Black Music Month 2011: En Vogue | "Runaway Love"

Black Muisc Month 2011: "Where is Your Faith?" | Rev. James Cleveland

Dyana Williams: 'The Mother of Black Music Month'

Dyana Williams, long-time radio personality, music industry insider, and current host of Soulful Sundays on WNRB (107.9 | Philadelphia) discusses the founding of Black Music Month.

Black Music Month 2011: The Emotions | "Peace Be Still" (from Wattstax))

Black Music Month 2011: The Thom Bell Sessions

Black Music Month 2011: 

The Thom Bell Sessions

by Mark Anthony Neal

When Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, it  again placed a focus on the legacy of “Philly” Soul. The success, in recent years, of Philadelphia based acts like Boyz II Men, Jill Scott, The Roots, Musiq, Eric Roberson, Jaguar Wright, Kindred the Family Soul and of course the timeless presence of Patti Labelle, has helped give the very idea of Philly Soul contemporary cache. But all too often memories of the classic days of Philly Soul fail to recall the impact of Philly based doo-wop acts, which featured high-pitched lead vocalists and many of the forgotten musicians and producers that gave the city its signature sound.

At the height of their power, Gamble and Huff managed Philadelphia International Records (the groundbreaking black boutique label) and presided over a music publishing company known as “Mighty Three Publishing.” The third member of that triad was Thom Bell, a staunchly independent, Caribbean bred musician and producer who always resisted joining the Philly International’s camp. Instead Bell chose to free-lance giving him the liberty to work with artists that he wanted to work with. The product of that independence are definitive Soul recordings from The Delfonics, The Stylistics and The Spinners. Here’s a playlist of some of the best of the Thom Bell Sessions:

“La-La (Means I Love You)”—The Delfonics (1968)

“Can You Remember?”—The Delfonics (1968)

The Delfonics were the first Philly Soul group that Thom Bell had regular success with. They would never reach the super-group status of groups like The Stylistics and The Spinners, but like their New York City based peers The Main Ingredient, they were the quintessential East-Coast Soul harmony group of the late 1960s. “La-La (Means I Love You)”, co-written with William Hart, from the Delfonics album of the same title, is just timeless, from the simplicity of the lyrics: “Now I don’t wear a diamond ring and I don’t even have song to sing, all I know is la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la…la mean, I love you,” to the earnestness of lead singer William Hart’s soaring falsetto. “Can You Remember?” was a product of the same session. The genius of both songs song was not lost on a young Michael Jackson—a big fan of Hart—who recorded a handful of Bell compositions including “Can You Remember?” on the Jackson Five’s first Motown recording Diana Ross Presents and “La La” on The Jackson Five’s ABC (1970) recording.

“People Make the World Go ‘Round”—The Stylistics (1971)

As would be a regular occurrence with Bell, once he did all that he could with a group, he would move on to the next challenge. That next challenge was Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the Stylistics. Thompkins, who is one of the most legendary falsettos of all time, fit perfectly into Bell’s Philly-Soul sensibilities. What Bell was able to bring into the mix (literally) that he didn’t with The Delfonics were lush arrangements. With new writing partner Linda Creed in tow, the Stylistics recorded a string of classic recordings including, “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” “Betcha by Golly Wow” and “Break Up to Make Up”. Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Al Green, notwithstanding, Bell’s work with the Stylistics in the early 1970s was the definitive Pop-Soul sound of the era—a sound you hear a generation later in the work of Antonio “LA” Reid and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. But I always go back to that very first album, when the stakes were less, and find the brilliance of “People Make the World Go Round.” Powerful and subtle social commentary (with the winds of change literally blowing in the background) with an insurgent energy that aimed to find the human connection of it all. The song was never more powerfully employed that in the opening segment of Spike Lee’s period piece Crooklyn.

“You Are Everything”—The Stylistics (1971)

“Today I saw somebody who looked just like you/she walked like you do/I thought it was you/As she turned the corner/I called out your name, I felt so ashamed, when it wasn’t you…” Damn. Thom Bell wrote those lyrics only a short time after mistakenly believing that he saw someone he knew in the street. These lyrics to again highlight how Bell and Creed often took simple everyday experiences and turned them into lyrics and melodies that just tugged at the heart. I mean damn, who hasn’t thought they saw a long lost boyfriend and girlfriend walking across the street or on a passing subway train and then spent the next hour lamenting about what could have been?

“I’ll be Around”—The Spinners (1973)

When signed to Motown in the late 1960s, The Spinners were little more than an afterthought. After a still youthful Stevie Wonder provided them with the gift, “It’s A Shame” in 1970, the group bounced to Atlantic (sans co-lead vocalist GC Cameron) with Philippe Wynne joining Bobby Smith on lead vocals. As the story goes, Atlantic offered Thom Bell the opportunity to record any act on their roster (which at the time included Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin) and he choose The Spinners. The rest is history, as the B-side of the first Spinners/Bell single, “I’ll Be Around” can still be heard on cell phone commercials 35-years after its release. Classics like “Could It be I’m Falling in Love,” “Mighty Love” and everybody’s favorite mama song, “Sadie” would soon follow.

“Mama Can’t Buy You Love”—Elton John (1979)

On the surface, Elton John and Thom Bell seem like an odd pairing, but John was a big fan (like David Bowie) of American Soul music, and the Philly Sound in particular; John’s 1975 classic “Philadelphia Freedom,” was in part a tribute to Mighty Three. Though the so-called Thom Bell Sessions did not result in a full album—Bell and John reportedly butted heads in what was John’s first session minus writing partner Bernie Taupin—a 12-inch featuring the hit “Mama Can’t Buy You Love, which was John’s first hit in three years. The full Thom Bell Sessions, with six completed songs was released in 1989/

“Silly”—Deniece Williams (1981)

“It’s Gonna Take a Miracle”—Deniece (1982)

One of the reasons that Bell desired to be more of an independent producer, was the often failing health of his wife; as the professional pressures began to mount, Bell left Philadelphia for Seattle, working much less frequently. One artists who compelled him to return back to the studio was Deniece Williams, one time backing vocalist for Stevie Wonder. Williams had experienced moderate success, most notably with the single “Free” from her debut This is Niecy (1976), before Bell joined her to work on My Melody in 1981. That session produced the now classic “Silly.” Bell and Williams reteamed a year later for Niecy, which produced the cross-over hit “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle.” The song was originally recorded by the Royalettes in 1965 and later by Laura Nyro and Labelle, in a session that was produced by Bell’s Mighty Three partners, Gamble and Huff. The song earned Williams her first Grammy Award nomination.

“Old Friend”—Phyllis Hyman--Living All Alone (1986)

Bell’s writing partner Linda Creed was diagnosed with breast cancer in the late 1970s and as Bell began to retreat from day to day activities in the recording industry, Creed sought other writing partners, including Michael Masser, with whom she wrote “The Greatest Love of All” (initially recorded by George Benson, but a major pop hit for Whitney Houston in 1986, the same year that Creed succumbed cancer. In the backdrop of Houston’s success, the late Phyllis Hyman released her career defining release Living All Alone, which included one of the last major collaborations between Creed and Bell, with “Old Friend.”

MAN & Blackademics Discuss Public Intellectuals, The Boondocks and Gumbo

from Blackademics.org

This Black Music Month our interview is with professor and public intellectual Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. We discuss the role of the public intellectual, Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks and Dr. Neal's contribution to Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic. Enjoy!

Mark Anthony Neal on the Michael Eric Dyson Show

from The Michael Eric Dyson Show (WEAA-FM--Baltimore)


The New Black Man:
Mark Anthony Neal’s “Overlooked Genius”

Throughout this month – - Black Music Month - – we’ve been hearing from some of the most influential artists in popular music, jazz, and Gospel.

We’ve heard Lalah Hathaway, Melba Moore, Nancy Wilson, Chuck D., Leela James, Sonny Rollins, CeCe Winans, and Jody Watley….

We’ve also dissected the use of AutoTune technology and talked with the Rev. Jesse Jackson about the reach of Tupac Shakur.

But we’re not done yet.

We haven’t hit on Black Radio for example.

On today’s show, Dyson talks to the New Black Man, which is the online blogging moniker of Mark Anthony Neal.

Professor Neal is also a student, and teacher, of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University.

He wants to talk about one old-school artist in particular this month…. whom he calls “an overlooked genius.” And it’s not me.

Listen @ The Michael Eric Dyson Show

Black Music Month Classics: Fertile Ground

BLACK MUSIC MONTH CLASSICS

Fertile Rewards: The Return of Fertile Ground
By Mark Anthony Neal

According to their publicity, the group Fertile Ground has sold more than 125,000 discs. In an era when bad rappers and American Idol rejects often sell twice as much, Fertile Ground’s records sales might not seem significant. But the group has sold all of those records without distribution from a major label or any support from radio or traditional video outlets. Of course stories of third-tier gangsta rappers who moved 100,000 units out of the back of their jeeps are hip-hop lore, but that’s what makes Fertile Ground’s achievement all that more astounding: against the grain of the hip-hop and R&B that masquerades as great black music, Fertile Ground has created a rich mix of Jazz, R&B, Soul that has resonated with those thirsting for Black music (with a capital "B") and artists that are more conscious of tradition than how many rotations can be garnered on a Clear Channel station. Fertile Ground’s latest recording Black Is…, the group’s fourth recording, is the fertile reward of seven years of struggle and passion to make great black music.

The Fertile Ground story begins with keyboardist James Collins. A graduate of the University of Maryland, where he majored in Biochemistry, Collins grew up a fan of jazz music and played trumpet while a student in the Baltimore Public School system. Collins was playing gigs with his jazz band and enrolled in medical school at Johns Hopkins University, when he was given a tip about a local vocalist who was a student at Baltimore’s HBCU Morgan State University. That vocalist was Navasha Daya. According to Collins, after Daya sat in with the band one night he dropped out of medical school and “started to embark upon our beautiful musical career.” With fellow band members including percussionist Ekendra Das, saxophonist Craig Alston, and trumpeter Freddie Dunn, Collins and Daya forged forward with Fertile Ground; Their first full-length recording Field Songs was released in 1998.

From the beginning Collins and the band had a deep sense that they would have to pursue a different course than what was happening in the mainstream recording industry. As Collins admitted in a recent interview, “over the last 15 or 20 years, the way records have been marketed has been by exclusively national, commercial entities” adding that “We don’t really go the commercial route of putting out a record and you work with the top producers, who do the same thing that’s already out there…we try to focus, more or less, on the legacy of art.” And that focus on the “legacy of art” is perhaps what most distinguishes Fertile Ground from so many of their contemporary peers. Listening to their new recording Black Is…, as well as their previous outings, you can hear strong strains of Nina Simone, Pharaoh Sanders, Gil Scott-Heron, Fela Kuti, Duke Ellington and even a lesser know genius like Doug Carn, who in the 1970s made classic recordings like Infant Eyes and Adam’s Apple for the independent Black Jazz Label. Like Carn, Fertile Ground mixes good music with uplifting lyrics and an independent spirit about the music industry. But Collins is quick to add that Fertile Ground’s musical influences go beyond the obvious choices noting that “you’ll also hear Talib Kweli and Esthero and even a little hint of Bjork.”

There are many highlights on Black Is…, including “Live in the Light”, “Changing Woman”, “A Blues for Me”, and “Yellow Daisies” (Collins’s favorite), but it is the title track “Black Is…” that is likely to most stir emotions. Collins recounted the band’s performance of “Black Is…” at recent show at Blues Alley in Washington, DC., where a white family walked out because they were “uncomfortable” with the song. According to Collins, “I think that pretty much sums up the reason we put the record out” adding “The chorus to the track is ‘Black is Beautiful’, that was my conclusion, but I feel that regardless of what the conclusion is, the question is still the same—“What is Black?” And I think its something that is very relevant right now.”

Collins sees the need to record a track like “Black Is…” as important, particularly at a historical moment when marketing firms and publicists hold so much sway in determining what “blackness” is. In Collins’s view, “we need to establish what makes us, a people, and hold on to those things, because if we don’t, then the dominating cultural forces, right now the marketing forces, will define us. That’s why we start to become defensive—‘we’re more than hip-hop, slang and baggy jeans’—the only reason that becomes a conversation is because other images of blackness are not being equally marketed, equally professed.

The passion and love of black music and culture that Collins and band members profess comes through powerfully in all of the group’s music. But of course there might be detractors who question why Collins, for example, would choose to give up on a career in the medical profession, in order to become a struggling musician. Collins’s choice ultimately was predicated on the fact that he believes that Fertile Ground is part of something larger—a belief that it is vitally important at this moment to replenish the well of black expressive culture. That so many black folk see such efforts as a waste of time and energy has deep implications for black youth who might not see the importance of maintaining black creative traditions, be it in music, visual arts, literature or dance. Collins notes that it’s “unfortunate that in industries that we dominate, we don’t raise our kids to be musicians, not even to learn music business or the business of music, so that we can stop complaining about the fact the we got to deal with these culturally insensitive people to put our records and our art out.” “Ultimately” Collins observes, “this is the same fight that Spike Lee has to have, that Haile Gerima has to have, that Quincy Jones had to have.”

*Originally Published in 2004