Do you know Motown, or Philly music?

**sgcim** · 10-06-2020, 05:55 PM

I worked with Sister Sledge, and they had a chart called "TSOP", and it was a medley of some R&B/Disco tunes. I asked someone in the band what it stood for, and they said it was The Sound of Philadelphia, where they came from.

I was only about 19 back then, and all I cared about was jazz, so I wasn't hip to the R&B scene.
I also worked with Melba Moore, and I had no idea that she was the daughter of Teddy Hill! She did tunes like "Summertime", besides her R&B and show hits, so I guess I should have known she had some type of jazz background. Her mother was a famous big band singer, who re-married a jazz pianist after her marriage with Teddy Hill ended.
Billy Paul used to sit in with Charlie Parker, so he was basically a jazz singer. Ray Charles has so many ties with jazz, that it would take a book to list them all.

Besides jazz, the greats of R&B all had some experience with Gospel music. The only kids who could play or sing jazz, or R&B convincingly when I did my HS music teaching gig, were kids who played guitar, bass, drums or keyboard in the church.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:01 PM

The original lead singer of The Impressions. RNR Hall of Fame inductee Jerry Butler with his 1968 hit, Only the strong survive.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:10 PM

Natalie Cole, daughter of a musical icon. She had a number of hits in her own right. Here’s her This will be.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:19 PM

Sam Cooke. A man who began singing in the 50’s. His life was cut short in his early 30’s. One wonders what might have come had he hit his stride along with Motown. Here’s his 1957 hit You send me.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:25 PM

Chaka Kahn’s Through the Fire.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:28 PM

The knockout from the 90’s with Breathe Again.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:32 PM

The 1967 perennial feel good hit by Bobby Hebb - Sunny.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:39 PM

From the early 90’s Whitney Houston with her Saving all my love for you.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:46 PM

A huge 1969 hit from The Friends Of Distinction - Going in Circles

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:49 PM

The Main Ingredients 1973 hit - Everybody plays the fool.

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:52 PM

1967’s Hugh Masekela with, Grazin in the grass.

**wintermoon** · 10-06-2020, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop

Chaka Kahn’s Through the Fire.

I never really played rock or r & b growing up but found myself in an r & b band for a few yrs about 15 yrs ago.
I liked a lot of the tunes but really gained an appreciation for the genre once I started to learn them. There' a lot of very complex numbers w/ a million changes, I really noticed it w/bands like Chaka, EWF, Teena Marie, etc. Some of that stuff is hard to learn and remember!

**2bornot2bop** · 10-06-2020, 06:54 PM

1964’s James Brown, I feel good.

**Gitfiddler** · 10-06-2020, 07:08 PM

These slow jams by the Delfonics got a lot of kids in trouble back in the day.

The Delfonics - La-La Means I Love You ~ 1968 - YouTube

**Marinero** · 10-07-2020, 12:48 PM

This has been a great thread with enough music to satisfy any R@B enthusiast. I do, however, have a comment that relates specifically to JGF as it relates to R@B and the role of the guitar. In most forms of popular music: Pop, Rock, C@W, Dixieland, Gypsy Jazz, the guitar serves as the rhythmic and harmonic foundation for the music. However, in Classic R&B, this function is the duty of the bass, drums and piano/organ. R@B guitar, as a general rule, provides the color with interesting licks as an accent to the music. It's not that they never provide a rhythm function but the best R@B guitarists are a master at this form of improvisation. This is why in my generation(Boomers), it was a natural pathway for R@B guitarists to gravitate to Jazz at some time in their careers. Examples are: Russell Malone, George Benson, Grant Green, Hiram Bullock, etc. Here's Cornell Dupree, one of R@B's best with Bill Wither's classic "Grandma's Hands." Hope you enjoy. Play live . . .Marinero

And how 'bout some Duck Soup??

**Marcel_A** · 10-07-2020, 01:07 PM

**Marcel_A** · 10-07-2020, 01:08 PM

This is also very good . . . .

**gcb** · 10-07-2020, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by steve burchfield

Thanks for posting! I listened to an interview with Joe Osborne the other night on YT and I believe he played bass strings for about 15 years on one set. I think he was the bass player on this cut. When I was in music school and did not have much money I learned to take off my flat wound strings and boil them for about 15 min. They didnot sound as good as new but it helped right before an important performance. I have not had to do that for a while but with the price of some brands I might! ha!

First of all, welcome to the Forum!

I too believe Joe Osborn played on that. His Top Forty Hits list includes Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In with The Fifth Dimension reaching Billboard pos. 1 in 1969, and One Less Bell to Answer pos. 2 in 1970. Great, great bass player. His Son is an active member of the Talk Bass Forum.

As to boiling bass strings, I still do it!

**gcb** · 10-07-2020, 01:24 PM

**Marcel_A** · 10-07-2020, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop

Born in 1958 Anita Baker arrived later on the scene. But did she ever make up for lost time winning 8 Grammys. Here’s Sweet Love from her 1986 ultra winning Rapture album.

One of my all time favourite singers! What a voice. My personal favourite is: