SoulBoy #19
(Sam Cooke – Somebody Ease My Troublin’ Mind)
milestone on themusicologist…500 cuts and still haven’t even scratched the surface of the vaults !! here’s hoping that you cats and kittens have enjoyed the journey so far. how long will it last? who knows…but I’ll keep spinning as long as I’m able. When I took the first step on this musical journey I had no idea where it would lead. I just felt that the time had come to communicate with the world and open up a dialogue with my heart, soul and mind using the most effective language that I know…the sweet sounds of music. What is it about music that leaves such a deep impression? I don’t know but there have been many books written, lectures discussions and debates around tables, on street corners, in bars, classrooms and hallowed halls for generation after generation and still there are no definitive explanations, such is the power of frequency and especially harmony to resonate deep within us and touch the soul in ways that, at least for me, nothing else comes close to reaching other than that elusive feeling words can’t describe, Love…
I was going to wax lyrical and go right into ‘one’ but, (and I don’t know for sure why?), to be brutally honest with you today’s cut nails the way I have been feeling these last few days courtesy of the one artist who, for me, stands above all others..The Lion, Mr Soul…Sam Cooke without whom the music we now call Soul may not have emerged and even if it did definitely wouldn’t have been the same. Recorded in 1964 not long before the curtain closed on the troubled last few years of his short life. Sung in such a way that it leaves no doubt why the Lion is known as Mr Soul…The man who put the Soul in Soul….what a F***in’ TUNE, (excuse the profanity but the piece always brings me to my knees and trembles my marrow)
themusicologist 
congratulations… a milestone. You’ve laid some absolutely stunning stuff down these last how many. So much so that I’ve found my musical roots again. Thanks.
I’ll keep you posted on “my musical roots”…… Do I hear groans in the room? chuckle, chuckle!
LikeLike
thank you..almost 3 years on themusicologist road
roots…a pleasure
groans?…not from me
LikeLike
People often remember where they were when they heard of the death of somebody famous…Sam Cookes is the only one I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of his death..whenever he sings I’m moved..
The musicologist has introduced me to so much music that I wouldn’t have listened to, let alone
the untold favorites that I have had the oppotunity to sing along to again, so I’ll take this chance to thank you for taking the time to share your passion for sweet music with us, and long may it continue..
LikeLike
Following this latest “communication” I’ve just been listening to your post #83 again, which is an even stronger message in times when you think you’ve just about had enough. Hold the thought – “a change is gonna come”.
Although I’ve only very recently joined you on your journey, it’s been an absolute pleasure and I raise a glass to you in congratulations. Here’s to the next 500 !
Best wishes,
Ian
LikeLike
Ian, Countess, TonyBlue thank you for the comments.
It may seem worse than it actually is…for me music is emotional not existential and that’s how we connect.
“They tell me when you tell somebody your troubles,
Trouble fly away from you,
I’m looking, I’m looking, I’m looking, I’m looking, I’m looking for somebody,
I can tell my troubles to”
and themusicologist is that somebody
LikeLike
Roots as young hardnut Mod… Sam Cooke’s “Twisting The Night Away” and/or “Shake”
If anything can shake the blues off ya it’s those two tunes…. try it. I promise you, it works!
LikeLike
Roots: back on the Sam and Dave post (#496) I notice you wrote you’re more a New York and Chicago Soul man. Well, three years ago, before you began your musical odyssey, if someone had said they were more into Chicago Soul than Memphis Soul, I’d have ducked the issue. I mean, as I saw it, Soul is Soul; some good, some great, some special, and some (i.e. Sam Cooke’s) heavenly. Where it was born was, if not irrelevant, then immaterial. And that, even though my favourite singers and groups hailed from Detroit and, in particular, Chicago.
But – and here comes the Big Dankeschoen – I’m actually a cool aficionado of the late-R&B/early-Soul sound of the deep south; music of a New Orleans flavour!
Thanks to the cuts played, insights found, and inspiration/motivation to dig deep provided by themusicologist I’ve been able to not only narrow down my music of choice, but also the who, why, where, and when.
Who? To name but a few: Producer-musicians like Allan Toussaint and Willy Mitchell. Artists like Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, Robert Parker, Benny Spellman, Betty Harris, Irma Thomas, Aaron Neville, The Dixie Cups, Dr. John.
Why? To deep, to long… I’m not gonna do a #492-SoulBoy 11 on ya! Where? New Orleans and thereabouts. When? 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962/3.
Of course, my love of Chuck Berry’s music blows a gaping hole in that theory…. and then there’s Ray Charles… oh, and I forgot…….
P.S. On… “People often remember where they were when they heard of the death of somebody famous”…. burnt into my consciousness is that fateful November day in 1963 when JFK was assassinated. Eerie is the only word to describe it!
LikeLike