R.I.P. Jerry Wexler

It's been a sad week for soul fans.

First Isaac Hayes passed away, and now comes the news that Atlantic Records giant Jerry Wexler has died at 91.

You can take your pick of Wexler's accomplishments: he reportedly coined the term 'rhythm and blues', presided over key phases in the careers of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and others, brought Dusty Springfield to town to record 'Dusty in Memphis', and was a major player in bringing the Stax and Muscle Shoals sounds to the wider world.

Oh, and for any non-soul fans out there: he also signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic, and worked with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and more.

Here are a couple of crucial Wexler-related clips.

One of Ray Charles' earliest hits at Atlantic, 'I Got A Woman':



'I Never Loved A Man' was one of two tracks produced when Wex brought Aretha to FAME for the infamous Muscle Shoals session:



Word has it that Wexler once said he wanted only two words inscribed on his tombstone: "More bass." Rest in peace, Jerry.

More On Isaac Hayes, from The Root

While many Isaac Hayes obits focus on the Theme from Shaft, or on the Scientology controversy that led to Hayes' departure from South Park, this item from The Root (rightly) emphasizes his early role as a songwriter at Stax, and on the enormous impact of Hot Buttered Soul.

An Ode To Hot Buttered Genius


As an aside, it seems that most of my generation only knows Isaac Hayes as "Chef" - and that makes me nearly as sad as his death did.

R.I.P. Isaac Hayes

After a long silence, it's a sad occasion that brings me back to the blog. Isaac Hayes has died, at age 65.

Best of the obits to come in a day or two, but in the meantime here are some favourite Hayes tracks.

Before he got into the performance side of things, Isaac Hayes was a songwriter at Stax. Alongside partner David Porter, he wrote most of Sam and Dave's greatest hits, including Hold On I'm Comin:



Stax's release of Hayes' first album, Hot Buttered Soul, was almost an afterthought. It turned out to be one of their greatest successes. Here's Walk On By:



Hayes won both an Oscar and a couple of Grammys for the Theme from Shaft:



Later in his career, Hayes voiced the singing Chef from South Park. Here's "Simultaneous":



Rest in peace, Isaac Hayes. There aren't many soul stars who can claim to have had a greater influence on popular music as a whole.

The Dan Penn Files: Do Right Woman

As I wrote awhile back in this World Hum blog post, one of the best parts of my visit to Muscle Shoals was the songwriters' corner at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. There, I had the chance to see Dan Penn's original scribblings of the lyrics to 'Do Right Woman, Do Right Man' while listening to Aretha Franklin belt it out on a vintage jukebox. Classic, right?

Here's Penn's own version of arguably his most famous song:

Cover Art: What A Man / Whatta Man

Salt'n'Pepa's 'Whatta Man' blurs the lines between cover and sample, borrowing heavily from Linda Lyndell but still remaining its own song.

Here's the original, playing in the background of a sketchy homemade video:



And here's the version I grew up on:

Sasha Frere-Jones on Usher and the Audible Pain of Soul

Interesting few lines from the New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones, in a review of Usher's new album:

"If Usher is considered part of soul and R. & B., he is a quiet revolutionary, stripping out the pain audible in the work of so many great male soul singers: Otis Redding, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, R. Kelly. Catharsis has no place in Usher’s work, no matter the topic. The blood is all offstage, and Usher plays our Greek chorus, moralizing and reporting. It’s an easier gig than having to do the wet work. (R. & B. after “Confessions” has continued in this denatured, slight vein, from the cyborg come-ons of Ciara to Chris Brown’s Usher-lite routine.)"

You can read the full review here.

James Brown - Please Please Please

I'm fresh off a trip to New York City, where I stayed just around the corner from Harlem's famed Apollo Theater.

The Apollo's played host to plenty of big names over the years, but possibly its most famous act was James Brown, on the night he recorded his phenomenal, game-changing album, Live at the Apollo (1962) - called the "most apocalyptic non-gospel album ever recorded" by Peter Guralnick, and "almost certainly the greatest live album ever" by Peter Shapiro, author of the Rough Guide to Soul and R&B.

This clip isn't from the Apollo, but it's a taste of Brown's early live vibe.