Chicago Soul
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Listen Locally: DJ Ayana at Maria’s….
Reclaimed Soul’s host, Ayana Contreras, is perhaps best known for spinning classic Chicago Soul records, but on Tuesday, October 2nd, she plans to mix it up and play cuts from the trippier and (even) grittier side of her Chicago Music collection. She will also feature what she likes to call the “Rock Hand Side of…
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McKinley Mitchell: This place ain’t getting no better.
Based in Chicago, McKinley Mitchell was one of the Chicago School of R&B belters I’m so fond of (these include Garland Green, Otis Clay, Johnny Sayles, and Tyrone Davis). Unfortunately, for all his vocal prowess, he was sort of slept on in his day. He recorded some seriously beautiful sides for George Leaner’s One-Derful Records…
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Pat and Pam: sisters in soul.
Pat and Pam Cordell were twin singers who followed in the great tradition of Chicago Kiddie (or in their case, Teen) Soul in the early 1970s. They also happened to be original WVON Good Guy Lucky Cordell‘s daughters. Lucky Cordell (pictured at left) was a disc jockey turned General Manager at one of the most…
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More and More: Little Milton’s plea for more as the cost of living was skyrocketing.
Whew. That was a long blogpost title, huh? I know. But, let me explain: In late 1967, Chess Records’ Checker subsidiary released this record entitled “More and More” by Little Milton, where the chorus sings and growls: “More and More… all the time!” Ironically, the flip is a meandering soulful blues cut called “The Cost…
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Tomorrow, we groove.
Below, one of the grooves I’ll spin: “Love so Strong” from the Lovelites (pictured, left). Fronted by Patti Hamilton, the group of ladies from Chicago’s South Side recorded a gaggle of groovin’ steppers (including one of their biggest hits, “My Conscience”). The Lovelites are, in my humble opinion, one of the most consistent female groups…
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Al-teen Records: Bill Meeks’ little ships of soul
Bill Meeks was, in the late sixties, a jingle writer here in Chicago who started a record label called Al-teen. The label was based at 82nd and Stony Island, and put out records by Sunday (Williams), Drake and the En-Solids, Earl Duff, The Supurbs (sic), and Johnny McCall. Many of the tunes were composed by…
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Jo Armstead: a giant among men.
Jo Armstead is a Mississippi-bred firecracker vocalist who is also a dynamite songwriter (a field dominated by men). She told SoulMotion.co.uk: “By the time I was in my teens, I was sneaking out to cafes, juke joints, and dances on Saturday nights. Blues man Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland gave me my first opportunity to sing with…
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Imaginations: good stuff!
The Imaginations were a mid-seventies Chicago-based vocal group that rose out of the ashes of Brighter Side of Darkness (best known for “Love Jones”, their story can be found here). In 1974-1975 they put out a flurry of singles and one album, “Good Stuff”. I originally bought the album because I had to hear “Love…
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Betty Everett: there’ll come a time
It was last summer. I was privileged enough to hear the iconic (and prolific) arranger Tom Tom Washington play a few chords of the tune “There’ll Come a Time” on a piano stationed at a Recording Studio on 80th and Stony Island, where in the vacant lot next door they grew cabbage. It was electric,…
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