Daddy B. Nice’s Corner – news and opinion on Southern Soul music and artists
April 15, 2024
Daddy B. Nice’s News & Notes
Will Southern Soul Deejays Play Country Western/Southern Soul?
(We Discuss Two Months Later.)
February’s “News & Notes” asking if southern soul deejays are playing or will play countrified southern soul drew an overwhelmingly positive response. As one deejay wrote, “The fans are comfortable with country music because it is a parallel genre to Southern Soul. Because of the explosion of Trailride music it does fit well.” I might add that in addition to trail-ride, southern soul has welcomed funk (Nellie Travis’s “Mr. Sexy Man”), zydeco (T.K. Soul’s “Zydeco Bounce”) and hip-hop (Joe Nice & Sean Dolby’s “Take Your Time”) into its inclusionary tent with results that have energized the genre.
Why does “country” sound so good right now? There’s a lot of emotive power coming through. Sometimes branching into fresh styles frees recording artists from the constraints that—unconsciously or consciously—make the music too familiar and formulaic. Certainly that was the case with Nellie Travis’s “Mr. Sexy Man”. That brash, biting, funk/disco guitar riff was as shocking in a southern soul playlist in 2013 as Curt The Country Man’s “Back Road” is today, and yet it elevated Travis’s career to a stature unthinkable before.
Am I advocating for every southern soul artist to record “country”-style? Please no! By no means. What I’m advocating is something every fan wishes for. What do we want? To be surprised. This “country” thing has been building momentum for some time. Only think of songs like “Country Boy Remix” (Chu’Zu, Vince Tucker & Jeter Jones), “Down In The Country” (Stan Butler, West Love) and “Country Girl” (Jus Epik, Money Waters.) Nor is there anything truly new under the sun, even in our beloved southern soul. Check out Carl Marshall’s “I’ve Lived It All” (1999).
Speaking of country, not to mention zydeco, 39 years ago the Lake Charles native and accordionist Sidney Simien, better known as Rockin’ Sidney, had a Top 20 hit on the country charts with a song called My Toot Toot”” (aka “Don’t Mess With My Toot Toot”). The tune had already been a smash in New Orleans and the Delta. Covers by Jean Knight and Denise LaSalle soon charted on the pop and R&B charts. To say it was a boost to LaSalle’s career in particular would be an understatement, and she often acknowledged it.
As was evident in her no-show at this year’s Best of 2023 awards, where she’s perennially a “Best Vocalist” nominee, Tasha Mac—who has been on “sabbatical” of late—is rumored to be back on the southern soul scene soon.
A year after the Dialtone release of his No Soul, No Blues album, Stan Mosley’s “Blues Man” remains the sole track available on YouTube. No comment here, as my views are known, but what struck me is the difference in marketing between the “major” independents and southern soul labels. NO SOUL NO BLUES, for those who missed it, features one of the all-time, southern soul wailers backed by one of the greatest live soul bands ever assembled. Imagine southern soul in an alternate universe. (Read the review before it’s deleted: under “Recently Reviewed,” right-hand column of CD Reviews.)
William Bell is no longer with Wilbe (his own longtime label). The Grammy Hall of Famer has signed with Concord.
Jesse James, another seasoned veteran, charted with legendary partner Millie Jackson on Daddy B. Nice’s Top 25 Songs of 2011 with the single “Let’s Get A Room Somewhere”. Then, in 2014, James had the #1 Song of the Year with “I Lost My Baby On Facebook”. After a near-decade-long absence he has a new album in the works. The first single will be “I Put A Claim On That Thang,” once again teaming with Millie Jackson. The track was first released in 2022.
Cecily Wilborn’s “country” style in “Red Cup Blues” reminds me of Ms. Jody when she first appeared. Ms. Jody’s first successful radio single was “I Never Take A Day Off,” a whiff of pure country if ever there was one, and that sugary country tone has remained in Ms. Jody’s vocal arsenal ever since.
Finally, country-style once again topped Daddy B. Nice’s Top 10 Singles in April, with Ciddy Boi P’s flagrantly country “This Is Texas” in the #1 spot and King George’s quasi-country “It’s Over” at #2.
—Daddy B. Nice
April 6, 2024
TOP 40 SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: APRIL
An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in April 2024.
1. “This Is Texas”—Ciddy Boi P
2. “It’s Over”—King George
3. “Keep Pushing”—West Love
4. “Puttin’ In Work”—Mr. Jimmy
5. “I Gotta Leave Home”—Mr. Laidback
6. “Swing My Way”—LaMorris Williams
7. “Do You!”—Big Nick J
8. “(He Ain’t Gon’) Do Right”—Shae Nicole
9. “Goin’ Jackie Neal (At The Zydeco)”—Tyree Neal feat. Pokey Bear, C-Loc, Adrian Bagher, Johnny James & Bro Bro)
10. “Ride It”—Mikal feat. Angel Faye Russell
11. “Rub My Head”—Unkle Phunk
12. “Put It In The Bag”—Solomon Thompson
13. “Southern Soul Type Of Lady”—Ciddy Boi P
14. “Can I Vibe”—The Jay Morris Group
15. “Big Ol’ Wagon”—Avail Hollywood
16. “No Getting Over Me (Re-Entry)”—Tucka
17. “Blues Paradise”—F.P.J.
18. “Back Road” (Re-Entry)—Curt The Country Man feat. Marcellus The Singer
19. “In Love With You”—B.J. Moodswing
20. “Zydeco Swing”—Eric Hunter aka Mr. Don’t Leave
21. “No Poking”—Jeter Jones
22. “Back To The Blues”—Mr. House
23. “We Riding”—Mama Do
24. “Good Time”—Willie Rich
25. “I Hear You Knocking”—Mr. House feat. Ciddy Boi P
26. “Big Bone Girl II”—Ced Wade feat. Willie Clayton
27. “Gumbo Love”—Le’Jit Brothers
28. “Not How It Goes”—Mz. Poochie
29. “Dreamin'”—Rico C. feat. Cupid
30. “Big Boss Moves”—Lady Redtopp
31. “Coming In Hot”—Arthur Young feat. J-Wonn
32. “That’s My Man”—Mz. Dria
33. “I’m An Undercover Lover” (Re-Release)—Bobby Rush
34. “Doggone Shucky Ducky””—Anissa Hampton
35. “Every Night”—T.J. Hooker Taylor
36. “Thursday”—Carlin Taylor
37. “Monkey See Monkey Do”—Angel Faye Russell
38. “Good Loving”—Alex Williams
39. “Put That Thang On Me”—Nelson Curry
40. “Hard On Me”—Highway Heavy feat. Dave Mack
March 17, 2024
Daddy B. Nice’s News & Notes
New Faces: Comprehensive Index
Here is a list of newly installed southern soul artists in Daddy B. Nice’s Comprehensive Index, with hyperlinks to their first-time appearances on the southern soul charts. Click on the highlighted name to be transported to their page locations in the Index, then click the hyperlink(s).
March 17, 2024
Daddy B. Nice’s News & Notes
Southern Soul Clubbing: A Fresh Look
Entertainment clubs come and go. The hardest business in the world. Southern soul music survives and thrives on audience revenue and nothing compares to seeing southern soul stars in intimate, small to mid-size clubs. Here’s an update on performance venues old and new, indoor and outdoor, based on Daddy B. Nice’s stewardship of the genre’s Concert Calendar.
Union City Fairgrounds, El Dorado, Arkansas
This long-standing outlet for southern soul singers stands out amidst all the other city, county and state civic and convention centers, colliseums, parks and fairgrounds (most of which are located in the Mississippi Delta to the east and far too numerous to mention) by virtue of its resourceful promoter Michael Jackson’s frequent shows.
Vicksburg City Auditorium
This venerable facility is renowned for its successful, once-a-month “Southern Soul First Fridays,” although L.J. Echols and Young Guy will be onstage Saturday March 30.
Liddell Ranch, Utica, Mississippi
Situated in the boonies south of Jackson and Vicksburg, this venue has played host to an amazing run of multi-act concerts over the last few years, most recently this coming Easter weekend’s show with Tucka, Jeter Jones, Ms. Jody, Lenny Williams, Tre Williams and Arthur Young.
Palace Theater, McComb, Mississippi
New place! Said to be beautiful and tasteful. Avail Hollywood, Arthur Young, Adrian Bagher, Johnny James and Ms. Ty will be appearing May 18th.
R.L.’s Blues Palace, Dallas, Texas
The place for southern soul and blues in Dallas, run by storied host R.L. Griffin.
Club Oasis, Hazlehurst, Mississippi
Temporarily closed, and so it goes….
Magnolia Lounge, Forest Park, Georgia
Atlanta just isn’t “country” enough for southern soul to saturate its collective consciousness, but suburbs like Forest Park and Lithonia are doing their best to change that.
The Original Red Rooster, Houston, Texas
Located on Almeda Road, this relative newcomer to the southern soul scene hosts Jeter Jones April 14th.
The Queen’s Lounge, Houston, Texas
Hosts Southern Soul Sundays, just like the M. Cally song.
Kandy Factory, Crystal Springs, Mississippi
Relatively new—opened during Covid era. The Jay Morris Group, Tonio Armani and Derek “The Change Man” Smith performed in February.
Club Oasis, Hazlehurst, Mississippi
“Temporarily closed”. We deliver the bad news with the good.
The Grounds
Just outside Pensacola, this Mobile-area outdoor facility is famous for Spring Fling, the biggest outdoor audience venue on the southern soul circuit.
Huntsville Dragway, Huntsville, Alabama
Hosts King George and Sir Charles Jones on the same bill May 25th, one in a series of high-profile events here in the last few years.
440 JXN
Located at 440 Mill Street in Jackson, this new club enters the small-club niche formerly dominated by Underground 119 and F. Jones Corner. The club will host T.K. Soul and Young Guy April 5th.
Classic Soulz, Memphis, Tennessee
A new venue on East Brooks Road in a city that has a brutal record when it comes to sustaining southern soul clubs. FPJ will appear in April.
C C Blues Club, Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis’s longest-running southern soul club. Gritty. Hole-in-the-wall, but huge.
Thalia Mara Hall, Jackson, Mississippi
Hosts more upscale southern soul concerts a few times per year.
Evangeline Downs Casino Event Center, Opelousas, Louisiana
Occasionally hosts multi-acts southern soul such as Tucka’s big to-do Mother’s Day Weekend. Lafayette and Monroe, Louisiana also boast frequent southern soul events.
Fiesta Center, Lubbock, Texas
Coming on strong for southern soul but pricey.
Pantheon, Austin, Texas
New southern soul venue, mostly local talent. Hosting Southern Soul Saturdays and Sundays.
Southern Soul Lounge, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Small club with great atmosphere in the land of Jeter Jones.
Ranking the top ten states for southern soul events in order:
Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Arkansas, North Carolina, Georgia.
See Concert Calendar (new website).
Send updates, suggestions or comments to…daddybnice@southernsoulrnb.com
—Daddy B. Nice
March 7, 2024
TOP 40 SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: MARCH
An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in March 2024.
1. “Red Cup Blues”—Cecily Wilborn
2. “Back Roads”—GMB Li Curt feat. ShawtyMac
3. “Texas Hold ‘Em”—Beyonce
4. “Come Over Baby”—Lady Redtopp feat. Bri Rocket
5. “Let’s Get Drunk”—L.J. Echols
6. “Church Girl”—Tex James feat. Stan Butler
7. “You My Man”—Jay Morris Group
8. “Party Tonight”—P2K DaDiddy feat. Urban Mystic
9. “Lost And Found”—Volton Wright feat. Sir Charles Jones
10. “Going Out”—Curt The Country Man feat. Countryboii Tye
11. “Biggest Mama”—Rosalyn Candy
12. “Keep Your Dog On A Short Leash”—Sheila B. Sexi
13. “Big Boss”—Jeter Jones feat. T. Howell
14. “This Is Texas (Beyonce Reply)”—Ciddy Boi P
15. “Chocolate”—Mz Tori feat. Pardeeboy
16. “I Gotta Leave Home”—Mr. Laidback
17. “Rumors”—LaMorris Williams
18. “Got It Going On”—Mike Clark Jr. feat. DJ Trucker & Mr. Hanky
19. “Where They Do That At”—Al Davis feat. Princess LaShelle
20. “Show Me”—Brutha
21. “Rock That Man In The Boat (Remix)”—Chuck Strong
22. “Langadang”—Hambone Bandicoot
23. “Me And My Hennessy”—Sema’J
24. “5-Star Kitty”—Darnell Da Bachelor
25. “Swing My Way”—LaMorris Williams
26. “The Electric Slide”—Klay Redd
27. “Boots On”—Lokey Kountry
28. “Let’s Stay Together”—Willie Clayton
29. “Get Loose”—Cecily Wilborn feat. Bre Wooten
30. “I’m So Ready”—Uncle Luck
31. “Tell Me Where You From”—Solomon Thompson
32. “Big Girl World”—Gwen Yvette
33. “Puttin’ In Work”—Mr. Jimmy
34. “Ride It”—Mikal feat. Angel Faye Russell
35. “Don’t Forget About Me”—Adrian Bagher feat. Big Yayo
36. “Really Love You”—Keneisha feat. Omar Cunningham
37. “Give Me Love”—Melodic Princess
38. “Heaven”—Carlin Taylor
39. “Trailriders Party”—Electrohorse feat. Nigel Perkins
40. “Should’ve Been Home”—J. Red The Nephew
February 18, 2024
Daddy B. Nice’s News & Notes
Will Southern Soul Deejays Play Country Western/Southern Soul?
“Texas Hold ‘Em,” Beyonce’s unabashedly country-western-styled dance jam, is generating controversy amongst country music deejays across America. The same thing—in reverse—is happening on a lesser scale in the world of southern soul. I’m not just talking about the preponderance of cowboy hats, “daisy dukes” and boots, horses, trail rides, pickups and musical blending of country themes into southern soul that has been going on now for roughly a decade since Big Yayo’s pre-cowboy-hat-wearing “Cowgirl” appeared and a half-decade since Jeter Jones’ “Black Horse” officially kicked off the “country-fication” of southern soul. Nor am I even talking about the avalanche of country-styled tunes and titles that have followed, songs like Jus Epik’s & Money Waters’ “Country Girl,” in which country influences both musical and lyrical customize a still sturdy southern soul chassis.
Which brings me to the present moment: the pure country-western vocals of Jeter Jones new “Country Girl” and Cecily Wilborn’s “Red Cup Blues”. Yepp. Two major artists have crossed the boundary between southern soul and country. All the way. Are they experiments? It’s hard to say. Jeter Jones recorded a song that’s become a southern soul classic: “My Country Girl”. But his new “Country Girl,” from the just-released Big Boss EP, is pure country—not least the exaggerated vocal. But even that shocker is surpassed by Cecily Wilborn’s new song, “Red Cup Blues,” in which she nearly outdoes Beyonce in her genuine transformation into a bonafide country singer. So much so that your Daddy B. Nice’s Top 10 Singles for March might sound more like a country-western chart than southern soul. As if that weren’t enough, the producer for “Red Cup Blues” is Kang 803, King George’s producer and the hottest southern soul producer of the moment. If you remember, Kang 803 inserted delicate steel guitar fillips into King George’s #1 song of 2023, “Night Time”. And they—he and George—used to be rappers!
I recently stumbled upon a song that came out in the latter part of 2023 called
“Back Roads” by GMB Li Curt and ShawtyMac, just a couple of the black artists including K.D. Conner, Curt The Countryman and Countryboi Tye currently recording country. Marcellus The Singer actually guests on another version of the song by Curt The Countryman. “Back Roads” is too good to ignore, but I confess to almost feeling guilty enjoying it because it is country, man, so much so that when the rap verse came in I felt a twinge of relief because, ironically, the rap validated it as a contemporary southern soul song!
As long as there has been country music there have been black country artists. The great Ray Charles straddled both genres like a colossus back in my young day. But here’s the kicker. These new songs ARE pure country. They’re not southern soul. If a new generation of musicians follows suit, you can’t really call it southern soul anymore. Or can you?
Miscellany
Bobby Rush has done it again—won his third Grammy. Best Traditional Blues album of 2023 for All My Love For You. The singer is a living legend. He out-lived his fabled contemporaries—Johnnie Taylor, Marvin Sease, Mel Waiters, Little Milton—and having reached the pinnacle of visibility for a traditional black artist, made the necessary adjustments to his recording style and performance routine to make fame stick. Congratulations, Bobby! We love you back!
Jerry “Boogie” Mason, the indefatigable and longest-running media facilitator in southern soul music, will be honored at the 2nd Annual Radio Music & Film Conference in Atlanta Saturday, August 17, 2024.
Need more evidence of southern soul infiltrating the white audience? Larry Chambers of Ecko Records in Memphis recently sent out an email for a new Ms. Jody single, “Burger King” from her 5-star-rated album A Night To Remember. The email blast included a YouTube video of white folks line-dancing to “The Southern Soul Bounce”. They’re not the kind of people you’d think of as southern soul fans if you saw them on the street, to say the least, and there’s not a black body in the room, but click the link above—it’s great, they get it.
Gina Brown Passes
Southern soul singer Gina Brown died Wednesday, January 31, 2024. A Celebration of Life Concert was held at the Fillmore At Harrah’s in New Orleans on Thursday, February 15th. Gina Brown’s song “We’re Having A Party” was Daddy B. Nice’s #1 Southern Soul Single in December of 2011 (click link). Find hyper-links to more appearances by Gina Brown on the website in Daddy B. Nice’s Comprehensive Index.
–Daddy B. Nice
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January 3, 2024
TOP 40 SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: FEBRUARY
An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in February 2024.
1. “Swing Out”—West Love
2. “In Front Of Me”—The Jay Morris Group
3. “You Baby”—Marcellus The Singer feat. Cecily Wilborn
4. “Crazy About You”—Derek The Change Man Smith
5. “Put It In Ya Life”—Lil’ Runt feat. Jeter Jones
6. “Too Soon”—Kandy Janai
7. “Love Bone”—Donnie Ray
8. “Yo Truck (Ain’t Better Than Mine)”—Jeter Jones
9. “Let It Be Said”—J. Lake
10. “Can I Get A Witness?”—LaMorris Williams
11. “Back To Myself”—Karen Wolfe
12. “Mz. Judy”—CuznJed feat. Prince Hodge
13. “Wet Anthem”—Big 251
14. “Southern Soul”—El Willie
15. “Let Me Know”—Big Mel
16. “Why Not?”—J-Wonn
17. “Henn Peck Man”—Lady J
18. “Swing My Way”—Ice Doll feat. Cupid
19. “Loving You Wright”—Champagne Wright feat. Dope Boy Bluez
20. “He Ain’t Gone Do Right”—Shae Nycole
21. “God Still Working On Me”—Avail Hollywood
22. “Alone”—King South
23. “Elevator”—Royal D feat. Cupid
24. “Give Him His Papers”—Big G
25. “Yapping”—Summer Wolfe feat. Narvel Echols
26. “Don’t Fuck With Me”—Lady Shebazz
27. “Sexy”—Black Diamond
28. “Just Us 2”—Memphis Jackson
29. “Outside”—Mz. Pat feat. Ciddy Boi P
30. “Transition”—Columbus Toy
31. “Make It Rain”—Vick Allen
32. “Baby Come Home”—Mz. Poochie
33. “Living My Life”—Jeff Floyd feat. Roi “Chip” Anthony
34. “You Can Make It”—Maia B
35. “Put It On Me”—Shell-B
36. “Good Good Man”—T.J. Hooker Taylor
37. “Thick Country Girl”—Mr. Laidback
38. “Tootsie”—O.B. Buchana
39. “Ain’t Nobody Crazy”—Princess Towanna Murphy
40. “Party People”—Ms. Priscilla feat. Narvel Echols
January 8, 2024
TOP 40 SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: JANUARY
An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in January 2024.
1. “Until We Meet Again”—Marcellus The Singer
2. “Down In The Sippi”—FaLisa JaNaye
3. “Busted Cheating At The Holiday Inn”—Mr. Midnight
4. “I Can’t Live Without You”—Memphis Jackson
5. “Party”—Cecily Wilborn
6. “Let’s Get Married Today”—Stan Butler
7. “Cut Friend”—Sky Whatley
8. “Good Tyme”—P2K DaDiddy feat. Frank Johnson
9. “Older Woman”—S. Dott
10. “Sooner Or Later”—Tonio Armani
11. “Trail Ride”—Jonathan Burton
12. “Mr. Right”—Ced Wade feat. Willie Clayton
13. “Let’s Ride”—David J
14. “Feenin'”—Urban Mystic
15. “Here For You”—Big Mel
16. “Why Not?”—J-Wonn
17. “Mr. Fix It”—Ty Juan
18. “Rooty Tooty”—Cadillac Cho
19. “Ayyyeeee”—Sean Dolby feat. Dani Dolce
20. “Pull Up On Me”—Keneisha
21. “”Steppin’ And Swingin'”—Magic One
22. “Get My Party On”—Meeka Meeka
23. “Big Bone Girl”—Ced Wade feat. Big Mel
24. “How Does It Feel”—Dee Dee Simon
25. “Used To Love Her”—Willie Rich
26. “Show Me That You Love Me”—Delo Brown
27. “Stress Me Out”—Marcellus The Singer
28. “Cafe Shuffle”—MTM Rara
29. “It’s U”—Volton Wright feat. Songbird
30. “Glide”—Rosalyn Candy
31. “It Ain’t Good For You”—Tyree Neal
32. “Make That Body Roll”—Ciddy Boi P
33. “Wind It Up”—Choppa Law
34. “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)”—Joe Nice feat. Jonathan Butler
35. “Flow With It”—Meme Yahsal
36. “Club People”—UNYQC
37. “Take You Out Tonight”—T-Man
38. “Don’t Get Mad At Jody”—Uncle T
39. “Hot And Spicy”—Gentry-Jones
40. “Grownman”—Rico C
January 1, 2024
2023: THE YEAR IN SOUTHERN SOUL
Two questions preoccupy my end-of-year thoughts. 1/ How famous is King George, really? And…2/ What happens to southern soul music if someone becomes so famous, so dominant (say, like Elvis bringing the black sound and style of rhythm and blues into early rock and roll in the late 1950’s) that he or she transcends chitlin’ circuit-based southern soul?
In spite of the Deep South being the birthplace of nearly all American popular music, contemporary southern soul has long been marginalized as a kind of “local” music, not ready commercially or technically for the “prime time” of the national scene, with occasional exceptions elbowing their way onto the national best-selling charts. Now comes the phenomenon of King George. How famous is he? Fame implies that a person has transcended the boundaries of his or her chosen field. I was trolling through a college football-recruiting podcast chat thread recently when I came upon this post:
Minister Philly: “Ohhh, I said ‘King George’ but I meant King Joseph.”
For those who don’t follow college football, King Joseph was a much sought-after linebacker recruit. But the fact that King George was thrown into the post by mistake astounded me, as did the fact that the poster assumed that King George was a name that everyone reading the post would recognize not as a football player but as a well-known performer.
And consider this. In the summer of 2023, in only his sophomore year as a southern soul singer and with only one album-length, solo collection under his recording belt, King George hung out with the likes of Erykah Badu and Snoop Dogg, the latter even reportedly considering signing him to the hiphop label Death Row Records he had bought from Suge Knight in 2022. (FYI, it didn’t get done but not for reasons having to do with King George.) And meanwhile, King George became the “must-see,” indispensable headliner on the Blues Is Alright Tour on every darned tour stop, be it the East Coast, West Coast, the North or the South. 2023 proved King George is a generational talent and the biggest thing to happen to southern soul since Johnnie Taylor.
Southern soul advocates can already see where I’m going with this. Will King George drag the rest of southern soul music along with him like a bride with a long-trained wedding gown, reflecting the comforting glow of his fame over the entire genre as Bob Marley did for reggae in the 80’s and 90’s? The comparison is apt because George’s vocals, like Marley’s, are incomparable in their tone and ability to communicate, and George operates in that mid-tempo “sweet spot of southern soul” (to use a Daddy B. Nice phrase) just as Bob Marley used to do in reggae.
One thing we do know. King George dominated 2023 just as he dominated 2022. Not only was he not a flash in the pan; his 2023 recordings (“Night Time,” “Grown Man,” “Messy,” “U-Turn,” “Lil’ Weight” etc.) were of the same rarefied quality (songwriting, vocalizing, producing) that catapulted him to the top of the southern soul charts in 2022. His collaborations with colleagues were the most coveted projects in the genre. P2K DaDiddy’s “U-Turn,” for instance, changed the trajectory of his entire career, lifting him to an entirely new “pay-grade”. And scores of singers piggy-backed on King George’s songs, recording covers and tributes and parodies and posting them on YouTube.
Meanwhile, for longtime southern soul veterans and prognosticators in particular, 2023 was a year of sheer chaos, illustrating the old adage, You can’t expect something to grow and then be sorry you can’t control it. The workings of the southern soul industry had been changing for years but 2023 seemed to mark a definitive end to the “old” era.
I remember opening my post office box and being surprised I had received an actual CD in a brown mailer (Ecko Records’ “Blues Mix 34: Sensational Southern Soul”). It was the first physical piece of southern soul product I’d received since “Da Legend of Sweet Jeter Jones” a year earlier. Back in the day, I’d get a couple of CD’s a week—and from a much smaller pool of active recording artists. I still have two huge chests of drawers in a back bedroom stuffed with nothing but return-addressed mailers I used to save in case I ever wanted to visit.
In a recent “News & Notes” I complained about another seismic shift in the way things are done: songwriters and producers self-promoting with intrusive “bumps” in the middle of the masters of their songs. That is the direct result of the demise of small indie labels, once the backbone of southern soul distribution, a good portion of which were owned by artists, just as they could be today. The indies sent out bio’s, liner notes and credits. Songwriters and producers (two-thirds of the triumvirate necessary for a hit record) were given their due. Now at best we have a Tower of Babel of social media postings, mostly visual. Amateur hour.
Not only are the old ways becoming extinct. The “old guard” itself has changed. There are a few exceptions. Sir Charles Jones still resides on three Daddy B. Nice Top 100 charts representing successive eras in contemporary southern soul, but Bobby Rush does not; he’s now a nationally-recognized blues artist and no longer qualifies as a practicing southern soul artist. O.B. Buchana, who spans two generations and two charts, occupies a similar yet different kind of no-man’s-land, no longer recording with Ecko or recording much of anything, but still singing what the fans want to hear. That would be his original classic, “Let’s Get Drunk”.
Ten and twenty years ago, there was a set group of artists and it didn’t change much from year to year. It was difficult to break into this insular world of southern soul, but once you did, you were in. You had a long-term lease. Nowadays—and especially in 2023—it’s as if a giant fist swept across the surface of the industry and sent a tableful of fine china flying across the room. All that is gone, and it’s almost easier to be an unknown breaking into southern soul than it is to be a veteran trying to hang in there and retain relevancy. In this sense current southern soul music recalls the insane, tumultuous, and predatory creativity of early rock and roll.
YouTube has been such a game-changer and a veritable playground for the chaos that now characterizes southern soul. I remember when MTV transitioned from 24/7 music videos. Awful. And yet, another generation later, we have MTV music videos to the zillionth degree in YouTube, where once you start playing your favorite southern soul songs your algorithms feed you a never-ending diet of southern soul in the style you prefer. And on this platform you have dozens upon dozens of aspiring southern soul artists a month and hundreds upon hundreds of newcomers a year.
In spite of the demise of the old ways of doing things, however, the music lives on—indeed prospers as it hasn’t since the heyday of Stax and Hi and Malaco, with old stars passing through one set of turnstiles and promising newcomers coming through another. In 2023 we said good-bye to the magnificent Wendell B, the legendary Love Doctor and the beloved Billy “Soul” Bonds while welcoming the inspiring and talented M. Cally, Lady Redtopp, Big Mel, Mike Clark Jr., Cecily Wilborn, Young Guy, Queen Denae and Miron Simpson amongst many, many more. Life is a wheel of change turning inexorably and southern soul mirrors life.
—Daddy B. Nice
December 17, 2023
Daddy B. Nice’s News & Notes
Fame-Seeking Songwriters
It used to be that composers (creators of music and lyrics) recognized that they were a different breed from the performers who had the off-the-charts talent and fearlessness to negotiate those songs in front of an audience. Only think of the great, seminal figures who transitioned what was a fragile thread of southern soul music through the turn of the century into what it is today: Peggy Scott-Adams, Johnnie Taylor, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Marvin Sease, B.B. King, Denise LaSalle, Uncle Milton, Shirley Brown, Z.Z. Hill. Their catalogs were fueled by composers whom the sophisticated and paying-attention segment of the southern soul audience holds in the deepest regard, legendary figures such as Floyd Hamberlin, Lawrence Harper, Harrison Calloway, George Jackson, Charles Richard Cason, Frederick Knight, Jimmy Lewis, to name a few. And as we listen to their tunes today—Frederick Knight’s “Sleep With One Eye Open” sung by Shirley Brown for instance—we can’t imagine a “bump” inserted into the recording saying, “Frederick wrote this.” It would sound almost sacrilegious.
That was what was going through my mind as I listened to “Real Real Woman,” Omar Cunningham’s outstanding new composition, both musically and lyrically, as performed by J’Cenae (#2 Daddy B. Nice’s Top 10 December ’23), in which Omar does just that—says “Omar wrote this”—once in the beginning and once again near the end. It was the second one that killed me, and a few readers noticed when I called out Omar, one noting, “You sure don’t pull punches.” But I believe featuring Omar as Songwriter Supreme the last few months should signal my heart is in the right place. I’m thinking of Cunningham’s own legacy. Twenty years from now, how will he feel when he plays it for himself and/or others? How will he feel about it when the need for promotion is no longer a factor? Will the bumps ever give him a twinge of discomfort?
This practice of inserting commercial bumps that interrupt or “voice-over” the music began in Baton Rouge in the mid-teens with Beat Flippa (Daniel Ross) and Highway Heavy (Charles Lewis). This, you might remember, was the era of the much-heralded Louisiana Blues Brothas and Pokey Bear, a tremblor that shook the southern soul scene in a precursor to the King George earthquake of the last couple of years. Beat Flippa injected each song he wrote/produced with an introductory bump that went, “B-b-b-b-Beat Flippa!” A few years later, another prolific Louisiana composer/producer, Ronald “Slack” Jefferson, would mimic the practice with the bumper “Slack-Traxxxx!”). Tony T (Tony Tatum) was yet another producer who bumped, and in his case, being lesser-known or at least less-visible, it at least had the benefit of being informative.
Lewis (Highway Heavy) took the self-promotion to an even higher level with his “pinky ring music”. Not content to just insert a bump, Heavy insisted on headlining as the performer, in effect elevating the instrumental track over the vocal and turning the credits upside down. Lewis relegated the primary vocalist to “featured artist,” as in “Highway Heavy featuring Champagne” or “Highway Heavy featuring Dave Mack”. Heavy has even appeared in YouTube videos as a vocalist of late, but his rapping hasn’t translated well to southern soul. By the way, in charting Highway Heavy’s hit singles over the years your Daddy B. Nice has almost always switched the primary credit to the vocalist, in keeping with the genre’s long-accepted routine.
Dee Dee Simon Triumphs at Harlem’s Famed Apollo
Dee Dee Simon was crowned winner of “Amateur Night At The Apollo” in New York City on November 22nd. In this history-rich contest, begun in 1934, audience members decide the winner, participating in the competition’s tradition of “cheering” or “booing” each contestant to determine who advances. Former winners include luminaries like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and The Jackson Five. Simon performed “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Coming” and was awarded the Amateur Night Grand Prize of $20,000.
West Love makes her first appearance on the prestigious Blues Is Alright Tour Saturday, February 24th at the Altria Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. And that’s not all. She will be a headliner March 1st at the Savannah Blues Fest (another tour stop) taking place at the Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah, Georgia’s Civic Center.
A new “Sir Charles” is piggy-backing on the Sir Charles name and trademark. The artist is marketing his music under the name Sir Charles Cary and he has recently posted a song video on YouTube titled “The Door” featuring Trinity Eubanks.
“Dance With Me,” the very first CD that El’ Willie released, has been re-released, along with its semi-famous single, “You Got Me Where You Want Me”. El’ Willie first gained renown under his given name William Travis for writing or co-writing (although Theodis Ealey has been loath to acknowledge it) “Stand Up In It” and “All My Baby Left Me Was A Note, My Guitar & The Cookie Jar”—the two hits, in fact, that made Theodis a star. Daddy B. Nice awarded El’ Willie the prestigious Best Male Southern Soul Vocalist of 2007 for the song “You Got Me
Where You Want Me,” but Travis’ solo career under the El’ Willie brand soon devolved into a soft-jazz style (think Michael Franks) which he relentlessly marketed to Daddy B. Nice over the years, a practice which DBN finally skewered in a scathing review titled “What About El’ Willie?”, a parody of the Bill Murray movie “What About Bob?” in which a psychiatrist played by Richard Dreyfuss is driven crazy by a patient (Murray) who obsesses on being close to him.
Website Stuff
The original website went down for ten days in December, a casualty of a server hosting renovation that went awry. The outage took hundreds of southern soul artist guides off-line and interrupted new postings. At its worst I worried that my life’s work, a quarter-century of chronicling southern soul artists, might never be recovered. Because Featured Artists of the Month could not be accessed, either through the original or new website, December’s featured artists will be extended through January 2024.
While we’re on the subject of websites, I will acknowledge the demise of Daddy B. Nice’s monthly “Newsletter”. I know some readers really enjoyed it and the more personal revelations (like my struggles with severe glaucoma and blindness), but it was just too much to handle. SouthernSoulRnB is still a one-man show, with a little help from Nat on ads and new-website postings. I do all the content and am always “behind”.
Speaking of which, apologies to veteran southern southern soul star Jeff Floyd. As I was working with the Comprehensive Index recently I noticed that there was no Jeff Floyd! No links whatever—not even to his two Artist Guides. I have no idea how this happened, but I will be working on rebuilding Jeff Floyd’s links soon. I also need to resume work on the Top 100: New Generation Southern Soul chart after a couple of months of inactivity. The countdown is now up to thirty artists (those at the top) and the next segments will begin appearing in 2024.
Finally…
….A letter-writer in the current Mailbag opines that “one part of the Southern Soul style that I appreciate is the (almost) complete absence of profanities”.” Well, although that’s usually the case….Not always. And you know your Daddy B. Nice isn’t going to shy away from the “grown-folks” aka prurient stuff, don’t you? There’s a new female-version parody of King George’s “Keep On Rollin'” by a young thing named Kam Tunechi. The clothes she’s wearing alone take me back to childhood, as do the weeds growing robustly through the dilapidated steps leading up to her front door. Tunechi uses the “N” word liberally and substitutes “hoe-ing” for “roll-ing”. The video has already drawn 43,000 views. And—as an extra bonus—the hilarious comments below the video are not turned off! It does remind me of the shock of hearing KG’s “Keep On Rollin'” the first time. Now King George is the establishment, “Keep On Rollin'” is the status quo, and it takes this to make our ears perk up.
Merry Christmas, everybody! And Happy New Year!
—Daddy B. Nice
December 2, 2023
TOP 40 SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES: DECEMBER
An expanded list of the songs vying for “Top Ten Singles” in December 2023.
1. “Grown Man”—King George feat. CharMeka Joquelle
2. “Real Real Woman”—J’Cenae
3. “Trail Ride”—Lady Redtopp feat. Bri Rocket
4. “Do You Wanna Go?”—Tucka
5. “Fallin’ For You”—Adrian Bagher
6. “Walk Out On My Love”—Dee Dee Simon
7. “Party”—Mike Clark Jr. feat. E. Realist & Charity Harris
8. “I Need Me A Drink”—Ju Evans
9. “Do It Right”—Meeka Meeka (Meeka Noble)
10. “Country Party”—Myia Bry (Myia B)
11. “Letter”—West Love feat. Myia B
12. “Yummy Yummy”—Itz Karma
13. “Take Care Of Home”—Volton Wright
14. “Sistah”—Sweet Nay, Donyale Renee & Miss Lady Blues
15. “Ladies Night Out”—C.J. Hill
16. “Still Alive”—Freaky B
17. “Jeans & Boots”—Country Boy
18. “Hate On Me” (Re-Entry)—Frank Johnson
19. “Slide”—Madam Latrese
20. “Party All Night”—Royal D
21. “Door Knob”—Nelson Curry
22. “Rock Me Baby”—Vluva
23. “Daddy’s Home (Remix)”—Carolyn Staten feat. Omar Cunningham
24. “That Comeback” (Re-Entry)—M. Cally
25. “I Got Time Today”—Otis Flowers
26. “Old School Love”—Cold Drank
27. “She Took My Drawers”—Lenny Williams
28. “Wiggle”—Michael Brown
29. “Auntie”—F.P.J.
30. “Bigg Rigg”—DJ Trucker feat. Arthur Young
31. “Can’t Make ‘Em Drank”—P2K Dadiddy feat. West Love
32. “Wrapped Up Tied Up Tangled Up”—Jaye Hammer
33. “You Got Me”—Darrell Ruger
34. “Mr. Right”—Ced Wade feat. Willie Clayton
35. “Sideshow”—Willie Rich
36. “Turn It Up”—Chrissy Luvz feat. Hisyde
37. “Lucky Charm”—Jus K
38. “Auntie Love”—Sky Whatley
39. “Make You Moan”—Eric Hunter
40. “Juicy”—Joe D
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Corner December 2022
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