Playlist: Killer musicians

Today I’m streaming tracks by four recording artists with something in common. These men are notable not just for making music... but for taking a human life. All four ended up convicted killers.

(Isn’t this a cool concept for a playlist? I semi-ripped it from another blog: Any Major Dude With Half A Heart.)

1. “Fever” – Little Willie John

A 1950s R&B hitmaker who would influence James Brown, Little Willie John was the first to record “Fever,” a tune made much more famous by Peggy Lee. I never knew about this original version, though it was a million-seller.

Now a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Little Willie John died in 1968 as an inmate of Washington State Prison, serving time for manslaughter. Several years earlier, the volatile little man stabbed a guy during a fight.

2. “A Way From It All” – Don Drummond

Trombonist and composer Don Drummond, a founding member of the Skatalites, was one of Jamaica’s greatest musicians. He was also mentally ill. Drummond died in a Kingston mental asylum in 1969, put there after murdering his girlfriend, an exotic dancer.

3. “Shame On You” – Spade Cooley

Fiddler and bandleader Spade Cooley was a country-western star. He had a popular show in L.A. during the early days of television. This recording, “Shame On You,” was No. 1 on Billboard’s country chart for weeks in 1945.

Spade Cooley’s enduring legend, however, has not to do with music. In 1961, he beat and stomped his wife to death after an argument. Did it in front of their teenage daughter. Cooley was sentenced to life in prison, and he died of a heart attack in 1969.

Dennis Quaid has been trying for years to get a movie made about Cooley.

4. “I’m Gonna Murder My Baby” – Pat Hare

Catchy title, huh? Memphis bluesman Pat Hare cut this track for Sun Records in 1954, but it wasn’t released until 1990... long after Hare had actually murdered his baby and died in prison.

A guitar player with a distinctively aggressive sound, Pat Hare gigged and recorded with the likes of Muddy Waters and Bobby “Blue” Bland. Hare moved to Minneapolis in the early ’60s to perform in Mojo Buford’s new band.

Alas, in 1962, a domestic dispute ended with Hare shooting his girlfriend dead. He also shot and killed a policeman who responded to the call. Hare got a life sentence.

Playlist: Irish soul bands

In honor of St. Paddy’s Day, I went searching for some Dublin funk. If you saw “The Commitments,” you know that the Irish dig soul music. Matter fact, the city of Dublin sponsors a soul festival every spring.

Here are some tracks I found from funky Irish bands:

1. “Nutbush City Limits” (live) – Santoria

This group’s influences include Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5 and (of course) Ike & Tina Turner. Santoria’s website is here. Lead singer Linzi Mckeon is hot as balls.

2. “Pass the Brack” – The Candidates

Influences include the Meters, James Brown, P-Funk and Kool & the Gang. The band’s MySpace page is here. I don’t know what “brack” means.

3. “Ghetto Life” – Mob Fandango

Mob Fandango’s website is here. These chaps don’t declare any specific musical influences... but I can tell from this track that Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album is one.

4. “Voodoo (Hoodoo)” – Ali & the DT’s

Here’s one with a bluesier vibe. Influences include Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Otis Redding. The group’s website is here. Ali De Mora and his band are coming to America, with a Baltimore pub gig scheduled for early July.

Playlist: Recently downloaded from eMusic

I’ve been a subscriber at the MP3 retail site eMusic.com since 2001. And for most of that time, eMusic did not offer major-label albums.

So I downloaded mainly jazz. Lots of ’50s and ’60s jazz. Several thousand tracks. If I wanted major-label stuff, I copped from iTunes or Amazon.

Well... in recent months eMusic has struck deals with Sony and Warner Bros. to distribute their back catalogues. Now I’ve been on a renewed binge of MP3 shopping.

Matter fact, I’m getting back into my funk bag. Hereupon, a few of my latest eMusic downloads for your streaming enjoyment:

1. “Loose Booty” (alternate version) – Sly & the Family Stone

2. “Heartbeat” – War

3. “Mind Over Matter (Pts. 1 & 2)” – The Isley Brothers

4. “Celestial Blues” – Andy Bey

5. “To Sir With Love” – Chaka Khan

Playlist: We want Bootsy!

Bootsy Collins is cooking up something in his kitchen, y’all. He has been tweeting about various folks coming to Cincinnati and working on his new album... like Snoop Dogg, Cornel West and Béla Fleck.

Last week Bootsy wrote: “I just talked to Sheila E. about playing her Drums and Percussions on the New Album, STAY TUNED COULD GET FUNKY, REAL SOON.”

In the meantime between time... let’s have our own little Bootsy party right here.

’Twas 40 years ago that William “Bootsy” Collins, at the tender age of 18, was thrust into the limelight as James Brown’s new bass player. Bootsy was hired, along with his young bandmates, when Mr. Brown fired his old musicians in a dispute over money.

Several years later, Bootsy was taken under wing by George Clinton and became a primary architect of P-Funk. Bootsy Collins quickly evolved from songwriter and session musician to one of America’s most flamboyant stage performers.

I’m streaming some choice cuts on my Vox blog, tracing Bootsy’s path to glory. Click the titles to listen. (And if your computer speakers don’t deliver the low end... I recommend earbuds. Seriously.)

1. “Super Bad” (live) – James Brown

Here’s Bootsy backing the Godfather of Soul at a 1971 Paris concert. Bootsy also played on the hit single version of “Super Bad.” Hot hot high-energy bass line.

2. “What So Never the Dance, Pts. 1 & 2” – House Guests

Bootsy and his boys only stayed with James Brown for one year. Generation gap type thing. J.B. was like the stern stepfather, and Bootsy was doing stuff like dropping acid.

After leaving the James Brown camp, Bootsy and his band called themselves House Guests. This is one of two singles the House Guests released in 1971.

3. “Together” – Parliament

Bootsy first hooked up with G. Clinton in 1971, contributing to the Funkadelic double-album “America Eats Its Young.” Bootsy soon departed, but he rejoined P-Funk in time for Parliament’s 1974 debut on Casablanca Records – “Up for the Down Stroke.” And he was home to stay.

This track (written by Bootsy) is from the 1975 “Chocolate City” LP. Bootsy flexes with a Mu-Tron effects pedal. Around this time he started rocking a custom-made star-shaped “space bass”... and Bootsy’s reputation soared as a musician and as a showman.

As he told Bass Player magazine a few years ago: “Once I discovered the Mu-Tron... I could almost talk through my instrument.” (To hear Bootsy’s original version of “Together,” minus the Mu-Tron and minus G. Clinton’s vocal polishing, click here.)

4. “Disco Lady” – Johnnie Taylor

Bet most of you didn’t know Bootsy played on this 1976 smash hit, which was the first single ever to be certified platinum (meaning 2 million units shipped).

On loan to Detroit producer Don Davis (along with fellow P-Funkers Bernie Worrell and Glen Goins), Bootsy didn’t stretch out on this track. Kept it in the pocket for the most part.

Coincidentally, while “Disco Lady” was dominating the singles charts, Bootsy’s Rubber Band released its debut album on Warner Bros. Records. Bootsy was about to become a hit-maker in his own right.

5. “Freak to Freak” – Sweat Band

Bootsy Collins flourished in partnership with George Clinton as a songwriter and producer. In 1980 Bootsy co-wrote and produced this track for Clinton’s new label, Uncle Jam Records. All the old heads remember.

Playlist: White chicks got the blues

Not till I spent a few weeks listening to B.B. King’s satellite radio channel did I realize... there’s a lot of white women singing the blues.

I am most intrigued by Fiona Boyes, who isn’t even American. She’s Australian. And a hellified guitar player. Hellified!

I’m streaming on my Vox blog a Whitman’s Sampler of white-chick blues... including a 2009 track from Maria Muldaur, who has been performing American roots music for nearly 50 years (though she’s most famous for her pop smash hit “Midnight at the Oasis”).

1. “I Want to Go” – Fiona Boyes

2. “Fried Chicken” – Eden Brent

3. “Watermelon Time” – Marcia Ball

4. “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl” – Ingrid Lucia

5. “The Panic Is On” – Maria Muldaur

Playlist: Dock Ellis, folk hero

Did you check out the cartoon I posted on Saturday morning? “Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No”?

I didn’t mention that I know the journalist who conducted that interview with the former Pirate pitcher. He’s on my blogroll, in fact. Cheers, Donnell Alexander, for having a YouTube hit on your hands.

Turns out the tale of Dock Ellis throwing a no-hitter while tripping on acid is already deep in American folklore. Below are five different songs about it!

Click the titles and stream the music on my Vox blog. Hope you enjoy these tracks as much as I do.

1. “Dock Ellis” – Zachariah & the Lobos Riders

2. “Dock Ellis’ No-No” – Chuck Brodsky

3. “America’s Favorite Pastime” – Todd Snider

4. “Dock Ellis” – Marvin’s Garden

5. “Dock Ellis” – SF Seals

Playlist: Black rocker chicks rock!

Will the Twenty-Teens be the decade of Black Rocker Chicks? Surely a lot of talented black women – more than ever before, it seems – are going the indie-rock route. Even if very few of them get famous.

Some of them I’ve blogged about before. Dita Vox of Thee Emergency, Lisa Kekaula of the BellRays, Shingai Shoniwa of England’s Noisettes...

Here go some more, streaming on my Vox blog. God bless ’em for doing their thing.

1. “Remember” – Three5Human

Atlanta’s Three5Human is fronted by vocalist Trina Meade, a.k.a. Black Rock Queen.

She got a break a few years ago when Three5Human toured with the Indigo Girls. You can see Ms. Meade singing “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the new Indigo Girls DVD “Live at the Roxy.” And the Indigo Girls provide guest vocals on the 2007 Three5Human album “A Swig from the Acid Bottle.”

The track I’m streaming is from the album “Sunlight and Toys.”

2. “Pearl” – Tamar-kali

I got turned on to Brooklyn’s Tamar-kali by one of my readers, daughterofthedream. I blogged about Tamar-kali in 2008. This cut, “Pearl,” is brand new.

According to Rob Fields, the must-read music blogger at Bold As Love, Tamar-kali’s new album – “Black Bottom” – is due out next spring.

3. “On My Way” – Res

Res is another artist I stumbled upon at Bold As Love. You can download Res’s new album, “Black.Girls.Rock!,” for free. Just follow this link to her homepage, and peep the lower left-hand corner.

4. “Box” (live) – Shelley Nicole’s blaKbüshe

Shelley Nicole is another one from Brooklyn. Her new release is called “The Quick & Dirty E.P.”

5. “The Hard Way” – The Doll Daze

More FREE MP3s... this time from Atlanta’s The Doll Daze (pictured left). To cop her six-song EP, follow this link.

Hey... how about a battle of the bands between Brooklyn and Atlanta black rocker chicks?

Playlist: Actresses who insist on singing

I was saddened by the news of Brittany Murphy’s death. She was a talented young actor. And also, come to find out, a better-than-average singer.

Scarlett Johansson and Juliette Lewis put out new albums in 2009. And I recently discovered that Milla Jovovich and Minnie Driver also take themselves seriously as rock vocalists.

How do they sound to you?

1. “Faster Kill Pussycat” – Oakenfold feat. Brittany Murphy

2. “Flashlight” – Milla Jovovich

3. “Hungry Heart” – Minnie Driver

4. “Hard Lovin’ Woman” – Juliette Lewis

5. “Relator” – Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

Playlist: Funky Christmastime

1. “Boot-Off (AKA Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)” – Bootsy Collins

2. “Little Drummer Boy” – Oliver Lake Steel Quartet

3. “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” – Mojo Nixon & the Toadliquors

4. “Good King Wenceslas” (Patrick Krouchian remix) – CSSR State Philharmonic

5. “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” – Joseph Spence

Playlist: Funky Thanksgiving

I want to thank all of you who continue to visit this blog. Next month will be my three-year blogiversary. Where does the time go?

I’m also thankful for the fact that I got a job. I’ll be having Thanksgiving dinner down here in New Orleans with executive producer Nina Noble and other members of the “Treme” family.

To celebrate the day, let me share some live tracks I just purchased from the fine folks at DigitalSoundboard.net. These come fresh out the oven... recorded two weeks ago at the Bear Creek Music & Art Festival in North Florida.

New Orleans funk, Parliament funk, James Brown funk... y’all hear me out there? Click the titles below for 37 minutes of streaming jam-bandy goodness. Happy Thanksgiving!

1. “Unfunky UFO” – Ivan Neville’s DumpstaJam (feat. Bernie Worrell)

2. “Southwick/Shake Your Rugalator” – Bonerama (feat. Fred Wesley)

3. “Jam/Doing It to Death” – Papa Mali Band (feat. Fred Wesley)

Playlist: Bow down to Sly & the Family Stone!

Forty years ago, around this time, “Hot Fun in the Summertime” was climbing towards No. 2 on the Top 40. Coming off a triumphant performance at Woodstock, Sly & the Family Stone was now one of the hottest acts in rock ’n’ roll.

Their LP “Stand!,” released in the spring of ’69, would soon be certified gold. And in December, Sly would write a new chapter in Funk by dropping a 45 called “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).”

Alas, 1969 was also the year Sly Stone and band moved to Los Angeles, and Sly took his notorious detour into hard drugs and flaky behavior. Sly would continue to make some great music... and it’s the songs I celebrate with this list of covers.

Click the titles below to stream the music on my Vox blog.

1. “Hot Fun in the Summertime” – The Manhattan Transfer (with Chaka Khan)

2. “Family Affair” – Chuck Brown

3. “If You Want Me to Stay” – Jamie Davis
(Mr. Davis used to sing with the Count Basie Orchestra.)

4. “In Time” – Soldier String Quartet
(Led by experimentalist Dave Soldier, this group included jazz violinist Regina Carter.)

5. “Babies Makin’ Babies” – Thornwood
(Never heard of Thornwood, right? They’re a local band in Rochester, N.Y. The badass singer is Gregory “G-Rob” Robinson.)

6. “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” – Maceo & All the King’s Men

7. “Somebody’s Watching You” – Al Jarreau

8. “Everybody Is a Star” – Fishbone
(Guest vocalists: Gwen Stefani, George Clinton and Rick James.)

Playlist: Jewish soul sisters

Back in the 1970s, Jewish chicks were gettin’ soulful. Real soulful. Click the links below and you’ll hear what I’m talking about...

1. “Shakey Ground” – Phoebe Snow

2. “A Love of Your Own” – Melissa Manchester

3. “It Keeps You Runnin’ ” – Carly Simon
(Backing band: The Doobie Brothers.)

4. “Believe in Humanity” – Carole King

5. “Jimmy Mack” – Laura Nyro
(Backing vocals by Labelle.)

Playlist: Los Lobos side projects

This week the new ballot of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees was announced: Kiss, Red Hot Chili Peppers, ABBA, Genesis, LL Cool J, Donna Summer, Laura Nyro, Darlene Love, the Stooges, the Hollies, the Chantels and Jimmy Cliff.

Five of them will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next year. New Jerseyites are saying: “Where’s Bon Jovi?” I’m saying: “Where’s Los Lobos?”

Are Los Lobos not a Hall-of-Fame band? Shoooot... even their side projects are smokin’. Click these links to stream selected tracks on my Vox blog:

1. “Cuca’s Blues” – Latin Playboys

2. “Howling Moon” – Los Cenzontles & David Hidalgo

3. “Tough to Handle” – Cesar Rosas

4. “Teresa” – Los Super Seven

5. “All Around the World or The Myth of Fingerprints (Early Version)” – Paul Simon
(Read the hilarious behind-the-scenes tale of this “Graceland” track on WFMU’s Beware of the Blog. Thanks, Bay Radical!)

Playlist: Covers en español

The melodies will sound familiar. But you won’t understand the words... unless you speak Spanish. Because I’m streaming Spanish- language covers on my Vox blog! Click ’n’ enjoy.

And if you know any other good ones, let me know. I’ll keep this thang going in the comments section.

1. “La Ultima Milla” (“Folsom Prison Blues”) – Mingo Saldivar

2. “Todo Negro” (“Paint It Black”) – Los Salvajes

3. “Should I Stay or Should I Go” – Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

4. “Todo Lo Que El Hace” (“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”) – Soraya

5. “Yo Viviré” (“I Will Survive”) – Celia Cruz

Playlist: UBM’s Latino Laffeteria

As Hispanic Heritage Month continues, let us enjoy a joke or two from some of America’s top Latino comedians. Click the track titles below to stream the funny on my Vox blog.

1. “Kids and Sports” – Willie Barcena

2. “He Doesn’t Speak Spanish” – Al Madrigal

3. “Mentos & Mexicans” – Pablo Francisco

4. “Latino Television” – Gabriel Iglesias

Playlist: The soundtrack that never was

A few years ago, I pitched an idea to HBO and Showtime for a drama series called “Soul ’66.”

In a nutshell, it was about dueling black record-label owners in a fictional Midwestern city in the 1960s... inspired, in part, by stories I’d heard about Ed Wingate whilst researching George Clinton’s early years as a songwriter in Detroit.

There was a crime element to show. One of the label bosses was backed by the Mafia; the other by a black numbers kingpin.

I couldn’t sell the show. For one thing, setting it in the past would make it extra expensive.

But in thinking the concept through, I’d decided that the way to make the music work would be to find actual obscure ’60s soul songs and re-record them. As opposed to hiring songwriters to create something that sounded authentic.

That was my big problem with “Dreamgirls.” The songs felt phony.

So I went searching for music.

Wanna hear some great ’60s songs that you probably never heard before? Click the titles below.

1. “I’ve Got That Feelin’ ” – Darrell Banks

2. “You’ve Changed Me” – Brenda Holloway

3. “In the Twilight Zone” – The Astors

4. “Can’t Win” – The Invincibles

5. “My Hi-Fi, Albums and Me” – Joyce Kennedy

6. “I’m Not Ashamed” – Bobby McClure

Playlist: George Clinton... Icon.

BMI, which represents songwriters and music publishers, will salute George Clinton next month as a “BMI Icon.”

Recent recipients of this honor include Gamble & Huff, the Bee Gees, and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

“Icon” status reflects one’s “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” George will get a nice trophy.

Me and some friends went to Cleveland in 1997 to witness Parliament-Funkadelic’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s always nice when Dr. Funkenstein’s special gifts are acknowledged by the earthlings.

Talk about “influence”... check out my poppin’ playlist of P-Funk covers! It includes jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove (The RH Factor), gospel’s Blind Boys of Alabama, and classical-trained violinist Lili Haydn.

Oh, also... Happy Belated Birthday to G. Clinton, who two weeks ago turned 69.

1. “Color Me Funky” – Weapon of Choice

2. “The Goose” – Fishbone

3. “I’ll Stay” (feat. D’Angelo) – The RH Factor

4. “You and Your Folks/23rd Psalm” – The Blind Boys of Alabama

5. “Maggot Brain” – Lili Haydn

Playlist: The other black guy named Skip

All that mess with Henry Louis Gates made me think about another black man widely known as “Skip.” Songwriter Skip Scarborough.

He wrote some nice hits back in the ’70s and ’80s, such as “Lovely Day,” L.T.D.’s “Love Ballad,” and Anita Baker’s biggest single – “Giving You the Best That I Got.”

Clarence “Skip” Scarborough died six years ago at the age of 58. His widow, the singer Alton McClain Scarborough, had a few minor R&B hits 30 years ago. Now she records gospel music.

Let’s spin some of my favorite Skip Scarborough tunes, why don’t we? Click these titles to stream the music on my Vox blog:

1. “You Can’t Hide Love” – Creative Source

2. “Love Changes” – Mother’s Finest

3. “Love or Let Me Be Lonely” – The Friends of Distinction

4. “Walking the Line” – The Emotions

5. “Lovely Day” – Diana Ross

6. “Would You Mind” – Earth, Wind & Fire
(This is the demo version of “Love’s Holiday.”)

Playlist: White comedians on race

You want “post-racial”? Not today.

1. “Cracka Ass” – Bill Burr

2. “Michael Vick” – Nick Di Paolo

3. “I Enjoy Being White” – Louis C.K.

4. “ ‘Blank’ Americans” – Ralphie May

Playlist: Life after ‘American Idol’

I haven’t got into “American Idol” this season. (From what I’ve seen, though, Adam Lambert is a monster of an entertainer.)

I did enjoy previous seasons, and I have a lingering affection for some of the old contestants. Which doesn’t mean I’ve wanted to buy any of their music.

Take Kelly Clarkson. She was the cat’s meow in Season 1. But that current hit single of hers? The title should be: “My Life Would Suck Without You, But This Song Would Suck Regardless.”

Anyway... I have forced myself to check out what some of my favorite “AI” contestants are up to lately. Click the song titles below if you are likewise curious.

1. “Band of Gold” – Kimberley Locke

Kimberley Locke’s performance of “Where the Boys Are,” in my opinion, was one of the great moments of Season 2. In her subsequent music career, she has cultivated a loyal gay fanbase. This cover of the Freda Payne classic was a dance-club hit in 2008.

2. “Dust My Broom” – Melinda Doolittle

Melinda Doolittle, the Season 6 bronze medalist, released her first solo album two months ago. This is her update of a Robert Johnson blues standard.

3. “I Live on a Battlefield” – Taylor Hicks

Even after Taylor Hicks won Season 5, I proclaimed that his destiny was to be the world’s hippest wedding singer. Indeed, Taylor hasn’t been raising hell on the sales charts. He is currently in the touring company of the musical “Grease.” This is a cut from Hicks’s latest album, which came out last month.

4. “This Christmas” – Elliott Yamin

Here’s my favorite cut on this list. You know Elliott Yamin loves Donny Hathaway, right? Well, on his 2008 Christmas album, Elliott covered Hathaway’s “This Christmas.” Sang the balls off it, too.

5. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” – Chris Botti feat. Katharine McPhee

I predicted that Kat McPhee – a world-class beauty – would find her greatest success as a movie actress. That remains to be seen. Meanwhile, she’s a guest vocalist on the new live album by jazz trumpeter Chris Botti.