Jaded, My Tummy

I was playing an old Bob Marley mix CD I made in college, and this popped on. I used to love this song so much, and now realize that I still do. I can't even explain why. I'm definitely not religious at all, let alone Rastafarian, but this song always spoke to me. Maybe it's because it's about perseverance or having strong faith in the face of despair and opposition. Wikipedia has some interesting things to say about the song. I know now why I never found this on an actual album. Enjoy.

One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain.

I just learned via Wikipedia that Black Music Month was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. How executive of him, haha. Anyway, for my blog, I wanted to dedicate the month to those extremely talented artists who we tragically lost, either too soon (Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Amy Winehouse [I know she's not black, so hush]) or still had time to make another impact (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Don Cornelius). These artists all suffered from some form of mental illness, some combined with drugs, and it's something that I think about constantly.

But, one artist who I regard so highly and suffered from mental illness was Donny Hathaway. He is someone who I believe, unlike fellow keyboard prodigy Stevie Wonder, whose singular brilliance was never fully recognized on wax. While alive, he was mainly famous for the softer, simpler duets he did with Roberta Flack. I just happened to be listening to his song "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," a cover of Nina Simone, around Whitney's passing, and it makes me think of all these artists. Aretha Franklin and a few others also did a cover, but Hathaway's is the best and arguably better than Simone's original. This month, though, I want to post up some artists and music I like that are outside the triumvirate of black music-hip hop, R&B, and jazz-that will be tagged "black music month." So enjoy.

"To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" from Everything Is Everything (1970)

Ok. Ummmmm.... Wow, did I not see this coming. I stayed "Stanning" Ms. Badu even when she tripped out into left field with the brilliant, in my opinion, album New Amerykah, Part 1: 4th Wold War (2008). I didn't think too much of her second installment, Return of the Ankh (2010), but I felt like I began to understand her artistry more clearly than ever with those last two albums, believe it or not.

Well, in this VERY NSFW video, she performs a static, hazy noise-rock cover of one of my favorite Roberta Flack songs, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," with experimental alt-rockers the Flaming Lips. You must see the video for yourself, but it's disgusting. And I'm not talking about the nudity, so just watch. Note that I had to get this from the Perez Hilton site, because it was taken down by YouTube and many other sites. It was taken down by Perez Hilton too, so I found another link. I try not to get too wrapped up in the image of musical artists. I like to focus on the music. With that said, I'm not really feeling this cover.

UPDATE 6/10/12: Ok, so there's been some developments, which I'm as usual, a little late on. Badu went to Twitter and blasted the band for this leaked version, originally by Pitchfork, and Flaming Lips man Wayne Coyne issued a formal apology: OKP News: Erykah Badu’s Statement On “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” Video.

Since I've been working on some overdue reviews (sorry OKP lol), I'm laying back on blog posts with original writing, so check out this folk album I reviewed for Okayplayer. I am not at all well versed in roots music, though I'd like to be. So, this was a challenge. I relied a lot on what the music made me feel in order to critique it, so I thought it came out pretty good, though not necessarily my best writing.

The Spinning Leaves and Hezekiah Jones - Hezekiah Leaves and the Spinning Joneses (2011)



















Founders of the Philadelphia Folk Parade, flagship folk acts The Spinning Leaves (Michael Baker and Barbara Gettes) and Hezekiah Jones (aka Raphael Cutrufello) have done a great deal to establish the City of Brotherly Love as a sustainable scene for roots music. Here on Hezekiah Leaves and the Spinning Joneses, they merge their progressive minds to weave together stories of the everyman, sorrow, nostalgia, whimsy, and deep reflection. Their poetic songs evoke the intended emotions best when they stick to bare-bones arrangements and colorful, acoustic instruments....