Black Music Sunday is a weekly collection highlighting all issues Black music, with over 240 tales overlaying performers, genres, historical past, and extra, every that includes its personal vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll discover some acquainted tunes and maybe an introduction to one thing new.
As we transfer into 2025, it’s time to pay homage to some musical artists who mentioned goodbye to this earthly realm in 2024. They sang and performed throughout the spectrum, whether or not gospel, R&B, disco, doo-wop, folks, blues, or jazz.
We regularly say within the Black group that our departed have “joined the ancestors.” The blessing we obtain is that the reward of their music can be with us without end, till we too be a part of them ourselves.
In January, we misplaced Marlena Shaw (Sept. 22, 1939–Jan. 19, 2024).
James M. Manheim wrote Shaw’s biography for Musician Information.
Marlena Shaw was a stage title, and previous to its creation she glided by the names of Marlina Burgess and Marlene Bradshaw. Her introduction to music got here from her uncle Jimmy Burgess. Burgess was a jazz trumpeter who carried out with pianist Horace Silver and introduced his niece on stage to sing throughout a program on the famed Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem neighborhood when she was ten. “He introduced me to good music through records—Dizzy [Gillespie], Miles [Davis], a lot of gospel things, and Al Hibbler, who really knows how to phrase a song,” Shaw instructed the New York Instances.
Shaw might be finest remembered for her 1969 cowl of “California Soul,” written by Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson and first recorded by The Messengers in 1967.
However NPR producer Phil Harrell dismisses “California Soul”—in favor of a Shaw track that didn’t obtain well-liked consideration.
The Ignored Activist Energy Of Marlena Shaw
Marlena Shaw is a extremely extraordinary soul/jazz singer. She was by no means fairly as well-known as she may need been, partly as a result of she was laborious to categorize. “California Soul” is a cool track, however its lyrics are form of ridiculous. They do not actually say something aside from, like, “California’s cool,” “People are in love,” ? It is nearly insistently and buoyantly banal, significantly after we examine them to the lyrics of “Woman of the Ghetto,” that are actually complicated and layered and profoundly provocative.
On the one hand, “Woman of the Ghetto” gives a extremely highly effective problem to those experiences that have been popping out within the Sixties, usually created by white city sociologists who have been speaking in regards to the situations of the ghetto and what was mistaken with Black America — usually blaming Black individuals themselves. And Marlena Shaw’s track is outstanding partly as a result of she speaks from the first-person’s perspective and he or she’s additionally talking, considerably, from a lady’s perspective: “I am a woman of the ghetto.” That issues. She’s capable of specific issues about home points: How does any person feed their kids? What do you do in regards to the rats that may be crowding in in your home house?
Right here’s a dwell model of Shaw’s “Woman of the Ghetto,” recorded on the 1973 Montreux Jazz Competition in Switzerland.
April introduced the passing of Arthur Paul Tavares (Nov. 12, 1942-April 15, 2024), from the group Tavares.
Chris Rizik wrote his obituary for SoulTracks.
Tavares founding member Arthur “Pooch” Tavares dies after ALS battle
Initially known as “Chubby and the Turnpikes,” the Tavares brothers spent the late ’60s and early ’70s of their native New England overlaying tunes of R&B greats at varied golf equipment, whereas attempting to land a document deal. They lastly scored a contract with Capitol Information’ then-new black music division and launched their first single, “Check It Out,” in 1973. It soared to the highest 10 on the R&B charts and have become the group’s first high 40 pop hit. It additionally grew to become the centerpiece for the their Johnny Bristol-produced debut album, a wonderful instance of early ’70s Soul that additionally featured the hit “The Sound That Lonely Makes.” The Examine It Out LP gave the primary glimpse of tight brotherly harmonies and alternating lead vocals that may develop into the Tavares trademark sound.
The group’s bio from their web site dives into their Cape Verdean roots in Rhode Island:
The seven sons of Feliciano Tavares have been born to their calling. John, Ralph, Arthur (nicknamed “Pooch”), Antone (often called “Chubby”), Victor, Feliciano Jr. (known as “Butch”) and Perry Lee (because the youngest, dubbed “Tiny”) all obtained their earliest musical education proper at dwelling from their dad.
Listed here are two nice performances from Tavares. First, get pleasure from a dwell efficiency of “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel,” from a 1976 episode of the Dutch collection “TopPop.”
The brothers’ additionally recorded a model of the Bee Gees’ “More Than a Woman.” Each variations will be discovered within the movie “Saturday Night Fever” and on its official soundtrack.
June introduced the information of the passing of Afro-Latina songstress Angela Bofill (Might 2, 1954–June 13, 2024).
Val Vacaro summarized Bofill’s story for Easy Jazz Vibes.
Angela Tomasa Bofill was born to a white Cuban father and a black Afro-Latino Puerto Rican mom on Might 2, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up within the Bronx and in Harlem; she attended highschool and faculty in Manhattan and a college in Connecticut. In an October 2017 interview, Angela Bofill mentioned “My mother once told me that my crying sounded like music!” together with her distinctively cheerful chuckle.
The Washington Put up additionally chronicled her profession.
Angela Bofill, R&B balladeer with a dreamy, dynamic voice, dies at 70
Eight of her singles made the R&B High 40, starting together with her tender model of “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter,” a soul customary by Haras Fyre and Gwen Guthrie. The track was featured on her debut album, “Angie,” together with unique compositions resembling “Under the Moon and Over the Sky,” an idiosyncratic ode to like and happiness accompanied by strings, flute, electrical piano and imitation chook calls.
“Under the Moon” was not precisely industrial, though it attracted followers together with New York Every day Information columnist Pete Hamill, who was impressed to trace down Ms. Bofill for an interview at her household’s dwelling within the West Bronx. Describing the track in his column, he wrote that “the music was a city dream: lyrical and defiant, with the congas rolling through the middle and the sounds of santeria adding a thread of the unearthly. You dream this kind of music on subways.”
I wore out my copy of her “Angie” album, and I agree with Hamill’s description. My favourite monitor was “Under The Moon And Over the Sky.”
In July, we misplaced Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon (Oct. 4, 1942–July 16, 2024), a member of the primary class of the Pupil Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s Freedom Singers, a civil rights activist, and the founding father of Candy Honey within the Rock.
Reagon isn’t any stranger to “Black Music Sunday” readers; she’s featured each in protection of the SNCC Freedom Singers in addition to her complete profession.
One of many first songs I heard by Reagon was her rendition of the gospel hymn “Old Ship of Zion.” It nonetheless sends chills up my backbone each time I hear it.
A few week after Reagon’s passing, July additionally introduced the departure of one other main R&B vocalist, Abdul “Duke” Fakir (Dec. 26, 1935–July 22, 2024).
Jim Farber wrote Fakir’s obituary for The New York Instances.
Abdul ‘Duke’ Fakir, Final Dwelling Unique Member of The 4 Tops, Dies at 88
He sang tenor on hits like “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).”
Abdul Kareem Fakir was born in Detroit on Dec. 26, 1935, to Nazim Ali Fakir, a manufacturing unit employee who was born in Bangladesh, and Rubyleon Wren, a minister’s daughter from Sparta, Ga., who labored as a home and a choir director and performed the piano.
At Pershing Excessive Faculty, Duke Fakir excelled at sports activities; he met [fellow Four Tops member Levi] Stubbs at a neighborhood soccer recreation. The pair grew to become good mates in addition to musical companions, and so they have been quickly joined by two different native singers, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson, who was often called Obie.
[…]
The group grazed the High 10 with their first single for Motown in 1964, “Baby I Need Your Loving.” The only remained Mr. Fakir’s favourite. “I thought it was the best song on the radio at the time,” he instructed the British newspaper The Specific. “It changed my life completely. It even enabled me to buy my mama a house!”
Right here’s the 4 Tops performing Fakir’s fave in 1966.
In August, we misplaced doo-wopper and soul singer Maurice Williams (April 26, 1938-Aug. 6, 2024).
Alex Williams (no relation) wrote Williams’ obituary for The New York Instances.
Maurice Williams, 86, Dies; His ‘Stay’ Was a Hit for Him and 4 Seasons
A chart topper in 1960 for his doo-wop group the Zodiacs, it impressed well-liked cowl variations and was heard within the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.”
Maurice Williams, the singer and songwriter whose 1960 single “Stay,” recorded together with his doo-wop group the Zodiacs, shot to No. 1 and have become a cover-song staple for a protracted line of musical acts, together with the 4 Seasons, the Hollies and Jackson Browne, died on Aug. 6 in Charlotte, N.C. He was 86.
[…]
Mr. Williams recalled the origins of “Stay,” his solely chart-topping single, in a 2018 video interview. “This young lady I was going with, she was over to my house, and this particular night, her brother was supposed to pick her up at 10,” he mentioned. “So he came, and I said, ‘Well, you can stay a little longer.’ And she said, ‘No, I gotta go.’”
The subsequent morning he wakened and wove that and different snippets from their dialog — “Now, your daddy don’t mind/And your mommy don’t mind” — into track kind, constructing to its indelible signature line, which, seven years later, the Zodiacs’ Henry Gaston would render in a celestial falsetto: “Oh, won’t you stay, just a little bit longer.”
As famous above by the Instances, “Stay” was launched to a brand new technology via the movie “Dirty Dancing.”
September was a month to recollect with unhappiness within the R&B world, bringing the lack of each Frankie Beverly and Tito Jackson.
First to depart was Frankie Beverly (Dec. 6, 1946–Sept. 10, 2024).
From Beverly’s obituary within the Related Press:
Frankie Beverly, the Maze singer who impressed generations of followers with lasting anthems, dies at 77
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Frankie Beverly, who together with his band Maze impressed generations of followers together with his clean, soulful voice and lasting anthems together with “Before I Let Go,” has died. He was 77.
[…]
Beverly, whose songs embrace “Joy and Pain,” “Love is the Key,” and “Southern Girl,” completed his farewell “I Wanna Thank You Tour” in his hometown of Philadelphia in July. That very same month, the Essence Competition of Tradition in New Orleans included a particular tribute to Beverly and Maze, who closed out the occasion for its first 15 years. His performances on the pageant — the nation’s largest annual celebration of Black tradition — would flip the group right into a sea of dancing followers, many sporting white clothes like Beverly himself usually donned.
Right here’s a 1986 efficiency of “Joy and Pain” in Los Angeles.
Just some days after Beverly’s passing, we misplaced Tito Jackson (Oct. 15, 1953–Sept. 15, 2024).
From his web site:
Born Toriano Adaryll Jackson, Tito has spent his complete life enchanting music lovers with soulful harmonies interwoven with curvaceous rhythms as a member of Motown’s biggest discovery, The Jackson 5, and presently as a multi-faceted solo artist. Tito’s unyielding ardour for blues, R&B, pop, and different music varieties is the key to his boundless power and uncommon achievements within the ever-changing leisure spectrum.
In 1962, earlier than the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons, Tito carried out in an area group known as The Jackson Brothers. After competing and successful native expertise exhibits in and round Gary, the precocious brothers have been victorious once more on essentially the most prestigious novice stage of all — Manhattan’s Apollo Theater. In that very same 12 months Tito and his brothers made their first studio recording (native label), titled “Big Boy.” Not solely did it change into an area hit, but it surely set the stage for a partnership with Motown Information (1969) and subsequent appearances on the top-rated Ed Sullivan Present, American Bandstand, Soul Prepare, and later, their very own primetime tv collection in 1976, on CBS. Along with this, Tito and his brothers’ hovering recognition with America’s youth was so fascinating that they have been captioned in a Saturday morning, ABC TV animation collection.
Jackson’s 2021 track, “Love One Another,” options dozens of members of the Jackson clan.
October marked the passing of Cissy Houston, who was born Emily Drinkard (Sept. 30, 1933–Oct. 7, 2024).
Ok. Michelle Moran wrote her Musician Information biography.
The youngest of the eight kids born to manufacturing unit employee Nitch and homemaker Delia Drinkard, Cissy Houston began singing as a toddler. As a five-year-old, she started singing with siblings Anne, Nicky, and Larry within the household gospel act the Drinkard Singers in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Houston and nieces Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick who have been additionally Drinkard Singers for a time later sang backing vocals for the likes of Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke, amongst others.
From 1965 to 1970, Houston was the lead vocalist for the pop group Candy Inspirations, which she fashioned with Sylvia Sherwell, Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. The group carried out on a whole bunch of songs for different artists, together with Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley earlier than recording by itself. In 1968, the group launched its solely two albums Candy Inspirations and What the World Wants Now’s Love and earned a high 20 hit and a Grammy nomination with the one “Sweet Inspiration.” Houston quickly left for a solo profession, nevertheless, whereas her former bandmates continued as backup vocalists for different artists.
Right here’s Houston with “Sweet Inspiration” in 1968.
This undated video exhibits Houston singing together with her fellow congregants on the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey:
Houston’s “going home” ceremony was held in the identical church.
In November, we misplaced each Quincy Jones (March 14, 1933–Nov. 3, 2024), and Roy Haynes (March 13, 1925–Nov. 12, 2024).
Their careers have been coated in “Black Music Sunday: Remembering the late, great Quincy Jones” and “Black Music Sunday: Thank you, Roy Haynes,” respectively.
I hope you’ll be a part of me within the feedback to share a few of your favourite songs and recollections of those artists, and others we misplaced this 12 months.
Might all of them relaxation in peace and energy after lifetimes of constructing music that can outlive us all.
Wishing you all the very best in 2025.
