Barbara Jean English – So Many Ways…. (1972)

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May 272011
 

First off, I’ve been gone a long time. I know I popped back on late last year with the promise of new posts, but you know how life has a way of getting in the way of things on your “to do” list. Here we are six months later and I’m just now getting back to this blog. Sorry for the delay.

Before I get started, I would like to shout out a friend of mine who is battling brain cancer. He has shown nothing but courage during his initial fight and is a true example of how to handle a difficult situation. His name is Garnet and it would be really great if you could drop by his blog, http://garnetstevens.wordpress.com/, and leave a message of support. It would mean a lot to me. Also, if you’re on Facebook (which I know you are), please ‘like’ his page by clicking here.

Now, getting down to business, today’s post is about a song I’ve come to enjoy over the past six months. It’s called “So Many Ways..” and it’s by an artist named Barbara Jean English. I have been bumping the song in my iPod constantly as it puts me in one crazy mood. I’ll get to that in a bit. First, listen to the song:

Miss English is an artist that I wasn’t familiar with going into this post (aside from listening to the song), so what do you do when you don’t know something about someone? You go to Wikipedia. Unfortunately, in this case, there is no Wikipedia page for her. Weak. How can there be a raggedy Wikipedia page about me and not about her?

Fortunately for us (you and me), a quick Google search lead me to a few pages from bloggers who have already blogged about this particular song. A post on a blog called Funk My Soul reveals:

Barbara Jean English was a member of the popular New Jersey girl group the Clickettes and recorded many pop-soul sides with them in the late ’50s and ’60s. She returned in the ’70s to record two albums of lushly produced soul with a concentration on sensual ballads. After a brief hiatus, she re-teamed with the Clickettes in the ’90s to tour the oldies circuit. “I’m Living A Lie” is included in several northern soul compilations. A great cover of Bacharach/David “Don’t Make Me Over” and Francis Lai “Love Story” are the highlights of this forgotten gem.

Good Stuff. An additional blog named Classic and Rare Soul Sisters 50s – 70s gives a little more info:

Classic New Jersey soul from one of the best (and least-known) singers of the early ’70s! Barbara Jean English was a member of the popular girl group the Clickettes and recorded many pop-soul sides with them in the late ’50s and ’60s. Before that, she had been a member of The Gospelettes, The Bouquets, The Ding Dongs and The Avalons. In the early ’60 she recorded as Barbara English and The Fashions and, in the mid ’60s, she released five singles for Mala, Reprise, Warner Bros. and Aurora under the name of Barbara English (one of them appears here). She returned in the ’70s to record two albums for the Althia label (best known as the home of the Escorts) of lushly produced soul with a concentration on sensual ballads. Her first LP, So Many Ways… (1972), has sort of a hard soul feel to it. She has a very engaging, rich voice which is the perfect counterpart to the silky melodies and warm grooves on display here. After a brief hiatus in the late ’70s, when she recorded again as Barbara English, she re-teamed with the Clickettes in the ’90s to tour the oldies circuit.

Ok, so we know she’s from Jersey, her big group was The Clickettes, and she was in a group called the Ding Dongs. LOL. Whenever I hear the words ding dong, I think of Shorty from the Ice Cube fronted rap group Da Lench Mob and his classic line at the 1:43 mark of the song “Guerillas in the Mist” that was simply “SO MUTHAFUCKAS GET THE DING DONG”. Fuck it, peep for yourself and imagine him in the booth doing that punch in. Hhah

Moving on, I really do love the song “So Many Ways”. The first, and most obvious reason, is that she is singing her ass off and has beautiful voice. The cut is rock solid on all fronts. Soul.

Even more than liking the music and her voice, the song lyrics are pure magic to my ears. The main reason I listen to this song over and over is the personification of the river and how it’s out to get her. This is the shit dreams are made of to me as throughout my life I have always bugged and tried to figure out what non-human and inanimate objects are thinking. It’s true (and no I’m not going down to Bellevue…)  Let’s look at the first and most important verse:

I’m gonna take me a walk by the river
And I’m gonna jump, jump right in
I’m gonna curse that muddy ole water
Cause that river knows that I can’t swim
Oh Lord, the trouble I’m in

Granted, this is far from the first song or cliche to say things are alive, but this definitely gets a hell the fuck yeah from me!! People that know me well often wonder how I lived in LA for 12 years and never got in the ocean. They are alarmed to find out that I’ve been to Hawaii for weeks and never stepped foot in the water. Now you know…it’s because that shit is alive and I know it wants to get me. Contrary to the lyrics in the song, I can swim, but P don’t fuck around with no ocean. Swimming pools, yes. Lake Michigan, yes. Ocean, no. The last time I got in the ocean, I was 18 years old in Negril Jamaica. I skeptically waded out to the sandbar and a dread came up, said his name was Star, and shook my hand. He had 12 fingers. The little vienna weenie looking shits dangling off his hands past his pinky fingers freaked me out so I promptly exited the water and made a b line for a spliff.

FYI, these inanimate objects can be anything. I’m on some ole Thomas The Train shit when I see the stankin ass C train coming into the station. I can actually see a face on the front and I know that shit wants to take people out. Chairs are on some Pee Wee Herman Chairy shit. Really, anything and everything around you could be plotting your demise right now. A plasma TV wants to fall on you. A toilet seat wants to crack and cut that ass so you bleed to death. A door may want to slam on your face while the ceiling caves in on you. The ground could one day just open up and swallow you. Crazier shit has been known to happen. For real.

Anyway, one of the blogs I mentioned above had a link to the album in the comments section. I checked the link and it’s still good …so knock yourself out:

http://rapidshare.com/files/280566617/Barbara_Jean_English_-_So_Many_Ways…__1972_.rar

 

–P

The Ruffin Brothers – I Am My Brother’s Keeper

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Aug 192010
 

The Ruffin Brothers – I Am My Brothes Keeper (OG Ad for the single “Stand By Me”)

The Ruffin Brothers – I Am My Brothes Keeper (Color cover)

Damn, is David’s head really that much smaller than Jimmy’s head?

Anyway, I just listened to this entire record and it was soulful for sure…just wasn’t the most amazing LP I’ve ever heard.  I could def chop some of it up into some hot tracks, which I may do, but as far as listening to it again…it’s gonna get buried in my itunes so it’ll resurface here and there.  I think my favorite joint on here is definitely “Your Love Was Worth Waiting For” as I like the song and these brothers were doing their thing.

If you want to grab the album, download it here.

Btw, I’m a huge fan of David Ruffin….his life, his music, The Temptations, and his legacy as one of the best voices of all time.  RIP Mr. Ruffin.

The Ruffin Brothers – Didn’t I Blow Your Mind (This Time):

The Ruffin Brothers – He Aint Heavy, He’s My Brother:

The Ruffin Brothers – Your Love Was Worth Waiting For:

Cher Medley Wars: The Jackson 5 vs The Osmonds

 Cartoons, Comedy, Disco, General, Pop  No Responses »
Aug 082010
 

Same set, two medleys, and Cher (who could get the business back then). Who wins by a landslide? Go.

Cher & The Jackson 5 – Jackson 5 Medley

VS

Cher & The Osmonds – Stevie Wonder Medley

BONUS WAR! Who had the better cartoon intro?

The Osmonds Cartoon

VS

The Jackson 5 Cartoon

Well? What’s the verdict?

Michael Jackson Passes the Dutchie

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Aug 082010
 

February 16th, 1983:

“Michael Jackson is in London to attend the British Record Industry Awards and record with Paul McCartney. During his stay, there is industrial action by water workers in the capital which prompts a scare about contaminated water. Michael arranges for large quantities of Perrier water to be delivered to his hotel suite, prompting the tabloid press to speculate that he is cooking, shaving and bathing with bottled water as well as merely drinking it.”

On the surface…these are quick flicks from the backstage area of an awards show. Mike, Paul, and a young group who had to be stoked to meet Michael Jackson.  Shit, I’d be happy too.  Also, Musical Youth had to look up to Jackson 5 as they were trying to do a similar thing with their group (two sets of brothers).  On a deeper level, let’s take a look at another reason why they should all be smiling.

Musical Youth released “Pass The Dutchie” in autumn of 1982.  The record went to Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in October 1982. It went on to sell over four million copies, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. A U.S. Top 10 placing also followed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The accompanying video made them the first black artists to be played on MTV. (Wikipedia)

Thriller was released on December 1, 1982, and sold one million copies worldwide per week at its peak (Wikipedia)

Paul McCartney is a Beatle. What else is there to say?  For this post, we’ll just say that he was on a track on Thriller named “The Girl Is Mine”, so Thriller’s success reflects on him as well.

So, to sum it up, these smiles can be described with a little rough Their Time’s Limited math (and Wikipedia help):

Michael Jackson Album Sales: 750 million, Beatles Album Sales: 1 billion, Paul McCartney: 100 million, Jackson 5 Album Sales: 100 million, & Musical Youth Album Sale: 4 million

Total Estimated Album Sales involving the guys smiling in the picture = 1,954,000,000

And you rappers act like you’re really doing something with your raggedy ass album selling in the thousands?  Go jump off a building.

Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson – Say Say Say (I know..it’s not on Thriller, but it’s my site and I’ll post whatever I want):

Musical Youth – Pass The Dutchie

Old School “Please Listen To My Demo”

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Aug 062010
 

The record business has changed dramatically in the past 30 years, but putting yourself out there to get noticed is still the same.  In some ways it’s different (ads in trade mags, standing outside of labels, calling in favors, cold calling, breaking the bank on unsolicited demos, etc) and in some ways it’s the same (eating dicks / sucking up, playing shows to build a following, and having talent (which is somewhat questionable in most cases these days)).

So what we have here is an old school ad for a group of three people trying to get noticed.  They have a nice rudimentary graphic that meets up with their logo on some old school clashing of five different fonts. Obviously, this is before photoshop so someone put in work cutting film and lining up this ad in a very sloppy way on a light table. I only know this because I learned it back in high school in South Bend….why they taught us this in the age of computers is a mystery to me.

The only reason I’m really posting this is because of Vernon.  This is pure speculation, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Vernon is smashing Vicki Rae something terrible.  He has that old school “Mike, I’m all up in this biatch so back the hell up” smile with an accompanying arm clamp on what he’s claiming as his in the demo picture. Mike prob had the money to pay for the ad and “demos” plus the songwriting skills and talent.  I put demos in quotes because who knows if it was a physical 8 track tape or vinyl record…or maybe they really just waited around by the phone and tried to sing live to anyone who called?

It appears that the telephone number is from Santa Ynez California…which appears to be desolate land somewhere up the Cali coast.  I bet that was a real hotbed for disco shit back in the day.

So…I wonder if they ever made it?  I wonder if Vernon will answer if you call the number?

I wonder if Vicki Rae went solo and finally made a record under the name Vicki Rae Von and this is it (below)?  The song was produced by Tom Brasfield and he appears to be a disco producer who ended up writing a big hit for Ronnie Milsap.  Oh shit, now I’m really tripping cause I use to bang that hit Ronnie Milsap song on my am radio back in the day.

Fuck. Now I’ve gotta get off into some Ronnie Milsap shit. Why did I just find out that he’s blind?  I thought he was rocking shades all those years to be cool.  Here’s the kicker: I thought Roy Orbison was blind because he rocked shades his entire career and then he turned out to not be blind at all. Wtf?! My blindar is way off.

Ronnie Milsap – (There’s No) Gettin’ Over Me

But now that I’ve lost all control of this post…look at these cats from the Fukuoka American Music Association trying to put it down on the same song:

Ike & Tina “LET ME TOUCH YOUR MIND”

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Aug 062010
 

Dope and tripped out packaging…very reminiscent Jimi Hendrix’s, non nude, Electric Ladyland cover, eh?  Don’t believe me, take a look for yourself (below).  Old school style biting.

Regardless of the blatant bite, which still happens all the time and is actually something I enjoy when its done well or in tribute, the songs on the album speak for themselves.  I wish Ghostface was here inside of this post to pop out and say “Niggas bit off Nas Shit!!!!”..

Btw, Tina is the original Beyonce….She would’ve gotten the business so bad and still looks amazing to this day (for her age).

Ike & Tina Turner – Let Me Touch Your Mind

The Wattstax Experience

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Aug 062010
 

This some some serious ad copy: “Six hours of contemporary history edited to the essence of human entertainment”.

The Wattstax lineup was stellar and I wish I could go back in time to be there.  Who can forget Rufus Thomas’s loud suit, Isaac Hayes rockin a chain shirt, and the Bar Kays putting in work on “Son of Shaft”.  I haven’t watched or listened to Wattstax in a long time, but I’m definitely due for a refresher viewing…even if it’s just to see the mega infield dancing that resembles the world’s biggest Soul Train line.  It’s not the absolute greatest shit of all time, but def worth your time if you’re not in the know.  Also, If you listen close to the record, you’re going to hear a few famous vocal samples.

For those of you on phones and garbage monitors, the album lineup is: Issac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas, Albert King, Eddie Floyd, The Bar-Kays, Carla Thomas, & The Soul Children

Richard Pryor narrated trailer:

Meet Mrs. Miller – A Singer, A Whistler, A Hummer

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Aug 052010
 

Where to begin? I guess I’ll start with this: I’ve had this ad in my “to post” folder for awhile, but I never actually researched Mrs. Miller until a few minutes ago.  Matter of fact, I only created this particular blog the other day so we’re just now getting into the groove over here.  It seems that I’m a little late to the starting line on this artist as a quick search reveals a bunch of blogs and sites that have covered this already.  I could very well be the only one with the OG ad though, but whatevers holmes.  Without reading any of them, I’m just going to dive in on my own with limited info and tell you about Mrs. Miller.

Starting with the ad…She looks like she should be on a pasta jar, right?  Granted, I’ve shuffled through tens of thousands of old LPs looking for samples and this cover is only modestly jacked up compared to some of the stuff I’ve seen.  In total stream of consciousness writing, this just reminded me of the time Silva and I stopped by an “album cover” art gallery show after skating one day…shit was sweet.  Back to Mrs. Miller, why is she holding the mic out like an emcee?  She’s holding that shit like she’s stroking something or like she’s about to get it in in the booth…or both (insert Eric Burdon “Spill The Wine” story here).

The song selection on this Greatest Hits album looks excellent with a variety of pop hits.  This has to be good right?  You be the judge:

Mrs. Miller – Downtown

Mrs. Miller – Strangers in the Night

Mrs. Miller – The Girl From Ipanema

Ok. What the flying fuck was Capitol thinking?  This has to be a joke right? Good God.

Having spent some time in the tower myself here and there, let me sidetrack this again with another story: I have a video somewhere of me showing my homey how to get past Capitol security, hit the elevator, stairs, and boom…the roof.  So just know that footage exists of Dj Marvski jumping over the ledge on the roof of the Capitol building and dancing around because he was so excited to be up there.  One more step and it would’ve been a done deal for the legend.

Anyway, this chick, Mrs. Miller, isn’t so good.  I can just see some 60s version of a Ron Lafitte, still dressed the same, signing her like she was going to be the next big thing.  Maybe a current “A&R” will venture out to Claremont now and find a school teacher to sign just to spice up the industry a little, eh?  That would be a true Hell Yeah!!!

Seriously, it seems like she eventually caught on to the fact that the world was laughing at her and it can be summed up in this sentence from her Wikipedia page:

“She apparently was unaware at first that her musical ability was being ridiculed, but eventually realized it and decided to go along with the joke. She attributed her break with Capitol to her wanting to sing correctly and record ballads, while Capitol wanted to continue the “so bad it’s good” style.”

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