These albums were happening along the time that I was happening. I was really into real R&B and I still am. These type of tunes were very truthful — there's an honesty that went with them. Those artists communicated to people, they were about the times and what was going on in our country at the time. You listen to those tunes, you know what was happening at that time. They were great musicians because they played from the heart.
It wasn't a lot of polish on those records. Motown was great in its way but down in Memphis we didn't have the polish, we didn\'t try to do it that way. Motown they had their methods of recording and we just came right from the hip, with honesty — whatever it took, we did it. Like Rufus Thomas used to say, "Up north it's Motown, but below the Mason-Dixon Line your ass is mine!"
The Essential Collection Artist: Ray Charles Release Date: 2002
I first found out about Ray way back in the '50s. I just saw a guy with sunglasses on and I thought that was cool. He sounded kind of gospel at first, with the call-and-response, but he kind of revolutionized that stuff with the electric Wurlitzer piano — it was a different sound, I\'d never heard anything like it. Or seen anything like it — the body of that piano of that piano looked like papiér mache. He's got these tunes on there, like "What'd I Say" and "I Got a Woman" and "Georgia on My Mind," "Baby Won't You Please Come Home," that are just so very emotional. That came through, it communicated. He has some standards on there, he has some funk and R&B and even some country. Unfortunately, Ray is not with us but this album could introduce him to the younger generation. And some of his long-time fans might find certain tunes here that they'd been searching for.
When A Man Loves A Woman Artist: Percy Sledge Release Date: 1966
I was playing in Bowlegs Miller's band when that song came out. We used to be on the road a lot and "When a Man Loves a Woman" would be all you'd hear on the radio. The music is simple, the lyric line is simple, the whole tune is very repetitive but it drives the point home: When a man loves a woman — really loves
her — all these things can really happen. And he kind of empowers the woman by saying that. It's like a covenant. It's a classic. That song didn't really influence me musically, but it opened me up to falling in love.
Shaft Artist: Isaac Hayes Release Date: 1971
I just had to put this in. The collection of tunes — a lot of hits came out of that. I like "Love Theme," where Shaft is making love to his woman, and also "Café Reggio." And "Soulsville," that plays during the montage of shots when Shaft is walking through Harlem — people can still relate to that song, because the ghetto is still like that. "Do Your Thing," people will always relate to that. "Bumpy's Lament" came after one Saturday night when I worked until dawn on the score in LA and in the morning I drove home down La Cienega and there was all this paper blowing down the streets from what happened the night before; as soon as I got home I wrote that tune. Shaft is still relevant, still alive — and part of what keeps it alive is sampling. Hip-hoppers sample a lot of my things so the music stays in people's minds after all these years. The subject matter of the tunes is still current, and the sound is still there because of the sampling.
Remember Me Artist: Otis Redding Release Date: 1992
Otis is important because he was such a powerhouse back in the day. He was exciting to see and his sound was unique. Even his voice was unique. Most of the pop world remembers him from "Dock of the Bay," about when he went out to Monterey to play for the hippies at that festival. Otis could really milk a tune out. He had a begging thing to his voice. He would get every ounce of emotion out of one word. Whatever Otis does, he makes it his.
Funky Chicken Artist: Rufus Thomas Release Date: 1997
Rufus believed in singing humorous songs. He could take a nursery rhyme and make something about it — in fact he did that with "Old McDonald Had a Farm" — parts one and two
About the Author:
These albums were happening along the time that I was happening. I was really into real R&B and I still am. These type of tunes were very truthful — there's an honesty that went with them. Those artists communicated to people, they were about the times and what was going on in our country at the time.
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