Tuesday, November 1, 2016

THE NEIGHBOR LADY'S FIRST SOUL RECORD

Last night I was just down the block walking home when a van pulled up halfway into a driveway, with the ass end of it blocking the sidewalk. The engine shut off, the side door rolled open and you could hear Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" wafting through the air. So I wasn't pissed that my path was blocked. As I walked around the van, I said to the driver in the darkness "I like your music". A woman answered, "I love Curtis Mayfield. This was my first soul record." No exclamation marks, no attempt to make a big deal out if it. She was practically cooing. So when I got home I was in the mood. I went looking for some of his stuff, hopefully stuff that I wasn't overly familiar with.

The one of these that stopped me dead in my tracks was the demo for "Ghetto Child". Fuzz, lots of it, starting at 1:35, and other cleaner guitar interplay. It sounds like a very lean, bare bones Isaac Hayes jam. I could use a bunch more of demos like that one.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Curtis Mayfield - Ghetto Child (demo) mp3 at So Well Remembered
Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up mp3
at S6S (?)
Curtis Mayfield - Mighty Might Spade and Whitey (live) mp3
at AMPS (?)
With the Impressions:
The Impressions - Choice of Colors mp3
at Beware of the Blog
The Impressions - People Get Ready mp3
at Leave You Wanting Less

2 comments:

BobbyM said...

"Diamond in the Back" is not Curtis Mayfield. It's actually William DeVaughn & the song is "Be Thankful for What You Got".

Really appreciate all the music you continually bring to my attention on your blog. Keep up the great work!

Tom G. said...

Thanks for the correction. I've taken it out to avoid confusion. That'll teach me to trust mp3 search engines without double checking. Hat's off to you for catching it!