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Eddie Brown (musician)
Edward James "Bongo" Brown (September 13, 1932 – December 28, 1984) was an American percussionist known for his work with The Funk Brothers, Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 to 1972. Biography Brown was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on September 13, 1932. He was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He later moved to Detroit and in 1962 he joined The Funk Brothers, Motown Records' in-house session musicians. According to Jack Ashford, Brown started out as a valet for Marvin Gaye and played bongos once Gaye began performing on-stage. Brown played congas, bongos, the gourd and claves. Brown became Motown's leading percussionist and for a decade was on almost every key release from the label. He was known for his sense of humor and for being the "studio clown". Despite being an excellent musician, he could not read music and when handed sheet music by the producers, he would replace it with an adult magazine. When Motown moved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19th century when he established a timber mill and business. The western boundary of the county is formed by the Mississippi River. In the Mississippi Delta region, Clarksdale is an agricultural and trading center. Many African-American musicians developed the blues here, and took this original American music with them to Chicago and other northern cities during the Great Migration. History Early history The Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians had occupied the Delta region for thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers, and had each developed complex cultures that took full advantage of their environment. European Americans built on this past, developing Clarksdale at the intersection of two former Indian routes: the Lower Creek Trade Path, which ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy (Grammy Legend Award), Oscar, and Tony ( EGOT). Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour. Daughter of actress and singer Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, Minnelli was born in Los Angeles, spent part of her childhood in Scarsdale, New York, and moved to New York City in 1961 where she began her career as a musical theatre actress, nightclub performer, and traditional pop music artist. She made her professional stage debut in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of ''Best Foot Forward (musical), Best Foot Forward''Scott Schechter (2004): ''The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook'', pp. 12–13. and received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for starring in ''Flora the Red Menace'' in 1965, which marked the start of her lifelo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the hits "This Will Be", " Inseparable" (1975), and " Our Love" (1977). She returned as a pop singer on the 1987 album ''Everlasting'' and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's " Pink Cadillac". In the 1990s, she sang traditional pop by her father, resulting in her biggest success, '' Unforgettable... with Love'', which sold over seven million copies and won her seven Grammy Awards. She sold over 30 million records worldwide. Early life Natalie Cole was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, to American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole and former Duke Ellington Orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, and raised in the affluent Hancock Park district of Los Angeles. Regarding her childhood, Cole referred to her family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peabo Bryson
Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson has contributed to two Disney animated feature soundtracks. Bryson is a winner of two Grammy Awards. Early years and career Born Robert Peapo Bryson in Greenville, South Carolina, Peabo Bryson spent much of his childhood on his grandfather's farm in Mauldin, South Carolina. His love for music stemmed from his mother, who often took the family to concerts of well-known African-American artists at the time. Bryson marked his professional debut at age 14, singing backup for Al Freeman and the Upsetters, a local Greenville group. It was Freeman's difficulty in pronouncing Bryson's French West-Indian name, Peapo, that led Bryson to perform as Peabo. Two years later, he left home to tour the Chitlin' Circuit with another local band, Moses Dill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blam! (Brothers Johnson Album)
''Blam!'' is the third album by the Los Angeles-based duo Brothers Johnson. Released in 1978, the album topped the ''Billboard'' R&B albums chart and reached number seven on the pop albums chart. Track listing #"Ain't We Funkin' Now" - ( Alex Weir, Louis Johnson, Quincy Jones, Tom Bahler, Valerie Johnson) 5:36 #"So Won't You Stay" - (David Foster, Harvey Mason) 3:20 #"Blam!" - ( Alex Weir, David Foster, George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Quincy Jones, Tom Bahler) 4:55 #"Rocket Countdown / Blastoff" - ( William Reichenbach, Jerry Hey) 0:51 #"Ride-O-Rocket" - (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) 4:43 #"Mista' Cool" - (Ed Eckstine, Larry Williams, Louis Johnson) 3:27 #"It's You Girl" - (George Johnson, Louis Johnson, Quincy Jones) 3:32 #"Streetwave" - ( Alex Weir, Jerry Hey, Louis Johnson, Wayne Vaughn) 5:09 Personnel * George Johnson – lead guitar, lead and backing vocals * Louis Johnson – bass, guitar, piano, synthesizer, lead and backing vocals * Alex Weir – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Brothers Johnson
The Brothers Johnson were an American funk and R&B band consisting of American musicians and brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, with three singles topping the R&B charts (" I'll Be Good to You", "Strawberry Letter 23", and " Stomp!"). Background Formation Guitarist/vocalist George and bassist/vocalist Louis formed the band Johnson Three Plus One with older brother Tommy and their cousin Alex Weir while attending school in Los Angeles, California. When they became professionals, the band backed such touring R&B acts as Bobby Womack and the Supremes. George and Louis Johnson later joined Billy Preston's band and wrote selections for his albums ''Music Is My Life'' and ''The Kids & Me'' before leaving his group in 1973. In 1976, the Brothers covered the Beatles' song, "Hey Jude", for the musical documentary ''All This and World War II''. Quincy Jones hired them to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladys Knight & The Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply The Pips in 1952, derived from a cousin's nickname, the founding members were Gladys Knight, brother Merald "Bubba" Knight, sister Brenda Knight and cousins Eleanor Guest and William Guest. After a couple of years performing in talent shows, the group signed with Brunswick Records in 1957, recording a couple of singles that failed to chart. Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest eventually left the group and were replaced by another cousin, Edward Patten, and a non-relative, Langston George in 1959. This lineup produced the group's first hit single, " Every Beat of My Heart". After the single was released on three different labels, they changed their name to ''Gladys Knight & the Pips'' in 1961. Langston George left the same year and Gladys Kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If I Were Your Woman (song)
"If I Were Your Woman" is a song recorded by American family group Gladys Knight & the Pips. It was written by Pam Sawyer, Clay McMurray, and Gloria Jones, produced by McMurray and arranged by David Van De Pitte. Released in late 1970 from the album of the same title, it spent one week at number 1 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart in January 1971. It was also successful on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at number 9. Chart history Later versions Alicia Keys version Alicia Keys recorded a version of "If I Were Your Woman" in which she sampled the Isaac Hayes version of " Walk On By" for her second studio album ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003). Keys sampled the same loop of Hayes' song the Notorious B.I.G. sampled on his song "Warning", which was produced by Easy Mo Bee, who co-produced Keys' version. Keys would later record a full version of the song for her first live album ''Unplugged'' (2005); it received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What's Going On (song)
"What's Going On" is a song by American singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye and produced by Gaye himself. The song marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material. Later topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossing over to number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it would sell over two million copies, becoming Gaye's second-most successful Motown song to date. It was ranked at number 4 in ''Rolling Stone's'' 500 Greatest Songs of all Time in 2004 and 2010. Inspiration and writing The song's inspiration came from Renaldo "Obie" Benson, a member of the Motown vocal group the Four Tops, after he and the group's tour bus arrived at Berkeley on May 15, 1969. While there, Benson witnessed police brutality and violence in the city's People's Park du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups in pop, rock and roll, soul and R&B music history. Referred to as Motown's "soul supergroup", the Miracles recorded 26 Top 40 Pop hits, sixteen of which reached the ''Billboard'' Top 20, seven top 10 singles, and a number one single ("The Tears of a Clown") while the Robinsons and Tarplin were members. Following the departure of Tarplin and the Robinsons, the rest of the group continued with singer Billy Griffin and managed by Martin Pichinson who helped rebuild the Miracles, they scored two final top 20 singles, "Do It Baby" and " Love Machine", a second No. 1 hit, which topped the charts before the group departed for Columbia Records in 1977, recording as a quintet with Billy's brother Donald Griffin replacing Marv Tarplin, where afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Second That Emotion
"I Second That Emotion" is a 1967 song written by Smokey Robinson and Al Cleveland. First charting as a hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on the Tamla/Motown label in 1967, "I Second That Emotion" was later a hit single for the group duet Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations, also on the Motown label. Song origin One morning in 1967, Robinson and Cleveland were shopping at Hudson's, a Detroit department store. Robinson found a set of pearls for his wife, Claudette. "They're beautiful." he said to the salesperson. "I sure hope she likes them." Cleveland then added "I second that emotion." Both songwriters laughed at Cleveland's malapropism; he had meant to say "I second that motion." The two were immediately inspired to write a song using the incorrect phrase. The Miracles' original version The Miracles' original version of the song finds lead singer and co-writer Smokey Robinson courting a girl who, weary of the game of love, prefers to string her men along and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Temptations
The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single " Cloud Nine" in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music. The band members are known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are among the most successful groups in popular music. Featuring five male vocalists and dancers (save for brief periods with fewer or more members), the group formed in 1960 in Detroit under the name ''the Elgins''. The founding members came from two rival Detroit vocal groups: Otis Williams, Elbridge "Al" Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of Otis Williams & the Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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