Soul Music Archives - Page 45 of 46

Teddy Pendergrass Dead At 59; Gamble & Huff Reminisce

Teddy Pendegrass, former lead singer of Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes has died.

Relatives for Pendegrass, 59, made the announcement late last night (January 13, 2010).

According to reports, Pendergrass was suffering from colon cancer and had a difficult time recovering from the disease after undergoing, surgery almost eight months ago.

“Teddy Pendergrass was one of the greatest artists that the music industry has ever known, and there hasn’t been another one since,” Gamble & Huff told RareSoul.com in a statement today (January 14, 2010). “We’ve lost our voice and we’ve lost our best friend, but we’re thankful for what we had. It was beautiful. He was one of the best.”

grouchygreg 01/14/2010

Soul Music

Songwriter Bert Berns Dies; Leaves Behind Rich Legacy

Rock & Roll/Soul pioneer Bert Berns died of a heart attack today. (December 31, 1967).

Bert Berns, 38, was born on November 8, 1929 in the Bronx New York, to white Jewish Russian immigrant parents.

As a young man he was highly influenced by the Latin sounds and African-American sounds around his neighborhood.

A trip to Cuba cemented his fondness for Latin rhythms which would appear in his future hits.

grouchygreg 12/31/2009

Soul Music

Billy Paul: The Devil and Mrs. Jones

Today (December 16, 1972) R&B singer Billy Paul’s seminal hit record “Me and Mrs. Jones” was the #1 record in the country.

Billy Paul originally recorded for the Neptune record label which was owned by Gamble & Huff, prior to the launch of their Philadelphia International imprint.

Paul’s first album for Philadelphia International was titled Going East, but the album flopped.

A year later, he released his break out sophomore album 360 Degrees of Billy Paul, which contained Me and Mrs. Jones.

grouchygreg 12/16/2009

Soul Music

Aretha Franklin Tapped For 41st Annual Jazz Fest

By Gentle Jones

The New Orleans Jazz Fest has announced the 2010 line up today (December 15, 2009), and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin will be headlining the event.

Aretha Franklin will share the stage with hundreds of acts over the course of two weekends, April 23rd through May 2nd, including the Neville Brothers, Anita Baker, rapper Juvenile, and actor Steve Martin, who plays banjo with his bluegrass outfit the Steep Canyon Riders.

grouchygreg 12/15/2009

Soul Music Wax Facts

Motown Locks Up Top 3 Positions On Pop Chart

Motown became the first label in history to lock down the #1, #2 and #3 positions on the Billboard charts today (December 14, 1968.)

The three tracks were Marvin Gaye’s rendition of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” #1, Diana Ross & The Supremes “Love Child,” #2 and Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life,” #3.

Marvin’s version of the Motown favorite landed at #34 when the track entered the charts and seven weeks later, it was sitting at #1 in the nation.

This was Marvin’s 18th chart single as of 1968.

grouchygreg 12/14/2009