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Forums > Music: Non-Prince > Music+Film+TV+Tours| Morgan James Covers D'Angelo full CD|Netflix Doc Nina Simone|Updated Feb 3|2014-15 PT. 5
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Thread started 12/06/14 5:48am

JoeBala

Music+Film+TV+Tours| Morgan James Covers D'Angelo full CD|Netflix Doc Nina Simone|Updated Feb 3|2014-15 PT. 5

Part 1(4/21/14--6/20/14)Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/406964

Part 2(6/20/14--8/3/14) Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=1

Part 3(8/4/2014--10/4/2014) Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/409550

Part 4(10-4/2014 --11/30/2014) Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=1

Part 5. Org members please feel free to add any articles on any upcoming newsworthy music or movie releases. cool


http://radiomilenium.com/fotos/bandera%20musica.jpg


http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/film-strip-elements-music-5486832.jpg

New Upcoming Releases:

Smashing Pumpkins -

Monuments To An Elegy

Springsteen (Newly Remastered)

Madeline Ava-Freaking Out & Pixies Doolittle 25 B-Sides & Demos

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[Edited 2/3/15 15:14pm]

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Reply #1 posted 12/06/14 6:18am

Identity






Keep Shelly in Athens - "Fractals"
members: RΠЯ and Myrtha

SoundCloud


"Fractals" is the smouldering new song from the Greece-based duo that will doubtlessly leave most listeners wondering if they've travelled back to the 1980s.


Blogspot

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Reply #2 posted 12/07/14 5:16am

JoeBala

Exclusive: Johnny Gill Talks New Album ‘Game Changer,’ State of R&B & New New Edition Album!

JohnnyGill-052414-060

R&B veteran Johnny Gill is gearing up for the release of his seventh solo album Game Changer, due in stores December 9. The legendary singer has given R&B fans hit after hit as a member of New Edition, LSG, and as a solo artist. Now, Johnny is back not only with a new solo project, but also with a forthcoming New Edition album as well.

ThisisRnB recently caught up with Gill to discuss his new album, longevity, the state of R&B, New Edition’s new album, and much more.

Check out the full interview below!

Your new album Game Changer is on the way, and we have already been blessed with the hot single “Behind Closed Doors.”
Talk about the recording process of the album. What producers did you work with on the album? What can we expect?

Johnny Gill: It’s a Game Changer. I worked with Babyface again, we hadn’t worked together in years. We haven’t recorded with New Edition since 2004 and we have a New Edition joint on there. It’s for grown and sexy folks. It’s great music; all we tried to do is make great music, and hands down we accomplished that so I’m excited about it.


What was it like recording the new song with your New Edition brothers? Is that what inspired the “All 6 Tour” and the forthcoming New Edition album?

We were already on tour when we went in the studio to record the vocals. Just in doing so in New York, it was funny because we were like man this is old and good times!


I miss the era of groups! What do you think it will take for there to be a resurgence in the R&B group?

Johnny Gill: People supporting. People making sure they send the message clearly as well as what they do with R&B. Showing that there’s a need and an interest. People have to send the message to the industry that they want to hear great music and there is a respect for it and a need for it. And traditional R&B hasn’t gone anyway. I’m praying like everyone else that everyone shows up on December 9 to buy my album, and say they still have an interest in R&B music.


What do you miss most about the ’90s and ’80s R&B?

Johnny Gill: That was my era of having fun. Understanding that nothing last forever. The reality of how we structured music and dealt with music is a completely different way of how music is made today. I never wanted to be forgotten and to be respected of how you get to the next step you don’t skip from A to Z you have to go through A-B-C to get to where the new generation is trying to get to. Our job is to make sure they don’t forget, and that they have a respect for the music that was here before. When they are hearing and making music they are hearing our music from before. They are riding on the shoulders of their forefathers because their mothers and uncles were playing our music. It’s important that everyone gets a chance to be respected. I looked at the AMAs and thought it was a great show but where was the R&B? You can’t be mad; if you don’t like something all you can do is change it. All we can do is make sure our genre will continue to be around. Hopefully my album can continue to inspire the new generation and some will say, ‘I want to go that route.’


You took a 14 year hiatus as a solo artist. Why did you take the hiatus and what inspired you to come back?

Johnny Gill: The state of the business was disappointing, the changing of the guards as we can see. I was fortunate that I could tour without having a record, and that’s why I did it for many many years. I never had intentions to record again until someone seriously approached me about doing something, and I would hear it everyday from my fans. I’m thinking the business has changed what am I going to record and for what. To put time and effort into something I can’t control and my fate lies in their hands. I’m like I’m cool. Little did I know 15 years later I’d be in the position to own my own record label. I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d have that level of control over my own career and my destiny.


You are one of the few artists that has been blessed to tour your entire career. What do you love the most about touring, and what has been you craziest tour experience?

Johnny Gill: Being in front of people because people tell you when it works and when it doesn’t. They tell you if you are going in the right direction and if you are doing the damn thang. It’s always fun to feed off the energy of the audience. Now, after 31 years we’ve had some moments (chuckles) unless I can PG it I don’t know if I can talk about crazy tour moments. We’ve had some great times. I’ve been to the mountain top. We’ve had number ones. We’ve been the top rated act. I’ve been the top vocalist of the year, and doing what we do I want to continue to do this at a high level.


You know you are a hot group when you can have several successful subgroups. What has it been like touring with Bobby and Ralph as Head of State? Can you describe each member of New Edition’s (including your own) personality.

Johhny Gill: (chuckles) The thing that I’ve made a conscious effort since I was a kid starting in the business early on.. I’m never going to be defined by one thing holding all the cards or one thing being able to determine my destiny. I always felt being able to recreate and work on different projects allows you to never be stuck in a box or a corner. That’s why you have seen me do New Edition, LSG, Head of State, the George Howard thing. I’m not going to be defined by one thing.

On New Edition: Ron is the All-American guy. He’s our landmark guy. If you didn’t know our names you would go oh with the tall light skin guy. He has such a big and warm personality. Ricky is the guy that would be the ultimate brother for any brother. He kind of rides and sides with understanding whatever you are doing. He can always make sense of stuff. Mike is the kind of brother you are always going to have your own tussles with. He stands stern and firm on his own beliefs. You will always bump your heads with him, but you will come full circle and realize you need the brother like him to bring the leadership and that’s what he brings. Bobby is the rebel. He’s the brother that you have to say you can’t do that, stop, leave that alone. He’s the mischievous one (chuckles). But he’s always been incredible; he’s always had an incredible heart. Ralph would have to be the ultimate brother, best friend, and working partner. He’s always looking to grow and always ready to take risks and challenges. He’s always creating. You want to lock yourself in the room with him every time you want to create. Ralph is the ride or die. Then myself, I’m the daddy. I’m always trying to make things better. I never forget things. I always want to make it comfortable and fun. I’ve always been the protector watching out for all of my brothers.

What I love about classic R&B from the past is the real vocals, timelessness, gritty soul, unique harmonies, vocal arrangement, live instrumentation, the love …..How do you feel about the current state of R&B? What’s missing? What, in your own words, is wrong with it?

Johnny Gill: R&B comes in different formats. I just find that people shouldn’t abandon the hardcore traditional R&B which a lot of stuff derives from. The state of R&B…. R&B is so disrespected. Right now it’s at the bottom of the totem poll. Everything derives from Rhythm & Blues. All genres. You can’t get away from it. It’s the least respected genre right now, and we are going to change that December 9. No one is giving it a chance anymore. Nothing lasts forever. Times change. It’s nothing wrong with that, but if you don’t know where you come from how do you know where you are going. It’s important that we put it in a place to be respected, upheld, and valued.

A few months ago I attended Keith Sweat’s birthday party here in Atlanta. It was a magical night for R&B as so many artists were present. Joe said something to me that stood out, he said ‘R&B artists need to come together like this more often on a united front for the genre to win as you always see rappers collaborating and supporting each other.’ What do you think needs to happen for R&B to really win again?

Johnny Gill: I think Joe hit it; I think he’s right. That’s probably what kept us from being heard. We have to unite and support and keep raising our voice saying don’t forget where we come from. We have to keep reminding people that R&B is still here, and it still exists. It’s still a lane for it and there are still artists that want to do it but they are being forced to go in a different direction because radio won’t play it. So we have to let radio and the industry know there is still a need for it and a market for it.

You’ve been regarded as one of the best voices in R&B. You posses amazing range and a certain soulfulness. How would you describe your sound?

Johnny Gill: God given. Unique. Anointed. I think that every artist has a gift and to some degree we are all anointed. Sometimes we have something that goes even further; and over time it stands the test of time. I never abused it and I understood what God gave me. When I get on that mic I give it the same effort and power no matter if I’m in front of 2 people or 2,000.


What can we expect from the new New Edition album?

Johnny Gill: Who knows because we are in the creative stage. You don’t know until you know. We know we have to come forth and do what feels right for where we are today. Maybe some will agree; maybe some won’t. Maybe everyone will agree. It’s about what state you are in today. I could sing “My,My,My” over and over again but I’ll never have the magic I had then. I was in a time, place, and space that allowed me to interpret what took place. If we try to record that again it would never happen. It’s about where you are today.


Why should people go out and buy your album on December 9?

Johnny Gill: I know how the heads of these companies are looking to see what the support of the fans will be like. The support will show we do have a lane still for R&B music. It will show that there’s a need for it and there are people that want to hear it. I’m here and I’m going to carry that banner to the very end!

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Pharrell Williams Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Pharrell+Williams+Pharrell+Williams+Honored+FpqErrbZxuel

It was only a matter of time, and that time came on Thursday for the incomparable Pharrell Williams, as the hitmaker and fashion icon was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Pharrell has had an epic year, from winning Grammys to performing at the Oscars, and releasing his acclaimed sophomore album G I R L, which was of course preceded by the massive international hit “Happy.”

Joined by his wife Helen Lasichanh and son Rocket, Skateboard P took the podium to thank his music teachers and grandmother. “I’m ever so grateful for this honor,” he said. “I could never properly explain what this means for me, a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, who had no idea where my love of music would ever take me.”

Pharrell received even more good news this morning when he found out that he was nominated for 2015 Grammys including Best Urban Contemporary Album. He will perform during “A Very Grammy Christmas” on CBS tonight.

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Elle Varner Performs for NPR Music’s ‘Front Row Series’

Elle Varner NPR Front Row

Elle Varner has much more to get off her chest. Thankfully, with the stardom she received from her first album, the soulful songstress experienced new love and new heartache, which as we all know makes for the best artistry.

This past October, NPR Music booked Varner for a special intimate show as part of NYC’s CMJ Music Week, which they filmed for their ‘Front Row Series.’ Held at Le Poisson Rouge, the singer-songwriter performed cuts off her anticipated sophomore album, along with favorites from her debut. Backed by a live band, Elle invited the room into the depths of what it means to battle through lies, loss and love itself.

“This past year, I’ve been through some sh*t,” she said, before launching into a stirring performance of “Little Do You Know,” a song from her upcoming album, 4 Letter Word.

Wielding a delicate rasp, and powerful delivery, she showed off the voice that’s kept her standing through it all. Watch the full set now below!

(Warning explicit language)


Link to concert(Warning explicit language) http://www.npr.org/event/...oplay=true
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Report: R. Kelly to Join Jodeci for the “Real Kings of R&B Tour”

Jodeci

That Jodeci bug has everyone excited, and things are really starting to get interesting now! With the R&B legends making their big comeback to the public eye with their performance at the 2014 Soul Train Awards, and their new single “Nobody Wins” featuring B.o.B coming very soon, the anticipation for a full album, and tour are growing heavy.

During some of their recent comeback interviews, the quartet hinted at plans for a major R&B tour that would shock and awe fans everywhere.

Welp, the cat might be out of the bag now, as it has been reported that R. Kelly would be joining Jodeci for the “Real Kings of R&B Tour”!!!

Although these are not facts just yet, famed TV personality and radio DJ, Big Tigger, took to Twitter earlier this week to get the rumor mills goin.

“I was just told this…. The #RealKings of R&B Tour is real!! JoDeCi & R. Kelly together!!! #jodecimusic #rkelly @rkelly @jodecimusic,” he wrote.

Well wouldn’t that just be crazy! ’90s R&B heaven. Again, don’t go running to Ticketmaster just yet, as these are only insider reports and nothing has been set, but if that is where the talks are going then we can only hope they work this out!

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New Music: Alicia Keys – We Gotta Pray

alicia-keys_784x0

With the recent verdicts of both the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases still sitting very fresh in the lives of Americans, everything is but peaceful right now. However, Alicia Keys has done her best to shed some type of light on this dark moment.

While some are choosing to react in the ways they see fit, the talented songstress has used her voice to support the community in their justifiable outrage. Releasing a powerful piano led ballad titled, “We Gotta Pray,” Alicia takes note of the way things are going in the world right now. Singing out, “Fire in the air / What the hell goin on? / Sirens everywhere / Signing that street song,” A. Keys reminds the world to pray for the love that we need tonight.

Take a listen to her heartfelt tune below:

Charlie Wilson Announces Tour with KEM & Joe + New Album ‘Forever Charlie’

Charlie Wilson Forever Charlie Tour

Charlie Wilson truly does seem to embody that feeling of forever. At least on stage, at 60+ years old, he looks like he could be tearing down arenas for another 30 years.

Today, the iconic R&B legend announced that he will be hitting the road on a new national tour titled, “The Forever Charlie Tour,” kicking off February 12, 2015.

The 27-date trek will hit cities all across the U.S., including Detroit, Chicago, Nashville, Houston and many more before wrapping up on March 27 in Oakland, CA. The tour is named after Wilson’s upcoming album Forever Charlie, which is slated to hit stores on January 27 via RCA Records. The album has been preceded by the smooth new single “Goodnight Kisses,” which was recently the #1 most added song at Urban AC Radio.

In addition to Uncle Charlie, R&B vocalists KEM and Joe will be joining him for what is set to be a very successful tour.

“I am so glad to be on the road once again and to bring my show to so many cities across the country. It’s going to be a special night for all the ladies that will join me and my special guests!” says Charlie Wilson. “I am looking forward to sharing the stage with my two talented friends Kem and Joe. They are both artists that I admire and am honored to have them on my tour. We are planning a show the audience won’t ever forget.”

Follow the jump to see the full tour itinerary now!

“THE FOREVER CHARLIE TOUR” DATES:

Feb. 12 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
Feb. 13 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center
Feb. 14 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall
Feb. 15 Baltimore, MD Royal Farms Arena
Feb. 18 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena
Feb. 20 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Feb. 21 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Feb. 22 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
Feb. 26 Greenville, SC Bon Secours Arena
Feb. 27 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
Feb. 28 Chicago, IL United Center
March 1 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
March 5 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
March 6 Norfolk, VA Constant Center
March 7 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
March 8 Washington, D.C. Verizon Center
March 10 Columbia, SC Colonial Life Arena
March 13 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre
March 14 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
March 15 Houston, TX Toyota Center
March 18 Mobile, AL Civic Center
March 19 Boosier City, LA Century Link Center
March 21 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy
March 22 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
March 25 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre
March 26 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre
March 27 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena

*All dates and venues below subject to change.

Fans who pre-order Forever Charlie, from the singer’s official on-line store, will gain first access to pre-sale tickets for the upcoming tour (http://myplay.me/1cv2). At the time of purchase, buyers will receive a pre-sale code. This particular pre-sale will begin on December 9 at 10 AM local time. The general public on-sale begins December 12 starting at 10 AM local time. Detailed information will be available on www.charliewilsonmusic.com.

Charlie Wilson Forever Charlie Album

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Reply #3 posted 12/07/14 5:31am

JoeBala

Watch First Trailer for Lifetime's Whitney Houston Biopic

Watch First Trailer for Lifetime's Whitney Houston Biopic

By Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter | December 06, 2014 3:58 PM EST

Whitney Houston performs at the Wembley Arena in London in 1988

AP

'Whitney' marks Angela Bassett's directorial debut.

Whitney Houston's impressive career highlights and turbulent personal life are at the center of Lifetime's first Whitney trailer.


The biopic tells the story of the singing sensation's rise to fame, along with her relationship with

"I am putting everything on the line -- my career, everything," Houston tells Brown in a heated scene in the trailer.


Yaya DaCosta stars as Houston, while Arlen Escarpeta plays Brown and Mark Rolston is music exec Clive Davis. The project marks Angela Bassett's directorial debut.

Whitney airs Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. on Lifetime. The promo can be seen below.

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Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, Karen O Sing Dizzying Set List at Vice Anniversary Party

By Ted Simmons, The Hollywood Reporter | December 06, 2014 3:37 PM EST

Karen O
Courtesy of The Fun Star

"It's gonna be crazy but it's gonna be fun. There will be covers, originals, spontaneous orgasms -- enjoy yourselves.”

To celebrate its 20th year, Vice rented out the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Duggal Greenhouse on Friday night (Dec. 5) for the kind of hybrid, manic, alien-like show that only the media brand can. It was concert roulette for three straight hours, and the bearded, beanie-wearing Brooklynites in attendance soaked it right up.

Watch: Lil Wayne Speaks Publicly About Cash Money & Birdman Battle

Just before 11 p.m., the house band -- Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zimmer, Miike Snow's Andrew Wyatt, Gorillaz's Pauli PSM and The Raconteurs' Jack Lawrence -- took the stage with "semi-official emcee and host" Andrew W.K., who performed his hit "Party Hard" and offered the only real speech of the night: "Welcome to Vice's 20th anniversary celebration. Perhaps you've heard, there are several supergroups, surprise performers, just for you. It's gonna be crazy but it's gonna be fun. There will be covers, originals, spontaneous orgasms -- enjoy yourselves!"

And with that, the whirlwind of performances kicked off. Chromeo performed "Needy Girl," a song released on Vice Records 10 years ago. A metal supergroup with members of Megadeth, Testament and Municipal Waste performed Metallica's "Seek and Destory." Action Bronson cursed and puffed up a storm. A punk supergroup led by Cro Mags' John Joseph took the stage. Jonah Hill performed "Marvin's Room," conceivably as and to Drake. ("My heart's been broken," the actor said, "I thought you and I were friends, Drake. Accept my friendship.") The-Dream covered M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes." Ghostface Killah and Raekwon rapped the 1996 classic "Daytona 500."

Andrew W.K. then returned, singing "Happy birthday, dear Viiiiiice," and offered further address. "You realize that everybody here came because they want to be here, they wanted to be a part of this, they put this together just for the occasion," said the long-haired host in a white tee. "I remember 14 years ago when I first met the founders of Vice -- they said they liked partying, and we hit off."

The sometimes forced edginess of the brand is the same aesthetic that has swept through Brooklyn, its very home. Decorated by the many provocative covers of Vice's print publication (and a projection of the words "Vice Turns 20" stacked neatly into a box), the space housed bartenders dispensing drinks by the handful, while women in oversized sweaters and men with "man buns" tossed them back. There was a festival-like feel both on stage and in the crowd, appropriate for the generation of attendees. The 20-somethings present likely grew into their cool as Vice did and now, here they were, cans of Budweiser crammed into their back pockets as they absorbed the carousel of stimuli on stage.

The Black Lips followed Ghostface, and Perfect Pussy's Meredith Graves followed them. "Hey NYPD, the whole world is watching. Black lives matter," she said, before starting The Strokes' "New York City Cops." Stephen Malkmus did "Range Life" by his band Pavement, and "Remedy" by The Black Crowes. Scarlett Johansson shared a stripped-down cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" that got the crowd abuzz.

Members of Pussy Riot noted that they were protesting the night before in Times Square, in response the verdict following Eric Garner's death, and said, "It might not be right to talk about American problems, but I think that murder is murder everywhere and murder should not be met with indifference. Let's grieve and protest for those who are no longer with us."

And then, Karen O -- it was either the potency of her performance, the crowd's entrance into drunkenness, or a combination of both -- but the energy picked up and stayed airborne for the remainder of the night. "I'd like to dedicate this song to Eddy Moretti, to Shane Smith, to Suroosh Alvi, to Vice," the Yeah Yeah Yeahs member said before diving into "Maps."

Throughout the altogether rapid-fire mishmash of a night, there was minimal time between acts and rumors of a Nicki Minaj appearance (that never came to fruition). Jarvis Cocker, frontman for the English band Pulp, took on Sham 69's "If the Kids Are United," with the chorus "If the kids are united, then we'll never be divided" taking on a special significance. And in closing, Lil Wayne performed "John," "Loyal," "Believe Me" and "No Worries," and offered a few words on his frequently delayed new album: "Due to technical difficulties, I'm f---ed up in a bad situation, but I will be out of it soon, and I do it for y'all. So put your fives up for Carter V."

If there is any parallel to be drawn from Vice's first twenty years and its 20th-anniversary show, it is perhaps the frenetic ambition and youth-filled intoxication. No one person knew every performer, but they knew at least some and still took in the sheer immensity of the bill -- like Vice's growing conglomerate -- that could only leave a crowd impressed.

This article originally appeared in THR.com.

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Contest: Win Tickets to See Adrian Marcel & Elle Varner Live at BB Kings in NYC on Dec. 7!

EV&AMTourFlyer

NYC R&B fans, it’s contest time once again! Today, we have a very special ticket giveaway for fans of R&B singers Adrian Marcel and Elle Varner! ThisisRnB has your chance to see the singers live on tour at BB Kings Blues Club in New York City on December 7!!

The two singers are hitting the road for a short, six city tour this month in promotion of their upcoming albums, and will surely impress as they always do on stages everywhere. Elle Varner is prepping for the release of her sophomore album 4 Letter Word, due out next year, while Adrian Marcel is riding the success of his second mixtape ‘Weak After Next,’ and getting his growing fan base ready for his debut album Got Me F’d Up, also due in 2015.

For those of you in the NYC area we have 4 pairs of tickets available to their Dec. 7 show, and they could be yours!!

See the rules and regulations for your chance to win below!

Rules & Regulations:

To enter for your chance to win, all you have to do is email us with the subject line ‘Adrian & Elle’ to contest@thisisrnb.com, and tell us why you would love to see the singers live. Please include your Full Name and Email Address (No transportation will be provided).

In addition, you can increase your chances of winning by tweeting or sending a message on Facebook to @ThisIsRnB saying: “I want to see @AdrianMarcel510 & @ElleVarner Live in NYC at BB Kings @thisisrnb”. Send us the link or screen shot of your tweet/message in your email as well.

Ages 18+ only. The winners will be picked by random drawing of the submitted entries. The contest will run from today through Friday, Dec. 5 at 11:59 PM.

Winners will claim their tickets at the venue Will Call window.

Tickets are still available for purchase as well. You can buy tickets HERE.

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[Edited 12/7/14 5:39am]

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Reply #4 posted 12/07/14 6:22am

Identity



Wu-Tang Clan Looks to Past, Future on New Album, More Works
Dec 2014


Read article here.

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Reply #5 posted 12/07/14 6:41am

JoeBala

Epic and Legacy Announce 'Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' Box Set

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, and Epic Records will release Stevie Ray Vaughan and Do...Collection October 28.

A definitive, career-encompassing 12-disc library, The Complete Epic Recordings Collection brings together, for the first time, the entirety of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's official studio and live album canon, including the inaugural commercial release of A Legend In The Making, a collectible (formerly) promotional-only recording of SRV & DT's performance at Toronto's El Mocambo club in 1983.

The Complete Epic Recordings Collection also features two discs compiling rare and hard-to-find archival tracks.

Below you'll find the complete contents of the box set.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: The Complete Epic Recordings Collection

Disc 1: In The Beginning (KLBJ-FM radio broadcast produced by Wayne Bell

Recorded April 1, 1980; Austin, Texas
In The Open
Slide Thing
They Call Me Guitar Hurricane
All Your Love I Miss Loving
Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place In Town)
Love Struck Baby
Tell Me
Shake For Me
Live Another Day

Originally released as Epic 53168, 1992 / Peak chart position: #58

Disc 2: Live At Montreux 1982 (July 17, 1982; Montreux International Jazz Festival)

Hide Away
Rude Mood
Pride And Joy
Texas Flood
Love Struck Baby
Dirty Pool
Give Me Back My Wig
Collins Shuffle

Originally released as Epic/Legacy 86151, 2001 / Peak chart position: #178

Disc 3: Live At Montreux 1985 (July 15, 1985; Montreux International Jazz Festival)

Scuttle Buttin'
Say What!
Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love
Pride And Joy
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place In Town)
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
Texas Flood
Life Without You
Gone Home
Couldn't Stand The Weather

Originally released as Epic/Legacy 86151, 2001 / Peak chart position: #178

Disc 4: Texas Flood

Love Struck Baby
Pride And Joy
Texas Flood
Tell Me
Testify
Rude Mood
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Dirty Pool
I'm Cryin'
Lenny

Produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Richard Mullen and Double Trouble / Executive Producer: John Hammond / Originally released as Epic 38734, 1983 / Peak chart position: #38

Disc 5: A Legend In The Making—Live At The El Mocambo (recorded Toronto, Canada, July 20, 1983, originally released for radio broadcast only)

Testify
So Excited
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Pride And Joy
Tell Me
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Texas Flood
Love Struck Baby
You'll Be Mine
Hug You, Squeeze You
Little Wing/Third Stone From The Sun
Lenny
Wham!
Rude Mood

Disc 6: Couldn't Stand The Weather (1984)

Scuttle Buttin'
Couldn't Stand The Weather
The Things (That) I Used To Do
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Cold Shot
Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place In Town)
Honey Bee
Stang's Swang

Produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, Richard Mullen, and Jim Capfer / Executive Producer: John Hammond / Originally released as Epic 39304, 1984 / Peak chart position: #31

Disc 7: Live At Carnegie Hall (Recorded October 4, 1984; New York City)

Intro--Ken Dashow/John Hammond
Scuttle Buttin'
Testify
Love Struck Baby
Honey Bee
Cold Shot
Letter To My Girlfriend
Dirty Pool
Pride And Joy
The Things That I Used To Do
C.O.D.
Iced Over
Lenny
Rude Mood

Produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan / Originally released as Epic 68163, 1997 / Peak chart position: #40

Disc 8: Soul To Soul (1985)

Say What!
Lookin' Out The Window
Look At Little Sister
Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love
Gone Home
Change It
You'll Be Mine
Empty Arms
Come On (Part III)
Life Without You

Produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble and Richard Mullen / Executive Producer: John Hammond / Originally released as Epic 40036, 1985 / Peak chart position: #34

Disc 9: Live Alive (Recorded July 16, 1985, Montreux International Jazz Festival; July 17-18, 1986, Austin, Texas; July 19, 1986, Dallas, Texas)

Say What!
Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love
Pride And Joy
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Superstition
I'm Leaving You (Commit A Crime)
Cold Shot
Willie The Wimp
Look At Little Sister
Texas Flood
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Love Struck Baby
Change It
Life Without You

Produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble / Originally released as Epic 40511, 1986 / Peak chart position: #52

Disc 10: In Step (1989)

The House Is Rockin'
Crossfire
Tightrope
Let Me Love You Baby
Leave My Girl Alone
Travis Walk
Wall Of Denial
Scratch-N-Sniff
Love Me Darlin'
Riviera Paradise

Produced by Jim Gaines & Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble / Recorded in Memphis, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California /
Originally released as Epic 45024, 1989 / Peak chart position: #33

Disc 11: Archives/Disc One

Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place In Town)
Empty Arms
Come On (Part III)
Look At Little Sister
The Sky Is Crying
Hide Away
Give Me Back My Wig
Boot Hill
Wham!
Close To You
Little Wing
Stang's Swang

Disc 12: Archives/Disc Two

May I Have A Talk With You
Boilermaker
The Sky Is Crying
Shake And Bake
So Excited
Slip Slidin' Slim
Chitlins Con Carne
Little Wing/Third Stone From The Sun
Boot Hill
Life By The Drop

Archives/Disc One, Track 1 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Richard Mullen and Double Trouble; Executive Producer: John Hammond
Archives/Disc One, Tracks 2-12 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon, Richard Mullen, and Jim Capfer; Executive Producer: John Hammond
Archives/Disc Two, Tracks 1-8 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble and Richard Mullen; Executive Producer: John Hammond
Archives/Disc Two, Track 9 produced by Jim Gaines & Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Archives/Disc Two, Track 10 produced by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jim Gaines

Screen Shot 2014-08-28 at 4.39.30 PM.png

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #6 posted 12/07/14 7:45am

Identity



Be among the first to experience a new generation of Halo multiplayer in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta, starting on December 29, 2014.

Gear up for the Guardians beta by unlocking exclusive content in The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Nightfall.




Watch Vidoc

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Reply #7 posted 12/07/14 7:47am

Identity

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Reply #8 posted 12/07/14 8:40am

FormerlyKnownA
s

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New Culture Club Album Tribes
Pre-order “Tribes” the new album from Culture Club, with a bonus audio disc of live recording and extended liner notes. Including an art card insert signed by all 4 band members & limited number available
Pre-order “Tribes” the new album from Culture Club, available upon release as a 24bit Flac & Mp3 download.
Pre-order “Tribes” the new album from Culture Club on CD, sent out in line with the release date.
Pre-order “Tribes” the new album from Culture Club on double gatefold vinyl LP.
The first 100 copies ordered will include an art card signed by the band
Some of the tracks that will appear on the new album 'Tribes' will be.
Like I used to
Different Man
Runaway Train
More Than Silence
Oil and Water
Human Zoo
Let Somebody Love you
Moody Monday
23 songs were recorded in the last session, a few more, including Universal Love. 'Tribes' will have probably 12-14 songs. The rest will be for deluxe edition etc.
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Reply #9 posted 12/07/14 9:24am

JoeBala

^ Can't wait to hear the new stuff. cool

$5 MP3 Albums:

http://www.amazon.com/b/r...B00OCKS28Q

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Reply #10 posted 12/07/14 9:56am

Identity




BitTorrent's First Original Web Series

December 2014


Article


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Reply #11 posted 12/08/14 10:59am

Identity




"Lips" is the latest single by Marian Hill (Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol). Become enraptured.


"Lips" - audio

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Reply #12 posted 12/09/14 6:27am

Identity






U2 - ''Raised by Wolves''


New video

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Reply #13 posted 12/10/14 7:39am

Identity





Jack White Releases Virtual Reality App

December 2014

Get the details here.

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Reply #14 posted 12/13/14 12:17pm

JoeBala

Titan of Latin American comedy, Mexico's beloved 'Chespirito' dead at 85

MEXICO CITY Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:43pm EST

Mexican actor and writer Roberto Gomez Bolanos, better known as Chespirito, speaks during a news conference in Bogota June 23, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/John Vizcaino

(Reuters) - Mexican actor and screenwriter Roberto Gomez Bolanos, one of Latin America's most beloved comedians, whose slapstick acts charmed fans from Spain to Argentina for over four decades, died on Friday at the age 85.

Broadcaster Televisa, for whom Gomez Bolanos worked for much of his career, said he died at home in the seaside resort of Cancun. Known as "Chespirito," a word play on 'Little Shakespeare' for his diminutive stature and his prolific scripts, Gomez Bolanos created some of the region's most enduring comic characters.

His show "El Chavo del Ocho," about a naive kid from a poor neighborhood who hid inside a barrel, is widely viewed as the catalyst that helped transform Televisa into a major international company.

Gomez Bolanos was also known for his character "El Chapulin Colorado" (The Red Grasshopper), a clumsy hero in a red overall and yellow trunks which inspired Bumblebee Man, the Spanish-speaking character from the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

The comedian stopped recording material in the 1980s, but his shows are still aired regularly today.

On Twitter, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto lamented the death of an "icon whose work transcended generations and borders."

As a young man, Gomez Bolanos dreamed of being an engineer, and fell into comic acting by accident. He was writing show scripts for Televisa, and had to stand in when the actor playing one of the characters he had written did not show, he once told Reuters.

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Coining catchphrases that made their way into the lexicon of many countries across Latin America, Chespirito's shows were exported to 90 countries and translated into dozens of languages, from Japanese to Portuguese.

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Critics panned Chespirito, saying his sketches were repetitive, promoted the misuse of language and encouraged bullying - the obese child in one of his shows was constantly taunted and harassed for his girth. Chespirito, an avid soccer enthusiast, also made several movies and acted in a number of plays. His live shows filled stadiums. Despite his age, Chespirito kept in contact with his fans. In May 2011 he joined Twitter, becoming an instant hit. He had 6.61 million followers by the time of his death.

Chespirito Death: 4 Roberto Gómez Bolaños Quotes Plus 6 Unforgettable Sayings By His Characters

Chespirito's legacy will live through his characters. Mezcalent

Mexican writer and actor Roberto Gómez Bolaños, who is more popularly known around the world as Chespirito, had passed away at the age of 85. The actor had been having health problems since April, and his family has been aware for some time of his ailing health. Chespirito died on Friday November 28th from a heart attack, as was reported by Lolita Ayala live during her news show. He was living in Cancún.

The actor is famous for his characters on "El Chavo del 8," "El Chapulín Colorado,” and other shows. Born in Mexico City in 1929, Gomez Bolaños was writing scripts and screenplays in his early twenties, despite studying for being an engineer. The all-rounded artist also composed songs and scripts for radio shows. It was in the 1960's, when the two most popular Mexican television shows on air were written by Gomez Bolaños, that he earned the nickname Chespirito from director Agustín P. Delgado. The nickname, which he would later be recognized by around the world, translates to "Shakespearito" or "Little Shakespeare."

Towards the end of last year, it was reported that a commemorative book about the comedian--titled "Chespirito: Vida y Magia Del Comediante Más Popular De América" ("Chespirto: Life and Magic Of America's Most Popular Comedian")--would be published. "The Hispanic market has never had such a beloved celebrity like Roberto Gomez Bolanos and perhaps there will never be one like him," said Maca Rotter, executive director of Televisa Consumer Products. "He has been a Mexican icon for past and future generations, considering that his heritage is more alive than ever."

CHESPIRITOchapulinArch10 Chespirito Mezcalent

Here are six quotes from Roberto Gómez Bolaños:

1. “Sir, I'm sorry you do not like my programs. Me neither. But of what value your opinion and mine against millions of viewers around the world."

2. "I could say because they were inspired by CHakespeare, but in reality is because they are very CHingones (badass motherfuckers)" --When asked: "Why do all your characters begin with CH?"

Chespirito Mezcalent

3. "I'll be with Florinda till death do us part or until Shakira ignores me," said Roberto Gómez Bolaños. "Florinda made me a fiathful man."

4. "That spirit is in [Florinda]. Evidenced with his nephews, with my children and now my grandchildren. It is a debt I can not pay."

CHESPIRITOchompirasArch18 Chespirito Mezcalent

Here are six quotes from his character:

1. "¡Síganme los buenos!" - Chapulín Colorado Literally translating to, "Good people, follow my lead," this line used to be used by El Chapulín Colorado.

2. "Fue sin querer queriendo." - Chavo del Ocho Some say this phrase gets lost in translation, but we will translate it regardless: "I did it without wanting to do it."

3. "Se me chispoteó" - Chavo del Ocho Accompanied with a shoulder shrug, this line translates to "I messed up" and is one of El Chavo del Ocho's most well known lines.

CHESPIRITOchapatinArch11 Chespirito Mezcalent

4. "No contaban con mi astucia." - Chapulín Colorado "You weren't counting on my shrewdness."

5. "Bueno pero no te enojes.." - Chavo del Ocho (and cast) "Fine, but don't get mad."

6. "Eso…eso…eso" (while moving the index finger up and down) - Chavo del Ocho "Yes, yes, yes."

Mary Ann Mobley dies at 77; Miss America starred on TV, in films

Mary Ann Mobley, Gary Collins
Mary Ann Mobley, a former Miss America who was in two Elvis Presley movies and on TV, has died. She was 77

When William Faulkner's niece burst into his library with the news that one of her sorority sisters at the University of Mississippi had been crowned Miss America, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist paused for a moment before returning to his typewriter.

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Mary Ann Mobley, the 1959 Miss America who described herself as "a short girl with a face as round as a Moon Pie," went on to become an actress, TV personality, and philanthropist. She died at her Beverly Hills home Tuesday of complications from breast cancer, her family said in a statement.

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Mobley, who was married to actor and TV host Gary Collins for 45 years until his death in 2012, was 77.

An Ole Miss majorette who was described by the Associated Press as "a brown-haired Southern belle," Mobley projected a down-home, wholesome image even in roles that were supposed to be sexy.

On a movie set, her fellow Mississippian Elvis Presley once upbraided a man who swore in her presence.

"Ma'am," he told her, "someday I'm gonna have a party that I can invite you to."

In Presley's "Harum Scarum" (1965), she was the vampy Princess Shalimar, costumed with "about 17 million yards of orange chiffon and I don't know how many pounds of fake hair," she told the Memphis Commercial Appeal in 2007. She also appeared with Presley in "Girl Happy" (1965), the story of a Fort Lauderdale spring break where, according to the trailer, "thousands of the faithful neck up a storm!"

http://img.spokeo.com/public/900-600/mary_ann_mobley_2012_10_08.jpg

On TV, she played a wide variety of roles, including stints as a regular on the series "Diff'rent Strokes" and as recurring characters on "Falcon Crest" and "Hearts Afire."

She and Collins were also well known as representatives for World Vision, a Christian relief organization that filmed them interacting with impoverished children in refugee camps throughout the Third World. They also helped establish a group home for children and a hospital pediatric unit in Mississippi.

Born in Biloxi, Miss. on Feb. 17, 1937, Mobley grew up in the small town of Brandon. The daughter of a prominent lawyer, she was raised in privilege. Her family's friends included the woman she knew as "Miss Eudora" — the noted writer of Southern fiction, Eudora Welty.

Mobley became Miss Mississippi in 1958. Two weeks after taking the state title, she was in Atlantic City, N.J., with an off-the-rack evening gown and a single sheet of music transcribed for her by the organist at her hometown church.

"I didn't know I was supposed to have an orchestration!" she recalled in an essay for the 2013 collection, "Coming Home to Mississippi."

For her showpiece display of talent, Mobley started singing the Puccini aria "Un Bel Di" but suddenly changed course, doing a mock striptease to reveal the shorts she wore beneath her gown while launching into the jazzy "There'll Be Some Changes Made."

The act "still defies explanation to this day," she wrote. "I was so naïve."

Among the contestants Mobley bested were runner-up Anita Bryant, the Miss Oklahoma who became well known as a spokeswoman for Florida orange juice and a vocal opponent of gay rights.

Mobley's survivors include daughters Clancy Collins White and Melissa Collins; a son, Guy Williams Collins; a sister, Sandra Young; and two grandsons.

She maintained homes in Beverly Hills and Mississippi, where her funeral will take place.

Mobley was her state's first Miss America. The second — Lynda Lee Mead, one of Mobley's Chi Omega sorority sisters — was crowned the next year, about the same time the university became a football powerhouse and drew national attention.

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"Mary Ann helped this place develop a bit of a mystique," Sparky Reardon, the University of Mississippi's recently retired dean of students, told The Times. "People were wondering: Where did these football players come from? Where did these beauties come from?"

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R.I.P. Winfred "Blue" Lovett and Sonny Bivins of the Manhattans

We are very sorry to inform SoulTrackers of the death of Winfred "Blue" Lovett, founding member and bass singer extraordinaire of the legendary vocal group The Manhattans. He was 74. For a half century, Lovett's songwriting and singing were integral parts of one of the most popular R&B groups in the world. His composition "Kiss and Say Goodbye," introduced by his deep spoken word prologue, is still one of the most beloved soul songs ever. And while many fans knew of Lovett's terrific vocal work, fewer knew of his impeccable songwriting instincts, often combining elements of love, loss and even infidelity into songs that moved the Manhattans to the A-List of vocal groups. Lovett's death comes just a few days after the death of group co-founder Sonny Bivins, who maintained a version of the group in both good times and bad.

The Manhattans were formed in the early 60s in New Jersey as a quintet led by writer/bass vocalist Winfred "Blue" Lovett and emotive lead singer George Smith, along with Edward "Sonny" Bivins, Richard "Ricky" Taylor and Kenneth "Wally" Kelly, all of whom had just returned from service in the armed forces. The group was popular regionally and had minor national success on the strength of some solid recordings for Carnival Records (their version of the country tune "From Atlanta to Goodbye" was a gem) in the late 60s before gaining the attention of Columbia Records in 1970. Unfortunately, their Columbia signing coincided with the sudden illness of talented lead singer Smith. During a tour through North Carolina, the Manhattans came upon a college student with an amazing Sam Cooke-like voice. Recognizing the incredible talent of this 21 year old, the group invited Gerald Alston to join, and he became the lead singer who would bring stardom to the quintet, with the blessing of Smith, who sadly died just a few months later.

With Alston's smooth lead vocals, solid songwriting talent within the group and the always wonderful work of Philly producer/arrranger Bobby Martin, the Manhattans began to score on the R&B charts, putting out a string of fairly traditional ballads that became Soul hits. Then in 1976, the quintet released Lovett's composition "Kiss and Say Goodbye," a song originally written for country star Glen Campbell, but which instead become the group's signature tune. "Kiss" rocketed to the top of the R&B and Pop charts, and moved the group to the upper tier of R&B acts. And the companion self-titled LP became the first of several top notch albums that the group released in the 70s and 80s. With such great singles as "It Feels So Good to be Loved So Bad," "I Kinda Miss You," "We Never Danced To A Love Song" and "Am I Losing You," the Manhattans' late 70s albums It Feels So Good, There's No Me Without You and Love Talk, were among the decade's best. Love Talk was perhaps the Manhattans' greatest disc - though not their most popular - a near-perfect adult Soul album that sounds as great today as it did more than 30 years ago.

After "Kiss and Say Goodbye," the Manhattans spent the remainder of the decade scoring almost exclusively on the R&B charts. Then in 1980, they again surprised the Pop world, crossing over for a Pop top 10 hit with their loping 1980 ballad, "Shining Star." The group continued to record through the 80s, hitting on the Soul charts with such hits as "Crazy" and "Honey Honey." Their last album for Columbia records was the wonderful but overlooked 1986 disc, Back To Basics, produced in part by Bobby Womack and featuring a young Regina Belle singing background vocals. Unfortunately, the Manhattans' smooth, adult soul style seemed out of place in the frenetic, electric funk sounds dominating late 80s music, and they were dropped by Columbia records in 1987.

Gerald Alston left the group for a moderately successful solo career in 1988, and was replaced by former Cameo vocalist Roger Harris. The group's 1989 Sweet Talk album on small Valley Vue Records stiffed, and Lovett left the following year for medical reasons and Kelly retiring. With the group's two most visible members gone, founding member Sonny Bivins reconstituted the group with some new members and continued touring, ultimately landing a record deal with Hektoen Records for 1994's Manhattans Now LP. A number of personnel changes occurred after that, but the Bivins-led Manhattans continued to perform internationally in multi-act soul music shows for more than two decades.

In 1993 a healthier Blue Lovett wooed Alston back and added David Tyson (brother of the Temptations' Ron Tyson) and Troy May to form a more familiar version of the Manhattans (often billed as "The Manhattans Featuring Gerald Alston and Blue Lovett"), in time for the group's 30th anniversary. That group has toured extensively in multi-group Soul music shows over the past two decades and recorded a very good "Live in South Africa" album in 2000. The group found some of its most loyal fans in South Africa, where much of their public appearances were broadcast on national television.

The Alston-Lovett version of the group, along with and producer Ted Perlman (former musical director for Stephanie Mills), gave soul music fans a wonderful surprise in 2002 with the studio album Even Now. Perlman brought a great batch of new material and some top-drawer backing musicians to the disc, including Billy Preston, Gerald Albright and Chicago's horn section. Even Now was well worth the long wait for Manhattans fans, and was highlighted by the beautiful "Nites Like This," a smooth jazz cut that was one of the year's best singles, and the stirring ballad "Turn Out the Stars," which became the group's biggest hit in nearly two decades.

In 2008 they returned with the beautiful Al Johnson ballad "Men Cry Too," which was originally recorded in the Even Now sessions, as part of a reissued, expanded version of Even Now titled Men Cry Too. It was a memorable addition to an already strong album and made the reissue a must-find for the group's sizeable fanbase. In February, 2014, the Manhattans were featured on the TV One biography show, Unsung, providing a fitting tribute to the group's lasting success.

The loss of Blue and Sonny is a huge one, but they leave an incredible legacy of soul music excellence.

By Chris Rizik

See our Manhattans artist page

Click below to hear The Best of the Manhattans at Amazon

- See more at: http://www.soultracks.com...HZIX5.dpuf
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Reply #15 posted 12/13/14 12:20pm

JoeBala

THE MANHATTANS Story – part 1

Part 2: 1964-1970
Part 3: 1971-1979
Part 4 (1980-1989)
Part 5 (1988-2012)

In the words of Bar Mix Master “the blend of the charred oak, spiciness, of Bourbon; the sweet, herbal, and slight caramel flavour of Sweet Vermouth; and the indescribable flavour of bitters combine to make a cocktail like none other.” This cocktail “is said to have been invented in New York’s Manhattan Club in 1874 at the request of Winston Churchill’s mother, Lady Randolph Churchill to celebrate a newly elected governor” (http://barmixmaster.com). The cocktail still these days is known as the Manhattan.

This is a multi-part story of one of the greatest and best-loved groups in the history of soul music, the Manhattans, told by its present end ex-members and many other music business figures, who have been dealing with the group throughout the years. As to the origin of the name of the group, there have been different recollections. One member is in favour of the skyline they could see right across the water from the Jersey City - “Manhattan was close to New Jersey. It was easy to remember, and we just felt we wanted to represent class” – but another member, Mr. Winfred “Blue” Lovett, remembers slightly differently: “We collectively came up with the Manhattans, but we referred ourselves to the alcoholic drink. Everybody thought the name was from the borough of the New York anyway, so we just grabbed on to that.”


(The pic courtesy of Mrs. Jeanie Scott)

The five singers, who became the first members of the Manhattans in the early 60s, went to two Jersey City high schools in the 50s - George Smith and Richard Taylor to Snyder High and Winfred Lovett, Kenneth Kelly and Edward Bivins to Lincoln High.


(Sonny Bivins pic taken from www.themanhattans.net)

EDWARD “SONNY” BIVINS

Edward Jesse Bivins, Jr. (tenor) is the senior member of the group in terms of his age, as he was born on January 15 in 1936. Still today he’s best known as “Sonny” - “when I was young, I was always smiling” – but his other nickname used to be “Dip.” Sonny: “I played baseball. Then I started singing, and I couldn’t sing and play baseball at the same time.” He played minor league baseball in the Jersey City All-Stars.

Sonny was born in Macon, Georgia, to Willie and Edward Bivins. “My father tap-danced, and I got into music through my father.” Sonny had two brothers, Donald and James, but no sisters. In Macon he started singing in a school choir and glee club. “We moved no New Jersey in 1950, and I went to Lincoln High in 1951. In school I was two years ahead of Kenny Kelly and Blue Lovett, and we all used to sing around school and on the street corners.”

Sonny’s early idol was Sam Cooke, and of the later acts he puts the Temptations first, but thinks highly of the Dells, the Spinners, the O’Jays and B.B. King, too. His all-time favourite record is To Each His Own by Nat King Cole. He has five children – Mark, Pam, Doug, Yvette and Kenny – but they’re not active in music. “They have their own things they wanted to do in life.”


(On the right: Early Smitty; The pic courtesy of Mrs. Jeanie Scott)

Sonny reminisces how he met their future lead singer, George Smith, for the first time during a teen dance night at the YMCA in 1953 in Jersey City. “I heard somebody playing the piano in the adjacent room from the dance hall. Slowly I opened the door and peeked my head inside and saw a young, teenage guy about my age playing the piano and singing I Cried in my Mother’s Arms. I walked over to him and started to harmonize with him. We looked at each other, smiled and we introduced ourselves. His name was George “Smitty” Smith. As time went on, our relationship grew closer and we eventually left high school and went into the military vowing to complete our high school education once we got out of the service.”

In 1954 Sonny joined the NG. “After the National Guard, I was in the Air Force in Germany till 1957.”


(Smitty at the Apollo; The pic courtesy of Mrs. Jeanie Scott)

GEORGE “SMITTY” SMITH

The second oldest in the first line-up of the Manhattans is George Hoza Smith (tenor), who was born in Florida on December 18 in 1939. Jeanie Scott: “His mother couldn’t remember his actual birth date. It was either supposed to be December the 18th, or December the 28th.” Mrs. Jeanie Scott, formerly McCarthy, who today is the wife of the legendary Jimmy Scott and handles his business (www.jimmyscottofficialwebsite.org ), lived with Smitty until his untimely passing in December 1970. “We got together in 1969, so I was with him maybe a year and a half.”


(On the right: Jimmy Scott, The pic courtesy of Mrs. Jeanie Scott)

“When Smitty was a toddler, perhaps four years old, his mother and his father separated. The only thing he could remember about his father is him walking with some dogs (laughing). His mother moved to Jersey City with Smitty and his oldest sister Marion. Marion has lived her whole adult life in California. Eventually his mother married another man, whose last name was Smith, and he became Smitty’s stepfather, and that’s how he got his name. Smitty’s mother had ten children. After Marion and Smitty – who they all called ‘Brother’ – she had eight other children, so Smitty had three half brothers and five half sisters. Tommy was Smitty’s youngest brother and he had a group called 8 Mile High. The other brothers, Bobby and Joe, had a group of their own, too, Out of Limits.”

“Smitty had three children. When Smitty was fifteen years old, his girlfriend got pregnant with George, Jr., aka ‘Dewberry’, so they got married. George, Jr. looked exactly like him. After he came back from the service, she had another baby while he was away, Michelle, which Smitty took as his own. Later he had his daughter Paula with a girlfriend.”

Through his mother, Smitty first sang gospel music in church and then joined his newly-found singing pals, while in Snyder High. “Smitty and Sonny were close at the time, Blue and Kenny were close”. After Snyder High, Smitty joined the Air Force and was stationed in California for two years.


(Smitty & Jeanie; The pic courtesy of Mrs. Jeanie Scott)

Jeanie: “My first memory of the Manhattans would be hearing their records on the radio - I’m the one that Love Forgot, Searchin’ for my Baby... I had been going to all their shows and I kind of had a crush on Smitty, but I was afraid to talk to him. I had seen him around, and I was peeking around corners at him. Eugene Pitt of the Jive Five would tease me and say ‘go on and knock on their dressing room door and talk to Smitty’, but I wouldn’t go over there. It wasn’t until a couple of years later. They were about to do a show at the Cheetah in New York on 52nd street. I sent Smitty a message and he called me up and he came over to my house the next day. We got together, and we were together ever since, and he moved me in his mother’s house until he passed. As a matter of fact, I stayed with her for a couple of years after that and I remained close to the family throughout the years, especially with Smitty's Mother, brother Bobby - who was like a brother - and Smitty's children George, Jr., & Paula.”

WINFRED “BLUE “LOVETT

Winfred Lorenzo Lovett (bass) was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on November 16 in 1940 to Lovonia and William Lovett. “My father was a singer in church, and he made it mandatory that I sing in church on every Sunday also.” Winfred has two sisters, Billie and Gwendolyn, and today he resides in Phoenix, Arizona.

Most know this bass singer extraordinaire best under the simple moniker of “Blue.” “It’s my so-called nick-name. If you hung out on streets - and you’re not necessarily bad or are in gangs and nothing like that - you had a nick-name, and because of my complexion and a long hair and a beard “Blue Jesus” was my name. I naturally dropped the ’Jesus’ and kept the ‘Blue’.” During his high-school years he was also called “Bacon” for a short while.

Blue has seven children: William, Robyn, Tania, Kia, Damon, Marisa and Rico. “None of them do anything professionally in music, except Rico, who was born in 1986 and who does rapping. All my kids live on the west coast.”

Some of Blue’s favourite recordings of all times include Neither One of Us by Gladys Knight & the Pips and Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye. “Also Luther Vandross has come up with some magnificent songs that I like. I think my all-time bass singer would be Melvin Franklin of the Temptations. The Temptations started us off. We patterned us after the Temptations and Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.”

In Lincoln High, Blue played football and baseball. “Then I couldn’t play sports because of my asthma. Baseball was out and football was definitely out, so my third choice was music, and I never thought that I would get an opportunity. If you were from the New York area, it was very hard back then to get a record deal. You had to be discovered.”

“I did locally high school groups, but nothing ever happened. We just sang to entertain our families, fans, girlfriends... In Lincoln high school Sonny, Kelly and I took part in a singing contest in a variety show and we won. I forgot the name of our group in high school.” All five Manhattans boys got to know each other already in the 50s. “All five of us met during the high school days. Sonny Bivins, Kenneth Kelly and myself went to Lincoln, and Richard Taylor and George Smith went to Snyder, which were competing high schools in Jersey City.”

In the late 50s Blue was drafted. “I was in the Air Force. I was in France, but they closed that base and I was transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany. I was discharged in 1960...’61. There in Germany I had a group of my own called the Statesmen. It was me and four other guys, but not Sonny and Richard. They were stationed in the Air Force in Germany, too, but they were stationed elsewhere.”

KENNETH “WALLY” KELLY

Kenneth Bernard Kelly (tenor) was born on January 9 in 1941 in Jersey City to Eloise and Lloyd Kelly. Kenny: “My parents are both deceased. My mother belonged to a chorus, when she was younger. She sang in a church choir.” Besides one brother, Adonis, Kenny has three step-brothers and a sister. His two children are called Kai and Monee.

Kenny’s last name is spelt both Kelley, and Kelly. “My father spelt his last name Kelly. There happened a vocabulary error somewhere along the line, and my last name got changed to Kelley. As I grew older, according to certain situations I ran in and out of, they assumed it was supposed to be spelt Kelley. I didn’t go through the corrections, so there exist two spellings of my last name. Most of my IDs have Kelly, so I mostly use Kelly.”

Kenny’s nickname is Wally. “We had a guitar player named Charles Reed and he gave it to me, because I was always telling people different little things and answering to their questions.” Kenny is the only college graduate among the members of the group, and he graduated from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1963.

“Being in a group situation, we idolized a lot of groups – the Spaniels, and later the Temptations and Smokey & the Miracles. Later I had one idol and that was Ray Charles.” Kenny’s favourite record is Letter Full of Tears by Gladys Knight & the Pips, and besides singing he plays piano, trumpet and baritone sax.

“I played in a high school band in Jersey City. I started messing around with my neighbour next door, which was Sonny. He played guitar. We just started singing together, and he introduced me to some guys, who sang. It was just something we did, because we liked doing it. Group singing was popular at that point of time. We all would cross each other at some point. We formed different groups, and from that we eventually came in contact with each other.”

“Sonny belonged to this one group, and he brought me in to hear what the group sounded like. I don’t remember the name of the group, but one member kept missing the rehearsals and I – having been there so frequently and knowing his parts – said ‘okay, I’ll do it’.”

“I grew up with some of the members of the Manhattans. We met in the 50s. I don’t know what groups Richard came out of and I don’t remember what groups Blue was with. Blue was with several groups. A lot of the groups didn’t stay together. They’d form and break up. One group that I, Sonny, Smitty and somebody else were part of was called the Socialeers. We sang in local clubs and talent shows. That group started breaking up, because people had other commitments.” Right after Lincoln High, Kenny joined the Navy, which was followed by his three-year college period in Baltimore. He would meet the other fellows again in 1963.

THE DULCETS

One early incarnation of the Manhattans was as lucky as to even cut a record in 1961. Smitty, Blue, Sonny, Ethel Samuels and Buddy Bell had formed another group and they called themselves the Dulcets. This quintet under a misspelt name of the Dorsets released a single on a New York label called Asnes. The plug side, a slowly and heavily swaying post-doowop, novelty type of a song, was titled Pork Chops (Asnes 101), and in style and interpretation it owes a lot to the Olympics or the Coasters of those days. Blue: “yes, that’s the flavour we had on that.”

Smitty is leading on the song that was written by him, Frennie Brooks and John Brown (mistakenly printed as Bowden on the label). Blue: “I think the owner of Asnes was Frennie Brooks, and those guys, Brooks and Brown, worked at the airport and recorded us. Nobody heard the record – or perhaps twenty-five people – but nobody bought it. It didn’t do anything.” Sonny: “I was laughing, when we did it... but it was okay.” Backed by an uptempo ditty called Cool It, Pork Chops was re-released four years later in the U.K. on the Sue label (391).

Some of the other artists on the short-lived Asnes label were Ernie Johnson (You Need Love) and a “Jamaican doowop” outfit named the Jiving Juniors (Moonlight Lover). Soon after Pork Chops the Dulcets disbanded, so there was no follow-up record. Sonny: “Everybody decided to go their own ways. Ethel and Buddy are still around. I see Buddy every now and then. They are here in New Jersey.”

THE OTHER MANHATTANS

Blue: “We had a battle for the name, until I Wanna Be was released. There was another Manhattans, and the union insisted that whoever came out with the first hit they would be able to maintain the name, and I Wanna Be (Your Everything) came out in ’64 and that was the way we won the name over.”

Music history knows many groups, who have used the name ‘Manhattans’. There are Eli & the Manhattans, Ronnie & the Manhattans and several plain Manhattanses. In the 50s and 60s singles by these groups have appeared on such labels as Dootone, King, Big Mack, Boss, Colpix, Ransom, Web, Piney, Enjoy, Golden World, Atlantic and Avanti, but not any of them is by our group. Blue: “From ’61 through ’64 we tried desperately to get a recording deal, but it was impossible.”

There was at least one occasion, when they actually entered the studio and were ready for Danny Robinson (Bobby Robinson’s brother) to record them, but nothing came out of it. Blue: “He never recorded us. He pretended to record us, but he never did anything with us.”

Kenny: “I became a Manhattan as a result of the group I was introduced to. The members of that group started also not making the rehearsals. Sonny was part of that group and Smitty was already there. We wanted this group to come together. We already knew who we wanted to have as ideal members. So Sonny brought me in, introduced me to the group and then one of the other members stopped making rehearsals. He was a truck driver. Then they brought Richie in. We had to just get a bass voice, and everybody wanted to see if we could get Blue again. He agreed and that’s how we got together.”


(The pic courtesy of Mrs. Jeanie Scott)

JOE EVANS

Mr. Joe Evans is a seasoned musician, to say the least. Throughout decades he has played with a number of jazz, blues and rhythm & blues luminaries, but for the Manhattans he was first and foremost the owner of Carnival Records and the gentleman, who gave them their first record release in 1964.

Joe Evans, Jr, was born in Pensacola, Florida, on October 7 in 1916, so this year he’ll turn ninety-four. He started playing the saxophone in the 1930s in the Ray Shep Band, moved to New York in 1938 and has since played with Jay McShann, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton, to name a few. All this is documented in a fascinating book titled Follow Your Heart (ISBN-13978-0-252-03303-2; University of Illinois Press, http://www.press.uillinois.edu; 180 pages 22 with photos; 2008), written by Mr. Evans himself and Christopher Brooks. It’s an interesting read and contains many remarkable stories starting from Joe’s early days as a musician. He sheds light on touring the south in the 30s, working with such artists as “Ma” Rainey, Billie Holiday, Al Hibbler, Ivory Joe Hunter, Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke, running record companies in the 60s and 70s and life after an active and many-sided career in music.

Mr. Evans, who today lives in Richmond, Virginia, was kind enough to talk about the Manhattans, Carnival Records and some other points of his career for this article, too. In the 50s he belonged to the Apollo Theater house band in New York. “It was very nice. It wasn’t tough. We played five shows a day, and one night a week you played a midnight show. On Wednesday night they had an Amateur Hour. A lot of the stars were discouraged in that show at the Apollo. The audience was very responsive. On Wednesday night, if you weren’t good, they would boo you. They had a guy called Porto Rico, who would come out in different costumes chasing you off the stage, if they didn’t like you. But the audience was very good to you, if they liked you.”

CEE-JAY, TANGERINE, MOTOWN...

In the late 50s Joe met with Clarence Johnson, and became a partner with him in running a record label. “Cee Jay – that was initials for Clarence Johnson. We called him ‘Jack Rags’. He’s the man that taught me the record business. He played trombone and had played in several bands. He talked me into going into the record business. He knew it, because he was already in it.”

The roster at Cee Jay in 1960 and 1961 included Mike & the Utopians, Sherman Williams, Jay Dee Bryant & the Magic Knights, Little Roy Little, the Four Kings, Jimmy Spruill & his Band, the Vines, Delroy Green & the Cool Gents and Harry Lewis & his Orchestra... but there wasn’t a hit-making unit. “Most of those artists just gave up. Then some of them continued to try to be a success, but they never made it. A lot of them joined other groups, and some of those groups became famous.”

“On that label we mostly did r&b stuff. One big record we had on Cee Jay was a blues record, and it was called I’m a Little Mixed Up by Betty James (583). Leonard Chess of the Chess Records leased it, took it over and made it a big record.”

Clarence Johnson passed away in late 1961, the label ceased to exist and Joe proceeded to work for Ray Charles. “It was very nice. I was working as a promotion director. Ray had a label that was distributed by ABC-Paramount called Tangerine. I did a lot of work coast-to-coast. He was a very nice man, very nice to work with.” Since its start in 1962 Tangerine signed many established artists – Percy Mayfield, Lula Reed, Louis Jordan etc. – but hit-wise it wasn’t a very successful company. “I believe that Ray had an idea what was good, but it was not the same idea what was happening in the business at the time. This is just my belief. He could make hits, but other artists that weren’t as strong couldn’t make hits like that. The material wasn’t as strong as his and they weren’t as dynamic as he was. Then he had a band on the road for the people to hear him in person and he could influence people that way. And he was very good at what he did. Other artists couldn’t get away with that.”

After Ray, Joe worked for a growing Detroit company called Motown after being approached by another saxophone player and a band leader named Choker Campbell. “I was working and travelling with their show, the Motown Review. I was playing mostly background for the artists, but I did a lot of recording with them, too. I recorded with Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, their girl groups, several artists...”

CARNIVAL RECORDS

With Cee-Jay Records Joe had become so attached to the record business that in conjunction with his work at Tangerine he launched and started running a label of his own called Carnival, a name he picked up from a billboard ad. Joe formed the label in 1962 together with Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams, a saxophonist, bandleader and recording artist in his own right that Joe had met in Detroit already in the 40s. They also formed Bright Star Publishing Company (with BMI), and Paul’s home address – 605 West, 156th Street, New York – became the company and label address.

The first release, Your Yah-Yah Is Gone (501), was by a girl group called the Tren-Teens, who were scheduled to cut the record already for Cee-Jay. The song owes some to Lee Dorsey’s Ya Ya, released a year earlier on Fury. The Tren-Teens’ debut single was followed by Delores Johnson’s big-voiced r&b belter titled What Kind Of Man Are You, (502). You can listen to some mp3’s at www.westwoodmusicgroup.com -> Carnival Records.

Joe’s and Paul’s Carnival Records shouldn’t be mixed up with Jerry Moss’ and Herb Albert’s label by the same name in 1961, which turned into A&M a year later. Also Atlantic’s Herb Abramson’s Carnival is a different label.

The third artist for the label was Barbara Brown, who cut in ‘63 a pleading r&b ballad named Send Him to Me (b/w a cute toe-tapper, Sometimes I Wonder), but Barbara’s boyfriend wouldn’t allow her to continue show business career and perform in front of other men, so after one more single a year later she dropped out. She, however, was an important link in Joe and the Manhattans hooking up with each other.

THE MANHATTANS TO MOTOWN

Barbara told Joe Evans about the group, but there are two slightly different stories as to how the two actually met for the first time. Sonny: “Richard, Smitty, Kenny, Blue and I felt that we had put in enough time and hard work to compete at Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night, which was held every Wednesday night. So from Jersey City we went to the Apollo and placed 3rd that night. But as fate would have it, Joe Evans was in the house that night. And despite coming third, we really won that night, because he signed us to his Carnival Record label.”

Blue: “A gentleman called Joe Evans was the one who saw us and liked us. He played alto sax in Choker Campbell’s orchestra that travelled with the Motown acts. Joe Evans’ vision was to start a “Motown” in the New York area, and Barbara Brown was one of his first artists. Barbara told him about us and he caught us at the Apollo.”

Joe: “One of the artists on Carnival, Barbara Brown, was responsible for me meeting them. She gave them my phone number, they called me and then we set up an appointment at the Theresa Hotel. I had Paul Williams with me. If I saw them earlier, I didn’t remember them, but I never met them in person until they came into the Theresa.”

“The songs that they sang that day were songs that were made popular by other groups during that time. They sang two or three songs like that. They sang the songs better than the groups that had recorded them (laughing). I said to Paul Williams ‘that is a million-dollar group’, and he said ‘oh, you’re crazy’, but later he said ‘you’re right, you knew what you were talking about’.”

“I asked them ‘do you want a record contract’, and they said ‘yes’, but then they said that ‘everybody promises to record us but they never get around to it’. Then they told me that they had been approached by Bobby Robinson’s brother, Danny Robinson. He was in the record business also (Everlast, Enjoy). They tell them to come to the record session, but when they get there they’re recording someone else and tell them ‘we’ll get around to you’, and when they would finish late at night everybody would pack up and go home. They said that happened to them two or three times. I said ‘well, it won’t happen with me, because if I promise to record you and sign you, I will record you’.”

“The next day they signed the contract and brought it back to me. I asked them had they gone over the contract with their parents or friends, they said ‘no, we don’t need to do that. We’re over twenty-one and speak for ourselves’. So we started from there.”

Joe was still working for Motown, so he took the first two songs he cut on the Manhattans to Detroit first. “I put them on tape and I took the recording to Berry Gordy. He liked it, but he wouldn’t go ahead of Mickey Stevenson. He put him over that, and I would have to talk to him. When I spoke with Mickey Stevenson, he wanted to take it over and only put perhaps my name on a record or something like that. I’ve been in the business too long for that and I wouldn’t go for that, so I didn’t talk to him anymore about them.” Joe soon left Motown altogether.

MUSICIANS, STUDIOS, MIXING...

Joe put the Manhattans on his own Carnival label. For his recording sessions he favoured one particular studio and he used a permanent line-up of rhythm section players. “For most of the recordings I used Talent Masters in New York, because I worked very well with the engineer there. His name was Bob Gallo, and he was also a guitarist.”

“For the rhythm section I had a regular bunch. There was Bernard Purdie, who was the drummer, and Jimmy Tyrell was the bass player. Robert Banks was the pianist. “Snaggs” Allen was the guitarist and Eric Gale was the other guitarist. They recorded all the Manhattans backgrounds.”

“I did the mix. I would record the track first. When I record the track, I would let the vocals sing along with it, just to give the musicians the feel of the song. They didn’t have to be good. They were not for the record.” As Mr. Evans tells in the book Follow Your Heart, on four-track tapes that he used those days “track one was for the lead singer, two was for the background singers, three was for the rhythm section and the fourth track was for whatever additional instruments were necessary.”

“When I put the strings down – I think there were five or six of them – in the mix I would double them up. If I wanted a light sound, I would double them once, and if I wanted something heavier, I would record those five or six in one register and then I make another take of them in another music I wrote. The horns I didn’t double up much. I used the trumpets and I used the trombone most of the time, but I would blend the trombone into the bass sound, and that blend had a different sound to it. When I used the girls in the background, I used the Lovettes, especially with the Manhattans.”

Kenny: “We used Talent Masters Studios in Manhattan. Only studios we used in Jersey City was the rehearsal studios. How many takes we needed? It all depends on the song. Some of the songs we did once, and that was it. We were always told ‘time was money’. It was no use in going there and not be prepared to go. So we tried to prepare ourselves as much as we possibly could, before we went in.”

“FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME”

Those two songs that Joe first took to Berry Gordy were finally put out on the first Carnival single (504) by the Manhattans in March 1964. Sonny: “Our first single, For the Very First Time, was a hit locally in the tri-city area.” George Smith, their lead singer, also wrote the song, which is a rather typical dancer of those days and actually sounds like it could have been cut a couple of years earlier. The flip, a mid-tempo and mellow mover titled I’ve Got Everything but You, was written by Joe and his newlywed wife, Anna Moore. Anna took care of the company’s bookkeeping and her sister, Louise, became an assistant in the firm.

Perhaps a local hit, but nationally For the Very First Time didn’t make any waves. According to Joe, their follow-up, There Goes a Fool/Call Somebody Please (506), did a little better. Released in August 1964, There Goes a Fool was written by Sonny. “I had written plenty of songs, but that was the first one recorded.” It’s an uptempo pop song, which undoubtedly was musically influenced by the British invasion those days. Smitty is again leading, and you can even hear a short flute solo by the producer himself, Mr. Joe Evans. Call Somebody Please is a mid-tempo pop ditty, which Blue wrote and he also leads on this side.

Those days Paul Williams decided to leave the company to pursue other interests such as managing artists, so Joe now had the company all to himself. He formed a new publishing company called Sanavan – the name comes from Anna and Evans – and the new Carnival address became 350 Chadwick Avenue in Newark, Joe’s home address.

OTHER MERRYMAKERS

Although the Manhattans eventually became Carnival’s leading act and breadwinner for the company, many other interesting artists had releases on the label, too. Curly Mayes cut a poppy umptempo ditty called Oh Why (b/w I’m Walkin’ On, Carnival 505) in 1964. Joe: “He was out west somewhere. I’m still looking for him now, because I have a chance to put one of the songs on his records on a television movie.”

Smitty invited his friend, Curby Goggins, to the company. Curby also cut only one single (Come Home to Daddy/Love Me If You Want to; 510) in 1965. Harry Caldwell sang in his high tenor voice a teenage anguish ballad named Nobody Loves Me on Carnival 516 in 1966. It was backed with another yearning song, this time a mid-pacer titled Nobody Loves Me, co-written by Blue Lovett. Joe: “I haven’t seen Harry for years. He’s down in North Carolina somewhere. He was from Charlotte, North Carolina. He was also a brick mason, and he travelled around.” Harry’s second single, a sympathetic “hippie” ballad called A New World Is Just Beginning (547), was released as late as in 1970.

The Lovettes had two single releases and both Little Miss Soul (518 in 1966), and I Need a Guy (530 in 1967) were written by Blue. Blue: “They lived in Jersey City. We all grew up together wanting to be recording artists, and Joe Evans loved them. We used them sometimes as female background singers, and we were looking for that Motown thing that Berry Gordy did. The idea that Joe had was to record these young ladies and hopefully get a hit on them.” Indeed, Little Miss Soul is like a standard Motown scorcher, whereas the flip, Lonely Girl, is a downbeat tender song. I Need a Guy is again a motownish mid-pacer, while I’m Afraid (to Say I Love you) on the flip is a poignant beat-ballad.

Norma Jenkins recorded Blue’s poignant ballad, Need Someone to Love (528; b/w a stomper called Me, Myself and I) in 1967. Blue had invited Norma to Carnival. Blue: “She was very good.” Male duos were popular throughout the 60s, and one single by Carnival’s own Turner Brothers proved that as singers they were equal to many of their colleagues. I’m the Man For You Baby (535) is an almost deep soul ballad, while My Love Is Yours Tonight is a more mid-tempo mover. Joe: “I haven’t seen them recently. These people are hard to keep up with. They came from someplace down south. They were quite active. They got around.”

Kenneth Ruffin stayed at Carnival for one single as well. I’ll Keep Holding On (536) is a pleading soul ballad with a strong support from the horn section, whereas Cry, Cry, Cry is a blues romp. Joe: “Kenny was basically a writer, but I recorded him, because some things he sang quite well. I’ve been searching for him, too. He wrote several songs that other artists did.”

It’s Too Late and I’m Just Gonna Be Missing You (539 in 1968) by Rene Bailey let you know from the opening bars that here we have one big-voiced blues lady. Joe: “She lives in upstate New York. I call to Rene all the time. She’s partly retired. She sings on most of the weekends, and she’s teaching the school.”

In the next part of the story I’ll still feature two other popular Carnival acts – Phil Terrell and Lee Williams and the Cymbals - more in detail and with comments from the artists themselves. In their roster Carnival also had such familiar names to the fans of genuine soul music as Little Royal, who cut a fine soul ballad titled I Can Tell, and Jimmy Jules, who excelled on an Otis type of a slowie named Nothing Will Ever Change. Both singles were released in ’67.

LET’S DANCE FIRST...

So far on all four released Manhattans sides on Carnival Records the songs had been dancers, and we had to wait till the fourth single to hear a ballad. Joe: “Uptempo things were easier to get played. If you had a name, they’d play anything, but the best way to get new artists played was play an uptempo record. When you take it to a deejay, they put it on and they don’t listen to the whole song. They listen to the introduction and a little bit and tell you ‘I’ll play it’. If you have a slow song, they don’t listen enough, no matter what it is. So you had to have a little bit of rhythm to the song for them to give you a break with.”

The Manhattans’ third Carnival single was also a mover, but it became their first hit and marked the beginning of a remarkable success story. That song as well as the rest of the Carnival period and DeLuxe period will be covered in the second part of the story.

Heikki Suosalo

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Reply #16 posted 12/13/14 12:35pm

JoeBala

Upcoming Releases CD/Blu-ray:


Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint

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Reply #17 posted 12/13/14 12:37pm

JoeBala

Identity said:




"Lips" is the latest single by Marian Hill (Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol). Become enraptured.


"Lips" - audio

Nice ID! Hope she blows up. She's got skills.

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Reply #18 posted 12/13/14 1:59pm

JoeBala

Talking With Sananda Maitreya & Tom Rhodes - Part 1 of 6:

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Reply #19 posted 12/13/14 6:07pm

JoeBala

Engineer and Producer John Hampton Dies

John HamptonJHamptone.com

John Hampton, the acclaimed engineer and producer who worked with Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughn, the White Stripes and the Replacements, died last night after a battle with cancer. He was 61 years old.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Hampton worked at the famous Ardent Studios for nearly four decades, and was inspired to do so by one of rock’s biggest bands. “I was a big Led Zeppelin fan and when Zeppelin’s third record came out, on the back it said ‘Mixed at Ardent Studios – Memphis, Tennessee,’” he explained in a 2007 interview with the paper. “I kind of made up my mind at that point: I want to work at that place.”

He was hired by the studio in 1977, and worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming a part-owner. His highly impressive resume — seriously, check this out — including Grammy-winning work with two Jack White-led bands, the White Stripes and the Raconteurs. “Jack, without even knowing it … made me remember the way we used to work it when I first started,” Hampton explained. “Working with analog tape and eight tracks, doesn’t leave you a lot of options, so you got to commit on the spot.”

Hampton also mixed three George Thorogood albums, engineered Alex Chilton’s ‘Like Flies on Sherbert,’ the Vaughan Brothers’ 1990 album ‘Family Style,’ and the Replacements’ 1987 classic ‘Pleased to Meet Me.’

His biggest commercial success came when he produced the Gin Blossoms’ 1992 multi-platinum debut album ‘New Miserable Experience.’ The band’s lead singer, Robin Wilson, praised Hampton’s “ability to deal with the personalities involved in a band and the pressures of the studio and get the best out of you.”



Read More: Engineer and Producer John Hampton Dies | http://ultimateclassicroc...ck=tsmclip
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Reply #20 posted 12/15/14 4:33pm

JoeBala

Miles Davis and Bill Evans

http://jazztimes.com/images/content/articles/0002/7438/200109_050.jpg

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Reply #21 posted 12/15/14 4:46pm

JoeBala

Hear D'Angelo's Brassy, Funky New Track 'Sugah Daddy'

Soulful song is the first off R&B singer's long-awaited LP 'Black Messiah'

D'Angelo

By Daniel Kreps | December 14, 2014

One day after D'Angelo revealed he and his band the Vanguard would release his new album Black Messiah – his first LP in 14 years – in the near future, the idea of the neo-soul singer putting out music again still seemed difficult to fathom. However, with a Black Messiah listening party scheduled for Sunday night, D'Angelo has provided proof that his new studio album is on the horizon: A new single called "Sugah Daddy," which the singer provided to Red Bull's 20Before15 series.

"He is about to take a radical 180 turn with this record," Questlove told Rolling Stone of D'Angelo's new album in June 2012. "It's going to throw people off the same way that Prince's Dirty Mind threw his R&B fanbase off. In the past few years, he's discovered Bowie and Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Pet Sounds, Captain Beefheart and Zappa."

Despite the influx of new influences, D'Angelo fans will be happy to know that he still makes music that is uniquely D'Angelo's: The brassy, funky "Sugah Daddy," which fully employs the singer's trademark falsetto, would slide comfortably on the back half of his neo-soul classic Voodoo.

https://soundcloud.com/da...dy/s-rtnrM

"I respect [the term neo-soul] for what it is, but anytime you put a name on something, you just put it in a box," D'Angelo said in May. "You want to be in a position where you can grow as an artist. You never want to be told, 'Hey, well, you're a neo-soul artist.' Right now, I'm not. We're going someplace else." "Sugah Daddy" is more of an update on his neo-soul sound than a redefinition.

"Sugah Daddy" is only D'Angelo's second studio song since he released Voodoo in 2000; another non-album cut called "I Found My Smile Again" accompanied his The Best So Far… in 2008. Live performances of "Sugah Daddy" date back to 2012, when D'Angelo's long-awaited record was still tentatively titled James River and "99 percent" finished. Black Messiah's creation was so long in the works, Red Bull evens cracked Detox and Chinese Democracy jokes in their press release announcing the arrival of "Sugah Daddy."

Since the beginning of December, Red Bull's 20 Before 15 series have been offering up exclusive tracks from artists and Red Bull Music Academy collaborators like Lil Herb with Earl Sweatshirt, Dengue Dengue Dengue and Elliphant with Mø. Each day, the first 1,000 people who visit the site get to download the day's track for free. After that, the track is then offered up only as a stream.

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Reply #22 posted 12/18/14 2:48pm

JoeBala

Johnny Gill Talks New Edition Reunion

Singer speaks on getting back to the essence of R&B, his solo album, Game Changer, and a possible upcoming project from the group.

Posted: 12/16/2014 01:20 PM EST


R&B has gone through quite a journey since the beginning of the century. Once known for subtle romantic undertones and seductive wordplay, recent years have seen the genre cross paths with EDM, pop and oh yes, even the hip hop sub-genre known as “Ratchet.”

As both a solo artist and a member of the groundbreaking group New Edition, Johnny Gill knows a little something about changing trends in music, but on his latest solo album, Game Changer, the singer is taking a stand for rhythm and blues in its purest form.

“Sometimes in music when you’re considered old school, you don’t get celebrated you get penalized,” Johnny told BET.com in an exclusive conversation. I feel compelled to stand tall with that banner and continue to carry on that lane of R&B that still exists and that people still have a love for. There’s no Luther Vandross anymore. There’s no Teddy Pendegrass anymore or Gerald Levert. Some say, ‘Oh, I don’t think this will work because it won’t work for radio,’ but history is on our side,” he added.

Over the course of his career, which has spanned roughly three decades, Johnny kept his sound consistent, but on his new album, Game Changer, which came out last week, the former New Edition singer put a little more focus on the upper octaves than on his previous projects.

“I approached the album, especially the first single, 'Behind Closed Doors,' from a different angle and started with a falsetto before going into my main style,” Johnny noted. “I was just sitting there talking to a couple of the other songwriters and I said, ‘You know, I want to approach the song from a different angle,’ and that’s how I came up with the falsetto thing. I wanted it to be something that’s quite seductive but yet still really nice and powerful and I’m really, really happy it worked out."

The song was written by Johnny’s longtime friend and former executive producer Babyface. The venerable crooner champions the LaFace Records founding father with helping take his career to the next level.

“I got to work with Babyface, which is always great when the two of us get together. I’ve had some huge records in my career, but the guy that gave me my signature record was Babyface. 'Rub Me the Right Way' was my biggest record but 'My My My' was my signature record. Another thing a lot of people didn’t realize I did was put Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were two of the most prolific and hottest producers on the planet, together for one project. I always said no matter where I go musically, even for the next 30 years, I will always feel compelled to have them be a part of whatever I’m doing because they helped get me to where I am today."

One of the other standout tracks on Game Changer is “This One’s for Me and You,” which features New Edition, and, according to Johnny, the reunion brought him right back to the days of packed arenas and screaming fans.

“It was like we never missed a beat! We were actually on the road at the time we recorded the song so we all went in the studio and recorded. It was cool and it was fun because we already were in a groove,” Johnny recalled.

He also said New Edition fans can expect much more from the group in the new year. “We were just sitting in there talking and laughing and at the end of the day that bug came over us and we started talking like, ‘Wow, we gotta get a new CD together, and make some new music as New Edition,’ so that’s how it really ignited and that’s something we’re in the middle of getting situated as well. Fans can expect a new New Edition album coming,” he teased.

In years past, Johnny (like most of the music business) was bound by deadlines and all the outside pressure that comes with being on a major label, but this time around he is on his own label, J Skillz Records, and he’s making sure that every step is taken organically.

“It’s nice. I’m not looking at the clock anymore going, ‘This studio time is costing me,’ cause I own the studio. I can record at my own pace, which makes it better and more enjoyable for me,” said Johnny. “I’m fortunate to be able to be my own boss. I can control where my music is going, how it’s getting out there and how it’s being cared for. It’s something I’ve never had the opportunity to do and I am enjoying every second of it."

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #23 posted 12/18/14 6:54pm

Identity

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/8Tdy6gR.jpg[/img:$uid]


Alessandra Ambrósio would love to love you in her new video.

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Reply #24 posted 12/20/14 9:31am

JoeBala

Upcoming Releases on CD's/MP3's:

-----------------------------------------Donny Osmond - The Soundtrack Of My Life

Miguel - Wild --------------------------Dexys Midnight Runners Live At Duke

Alana Henderson - Windfall--Trisha Yearwood - PrizeFighter Hit After Hit

Ane Brun-Songs Tour 2013---Emily Wolfe - Roulette

-----------------------------------------Marilyn Manson-The Pale Emperor

On Blu-ray -Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson-Thick As A Brick Live In Iceland

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Reply #25 posted 12/20/14 9:37am

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On newsstands now.

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Reply #26 posted 12/21/14 10:38am

JoeBala

Fiona Apple and Blake Mills

photo FionaandBlake_zps3714a1d2.jpg

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Reply #27 posted 12/26/14 8:01am

Identity





New video for "Take a Ride".


YTube

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Reply #28 posted 12/26/14 8:20am

Identity

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/hN8CuUY.gif?1[/img:$uid]


Dawn Richard - The Black Era/Blackheart

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Reply #29 posted 12/27/14 1:39pm

JoeBala

Now On Newstands:

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[Edited 12/27/14 13:42pm]

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