Etta James - Fire

Been off the blog for a minute. Back at it. Trying to make up for lost time and present you with more dope and incredible music. However, this is the NEW face of the Sound Boutique blog. After many a copyright infringement and DMCA warning we have to handle our blog in a new manner. A bunch of our postings have been removed and/or deleted and our viewers have been unable to enjoy them. So, we'll be presenting future posts and all content from here on with YouTube videos. We will be posting videos on YouTube from our collection so you won't be getting just material that is already available there, but rather original content from us. At least that's the plan.
I do also suggest that our readers please continue to share with other readers by sharing links to the mp3 files as anonymous in the comments section. So, I suggest people look in the comments section for any or our posts.

Back to business as usual.

Etta James came onto the music scene LONG before I was born. And, it seems her musical legacy is ever lasting. I got introduced to her as a kid, as a young mod kid in fact, and her impact on me was tremendous. I forget which album it was that I was first introduced to, but I've stayed a long and true loyal fan of hers ever since. I'm pretty sure it was this album, but I'm not sure. It seems to me to be far too incredible and amazing LP of hers to have as a young teenager. But, it likely was.. and likely was a re-issue put out by Chess and purchased by me through Columbia Music House or Columbia Record Club.

As many of you know, she passed away earlier this year. Rumor had it she was sick for a while before her passing. Many folks throughout the soul community morned her passing. She was a absolute soul hero to all of us. Although LONG overdue here at the 'boutique' we want to have a moment of silence for our incredible soul sister Etta James.



I had originally intended to post this back in January of this year, what feels like almost a year ago now.
When I heard the samples of Etta in the Flo-rida song that my 11 year was listening to, I had to whip an education on her. After about 45 minutes of enjoying her music my daughter admitted she liked her. It was cool to give he a lesson of where things come from, the sampling of her decade likely will not be the same of my era.

On another note, I think a good indicator of a quality wedding deejay is whether they play the original version of 'At Last' by Etta, or the remake by Beyonce. I recently had to endure a horrible wedding deejay and amongst tons of other horrible music he played the far less superior Beyonce version, which to me is almost sacrilegious. Or, at least some kind of crime.


Today's offering is from a Cadet 45 from about 1968 or 1969. 'Fire' is a scorching tune,no pun intended. Not really a really one by her, and only a small sample of her immense career. But, back earlier this year it struck me as one tune I wanted to play in her honor at one of my gigs. So, here we are catching up with what we should have given you at the beginning of this year, not the almost end of it. Rest in peace Etta, you are greatly loved and appreciated.

    

Barbara Mason - Ain't Got Nobody

Back to the swing and finger snaps of a good Northern dancer. Hot off the wheels of another killer nite at Lower Bottoms. This was as easy pull straight from my box of unplayed stuff that I brought. Songs I didn't get around to playing. Funny how you can bring a small box of 45's and still NOT play everything in it. Let me say again, how much it is to spin amongst the LB crew. I totally dig each of the other DJ's styles. In particular, I love Bobby's acid drenched funk, Adrianne's sweet and groovy soul and Joseph aka Trick Baby's completely unpredictable style. Always a good time and like I've starting saying lately, this is the best combo of hipster and homeless with a crackin' sound system I've been to since our very own Sound Boutique club.

From start to finish Barbara Mason has had huge hits and a knack for writing perfect little soul pop tunes. She's penned killer oldies sound with 'Yes, I'm Ready' in 1965 and brought the boogie back with 'Another Man' in 1984. Just an example of how lengthy and prolific her career has been. I'm happy to report Barbara is alive and well. Still singing and knocking the socks off of soul fans all over the world. This is just a small offering from Barbara, and we'll delve into much more of hers in the future.

 I hope you'll enjoy this nice and smooth dancer from this legendary Philly soul queen.


Barbara Mason - Ain't Got Nobody

Keith And Darrell - Kickin' It Around

I came across this 45 in a pile of records that had already been pillaged by a few serious local collectors and record dealers. Don't know why the hunters passed it up, but I'm glad. Perhaps it's really only a 25 cent 45. My interests in somewhat 'obtuse' sounding stuff and indie soul has for me, paid off yet again. Just goes to show there are still treasures even in the most covered territories.  You just have to be willing to hear something dope and new in something that's far from the norm. For me, that's always been an area that has been my strong point. Often you may have to face a little ridicule, but I've learned over the years that same ridicule is a sign of progress and genuinely shows you're headed in the right direction. Anyways, I was late in the morning to this spot and even though it had been well scoured, I still found a few treats. In fact, I think this is the same spot I picked up the 'Blue-eyed' soul record by the group Stratus. Not the one from Denver. The Stratus record had the notorious orange spray paint from Rasputin's, so I suppose it had been quadruple overlooked.
Anyways, back to Kieth And Darrell. These guys were in fact nephews of Smokey Robinson. They had somewhere around three or four releases including an attempt at boogie disco in 1983 with a tune called 'Work That Body' on a Motown twelve inch. Another 45 with the peculiar title of 'You're My Gardener' saw a similar release on a promo only 45. I wonder what that one sounds like. This tune for me fits best in a 'free soul' genre as it's kinda lazy, kinda cool, and a little bit hippie. It has that kinda yacht rock sunshine soul feel I'm always looking for.

It's easy to see why this flew under the radar, and one could suspect that Keith And Darrell were trying to gently elbow their way into the recording biz considering their bloodline. The fate of Keith Larnell Burston and Darrell Littlejohn was of limited push and belief in them by the record label and as a result they never fully broke out.


As far as I was concerned, from a digging perspective, this had ALL the right elements...produced by Smokey Robinson, from 1980, and was a promo only. It could be that this record never saw a full release and only came out as a promo. Some nice harmonies, an affectionate little premise, and some light and snappy drums. I was glad to pick it up, hope you enjoy it too.

Keith And Darrell - Kickin' It Around