R.I.P., Ray Phiri! (My ‚Graceland‘ memories)

Last Friday (July 14, 2017), Jon Pareles posted this obituary in the New York Times: Ray Phiri, ‘Graceland’ Guitarist and Anti-Apartheid Bandleader, Dies at 70

Ray Phiri, the South African guitarist who reached an international audience backing Paul Simon on the albums “Graceland” and “The Rhythm of the Saints” and who founded Stimela, a widely acclaimed, long-running band that confronted apartheid, died on Wednesday at a clinic in Nelspruit, South Africa. He was 70.

I never talked to Ray Phiri in person. But I must have seen him when visiting a rehearsal of the „Graceland“ tour in London for an interview with Paul Simon. He and his collaborators caught a lot of flak back then because they were accused of violating the cultural boycott against South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Two funk giants have left us: R.I.P., Junie Morrison and Clyde „Funky Drummer“ Stubblefield!

Last year’s passing of Prince (blog post in German), Sharon Jones, and Bernie Worrell have been huge blows to funk and soul fans already. The sad news continue: On January 21, 2017, ex-Ohio Player and P.Funk All-Star Junie Morrison died, followed by Clyde Stubblefield (this Saturday, February 18).

One of Junie Morrison’s major claims to fame was the Funkadelic classic „One Nation Under A Groove“:

My Funky Year in Music: 18,599 tracks, 4,188 artists, 5,533 albums (according to Last.FM)

Because I am very much into statistics, I still like using Last.FM, a music database which keeps track of the songs I enjoy via iTunes, Internet radiostations and iPod/smartphone. According to Last.FM’s summary for 2016, I listened to 18,599 tracks by 4,188 different artists and from 5,533 different albums. That makes 55 songs a day and a total listening time of 45 days, 5 hours. Top music genres: funk, soul, country, pop, and blues.

My Spotify Top Songs of 2016 Playlist

My Spotify Top Songs of 2016 playlist is a nice mix of funk, soul, a little country and some surprises. Enjoy!

‚Birthday Boy‘ Steve Cropper (75) on Co-Writing Otis Redding’s Posthumous Hit „Dock of the Bay“

Happy 75th birthday, Steve Cropper (who was part of Stax Records house band The Mar-Keys/Booker T. & the M.G.’s and The Blues Brothers band)!

I just got goosebumps after hearing his story about co-writing Otis Redding’s „(Sittin‘ on) The Dock of the Bay“ which, according to Wikipedia, became the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US:

Otis Redding never heard the electric guitar. I played the acoustic guitar on that track, and then I overdubbed that weekend. On a Friday evening, I overdubbed the guitar licks which I was gonna play him on Monday but he never got back for me to play it to him.

Otis Redding died in a plane crash on Sunday, December 10, 1967.

Everything you always wanted to know about music genres but were afraid to ask!

On the amazing website Every Noise at Once you find samples of 1436 styles on one map:

R.I.P., Maurice White – let’s pay tribute with a collective playlist on Spotify!

Maurice White performing with Earth, Wind, and Fire at the Ahoy Rotterdam; 1982 (Photo: Chris Hakkens / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

I was saddened to read the following news earlier tonight:

Maurice White always was particularly close to my heart because he was both a musician’s musician and managed to achieve pop hits. I think I hated „Boogie Wonderland“ when it first came out, but it grew on me. Especially after reading the great story behind it which songwriter Allee Willis made me aware of on Facebook (check the comments section). 😉

I started to compile a Spotify playlist with my favorite Maurice White songs right after hearing the bad news. So far, it contains 4 hours 28 minutes of great funk, soul and jazz (use it in shuffle mode). Artists include (in alphabetical order) Barbra Streisand, Billy Stewart, Brian Culbertson, Deniece Williams, Earth Wind & Fire, El DeBarge, The Emotions, Fontella Bass, James Ingram, Ramsey Lewis, Ramsey Lewis Trio, The Salty Peppers, The Tubes:

I configured the playlist to be a collaborative effort. Feel free to add your personal favorites on Spotify. If you don’t have a Spotify account, post your music links (YouTube & Co.) in the comments section of this blog entry. And please retweet/repost this tribute in your social media circles!

Favorite Funk of 2015 … Including Glorious Soul by Judith Hill

Judith Hill (Photo: Medill DC / This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. / Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_Hill_crop.jpg)

Listening to entries on fellow funkateers‘ „Best of 2015“ lists made me realize that I missed several great new albums last year. My instant favorite was „Back in Time“, the October release by Judith Hill whose funky soul adds justification to her middle name „Glory“. Her debut was produced by Prince who has a spotty history with regard to picking female protegées who are worth of his musical genius and whose own talents equal their looks.

With Judith, Prince apparently found the perfect match. „Back in Time“ contains many of the elements which I liked during Prince’s heyday (and I am not a full-fledged fan – I am not to keen on many of his greatest non-funky hits; e. g., „Purple Rain“ and „Let’s Get Crazy“). It has raw funk, sultry soul (without the „sexcesses“ we are used to), irresistible grooves, punchy horns annd intricate arrangements.

A Funky Soul Christmas (Playlist & Videos)

My feelings towards Christmas are similar to The Grinch’s (without the greedy aspect). The only thing I like about it are the holiday songs. Therefore I put together a Spotify playlist with great Christmas albums and compilations. Feel free to add yours – the list is shared.

Augie’s gone. Where do the bop go?

With great sadness, I just became aware of the fact that singer, songwriter, performer and producer Augie Johnson has passed away on October 10, 2014.

I interviewed him in Los Angeles in 1982 after the album „Make Mine Bop“ by Side Effects‚ side project L.A. Boppers blew me away. It featured one of my favorite jazz-funk-soul songs of all time: „Where Do the Bop Go“.