Daddy B. Nice’s Corner – news and opinion on Southern Soul RnB music and artists

November 12, 2022

Southern Soul News & Notes

Whatever happened to Carl Marshall? Z.Z. Hill Jr.? Robert “The Juice” Lenoir? Willie P. Richardson? Prince Kenyatta? Judi Blue Eyes? Sterling Harrison? Lou Wilson & Today’s People? Lijuana? Mystery Man? Leeroy? Bobby Conerly? Heavy But Sweet (Andy Pittman)?

Larry Shannon Hargrove? Nolan Struck? Grady Champion? Arthur Foy? Joe “Blues” Butler? Renea Mitchell? Clarence Dobbins? Sang’n Clarence? Nicole Jackson? Alonzo Reid? Queen Emily? Jody Sticker? Hog Pin? Send info to daddybnice@southernsoulrnb.com ……..Answers will be posted in Daddy B. Nice’s Mailbag………

Attention concert-goers! Soulabration at The Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi on December 31st looks like one of the most intriguing live line-ups to close out 2022. Nothing against the top tier of southern soul entertainers, but Soulabration’s not the same old roster of major stars we’ll see in venue after venue in the coming months. 

Instead, it’s the up-and-coming and talented tier of southern soul performers little seen on the biggest stages: Wendell B, Arthur Young, Big Yayo, L.J. Echols & Adrian Bagher. Calvin Richardson (a major star) is the only exception. See Daddy B. Nice’s Concert Calendar on the original site or on the cell phone site…….

Years ago, when entertainers like Sir Charles Jones (who marketed himself as the “King Of Southern Soul”) and media writers like Daddy B. Nice were fighting for the legitimacy of the term “southern soul,” the naysayers protested that the term was too geographically limited, that the qualifier “southern” excluded too much “soul”. Radio programmers, pontificating from on high, were the most excoriating. Never mind that being “geographically-limited” didn’t hurt Motown (Detroit) or reggae (Jamaica) or The Beatles (those lovable moptops from Liverpool)…..The war has been won, of course. “Southern soul” was always the term that people fell back on to describe the music and its culture with any accuracy (not “soul-blues” or its many variations). And what better proof than the latest Facebook group, Detroit Southern Soul? What better evidence than to see the birthplace of (geographically-limited) Motown, still America’s most iconic R&B, embracing southern soul with a Facebook group devoted to spreading the southern soul sound?…….

Remember earlier this year, when your Daddy B. Nice was breaking an unknown King George to the southern soul audience and marvelling that “Keep On Rolling” and “(Can’t Stay) Too Long” had accumulated a million more YouTube views in less than a month, for a total of 3 million each?….Both “Keep On Rolling” and “Too Long” now have 24 million YouTube views each! And that number has increased to 25K and 26K respectively in just the two weeks before this note’s publication……And let’s give a tip of the hat to King George’s much-overlooked vocal skills. Lost in the all the hoopla over his music and lyrics has been the depth, empathy and expressive abilities of his voice, which has become more and more evident as he branches out into collaborations with his southern soul mates such as Tucka on “Jukebox Lover (Remix)” and P2K DaDiddy on “U-Turn”. King George’s contributions make the songs……..

Speaking of P2K’s “U-Turn”……How come when brothers are rhapsodizing about doing special, loving things with their mates (like getting the candles and bathtub ready) they always riff on “breakfast in bed”? Who wants breakfast in bed? I don’t want no breakfast in bed, even if it’s served up on a silver tray. I’m still going to drop food all over the bedding. I want breakfast at the table. I want my bacon fried crispy, my eggs sunny-side-up. I want to be wide awake and engaged in the most important meal of the day!…….

Soul Express’s Heikki Suosalo delves deeply into Luther Ingram’s heritage in his latest column, Luther Ingram’s Legacy: Birth Of A Song. The occasion is a short film by Luther’s son, Eric Luther Ingram, recently awarded “The Audience Choice” Award at the Ocktober Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York City. The film recounts the making of (“If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” which turned into a #1 soul and a #3 pop hit for Luther Ingram in 1972—and of course a perennial reference in southern soul songs to this day…

The ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards honor music industry pundits for their publishing achievements. On October 27th in New York City The Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Awards in pop music for titles published in 2020 were awarded to three honorees, including David Whiteis for his biography of the late Denise LaSalle: Denise LaSalle with David Whiteis, Always the Queen: The Denise LaSalle Story (University of Illinois Press)…

Finally, DeMond Crump passed away in October. A longtime southern soul singer/songwriter in the Jackson, Mississippi area, he labored in obscurity for much of his career but had recently scored two high-charting songs in Daddy B. Nice’s Top 10 Singles: “Party 2 Hard” (#2 May 2022) and “Just Love Me” (#1 June 2021).
— Daddy B. Nice

November 5, 2022

TOP 40 SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: NOVEMBER

An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in November 2022.

1. “Don’t Go”—Volton Wright
2. “Older Woman”—Sassy D
3. “Just Another Friday”—Arthur Young
4. “That’s On Me”—Slack feat. Jeter Jones
5. “I’m Gonna Ride That Black Horse”—Ms. Jody
6. “Love Dem Blues”—Narvel Echols
7. “Toxic Love” (Re-Entry)—Marcellus The Singer
8. “Why I’m Crying”—Adrian Bagher
9. “Catfishing” (Original Mix)—Arthur Young
10. “Fine Ass Girl”—Memphis Jackson

11. “Never”—L.J. Echols
12. “Red Light Zone”—Action feat. Big Yayo & Solomon Thompson
13. “U-Turn”—P2K DaDiddy feat. King George
14. “Waiting It Out”—Donyale Renee feat. Itz Karma
15. “Chocolate Swirl”—Arthur Young
16. “Stay Out Of My Business”—Terrence Davis
17. “Whole Thang”—Mr. Nelson
18. “Ms. Baddie”—Ms. Key
19. “She Was Right There”—Volton Wright feat. Jeter Jones
20. “Get It Poppin'”—Chrissy Luvz

21. “Double Crosser”—Vick Allen
22. “I Forgot To Be Your Lover”—Klassic Man
23. “Come Party With Me”—Royal D
24. “Liquor Store”—Mz. Sassy
25. “Don’t Leave”—Mr. Don’t Leave
26. “Slyde”—Kami Cole
27. “Never Found Me A Girl”—Leroy Allen
28. “Don’t Blame It On My Heart”—Ciddy Boi P. feat. Mz. Pat
29. “Moonshine And Carolina”—Joe Nice feat. Nelson Curry
30. “Ms. Parker”—M. Cally feat. Jeter Jones

31. “Back It Up”—Big Yayo feat. Solomon Thompson & Big Mucci
32. “Back Into It”—DJ Wildman Tim feat. Mule Man
33. “You Don’t Have To Be A Star”—Carl Sims feat. Debra Benson
34. “Lil’ Ole Shack”—Memphis Jackson
35. “Met My Baby”—Shirika “ReRe” Flowers
36. “Can You Get Away”—Wolfman Delliyo feat. Calvin Taylor
37. “Speed Dial”—Chrissy Luvz
38. “Put It On Me”—Shell-B (Shelby Hossey)
39. “Late Checkout”—Mz. Connie
40. “Another You”—Drea’ C