Soul legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bobby Womack pays no mind to the elements when it comes to his touring and performance schedule.
"I'm used to the weather, travelling all my life," he said. "You're good when you can book days and it's in the summertime, or in spring. But sometimes you have to work in 40 below zero. And if the people can show up for that, why can't I?"
Omar Cunningham hit the Southern Soul circuit ground running in 2003 and has not slowed down a bit since that time. I could spend all day talking about my favorite Omar tunes, from Check to Check to The Right Woman and many in between. One from his latest album Growing Pains, however, would rate right up there at the top. Do Right, is a steppin' groove dancer that will work in any club venue....
Releasing his 5th solo project Omar Cunningham is back with “Growing Pains”
I want to personally thank Donnie King for introducing me to “Southern Soul Music” back when I was a DJ.
It was another year of roiling change in Southern Soul music. The roll call for the genre's core artists continued to plummet, the death knell sounding for Marvin Sease in the first half of the year and for Lee "Shot" Williams and J. Blackfoot at year's end. In addition, one of Southern Soul's most promising younger performers, Reggie P., unexpectedly passed.
The music industry, as regards record sales, is still in transition and on the ropes thanks to piracy ("bootlegging") both on the Internet and on the streets but 2011 was actually the first year since 2001 where music sales didn't shrink ten percent or more from the year prior. In fact ,there was an actual increase.
In ’72, United Artists picked up Lee ‘Shot’ Williams’ ‘It Ain’t Me No More’ / ‘I Found A Love’ off PM Records out of Mississippi, re-releasing it as ‘It Ain’t Me’.
From his beginnings as the lead singer of the 1950's group the Del-Rios, to becoming a solo artist and one of the writer/producers who engineered the Stax-Volt sound, to currently running his own record label, William Bell's career has covered the spectrum of the music industry.
I'm Suddenly Nuts About...
Southern soul music. When Bruce Springsteen told me about this genre at a recent dinner party—it's a big ole mix of blues, country, gospel, and rock 'n' roll—I went home and downloaded as many songs as I could.
As Alligator Records nears their milestone of 40 years in the industry
we speak with founder and president Bruce Iglauer about why he started the label and his passion for the music...
"I got into business in '67. I was the lead singer for The Bar-Kays after the plain crashed with Otis Redding. The Bar-Kays were re-grouping and they chose me as their lead singer, so I was with them for about six months to a year. While I was with them Isaac Hayes and David Porter were writing some songs for me.
