Angel Forrest

Montreal is filled with talent. Canada on a whole is filled with talent. I find it amazing how I discover local talent doing amazing things. By accident or maybe it was fate, I was reading the Montreal International Jazz Festival program guide. Within minutes, I saw a photo of an intense looking vocalist. The one thought that came to my mind was are her vocals as intense as the photo? I read the blurb and sure enough the press release said as much. I went to YouTube in the hopes of finding footage and there was plenty for me to view. I noticed the name Janis Joplin appearing on the web pages mentioning Angel Forrest. I would understand why when I heard her sing.

I'm a big fan of exceptional female vocalists if you're new to my blog. I always liked the raspy, hoarse quality of Tina Turner, Bonnie Tyler & Alannah Myles.  Angel Forrest has entered that elite group. Her singing Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here makes me wish I was there.



The last time I caught one of her live performances was a few years ago. I arrived so late that I was convinced I'd miss her performance. According to the schedule, she was third on the show roster. When I got to Berri Square, I was upset because no security or even volunteer could confirm whether or not she performed.

To my surprise, the show MC announced her name and I was immediately relieved. I was treated to a mini set of Angel Forrest's raw vocals and stage presence. I only wish I was closer to the stage but being on the grass from a distance allowed me to take in more of her vocal quality. There was a couple seated in the grass near enough for me to see the woman rocking out to Angel's finale Like The Way I Do.

No disrespect to the other artists on the bill but I left after Forrest's finale. I had to attend another festival later that night. I was just extremely relieved I got to hear Angel Forrest live that night rather than later.

Speaking of sooner & later, the soonest Angel Forrest performance is scheduled on July 3 for the 2013 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour (1965)

In The Midnight Hour is the most expensive of all the Wilson Pickett vinyls I own.

It's an original pressing and I decided to not let it pass me by upon seeing it at a Montreal record store.



Aside from the title track, there are a lot of early recordings that were released prior to 1965 that can be found on the album.

Don't Fight It is so similar to In The Midnight Hour that an Atlantic Records 7" repressing has both singles on opposite sides.



In The Midnight Hour is the album from which Wilson Pickett's legacy as one of soul's greatest entertainers starts.

Martha Cooper

If Spike Lee is hip hop's director, Martha Cooper is its photographer.

Years ago, while riding a subway heading to Fulton Street in Brooklyn, I was distracted, missed my stop and resolved to get out at the Fulton Street stop. 

I learned I was in Manhattan and no where near the stop was accustomed.

 

There was a bookstore near that subway stop and I ventured in.  Of all the books I saw, one in particular called to me.  It was filled with vintage photographs or early 1980s New York hip hop culture.   That era of hip hop history is of prime interest to me. 

Meeting Martha Cooper during the first Montreal Mural Festival was one of my summer's sweetest highlights.

On that Saturday afternoon, I was sitting on St. Laurent Blvd and a local boombox enthusiast was heading north towards me.  I called out to him and we spoke.  He eventually showed me the back of the boombox in his hands.  From the moment I realized it was autographed by Martha Cooper, I freaked out and had three immediate thoughts. First was that Martha Cooper was in Montreal! Second was how the hell would I be able to find and meet her? Third was if there was any hope of getting my Hip Hop Files book signed that weekend.

I had not known what she looked like and was convinced I would scour the Main and introduce myself to any older woman photographer in hopes of landing the legendary lady.  That scared me somewhat because for all I knew if I was looking for her north, she could have been heading south and vice versa. The boombox enthusiast joined me as we roamed the road trying to find Martha Cooper until I broke from the crew for a quick bite to eat. 

A text message told me where I could find him and to hurry in doing so.  As I approached to the blaring beats from the box, they pointed me in the direction of a woman with a camera a few feet away.  I introduced myself and the story about how I came to own her book.  Getting it autographed was unfortunately not in my cards but I settled for smiles and photos with Cooper.

Even though I didn’t know she would be there, Martha Cooper was one of the reasons I was at Montreal Mural Festival.  Her photography has been influential on me.  Martha Cooper inspired me to take photography more seriously, especially where urban street arts are concerned.  I went from admiring photography from the likes of herself and Annie Leibovitz to creating my own.

My time at Montreal Mural Festival would not happen had it not been for the organizers, sponsors and Martha Cooper.  

Meeting Martha Cooper again and having her sign my Hip Hop Files book during the Montreal Mural Festival was easily one of my summer's sweetest memories and highlights.

The Notorious B.I.G.

I was listening to The Rub – The History of Hip-Hop (1994) on the way to work one day. 

The first MC of the mix was the late, great Notorious with his verse from the late Craig Mack’s Flava in ya Ear (Remix). 

The other Notorious tracks chosen for the mix made me realize just how B.I.G. he was. 

He managed to be the hip hop king of New York before he died. 

I’ll never forget arriving to New York in the summer of 1996. 

The first song I heard was 112’s Only You (Remix) and he starts that song as well. 

March 9 has been imprinted as the anniversary of The Notorious B.I.G. death.

We’ll always love Big Poppa.

10 Best Female MCs

The Women & Hip Hop Conference held in Montreal got me to thinking about the state of hip hop and female MCs on a whole.

For a few years, it appeared that the female MC is rare like an endangered species. In some ways, they might be.

There is the issue of there being too few to listen to today. If and when I take notice of a female MC, I treasure them like a worker for wildlife preservation.

My enjoyment for female MCs is two-fold. As it should be clear through multiple posts, I love female vocalists. Their voices are pleasing to my ears. If a lady is lyrical, I’m in even more bliss.

From my days of discovering hip hop in the late 1980s to not caring much about it now, I am nostalgic and reflective and decided on finding out just who have been my favorite ladies on the microphone.

Below are the female MCs I consider to be the 10 Female MCs that I've been blessed to have heard.

MC Lyte 

The Lady of Rage 

  Lauryn Hill 

Tiye Phoenix 

 Shawnna 

Queen Latifah

 Rah Digga 

Missy Elliott 

Jean Grae

 Salt-N-Pepa

 

I dedicated one of my former radio show playlists to female MCs of the 1990s glory days of hip hop.

Please make yourself familiar with below to bring you up to speed.

Visit the Mixcloud page to listen and the Podomatic site to download.

The Suite Delight - 2014-09-09 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - 2014-09-09 Playlist:

1. Nikki D - Lettin' Off Steam
2. Michie Mee & L.A. Luv - Jamaican Funk
3. Roxanne Shanté - Have A Nice Day
4. Salt-N-Pepa - Tramp
5. The Fugees - Ready Or Not (Salaam's Ready For The Show Remix) 
6. Bahamadia - 3 Tha Hard Way
7. Gang Starr - You Know My Steez (3 Men And A Lady Remix) feat Kurupt & The Lady of Rage 
8. Flipmode Squad – We Got Cha Opin (Part 2)
9. LL Cool J - I Shot Ya (Remix) feat Prodigy, Foxy Brown, Fat Joe & Keith Murray 
10. Queen Latifah - Inside Out
11. Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce - It's My Beat
12. MC Lyte - I Cram 2 Understand U

Karen Carpenter

 

A few days ago, I was doing my usual rounds at local record stores and shops.

On this particular day, I found not one but two Carpenters cassettes.  

One of  them was part of a greatest hits collection and another was one of their albums in entirety.  Funny enough, a number of tracks on the album appeared on the greatest hits collection.  Not funny was my picking them both up.

When I arrived home, I caught wind via social media that day or the one prior was Karen Carpenter's birthday.

I felt it too late to have written about her and post in on social media. I promised to take care of that at a later date. This year marks my return to blogging.  This is that time. Karen Carpenter is the subject of my first blog post after being dormant for almost a decade.  

I will admit to being a Carpenters fan and most specifically of Karen Carpenter.  

I was a boy when I learned she died. 

   

As little of her that I knew, I felt sadness from hearing the woman who sang songs I heard on the radio passed away.

I have a couple of Carpenters greatest hits albums in my collection.  The tapes were new additions.  

I planned to play the tapes while I was in the kitchen or on the laptop.  

There is a subtle beauty and soothing quality to Karen Carpenter's voice.  When listening to "Top of The World'', one can't say they don't feel like her vocals and the song don't indeed make you feel like you are on top of the world.  I will admit to feeling that when I hear that song.  It is my favorite of their songs. 

RIP Karen Carpenter and thank you for your music.

Eddy Grant

Bryan Adams may have had summer of 1969, but I had the one of 1983.

Michael was thrilling, Lionel was going at it all night long, Eurythmics was dreaming sweetly and Eddy Grant was talking about a hot street.

When I was a kid, the grown-ups loved and grooved to Eddy Grant's Say I Love You. As young as I was, I was learning the names of artists and songs. There was no photo of Grant for me to know what he looked like. I only knew his voice until music videos would change that. Like not fully realizing that Michael Jackson was part of The Jackson 5 and grew up to beat it, I barely realized he was the same Eddy Grant from the adults' 12" single.

I loved Electric Avenue in the summer of 1983 among other songs. I love it to this day and obviously played it on my former radio show a few years ago. I was too focused on Michael Jackson to have asked for the Eddy Grant album. I managed to buy it for myself many years later and discover more of his solo and Equals gems.

I have the utmost respect for Eddy Grant. I used to hear about him recording music as early as the 60s & 70s but it was not until I studied him more that I learned his history. I love classic rock & soul but The Equals managed to incorporate Caribbean rhythms to their music.

Walking on Sunshine has sort of become my own personal Say I Love You but there are too many to mention now. I missed him at Osheaga but if the chance comes for me to see him here again in Montreal, I will do what I can to not miss him.

The Equals - Born Ya! (1976)

A local record vendor made it clear to me that The Equals music of the 1970s was funkier than their 1960s output.

I was already aware of that fact. 

What I was not really aware of was how diffcult it is to come across a copy of their very funky 1970s output.

The local record vendor was unable to assist me in securing a copy of Born Ya! 

He said he was not parting with his own copy.

The photo of the album above was taken while I was at The Afrika Bambaataa Master of Records Open Archive.

Who knew that would be the only time I would hold the album in my hands? 

Who knew that I'd eventually want a copy of my own?

A few years ago, a copy was on sale at Yonge Street Play De Record.  I tried to haggle and bargain my way to a lower price but there was no budging.  There was no record for me either.  

My last purchase on Discogs was for a copy of Born Ya! which was arriving from Trinidad & Tobago. My copy doesn't look too far from the one in the photo above.  It is a few handles away from needing the makeshift tape.  The condition is not worth talking about either. 

 

At least I can say the album is no longer on my wantlist. 

Grand Puba

Grand Puba was one of my most sought after MCs in the early 90s.

I was barely aware he was part of Masters of Ceremony until I did a little research on him in the late 90s.

There were many reasons why he made so many posse cut and remix appearances at that time.

With the exception of Slick Rick or maybe the late Big Pun, his flavorful, silky smooth flow was unlike his contemporaries.



Brand Nubian’s One For All is a classic album and his verse on the title track is possibly his most memorable.

I was very happy on the day I found a DVD compilation of Yo! MTV Raps performances.  

An early Grand Puba & Mary J. Blige performance was among them.

Bobby Womack

It took me a while to get to Bobby Womack.



From jazz to soul/funk artists and groups, I was finding covers of Bobby Womack songs on the 1970s albums I'd get my hands on.

Both Rufus featuring Chaka Khan & Lou Donaldson had covers of You're Welcome, Stop on By on their minds to have recorded their versions of the song.

There was a record store on St. Laurent BLVD that allowed you to rent CD's from a very limited stock. There was a Bobby Womack compilation among their choices and after hearing the first song I literally and figuratively asked What Is This?

He had a vocal quality comparable to Wilson Pickett and James Brown but gruffer and rougher. Ironically on the subject, he wrote dozens of songs for Wilson Pickett in the mid to late 1960s.  



During one of my most bittersweet trips to New York a few years ago, I was roaming the streets and stumbled across a book/record store.  I didn't know they sold records until I walked in.  I bought the Bobby Womack Greatest Hits album up above among a handful of others.  I was disappointed it didn't have What Is This, Across 110th Street or It's All Over Now but was more than happy with the rest of the track listing.    



I bought The Soul Years CD  years ago around the time I started this rough draft about Bobby Womack.  

On June 28, 2014, I completed this draft on the day Womack died.  

R.I.P.

The Equals

At one of the Montreal Record Conventions, I picked up a copy of The Equals' Baby, Come Back album. 

It was on a Black RCA label and not orange but I took it indeed. 

I'm not that much of a record snob to turn it away.

Eddy Grant was a member of The Equals before he went solo. Their music is right up my alley. It's eclectic, rare and underrated. Those are all the elements to get my attention.

Anywhere I found that record was charging $25-30 for it. Their other albums are still in the $20+ range. I saw and held an Equals album at the WFMU Record Fair one year that I never thought I'd see. 

I asked the vendor for that same album the following year and was told it was sold that day, not too long before I asked him for it.

As for their other albums, I'll play it by ear whether I'll complete their discography. Right now, I'm just happy to finally have that Equals wax among my stacks.

Below is the playlist of the Birthday Celebration to bring you up to speed. 

Click here to download.



DJ Solespin 2014 Birthday Celebration Playlist:

1. The Rascals - Adrian's Birthday 
2. Super Eagles - Love's A Real Thing 
3. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - Let The Sunshine In 
4. The Flaming Ember - Westbound #9 
5. Kool & The Gang - Rated X 
6. War - Me & Baby Brother 
7. Miles Davis - Spanish Key 
8. The Equals - Laurel & Hardy 
9. The Temptations - (I Know) I'm Losing You 
10. Johnnie Taylor - (I Wanna) Testify 
11. Hokis Pokis - Nowhere 
12. Rare Earth - I Just Want To Celebrate 
13. Bob James - Nautilus

De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)

My DNA should be called De La Soul.

They are among my top 3 most important hip hop acts.

It has been said that a reader does not choose a book, the book chooses the reader. There are some pieces of art that speak directly to us from some reason or another, as if they were made for us. This is my connection to De La Soul's debut.

3 Feet High and Rising is one of the most important albums of my life, hip hop or otherwise. It is most probably contains the formula to my music knowledge and taste. The group, albums and music are my most important sources of creative inspiration. It is with ultimate pride and privilege I write about this monumental music.

3 Feet High & Rising celebrates its 37th anniversary this year.

The entire De La Soul catalog was available for free download in 2014.

Thank you Prince Paul.

De La Soul - Jenifa (Taught Me) & Potholes In My Lawn (1988)

Hip hop came to me and I took it all. I wanted to know, hear and have more in high school. Here's a little story that must be told.

One day I was hanging near the high school lounge and heard a song that blew me away. I asked the guy that brought the tape to school for the name of the song and the group. He knew neither.  I was left to fend for myself and remembered hearing the name Jennifer, Oh Jenny. The group was still unknown. I got my answer when I went to Dutchy's Record Cave and saw a pink 12" with three guys doing landscaping. The group name was De La Soul.

They looked nothing like any of the rappers of the day. They had no gold chains. Their rhymes & songs were as varied as the samples they used. Something about them and those songs called to me.

The Jenifa 12" was among the three first hip hop vinyl purchases of my life. I would later buy nearly all the De La Soul 12" I could find for 3 Feet High & Rising and in my folly, I would eventually sell them. When I got back into vinyl a few years ago, I realized what a colossal mistake it was to part with my De La Soul vinyls. My quest was to find them all, those I had before or not, and guard them with my life. 

I've been pretty succesful on that front.

Please make yourself familiar with the link below for more

Below is a playlist of a podcast to bring you up to speed. 

Click here to download.



The Suite Delight February 18, 2014 Playlist:

1. The Incredible Bongo Band - Let There Be Drums
2. The Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
3. Aretha Franklin - Chain of Fools
4. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway - Back Together Again
5. The Souljazz Orchestra - Rejoice Pt. 2
6. Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
7. Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine
8. Asheru & Blue Black of The Unspoken Heard - B-Boy
9. Roc C - Don't Stop feat. Oh No & Pox Dog
10. De La Soul - Potholes In My Lawn 
11. Superlover Cee & Casanova Rud - Do The James
12. Master Ace - Go Where I Will Send Thee
13. Koncept – Aspirations feat. Soul Khan
14. Abdominal - T.Ode feat. Notes to Self