Thursday, March 31, 2005
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glisten: FAMILY VALUES FOUR: MAMA MUSIC
For more info about the FAMILY VALUES series, go here.
Goodie Mob - "Guess Who"
Dad: I find this somewhat more appealing, possibly because the piano adds a little tone color.
However... I'll never be able to get with this kind of music.
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Mom: This song struck me more as poetry, not music. I'm happy to hear how much these guys appreciate their mommas, but it's pounding. This wasn't ever my planet; these weren't my (our?) issues. I do like the music, even if it is a little on edge, like walking on gilded splinters.
Oh, I do like the chorus where the guy (Cee-Lo) sings at the end. That part is very soothing, very pretty. This is where the blanket comes and wraps the baby up.
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Sis: I guess I ought to know who these folks are, but again: it's not up my alley.
To comment relevantly on this track, one ought to be more receptive than I find myself. Sorry.
Since the fam didn't put in on this, I feel compelled to say just a BIT more:This is off Goodie Mob's seminal and astonishing first album, Soul Food. This disc had a really big impact on the way I listen to music and (along with Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik) more or less established what "Dirty South" WAS.
The good news for today is that G-Mob is apparently reuniting for a new album. High hopes!
Buy "Soul Food", from Amazon.
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Read this interview with Khujo Goodie, "the first one-legged MC".
I've yet to hear Livin' Life Like Lumberjacks; can anyone say whether it's worth the purchase?
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Visit Cee-Lo's official site.
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Read this brief interview with Big Gipp and watch Gipp's video (with Sleepy Brown!) for his solo single, "Steppin' Out".
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Famous Four (A.K.A. The New Orleans Humming Four) - "Mother's Love"
Dad: This song was originally issued on the tiny "Wonder" label in New Orleans in the early 1950's and reissued in the 1980's on the "New Orleans Gospel Quartets 1947-56" compilation that Lynn Abbott programmed and annotated for Bruce Bastin's Gospel Heritage label (HT-306). Lynn also wrote a terrific essay about this group for "Whisky, Women and..." magazine (#11, 1983).
This same quartet recorded R&B for Imperial Records as "The Hawks".
Lynn was kind enough to introduce me to Albert Veal, a member of the Humming Four since they organized in the early '30s. Mr. Veal was a sweet guy and a sure enough lover of four-part vocal harmony.
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Mom: Well, that drum is odd. For a so-called "love song" this is sad and droning. I just don't get a sense of feeling or family here, except for loss.
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Sis: This is soothing and certainly musically competent, but I might have chosen something different. What about Booker White’s song about looking for his mother’s grave? Or "Sleep On, Mother"; NJQ did a great version of that one. Or “Motherless Children Have a Mighty Hard Time”; where’s the love for Blind Willie Johnson?
This one is nice, but it doesn’t grab me like the best harmony singing can.
Buy "New Orleans Gospel Quartets: 1947-56" from The Louisiana Music Factory.
This album contains a Humming Four version of the gospel standard "Twelve Gates to the City" that is just STUNNING; it's a much recommended purchase.
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Read this extensive piece about the RnB exploits of the Famous Four AKA The Hawks.
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Read a bit about the rich history of New Orleans gospel music.
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Labels: Family Values, music
