Somebody!

-

The Brothers And Sisters – I Am Somebody
Toddlin' Town Records – 128
Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, US, 1969
info

A quick break from the Lee "Scratch" Perry tributes to celebrate a birthday... (I hope you aren't too bored with the LSP productions yet though, still have a couple more planned!)

Last weekend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. celebrated his 80th birthday. Far more important tributes were made, but I figured it was an excuse to share this with you. Reverend Jackson is an institution in my little corner of the world, and I don't say that critically. Organizations are ultimately just made of people. I've come to respect more every year just how fragile these things we build around us can be. And just how important it is to have institutions that weather the storms, that exist (even imperfectly) for our people to draw on, to find some basic structures and lessons when the time comes. The significance not just of his decades of activism, but of Black institutions he's played a central role in leading and maintaining through some very dry times is not lost on me.

________________________________________________

I Am Somebody, as you may have guessed, puts Reverend Jackson's speeches to music on a single released in 1969 or 1970. The message of uplift and pride is delivered over a fantastic backing track written, arranged and produced by the great Richard Pegue. Pegue was a longtime radio personality, DJ, and producer who passed in 2009, a legend in the Chicago soul music and stepping scenes. 

I can't tell you much about The Brothers And Sisters. They released a handful of singles in the late '60s/early '70s on Chicago soul labels Toddlin' Town (part of brothers George and Ernest Leaner's One-Derful records empire) and Pegue's own short-lived Nickle imprint.

A nice male and female vocal group, righteous lyrics from the Rev, soaring Chicago-style strings, over a fast, funk drum workout. What more could you need going into this weekend? The Part II instrumental take on the B side is a real treat. Listening on some good headphones just now, the bass during the last few the song had me grinning after a difficult week.

Here's my belated birthday wish for Reverend Jackson. Enjoy!

________________________________________________

Tracklist
A I Am Somebody - Part I
B I Am Somebody - Part II

________________________________________________

(Now with corrected tags for the OCD among us.)

I may be poor - FLAC (download zip file):
I am proud, I am beautiful - MP3 (stream or download):

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't let problems get you down.

-
Image
Horace Andy / Augustus Pablo – Problems / Lovers Mood Pressure Sounds – PSS 001 Vinyl, 7", UK, 1995 info The last time I posted something here was almost six months ago, when we were days away from an important election... and when I had I had convinced myself once again that there was some chance I could pull off posting music on a more regular basis. At least my hopefulness for the election was well founded! Chicago has a new mayor and some new optimism, but life remains complicated. Major changes at work and home given me plenty of excuses from ever diving back into music (or this blog) like I intend to. instead of sad stories though, I'll share some good advice from the great Horace Andy. "Don't let problems get you down, they will put you in a hole." Not sure if anyone is still lurking around this site, but I'll try to keep that guidance in mind and start putting some music up here every now and then if anyone is searching. I hope you find this and enjoy...
Read more

Sade at the Movies (Part 3: Rated G, No I.D. needed)

-
Image
Sade – Flower Of The Universe (From Disney's "A Wrinkle In Time") RCA Records – none 2 x File, FLAC, Single, Mar 9, 2018 info A return to a long delayed series tracking Sade soundtrack contributions for no particular reason... Parts 1 and 2 here and here . In 2018, Sade released a new song recorded for the soundtrack of Ava DuVernay's adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's  A Wrinkle In Time . This was the first new song the band issued in 8 years, since their 2010 studio album,  Soldier Of Love (and a few unreleased tracks included on the 2011 Ultimate Collection  greatest hits set). And if a big-budget children's movie isn't where you expected Sade to pop up (especially after the somewhat darker, adult sound of the previous album), that would make sense, but this works well: Sade Adu's vocals as rich as ever, singing a love letter to a child and set over her own wordless backing vocals and a simple guitar. The music continues with the drumless, spars...
Read more

New Year's version (Auld-U Syne?)

-
Image
Ghetto Priest with Skip McDonald & Adrian Sherwood – Auld Lang Syne c/w The Slave's Lament Not On Label (Graham Fagen Self-released) CD Single, UK, Feb 11, 2005 This New Year's Eve share might be too somber for a party night... but I'm hoping I'm still on good paper after the Louie Vega Xmas disco records and that you'll forgive me if this is less aimed for the holiday dancefloor. I'm no expert, but it seems that Scottish artist Graham Fagen has produced a number of works over the years exploring the history of connections between Scotland and Jamaica (especially via the slave trade). He has collaborated with musicians to produce music and sounds to accompany his installations and visuals, several times working with members of the On-U Sound family. For a 2005 exhibit called Clean Hands Pure Heart , Fagen asked that team to produce a recording that combined the New Year's standard  Auld Lang Syne with another song, The Slave's Lament , also written...
Read more