The House Of Soul

There was once a time, not too long ago, when the music African American’s created was rarely heard by the masses. The great music that African American performers created was not allowed to be played on the radio. It was called “race music, but the white performers stole this music. So many of those African America performers never made much money, if any at all as a result, and I am stopping short of calling this crime what it was.

Then came a man name Berry Gordy, who changed the face of music and I, for one, would like to take this opportunity pay homage. THANK YOU Mr. Gordy for Motown, your vision and contribution to the world.

Most people do not know or remember that prior to Motown Records few black performers enjoyed anything close to crossover success. Their music was, then, called “race music” and was segregated in the same manner as the rest of America prior to 1959, when Motown was founded. Let me also remind you that rarely could the face of a black person be seen on an album cover prior to Motown’s founding. By the way, an album is what was used for music before CD’s.

Motown a company that primarily featured African American artists and its soul-based subsidiaries became the most successful proponents of what came to be known as “The Motown Sound”. This was a style of soul music with a distinct influence on all who heard it. From its Hitsville U.S.A Building on 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, Michigan that served as Motown's headquarters. The label produced the most universally recognized stable of songwriters and performers of our time or anytime.

From this tiny little basement studio the world was introduced to Michael Jackson, the Supremes, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, the Miracles, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Four Tops, the Commodores, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Jr. Walker and the All Stars, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Rick James, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Teena Marie, DeBarge, the Jackson Five, Martha and the Vandellas, the Marvelettes and Motown's Funk Brothers studio band just to name a few of the artists that graced our souls and touched our hearts making us proud.

Many of Motown's best-known hits were written by Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield and the songwriting trio of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who became major forces in the music industry. For example, it’s a known fact in the music industry that in order to get a number one hit song someone would have to write more than thirty songs. Holland-Dozier-Holland had a string of more than fifty hits in a row with some becoming number one with several different artists, like the hit “I heard it through the Grapevine”. This is profound and will never happen again. No songwriter will ever achieve this feat – guaranteed.

Mr. Gordy did sell Motown and it’s now in the hands of others. However, its legacy resides in a very special place in my heart, and I’m sure millions around the world. So again I say, thank you Motown for the music, the love, the magic, and the many great memories.

Lastly, to the legends that are no long able to perform for us today - thank you for your contribution - Rest in Peace. I know walking around heaven all day listening to the harmony of your souls must make haven more glorious and wonderful than I could ever imagine. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…

#johnwills

The Amazing Miss Patti LaBelle

As I thought about a woman to give great praise and highlight during this month dedicated to great women and their achievements. I realized really only one choice Patricia Edwards better known to the world as Patti LaBelle or to those who love her as “Miss Patti”. She is renowned as a Grammy Award winning recording artist, author, and actress with over 50 years in the music industry. Miss Patti spent 16 years as lead singer of Patti Labelle and the Bluebells a group that changed their name to “Labelle” in the early 1970s and released the iconic song "Lady Marmalade".

She started a solo career shortly after the group disbanded in 1977 becoming an established crossover success with "On My Own", "If You Asked Me To", "Stir It Up", and the hit “New Attitude”. She has also recorded huge R&B ballads; "You Are My Friend”, "If Only You Knew”, and "Love, Need and Want You”.

Miss Patti possesses the vocal range far greater than any soprano. Her musical legacy and influence, she has rewarded her with inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Apollo Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. The World Music Awards presented her with the prestigious Legend Award. She has sold over 50 million records worldwide.

She released her self-titled album in 1977 to critical success, with the highlights being the dance singles "Joy To Have Your Love" and "Dan Swit Me", and the pop-R&B ballad "You are My Friend", a song she and her husband co‑wrote. Her subsequent follow-ups, however, 1978s “Tasty”, 1979s “It’s Alright with Me”, and 1980s “released”, failed to be as successful. Though well-established in some circles, LaBelle never followed her live performance success with hit records, which was often the case with the Bluebelles. In 1981, she was switched to Philadelphia International Records.

Miss Patti found success outside music, performing on Broadway, TV, and movies. Her first film role was “A Soldier’s Story” and later issued for the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop. She garnered headlines in 1985 for her show stopping performances, first at Motown Returns to the Apollo where she opened the show with Joe Cocker singing “You Are So Beautiful” in which she received high praise. In the same show, she engaged in the so-called "infamous mic toss" between her and Dianna Ross during the show's finale “I Want to Know What Love Is”. In fact, most views thought she stole the show.

A longtime resident of Philadelphia married Armstead Edwards, who had one child and tow adopted boys who were the children of their next-door neighbor, after their mother died of cancer. Following the death of her youngest sister Jackie Padgett, the couple raised Padgett's teenage children. In 2000, the couple announced their separation. Their divorce was finalized in 2003.

As lead singer of the legendary group Labelle, Patti LaBelle has been called one of the pioneers of the disco movement due to singles such as "Lady Marmalade" and "Messin' With My Mind". In turn, "Lady Marmalade" has been also called one of the first mainstream disco hits. Rolling Stones Magazine includes LaBelle in its 100 Greatest Singers List, citing her as an influencing factor to "generations of soul singers" including Luther Vandross, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige and Christina Aguilera.Other singers who have been inspired by Patti LaBelle are Ashford & Simpson, Celine Dion, Donna Summer, Jennifer Hudson, Jody Watley, Macy Gray, Mariah Carey, Martha Wash, Paula Abdul, Fantasia Barrino,Whitney Houston, and Ariana Grande as well as Oleta Adams, and Regina Belle.

I would go for days with this woman for her longevity and accomplishments, and if you have ever seen this show-stopping songstress, I am sure you will agree. As the old adage says, she is one in a million, rather I would say she is one who only appears once in a lifetime. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

Happy Birthday To A Musical Genius

The genius of William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr., the most prolific singer-songwriter of our lifetime, is priceless. A thousand years from now you will hear Smokey’s music. To prove my point, “My Girl” first recorded by the Temptations is timeless, and the recording sounds as fresh today as it did in 1965. Smokey is also a record producer, former record executive, and one of the founders of the music label that changed the world - Motown.

Robinson is most notable for being a songwriter, sure, but he was also the founder and front man of The Miracles, for which he also served as the group's chief songwriter and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as The Five Chimes until 1972 when he announced retirement from the stage to focus on his role as Motown’s vice president.

Smokey was born in Detroit and raised on the city's North End section. At one point, he and Diana Ross were next-door neighbors, who he had known since she was eight. He later told reporters when he was a child; his uncle christened him "Smokey Joe", which he assumed was a "cowboy name for me" until he was later told that Smokey was a pejorative term for dark-skinned blacks. He once said that he remembers his uncle saying to him, "I'm doing this so you won't ever forget that you're black."

In August 1958, Robinson met songwriter Berry Gordy, who had recently stopped writing songs for Jackie Wilson after getting into a royalty dispute with Wilson's label. Gordy took an interest in Smokey and his group to which Gordy was more impressed at the fact that Robinson was a writer than as a singer. Gordy agreed to work with them and with his help the Matadors released their first single. Following this, the group changed its name to The Miracles after Claudette Rogers replaced Emerson Rogers.

After a number of failures and difficulties with money, Smokey suggested to Gordy that he start his own label, which Gordy agreed. Following the forming of Tamla Records, later reincorporated as Motown, the Miracles became one of the first acts signed to the label. In late 1960, the group recorded their first hit single, “Shop Around”, which became Motown's first million-selling single. Between 1960 and 1970, Smokey would produce 26 top forty hits with the Miracles.

By 1969, Robinson had voiced his opinion on wanting to retire from the road to focus on raising a family with wife Claudette and their two children, and to focus on his duties as Motown's Vice President. However, the late success of the group's track, "Tears of a Clown", caused Robinson to stay with the group until 1972. Robinson's last performance with the group was in July 1972 in Washington DC.

After a year of retirement, Smokey announced his comeback with the release of the album titled “Smokey” in 1973. The album included the Miracles tribute song, "Sweet Harmony" and the hit ballad "Baby Come Close". That same year, former Beatle George featured the track "Pure Smokey" as a tribute to his idol. In 1974, Robinson's second album, Pure Smokey was released but failed to produce hits.

Robinson answered his critics the following year with A Quiet Storm, released in 1975. The album launched three singles - the number-one R&B hit "Baby That’s Backatcha”, "The Agony & The Ecstasy" and "Quiet Storm". With his nearly sixty years in the music industry, he is still one of the most respected and gifted musicians to grace the stage or play the game.

Try to imagine for a moment what the world would be like if we had never been blessed with the legend known by the name – “Smokey” – we love you and thank you for paving the way. God Bless you and that is my Thought Provoking Perspective…

 

http://johntwills.com

Smooth Music LaTosha Brown

LaTosha Brown’s moving and powerful voice is featured on the YouTube video of traditional spiritual “I Know I’ve Been Changed”. The video received over 1.1 million views in two weeks and debuted on YouTube’s Top 100 music chart at #78 without any promotion. LaTosha is completing her first solo album project called “Shades of Pink” that will be released in the spring of this year.

Ms. Brown has been a performer and cultural artist her entire life. At the age of 18, LaTosha’s high school jazz band called Impact, of which she was the vocalist, entered a statewide talent contest sponsored by a local radio station in Mobile, AL. The Grand Prize winners were to open up for The Beach Boys, who at the time were experiencing a career resurgence from their radio hit “Wipe Out” with The Fat Boys, at a major festival in front of 40,000 fans. The high school jazz band sent in a tape, and much to the chagrin of the professional Alabama music community, won the competition.

After taking a hiatus from music for 7 years, Latosha sang backup with Mark Growden a singer in New Orleans. What is more impressive it that aside from the gift of being a great singer she is a social justice activist working on a variety of issues to the benefit of the human spirit. LaTosha Brown has been an award-winning community organizer and cultural artist for more than 15 years, but her life’s path was set long before it became her official job title.

Recently, she received the “Champion of Change” award from the White House for her work in New Orleans as the director of the Gulf Coast Fund. The Gulf Coast Fund is a community-led philanthropy working towards a just and sustainable Gulf Coast region that funds and supports over 200 grassroots organizations. “Champions of Change” is a special series at the White House that profiles Americans from across the country who are doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.

She states that “My first loves are people and music. I am extremely passionate about people and the music that inspires, moves, and encourages the human spirit to persevere. It is for that reason why I study, collect, write and perform music from different genres. I am passionate about witnessing the power of music in other cultures around the world.”

Latosha is planning a European soul music tour in the summer to collaborate with a few artists such as Freedonia (Spain) and Tasha's World (Denmark). It is called the “UniverSOUL Love Tour”. I will travel to different countries to spread the message of love through music, community service and talks. Let’s support and congratulate this Latosha for all of her success and the blessing of sharing her voice with all of us and the world.

www.latoshalove.com

YOU MUST WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!

http://www.reverbnation.com/latoshabrown

Twitter: @MsLaToshaBrown

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ latoshalovebrown

Website: www.latoshabrown.com

MUSIC LINKS

YouTube Videos:

1. Four Women ~ http://youtu.be/PJeCkuaRHZw  (Artist showcase at SESAC office.  Video sound quality kinda shaky but you can get the feel.)

2. I Know I've Been Changed ~ http://youtu.be/0ST66D3qpPU  (I receieved 1.1 million views within 2 weeks with no promotion or marketing. Just God.)

3. Soul Journey Medley ~  http://youtu.be/ dVkFFW1CyI0 (Showcase for a local radio station. Medley of black music.)

4. Butterfly Sample ~ http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=U0gicqR7SrU (Fan check-in with a sample of an orignal song I wrote. Would love your help!)

Soundcloud Clips:

1. Old Lady From Brewster ~ http://soundcloud.com/latosh a-brown/mark-growden-and- latosha-brown
2. Something Within Me ~ http://soundcloud.com/mark-g rowden/04-something-within-me

3. Love Of It All ~ http://youtu.be/xdVuTmcUTpA

The Chess Record Story

In the spirit of Black History Month I offer the story of the record company that introduced the world to the blues. Yes, I am talking about the ghost of the greats, which laid the founders for Rock and Roll. History is long and only marks a period of time but this story is the beginning of the music we enjoy today. This is the story of the legendary Chess Records Family.

                                                

        Leonard Chess

                

                  Phil Chess

Leonard and Phil Chess, two Polish born immigrants, founded Chess Records the pre-eminent Blues label of the 50s and 60s.Eventually they created a monopoly of Chicago music recording, doing sessions and releasing recordings by every major blues performer from John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, "King of the Slide Guitar", to Bo Diddley through Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry and everyone in between.

Brothers Phil and Leonard Chess owned the upscale Macamba nightclub on Chicago's Southside. Chess Records "Home of the Electric Blues" was started by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess in the late forties. Leonard and Phil Chess - two enterprising immigrant brothers from Poland - bought into fledgling Aristocrat Records, a label that had been formed a short time before by Evelyn Aron and her husband.

By the time they got involved with Aristocrat, Leonard and Phil were already aware of what sort of music might sell in the Black community that of a young Delta-born-and-bred slide guitarist: Muddy Waters. Waters had previously recorded for Columbia, the company but none of his work was released. When he recorded "Gypsy Woman" and "Little Anna Mae" for Aristocrat the Chess brothers found in him the means to distinguish their little company from the hundreds of other independent R&B labels springing up across the country.

At the beginning, Leonard and Phil focused their recording and publishing ventures primarily in the area of popular jazz, but soon expanded into blues, receiving their first Billboard recognition in 1947. By 1949 Aristocratic Records which became Chess Records in 1950, was a fixture in the world of music and its recordings and the songs published by Arc Music remain the most impressive collection of blues music in the world.

From their experiences in the nightclub business on the South side of Chicago, the Chess brothers understood the popular preferences of their predominantly African-American audiences, but also saw the marketability of blues music to a broader audience. In the beginning Chess Records was ran as a two man business, with Phil overseeing the nightclub and the offices of Aristocrat/Chess and Arc, while Leonard alternately scouted talent, produced the sessions, and hand delivered fresh recordings to radio stations in the Chicago area.

Willie Dixon

Slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk's pre-war popularity made him a nice acquisition, and the 1948 session that produced his "My Sweet Lovin' Woman" was doubly important because it introduced bassist Willie Dixon, an artist whose talent as a producer/songwriter/ session player during the 1950s and 1960s vastly contributed to the label's long-term success.

McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters and sideman Little Walter

In 1950, the Chess brothers launched Chess Records with Gene Ammons'  "My Foolish Heart," followed by Waters' "Rollin' Stone." Guitarist Jimmy Rogers made his Chess debut August of 1950, with t "That's All Right" and "Luedella." Little Walter who revolutionized the role of the harmonica in Chicago blues with his astonishing flights of amplified fancy. Walter's legacy is punctuated by his slew of hits during the '50s: "Mean Old World," "Off The Wall," "You're So Fine," and the 1955 Dixon-penned R&B chart-topper, "My Babe."

Chester Burnett aka Howlin' Wolf

Despite his  success with  local talent, Leonard Chess, aided by Sam Phillips, began to look outside Chicago for talent. Phillips supervised Memphis pianist Roscoe Gordon's smash "Booted" (1952) and shipped Chess masters by Rufus Thomas, Dr. Isaiah Ross, Joe Hill Louis, and Bobby Bland, but his top contribution to the label's legacy was Chester Arthur Burnett, a.k.a.  Howlin' Wolf. With Ike Turner playing the piano both sides of Wolf's first Phillips-produced Chess 78, "How Many More Years" and "Moanin' At Midnight," proved major sellers in 1951. By 1953, Wolf had left Memphis for Chicago, recording more hits including "Who Will Be Next" and "Smokestack Lightnin'."

Eddie Boyd 

Willie Mabon

                                                  Memphis Slim 

A host of other blues legends recorded for Chess during the early and mid-1950s. Memphis Slim, Eddie Boyd and Willie Mabon, assuredly did. Boyd's 1953  "24 Hours" and "Third Degree" both sold very well, as did Mabon's "I Don't Know" (1952) and "I'm Mad" (1953), both number one R&B smashes.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker first recorded for Chess in 1950. Joe Williams made the charts that same year with "Every Day I Have The Blues." Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam recorded  material in '53 that straddled the fence between pre-war Chicago blues and the brasher new style.Memphis Minnie likewise attempted to resuscitate her career with a 1952 Checker single, "Me And My Chauffeur." On the jazzier side of the tracks, saxmen Leo Parker, Tab Smith, Lynn Hope, and Eddie Johnson kept things swinging. By the early-1950s, Water's group added pianist Otis Spann. Though he was now a star in his own right, Little Walter still recorded behind his ex-boss on Waters' immortal "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I'm Ready."

Rice Miller a/k/a Sonny Boy Williamson II

In 1955  new talent was added to the Chess stable. Sonny Boy Williamson, a blues legend across the Mississippi Delta thanks to his King Biscuit Time radio broadcasts, joined Checker, a Chess subsidiary label.  For his first recording "Don't Start Me Talkin'" Chess paired him with most of Water's band. Bo Diddley was signed in 1955 too. His first two-sided smash for Checker, the self-titled "Bo Diddley" and "I'm A Man.

But no one at Chess had the impact on the future of popular music that Chuck Berry did. Berry accepted Water's advice regarding the advantages of working with Leonard Chess, signing with the label in May of 1955 and his first unforgettable hit, "Maybellene."

There were also vocal at Chess. Harvey Fuqua's the Moonglows from Louisville had a 1954 hit with  "Sincerely," and The Flamingos, a Chicago quintet fronted by Nate Nelson, scored big for Checker in 1956 with their dreamy "I'll Be Home" and "A Kiss From Your Lips."

As Berry, Bo, and the vocal groups sold platters by the crates, some of the blues greats that had epitomized Chess during its early years of operation began to recede into the background. But mainstays Muddy, Sonny Boy, and Wolf hung tough, Wolf doing some of his best work during the early '60s when Dixon wrote "Back Door Man," "The Red Rooster," and "Hidden Charms" for him (the latter manically energized by Hubert Sumlin's elastic guitar work).

In 1960, Dixon recruited younger Chicago blues talent, signing guitarists Buddy Guy ("First Time I Met The Blues" and "Broken Hearted Blues") and Otis Rush (1960's "So Many Roads, So Many Trains")

Etta James

Etta James also made her Chess debut in 1960, scoring no less than four hits for the imprint that year alone. Etta's magnificent work for Argo (and later Cadet and Chess) over the next 16 years uncovered depths of passion and pain barely
hinted at on her previous waxings. She waxed the torch ballads "At Last" and "Trust In Me" (both major hits in 1961) surrounded by sumptuous strings, rocked the house with a gospel-rooted "Something's Got A Hold On Me" the next year, and set Muscle Shoals ablaze in '67 with her strutting "Tell Mama," sounding equally confident in all three diverse settings.

Fontella Bass

In addition to James had many female artists during the mid-1960s that Jan Bradley ("Mama Didn't Lie"), Sugar Pie De Santo ("Slip-In Mules"), ("I Had A Talk With My Man"), Fontella Bass ("Rescue Me"), Jackie Ross ("Selfish One"), Jo Ann Garrett ("Stay By My Side"), Laura Lee ("Dirty Man"), and the Gems, whose precocious membership included Minnie Riperton. Even Irma Thomas joined the Chess in 1967, recording in Muscle Shoals. protégé Koko Taylor scored the last Chicago blues hit for Checker in 1966 with her growling "Wang Dang Doodle."

As rhythm and blues merged with gospel influences to form the basis of soul, Chess was right on top of the trend. Little Milton Campbell who had hits with "We're Gonna Make It," "Who's Cheating Who?" and "Grits Ain't Groceries."

The Dells

Along with Little Milton, were the Dells, ("There Is" and "Stay In My Corner") the Radiants ("Voice Your Choice"), Billy Stewart ("Summertime," "Sitting In The Park"), Bobby Moore & the Rhythm Aces ("Searching For My Love"), Tony Clarke, James Phelps, and Bobby McClure.

Tommy Tucker's "Hi-Heel Sneakers," a huge '64 hit on Checker, traveled bluesier terrain, while the Ramsey Lewis Trio, with Eldee Young on bass and Red Holt on drums, turned out to be a crossover sensation when their grooving instrumental remakes of "The In Crowd" and "Hang On Sloopy" vaulted up the R&B and pop charts in 1965. Nor was the Chess combine deficient in humor - albums by veteran comics Moms Mabley and Pigmeat "Here Comes The Judge" Markham made sure of that.

Chuck Berry remained at Chess into 1966, seemingly rejuvenated after serving a prison term (his 1964 hits included "No Particular Place To Go" and "You Never Can Tell"). After unwisely switching to Mercury Records for a few lean years, he returned home to Chess and scored his biggest pop hit of all in 1972 with "My Ding-A-Ling." Bo Diddley recorded a slew of Checker LPs throughout the decade, his trademark beat never faltering.

2120 South Michigan Avenue

So inspired by the magnificent output of Chess were the Rolling Stones that they immortalized the label's famous address, 2120 S. Michigan Avenue, in song on one of their early LPs.

During this time, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf tried their best to cope with '60s trends. "Muddy Waters Twist" was admittedly nothing to write home about, but his '63 Folk Singer LP was a heartening return to his Delta roots, and 1969's Fathers and Sons set united Muddy with adoring disciples Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though at the tail end of the decade producer Marshall Chess submerged Waters and Wolf in a quagmire of psychedelia, each legend emerged with his vaunted reputation intact.

In 1969, Leonard Chess died, stilling the heart and soul of Chess Records. Earlier that year, he and Phil had sold the company to GRT where producers Ralph Bass and Gene Barge tried their best to hold things together. Sadly, though, the momentum that Chess had long enjoyed quickly began to erode. In 1975, GRT closed down the logo, selling it to All Platinum Records of Englewood, New Jersey.

Finally, in 1985, MCA acquired the rights to the massive Chess catalog. At the start of 1987, MCA Vice President of Catalog Development & Special Markets A&R, Andy McKaie began to mount an ambitious long-term reissue campaign of the invaluable Chess masters - an ongoing program that rages full steam ahead all year long in 1997 with the 50th anniversary celebration.

"The impact of Chess was far wider and greater than any of the others, ranging from the impact of the Chicago blues sound, the Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley School of rock & roll, and the vocal group sounds," he continues. "The range of that impact was so great that it's still being felt today.

It was the profound music that made the artists of Cadillac Records the groundbreaking home for black music. And that's my Thought Provoking Perspective…

Courtesy of DK Peneny, Published 3/98 - Last update 10/15/2009

 

India Arie Writes Angry Open Letter About The Grammys: Black Artists Are Excluded

I was unable to reblog this article from India Arie’s Tumblr Page. There I have shared her open letter via Thought Provoking Perspectives. The outspoken singer addresses and issue that many in the African American community have complained about for a long time. Now, musicians and artist are now speaking out. What are your thoughts?

_____________________________

The outspoken singer India Arie, who is not afraid to speak her mind, let loose after the Grammys for 2014.  Speaking along with a chorus of many other black performers who are determining that the Grammys are virtually worthless, Arie gave her honest opinions about this and other musical awards shows, which are focused mainly on awarding popularity and sales, but only concerned with musical quality as a complete afterthought.

Writing on her tumblr page, Arie started off by stating that the “Music industry’s biggest night” is not what it’s cracked up to be:

 Though it’s called “Music industries biggest night” the #Grammys are NOT about the music, it’s a popularity contest. The voting process allows people, to vote on name recognition alone – the music industry politics is a whole NUTHER conversation.  Too much to go into here.

The American Music Awards is a show that awards sales and popularity – the #Grammys are SAID to be about the music.

Arie, who is known for producing conscious and authentically black music, also says that the African American musical community loses when its best artists are not represented at the show every year.   She says that this is a consistent pattern of denial and embarrassment toward the black musical community that simply should not be tolerated.

NOW the BIGGER losers, are ALL of black music. Where was the black music community represented in last nights #Grammy show? Performers and Winners (or not) … Where were the black artists?

And this isn’t the first time the #Grammy’s has had a show all but excluding young black America and black artists in general, although we set the worlds musical trends. Why NOT televise the lifetime achievement awards of the Isley Brothers? SURELY they deserved to be on televised stage LAST NIGHT! While other artists were on stage TWICE?

So, India Arie makes some valid points in her letter, which leads to an open question:  Why don’t black artists simply boycott the Grammys?  Rather than complaining about the Grammys to people who don’t care, she might be able to mobilize other artists who think the same way and get them to join her in a battle against the awards show by simply not showing up.   Her complaints about the Grammys are nothing new and have been around for 40 years.  Is it time to do something or just keep getting upset because someone else is choosing not to acknowledge you?

You can read more of her letter here. 

The Teddy Bear

It is always a great pleasure for me pay homage to the ghost of the greats who made a huge impact on the world and the lives of us who live in it. Today, artists have one or two hits and they are called legends. I find this laughable because, frankly, there is no body of work, in most cases, to support the label or prove worthy of attention. Black artists and icons have mastered their craft and created genres that will last forever.

NO ONE did it better than the man we affectionately call “Teddy” - Theodore Pendergrass – one of the greatest R&B singer and songwriter of our time. Teddy rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in the early 1070s prior to his hugely successful solo career at the end of the decade. In a horrible twist of fate, in 1982, Teddy was severely injured in an auto accident resulting in his being paralyzed from the chest down. After his injury, he founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation that helps those with spinal cord injuries.

Teddy was not unlike most R&B singers he sang often at church and dreamed of being a pastor being ordained as a minster at the age of 10. In his early career, he sang with the Edison Mastersingers and dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to pursue the music business, recording his first song "Angel With Muddy Feet." The recording, however, was not a commercial success.

It was the result of a chance encounter with the Blue Notes' founder, Harold Melvin, who convinced Pendergrass to play drums in the group. Then fate stepped in and during a performance Teddy began singing along, and Melvin, impressed by his vocals, made him the lead singer. Before Pendergrass joined the group, the Blue Notes had struggled to find success. That all changed when they landed a recording deal with Philadelphia International Records in 1971, thus beginning Teddy’s successful collaboration with label founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. From this point there was no turning back.

I will briefly list a few of Teddy’s most memorable hits that took him high in the stratosphere starting with his self-titled album, which went platinum on the strength of the disco hit, "I Don't Love You Anymore." Its follow-up single, "The Whole Town's Laughing At Me," became a top 20 R&B hit. It was quickly followed by Life Is a Song Worth Singing. That album was even more successful with its singles including "Only You" and "Close the Door.”

The disco single, "Get Up, Get Down, Get Funky, Get Loose" was popular in dance clubs and after that came two more successes, Teddy and the live release, Live Coast to Coast. Hits off Teddy included "Come and Go With Me" and "Turn Off The Lights.” This was followed by the album, “TP” that included his signature song, "Love TKO” and "Is It Still Good to You." Between 1977 and 19981, Teddy landed five consecutive platinum albums, which was a then-record setting number for a rhythm and blues artist.

Teddy’s popularity became so massive at the end of 1977 with sold-out audiences packing his shows; his manager soon noticed that a huge number of his audience consisted of women of all races. They devised a plan for his next tour to play to just female audiences, starting a trend that continues today called "women's only concerts."

With five platinum albums and two gold albums, Teddy was on his way to be what the media was calling him, "the black Elvis" not only in terms of his crossover popularity but also due to him buying a mansion akin to Elvis' Graceland, located just outside of his hometown of Philadelphia. By early 1982, Pendergrass was the leading R&B male artist of his day usurping competition including closest rivals Marvin Gaye and Barry White.

Then tragedy struck on the night of March 18, 1982, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Lincoln Drive near Rittenhouse Street, Teddy was involved in an automobile accident. He lost control of his Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit - the car hit a guard rail, crossed into the opposite traffic lane, and hit two trees and was trapped in the wreckage for 45 minutes; leaving him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down.

He kept recording through the 1990s in spite of being wheelchair bond and give the world his final hit in 1994, which was a hip-hop leaning "Believe in Love". His most lasting memory for the world was “Wake Up Everybody” a tune that has been covered by a diverse range of acts from Simply Red, Patti LaBelle, Babyface, Little Brother, Kanye West, Cam’ron, Twista, Tyrese Gibson, DMX, 9^th Wonder, and DJ Green Lantern.

Sadly, on January 13, 2010, the man we knew as “Teddy” left us to sing with the angels. I’ll tell you, and if you knew Teddy, the world will never be the same without his uniquely profound soulful voice. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

Master Of The Universe

There are a lot of people who make music, but there are few who create sounds that touch the souls of mankind that will last for all time. I am a diehard fan of Earth, Wind & Fire and have been from the first note that entered my ear hole. I have every “album” and CD from their first to the last. If you follow my writing, I like to pay homage to my hero’s; those who have had a significant impact upon my life and the world.

Let me send a birthday wish to the Master of the Universe; Mr. Maurice White, founder and leader of the greatest band ever assembled – Earth Wind & Fire. I call him the Master of the Universe because he was the divine spirit that created the musical legacy known as the elements of the universe. Although, medical concerns caused him to stop touring with Earth, Wind & Fire, he retains executive control of the band and remains active in the music business.

Reese, as he is called, is a singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger and bandleader. He has won seven Grammys and has been nominated for Grammys twenty-one times in total. White was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire, and he was individually inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.In addition, he’s worked with many famous recording artists: Deniece Williams, The Emotions, Ramsey Lewis, Barbra Streisand, and is sought after by many of the “New Jack Artists” as a producer.

He has a pedigree unrivaled. He was a childhood friend of the one and only Booker T Jones. In his teenage years, he moved to Chicago and found work as a session drummer for Chess Records. While at Chess, he played on the records of artists such as Etta James, Ramsey Lewis, Sonny Stitt, Muddy Waters, The Impressions, The Dells, Betty Everett, Sugar Pie DeSanto and Buddy Guy. Reese also played the drums on Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me" and Billy Stewart's "Summertime". In 1962, along with other studio musicians at Chess, he was a member of the Jazzmen, which later became The Pharaohs.

In 1966, he joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio, replacing Isaac 'Red' Holt as the new drummer. Holt would go on to be a part of the Young-Holt Unlimited. As a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Maurice played on nine of the group's albums, including Wade in the Water (1966), from which the track "Hold It Right There" won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental in 1966. Other albums by Lewis that featured White included The Movie Album (1966), Goin' Latin (1967), Dancing in the Street (1967), Up Pops Ramsey Lewis (1967), and The Piano Player (1969). While, in the Trio, he was introduced in a Chicago drum store to the African Thumb Piano or Kalimba and on the Trio's 1969 album Another Voyage's track "Uhuru" was featured the first recording of Maurice playing the Kalimba.

In 1969, Maurice left the Trio and joined his two friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, to form a songwriting team and got a recording contract with Capitol Records and called themselves The Salty Peppers. He then migrated from Chicago to Los Angeles and altered the name of the band to Earth, Wind & Fire, and the band's new name reflecting the elements in White's astrological chart.

With Reese as the bandleader and producer of most of the band's albums, EWF has earned legendary status winning six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and selling over 90 million albums worldwide. As a member of the band, he has been bestowed with countless awards. As an innovator, he is responsible for incorporating the sound of the Kalimba also known as the African thumb piano and adding the world famous horn section, the Phenix Horns into the music of Earth, Wind & Fire. He has appeared on stage with Earth, Wind & Fire since his retirement from the road from time to time.

In 1976, White, with the late great Mr. Charles Stepney co-produced Deniece Williams', a former backup vocalist for Stevie Wonder, debut album, This Is Niecy, which was released on Columbia Records. The album was the first project for the newly formed production company Kalimba Productions formed by Maurice White and Charles Stepney in the same year. In a 2007 interview, Deniece says"I loved working with Maurice White" and "he taught me the business of music, and planning and executing a plan and executing a show."

After Stax Records became embroiled in financial problems, the girl group the Emotions looked for a new contract and found one with Columbia Records on which their album Flowers was released in 1976. With Charles Stepney co-producing their album with Reese Flowers became certified gold in the US. After Charles Stepney death in 1976, Maurice took over the reins of producing the Emotions and it was with this combo that the album Rejoice was released in 1977. Rejoice peaked at number 7 and number 1 on the pop and R&B charts and spawned the singles "Best of My Love" and "Don't Ask My Neighbors" which reached number 1 on the Pop and R&B charts and number 7 on the R&B charts respectively.

Best of My Love won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single. "Best Of My Love" was also the third biggest pop single of 1977 and has been certified platinum. Rejoice was also the third biggest R&B album of 1977 has been certified platinum. He produced two more albums for the Emotions before they departed Columbia to record for Motown.

The list of singers and musicians White has produced or worked with is far too numerous to list in this writing. Frankly, I just don’t have enough space to list them all! Most call him "an innovator" and "someone who has had a profound impact upon the music industry as a whole" by such as Chaka Khan and Lalah Hathaway who believes that "his contribution as both a musician and a producer has been immeasurable". He has been cited as a main influence by most artists in the last four score.

I don’t know how I rank, if at all, compare to the many greats, who speak of him with such great praise, but I am his most devoted fan. I can’t imagine what the world would be like without his genius. So I will just end by saying, “You’re a Shining Star” and “Keep Your Head To The Sky” and all is right with the universe. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…