Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

The first Christmas soul mix was very popular. Thank you to all the kind people who took the time to say nice things about it (and about my efforts here in general). Comments are always appreciated.

As I pointed out in the blurb for the first mix, I held back a lot of great stuff for the follow-up. So this one might be even better than the first compilation. You be the judge of that.

Be advised that in this batch are a couple of tracks that might not appeal to your mother: Rufus Thomas (Carla’s dad) makes little effort to disguise his punnery, missing out only on Santa coming only once a year. It may be necessary to point out that Clarence Carter’s Back Door Santa is not an invitation for yuletide anal sex (and here we welcome the lost and probably disappointed Google user); the back door of the title is just that: a door. With hinges.

Charles Brown, who appears here with Christmas In Heaven (not the Monty Python song), incidentally wrote one of the great Christmas pop songs: I’ll Be Home For Christmas. As in the first mix, the voice on the Rotary Connection’s track – here a psychedelic take on Silent Night – is that of the great Minnie Riperton. And there is a justification for the inclusion two takes of Silent Night: they are both excellent and very different from both, one another and the standard versions.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R. It also includes a really good (though long) bonus track and front/back covers.

TRACKLISTING
1. J Hines and the Boys – A Funky Christmas To You
2. Smokey Robinson – Christmas Everyday
3. Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and the Clowns – Silent Night
4. Lee Rogers – You Won’t Have To Wait Till Christmas
5. Carla Thomas - All I Want For Christmas Is You
6. Brook Benton – Soul Santa
7. Roscoe Robinson – Tis Yuletide
8. Baby Washington – White Christmas
9. Stevie Wonder – Christmastime
10. Solomon Burke – Presents For Christmas
11. Electric Jungle – Funky Funky Christmas
12. Rufus Thomas – I’ll Be Your Santa, Baby
13. Clarence Carter – Back Door Santa
14. Jimmy McGriff - Christmas With McGriff Pt1
15. The Twistin’ Kings - Xmas Twist
16. Otis Redding – Merry Christmas, Baby
17. The Soul Stirrers - Christmas Joy
18. The Persuasions – You’re All I Want for Christmas
19. Meditation Singers – Blue Christmas
20. Gene Toone – Baby Boy
21. Charles Brown – Christmas In Heaven
22. The Emotions - Black Christmas
23. Rotary Connection – Silent Night
24. Marvin Gaye – Purple Snowflakes
25. The Supremes – Silver Bells
26. The Temptations – Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
27. The Funk Brothers – Winter Wonderland
Bonus track: Ohio Players – Happy Holidays

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(Mirror 1   Mirror 2)

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Previous Christmas mixes:
Any Major Christmas Soul Vol. 1
Any Major Christmas in Black & White
More X-Mas in Black & White
Christmas Mix (Not For Mother)
Any Major Christmas Mix
Rudolph – Victim of Prejudice

The Grim Reaper had another busy month. He took from us the soul legend Solomon Burke, who only a few months ago delivered a new album, and the brilliant General Johnson, a wonderful vocalist whose Chairmen of the Board shone in the early ’70s, and who wrote such hits as Patches (Clarence Carter), Want Ads (Honey Cone) and Freda Payne’s Bring The Boys Home  (the video for You Got Me Dangling On A String is rather nice). Reggae fans will mourn the soulful Gregory Isaacs, and post-punk fans the passing of The Slits’ German-born punster Ari Up.

A handful of artists died young this month, perhaps the saddest of these deaths is that by suicide of Dutch singer Antonie Kamerling. I usually don’t include classical music people, but I am making one exception this month. As always, all songs listed are compiled in one mix.

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Trevor Fleming, guitarist of Northern Irish heavy metal band Sweet Savage, on October 2
Sweet Savage – Killing Time (1981)

Ed Wilson, 65, Brazilian pop star and founder of ’60s rock band Renato e Seus Blue Caps, on October 3
Renato e Seus Blue Caps – Fruit Cake (1965)
Ed Wilson – Vou Partir (A Fool Such As I) (1966)

Eddie Platt, 88, pop saxophonist, on October 3
Eddie Platt and his Orchestra – Tequila (1958)

Anibal Arias, 88, Argetinian tango guitarist, on October 3
Anibal Arias & Osvaldo Montes – Milonga de mis amores (2000)

Norman Wisdom, 95, British comedian and some-time singer, on October 4
Norman Wisdom – The Wisdom Of A Fool (1957)

William Shakespeare, 61, Australian glam rocker, on October 5

Steve Lee, 47, singer of Swiss hard rock band Gotthard, on October 5
Gotthard – Anytime Anywhere (2005)

Jack Berntsen, 69, Norwegian folk singer, on October 5

Colette Renard, 85, French singer and actress, on October 6
Colette Renard – Irma la douce (1956)

Antonie Kamerling, 44, Dutch actor and singer, on October 6

T Lavitz, 54, keyboard player with jazz-rock band The Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead, on October 7
Jazz Is Dead – Scarlet Begonias  (1998)

Ian Morris, 53, guitarist of New Zealand  band Th’ Dudes, on October 7

Albertina Walker, 81, gospel singer and member of The Caravans, on October 8
Albertina Walker with James Cleveland – Lord Keep Me Day By Day (live, 1990)

Reg King, 65, singer of mod band The Action, on October 8

Joan Sutherland, 83, opera soprano, on October 10
Joan Sutherland & Luciano Pavarotti – Perdona, o mia diletta (from Bellini’s La Sonnambula) (1990)

Solomon Burke, 70, soul legend, on October 10
Solomon Burke – Go On Back To Him (1962)

General Norman Johnson, 69, singer of soul group Chairmen of the Board, songwriter and producer, on October 13
Chairmen Of The Board – Everyday’s Tuesday (1970)

Huddy Combs, 33, rapper with Harlem World, on October 13
Harlem World feat Ma$e & Kelly Price – I Really Like It (1999)

Dennis Taylor, 56, American session saxophonist and author, on October 17

Eyedea, 28, hip hop musician, on October 17
Eyedea & Abilities – By The Throat (2009)

Marion Brown, 79, jazz saxophonist and John Coltrane collaborator, on October 18

Bino, 57, Italian pop singer, on October 19
Bino – Mama Leone (1978)

Ari Up, 48, German-born member of post-punk band The Slits, on October 20
The Slits – I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1979)

José Carbajal “El Sabalaero”, 66, Uruguayan singer, guitarist and composer, on October 21
José Carbajal ‘El Sabalero’ – Borracho pero con flores (1991)

Denis Simpson, 60, singer with Canadian band The Nylons, on October 22
The Nylons – Kiss Him Goodbye (1987)

Linda Hargrove (a.k.a. Bartholomew), 61, country singer and songwriter, on October 24
Linda Hargrove – All Alone In Austin (1975)

Gregory Isaacs, 59, reggae legend, on October 25
Gregory Isaacs – Number One (1978)

James Phelps, 78, gospel and R&B singer, on October 26
James Phelps – Love Is A 5- Letter Word (1965)

Jack Brokensha, 84, Australian jazz vibraphonist/percussionist and member of Motown’s Funk Brothers, on October 28
Martha and the Vandellas – (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (1963)

Walter Payton Jr., 68,  New Orleans jazz bassist and sousaphonist, on October 28
Lee Dorsey – Working In The Coal Mine (1967)

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Previous In Memoriams

Keep up to date with dead pop stars on Facebook

The first mix of soul covers was very popular (and great fun to compile), so I hope that subsequent compilations will also find an audience.I think I have at least two more in the works.

There are a few surprising covers in this mix. Maxayn reshape the Rolling Stones song entirely, while the wonderful Zulema Cusseaux, a gifted songwriter in her own right, perhaps even tops my favourite solo McCartney track. And could there be soul versions of Wild Thing? Jagger’s ex-squeeze Marsha Hunt gave it a shot.
Scanning the tracklisting, there are some wonderful strong women who have been much neglected among the 20 featured acts. We previously encountered the unjustly forgotten Barbara Jean English with the utterly astonishing So Many Ways To Die on Any Major Soul 1972-73; here she improves on one of Bread’s better songs. Tami Lynn never had much of a big audience; her cover of Smiley Lewis’ One Night Of Sin (featured here as the original of Elvis’ One Night) shows why that was a great shame. Unlike those two, Denise LaSalle has had a notable career, even if she is often remembered for the horrible 1985 novelty hit My Toot-Toot. Here LaSalle is allowed to break a rule: being featured with a song already covered on the first mix.

The idea with these compilation is to take songs that are better known in versions outside the soul genre, but there must be exceptions. The test is in how much the covering artist appropriates the song. The amazing Marlena Shaw does that with the Main Ingredient’s Don’t Want To Be Lonely, and The Temptations give I Heard It Through The Grapevine their spin (like the two better-known versions by Gladys Knight and Marvin Gaye, it was produced by Norman Whitfield).

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R , and a front and back cover is included. Several of the songs included here are, to my knowledge, out of print. Be sure to buy the albums that include the songs that you like in particular — if you like the album fillers, you’ll surely like the rest of the album.

TRACKLISTING
1. Al Green – I Want To Hold Your Hand (1969)
2. Maxayn – You Can’t Always Get What You Want (1972)
3. Zulema – Maybe I’m Amazed (1972)
4. Donnie Hathaway - He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother (1971)
5. The Smith Connection – Rainy Days And Mondays (1972)
6. Isaac Hayes – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again (1971)
7. Candi Staton – In The Ghetto (1972)
8. Thelma Houston – Don’t Make Me Over (1981)
9. Marlena Shaw – Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely (1973)
10. Barbara Jean English – Baby I’m A-Want You (1972)
11. Solomon Burke – He’ll Have To Go (1964)
12. Denise LaSalle – Harper Valley P.T.A. (1973)
13. Tami Lynn – One Night Of Sin (1972)
14. The Temptations – I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1969)
15. The Intruders - Mother And Child Reunion (1973)
16. Family Brown – When I Need You (1977)
17. Billy Paul – Your Song (1972)
18. Joe Simon – Help Me Make It Through The Night (1973)
19. The Dells – A Whiter Shade Of Pale (1969)
20. Marsha Hunt – Wild Thing (1971)

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More Mixes

Here is the second volume of ’60s soul tracks. Some of these songs are pretty well-known, but many others are hidden or forgotten gem. Eddie Holland’s track is as much a gem as it is a historical curiosity; it’s one of the few records he released on Motown before Berry Gordy decided that Eddie, with Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, should work exclusively as one of the label’s in-house writer/producer teams, in particular for the Supremes and the Four Tops . Read more…