Podcasts about Southern soul

On A Bowl of Soul we have some classic R&B, Hip Hop, Reggae and Southern Soul grooves.  On this broadcast we have a new Southern Soul groove by Troy Henry and a worldwide Southern Soul smoker from 803fresh. Make sure you get your boots on the ground and bring your fan!!! We are also celebrating the birthdays of two Queens of R&B and Pop, Janet Jackson and Gladys Knight. I hope you enjoy this broadcast, because I sure did. Thank you for showing love to A Bowl of Soul A Mixed Stew of Soul Music. #gladysknight #kenboothe #bizmarkie #roxanneshante #today #envogue #janetjackson #aaliyah #ladywray #troyhenry #803fresh Get up to 2 months free podcasting service with our Libsyn code=ABOS. Sign up & bring your  podcast to life! Get on Apple & Spotify, get critical stats & all the support you need to sound your best and grow your show!! Sign up here: https://signup.libsyn.com/?promo_code=ABOS You can listen to the A Bowl of Soul Radio Network on Live365.com giving you 24/7/365 days of Soul Music. Stop on by and listen:  A Bowl of Soul Radio Network on Live365 You can support A Bowl of Soul and Buy Me A Coffee. Just click: Buy A Bowl of Soul A Cup of Coffee Purchase your A Bowl of Soul T-Shirt and other merchandise. Just click: Get Your A Bowl of Soul Merch Follow me: @proftlove on Threads                   @proftlove on Instagram                   @abowlofsoul.bsky.social - Bluesky                                  @A Bowl of Soul A Mixed Stew of Soul Music on Facebook Promote your product or service on the podcast and the radio network. You can sponsor A Bowl of Soul by getting your product or service in front of listeners. Email us at: abowlofsoul@gmail.com  Thank you for your Support!!!    

Send us a textEpisode 134 of the BAAS Entertainment Podcast features a captivating conversation with the talented singer, songwriter, and producer, Noel Gourdin.Host Troy Saunders begins the episode by playing one of the first singles from Noel's upcoming album, “Back To Basics Vol. 1” They reminisce about Noel's first appearance on the podcast two years ago, where he shared his journey from a young musician to a successful artist. Both Troy and Noel fondly recall their family trips to the South, where they were surrounded by music and the cars their father owned.As they delve into the music of the new album, Noel talks about his close collaboration with his core set of musicians, including Lorenzo “Zo” Johnson and Carnita Rogers. He describes their working relationship as effortless and highlights Carnita's impressive track record with renowned artists like Maysa and Hil St. Soul.The conversation takes an interesting turn when they discuss the possibility of releasing “Back To Basics” on vinyl. They then jam to another single, “Get to You,” which leads to a discussion about Carnita and Noel's single “Complacent.”Noel shares some exciting news with the audience—he's getting married in October! He reveals that his guest list is growing rapidly, but he's thrilled to be sharing this special day with his family and friends. So, ladies, he's officially off the market!The conversation continues as they explore the challenges and rewards of being an independent artist. Noel shares details about upcoming collaborations with Teri Tobin, Sy Smith, Conya Doss, Maysa, and the legendary Southern Soul star Jeter Jones.The celebration of the new album reaches its climax with a discussion and snippets of singles like “Celebration,” “New Walk New Talk,” “You (I'm Ready),” and the current release, “Might Let You Hit It.” Noel aims to release the album by the end of May and encourages listeners to follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.This episode is a must-listen for anyone who appreciates music that's full of heart and soul. Listen and subscribe to the BAAS Entertainment Podcast via the BAAS Entertainment website, www.baasentertainment.com, and all podcast platforms.

Lots to dive into this week! My wife and I saw Sinners as our date night adventure for her birthday last week. I discuss how this movie and South of Midnight coming out close to each other spoke to my core. Later in the show I discuss the return of Oblivion and other games, then talk about Beef and Last of Us S2.Timestamps(00:00) Intro and Life TalkMain Topic(14:45) Sinners and South of Midnight synergy(29:20) Sinners spoilersGame Talk(33:40) Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remasterd(35:40) Expedition 33 is soon(36:50) Testing Xbox streaming(38:30) Blue Prince impressions(40:45) Crime Scene Cleaner(42:00) Switch 2 preorders happeningTV Talk(45:10) Beef Netflix series(53:00) Last of Us Season 2 ep2 spoilersManga Talk(58:56) Sakamoto Days chapter 205-210(01:02:03) Outro and wrap up______________________________Follow meMy website: https://dadneedstotalk.com/Blue Sky: dadneedstotalk2.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/DadNeedsToTalkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dadneedstotalkpodcast/If you enjoy what I do and want to supportKofi: https://ko-fi.com/dadneedstotalkPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/Dadneedstotalk

Celebrating Classic Soul, Hip-Hop,New R&B and Southern Soul music on A Bowl of Soul and finally Spring showing up in New York City.  On this broadcast we are celebrating a little bit of Jazz, in the work of Dinah Washington and TS Monk Jr. the son of Thelonius Monk. But we definitely have to sprinkle some Classic Soul and New R&B in between. April is Jazz Appreciation Month. An accomplished Pop artist has gone on to be with ancestors, Mr. Lenny Welch, singer of the million selling pop hit written by Jazz musician, Buddy Johnson called "Since I Fell For You".  On A Bowl of Soul we  celebrate the accomplishments of African-American Singers, Songwriters, Producers and Arrangers from the past and present as well as the accomplishments of African-Americans in the diaspora and through out the world.   #dinahwashington, #marywells #marvingaye #kimweston #tammiterrell #ledgends #luthervandross #quincyjones #pattiaustin #tsmonkjr #brandy #brandnubian #maryjblige #fabulous #jordanayanna #jenniferwatts #lennywelch Get up to 2 months free podcasting service with our Libsyn code=ABOS. Sign up & bring your  podcast to life! Get on Apple & Spotify, get critical stats & all the support you need to sound your best and grow your show!! Sign up here: https://signup.libsyn.com/?promo_code=ABOS You can listen to the A Bowl of Soul Radio Network on Live365.com giving you 24/7/365 days of Soul Music. Stop on by and listen:  A Bowl of Soul Radio Network on Live365 You can support A Bowl of Soul and Buy Me A Coffee. Just click: Buy A Bowl of Soul A Cup of Coffee Purchase your A Bowl of Soul T-Shirt and other merchandise. Just click: Get Your A Bowl of Soul Merch Follow me: @proftlove on Threads                   @proftlove on Instagram                   @abowlofsoul.bsky.social - Bluesky                                  @A Bowl of Soul A Mixed Stew of Soul Music on Facebook Promote your product or service on the podcast and the radio network. You can sponsor A Bowl of Soul by getting your product or service in front of listeners. Email us at: abowlofsoul@gmail.com  Thank you for your Support!!! Promote your product or service on the podcast and the radio network. You can sponsor A Bowl of Soul by getting your product or service in front of listeners. Email us at: abowlofsoul@gmail.com  Thank you for your Support!!!  

Send us a textEpisode 125. David Sylvester started his musical career as a toddler long before he knew what music notes, beats, and tempos meant. He'd become quite skilled at lyrical content creating and tapping into heartfelt emotions through music in his youth.He was heavily influenced by car rides with his mom where he would sing along as she listened to the great Otis Clay, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Johnny Taylor, and other R&B and soul artists. At the early age of 14 he began his professional musical career as a church musician at a COGIC church in Louisiana. When you hear his voice, you can hear how he illuminates the raspy sounds of blues legends Bobby "Blue" Bland and Al Green, who also started as gospel singers.David released his first full industry standard project in April 2024 entitled SOUL OF THE SOUTH. It features hit singles such as "Too Blessed," "In My Arms," "My Apology," and "Back in Town," which friends, fans, and family members shared all over social media. But it was his single "Lonely Hearts" that has gained the momentum to establish a solid reputation in the soul blues industry.When asked why should a new fan be interested in his music, Sylvester replied "It's an honest expression of raw emotion, completely original, and soulful. It also has somewhat of a vintage feel," This comment rings true.When you listen to his music you will hear the vintage sounds resembling the great Otis Redding partnered with the sultry vocal rasp that is often compared to artists such as John Legend, Lyfe Jennings, and Anthony Hamilton. A small focus group said that the artist is a person who tends to overthink things seeking perfectionism, but levels that compassion with a huge heart. David can often be heard stating that. He is an old soul with an intense desire to spread love and positive energy everywhere my likeness is represented.Expect the release of more original music and some powerful heartfelt live and electrifying performances as this shining star continues to bring great music to soulful ears across the world. A voice that is unique with lyrics coming from a perspective that is not commonly expressed and a nostalgic presence.If you love warm heartfelt music that is pure and soulful, don't miss this episode. The conversation was warm and sincere. You really get to know the man behind the music. Tunes included in this episode are "Lonely Hearts," "In My Arms," "Thinking About You," "Spirits," " Run Back To Me," and Troy's favorite, "Let You Go".Listen and subscribe to the BAAS Entertainment Podcast on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Podchaser, Pocket Casts and TuneIn. “Hey, Alexa. Play the BAAS Entertainment Podcast.”

Happy New Year as we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We thank all of our listeners as we begin our 8th Season. Join us as the Guys Talk Smack and listen the best of R&B, Jazz, Southern Soul and Gospel. www.rvasoul.com talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com VM HotLine 804 321 1010

Lets get the party rolling with upbeat Southern Soul tracks from artist like: King South, Ms. Jody, Tasha Mac, Jetr Jones, Tucka, T.K. Soul, Nellie Tiger, King George, Ronnie Bell and more.

SUNDAY'S “LATE” NIGHT #Vibes #Eagles RISE above the Madness!We share #Atlanta - #SouthernSoul #Worldwide - #ATLHottest We Streaming LIVE @ #PLATINUMMEDIANETWORK via #FacebookPage - #Stream @ “Streetz989ATLTV - #LegendsVibing with #Tha1stLady - #EmCeeJazz in #REPLAY #Broadcast #Podcasters #PODCAST #SouthernSoulBlueLightsVibez #Media #Music #Exposure #Podcast #SouthernSoulIndustry #FleetDJs #FleetDJsGA #FlyJazzJai #FleetDJsSouthernSoul#Streetz989ATL 24/7

SUNDAY'S “LATE” NIGHT #Vibes #Eagles RISE above the Madness! We share #Atlanta - #SouthernSoul #Worldwide - #ATLHottest #MissLadyBlues We Streaming LIVE @ #PLATINUMMEDIANETWORK via #FacebookPage - #Stream @ “Streetz989ATLTV - #Legends Vibing with #Tha1stLady - #EmCeeJazz in #REPLAY #Broadcast #Podcasters #PODCAST #SouthernSoulBlueLightsVibez #Media #Music #Exposure #Podcast #SouthernSoulIndustry #FleetDJs #FleetDJsGA #FlyJazzJai #FleetDJsSouthernSoul #Streetz989ATL 24/7

The Guys are back for our post election update the Lovely Raegan sitting in for Sweet T. Hot Jazz, R&B, Southern Soul and Big P's Jokes for the Week! Shout Outs www.rvasoul.com talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com VM Hot Line 804 321 1010

The guys are back for our Pre-election blowout with Sweet T and the Lovely Raegan sitting in for Still Bill. We have our mix of Jazz ,Blues, Southern Soul and lively discussion of the election and campaign shenanigans! Shout Outs! (804) 321-1010 VM Hotline www.rvasoul.com  (comments) talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com

TA Thomas joins the show to discuss his upbringing in the Mississippi Delta, his musical influences, and the impact Jackson State University has had on his career. He shares insights about joining the R&B boy band Next Town Down, the reasons behind their breakup, and his recent solo project, “Caught Between 2 Worlds.” He'll also talk about his exciting new signing with Def Jam. ✅ LISTEN, FOLLOW, AND RATE

On this episode, we take a journey through the rich history of Stax Records, the iconic label that defined Southern Soul music, and I play some of my favorite Stax tracks from their earliest years-- 1959 to 1963. Stax produced some of the most unforgettable songs in music history. Join us as I spin up some of my personal favorites, featuring legends like Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, The Mar-Keys and Carla Thomas. Learn about the unique sound of Stax, the community that fostered it, and the incredible music that continues to resonate today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we take a journey through the rich history of Stax Records, the iconic label that defined Southern Soul music, and I play some of my favorite Stax tracks from their earliest years, 1959 to 1963. Stax produced some of the most unforgettable songs in music history. Join us as I spin up some of my personal favorites, featuring legends like Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, The Mar-Keys and Carla Thomas. Learn about the unique sound of Stax, the community that fostered it, and the incredible music that continues to resonate today. Take advantage of our discount code lovethatsong and save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands at OldGlory.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

hey Guys! So I am back with another free episode for this podcast. Now here's the thing guys, my life is going to get very hectic soon, so the next free episode of my podcast may not come till the very last day of this month. Starting next week, I will only have 3 days out of the week to record & release these episodes. The rest of the week I"m going to school & will be traveling back & forth to school. I won't have much time to record & release new episodes (on top of trying to schedule & record new interviews whenever I can) I will definitely try to record part two on one of those 3 days, but just finding the time to do that may not be that easy, but we'll see. anyways, I wanted to revisit Southern Soul & this time, bring to you a great classic from that particular genre from an artist who actually happens to be still alive. here's the link to that song right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkhdHWF0Vms don't forget to also follow me & reach out to me on Instagram & Tik Tok right here: https://www.instagram.com/iheartoldies/ https://www.tiktok.com/@iheartoldies please do also subscribe to the premium subscription version of my podcast so you can hear my new interview episodes! will be dropping one a month every month for quite a while. here's where you can access them right here: https://themillennialthrowbackmachine.supercast.com don't forget to also donate to the crowdfunding campaign for my next EP. I really want to get this next EP out to you guys, and with your help, I could be making that happen. here's the link to where you can do that right here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-past-the-present-my-imagination-ep also, please do check out the brand new Redbubble Merch store for this podcast. you'll actually find video of me wearing this merch on my IG page as well. hope you dig the new logo, here's where you can check it out right here: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/36806158 also, please do listen to my last EP. I could really use your help with getting more streams guys. I would absolutely love that. here's the link to where you can stream it right here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/samlwilliams/an-old-soul-with-new--remiagined-things please do also check out the official Spotify & Youtube playlists for this podcast. here you'll be able to keep track of all of the songs that I talk about on my podcast including some of the ones that I did in old interview episodes from back in the day before they went premium. here's the link to that right here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/21f3uBS6kU4hUF6QAC5JMj?si=bdcc45ac14b44c4f https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS1sYR7xky8&list=PL66sgq_GAmRcXy8yKZJfVmAD14H UYj7Nf if you liked my analysis on this week's song & artist & you have never heard of him before & your around my age/Gen Z, then definitely email me at samltwilli@icloud.com, you can also follow me & reach out to me on Instagram & Tik Tok @iheartoldies. thanks for being patient with me guys. hope you guys are doing well, and as promised, I will be back with one more free episode this month. I will try to record it either next weekend or this Monday afternoon. anyways, hope you'll subscribe to the premium version of my podcast & I hope you guys will come to my next show on September 24th at Bar Lubitsch in West Hollywood. I"m on at 10pm. should be a good time. I'm really excited & I will talk to you all once more this month as well.

Big P,Still Bill,KK and DL(Not Hughley) welcome our friend Raegan as we talk about the Harris/Walz ticket, the NABJ debacle, Sonya Massey and the hottest jams including R&B,Blue Lights in the Basement, Liam's Corner and Southern Soul! Shout Outs! www.rvasoul.com talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com Hot Line (804) 321-1010

On this new broadcast of A Bowl of Soul, we are celebrating New R&B for 2024. We have a mix of New R&B, Smooth Jazz, Southern Soul, Afrobeat and Hip Hop. These are all the necessary ingredients to make a "Stew of Soul Music" on A Bowl of Soul. Make sure you support this music by supporting these artists on all digital music platforms. Keep it locked with A Bowl of Soul!!!!!   #soulful #smoothjazz #hiphop #southernsoul #slowjams #ranb #afrobeat You can support A Bowl of Soul by doing the following:  Get up to 2 months free podcasting service with our Libsyn code=ABOS. Sign up & bring your  podcast to life! Get on Apple & Spotify, get critical stats & all the support you need to sound your best and grow your show!! Sign up here: https://signup.libsyn.com/?promo_code=ABOS You can listen to the A Bowl of Soul Radio Network on Live365.com giving you 24/7/365 days of Soul Music. Stop on by and listen:  A Bowl of Soul Radio Network on Live365 You can support A Bowl of Soul and Buy Me A Coffee. Just click: Buy A Bowl of Soul A Cup of Coffee Purchase your A Bowl of Soul T-Shirt and other merchandise. Just click: Get Your A Bowl of Soul Merch Follow me: @abowlofsoul on Twitter                   @proftlove on Instagram                   @A Bowl of Soul A Mixed Stew of Soul Music on Facebook  

The Guys and Sweet T are Back! Still Bill and  Big P welcome newcomer CMC discuss the SCOTUS decision on Presidential Authority and the Biden debate meltdown with the best of R&B, Liam's Corner, Southern Soul and  Blue Lights in the Basement! Shout Outs! (804) 321-1010 www.rvasoul.com talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com

Jeff Silberblatt is delighted to welcome Jenny Levison to the Jewish Times podcast. Jenny is the mastermind behind Souper Jenny, a thriving chain of five restaurants serving delectable soups and salads in the bustling Atlanta metroplex. Beyond her culinary success, Jenny's heart shines through her creation of The Zadie Project, a 501c3 nonprofit named after her father (“Zadie” is Yiddish for “Grandfather”), and dedicated to providing healthy nourishment to children in Title 1 schools. Prepare to be moved by Jenny's journey and the impactful initiatives of The Zadie Project. Tune in for a dose of inspiration, and you may find yourself craving a visit to one of her inviting locations after hearing about the mouthwatering menu!IN THIS EPISODE:[0:24] Jeff introduces Jenny Levison [1:46] Jenny shares the Souper Jenny story from its creative inception[4:04] Jenny describes the menu at Souper Jenny, “My Dad's Turkey Chili,” and the Zadie Project[7:50] Discussion of how the Zadie Project was conceived and functions, and Jenny shares what her father taught her about philanthropy[10:21] The farm's original intent was to provide produce for the restaurant, what customers say about the restaurant and the food and Jenny's goal for the Zadie Project[12:09] Discussion about the locations of the restaurants and Jenny's opinion about how Atlanta has changed over the past 25 years and how they managed through Covid[16:36] Discussion about menu items and Jeff shares his appreciation to Jenny for what she does for the communityKEY TAKEAWAYS:Jenny started a 501c3 called The Zadie Project. The project provides better nutrition to Title 1 school system kids. They started by donating 30 quarts a week and are now donating 800. The goal is to donate 1000 quarts each week. The menu at Souper Jenny changes daily except for “My Dad's Turkey Chili,” a staple. All the profit from this soup goes to The Zadie Project.Early on, the farm was designed to grow produce for the restaurant. The demand for produce at the restaurants is so great that the farm can't keep up. It is now used as an educational place for school groups. The produce is sold, and the proceeds go toward the Zadie Project. RESOURCE LINKS:Jewish Time -  PodcastAtlanta Jewish Times - WebsiteAtlanta Jewish Times - FacebookAtlanta Jewish Times - YouTubeAtlanta Jewish Times Feature - Souper JennyAtlanta Jewish Times Feature -  The Zadie ProjectAtlanta Jewish Times Feature - Jenny LevinsonBIOGRAPHY: Jenny Levison is a local celebrity, national TV personality and cookbook author. Before entering the restaurant business, the Atlanta native attended Carnegie Mellon and worked as an Actress in Los Angeles and New York. She moved back to Atlanta to perform with Actor's Express and has been here ever since. After spending two years traveling the world and learning to prepare different cuisines, Levison realized the one thing that was universal was soup. This realization was her inspiration to start Souper Jenny in 1999. From that initial inspiration, Souper Jenny now has five different locations, the Souper Farm and “The Zadie Project,” a nonprofit that provides meals to Atlantans in need. 

Yerrrrrrrrrrr! On this episode Rob and Ericca are joined by Certified Nutrition coach who creates delicious high protein Southern recipes and Actor Ronalyn Alston! Tune in as they discuss Southern Cuisine, common health myths associated with soul food, and the importance of health.   Ronalyn's Links Instagram: ronalynalston TikTok: ronalyntalston Pinterest: ronalynta Website: https://ronalyntalston.com/     Connect with us Here: www.fmepodcast.com   Follow us on Instagram: The show: fme_podcast Rob: komplete_vision   Pass The Peaz App: passthepeazapp Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FMEPODCAST   Do you need or want some advice? Did you recently celebrate something important? Did you have a spicy interaction with someone? If so, we want to share your story.   Submit your story for our new segment " Sharing Experiences" here: rob@fmepodcast.com or admin@fmepodcast.com    Affiliate Links: Are you seeking job seeker? Are you ready to land your next position Fast? If so, then check out resume ATM and turn your resume into ATM.   https://resumeatm.com/aff/fmepodcast/ Support The Show By Shopping With Our Affiliates Check Out Garner's Garden Affiliate code:      Fmepodcast   Music by: Romo: Support Romo' Music   Jenova 7: Support Jenova 7's Music   Baskaat: Support Baaskat's Music   J Create: Support J Create's Music

      Robin West is an accomplished musician, producer, singer-songwriter, and southern soul recording artist. She was awarded BEST SOUTHERN SOUL PERFORMER, and PEOPLE'S CHOICE by the BLACK MUSIC AWARDS 2021. She garnered national attention with her first self-produced single BUMP YO HEAD released Oct 26, 2019 made it to the #25 top 150 independent artist airplay Digital Radio Tracker. Her latest single ANOTHER ROUND reached #1 on the AirPlay Experts/Urban Influencer Southern Soul charts, in July 2023. The album A WHOLE VIBE and videos are on all major platforms. Robin West has new upcoming events that will be mentioned in this showcase, music from her recent album will be played Support the Show.Music Artist interview

Spreading R&B/Soul Music and a Good TimeThough Voice King Kendrick was Born and raised in Rock Hill, South CarolinaAs a youth, King Kendrick grew up singing in the church choir with his mother and began performing in talent shows. Shortly after graduating high school, he had an opportunity to audition for LaFace Records in collaboration with the singing group he was a member of. Years later King Kendrick branched out to become a solo artist. After years of attempting to break into the music industry full-time, he released his first Southern soul music single in July of 2022. King Kendrick will present a catalog of several distinguished R&B soulful melodies. In this showcase presents Kendrick's new album called "Carolina Boogie" which also includes new releases on the album "Southern Soul Woman" and "Side Piece"Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ladydiva-live-radio--2579466/support.

       Robin West is an accomplished musician, producer, singer-songwriter, and southern soul recording artist. She was awarded BEST SOUTHERN SOUL PERFORMER, and PEOPLE'S CHOICE by the BLACK MUSIC AWARDS 2021. She garnered national attention with her first self-produced single BUMP YO HEAD released Oct 26, 2019 made it to the #25 top 150 independent artist airplay Digital Radio Tracker. Her latest single ANOTHER ROUND reached #1 on the AirPlay Experts/Urban Influencer Southern Soul charts, in July 2023. The album A WHOLE VIBE and videos are on all major platforms. Robin West has new upcoming events that will be mentioned in this showcase, music from her recent album will be playedBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ladydiva-live-radio--2579466/support.

In a riveting conversation, The Madd Hatta engages with the legendary Lenny Williams, delving into the genesis of his iconic hit "Cause I Love You," his tenure with Tower of Power, and his embrace of Southern Soul. With a career spanning decades, Williams offers insights into his remarkable longevity in the music industry, shedding light on the factors that have propelled him forward as a revered figure in soul music.

The stories told this episode was well worth tracking down the "Southern Soul" hit maker. The Madd Hatta reconnects with the creator of the 90s hit song "Splackavellie," who has been performing under the name Mr. David, thrilling audiences with his iconic track and an array of Southern Soul hits. Reflecting on his journey from rapper doing booty music to becoming a seasoned performer, Mr. David shares insights into his evolution in the music industry and the creative endeavors that have kept him busy over the years.

Incarceration rates are high in Mississippi, and the state legislature did little this year to address it according to prison reform advocates.Then, Mississippi turned down federal food assistance funding. How are families and food banks planning to move forward?Plus, Mississippi has been named the home of Southern Soul Music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Playlist: (1) - Southern Soul Sunday: DJ A.J. Capone. (2) - 100 Missed Calls: Young Guy. (3) - I Found Her: Will Gatlin. (4) - Cheat: Curt The Countryman. (5) - Slick: Jessica Jay. (6) - Cheating on Us: Icebuck, Nellie Tiger Travis. (7) - Family: GNG. (8) - Juke Joint: KG. (9) - I Ain't Gone Spill No Drank: Cupid. (10) - Nothing Last Forever: Ciddy Boi P / M. Cally. (11) - Working: Verno TV / Leroy Jermaine. (12) - No Drama: Paul Ruffin: (13) - I've Been Drinkin': 803 Fresh. (14) - Slow Motion: Rabbitt Orr. (15) - Busted Cheating At The Holiday Inn: Mr. Midnight. (16) - Hater: Chocolit Tye. (17) - Country Girls Do It Better: Breeze MrDo2Much. (18) - Favorite Drink: Champagne Coleman. (19) - Say Dj: Big Mel. (20) - She Wants The Money: Mr. House. (21) - Dance All In It: Son Of Soul. ========================================================== *FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.I state here in a good faith that I have made and uploaded here this copy of this copyrighted material completely for the purposes of comment and criticism - i.e. my production of the copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here on HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case - is totally non-profit, and that I believe that my production of this copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here in HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case can only increase value of this copyrighted material and produce only positive effects for this copyrighted material in its potential market.

What can gardening teach us about nurturing and growth in education? Today's episode of Southern Soul explores this question through the transformative experiences of two individuals: Alethea Victor, founder of GroLeafy, and Janelle Wood, founder of Black Mothers Forum.   Alethea shares her journey from social worker to gardening enthusiast, a hobby that provided her solace and therapeutic benefits during challenging times, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, Alethea had no experience with gardening and struggled to keep plants alive. Now, she is an avid gardener and composter, guiding others on how to start their own gardens, from selecting the right soil to starting seeds and managing pests organically.   The discussion shifts to Janelle Wood, whose advocacy is deeply rooted in her experiences in the Middle East and Arizona's prisons. Janelle tackles critical issues like systemic racism and the school-to-prison pipeline, which disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities. Her work with the ACLU led her to advocate for micro schools—an innovative educational model offering personalized, trauma-informed environments. These schools emerged in response to the traditional public school system's inadequacies, particularly in meeting the needs of Black children and incorporating parental involvement. Janelle points out that micro schools provide tailored education for small groups, enhancing student support. The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed this initiative, pushing for a transformative approach to education for Black children.   This episode offers insights on personal growth, community empowerment, and innovative approaches to education. Whether you're a gardening enthusiast or an advocate for educational reform, there's inspiration and practical advice to be found in the stories of Alethea and Janelle. Tune in to uncover how small-scale interventions can lead to substantial changes in our lives and communities.   Quotes “I just remember reflecting and just wondering that I wanted to live a healthier life now; make some choices and changes in my life that would affect me in a positive way. I know that we're not here forever, but I really wanted to just make some changes at that point.” (04:22 | Alethea Victor) “I would come home and I would spend hours in the garden. It would just really help me to decompress and to just relax. It was my form of self-care. And that really helped me through difficult times.” (07:22 | Alethea Victor) “It started to hit me that one thing that I had in common with many black mothers was that I had a black son in America and that he was deemed a threat by the police. And that became a problem for me because I realized that we raised our sons, many of us mothers of black sons, raised our sons to be respectful, to get a good education. And for me to even think that someone would think that he was a threat just because of the color of his skin was unacceptable.” (35:10 | Janelle Wood) “What are our top three urgent issues? Mothers, what do you think we need to do? And the mother said, ‘We want to save our children now, especially our sons. We want to deal with systemic racism. We want to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder in the black community, and we need to pray.' So we started our first four core groups off of that. But our mission became getting educated so we could get organized to take action, to do whatever we needed to do to make sure our children could live the life that they were birthed here to live and to be who God created them to be. (36:28 | Janelle Wood)  Links   Alethea Victor, founder of Gro Leafy https://www.facebook.com/GroLeafy/  Janelle Wood, Founder of the Black Mothers Forum.https://blackmothersforums.com/   About with Southern Soul Livestream - Live Episode Podcast   Witty, thought-provoking, and uplifting, Soul Thursdays is the program that you'll invite friends over to watch every week, where you'll learn about fascinating speakers and get to share in exciting experiences.    Support - Community Exploratory Journalism -  Buy us  A Coffee!  Learn - Register Free Training - Getting Started in BIPOC Podcasting Workshop Shop - Southern Soul Official Merchandise - Buy  Official Merchandise Purchase - Official Show Companion - Soul Thursdays Journal   Register - Join a Live Episode Show - “It's a Whole Vibe!”    Connect with SoulThursdays Website | Facebook  Instagram | Twitter | TikTok   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Playlist: (1) - Blues paradise: F.P.J. (2) - BBL - JLake. (3) - BBW: Big Nick J. (4) - Wake Up: M.Cally. (5) - Found My Peace: Breeze MrDo2Much. (6) - Waddle In It: Mark Holloway. (7) - Faces: Catt Daddy. (8) - The Weekend: Prince Djae / Cecily Wilborn. (9) - Shame on Me: Tucka. (10) - Clubhouse: Rico C. (11) - Country Girl: The Signature Band. (12) - Hey Pretty Lady: Cuz Band. (13) - 12Til: Sugar. (14) - Turn It Loose: JLake. (15) - Put That Thang on Me: Nelson Curry. (16) - Polished Freaky Type: Denzel Dante. (17) - Bootlegger: POB Jay Marshall. (18) - That's A Big Ol' Wagon: Avail Hollywood. (19) - Get Loose: Cecily Wilborn / Bre Wooten. (20) - Moonshine (where it all started) - TreSoul. ================================================================= *FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.I state here in a good faith that I have made and uploaded here this copy of this copyrighted material completely for the purposes of comment and criticism - i.e. my production of the copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here on HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case - is totally non-profit, and that I believe that my production of this copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here in HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case can only increase value of this copyrighted material and produce only positive effects for this copyrighted material in its potential market.

The Guys and Sweet T are back with Smack and Jams! Blue Lights in the Basement, Liam's Corner and a healthy dose of Southern Soul. No Jokes today, but we answer the question ” Are You Better Off Today than 4 Years Ago?”  Does Trump really want to be a dictator? Join the discussion! www.rvasoul.com Leave a message on our VM Hotline (804) 321-1010 talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com

Playlist: (1) - Last Time: F.P.J. (2) - Hold On: Lou Battle. (3) - Keep On Knocking: C-Wright. (4) - Good Loving: Alex Williams. (5) - That's My Baby: LA Winn. (6) - Stay With Me: Marcellus TheSinger. (7) - Hard On Me: Highway Heavy / Dave Mack. (8) - When I Found You: Romie Rome. (9) - Do Better: Dani Dolce / Portia P. (10) - Didn't Know: Big Mel. (11) - Bad for Me: David Sylvester. (12) - Don't Forget About Me: Adrian Bagher / Big Yayo. (13) - Like That: Solomon Thompson. (14) - Break My Boots In: Breeze MrDo2Much. (15) - Tonight: Fonzo. (16) - Come Here (Sexy Lady): Ghost Ghoston. (17) - Back On My BullShh: PC Band. (18) - He Lied: J'Cenae. (19) - Mine: Magic One. (20) - Until We Meet: Marcellus TheSinger. ================================================================== *FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.I state here in a good faith that I have made and uploaded here this copy of this copyrighted material completely for the purposes of comment and criticism - i.e. my production of the copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here on HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case - is totally non-profit, and that I believe that my production of this copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here in HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case can only increase value of this copyrighted material and produce only positive effects for this copyrighted material in its potential market.

Playlist: (1) - Stress Me Out: Marcellus TheSinger. (2) - Can I Tell On Me: FatDaddy. (3) - It's Over: King George. (4) - On My Way: Big Nick. (5) - Keep Your Dog On A Short Leash: Sheila B. Sexy. (6) - Steppin: Ladi Londyn. (7) - Few More Minutes: SSK Wish. (8) - Back To The Streets: SunShyneTheSinger (9) - My Business: Omar Cunnigham. (10) - In Love With U: B.J. MoodSwing. (11) - That Ain't Love: SSK Wish. (12) - All Night Long: 803Fresh. (13) - Put Your Love on Me: Suzy Redd. (14) - Jody: Will Gat. (15) - 2 Wrongs: Catt Daddy / Terrence Barber / Duane Dyer. (16) - Love Me Right: Sunshyne. (17) - Don't Wanna Be A Fool: JLake / Vick Allen. (18) - Comin In: Kami Cole. (19) - Sexy MotherFucker (clean): Mr. Smoke. (20) - Candy Licker: Toy Toy / Adrian Bagher. ============================================= *FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.I state here in a good faith that I have made and uploaded here this copy of this copyrighted material completely for the purposes of comment and criticism - i.e. my production of the copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here on HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case - is totally non-profit, and that I believe that my production of this copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here in HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case can only increase value of this copyrighted material and produce only positive effects for this copyrighted material in its potential market.

Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/track/4l8rX8MTFyWwWegJGcaoMd?si=25lni2EURF254FtFM9ljzQ&context=spotify%3Aplaylist%3A37i9dQZF1EIXvDjPUh4EQk YouTube: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQY5tyKYq8&si=NZ7e3Iq5uXnfw9qn Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010166292389&mibextid=ZbWKwL Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/jimmy_mcgee_music?igsh=MTM4a3p0N2tmbDEzdA==Born and raised in Ohio, Jimmy grew up on rhythm and blues and a household of music. Hispassion for song began as a young churchgoer listening to the vibrant gospel that echoed offchurch walls. At age 11, Jimmy picked up the guitar and mastered a new skill. Never finding joyin his schooling, Jimmy McGee turned to music for guidance. At 14, he joined fellow R&Benthusiasts and performed at local venues.“I am a soul music survivor,” tells Jimmy. From Bobby Womack to Johnny “Guitar” Watson,Jimmy immersed himself in all-things soul from an early age. Decades later, Jimmy McGeebrings his never-ending passion for music to the stage with a refined sound. His sound is asmooth blend of R&B, Southern Soul, and Neo-soul, with a spin uniquely his own.“Bottom Line,” Jimmy McGee's latest single, opens with bluesy tones, drawing in listeners witha smooth guitar riff as the song takes on depth. Velvety vocals emerge, telling Jimmy's story.“What inspired the song was an experience with obstacles. When a person is gifted with song,there is often envy and stuff that goes along with it—it's only a matter of time. But I refused togive up,” shares Jimmy McGee. “That's what inspired it—the rigamarole of being a musician.Standing my ground and being myself.”Jimmy wants listeners to feel encouraged by his song. “I want them to realize that there'sobstacles, but they aren't the end all be all. People look for a higher power outside, but it's inourselves. Self-determination is the key.”Jimmy sings in the key of determination. “Bottom Line” is life's ballad. “It's a reminder to nevergive up—have perseverance.” In fact, all of Jimmy's songs are about life and life's lessons.“Life's a journey, and these songs are about self-determination,” he adds. “You can get help,but it's you who has to do it.”Writing music usually begins with the music. “Usually, I write to the track. The process involvesthinking about life, and the words come along with the music.” For the single and many others,Jimmy let life guide his art.This year, Jimmy McGee is excited to release more music. Listeners can look forward toquarterly releases throughout the year. “I'm ready to get out, sing and perform,” he adds.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/creator-to-creators-with-meosha-bean--4460322/support.

Still Bill, Liam, KK, Marcus, Sweet T  and ,Big P are back with Smack and Jams! We are Black History and will continue to celebrate 365! Blue Lights in the Basement, Liam's Corner, #Asshole of the Week" Southern Soul and MORE! Shout outs! www.rvasoul.com (804) 321-1010 talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com Listen on the Go! Download the Tunein.com App!

Still Bill, KK, DL ( not Hughley), Marcus, Sweet T and Big P celebrate Black History 365. Blue Lights in Basement, Liam's Corner and the Asshole of the Week, Southern Soul ,R&B and More! Shout Outs www.rvasoul.com talkingsmackpodcast@gmail.com VM Hotline (804) 321-1010

Playlist: (1) - Let It Be Said: JLake. (2) - Why Not: J-Wonn. (3) - Really Love You: Keneshia / Omar Cunnigham. (4) - Too Soon: Kandy Janai. (5) - Aun-T: Avail Hollywood. (6) - Simple Man: Big Nick J. (7) - Dreamin': Rico C / Cupid. (8) - Work It Out: Jessup Crosby. (9) - Mr. Right: X-Man Parker. (10) - Let Me Be Your Man: Ej Soul. (11) - Made For Me: SRJR. (12) - Do You: Big Nick J. (13) - Don't Let The Sun: Mr. Sam. (14) - Blame It On Me: Parooze. (15) - My Kind of Lady (remix): Soul Boyz. (16) - Should've Been Home: J. Red ============================================== *FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.I state here in a good faith that I have made and uploaded here this copy of this copyrighted material completely for the purposes of comment and criticism - i.e. my production of the copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here on HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case - is totally non-profit, and that I believe that my production of this copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here in HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case can only increase value of this copyrighted material and produce only positive effects for this copyrighted material in its potential market.

Playlist: (1) - Southern Soul Sunday: M. Cally. (2) -You Don't Have To Down Me: SonofSoul. (3) - This Ain't That: 803Fresh. (4) - Good Tyme: P2K DaDididdy/Frank Johnson. (5) - Blues and Crown: Breeze MrDo2Much. (6) - Bad Risk: Tyree Neal. (7) - Thick N Juicy: David J. (8) - Better Way: Chris Ivy. (9) - Country Roots: Breeze MrDo2Much. (10) - She Got That OooWee: The Soulful Kenny Cox/IdaLee (11) - Sho Nuff Changed: JRBlu. (12) -Going Out Tonight: Big Kutty. (13) - Puttin' In Work: Mr. Jimmy. (14) - Don't Think She Luv Me: M. Cally. (15) - Motions: JSwagg/SunshineTheSinger ============================================== *FAIR USE DISCLAIMER: I do not own copyright for this copyrighted material, but under Section 107 United States Copyright Law as noted by the United States Copyright Office (Copyright Act 1976), allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.I state here in a good faith that I have made and uploaded here this copy of this copyrighted material completely for the purposes of comment and criticism - i.e. my production of the copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here on HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case - is totally non-profit, and that I believe that my production of this copy of this copyrighted material and sharing of it here in HEARTHIS.AT in this particular case can only increase value of this copyrighted material and produce only positive effects for this copyrighted material in its potential market.

January 2024 Dante's Old South Stuart Dischell is the author of Good Hope Road (Viking), a National Poetry Series Selection, Evenings & Avenues (Penguin), Dig Safe (Penguin), Backwards Days (Penguin), Standing on Z (Unicorn), Children with Enemies (Chicago), and The Lookout Man (Chicago). His newest work is Andalusian Visions (Unicorn), a book of poetry, photography, and music with international collaborators Cyril Caine and Laurent Estoppey. His poems have appeared in The Atlantic, Agni, The New Republic, Slate, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, and numerous national and international anthologies, such as Best American Poetry, Good Poems, and the Pushcart Prize. He is the recipient of awards from the NEA, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Ledig-Rowohlt Foundation. and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, he teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.  www.stuartdischellpoetry.com Rissi Palmer's gift lies in reaching across all musical boundaries. While she made her mark in Country Music, she is equally at home in R&B music, bringing the entire spectrum of popular music to bear on music she calls “Southern Soul.” The daughter of Georgia natives, Rissi was born near Pittsburgh, PA and spent her adolescent years in St. Louis, Missouri. Raised in a musical family that loved both country and R&B, Rissi was part of a singing and dancing troupe sponsored by a local television station at age 16, and by the time she was 19 years old, she had already been offered her first publishing and label deal. A few highlights throughout her musical career include performances at The White House, New York's Lincoln Center and multiple appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. She has toured extensively across the country and has made numerous national appearances on Oprah & Friends, CMT Insider, CNN, CBS This Morning, GMA, Entertainment Tonight, and FOX Soul's "The Book of Sean" and has been featured in Associated Press, Ebony, Essence, Huffington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, NPR's "All Things Considered", PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. www.RissiPalmerMusic.com. Justin Hamm's most recent book is Drinking Guinness with the Dead: Poems 2007-2021 (Spartan Press 2022). He is the Executive Editor of the Museum of Americana and the creator of Poet Baseball Cards. His poems, photos, stories, and reviews appear in numerous journals. He is a 2022 Woody Guthrie Poet and a recipient of the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize.  www.justinhamm.net Heather Hartley is the author of Adult Swim and Knock Knock both from Carnegie Mellon University Press. She was the long-time Paris editor at Tin House magazine. Her short fiction, essays, poems and interviews have appeared in or on PBS Newshour, The Guardian, The Literary Review, Slice and other venues. She has presented writers at Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris and has taught creative writing at the American University of Paris and the University of Texas El Paso MFA Online program. She teaches in the Master's program at the University of Kent (UK) Paris School of Arts and Culture.  www.heatherhartleyink.com Additional Music by: Wilder Adkins https://wilderadkins.com/ https://wilderadkins.bandcamp.com/ Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. His chapbook, Exiles of Eden, is only available through his website: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses on thriving with autism and creative writing as a profession here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com/p/the-working-writer

Playlist: (1) - Outside: Mz. Pat / Ciddy Boi P. (2) - Take My Time In It: Tyree Neal. (3) - I Can't Live Without You: Memphis Jackson. (4) - Take You Out Tinight: T-Man. (5) - Sexy In Yo Boots: Chocolit Tye / Jeter Jones. (6) - You Can Do Better: Uncle Luck. (7) - It Ain't Good For You: Tyree Neal. (8) - Coming To Get It: Tyree Neal / feat. Clutch. (9) - Party: Cecily Wilborn. (10) - Where The Party: Kiko Pryor. (11) - Both of Y'all: RTN Lavelle, Andre McMahon. (12) - Can I Get A Witness: Lamoriss Williams. (13) - Still Knockin': J.J. Caillier. (14) - Sexy: Black Diamond. (15) - Swing Out: West Love. (16) - Real Time Lover: Mary Shalette. (17) - Sweet Potato Pie: Mz. Sassy. (18) - Turn It Up: Chrissy Luv / Hisyde. (19) - Make That Bootie Roll: Ciddy Boi P. (20) - Let's Ride: David J. (21) - In My Arms: David Sylvester. (22) - It's Goping Down Tonight: Tyree Neal.

SUMMARYIn this very special holiday episode of Songcraft, we're taking it back to Christmas at Stax, featuring conversations with some of the luminaries of the storied Memphis label that dominated Southern soul music in the 1960s and 70s. You'll hear from Deanie Parker, William Bell, and Carla Thomas as we celebrate the season and close the book on another year at Songcraft. PART ONEPaul and Scott reflect on 2023, talk Grammy nominations, and tease upcoming episodes for 2024.PART TWOInterview segments with Deanie Parker, William Bell, and Carla Thomas about their original holiday songs and what Christmas was like at Stax Records in the glory days. 

In this episode, we dive into the world of social media and content creation. Our guest, Snoobie92 shares their experiences and tips for creating engaging videos. He discusses the use of apps and tools to make editing and captioning easier, as well as the importance of staying active and motivated in order to progress. We also learn some interesting facts about our guest, including their self-recording techniques and their background in sports. Tune in to this episode for valuable insights and inspiration for your own content creation journey. Don't forget to subscribe and follow our YouTube channel for more amazing content. Snoobie's IG: https://www.instagram.com/snoobie92official/ Eric's IG: https://www.instagram.com/underdawgtalk/ #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #podcast #howto #underdog #underdawgtalk

Join the Morning Coffee Crew (Jazzy G featuring Cheryl Starr and DJ Nelson DaMaestro). As they premiere the Force MD's new hot single: “I'm Gonna Tell Her.” The crew calls Stevie D on the spot to get some background on the song and introduce it to their listeners. Join in on the fun and tell us what do you think of the new song? On Power Me Up Radio talk 24/7 on iHeart radio. Contact us at: info@morningcoffee.chat --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/guy-rainey/message

My pops wanted a Southern Soul Mix. SO I created one and decided to share. This usually the mixes I keep and critic my self. ( I am a Artist, and I'm sensitive about my shhhhh) For booking email booking@djplaydat.com Good Bless....

Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner catch up with Davis Love III at Southern Soul to talk about what really happened inside the U.S. Ryder Cup team room, his true thoughts on PIF and LIV, and what makes for great BBQ.

Welcome aboard to exciting episode of The BoatCast, your ultimate destination for all things Rock Boat. Today, we are stoked to showcase the winners of TRB Soundcheck, Nashville-based, Brother Maven.It's not surprising why Brother Maven won Soundcheck; blending blends Rhythm & Blues, Southern Soul, Rock 'n' Roll, they have something to offer all lovers of music. Their songs are a delightful mix of catchy melodies, soaring vocals, and infectious rhythms that resonate deeply from the very first listen.In this episode, Daniel, Scott, JP, and Joel discuss how they each found themselves in Nashville, Tennessee, pursuing their individual musical dreams when they joined forces, forming Brother Maven - “a brotherhood of excellence”. The group has morphed into one of the most soulful and electrifying original music experiences in Music City.They talk about their iconic Twenty Twenty One album and the various cover songs they've released. Playing in Nashville, they've developed a catalog of covers that are uniquely Brother Maven. With great excitement, they discuss the upcoming release of new material, so make sure you follow them on their socials:Check out Brother Maven online at: Website: https://brothermaven.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/brothermavenofficial/Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/brothermavenTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brothermavenYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrIBKnTRDc79d_g3uiedxHQApple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/brother-maven/1459425006Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/42yFqm2teXxTXPS88qcdKCThe BoatCast would like to thank our sponsors, www.TheFITCollective.com for supporting us in promoting Rock Boat Artists. If you want to get the word out about these artists and are interested in sponsoring The Boatcast, please email Chris at: ChristopherRhoad@gmail.com.

DJ TAE 252 BOOKING INFO: cavontedavis@gmail.com TIK TOK ➡️ https://www.tiktok.com/@djtae252?_t=8gcFeVa2jVe&_r=1 Instagram ➡️ https://instagram.com/djtae_?utm_source=qr YouTube ➡️ https://youtube.com/@DJTAE252 Facebook ➡️ https://www.facebook.com/CavonteDavis Apple Podcast ➡️ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dj-tae/id1711656188

Sara Finnegan, chief of staff at Edley's Restaurant Group, has an inspiring recipe for growth. The main ingredient is a Southern Soul. The restaurant industry leader has emerged with a strong and empowered voice to help others succeed. Listen to this interview to learn about giving back to the community, serving on the Toast Customer Advisory Board, user-generated content, and what it means to be a woman in hospitality. Sponsored by: Toast: All-In-1 Restaurant POS — https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc

Nick Wallace is a professional chef based in Jackson, Mississippi. https://www.nickwallaceculinary.com/ Chef Nick is founder and executive chef of Nick Wallace Culinary, Nick Wallace Catering, and Nissan Cafe by Nick Wallace. In addition to his successes as an executive chef, Nick has competed on eight national food shows throughout his entertainment career. Including but not limited to Top Chef, Chopped, and Cutthroat Kitchen. Episode Time StampsEdwards, Mississippi and upbringing (1:30)Chef Nick's pool capabilities (3:45)Chef Nick's basketball history (5:15)Did JPS prepare Nick for life? (7:30)How Nick got started in the food service industry (9:00)When did Nick begin taking a food career seriously? (10:30)Is it difficult to become a chef in Mississippi? (13:30)James Beard award pursuit (15:00)Robert St. John (17:15)Nick's Alaskan experience (20:00)How did Nick lead people older than him? (22:00)Leadership becomes second nature (25:00)Nick's experience as an ambassador and activist (30:00)Fake vs Real (31:00)The Hard Way (31:30)Nick's family history and influence (33:30)Importance of having meaningful work (38:30)How Nick found himself on Food Network (42:45)Cutthroat Kitchen (45:25)"That boy can only cook catfish and comeback sauce!" (47:00)Importance of losing and using that as motivation (49:00)Impacts of appearing on 8 national cooking shows (51:00)"I am a superman!" (52:40)How does a restaurant achieve a Michelin Star? (53:30)Nick's belief Mississippi has the best hospitality in the world (55:30)Mississippi vs everywhere else (58:00)How did Nick incorporate French technique into overall approach? (59:30)What type of cooking techniques are Mississippians known for? (1:00:30)Slow food movement (1:01:45)Chef Nick's relationship with New Orleans (1:04:30)Mississippi food should be celebrated like New Orleans' (1:05:15)Mississippi Gumbo (1:06:30)How can we elevate our status as a "food state?" (1:07:45)Competition is important (1:09:00)Nick's birthday trip to New Orleans (1:11:45)Did the pandemic cause a hospitality setback? (1:13:30)Who's to blame for bad service in a restaurant? (1:15:30)"It's all about the people!" (1:19:30)What music is on Chef Nick's cooking playlist? (1:20:00)Blues vs Southern Soul (1:22:45)King George is great! (1:24:00)Chef Nick's outlook and opinion on current state of Jackson, MS (1:26:00)Why does Jackson continue to elect subpar leadership? (1:35:00)Visit The County Line Support the show

Episode 163 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay", Stax Records, and the short, tragic, life of Otis Redding. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a twenty-three minute bonus episode available, on "Soul Man" by Sam and Dave. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Redding, even if I split into multiple parts. The main resource I used for the biographical details of Redding was Dreams to Remember: Otis Redding, Stax Records, and the Transformation of Southern Soul by Mark Ribowsky. Ribowsky is usually a very good, reliable, writer, but in this case there are a couple of lapses in editing which make it not a book I can wholeheartedly recommend, but the research on the biographical details of Redding seems to be the best. Information about Stax comes primarily from two books: Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax by Rob Bowman, and Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. There are two Original Album Series box sets which between them contain all the albums Redding released in his life plus his first few posthumous albums, for a low price. Volume 1, volume 2. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A quick note before I begin -- this episode ends with a description of a plane crash, which some people may find upsetting. There's also a mention of gun violence. In 2019 the film Summer of Soul came out. If you're unfamiliar with this film, it's a documentary of an event, the Harlem Cultural Festival, which gets called the "Black Woodstock" because it took place in the summer of 1969, overlapping the weekend that Woodstock happened. That event was a series of weekend free concerts in New York, performed by many of the greatest acts in Black music at that time -- people like Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, the Staple Singers, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, and the Fifth Dimension. One thing that that film did was to throw into sharp relief a lot of the performances we've seen over the years by legends of white rock music of the same time. If you watch the film of Woodstock, or the earlier Monterey Pop festival, it's apparent that a lot of the musicians are quite sloppy. This is easy to dismiss as being a product of the situation -- they're playing outdoor venues, with no opportunity to soundcheck, using primitive PA systems, and often without monitors. Anyone would sound a bit sloppy in that situation, right? That is until you listen to the performances on the Summer of Soul soundtrack. The performers on those shows are playing in the same kind of circumstances, and in the case of Woodstock literally at the same time, so it's a fair comparison, and there really is no comparison. Whatever you think of the quality of the *music* (and some of my very favourite artists played at Monterey and Woodstock), the *musicianship* is orders of magnitude better at the Harlem Cultural Festival [Excerpt: Gladys Knight and the Pips “I Heard it Through the Grapevine (live)”] And of course there's a reason for this. Most of the people who played at those big hippie festivals had not had the same experiences as the Black musicians. The Black players were mostly veterans of the chitlin' circuit, where you had to play multiple shows a day, in front of demanding crowds who wanted their money's worth, and who wanted you to be able to play and also put on a show at the same time. When you're playing for crowds of working people who have spent a significant proportion of their money to go to the show, and on a bill with a dozen other acts who are competing for that audience's attention, you are going to get good or stop working. The guitar bands at Woodstock and Monterey, though, hadn't had the same kind of pressure. Their audiences were much more forgiving, much more willing to go with the musicians, view themselves as part of a community with them. And they had to play far fewer shows than the chitlin' circuit veterans, so they simply didn't develop the same chops before becoming famous (the best of them did after fame, of course). And so it's no surprise that while a lot of bands became more famous as a result of the Monterey Pop Festival, only three really became breakout stars in America as a direct result of it. One of those was the Who, who were already the third or fourth biggest band in the UK by that point, either just behind or just ahead of the Kinks, and so the surprise is more that it took them that long to become big in America. But the other two were themselves veterans of the chitlin' circuit. If you buy the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray of Monterey Pop, you get two extra discs along with the disc with the film of the full festival on it -- the only two performances that were thought worth turning into their own short mini-films. One of them is Jimi Hendrix's performance, and we will talk about that in a future episode. The other is titled Shake! Otis at Monterey: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Shake! (live at Monterey Pop Festival)"] Otis Redding came from Macon, Georgia, the home town of Little Richard, who became one of his biggest early influences, and like Richard he was torn in his early years between religion and secular music -- though in most other ways he was very different from Richard, and in particular he came from a much more supportive family. While his father, Otis senior, was a deacon in the church, and didn't approve much of blues, R&B, or jazz music or listen to it himself, he didn't prevent his son from listening to it, so young Otis grew up listening to records by Richard -- of whom he later said "If it hadn't been for Little Richard I would not be here... Richard has soul too. My present music has a lot of him in it" -- and another favourite, Clyde McPhatter: [Excerpt: Billy Ward and the Dominoes, "Have Mercy Baby"] Indeed, it's unclear exactly how much Otis senior *did* disapprove of those supposedly-sinful kinds of music. The biography I used as a source for this, and which says that Otis senior wouldn't listen to blues or jazz music at all, also quotes his son as saying that when he was a child his mother and father used to play him "a calypso song out then called 'Run Joe'" That will of course be this one: [Excerpt: Louis Jordan, "Run Joe"] I find it hard to reconcile the idea of someone who refused to listen to the blues or jazz listening to Louis Jordan, but then people are complex. Whatever Otis senior's feelings about secular music, he recognised from a very early age that his son had a special talent, and encouraged him to become a gospel singer. And at the same time he was listening to Little Richard, young Otis was also listening to gospel singers. One particular influence was a blind street singer, Reverend Pearly Brown: [Excerpt: Reverend Pearly Brown, "Ninety Nine and a Half Won't Do"] Redding was someone who cared deeply about his father's opinion, and it might well have been that he would eventually have become a gospel performer, because he started his career with a foot in both camps. What seems to have made the difference is that when he was sixteen, his father came down with tuberculosis. Even a few years earlier this would have been a terminal diagnosis, but thankfully by this point antibiotics had been invented, and the deacon eventually recovered. But it did mean that Otis junior had to become the family breadwinner while his father was sick, and so he turned decisively towards the kind of music that could make more money. He'd already started performing secular music. He'd joined a band led by Gladys Williams, who was the first female bandleader in the area. Williams sadly doesn't seem to have recorded anything -- discogs has a listing of a funk single by a Gladys Williams on a tiny label which may or may not be the same person, but in general she avoided recording studios, only wanting to play live -- but she was a very influential figure in Georgia music. According to her former trumpeter Newton Collier, who later went on to play with Redding and others, she trained both Fats Gonder and Lewis Hamlin, who went on to join the lineup of James Brown's band that made Live at the Apollo, and Collier says that Hamlin's arrangements for that album, and the way the band would segue from one track to another, were all things he'd been taught by Miss Gladys. Redding sang with Gladys Williams for a while, and she took him under her wing, trained him, and became his de facto first manager. She got him to perform at local talent shows, where he won fifteen weeks in a row, before he got banned from performing to give everyone else a chance. At all of these shows, the song he performed was one that Miss Gladys had rehearsed with him, Little Richard's "Heeby Jeebies": [Excerpt: Little Richard, "Heeby Jeebies"] At this time, Redding's repertoire was largely made up of songs by the two greats of fifties Georgia R&B -- Little Richard and James Brown -- plus some by his other idol Sam Cooke, and those singers would remain his greatest influences throughout his career. After his stint with Williams, Redding went on to join another band, Pat T Cake and the Mighty Panthers, whose guitarist Johnny Jenkins would be a major presence in his life for several years. The Mighty Panthers were soon giving Redding top billing, and advertising gigs as featuring Otis "Rockin' Robin" Redding -- presumably that was another song in his live repertoire. By this time Redding was sounding enough like Little Richard that when Richard's old backing band, The Upsetters, were looking for a new singer after Richard quit rock and roll for the ministry, they took Redding on as their vocalist for a tour. Once that tour had ended, Redding returned home to find that Johnny Jenkins had quit the Mighty Panthers and formed a new band, the Pinetoppers. Redding joined that band, who were managed by a white teenager named Phil Walden, who soon became Redding's personal manager as well. Walden and Redding developed a very strong bond, to the extent that Walden, who was studying at university, spent all his tuition money promoting Redding and almost got kicked out. When Redding found this out, he actually went round to everyone he knew and got loans from everyone until he had enough to pay for Walden's tuition -- much of it paid in coins. They had a strong enough bond that Walden would remain his manager for the rest of Redding's life, and even when Walden had to do two years in the Army in Germany, he managed Redding long-distance, with his brother looking after things at home. But of course, there wasn't much of a music industry in Georgia, and so with Walden's blessing and support, he moved to LA in 1960 to try to become a star. Just before he left, his girlfriend Zelma told him she was pregnant. He assured her that he was only going to be away for a few months, and that he would be back in time for the birth, and that he intended to come back to Georgia rich and marry her. Her response was "Sure you is". In LA, Redding met up with a local record producer, James "Jimmy Mack" McEachin, who would later go on to become an actor, appearing in several films with Clint Eastwood. McEachin produced a session for Redding at Gold Star studios, with arrangements by Rene Hall and using several of the musicians who later became the Wrecking Crew. "She's All Right", the first single that came from that session, was intended to sound as much like Jackie Wilson as possible, and was released under the name of The Shooters, the vocal group who provided the backing vocals: [Excerpt: The Shooters, "She's All Right"] "She's All Right" was released on Trans World, a small label owned by Morris Bernstein, who also owned Finer Arts records (and "She's All Right" seems to have been released on both labels). Neither of Bernstein's labels had any great success -- the biggest record they put out was a single by the Hollywood Argyles that came out after they'd stopped having hits -- and they didn't have any connection to the R&B market. Redding and McEachin couldn't find any R&B labels that wanted to pick up their recordings, and so Redding did return to Georgia and marry Zelma a few days before the birth of their son Dexter. Back in Georgia, he hooked up again with the Pinetoppers, and he and Jenkins started trying local record labels, attempting to get records put out by either of them. Redding was the first, and Otis Redding and the Pinetoppers put out a single, "Shout Bamalama", a slight reworking of a song that he'd recorded as "Gamma Lamma" for McEachin, which was obviously heavily influenced by Little Richard: [Excerpt: Otis Redding and the Pinetoppers, "Shout Bamalama"] That single was produced by a local record company owner, Bobby Smith, who signed Redding to a contract which Redding didn't read, but which turned out to be a management contract as well as a record contract. This would later be a problem, as Redding didn't have an actual contract with Phil Walden -- one thing that comes up time and again in stories about music in the Deep South at this time is people operating on handshake deals and presuming good faith on the part of each other. There was a problem with the record which nobody had foreseen though -- Redding was the first Black artist signed to Smith's label, which was called Confederate Records, and its logo was the Southern Cross. Now Smith, by all accounts, was less personally racist than most white men in Georgia at the time, and hadn't intended that as any kind of statement of white supremacy -- he'd just used a popular local symbol, without thinking through the implications. But as the phrase goes, intent isn't magic, and while Smith didn't intend it as racist, rather unsurprisingly Black DJs and record shops didn't see things in the same light. Smith was told by several DJs that they wouldn't play the record while it was on that label, and he started up a new subsidiary label, Orbit, and put the record out on that label. Redding and Smith continued collaborating, and there were plans for Redding to put out a second single on Orbit. That single was going to be "These Arms of Mine", a song Redding had originally given to another Confederate artist, a rockabilly performer called Buddy Leach (who doesn't seem to be the same Buddy Leach as the Democratic politician from Louisiana, or the saxophone player with George Thorogood and the Destroyers). Leach had recorded it as a B-side, with the slightly altered title "These Arms Are Mine". Sadly I can't provide an excerpt of that, as the record is so rare that even websites I've found by rockabilly collectors who are trying to get everything on Confederate Records haven't managed to get hold of copies. Meanwhile, Johnny Jenkins had been recording on another label, Tifco, and had put out a single called "Pinetop": [Excerpt: Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, "Pinetop"] That record had attracted the attention of Joe Galkin. Galkin was a semi-independent record promoter, who had worked for Atlantic in New York before moving back to his home town of Macon. Galkin had proved himself as a promoter by being responsible for the massive amounts of airplay given to Solomon Burke's "Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms)": [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms)"] After that, Jerry Wexler had given Galkin fifty dollars a week and an expense account, and Galkin would drive to all the Black radio stations in the South and pitch Atlantic's records to them. But Galkin also had his own record label, Gerald Records, and when he went to those stations and heard them playing something from a smaller label, he would quickly negotiate with that smaller label, buy the master and the artist's contract, and put the record out on Gerald Records -- and then he would sell the track and the artist on to Atlantic, taking ten percent of the record's future earnings and a finder's fee. This is what happened with Johnny Jenkins' single, which was reissued on Gerald and then on Atlantic. Galkin signed Jenkins to a contract -- another of those contracts which also made him Jenkins' manager, and indeed the manager of the Pinetops. Jenkins' record ended up selling about twenty-five thousand records, but when Galkin saw the Pinetoppers performing live, he realised that Otis Redding was the real star. Since he had a contract with Jenkins, he came to an agreement with Walden, who was still Jenkins' manager as well as Redding's -- Walden would get fifty percent of Jenkins' publishing and they would be co-managers of Jenkins. But Galkin had plans for Redding, which he didn't tell anyone about, not even Redding himself. The one person he did tell was Jerry Wexler, who he phoned up and asked for two thousand dollars, explaining that he wanted to record Jenkins' follow-up single at Stax, and he also wanted to bring along a singer he'd discovered, who sang with Jenkins' band. Wexler agreed -- Atlantic had recently started distributing Stax's records on a handshake deal of much the same kind that Redding had with Walden. As far as everyone else was concerned, though, the session was just for Johnny Jenkins, the known quantity who'd already released a single for Atlantic. Otis Redding, meanwhile, was having to work a lot of odd jobs to feed his rapidly growing family, and one of those jobs was to work as Johnny Jenkins' driver, as Jenkins didn't have a driving license. So Galkin suggested that, given that Memphis was quite a long drive, Redding should drive Galkin and Jenkins to Stax, and carry the equipment for them. Bobby Smith, who still thought of himself as Redding's manager, was eager to help his friend's bandmate with his big break (and to help Galkin, in the hope that maybe Atlantic would start distributing Confederate too), and so he lent Redding the company station wagon to drive them to the session.The other Pinetoppers wouldn't be going -- Jenkins was going to be backed by Booker T and the MGs, the normal Stax backing band. Phil Walden, though, had told Redding that he should try to take the opportunity to get himself heard by Stax, and he pestered the musicians as they recorded Jenkins' "Spunky": [Excerpt: Johnny Jenkins, "Spunky"] Cropper later remembered “During the session, Al Jackson says to me, ‘The big tall guy that was driving Johnny, he's been bugging me to death, wanting me to hear him sing,' Al said, ‘Would you take some time and get this guy off of my back and listen to him?' And I said, ‘After the session I'll try to do it,' and then I just forgot about it.” What Redding didn't know, though Walden might have, is that Galkin had planned all along to get Redding to record while he was there. Galkin claimed to be Redding's manager, and told Jim Stewart, the co-owner of Stax who acted as main engineer and supervising producer on the sessions at this point, that Wexler had only funded the session on the basis that Redding would also get a shot at recording. Stewart was unimpressed -- Jenkins' session had not gone well, and it had taken them more than two hours to get two tracks down, but Galkin offered Stewart a trade -- Galkin, as Redding's manager, would take half of Stax's mechanical royalties for the records (which wouldn't be much) but in turn would give Stewart half the publishing on Redding's songs. That was enough to make Stewart interested, but by this point Booker T. Jones had already left the studio, so Steve Cropper moved to the piano for the forty minutes that was left of the session, with Jenkins remaining on guitar, and they tried to get two sides of a single cut. The first track they cut was "Hey Hey Baby", which didn't impress Stewart much -- he simply said that the world didn't need another Little Richard -- and so with time running out they cut another track, the ballad Redding had already given to Buddy Leach. He asked Cropper, who didn't play piano well, to play "church chords", by which he meant triplets, and Cropper said "he started singing ‘These Arms of Mine' and I know my hair lifted about three inches and I couldn't believe this guy's voice": [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "These Arms of Mine"] That was more impressive, though Stewart carefully feigned disinterest. Stewart and Galkin put together a contract which signed Redding to Stax -- though they put the single out on the less-important Volt subsidiary, as they did for much of Redding's subsequent output -- and gave Galkin and Stewart fifty percent each of the publishing rights to Redding's songs. Redding signed it, not even realising he was signing a proper contract rather than just one for a single record, because he was just used to signing whatever bit of paper was put in front of him at the time. This one was slightly different though, because Redding had had his twenty-first birthday since the last time he'd signed a contract, and so Galkin assumed that that meant all his other contracts were invalid -- not realising that Redding's contract with Bobby Smith had been countersigned by Redding's mother, and so was also legal. Walden also didn't realise that, but *did* realise that Galkin representing himself as Redding's manager to Stax might be a problem, so he quickly got Redding to sign a proper contract, formalising the handshake basis they'd been operating on up to that point. Walden was at this point in the middle of his Army service, but got the signature while he was home on leave. Walden then signed a deal with Galkin, giving Walden half of Galkin's fifty percent cut of Redding's publishing in return for Galkin getting a share of Walden's management proceeds. By this point everyone was on the same page -- Otis Redding was going to be a big star, and he became everyone's prime focus. Johnny Jenkins remained signed to Walden's agency -- which quickly grew to represent almost every big soul star that wasn't signed to Motown -- but he was regarded as a footnote. His record came out eventually on Volt, almost two years later, but he didn't release another record until 1968. Jenkins did, though, go on to have some influence. In 1970 he was given the opportunity to sing lead on an album backed by Duane Allman and the members of the Muscle Shoals studio band, many of whom went on to form the Allman Brothers Band. That record contained a cover of Dr. John's "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" which was later sampled by Beck for "Loser", the Wu-Tang Clan for "Gun Will Go" and Oasis for their hit "Go Let it Out": [Excerpt: Johnny Jenkins, "I Walk on Guilded Splinters"] Jenkins would play guitar on several future Otis Redding sessions, but would hold a grudge against Redding for the rest of his life for taking the stardom he thought was rightfully his, and would be one of the few people to have anything negative to say about Redding after his early death. When Bobby Smith heard about the release of "These Arms of Mine", he was furious, as his contract with Redding *was* in fact legally valid, and he'd been intending to get Redding to record the song himself. However, he realised that Stax could call on the resources of Atlantic Records, and Joe Galkin also hinted that if he played nice Atlantic might start distributing Confederate, too. Smith signed away all his rights to Redding -- again, thinking that he was only signing away the rights to a single record and song, and not reading the contract closely enough. In this case, Smith only had one working eye, and that wasn't good enough to see clearly -- he had to hold paper right up to his face to read anything on it -- and he simply couldn't read the small print on the contract, and so signed over Otis Redding's management, record contract, and publishing, for a flat seven hundred dollars. Now everything was legally -- if perhaps not ethically -- in the clear. Phil Walden was Otis Redding's manager, Stax was his record label, Joe Galkin got a cut off the top, and Walden, Galkin, and Jim Stewart all shared Redding's publishing. Although, to make it a hit, one more thing had to happen, and one more person had to get a cut of the song: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "These Arms of Mine"] That sound was becoming out of fashion among Black listeners at the time. It was considered passe, and even though the Stax musicians loved the record, Jim Stewart didn't, and put it out not because he believed in Otis Redding, but because he believed in Joe Galkin. As Stewart later said “The Black radio stations were getting out of that Black country sound, we put it out to appease and please Joe.” For the most part DJs ignored the record, despite Galkin pushing it -- it was released in October 1962, that month which we have already pinpointed as the start of the sixties, and came out at the same time as a couple of other Stax releases, and the one they were really pushing was Carla Thomas' "I'll Bring it Home to You", an answer record to Sam Cooke's "Bring it On Home to Me": [Excerpt: Carla Thomas, "I'll Bring it Home to You"] "These Arms of Mine" wasn't even released as the A-side -- that was "Hey Hey Baby" -- until John R came along. John R was a Nashville DJ, and in fact he was the reason that Bobby Smith even knew that Redding had signed to Stax. R had heard Buddy Leach's version of the song, and called Smith, who was a friend of his, to tell him that his record had been covered, and that was the first Smith had heard of the matter. But R also called Jim Stewart at Stax, and told him that he was promoting the wrong side, and that if they started promoting "These Arms of Mine", R would play the record on his radio show, which could be heard in twenty-eight states. And, as a gesture of thanks for this suggestion -- and definitely not as payola, which would be very illegal -- Stewart gave R his share of the publishing rights to the song, which eventually made the top twenty on the R&B charts, and slipped into the lower end of the Hot One Hundred. "These Arms of Mine" was actually recorded at a turning point for Stax as an organisation. By the time it was released, Booker T Jones had left Memphis to go to university in Indiana to study music, with his tuition being paid for by his share of the royalties for "Green Onions", which hit the charts around the same time as Redding's first session: [Excerpt: Booker T. and the MGs, "Green Onions"] Most of Stax's most important sessions were recorded at weekends -- Jim Stewart still had a day job as a bank manager at this point, and he supervised the records that were likely to be hits -- so Jones could often commute back to the studio for session work, and could play sessions during his holidays. The rest of the time, other people would cover the piano parts, often Cropper, who played piano on Redding's next sessions, with Jenkins once again on guitar. As "These Arms of Mine" didn't start to become a hit until March, Redding didn't go into the studio again until June, when he cut the follow-up, "That's What My Heart Needs", with the MGs, Jenkins, and the horn section of the Mar-Keys. That made number twenty-seven on the Cashbox R&B chart -- this was in the period when Billboard had stopped having one. The follow-up, "Pain in My Heart", was cut in September and did even better, making number eleven on the Cashbox R&B chart: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Pain in My Heart"] It did well enough in fact that the Rolling Stones cut a cover version of the track: [Excerpt: The Rolling Stones, "Pain in My Heart"] Though Redding didn't get the songwriting royalties -- by that point Allen Toussaint had noticed how closely it resembled a song he'd written for Irma Thomas, "Ruler of My Heart": [Excerpt: Irma Thomas, "Ruler of My Heart"] And so the writing credit was changed to be Naomi Neville, one of the pseudonyms Toussaint used. By this point Redding was getting steady work, and becoming a popular live act. He'd put together his own band, and had asked Jenkins to join, but Jenkins didn't want to play second fiddle to him, and refused, and soon stopped being invited to the recording sessions as well. Indeed, Redding was *eager* to get as many of his old friends working with him as he could. For his second and third sessions, as well as bringing Jenkins, he'd brought along a whole gang of musicians from his touring show, and persuaded Stax to put out records by them, too. At those sessions, as well as Redding's singles, they also cut records by his valet (which was the term R&B performers in those years used for what we'd now call a gofer or roadie) Oscar Mack: [Excerpt: Oscar Mack, "Don't Be Afraid of Love"] For Eddie Kirkland, the guitarist in his touring band, who had previously played with John Lee Hooker and whose single was released under the name "Eddie Kirk": [Excerpt: Eddie Kirk, "The Hawg, Part 1"] And Bobby Marchan, a singer and female impersonator from New Orleans who had had some massive hits a few years earlier both on his own and as the singer with Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns, but had ended up in Macon without a record deal and been taken under Redding's wing: [Excerpt: Bobby Marchan, "What Can I Do?"] Redding would continue, throughout his life, to be someone who tried to build musical careers for his friends, though none of those singles was successful. The changes in Stax continued. In late autumn 1963, Atlantic got worried by the lack of new product coming from Stax. Carla Thomas had had a couple of R&B hits, and they were expecting a new single, but every time Jerry Wexler phoned Stax asking where the new single was, he was told it would be coming soon but the equipment was broken. After a couple of weeks of this, Wexler decided something fishy was going on, and sent Tom Dowd, his genius engineer, down to Stax to investigate. Dowd found when he got there that the equipment *was* broken, and had been for weeks, and was a simple fix. When Dowd spoke to Stewart, though, he discovered that they didn't know where to source replacement parts from. Dowd phoned his assistant in New York, and told him to go to the electronics shop and get the parts he needed. Then, as there were no next-day courier services at that time, Dowd's assistant went to the airport, found a flight attendant who was flying to Memphis, and gave her the parts and twenty-five dollars, with a promise of twenty-five more if she gave them to Dowd at the other end. The next morning, Dowd had the equipment fixed, and everyone involved became convinced that Dowd was a miracle worker, especially after he showed Steve Cropper some rudimentary tape-manipulation techniques that Cropper had never encountered before. Dowd had to wait around in Memphis for his flight, so he went to play golf with the musicians for a bit, and then they thought they might as well pop back to the studio and test the equipment out. When they did, Rufus Thomas -- Carla Thomas' father, who had also had a number of hits himself on Stax and Sun -- popped his head round the door to see if the equipment was working now. They told him it was, and he said he had a song if they were up for a spot of recording. They were, and so when Dowd flew back that night, he was able to tell Wexler not only that the next Carla Thomas single would soon be on its way, but that he had the tapes of a big hit single with him right there: [Excerpt: Rufus Thomas, "Walking the Dog"] "Walking the Dog" was a sensation. Jim Stewart later said “I remember our first order out of Chicago. I was in New York in Jerry Wexler's office at the time and Paul Glass, who was our distributor in Chicago, called in an order for sixty-five thousand records. I said to Jerry, ‘Do you mean sixty-five hundred?' And he said, ‘Hell no, he wants sixty-five thousand.' That was the first order! He believed in the record so much that we ended up selling about two hundred thousand in Chicago alone.” The record made the top ten on the pop charts, but that wasn't the biggest thing that Dowd had taken away from the session. He came back raving to Wexler about the way they made records in Memphis, and how different it was from the New York way. In New York, there was a strict separation between the people in the control room and the musicians in the studio, the musicians were playing from written charts, and everyone had a job and did just that job. In Memphis, the musicians were making up the arrangements as they went, and everyone was producing or engineering all at the same time. Dowd, as someone with more technical ability than anyone at Stax, and who was also a trained musician who could make musical suggestions, was soon regularly commuting down to Memphis to be part of the production team, and Jerry Wexler was soon going down to record with other Atlantic artists there, as we heard about in the episode on "Midnight Hour". Shortly after Dowd's first visit to Memphis, another key member of the Stax team entered the picture. Right at the end of 1963, Floyd Newman recorded a track called "Frog Stomp", on which he used his own band rather than the MGs and Mar-Keys: [Excerpt: Floyd Newman, "Frog Stomp"] The piano player and co-writer on that track was a young man named Isaac Hayes, who had been trying to get work at Stax for some time. He'd started out as a singer, and had made a record, "Laura, We're On Our Last Go-Round", at American Sound, the studio run by the former Stax engineer and musician Chips Moman: [Excerpt: Isaac Hayes, "Laura, We're On Our Last Go-Round"] But that hadn't been a success, and Hayes had continued working a day job at a slaughterhouse -- and would continue doing so for much of the next few years, even after he started working at Stax (it's truly amazing how many of the people involved in Stax were making music as what we would now call a side-hustle). Hayes had become a piano player as a way of getting a little extra money -- he'd been offered a job as a fill-in when someone else had pulled out at the last minute on a gig on New Year's Eve, and took it even though he couldn't actually play piano, and spent his first show desperately vamping with two fingers, and was just lucky the audience was too drunk to care. But he had a remarkable facility for the instrument, and while unlike Booker T Jones he would never gain a great deal of technical knowledge, and was embarrassed for the rest of his life by both his playing ability and his lack of theory knowledge, he was as great as they come at soul, at playing with feel, and at inventing new harmonies on the fly. They still didn't have a musician at Stax that could replace Booker T, who was still off at university, so Isaac Hayes was taken on as a second session keyboard player, to cover for Jones when Jones was in Indiana -- though Hayes himself also had to work his own sessions around his dayjob, so didn't end up playing on "In the Midnight Hour", for example, because he was at the slaughterhouse. The first recording session that Hayes played on as a session player was an Otis Redding single, either his fourth single for Stax, "Come to Me", or his fifth, "Security": [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Security"] "Security" is usually pointed to by fans as the point at which Redding really comes into his own, and started directing the musicians more. There's a distinct difference, in particular, in the interplay between Cropper's guitar, the Mar-Keys' horns, and Redding's voice. Where previously the horns had tended to play mostly pads, just holding chords under Redding's voice, now they were starting to do answering phrases. Jim Stewart always said that the only reason Stax used a horn section at all was because he'd been unable to find a decent group of backing vocalists, and the function the horns played on most of the early Stax recordings was somewhat similar to the one that the Jordanaires had played for Elvis, or the Picks for Buddy Holly, basically doing "oooh" sounds to fatten out the sound, plus the odd sax solo or simple riff. The way Redding used the horns, though, was more like the way Ray Charles used the Raelettes, or the interplay of a doo-wop vocal group, with call and response, interjections, and asides. He also did something in "Security" that would become a hallmark of records made at Stax -- instead of a solo, the instrumental break is played by the horns as an ensemble: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Security"] According to Wayne Jackson, the Mar-Keys' trumpeter, Redding was the one who had the idea of doing these horn ensemble sections, and the musicians liked them enough that they continued doing them on all the future sessions, no matter who with. The last Stax single of 1964 took the "Security" sound and refined it, and became the template for every big Stax hit to follow. "Mr. Pitiful" was the first collaboration between Redding and Steve Cropper, and was primarily Cropper's idea. Cropper later remembered “There was a disc jockey here named Moohah. He started calling Otis ‘Mr. Pitiful' 'cause he sounded so pitiful singing his ballads. So I said, ‘Great idea for a song!' I got the idea for writing about it in the shower. I was on my way down to pick up Otis. I got down there and I was humming it in the car. I said, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?' We just wrote the song on the way to the studio, just slapping our hands on our legs. We wrote it in about ten minutes, went in, showed it to the guys, he hummed a horn line, boom—we had it. When Jim Stewart walked in we had it all worked up. Two or three cuts later, there it was.” [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Mr. Pitiful"] Cropper would often note later that Redding would never write about himself, but that Cropper would put details of Redding's life and persona into the songs, from "Mr. Pitiful" right up to their final collaboration, in which Cropper came up with lines about leaving home in Georgia. "Mr Pitiful" went to number ten on the R&B chart and peaked at number forty-one on the hot one hundred, and its B-side, "That's How Strong My Love Is", also made the R&B top twenty. Cropper and Redding soon settled into a fruitful writing partnership, to the extent that Cropper even kept a guitar permanently tuned to an open chord so that Redding could use it. Redding couldn't play the guitar, but liked to use one as a songwriting tool. When a guitar is tuned in standard tuning, you have to be able to make chord shapes to play it, because the sound of the open strings is a discord: [demonstrates] But you can tune a guitar so all the strings are the notes of a single chord, so they sound good together even when you don't make a chord shape: [demonstrates open-E tuning] With one of these open tunings, you can play chords with just a single finger barring a fret, and so they're very popular with, for example, slide guitarists who use a metal slide to play, or someone like Dolly Parton who has such long fingernails it's difficult to form chord shapes. Someone like Parton is of course an accomplished player, but open tunings also mean that someone who can't play well can just put their finger down on a fret and have it be a chord, so you can write songs just by running one finger up and down the fretboard: [demonstrates] So Redding could write, and even play acoustic rhythm guitar on some songs, which he did quite a lot in later years, without ever learning how to make chords. Now, there's a downside to this -- which is why standard tuning is still standard. If you tune to an open major chord, you can play major chords easily but minor chords become far more difficult. Handily, that wasn't a problem at Stax, because according to Isaac Hayes, Jim Stewart banned minor chords from being played at Stax. Hayes said “We'd play a chord in a session, and Jim would say, ‘I don't want to hear that chord.' Jim's ears were just tuned into one, four, and five. I mean, just simple changes. He said they were the breadwinners. He didn't like minor chords. Marvell and I always would try to put that pretty stuff in there. Jim didn't like that. We'd bump heads about that stuff. Me and Marvell fought all the time that. Booker wanted change as well. As time progressed, I was able to sneak a few in.” Of course, minor chords weren't *completely* banned from Stax, and some did sneak through, but even ballads would often have only major chords -- like Redding's next single, "I've Been Loving You Too Long". That track had its origins with Jerry Butler, the singer who had been lead vocalist of the Impressions before starting a solo career and having success with tracks like "For Your Precious Love": [Excerpt: Jerry Butler, "For Your Precious Love"] Redding liked that song, and covered it himself on his second album, and he had become friendly with Butler. Butler had half-written a song, and played it for Redding, who told him he'd like to fiddle with it, see what he could do. Butler forgot about the conversation, until he got a phone call from Redding, telling him that he'd recorded the song. Butler was confused, and also a little upset -- he'd been planning to finish the song himself, and record it. But then Redding played him the track, and Butler decided that doing so would be pointless -- it was Redding's song now: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "I've Been Loving You Too Long"] "I've Been Loving You Too Long" became Redding's first really big hit, making number two on the R&B chart and twenty-one on the Hot One Hundred. It was soon being covered by the Rolling Stones and Ike & Tina Turner, and while Redding was still not really known to the white pop market, he was quickly becoming one of the biggest stars on the R&B scene. His record sales were still not matching his live performances -- he would always make far more money from appearances than from records -- but he was by now the performer that every other soul singer wanted to copy. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" came out just after Redding's second album, The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, which happened to be the first album released on Volt Records. Before that, while Stax and Volt had released the singles, they'd licensed all the album tracks to Atlantic's Atco subsidiary, which had released the small number of albums put out by Stax artists. But times were changing and the LP market was becoming bigger. And more importantly, the *stereo* LP market was becoming bigger. Singles were still only released in mono, and would be for the next few years, but the album market had a substantial number of audiophiles, and they wanted stereo. This was a problem for Stax, because they only had a mono tape recorder, and they were scared of changing anything about their setup in case it destroyed their sound. Tom Dowd, who had been recording in eight track for years, was appalled by the technical limitations at the McLemore Ave studio, but eventually managed to get Jim Stewart, who despite -- or possibly because of -- being a white country musician was the most concerned that they keep their Black soul sound, to agree to a compromise. They would keep everything hooked up exactly the same -- the same primitive mixers, the same mono tape recorder -- and Stax would continue doing their mixes for mono, and all their singles would come directly off that mono tape. But at the same time, they would *also* have a two-track tape recorder plugged in to the mixer, with half the channels going on one track and half on the other. So while they were making the mix, they'd *also* be getting a stereo dump of that mix. The limitations of the situation meant that they might end up with drums and vocals in one channel and everything else in the other -- although as the musicians cut everything together in the studio, which had a lot of natural echo, leakage meant there was a *bit* of everything on every track -- but it would still be stereo. Redding's next album, Otis Blue, was recorded on this new equipment, with Dowd travelling down from New York to operate it. Dowd was so keen on making the album stereo that during that session, they rerecorded Redding's two most recent singles, "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and "Respect" (which hadn't yet come out but was in the process of being released) in soundalike versions so there would be stereo versions of the songs on the album -- so the stereo and mono versions of Otis Blue actually have different performances of those songs on them. It shows how intense the work rate was at Stax -- and how good they were at their jobs -- that apart from the opening track "Ole Man Trouble", which had already been recorded as a B-side, all of Otis Blue, which is often considered the greatest soul album in history, was recorded in a twenty-eight hour period, and it would have been shorter but there was a four-hour break in the middle, from 10PM to 2AM, so that the musicians on the session could play their regular local club gigs. And then after the album was finished, Otis left the session to perform a gig that evening. Tom Dowd, in particular, was astonished by the way Redding took charge in the studio, and how even though he had no technical musical knowledge, he would direct the musicians. Dowd called Redding a genius and told Phil Walden that the only two other artists he'd worked with who had as much ability in the studio were Bobby Darin and Ray Charles. Other than those singles and "Ole Man Trouble", Otis Blue was made up entirely of cover versions. There were three versions of songs by Sam Cooke, who had died just a few months earlier, and whose death had hit Redding hard -- for all that he styled himself on Little Richard vocally, he was also in awe of Cooke as a singer and stage presence. There were also covers of songs by The Temptations, William Bell, and B.B. King. And there was also an odd choice -- Steve Cropper suggested that Redding cut a cover of a song by a white band that was in the charts at the time: [Excerpt: The Rolling Stones, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"] Redding had never heard the song before -- he was not paying attention to the white pop scene at the time, just to his competition on the R&B charts -- but he was interested in doing it. Cropper sat by the turntable, scribbling down what he thought the lyrics Jagger was singing were, and they cut the track. Redding starts out more or less singing the right words: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"] But quickly ends up just ad-libbing random exclamations in the same way that he would in many of his live performances: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"] Otis Blue made number one on the R&B album chart, and also made number six on the UK album chart -- Redding, like many soul artists, was far more popular in the UK than in the US. It only made number seventy-five on the pop album charts in the US, but it did a remarkable thing as far as Stax was concerned -- it *stayed* in the lower reaches of the charts, and on the R&B album charts, for a long time. Redding had become what is known as a "catalogue artist", something that was almost unknown in rock and soul music at this time, but which was just starting to appear. Up to 1965, the interlinked genres that we now think of as rock and roll, rock, pop, blues, R&B, and soul, had all operated on the basis that singles were where the money was, and that singles should be treated like periodicals -- they go on the shelves, stay there for a few weeks, get replaced by the new thing, and nobody's interested any more. This had contributed to the explosive rate of change in pop music between about 1954 and 1968. You'd package old singles up into albums, and stick some filler tracks on there as a way of making a tiny bit of money from tracks which weren't good enough to release as singles, but that was just squeezing the last few drops of juice out of the orange, it wasn't really where the money was. The only exceptions were those artists like Ray Charles who crossed over into the jazz and adult pop markets. But in general, your record sales in the first few weeks and months *were* your record sales. But by the mid-sixties, as album sales started to take off more, things started to change. And Otis Redding was one of the first artists to really benefit from that. He wasn't having huge hit singles, and his albums weren't making the pop top forty, but they *kept selling*. Redding wouldn't have an album make the top forty in his lifetime, but they sold consistently, and everything from Otis Blue onward sold two hundred thousand or so copies -- a massive number in the much smaller album market of the time. These sales gave Redding some leverage. His contract with Stax was coming to an end in a few months, and he was getting offers from other companies. As part of his contract renegotiation, he got Jim Stewart -- who like so many people in this story including Redding himself liked to operate on handshake deals and assumptions of good faith on the part of everyone else, and who prided himself on being totally fair and not driving hard bargains -- to rework his publishing deal. Now Redding's music was going to be published by Redwal Music -- named after Redding and Phil Walden -- which was owned as a four-way split between Redding, Walden, Stewart, and Joe Galkin. Redding also got the right as part of his contract negotiations to record other artists using Stax's facilities and musicians. He set up his own label, Jotis Records -- a portmanteau of Joe and Otis, for Joe Galkin and himself, and put out records by Arthur Conley: [Excerpt: Arthur Conley, "Who's Fooling Who?"] Loretta Williams [Excerpt: Loretta Williams, "I'm Missing You"] and Billy Young [Excerpt: Billy Young, "The Sloopy"] None of these was a success, but it was another example of how Redding was trying to use his success to boost others. There were other changes going on at Stax as well. The company was becoming more tightly integrated with Atlantic Records -- Tom Dowd had started engineering more sessions, Jerry Wexler was turning up all the time, and they were starting to make records for Atlantic, as we discussed in the episode on "In the Midnight Hour". Atlantic were also loaning Stax Sam and Dave, who were contracted to Atlantic but treated as Stax artists, and whose hits were written by the new Stax songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter: [Excerpt: Sam and Dave, "Soul Man"] Redding was not hugely impressed by Sam and Dave, once saying in an interview "When I first heard the Righteous Brothers, I thought they were colored. I think they sing better than Sam and Dave", but they were having more and bigger chart hits than him, though they didn't have the same level of album sales. Also, by now Booker T and the MGs had a new bass player. Donald "Duck" Dunn had always been the "other" bass player at Stax, ever since he'd started with the Mar-Keys, and he'd played on many of Redding's recordings, as had Lewie Steinberg, the original bass player with the MGs. But in early 1965, the Stax studio musicians had cut a record originally intending it to be a Mar-Keys record, but decided to put it out as by Booker T and the MGs, even though Booker T wasn't there at the time -- Isaac Hayes played keyboards on the track: [Excerpt: Booker T and the MGs, "Boot-Leg"] Booker T Jones would always have a place at Stax, and would soon be back full time as he finished his degree, but from that point on Duck Dunn, not Lewie Steinberg, was the bass player for the MGs. Another change in 1965 was that Stax got serious about promotion. Up to this point, they'd just relied on Atlantic to promote their records, but obviously Atlantic put more effort into promoting records on which it made all the money than ones it just distributed. But as part of the deal to make records with Sam and Dave and Wilson Pickett, Atlantic had finally put their arrangement with Stax on a contractual footing, rather than their previous handshake deal, and they'd agreed to pay half the salary of a publicity person for Stax. Stax brought in Al Bell, who made a huge impression. Bell had been a DJ in Memphis, who had gone off to work with Martin Luther King for a while, before leaving after a year because, as he put it "I was not about passive resistance. I was about economic development, economic empowerment.” He'd returned to DJing, first in Memphis, then in Washington DC, where he'd been one of the biggest boosters of Stax records in the area. While he was in Washington, he'd also started making records himself. He'd produced several singles for Grover Mitchell on Decca: [Excerpt: Grover Mitchell, "Midnight Tears"] Those records were supervised by Milt Gabler, the same Milt Gabler who produced Louis Jordan's records and "Rock Around the Clock", and Bell co-produced them with Eddie Floyd, who wrote that song, and Chester Simmons, formerly of the Moonglows, and the three of them started their own label, Safice, which had put out a few records by Floyd and others, on the same kind of deal with Atlantic that Stax had: [Excerpt: Eddie Floyd, "Make Up Your Mind"] Floyd would himself soon become a staff songwriter at Stax. As with almost every decision at Stax, the decision to hire Bell was a cause of disagreement between Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton, the "Ax" in Stax, who wasn't as involved in the day-to-day studio operations as her brother, but who was often regarded by the musicians as at least as important to the spirit of the label, and who tended to disagree with her brother on pretty much everything. Stewart didn't want to hire Bell, but according to Cropper “Estelle and I said, ‘Hey, we need somebody that can liaison between the disc jockeys and he's the man to do it. Atlantic's going into a radio station with six Atlantic records and one Stax record. We're not getting our due.' We knew that. We needed more promotion and he had all the pull with all those disc jockeys. He knew E. Rodney Jones and all the big cats, the Montagues and so on. He knew every one of them.” Many people at Stax will say that the label didn't even really start until Bell joined -- and he became so important to the label that he would eventually take it over from Stewart and Axton. Bell came in every day and immediately started phoning DJs, all day every day, starting in the morning with the drivetime East Coast DJs, and working his way across the US, ending up at midnight phoning the evening DJs in California. Booker T Jones said of him “He had energy like Otis Redding, except he wasn't a singer. He had the same type of energy. He'd come in the room, pull up his shoulders and that energy would start. He would start talking about the music business or what was going on and he energized everywhere he was. He was our Otis for promotion. It was the same type of energy charisma.” Meanwhile, of course, Redding was constantly releasing singles. Two more singles were released from Otis Blue -- his versions of "My Girl" and "Satisfaction", and he also released "I Can't Turn You Loose", which was originally the B-side to "Just One More Day" but ended up charting higher than its original A-side. It's around this time that Redding did something which seems completely out of character, but which really must be mentioned given that with very few exceptions everyone in his life talks about him as some kind of saint. One of Redding's friends was beaten up, and Redding, the friend, and another friend drove to the assailant's house and started shooting through the windows, starting a gun battle in which Redding got grazed. His friend got convicted of attempted murder, and got two years' probation, while Redding himself didn't face any criminal charges but did get sued by the victims, and settled out of court for a few hundred dollars. By this point Redding was becoming hugely rich from his concert appearances and album sales, but he still hadn't had a top twenty pop hit. He needed to break the white market. And so in April 1966, Redding went to LA, to play the Sunset Strip: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Respect (live at the Whisky A-Go-Go)"] Redding's performance at the Whisky A-Go-Go, a venue which otherwise hosted bands like the Doors, the Byrds, the Mothers of Invention, and Love, was his first real interaction with the white rock scene, part of a process that had started with his recording of "Satisfaction". The three-day residency got rave reviews, though the plans to release a live album of the shows were scuppered when Jim Stewart listened back to the tapes and decided that Redding's horn players were often out of tune. But almost everyone on the LA scene came out to see the shows, and Redding blew them away. According to one biography of Redding I used, it was seeing how Redding tuned his guitar that inspired the guitarist from the support band, the Rising Sons, to start playing in the same tuning -- though I can't believe for a moment that Ry Cooder, one of the greatest slide guitarists of his generation, didn't already know about open tunings. But Redding definitely impressed that band -- Taj Mahal, their lead singer, later said it was "one of the most amazing performances I'd ever seen". Also at the gigs was Bob Dylan, who played Redding a song he'd just recorded but not yet released: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Just Like a Woman"] Redding agreed that the song sounded perfect for him, and said he would record it. He apparently made some attempts at rehearsing it at least, but never ended up recording it. He thought the first verse and chorus were great, but had problems with the second verse: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Just Like a Woman"] Those lyrics were just too abstract for him to find a way to connect with them emotionally, and as a result he found himself completely unable to sing them. But like his recording of "Satisfaction", this was another clue to him that he should start paying more attention to what was going on in the white music industry, and that there might be things he could incorporate into his own style. As a result of the LA gigs, Bill Graham booked Redding for the Fillmore in San Francisco. Redding was at first cautious, thinking this might be a step too far, and that he wouldn't go down well with the hippie crowd, but Graham persuaded him, saying that whenever he asked any of the people who the San Francisco crowds most loved -- Jerry Garcia or Paul Butterfield or Mike Bloomfield -- who *they* most wanted to see play there, they all said Otis Redding. Redding reluctantly agreed, but before he took a trip to San Francisco, there was somewhere even further out for him to go. Redding was about to head to England but before he did there was another album to make, and this one would see even more of a push for the white market, though still trying to keep everything soulful. As well as Redding originals, including "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)", another song in the mould of "Mr. Pitiful", there was another cover of a contemporary hit by a guitar band -- this time a version of the Beatles' "Day Tripper" -- and two covers of old standards; the country song "Tennessee Waltz", which had recently been covered by Sam Cooke, and a song made famous by Bing Crosby, "Try a Little Tenderness". That song almost certainly came to mind because it had recently been used in the film Dr. Strangelove, but it had also been covered relatively recently by two soul greats, Aretha Franklin: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Try a Little Tenderness"] And Sam Cooke: [Excerpt: Sam Cooke, "Live Medley: I Love You For Sentimental Reasons/Try a Little Tenderness/You Send Me"] This version had horn parts arranged by Isaac Hayes, who by this point had been elevated to be considered one of the "Big Six" at Stax records -- Hayes, his songwriting partner David Porter, Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Booker T. Jones, and Al Jackson, were all given special status at the company, and treated as co-producers on every record -- all the records were now credited as produced by "staff", but it was the Big Six who split the royalties. Hayes came up with a horn part that was inspired by Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come", and which dominated the early part of the track: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness"] Then the band came in, slowly at first: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness"] But Al Jackson surprised them when they ran through the track by deciding that after the main song had been played, he'd kick the track into double-time, and give Redding a chance to stretch out and do his trademark grunts and "got-ta"s. The single version faded out shortly after that, but the version on the album kept going for an extra thirty seconds: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness"] As Booker T. Jones said “Al came up with the idea of breaking up the rhythm, and Otis just took that and ran with it. He really got excited once he found out what Al was going to do on the drums. He realized how he could finish the song. That he could start it like a ballad and finish it full of emotion. That's how a lot of our arrangements would come together. Somebody would come up with something totally outrageous.” And it would have lasted longer but Jim Stewart pushed the faders down, realising the track was an uncommercial length even as it was. Live, the track could often stretch out to seven minutes or longer, as Redding drove the crowd into a frenzy, and it soon became one of the highlights of his live set, and a signature song for him: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness (live in London)"] In September 1966, Redding went on his first tour outside the US. His records had all done much better in the UK than they had in America, and they were huge favourites of everyone on the Mod scene, and when he arrived in the UK he had a limo sent by Brian Epstein to meet him at the airport. The tour was an odd one, with multiple London shows, shows in a couple of big cities like Manchester and Bristol, and shows in smallish towns in Hampshire and Lincolnshire. Apparently the shows outside London weren't particularly well attended, but the London shows were all packed to overflowing. Redding also got his own episode of Ready! Steady! Go!, on which he performed solo as well as with guest stars Eric Burdon and Chris Farlowe: [Excerpt: Otis Redding, Chris Farlowe and Eric Burdon, "Shake/Land of a Thousand Dances"] After the UK tour, he went on a short tour of the Eastern US with Sam and Dave as his support act, and then headed west to the Fillmore for his three day residency there, introducing him to the San Francisco music scene. His first night at the venue was supported by the Grateful Dead, the second by Johnny Talbot and De Thangs and the third by Country Joe and the Fish, but there was no question that it was Otis Redding that everyone was coming to see. Janis Joplin turned up at the Fillmore every day at 3PM, to make sure she could be right at the front for Redding's shows that night, and Bill Graham said, decades later, "By far, Otis Redding was the single most extraordinary talent I had ever seen. There was no comparison. Then or now." However, after the Fillmore gigs, for the first time ever he started missing shows. The Sentinel, a Black newspaper in LA, reported a few days later "Otis Redding, the rock singer, failed to make many friends here the other day when he was slated to appear on the Christmas Eve show[...] Failed to draw well, and Redding reportedly would not go on." The Sentinel seem to think that Redding was just being a diva, but it's likely that this was the first sign of a problem that would change everything about his career -- he was developing vocal polyps that were making singing painful. It's notable though that the Sentinel refers to Redding as a "rock" singer, and shows again how different genres appeared in the mid-sixties to how they appear today. In that light, it's interesting to look at a quote from Redding from a few months later -- "Everybody thinks that all songs by colored people are rhythm and blues, but that's not true. Johnny Taylor, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King are blues singers. James Brown is not a blues singer. He has a rock and roll beat and he can sing slow pop songs. My own songs "Respect" and "Mr Pitiful" aren't blues songs. I'm speaking in terms of the beat and structure of the music. A blues is a song that goes twelve bars all the way through. Most of my songs are soul songs." So in Redding's eyes, neither he nor James Brown were R&B -- he was soul, which was a different thing from R&B, while Brown was rock and roll and pop, not soul, but journalists thought that Redding was rock. But while the lines between these things were far less distinct than they are today, and Redding was trying to cross over to the white audience, he knew what genre he was in, and celebrated that in a song he wrote with his friend Art