Soul – Page 4 – Rock Salted

David Ruffin – David: Unreleased LP & More

David Ruffin – David: Unreleased LP & More Hip-O Select B0002509-02 (2004)

Ruffin recorded a batch of songs primarily in late 1969 and early 1970, some of which were briefly slated for a new LP but shelved and mostly not released until 2004. A few tracks dribbled out as singles and on rarities collections, but the bulk of this just sat in the Motown vaults. The planned original LP (tracks 1-12 here) picks up where Feelin’ Good left off. The opener “Each Day is a Lifetime” is the pick of them. What’s interesting though is how much of the “bonus tracks” — those not slated for the cancelled original album — are among the best here. The original planned album clearly catered to a mostly sweet, orchestrated sound, while the bonus cuts feature heavier rhythms and a little more rock inflection. There is little doubt that the original album would have not made much of a dent. It’s a competent offering but it rarely if ever excites. The energy of some of the bonus tracks would have livened it up a lot — “It’s Gonna Take a Whole Lot of Doin'” and “I Want Her to Say It Again” are great. In fact, “It’s Gonna Take a Whole Lot of Doin'” might well be one of the very best of his solo career (break-up song or reparations song? — you decide). It’s hard to figure what went wrong with a talent as great as Ruffin’s. His debut album was a magnificent achievement. But perhaps it was his ego, his drug habit, a lack of ambition, a clash of personalities with Motown management, or just bad luck that he seemed to end up relegated to second rate material and the backwaters of the Motown empire. He would make a brief artistic resurgence with the under-appreciated Me ‘n Rock ‘n Roll Are Here to Stay a few years later. Yet it wasn’t really meant to be for Ruffin, whose career seemed to just unceremoniously slide out of view.

Bobby Womack – The Soul of Bobby Womack: Stop on By

Bobby Womack – The Soul of Bobby Womack: Stop on By (The Heart of Soul Series) EMI 7243 8 53965 2 6 (1996)

Bobby Womack had something no other soul musician of his time had. His songs were often complex and layered, with strings, horns, backing singers, and studio effects mixed in with guitars and bass. In spite of all that, his recordings sound intimate, as if Bobby was sitting across the room from you singing and playing. Unlike so many other performers, Bobby Womack never lost the basic simplicity of his messages in all the layers of sound piled on top. The ways he accomplished that aren’t readily apparent, though interestingly drums were usually simple and unobtrusive in his music. He took all the assets of a singer-songwriter into the realm of soul and R&B while still retaining the essential richness of the latter. Lots of this material sounds like a product of its time yet still holds interest. His “Across 110th Street” movie theme song has been reused in subsequent films (like American Gangster) to create a 1970s street life ambiance. This particular compilation is notable for being the first release of a demo version of “Across 110th Street”, which strangely enough might be Womack’s single finest recording. It’s just him on guitar and vocals. Without the density of the final studio version, his guitar sounds direct, and his vocals are actually more searching and powerful. Another of Bobby Womack’s qualities was his use of grown-up themes and lyrics. Like Isaac Hayes perhaps, and aside from their best-known movie theme songs, they both dealt mainly with small, nuanced subjects about relationships, lifestyle, getting by. I’m not sure Bobby Womack is the place to start if you’ve never listened to soul music before. But if you’ve spent time with the music of earlier soul legends, consider giving Womack a try. He was genuinely an heir to the great ones, and he took soul/R&B in a new direction. It probably takes a bit more effort to appreciate his stuff, but it’s definitely worth it.

Sly and The Family Stone – Ain’t But the One Way

Sly and The Family Stone – Ain’t But the One Way Warner Bros. 23700-1 (1982)

An album that really had more potential than Sly’s previous few efforts, though it still ends up lacking. Snappier horn charts and backing vocals would have gone a long way. Side one hints at early Prince. The side two opener “Who in the Funk Do You Think You Are” features a guitar riff echoed by ZZ Top‘s “Sharp Dressed Man“. It would have been interesting if Sly had expanded upon the short but intriguing “Sylvester”, the one completely unguarded moment when he musters a revealing sense of dejected nostalgia. A whole album like that song might have really been a breakthrough. Instead this is more like Sly’s 70s coke hangover. Still, I would throw “L.O.V.I.N.U.” and “Sylvester” on a best-of disc and not feel bad about it for a second.

Shuggie Otis – Inspiration Information

Shuggie Otis – Inspiration Information Epic KE 33059 (1974)

(Fresh + Life, Love and Faith) / Southern California = Inspiration Information.

Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady

Janelle Monáe – The Electric Lady Bad Boy Records 536210-2 (2013)

If The ArchAndroid seemed almost claustrophobically overproduced at times, then The Electric Lady goes in the other direction and risks being underproduced and underdeveloped. But no matter. For me, this is Monáe at her most likeable and sublime. By this point, the R&B/soul saga of the android character Cindi Mayweather, chronicled in all of Monáe’s recordings, continues, long after it seemed like the story would come to an end. Her first EP indicated four circles on the cover image, with one-and-a-half filled in to represent that it was the first installment and the others hollow to indicate what was to come, the full-length début had just one hollow, but now, suddenly there are seven circles, with two left hollow. This is like some Hollywood movie franchise that suddenly conjures up a few “prequels” to keep itself lumbering along. Yet, if movie analogies are appropriate, this album seems most like an Oliver Stone film: literate, well-informed, incisive, yet a little preachy and always just over the top with drama. But the music is maybe a bit, er, a lot cheerier than typical Stone fare. The album’s heart is its fondness for the past and desire to avoid losing what was valuable in it against the crush of modern corruptions (just like a Stone film). Monáe clearly has a love of 1970s and 80s soul and rock, from Stevie Wonder to Prince to Os Mutantes (she name-drops them in the liner notes!), to, well, you name it. So, if this is less ambitious than her last effort, on the surface, it also has a more solid footing in a broad continuum of music that is at once open-minded and engaged with music/culture that is less open-minded — as a positive challenge to the dominance of the latter, refusing to sit idly by. It is great to hear music looking to make a world that isn’t ruled by fear, and that recognizes that there are precedents for such thinking already out there that provide a kind of strength for subtle but necessary battles of the present. After a few years of listening, this still holds up really well.

Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid Bad Boy Records 512256-2 (2010)

The ArchAndroid takes doses of neo-soul, like Amy Winehouse, and pop with dance club appeal, like Rihanna, and filters it through contemporary rock and hip-hop sensibilities. You can find songs here with clear references to vintage Michael Jackson and Prince. Most surprising (and disturbing) are times when a canned horn section recalls Miami Sound Machine. Anyway, none of this is new, exactly. And the lyrics are no great attraction. But what makes this album work is that it’s more consistent with less obvious filler than most pop albums of its time. It is too dense for its own good, perhaps. Still, the results are refreshingly ambitious and the heart is in the right place.

James Brown – The Apollo Theatre Presents – In Person! The James Brown Show

James Brown – The Apollo Theatre Presents – In Person! The James Brown Show King 826 (1963)

It is reasonable to say this is James Brown’s best album. His studio stuff, like Hell for example, is great but it’s only great music. With The Apollo Theatre Presents – In Person! The James Brown Show [a/k/a Live at the Apollo, 1962], James Brown materializes in front of your stereo. This is the James Brown experience, preserved in VIVID SOUND as the album jacket barks.

The announcer opens the show and the band plays James to the stage. The band holds back a moment as James shouts a cappella how right he feels. He launches into a powerful rendition of “I’ll Go Crazy.” His performance leaves no doubt: if she leaves him, he will go crazy. James immediately cuts to the pleadings of “Try Me.” He doesn’t work up to big numbers but jumps in head-first.

A live performance like this becomes a part of you. Screams from the crowd as “I Don’t Mind” starts are like a bus ticket home. The crux of the album is the ten-minute version of “Lost Someone.” He draws you into his personal audience (and charms the pants off any ladies present).

The show plays out before you. He collapses to his knees. Disciples rush to him with his signature king’s robe. As they lift him to his feet, he pulls away and rushes back to the mic. No one will stop James Brown from singing for you. He collapses again, only to rush back to cry out a few more lines. This album recreates that unique drama on every listen.

This is James Brown and the Famous Flames — the band that established James Brown as James Brown, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, Mr. Please Please Please himself, Soul Brother #1. James Brown wasn’t the greatest soul singer ever. He was simply the one and only Mr. Dynamite. Nothing captures or describes the man completely, but damn, this little album comes close.

Recorded on October 24, 1962, this was the heyday of soul revue shows. Soul artists had to work the circuit and a show at the Apollo Theater was where things mattered. It’s a short record. The sets had to be short and polished to fit in all the acts. Also on the bill that night in ’62 were The Valentinos (Bobby Womack & family), Solomon Burke, Freddie King, and more. Something special happened when James Brown took the stage. Even following some great acts, the Famous Flames rise to the occasion. This set was tight. Maybe it was destiny.

James had a few hit singles, but this was his first hit album. Many of his albums are excellent of course, but this is a special one among them. The Apollo Theatre Presents – In Person! The James Brown Show is one that helped define what live albums are about. This is star time.

This performance runs straight to the heart of American music. All pop music must be compared to James Brown. Not that everything has to sound like him, but you at least have to try to be this good, this pure, this captivating

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions Tamla T 326V1 (1973)

Stevie’s best album? Probably. What Stevie Wonder brought to music in the early-to-mid-Seventies was pretty amazing. He carried forward the sweet vocals of Motown, or course, but he also added in the rough edges of Detroit rock with just a hint of psychedelia. This was after all the city of Funkadelic, MC5, Alice Cooper. He also could make the beats heavier and funkier, thanks to his innovative programmed Moog bass. But he did all that while also managing to pass for a “singer-songwriter”, as was still a popular movement at the time. To that end he could put forth brilliantly astute and biting social commentary like “Living for the City” and have it be totally convincing. Yes, he could do that and still drop in a few ballads. Bringing it all together, it didn’t quite sound like the sum of its parts. It was something a little different and better than that.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions – Get Happy!!

Elvis Costello and The Attractions – Get Happy!! F-Beat XXLP1 (1980)

There is a good chance that asking some fans their favorite Elvis Costello album will get the answer: Get Happy!! What essentially begins as a genre exercise in soul and R&B ends up as an enduring statement that went beyond new wave clichés. It has more energy than seemed possible from Costello. He directs this into a completely honest brew of catchy melodies and soulful backbeats.

This is one of the classic new wave albums because it’s also an anti-new wave album. The ancient modernism of the conflicted emotions stands out. This isn’t so much a fun pop album. Get Happy!! is about music that you often need to hear. It works upon you. The phrase “Get happy” is a hollow motivational catchphrase. This album wonders why. The purportedly trivial gets its due. Anyone who has ever been sad, lonely, depressed, disenchanted, or anything other than what they want to be, has the needs to hear this album.

“I Can’t Stand Up (For Falling Down)” takes the overlooked Sam & Dave classic (penned by Hayes/Porter) someplace new. Costello takes on the song at a double-time tempo. He tweaks a few of the lyrics to his purposes and adapts where needed his vocal style. He emerges with a something entirely more frantic and delusional. Costello wants to escape the inescapable. Sam & Dave sang a slow, bluesy ballad. Costello reinterprets the song where he acts before he thinks as an excuse to avoid his pain. How could he “fall down” at the pace of he sings this song? His desires are as real as he makes them, conviction his only ally.

Costello was an intelligent hipster. Here he directs his thoughts to the minutiae of life; its illusions fascinate him. The songs don’t come to explicit conclusions. Get Happy!! doesn’t provide answers. Perhaps the only thing Costello and The Attractions do identify with are old Stax and Atlantic soul sides and some wont to act. His usual cynicism is held in check by the glaring deference to pop music of the past. So under it all is a love for music, and that love gets put to use.

So with “Beaten to the Punch” Costello has his lyrics as sharp as ever (for example, “if you got a head for figures then you better count me out” is a great line wherever it lies). Hesitation seems to be everyone else’s problem but Elvis can’t help but implicate himself in the mess. While he claims to have no choice in these matters, he certainly knows where he wants to end up. The way to get there just isn’t what he had hoped for. The tables turn and he’s as desperate as everyone else.

Maybe the honesty of this record comes as a by-product of a hasty recording process (think Big Star’s Third). That separates Get Happy!! from Costello’s other sometimes dubious efforts to reinvent himself. With so many great songs like “Black & White World,” “New Amsterdam,” “High Fidelity,” and “Riot Act,” he obviates the need for posturing. This is a last-ditch effort to make something, anything, happen. The record simply isn’t calculated for Costello to position himself as some kind of legendary songwriter or rock star. When talented artists make music they feel, on instinct, without over-thinking, it can be unique in all the right ways. So it was with Get Happy!!

David Ruffin – David Ruffin

David Ruffin – David Ruffin Motown M762L (1973)

This self-titled album was my first exposure to David Ruffin’s solo material, back in the late 1990s. I knew him as the lead singer of The Temptations, and hey, those glasses were back in style! Definitely not his best. Yet stuff like “I Miss You, Part 1” is still decent. The problem is that he’s not doing the sweet, sumptuous string backing thing but also hasn’t fully committed to the psychedelic soul sound that would work well on his next effort Me ‘n Rock ‘n Roll Are Here to Stay. So he’s stuck in some kind of middle-ground limbo. It’s that, plus the material is forgettable and his voice isn’t as effective as elsewhere. He had that once-in-a-lifetime coarse soulfulness in those vocal chords. Here he comes across as almost hoarse much of the time. Adequate, but unessential.