When it comes to songs that offer than aural healing I’ve been desperately needing, it has nothing to do with genre or a particular artist. It’s entirely a lyrical thing. And sometimes it’s just the chorus that lifts me up.

This post is about to get random! Are you ready?

5. Deliver Me From My Enemies by Vivian “Yabby You” Jackson.

I wrote a longer post about this song for the Game Well and Truly Over blog’s 2010 Music Project. And it’s true, I really do need to listen to this song at least once a week. The horns, the rhythm, the harmonies all intoxicate me. But the lyrics say it ALL.

Deliver me, oh my God, from my enemies.
Oh I? plea unto thee, to guide me.
Cause me to hear thy love and kindness in the morning.
For in thee do I trust, cause me to walk in thy way
For I lift up my soul right up to thee,
Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God,
Thy spirit…it is good. Lead me in uprightness.

Yabby You passed away this year, after a brain aneurysm. His musical legacy will never be forgotten by fans of roots reggae music.

4. One Day I’ll Fly Away by Randy Crawford.

I said it before and I’ll say it again – Randy Crawford’s voice does things to me. There’s such a distinctive quality to it. One Day I’ll Fly Away is so beautiful to me. Despite the fact that the song is about leaving a relationship behind, it’s just the chorus and her soaring voice in the song’s bridge… Listening to this song at the end of a hard day gives me everything I need.

3. Shake it Off by Mariah Carey.

Ooooh, Mariah. Although I can’t get with her near-constant half nakedness, she can craft a song that delivers the goods and then some. Shake it Off is a sassy modern day, brand-name dropping dismissal to a lover, but the chorus totally lifts my spirits. When I’m struggling to get my mood back up where it should be, this track does it everytime.

2. Ain’t No Stopping Us Now by McFadden and Whitehead.

The quintessential 70’s disco upliftment track! The beat is mellow but still makes me wanna dance, and the lyrics are so perfect in every way. This song is so perfect for the times when the negative energy of others threatens to infect you. Brush them off. Hold your head high. And let this song take you onward and upward. If you’ve ever been held down before, I KNOW you refuse to be held down anymore!

1. Bless Me by Garnett Silk and Sizzla.

Few reggae vocalists did it better than Garnett. This song is exactly what I was talking about in my post about lyrical therapy. In the Caribbean, sometimes there’s no divide between religious music, and the music that gets the party started. I love the balance of Garnett Silk’s original track, countered with Sizzla’s mournful chanting. And that refrain pops into my head whenever I feel weak and stressed. Bless me, bless me so that they can’t curse me. Garnett Silk left this world far too soon. RIP.

Those are the songs that helped me get over this week! What songs help you get through, when times get rough?

Related posts:

1. Throwback Thursday — A Decade Since Miseducation
2. Throwback Thursday — Althea and Donna
3. Throwback Thursday — One in a Million

What a sad way to kick off a Throwback Thursday post.

CNN reports that he passed away last night, and details aren’t forthcoming but his death was related to complications from his 1982 car accident.

“His beloved family surrounded him. The world has lost one of its greatest voices and performers.” “His family is devastated. He has three children and, even though it was expected, it still hurts,” his former publicist, Lisa Barbaris, said.

When I was a young’un, Teddy’s music was too grown and sexy for me. But as I got older and started digging in the crates (so to speak), I came to appreciate his smoldering, quiet storm style of music.

Thanks to the hip hop generation, samples from songs like Love TKO became part of popular music again, and became one of the top 10 hip hop samples of all time (at least according to that YouTube video).

Close the Door, live. Ooooh wee. That’s the Teddy P I wasn’t allowed to see as a kid, and the Teddy P we all remember – sweaty, sexy, with all those gold medallions around his neck. It doesn’t get much sexier than that.

This song never fails to put a smile on my face. Even the title. It’s so good, loving somebody When Somebody Loves You Back. So true, so uplifting.

And my favorite Teddy Pendergrass song came from his days with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

Yes, Teddy sang lead on If You Don’t Know Me By Now, and ripped hearts in two with those powerful lyrics back in 1972. Soul music doesn’t get much sweeter.

Teddy Pendergrass gave us so many classic soul hits, and set the bar so high for R&B singers to come. His passing comes after years of suffering, after being paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident back in 1982. Teddy P, we thank you for your music and the inspiration you gave the world. Rest in Peace.

Related posts:

1. The Vortex
2. Praying for Morgan
3. Throwback Thursday — Luther, Luther, Luther

Like many of my peers in the blogosphere, I’ve been trying my best to move on. But it’s hard.

I still can’t quite believe — a week ago, Michael Jackson passed away.

Even typing that phrase feels wrong.

I wrote a tribute from the depths of my heart and then tried to look away from the onslaught of rumors and almost-news that took over the internet and television. I got into Facebook fights and Twitter spats with people who just were itching to disparage his name as soon as the tragic news came. I tried not to read the nasty online comments and poorly timed jokes. I tried to just remember the music. The dancing. The talent.

Michael had talent to spare. When he was at his peak, nobody could come close. To this day, I can’t think of anyone who compares — sorry, Beyonce fans, that includes Bey. Michael Jackson revolutionized entertainment and held it down from the age of 7, well into his 30’s. There will never be another like him.

Having said all of that, I’ve been disappointed with the so-called tributes I’ve seen people trying to pass off. I didn’t torture myself with the BET Awards in its completion, but I watched enough YouTube clips to think they could have done better.

Soulbounce has been doing a phenomenal job of putting the best tributes together, for example from Erykah and the Roots (courtesy of Erykah’s Twitter, click here for a free download of that BTW), to Stevie Wonder, to Raphael Saadiq. All artists I would have loved to see together, on stage, paying fitting tribute to the King of Pop. Another artist I wish could have contributed — Marsha Ambrosius.

The former lead singer of Floetry has an incredible vocal instrument. AND she wrote one of my absolute favorite latter period Michael Jackson songs, Butterflies.

Marsha’s version gives me goosebumps, I swear. Her voice is absolutely angelic.

And just for good measure, here’s Michael’s version, from the Invincible album.

Sorry for those who are sick of hearing about Michael Jackson — these wounds are going to take a while to heal. The tributes aren’t about to die down anytime soon. The King of Pop left too enormous of a shadow. Saying he’ll be missed is an understatement. Like Quincy Jones said in this awesome, candid interview — it still feels surreal.

Who would you like to see pay tribute to Michael? Who do you think could do justice?

Related posts:

1. Michael Jackson. Last Goodbye.
2. RIP, Michael Jackson
3. Throwback Thursday — One in a Million

Koko Taylor was the recipient of more blues awards than just about any other artist, and for more than forty years she served up traditional blues music — hot, strong, lusty, from the gut. Wang Dang Doodle was her biggest hit, but there’s something about Ernestine I just love.

If you’re new to the sounds of Koko Taylor and Chicago Blues, check out her latest album, Old School. Koko didn’t release albums often, but when she did she poured her heart and soul into them.

RIP, Koko Taylor. There must be an incredible jam session going on, past those pearly gates.

Related posts:

1. Afrobella of the Week: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, rock n’ roll pioneer
2. Go ‘Head Michelle!
3. RIP Isaac Hayes

Bellas in the Seventies knew how to do it!

The golden era of natural hair gave me much hair and style inspiration. Today I want to shine a light on two underrated pioneers in the Jamaican reggae scene, Althea and Donna.

In the Seventies, the late great producer Joe Gibbs made 17 year old Althea Forrest and 18 year old Donna Reid international superstars with the song Uptown Top Ranking. They ranked among some of the earlier female reggae DJs, chatting on Seventies roots riddims just like the guys did.

DJs like Althea and Donna, Sister Carol. Sister Nancy, and Mother Liza, were the predecessors leading the way for later dancehall queens to follow.

Check them out, with their TWA and big crazy fro in full effect, in their khaki suit and ‘ting.

The song became number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1978, making Althea and Donna the youngest pair to hit the top of the UK charts. And to this day, Uptown Top Ranking is a classic that has spawned many imitators, borrowers, and remakes. UK music site Freaky Triggerwrote a great tribute to the track, here.

Althea and Donna’s album, Uptown Top Ranking is worth a listen, but few tracks hit as hard or were as original as Uptown, IMO. I love the freespirited vibe of that track. You can check out No More Fighting, If You Don’t Love Jah, and many of their other tracks on YouTube, but they aren’t as fun.

One very underrated track by Althea (sans Donna), is Down Town Thing. Althea croons about going shopping and drinking Heineken. Sounds like a plan for the weekend!

I’m trying to make Throwback Thursday a regular thing again, bellas. Tell me how you feel about it. Nah pop no style, I’m strictly roots!

Related posts:

1. Throwback Thursday – Songs That Heal and Protect
2. Throwback Thursday — Earth Wind and Fire!
3. Throwback Thursday

Sad news in the reggae world tonight, as one of Jamaican music’s pioneers has passed away. Rest in peace, Alton Ellis, the godfather of rocksteady. According to the BBC:

“Ellis was still performing until August this year, when he collapsed after a concert in central London.

He leaves more than 20 children. “

The size of the family Alton Ellis left behind doesn’t surprise me in the slightest — he was a smooth brother and if his lyrics are anything to be believed, a romantic at heart.

Alton Ellis’ best known hit was probably I’m Still In Love With You, which was covered by Sean Paul and Sasha a few years back.

There are some great Alton Ellis reggae covers to be found in YouTube’s deep crates — his version of Bye Bye Love is sweet, and I love his cover of It’s a Shame.

My favorite of his hits is “I’m Just a Guy.” That’s a sentiment you don’t often hear in music now. Humility, romance, and earnest yearning for love. I hope you find it as refreshing as I do.

Alton Ellis’ tune was reworked into an ode to ganja and Rastafari by Jacob Miller, as “I’m Just a Dread.”

Ellis was known as a dapper dude and a consummate performer, as you can see in this live version of “Girl, I’ve Got a Date.”

It takes a certain kind of skill to pull off a velvet suit. Alton Ellis had it down cold.

Soul Sides and Trojan Records have posted Alton Ellis tributes, and Que Pasa 305 has a great tribute to Studio One, complete with downloadable tracks.

You will be missed, Alton Ellis. And your musical legacy will live on.

Related posts:

1. Perfect Example
2. RIP, Teddy Pendergrass
3. Throwback Thursday — Althea and Donna

Here and Now will forever remind me of my brother Clint’s wedding — that was the song he and his wife danced to. A House Is Not A Home takes me back to Sunday mornings at my home in Trinidad, when my father would enlist all of us to help with the housecleaning. Loud music was a must to complete the task, and Luther was often in the mix. I knew Luther’s version of Superstar long before I knew who The Carpenters were (and long, LONG before I heard Sonic Youth’s version which is so different from Luther’s. Proof that that song is timeless). But Luther’s like Aretha Franklin in that sense — once he covered your song, it was HIS. Forever. His voice is so often imitated, but there will never, ever be another Luther Vandross.

We’re rapidly approaching the anniversary of his passing — I still remember exactly where I was when I first heard the news. The news left me so sad and so shocked — especially when I realized he was only 54 years old. On July 1, 2005, Luther Vandross passed away from causes that were never publicly released, although it was well known that he dealt with weight loss and food issues. Luther’s weight vacillated greatly throughout his career, and he was known for moments of tremendous indulgence. All of the reports about Luther’s death addressed his health issues — he suffered with hereditary diabetes and hypertension, and had a stroke in 2003 days before his 52nd birthday. He never fully recovered from the effects of that, although he went on to release the poignant Dance With My Father shortly afterwards. He won four Grammys, but he was unable to celebrate the victory. Luther won song of the year for the song, Dance With My Father — the video for which, like Aaliyah’s Miss You, brings me practically to tears every time I watch it. Luther described that song as his “Piano Man,” and it’s heartbreaking that he isn’t around to perform it today.

Luther’s life and music inspire me creatively, his music stirs my soul and can bring prickly tears to the back of my eyes. But the circumstances of his passing inspire me in another way — Luther Vandross succumbed too young, to health conditions that are too common in America. Especially in the African American community. These are health conditions that plague my own family. If you’re like me, you’ve probably got some diabetes somewhere in the fam, and in my case, high blood pressure definitely runs close in the blood. I am doing everything I can now, while I can, to keep the health issues that simmer in my bloodstream at bay. It’s a daily struggle, one that I’m going to be writing about more often.

Luther Vandross left this world too soon, but he left us with such a glorious gift. So much great music, so many wonderful songs. What’s my favorite Luther song? That’s easy. Never Too Much! Oh, how I love that song. It showcases his voice’s incredible range and ability so perfectly, IMO.

Here’s Luther LIVE on The Early Show in 2000.

Look at how rapt that audience is. Listen to how flawless his voice is. Wow. I wish I could have been there.

Do you have a favorite Luther song? Did you love Luther’s spirit? Tell me how he made you feel. And happy Thursday — it’s almost the weekend!

Related posts:

1. Throwback Thursday — Earth Wind and Fire!
2. Throwback Thursday – Songs That Heal and Protect
3. Throwback Thursday — Is It Because I’m Black?