Here is a great in depth post on the evolution of, "Try a Little Tenderness" from The Awl. Head on over there to read the whole thing. It was recently sampled for The Kanye and Jay-z song, "Otis." Well I don't agree with their assessment of the Jay-z incarnation, I kind of like it minus Kanye and the James Brown scream thing at the end. The Jay/Kanye version will actually be on the next hip hop mix which is tentatively scheduled for mid-August. Despite our differing opinions, the Awl's post is a well put together look at the history of one of my favorite songs. I actually didn't know it had so much history and the only other versions I knew of were Sam Cooke's and Aretha's. *Cues the more you know*
"As nice a story as it’d make, Otis Redding didn’t transform “Try A Little Tenderness” from campy relic to anthem in a single stroke. The process was more gradual, maybe more compromised. Bing Crosby took a go at “Tenderness” in 1933, and in the process injected some humanity into it. No less paternalistic, his interpretation stressed the duties of manhood, the weakness of women, and how love was about being strong by pretending to be vulnerable. Maybe that’s a little too much psychodrama to pull from a performance that, for all Crosby’s sly phrasing and attempts at straight talk, is still relatively light fare. But it was enough for “Tenderness” to catch on as a minor standard, an especially useful one to have in the songbook for black entertainers looking to cross over in the ’50s and early ’60s and perform at “classy joints.” Selling records to white kids was one thing; eons before anyone thought to let youth guide the industry, appealing to white adults was the real meal ticket." via
Bonuses: Apparently the hip hop world doesn't agree with the Awl either, because everyone is going over the, "Otis" beat. Links to the freestyles on Nahright can be found below.
Marriages have a 50 percent chance of ending in divorce in the United States, and with money, ego, health, fighting, wandering eyes, and varying ambitions at play, those stats aren't a huge shock. Staying together is hard, yo. And like the many couples we've all known or been a part of, our favorite musical groups are prone to disbanding despite the love … or, the classic albums, the flawless live performances, and the near unanimous critical acclaim.
The Beatles. The Jackson Five. The White Stripes. Rage Against the Machine. Uh ... Destiny's Child. Groups unravel even at the height of success. And in hip hop, one of the most painful breakups for fans has always been the day A Tribe Called Quest called it quits. There's been plenty of speculation about the group’s demise, the most common theory being that Phife Dawg was, well, feeling a little bit like Kelly Rowland to Q-Tip's Beyonce. That's the last Destiny's Child reference I'll be using -- I swear.
Fans finally get somewhat near closure on ATCQ’s separation thanks to the documentary Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest. Michael Rapaport (the actor probably best known for his role as a college freshman outcast turned neo-Nazi in John Singleton's Higher Learning) and longtime hip hop fan/New Yawker serves as the film's director. Clearly, the film is a bittersweet love letter to not only a group he still adores but also to the hallowed days of old school hip hop in NYC, in the days when Soulja Boy was still a zygote and had the potential to not grow up to be a truly heinous approximation of a rapper.
Vintage photos of emcees, DJs, breakers, and hip hop founding fathers and mothers literally come to life onscreen as the film takes us to Queens' Linden Blvd., where we trace the formation of elementary school students Johnathan Davis and Malik Taylor into Q-Tip and Phife Dawg of one of the most beloved hip hop groups of all time.
We learn that Q-Tip voraciously scoured vinyl shops and his father's record collection for beats (his reenactment of creating the "Can I Kick It?" track is worth the price of admission alone) and that despite writing his first rhyme around the age of 9, Phife took longer than Q-Tip to warm up to joining a group and didn’t come into his own as an emcee until ATCQ’s second album The Low End Theory. We learn that local legend DJ Red Alert (the uncle of Jungle Brothers’ Mike G) helped them get their start and that The Native Tongues collective (including Tribe, The Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Black Sheep, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, Brand Nubian, and The Beatnuts among others) fostered a movement for rappers who were, self-admittedly, weird.
Rapaport interviews hip hop’s finest (Questlove and Black Thought, Common, Pharrell, Beastie Boys), culling sound bites of unending praise for Tribe’s discography and oral histories on the group's rise to fame and their influence on other artists.
But of course, you can’t discuss ATCQ’s peak of accomplishments and cultural impact without inevitably discussing the groups’ personal implosion. First, the exit of fourth member Jarobi White (I’ll be the first to admit, as a Tribe fan, that I did not know of Jarobi until watching this film. Yes, I’m ashamed) which was a source of emotional distress for his good friend Phife, who was also dealing with the repercussions of an un-checked diabetic condition. He talks about his addiction to sugar despite knowledge of his disease and the friction it caused between him and Q-Tip who took a self-described “gym teacher approach” (which he later regretted) in encouraging Phife to eat well and exercise with him and deejay Ali Shaheed Muhammed.
Physical fitness aside, the growing fracture in Tip and Phife’s friendship appears to be the main factor in the group’s break-up as Ali kind of sits on the fence as an easygoing pacifist with limited screen time in the film. (He’s looking fine these days, though, so good for him). Phife’s references to Q-Tip as the Diana Ross or Michael of the group (he delivers a Tito Jackson punchline which is, probably, the funniest quote of the entire movie) and Tip’s somewhat feigned ignorance of why Phife is so upset doesn’t do much to clarify the real reason of the split. It’s one great emcee’s word against another’s.
The friction in the group affected their creative output, with many calling their Beats, Rhymes and Life album the “beginning of the end.” [Note: I actually really like that album and think it gets an undue bad rap.] By the time The Love Movement was released, everyone knew the group had had it. However, the story of how the group officially disbanded has Q-Tip telling a markedly different tale than Ali and Phife; the former saying it was unanimous decision and the latter two saying Tip wanted to go solo.
For hip hop groups, break-ups -- or indefinite hiatuses -- seem to occur at higher frequencies than in other genres: Gangstarr, Blackstar, The Pharcyde, Fugees. Lauryn Hill of the latter group once spit an unintentionally prophetic and self-referential verse on "Zealots" from their breakthrough -- and final -- album The Score: "Two emcees can't occupy the same space at the same time/It's against the laws of physics/So weep as your sweet dreams break up like Eurythmics." Hype men and deejays aside, all rappers in a group must command a stage and demonstrate skill or risk befalling the second banana curse (Sorry, Pras…). But if all the emcees hold their own -- and do so exceptionally well -- another issue arises: Is it feasible to equally distribute the shine on each emcee? If each emcee is good enough to go solo, why not just go solo?
Which is exactly what Q-Tip did, releasing three albums between 1999 and 2009, reuniting with Ali and Phife in 2004, 2006, and 2008 for the Rock the Bells tour, primarily because Phife needed money to cover his extensive medical bills.
It is in Rapaport's behind-the-stage footage (often hand-held, shaky and unaware of how the zoom function works) that we see Phife and Tip's contentious friendship truly come to a head. In short, these scenes are documentary gold and perhaps the reason Q-Tip protested the film's premiere at Sundance late last year (ATCQ as a group have a producing credit on the film and the other members fully supported its release). As neutral as Rapaport tries to be, the unfolding of events and interview commentary may paint Phife as the people's champ, particularly as we follow the heart-string-tugging side narrative of his ongoing health problems.
The film ends on one those artfully subtle notes that documentarians would kill for. Rapaport's labor of love salute to A Tribe Called Quest and to a golden era of hip hop could be the template for any examination of group dynamics. If there's any moral of this story, it's a quite simple one: Sometimes relationships get ill.
Beat, Rhymes and Life is in theaters now. If you were lucky to show up on premiere night in Berkeley like I was, you got to see Phife roll through:
Kyu Sakamoto was popular in the early 60's even having international success with his Japanese love song, "Ue o muite arukō." When it was brought over to the UK, they changed the name to "Sukiyaki." The new title had nothing to do with the song but sukiyaki is delicious and it was easier for the non-japanese speakers to pronounce. I would have called it, "A China Chong Chong." That's catchier and that's what all that gobbledy gook sounds sounds like to me. That was like three kinds of offensive if you look closely. *bows and hits gong*
Below you can check out his hit song, "Sukiyaki" and a couple more. He definitely sounds like a product of his times. He has some Four Seasons vocal styling going on and you can even see some older swing sensibilities in the backing music and phrasing. He is an interesting study of cultural appropriation and a melding of styles.
My friend passed this along to me a while ago. My fault for just getting around to posting this now. Thank you for the super awesome find though. Apparently Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates, hosts this show called, "Live From Daryl's House." The video below comes from an episode he did that featured Booker T, from Booker T and the MG's (The legendary backing band for the legendary Stax record label), and Stereofat's most posted about artist, Mayer Hawthorne. They get down on Mayer's song, "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out." I could do without Daryl singing. I am pretty sure he forgets the lyrics at one point, but yeah it's his house, so I guess he can do whatever the hell he damn well pleases.
Daryl also did an episode with another one of my favorite artists, Sharon Jones. It's strange to see her without the Dap Kings. You can't really get a better backing band than them but Daryl and his crew do a pretty good job of standing in for them. Below is their video for, "100 Days."
Pretty sweet deal Daryl has going on at his house. Check out his site for full episodes and peruse the archives. You don't want to miss gems like the Bacon Brothers episode or the one with the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls...stellar stuff.
New video, "Fou Lee," from Blue Scholars. About the video from Geo:
"We had house parties during recording sessions for The Long March and Bayani during that time, made a lot of coffee runs, had a lot of meetings, and the meals we shared were usually cooked with ingredients bought at our favorite Vietnamese-owned Philippine grocery store, where the staff greets you in Tagalog spoken with thick Vietnamese accents. This song uses food as an analogy for who we are – a mash-up of ingredients, chopped up and thrown onto a fire made from memory instead of recipe."
Less music in this one but you say El Mac and I'll post it. Part of "I Am Los Angeles". A little about them:
"I Am Los Angeles is an online collection of documentary portraits that feature the first-hand experiences and stories of unique and intriguing personalities in Los Angeles."
Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.
Nice little video. It's a short film by JW Griffiths titled, "Splitscreen: A Love Story." It was was shot entirely on a Nokia N8 cell phone and won the 2011 Nokia Shorts Competition.
Way old by now but still terrifying. I have been in the same room while "Toddlers in Tiaras" has been on and it's some pretty scary shit. Add the slowed down drunken dwarf style and it just pushes it over the edge of sanity. *shudders*
The Cool Kids remixed by Cookin Soul. I am a fan of both of them.
Action Bronson is pretty scary. Love his music though.
Hey!! Wake up and flip the record!! This is a soul mix guurl this isn't slow jams for seniors. Wake yo ass up!!
Damn it's been a bit since I put together a soul mix. This shit used to be my bread and butter too. But lately, I have been all about getting my indie on, all consumed by ill fitting beanies, tight pants, and weekly trips to the Farmer's Markets. Thus leaving my original love to wither and die like a sunchoke on the vine...do sunchokes grow on vines?...no, no they do not. Shit...uhh, save the heirlooms!!...no? That won't get me enough cred?...damn it. *Hands over urban farmer card* Screw your vegan mexican food, I'm going to Taco Bell.
Enough of those hipster elitists, we're back in the soul saddle, so giddy up. Download it here. Or hit the jump for samples, the whole tracklist and non-judgmental consumption of in-organic, toxic orange, nacho cheese chalupas.
There is a man -- let's call him Deejay Graybosch -- who likes to send me links to news items of obese people cemented to lawn chairs or accidental deaths via sex toy with the express purpose of following up with "...and it happened in Ohio!"
California's my birth state and where I've lived for the past 6 years, but I spent my childhood and college years in the Buckeye State. Most people here, upon hearing that fact, assume that I'm adopted or wonder why I'm not wearing overalls. You ever have someone from Bakersfield try to clown on the city you're from? Unbelievable.
But aside from me, there are tons of extraordinary people from Ohio. Oscar winner Halle Berry, "Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride" NBA star LeBron James, indie auteur Jim Jarmusch, Sarah Jessica Parker from that one show, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and a slew of other notables. And when it comes to music, we're not too shabby either.
Below is the best and brightest Ohio has to offer in terms of musicianship. For obvious reasons, I omitted 98 Degrees, Lil' BowWow, and with a heavy heart, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. BTW, it is an Ohio rite of passage to say you saw a member of Bone at your local Kroger grocery store. Ask any Ohioan. Well, any Ohioan of color.
1) The Pixies "Here Comes Your Man" -- Kim Deal, bassist, from Dayton, OH
Bonus: My boyfriend Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing "Here Comes Your Man" from 500 Days of Summer.
2) The Black Keys "She's Long Gone" -- from Akron, OH
3) The National "Blood Buzz Ohio" -- from Cincinnati, OH
4) The Pretenders "Creep" (Radiohead cover) -- Chrissie Hynde, lead singer, from Akron, OH
5) Macy Gray "Wake Up" (Arcade Fire cover) -- from Canton, OH
6) Kid Cudi "All Along" -- from Cleveland, OH
7) RJD2 "Smoke and Mirrors" -- from Columbus, OH
8) Soul Position "Keep it Hot for Daddy" -- RJD2 and Blueprint, from Columbus, OH
9) Adam WarRock "Angry Asian Man" -- Ohio State University alum
10) Hi-Tek "Breakin' Bread" -- from Cincinnati, OH
11) John Legend "Slow Dance" -- from Springfield, OH
12) Bobby Womack "Across 110th Street" -- from Cleveland, OH
13) Ohio Players "Summertime" -- from Dayton, OH
14) Nancy Wilson "Satin Doll" -- from Chillicothe, OH
15) The Isley Brothers (feat. Jimi Hendrix) "Looking for a Love" -- from Cincinnati, OH
16) The O'Jays "How Does It Feel" -- from Canton, OH
17) Kool and the Gang "Summer Madness" -- Robert and Ronald Bell, from Youngstown, OH
18) Bootsy Collins "Funk McLovin'" -- from Cincinnati, OH
19) Deee-Lite "Groove is in the Heart" -- Lady Miss Kier, lead singer, from Youngstown, OH
20) Zapp and Roger "I Wanna Be Your Man" -- from Dayton, OH
