by Kevin Morton | Jun 29, 2011
Those who doubt the influence of gospel upon early rock’n’roll need only listen to “Shout,” this rave-up from the Isley Brothers in 1959. The organist on the track, Professor Herman Stephens, was the organist at the brothers’ church! This...
by Kevin Morton | Jul 12, 2007
by Kevin Morton | Jul 12, 2007
Rufus Thomas was born way back in 1917, in Cayce, Mississippi, but grew up in Memphis, which was fortuitous for both him and the Stax record label. Recorded on June 17, 1963, “Walkin’ The Dog” was a Top Ten hit by November of that same year. Thomas...
by Kevin Morton | Jul 12, 2007
Perhaps the second most used word in pop music (the first being “love”) is “baby.” Has anyone used that word more effectively than Barry White, the songmeister who had a series of hits in the ’70s with his orchestrated grooves, over which...
by Kevin Morton | Jul 12, 2007
With the tremendous soul explosion that occured in 1965, there was also renewed interest in that style’s predecessor, blues music. Slim Harpo, a Louisiana born blues singer/harpist, had dented the Top 40 charts earlier, in 1961. Now, in 1966 he had another...
