found a video clip I love.

Just look at that horn section! A drummer who doesn't try to "knock out" the rest of the orchestra.
And -- a singer with a personality.

This find deserves a huge big 

Cobra Heart Band -- "Thinking Of You"

HAPPY FRIDAY!

What a masterpiece! Fantastic singing, fantastic musical arrangement ... You really need to read Sir Shambling’s article about the group/song here: https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/C/cobra_heart_band/index.php
This song is a gem! could there be a better start into the weekend?

 

Blues on Thursday: James Cotton -- "Good Time Charlie”

Exactly what I needed on this cloudy Texas morning: a great horn section and some uptempo kick to start the day on the right note(s) ...

 

Treasure Chest - Let Your Hair Down

It's been along time since I posted here on the blog. Alot of personal things going on right now, but I was able to relieve some of the stress by posting a guest mix over at Larry Grogan's Funky 16 Corner's website.

 Hope you enjoy.

1.  Tramp - Lowell Fulsom - Kent

2.  By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Shirley Scott - Cadet

3.  The Soul Of A Black Man - Maceo And The Macks - People

4.  Symphonette - David Newman - Atlantic

5. Bad Tune - Earth, Wind and Fire - Warner Brothers

6.  Let Your Hair Down - Yvonne Fair - Motown

7.  Breakthrough - Issac Hayes - Enterprise

8.  Stop and Go - Bohannon

9.  Yes We Can Can - The Pointer Sisters - Blue Thumb

10.  Patutu - Richard Evans - Atlantic

11.  Take All The Time You Need - Roy Ayers - Polydor

12.  Run For Your Life - Freda Payne - ABC Dunhill

13. What's Going On - Les McCann - Atlantic

Unable to get the Mixcloud widget to load so here is the weblink

https://www.mixcloud.com/Soultaker/treasure-chest-let-your-hair-down/

Wilson Pickett -- "Never My Love"

Just when I thought I had heard the Wicked at his best, and there were no surprises left, along comes another song that has me melt away.

This rendition oozes soul and makes me wonder whether the renowned heartthrob had been dealing with some serious heartache when he recorded "Never My Love." That's how genuine his delivery feels to me. Somehow, it  puts all the versions I know of that song to shame.

Wilson Pickett died 14 years ago on January 19, but he is one of those artists that will never be forgotten.

 RIP Wilson Picket. 

This song needs to be listened to with the heart, not only the ears.

Tony Baxter -- "Why Is It Taking So Long"

It appears that Tony Baxter really was off to a good start in the mid sixties with today's post and its flip side. Then, judging from the discography I found, followed a long hiatus from recording way into the eighties. His later material was released under the name "Screaming" Tony Baxter and, in my opinion, is not worth mentioning.

Al Jay -- "Reflections" and "I'm Still In Love With You"

Happy Sunday!

Al Jay, better known as Albert Jones,  was a singer from Detroit.  He worked with several record labels, such as Tri City, Bump Shop, and Kapp. He was active from the late sixties to the mid 70s.

"I'm Still In Love With You" he recorded For Tri City in 1971. 

100 Proof Aged In Soul -- "Backtrack"

I posted this one way back in 2008 -- and I still love it in 2020.

 This track is from the group's 1970 album "Somebody's Been Sleeping In My Bed."

 

Blues on Thursday: Otis Spann — “The Blues Never Die”

Born 1930  in Mississippi, died 1970 in Chicago ... That actually says it all.  Leaving the south to find a better life in the North. For many an artist that turned out to be ticket to fame.

Otis Spann  played with all the Blues greats: Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, BB King. I guess greatness always attracts its own kind ...

Bobby Hutton — “Loving You, Needing You”, “You’re My Only Reason”, “20 Years Later”

Discogs' short biography states that he "began singing at the age of five, with his actual professional career beginning in Detroit, Michigan after winning a talent show at the 20 Grand night club. This garnered an invitation to Motown, where he learned quite a bit about songwriting." In 2007 Chicago named him the Best Male Singer of the city.




 Together with such illustrious names as Eddie Kendricks, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Honey Cone, Bobby Hutton appeared on the first Soul Train episode that aired on October 2, 1971.


 


In 2006, he released an Album, "Twenty Years Later," which is pretty good.

Here's the title song, "Twenty Years Later." If you have a 20th anniversary coming up, I can recommend the song as a tribute to your lady.

Such great music for a dinner with an extra large side dish of reminiscing.

Reggae Time: Black Slate — “Piano Twist”

Aw! Don’t you all like that sound of static? It makes the music even sound better, authentic.

Rockie Robbins — “You And Me,” “When I Think Of You”

I do love this voice!

 Unfortunately, Rockie Robbins never got the break he definitely deserved. In my opinion, he didn’t get enough good material to showcase his talent.

Edward W. Robbins, known as Rockie Robbins, was born in Minneapolis and, sadly enough, was one of the many highly talented but hapless singers who, despite working with great producers, never made it past a great start.

His “After Loving You” and “For The Sake Of A Memory” were true killer songs. Beautiful ballads with soul galore and singing of the finest.  Everything that is right and good in music is on display in these songs.

Today’s picks are two of his songs that definitely were excellent, but didn’t quite offer the exuberance found in the the above mentioned titles.

"You And Me" is the title song of his 1980 album, "When I Think Of You" was released in 1979.

.

Bloodstone -- "Never Let You Go"

Happy weekend everyone!

I actually had this post in “drafts” for an entire year. Don’t ask me why.
“Never Let You Go” was released in 1972 on the British label London Records.

Say what you want, but music never was better.

And btw., the fashion was just as crazy as the time was.

Imperial Wonders — “You Only Live Once”

Here’s a nice little surprise. At least to me it was ...

This beauty has been written by Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and founding member of the O'Jays, Bobby Massey. Massey left the O'Jays and focused on production in 1971.

The Montclairs feat. Phil Perry — “Make Up For Lost Time"

A quick Hello from rainy Texas! This gem of a song certainly makes up for the lack of sunshine and blue skies. It was released in 1973 and the incomparable Phil Perry is singing lead.

The Wallace Brothers -- "Lover's Prayer"

A little bit of Southern Soul from Nashville.

The Temptations — “Zoom”

... and here we are already 10 days into 2020.

"Zoom" is an example of Motown's finest days. The album 1990 was released in 1973 (I cannot believe it) and the credits lisedt read like a roll call of the best of the best.

Credits

• Arranged By – Paul Riser
• Bass – James Jamerson, Lequeint Jobe*, Ron Brown
• Congas – Bobbye Hall, Terral W. Santiel* 
• Cover [Cover Concept], Photography By – Jim Britt
• Design – Desmond Strobel, John Cabalka, Terry Squire
• Drums – Aaron Smith (2), Ed Greene (2), Henry Garner Jr.*, James Gadson
• Engineer [Mastering] – Norman Whitfield, Russ Terrana
• Engineer [Recording] – Art Stewart, Cal Harris, Larry Miles, Russ Terrana
• Guitar – Dennis Coffey, Eddie Willis, Kenji Brown, Melvin "Wah Wah" Ragin* 
• Keyboards – Earl Van Dyke, Mark Davis (2), Victor Nix
• Musical Assistance [Creative Assistant To Norman Whitfield] – Asari Graham
• Producer, Written-By – Norman Whitfield
• Tambourine – Jack Ashford
• Tenor Saxophone – Michael Moore (3)
• Trombone – George Bohanon
• Trumpet – Fred Dunn*, Kenneth Copeland* 

Honestly, I couldn't care less about going to the moon; I just would love to go back to the times when music was made by full-blooded musicians. Let's zoom back to those days with the Temptations.

Blues Thursday: Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones

Sam Cooke — “Blowing In The Wind”

Words as true in 1964 as they are in 2020.

WRAG Radio Raggedy -- Mostly Mellow

Mostly Mellow 

Intro

00:14 The Gaslight — It’s Just Like Magic

03:16 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes — Let’s Talk It Over

11:07 David Oliver — I Wanna Write You A Love Song

17:17 Johnny Bristol — Feeling The Magic

20:05 Luther Vandross — This Is For Real

24:08 Lemar  — It’s Not That Easy

27:25 David Ruffin — I Let Love Slip Away

29:55 Eddie James — I Can’t Get Used To

32:47 Flowers — For Real

36:26 G. C.Cameron — Night Like This In Georgia

41:48 Outro

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes -- "Stay Together"

The song was first released in 1976 on the Reaching For The World album. Some nice Philly soul.

 

Somebody asked ....

... Where Timi Yuro may be buried. I checked and found out that she has been cremated. Her ashes, the source states, have been dispersed. May her soul rest in eternal peace. She brought so much joy to many, many lives by sharing the beautiful voice God gave her.

Reggae Sunday: Slim Smith and the Uniques - "My Conversation"

Happy Sunday!

Bobby Womack — “I’m So Proud”

Darned! Time flies. This track is from 1985. Bobby's voice had mellowed a bit, in my opinion, but that made the soul in it even sweeter.

J. T. sang it, too. His version, however, lacks the depth of Bobby's.

Doug Gibbs -- "I'll Always Have You There"

According to Discogs, "Douglas Gibbs has been in the music industry for over 50 years, a writer for 4 of the major record companies; Motown, ABC Dunhill, Playboy Music, and Capital Records. Multi-Platinum Hit Record with Jay-Z "Song Cry." Million sales with Keisha Cole as well as many other artists such as The Whispers, Walter Jackson, Phillis Hymen, Ghostface Killa, & Ne-Yo. As well a top charting single of his own. Douglas has writing partnerships with Ralph Johnson, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Billy Preston, Arthur T-Boy Ross, & Bruce Fisher." 

Quite impressive. Isn't it.  "I'll Always Have You There" was released in 1972. 

Happy New Year, Y'All!

I am wishing everyone a happy New Year. Let's start 2020 feeling as if all the lousy things in 2019 had never happened. It doesn't do any good remembering the not-so-perfect past experiences. I am starting the new year energized and ready to face new challenges ...

I am ready to have some fun ... The dynamite wants out!



King Floyd -- " I Feel Like Dynamite"