EVERY Billboard #1 rhythm & blues hit discussion thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tomstockman, Mar 4, 2016.

  1. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    That's only a part of it - but as this is about #1 R&B hits, I won't get into that.

    As for this song - doesn't one also detect a bit of "smooth jazz" elements in some of the arrangements, especially in the open, and in the close of the LP version?
     
  2. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Especially when we get to the likes of CSNY or Zep - two acts outside the scope of what's being covered in this thread.
     
  3. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Well, those were different beasts. I'm not even sure where CSNY or Zep recorded. I'm assuming Zep in London. Come to think of it, did CSN record their debut in London as well? Or was that some other American act (like maybe America, or Bread)?
     
  4. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    No - CSN(Y) was Los Angeles.

    But for anyone wondering who provided the flute for "Day Dreaming" - that'd be Hubert Laws, folks.
     
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  5. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    This was out around the same time as "Walking In The Rain With The One I Love" by Love Unlimited...and almost deals with the same topic: daydreaming about your lover.
     
  6. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    Beautiful song and Aretha wrote it herself, inspired by Dennis Edwards of The Temptations. One of Aretha's most reserved and subtle vocals.
     
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  7. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Those aren't the only similarities. Both have similar tempos, and both are heavy on the key of Bbmaj7 and minor 9th chords.

    The Love Unlimited number, meanwhile, was written, co-arranged and produced by a chap we'll be hearing a bit down the road many times over - Barry White. (Other than that, no peeking now - remember, it's the process of examining each number one on this chart in a linear fashion.)
     
    Grant likes this.
  8. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    Ah, "Day Dreaming"! In lesser hands it might have been a airy little piece of cotton candy but Aretha & crew turn it into a souffle.

    Just listen to what she does with the 4 simple words "where, I don't care". Or the way the musicians lock into that little groove on the final "day dreaming and I'm thinking of you".

    I gotta have that intro and outro, though. The 45 edit just don't sound complete. The intro puts your head in just the right place for Aretha to chime in with that sublime piano part.

    And the outro gets you ready to Rock Steady!
     
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  9. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    In plain English, you could perform both songs as a medley and they'd fit, easily.
     
  10. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    The Worst Rock & Roll Records Of All Time book - which raked her final Atlantic album, La Diva (which, in deference, I can see a few Forumites have expressed love for), over the coals, in contrasting with her heyday - noted that when Ms. Franklin was at her peak, she wrote love songs "as complex and irrefutable as any." Obviously "Day Dreaming" would be Exhibit A of that sentiment.
     
  11. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    When it comes to soul music, I ignore rock critics. Most of them are stuck in the 60s and early 70s, and what they can relate to. I always listen to the fans of the music, the natural constituents.

    Sister Aretha has two or three more beautiful, top-shelf ballads coming up in the 70s, one written by Stevie Wonder. Give it another year or so.
     
  12. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Ah, but what about the "complex and irrefutable" part as it relates to "Day Dreaming"? :winkgrin: The period you speak of - up to the next few years - was the favorite of that book's authors viz 'Retha. (Like their lament about how none of Chuck Berry's 1950's and '60's classics even remotely reached the top of the "other" chart - but "My Ding-A-Ling" did, and that's why they rated it the worst R&R single of all time.) Besides, it's more the one-liners and ways with words I go for in those books, not so much the authors' opinions which, as you note, are stuck in time (not unlike many "classic" music stations today).
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2018
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I did say early 70s was part of their darling period.
     
  14. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Not much love for Aretha daydreaming among the majority, so...

    I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers



    Now we're gettin' into it! We are entering the second golden age of soul music, and what better way to kick it off than with this gospel-tinged soul groove? Previously, The religious family had a hit with "Respect Yourself", but this one was a slam-dunk! Both are from the fantastic classic album "Be Altitude: Respect Yourself". Even the Tape-Op Project released a reel-to-reel version of the album. I believe Steve Hoffman did a 45 RPM version of the album about a decade ago.

    The rhythm tracks were recorded at Muscle Shoals, and producer Al Bell tracked the vocals at Ardent Studios.

    Needless to say, we bought this 45, too. The only reason we didn't buy the album is because the summer of '72 was such a fruitful time for soul music.
     
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  15. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    The Swampers lock into a groove and Mavis turns it loose. What's not to love?

    I really love how positive the Staples were, just such a good vibe in their message no matter what your religious inclinations are.

    Respect yourself, be what you are and there's a place where ain't nobody crying.

    TELL IT!
     
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  16. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Like I said over on the pop thread, which this groove monster also topped, the Staples were huge at our house, my uncle having multiple albums and several singles as well. I guess the one surprise is that Mavis didn't become a bigger star. I don't know much of the story behind the group - did they return to doing more straight ahead gospel by the mid-'70s?
     
  17. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    No, they kept on basically the same path, just to less sales. After Stax went under, they signed with Curtis Mayfield's Curtom (one of those songs is coming up when the thread hits '75), then over to Warners, etc.

    They actually charted with a Talking Heads cover in '84 ("Slippery People")!

    Pops and Cleotha eventually passed on, but Mavis is still putting out excellent records to this day.
     
  18. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Oh yeah, the Stax implosion. Having a label die on you is seldom a good thing.
     
  19. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Pops Staples had a real problem with the lyrics of Let's Do It Again", especially because he was singing it with his daughters.
     
  20. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Some people believe Stax would have survived as an independent had Clive Davis not entered into a distribution deal with the label. In fact, Stax did return as an independent label in the 80s, just in time to reissue CDs.
     
  21. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Clive was . . . interesting. I know someone who worked with him at Columbia in the '60s and went with him to Polygram.
     
  22. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    Even then, they were distributed by Fantasy...as they have been continuously since 1977.

    While they've released new product here and there, they mainly exist as a reissue label.
     
  23. pickwick33

    pickwick33 Forum Resident

    It may have been a good thing in this case. Stax was going to hell in a handbasket by 1975. The Staples had already jumped ship to Warners/Curtom when the lights went out at Stax.
     
  24. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    They are now owned by Concord, formerly Fantasy.
     
  25. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    If fact, some artists stayed with CBS after Stax's demise. Emotions, Johnnie Taylor, and The Soul Children, all stayed. Isaac Hayes took his label to ABC, The Dramatics went to ABC, The Staples went to Warner Brothers. Curtom was only distributed by Warner Brothers after Curtis Mayfield's deal with Buddah ran out.
     
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