Daddy B. Nice’s Corner 2021 – news and opinion on Southern Soul RnB music and artists
July 14, 2021
Daddy B. Nice’s News & Notes
Shout-Out To The Carolinas (Multiple Artists)
Roy Roberts interview (link)
Roy “Chocolate Cowboy” Roberts, Cassie J. Fox & Country Soul
Calvin Richardson interview (link)
Blacks originated much of American music, and the nation needs to right the record. (Link)
Illustrious 1-Hit Wonder Anita Love
More “Crawfish”: Don’t Forget New Orleans’ The Radiators
First Time Out: Klay Redd’s #1 Single
“Summer Of Soul” documentary (Various Artists): Streaming on Hulu
Shout-Out To The Carolinas!
Pictured: The late Marvin Sease: Born in Blackville SC, buried in Barnwell SC.
The Mississippi Delta gets most of the attention, but there is no more fertile scene for southern soul music than the Carolinas, home to Marvin Sease, Roy C, Maurice “What She Don’t Know Won’t Hurt Her” Wynn, Lebrado, J. Red The Nephew, Big G, Nelson “Sugar Shack” Curry, L–“Reality Slowly Walks Us Down”–GB, Jonathan Burton, Black Diamond’s Fuller Brothers, Walt “When The Rabbit Got The Gun” Love, and many more.
Today, however, your Daddy B. Nice celebrates North and South Carolina for the astonishing number of southern soul concerts the relatively small sister states manage to host in aggregate. Carolinans just can’t slake their thirst for “grown folks” music. Touring revenue is robust given bigger counterparts in Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Here’s a snippet of what’s happening in the Carolinas in the coming months:
—T.K. Soul and P2K visit Weldon NC Saturday, July 24th;
—Theodis Ealey and Sir Charles Jones headline the Southern Soul Cooler fest in Norlina NC Saturday, July 31st;
—Big Yayo and Jeff Floyd and Carolinan Lebrado headline the multi-act Southern Soul Music Fest in Concord NC Saturday, August 21st;
—Nelson Curry, Tasha Mac, Fat Daddy and Tyree Neal (an interesting mix!) take the stage at the Silver Dragstrip in Manning, SC on the same Saturday, August 21st;
—Jeter Jones brings his trailride music and friends to the Grown Folks Lounge in Cross SC Saturday, August 28th;
—Tucka and Pokey Bear play the Southern Soul Lake Fest in Henrico NC, also on Saturday, August 28th;
—Calvin Richardson, Lebrado and friends rock the Roanoke Rapids NC American Legion Saturday October 9th;
—Pokey Bear, Tucka, Calvin Richardson, Sir Charles Jones, Lebrado & Ronnie Bell perform in Columbia SC Saturday, November 13th;
—and Big Pokey Bear and Tucka return to the Carolinas, along with Nellie “Tiger” Travis, Calvin Richardson and Lebrado, dispensing southern soul in Florence SC on December 4th.
More information on these concerts can be found at Daddy B. Nice’s Concert Calendar.
To keep things in perspective, the Delta is still the epicenter of southern soul touring. Mississippi is #1. Louisiana is huge for such a small state. Alabama is consistent. Georgia has made the greatest strides (from almost nothing) in the last five years, to become almost the equal of Alabama. Florida (beyond the Panhandle) doesn’t even register. Texas, Tennessee and Arkansas on the northern and western borders of the chitlin’ circuit are frontiers beyond Houston-Dallas, El Dorado-Texarkana and Memphis. In sum, for would-be promoters, that is about as far as southern soul headliners are going to find it worthwhile to drive to perform, barring exceptional cases. And that, to come full circle, is why the Carolina phenomenon is quite an accomplishment, because it is a sizable drive northeast for most of the appearing musicians.
Roy “Chocolate Cowboy” Roberts, Cassie J. Fox & Country Soul
Like onetime Atlanta deejay/current southern soul syndicator Rojene Bailey, Cassie J. Foxis one of the indefatigable disseminators of southern soul music, hosting a weekly syndicated show—“Soul Of The Blues with Cassie CJ Fox”—that airs on outlets throughout America and the world. Her program playlists are known for their variety and inclusivity, fearlessly blending genres and mixing old with new.
I first encountered Roy Roberts as a Robert Cray-like singer/guitarist/songwriter in the soul-blues vein. Roberts hooked up with raunchy southern soul diva Barbara Carraround 2008 on an album—highlighted by the song “It’s Only You”—that rejuvenated the onetime Paula and Ecko Records artist’s career with a less in-your-face sound.
Listen to Barbara Carr and Roy Roberts singing “It’s Only You” on YouTube.
Fast forward a decade and a half and Cassie J. Fox is promoting Roy Roberts, who in turn is getting ready to drop a Country and Country Soul album. Cassie forwarded an absorbing interview with the prolific 79-year-old songwriter and guitarist who started out in the sixties and shared the stage with legends like Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder and Solomon Burke. With O. B. Miclinton as his bandleader, Roberts played in white country bars/venues throughout the eighties as “The Chocolate Cowboy,” and in the interview Roy expounds on many engrossing tales from those contrasting times.
Read The Amazing Tale of Roy Roberts, Bluesman Cowboy With Soul.
Roberts, by the way, is yet another Carolinan, born in Greensboro NC, where he recently headlined and shared the stage with frequent collaborator Johnny Rawls (who also recorded with Carr and Roberts in the late aughts) at the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society’s 35th annual Carolina Blues Festival.
For more on Roberts and other black artists prominent in the contemporary country genre, see Cassie J. Fox’s informative letter in Daddy B. Nice’s Mailbag.
Calvin Richardson interview
Speaking of interviews, Calvin Richardson delivers the best snapshot of his career I’ve ever read in “Southern Soul Legend Enjoying The Fruits Of His Labor”. (Percy Crawford interviewed Calvin for Zenger News.) He even subtly acknowledges yours truly’s recent commentary in “The Strange And Unique Case Of Calvin Richardson” in this exchange:
Zenger: How important was it for you to have a voice that can tap into multiple genres?
Richardson: It’s important. I never sought out to be that, because I never wanted to be in a box. I remember when I first came on the scene and they grouped me in the Neo soul category. They got a category for everything. Then, when I started working in other areas it was like, ‘He ain’t blues, he’s R&B.’ Then I started doing Southern soul and they were saying I wasn’t Southern soul. I’ve heard it all.
“Blacks originated much of American music. And the nation needs to right the record.”
In another great read, Jerry King of Entertainment Atlanta forwarded an article originally published in “USA Today” sure to be of interest to southern soul fans who are enthused by “grown folks music” but perplexed as to why it continues to be marginalized by both the white and black establishment media.
More “Crawfish”: Don’t Forget New Orleans’ The Radiators
Last month I mentioned “Headz or Tailz (The Crawfish Song)” by Hump Dogg and Nebu and also its cover version by Cupid and Nebu, in which Cupid admonishes the audience to “Get your head out of the gutter!” because it’s really about the innocent but messy process of eating crawfish. I had a deja vu-like sensation every time I heard the two records, and now I know why. I happened upon my old copy of The Radiators’ “Suck The Head,” an obvious precursor. Back in the day when it was popular, I thought the fabled New Orleans rockers were saying, “Suck the head, squeeze the tit.” Yes, I had my head in the gutter, and I used to wince a little every time I heard (or thought I heard) “tit”.
Listen to The Radiators singing “Suck The Head” on YouTube.
Another Illustrious 1-Hit Wonder: Anita Love
Here’s another fascinating southern soul artist to add to Daddy B. Nice’s growing list of recent “1-Hit Wonders” of the southern soul genre: Anita Love. I’m so happy to see her still getting performance venues and not disappearing as so many do. Anita recently headlined with Miss Portia in a July 3rd gig at the Escape Lounge in Boligee/Dollarhide, Alabama. Ms. Love’s claim to fame is winning Daddy B. Nice’s Best Debut of 2014and scoring a #1 hit single her first time out. Here’s what I wrote about the record:
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Daddy B. Nice’s Top 10 “BREAKING” Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .
———-JUNE 2014————
1. “Keep Knockin’”—-Anita Love
Music’s still rockin’ your Daddy B. Nice’s world, and truthfully, there’s no qualitative difference between Anita Love’s stupendous 2014 hit-single-to-be and The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (written by Goffin/King) fifty-plus years ago.
Flash forward to 21st Century Southern Soul: “Keep Knockin’” continues the rich tradition of Queen Isabella’s and Rasheeda’s and Mystery Lady’s “I Hear You Knocking (But You Can’t Come In)”–but with an even more seductive melody. Hailing from Memphis (a former back-up singer for Sweet Angel), Anita Love Humphrey is being promoted and booked by Terry (100%) Cotton.
Listen to Anita Love singing “Keep Knockin’” on YouTube.
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For context, in 2014 Jeter Jones was just beginning his southern soul career with “Boot Scoot”. (You know what he’s been doing lately.) And Terry Cotton, who was going by the name 100% Cotton in those days, just scored a top-ten single with Pokey Bearthis month.
First Time Out: Klay Redd’s #1 Single
Kudos to this month’s (July 2021) debut artist, Klay Redd.Redd’s first-ever southern soul single—a novelty dance-floor jam called “Chicken Wang”—made it all the way to #1, the first time a debut artist has nabbed a chart-topper since Bishop Bullwinkle with “Hell Naw To The Naw Naw” in 2015 and Fat Daddy with “The Blame” in 2018. (Not to mention Anita Love before that.)
Listen to Klay Redd singing “Chicken Wang” on YouTube.
“Summer Of Soul” Documentary Streaming On Hulu
Finally, don’t miss the new documentary edited by QuestLove and filmed in Harlem in 1969, the same summer as Woodstock, and even called “the Black Woodstock,” then buried for half of century due to lack of commercial interest. Talk about marginalization. I was the executive editor of an Iowa-based, civil rights/anti-war, underground newspaper, “The New Prairie Primer” that we distributed free to a dozen colleges campuses throughout the state, and that summer my managing editor and I had driven out to Washington D.C. to participate and report on “The Moratorium,” a huge anti-Vietnam demonstration, during which we heard about a big music festival in Bethel and White Lake, New York. (“Woodstock,” another nearby town, came later.) We were lucky enough to get through the crowds before traffic was blocked on the interstate from New York City. So yes, I was at Woodstock. But I never heard of the Harlem festival. Only one act performed at both Woodstock and Harlem—Sly & The Family Stone—and Sly was a revelation. The predominately white hippie crowd (rain-soaked in muddy bell-bottoms) loved The Family Stone and went wild to “Higher”.
And it was the same with the black crowd in Harlem. Among the stand-outs that played at Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) were Nina Simone, Gladys Knight & The Pips, B.B. King, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The 5th Dimension, and The Staple Singers. (In addition to many other national and international acts of the era that have since been forgotten.) Southern Soul fans will be blown away by the young and charismatic B.B. King and the then awesomely powerful and gritty Staples. The segments on gospel music and the “channelling” of black culture through the church are electrifying.
Read about “Summer Of Soul” on Hulu.
Watch “Summer Of Soul” on Hulu.
—Daddy B. Nice
July 1, 2021
JULY TOP TEN “SPILLOVER”: Top 40 Southern Soul Singles
An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in July 2021.
1. “Chicken Wang” — Klay Redd
2. “On My Way Home”– Jeter Jones
3. “Down In The Kuntry” — Stan Butler feat. West Love
4. “I Ain’t Giving Up My Love — Mizz Lowe feat. Bobby Rush
5. “The Chosen One” — Sir Charles Jones
6. “On Call Plumber” — WestDawn feat. Jeter Jones
7. “Welcome To The Country” — Arthur Young
8. “Damn Thang Wrong” — Highway Heavy
9. “Love Don’t Love Nobody” — Pokey Bear feat. Mister Cotton
10. “Halfway” — Ice Doll feat. Roi Chip Anthony
11. “Get It Poppin'” — Vick Allen
12. “Get Nasty” — Mr. Campbell
13. “Shot House” — Mose Stovall
14. “Dirt Road Loving” — Jeter Jones
15. “Sometimes Man” — Bird Williams feat. Bigg Robb
16. “I’m All I Got, I’m All I Need” — Sir Charles Jones
17. “Let Me See It” — Bridget Shield
18. “She Makes It Talk To Me” — Sweet P
19. “Shake It Down” — Mr. David feat. Joe Nice
20. “Rain (Remix)” — Jeter Jones feat. Volton Wright, R&B Pooh, David Jones
21. “Pull Back The Covers” — WestDawn
22. “My House” — Jeter Jones feat. Volton Wright
23. “Stuck Between The 2” — Ms. Tip
24. “I’m Sorry” (Reissue) — Hollywood Hayes
25. “Knock The Fire (Joe Nice Remix)” (Reissue) — Mr. David feat. Joe Nice
26. “Lady In These Streets” — Jeter Jones feat. MizzBehave, Kyara Boo
27. “I Come To Party” — Donyale Renee
28. “Country Boy Slide” — E.J. Soul feat. Narvel Echols
29. “I’ll Be Your Man Tonight” — Dexter Allen
30. “That’s What You Like” — Ricky White feat. Avail Hollywood
31. “The Way That You Move” — Sassy D feat. Tucka
32. “Trailride Party” — Jeter Jones feat. Just-K
33. “I Like It Like That” — Lamar Brace
34. “Good Girl” — Uncle Wayne
35. “Fill Dem Cups Up” — Cheff Da Entertainer feat. Sojo, Yolanda Marshall
36. “Your Wife Is My Wife Too” — Rico
37. “Don’t Know How To Act” — Joe Nice feat. Heather Rogers
38. “Satisfy” — Klay Banks Da Hood Anchorman
39. “Laissez Les Bonton Rouler” — B. Cam & The Zydeco Young Bucks
40. “The Moment” — Treika