For all of the unabridged amazement surrounding Billy Preston’s high school-aged mastery of both the bubbling jazz of Jimmy Smith and the lean Memphis R&B of Booker T. Jones, the truth is, he’d been at this a while. You May Also Like: Billy Sherwood Talks #Yes50, ‘Topographic Drama’ and aRead More

For Stax Records executive Al Bell, the label’s focus on personalized arrangements was what made its stable of stars into timeless figures. Unlike some of their competitors, he says no two of their records sounded exactly alike. You May Also Like: Booker T. and the MGs’ ageless ‘Green Onions’ hadRead More

In an age when his contemporaries take three, five even seven years between studio projects, Paul Carrack is already back with another blend of blue-eyed soul originals and choice covers — a trio of which pay direct tribute to Ray Charles. You May Also Like: The Beatles, “Paperback Writer /Read More

Former Slave drummer and lead vocalist Steve Arrington found some measure of success in a solo artist in the 80s. You May Also Like: Grand Funk Railroad – E Pluribus Funk (1971): Forgotten Series Brand New Heavies’ self-titled debut defined a now-lost acid-jazz cool Richard Turgeon, “Higher” (2020): One TrackRead More

It’s not always easy to find an unfiltered moment like this from Hall and Oates — a pairing that has become so closely associated with genre-jumping mixtures of street-corner soul with modern new-wave verve. You May Also Like: For John Oates, picking a favorite Hall and Oates song isn’t easy:Read More

A trick of fate launched Otis Redding’s career. He was, in 1962, working with a flamboyant guitarist named Johnny Jenkins, who had some unused studio time at Stax Records. Up to the mic stepped Redding. You May Also Like: No related posts.

There is perhaps no more unpredictably weird image than Hugh Laurie — who, from 2004-12, played the Golden Globe-winning title protagonist on TV’s House — weaving his way through Professor Longhair You May Also Like: No related posts.

When Tom “T-Bone” Wolk died in 2010, Hall and Oates lost more than just their long-time bassist. Over a collaboration that went back to 1981’s Private Eyes, he’d become so much more. You May Also Like: For John Oates, picking a favorite Hall and Oates song isn’t easy: ‘There’s soRead More

Otis Redding’s 1965 No. 11 R&B hit “I Can’t Turn You Loose” was aptly named, considering that he refused to leave for his next show until guitarist Steve Cropper laid down the song’s famous lick. You May Also Like: No related posts.

An eight minute song with alien (for the time) sounds wasn’t a recipe for a major hit, but just reaching 33 on the Hot 100 in 1972 qualifies as a notable achievement for “Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You).” You May Also Like: Greg Lake compares this eraRead More