Dave Keller's got Soul

17 Years

Dave Keller's last album won the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge Best Self-Produced CD Award in 2012. Backed by The Revelations and produced by Bob Perry, Where I'm Coming From wasn't a Blues album, it was a Soul album. Obviously a huge fan of the music, Dave sings his heart out on covers of some of the greatest Southern Soul tunes of all time, no doubt introducing songs originally performed by the likes of O.V. Wright, James Carr, and Clarence Carter to a whole new generation of listeners. His take on one of my own personal favorites, Darryl Carter and Bobby Womack's classic More Than I Can Stand, stays pretty close to the Chips Moman produced original until Perry and The Revelations bring things into the present day and funk things up towards the end... very cool stuff!

So how do you follow an award winning album that had also climbed to #2 on the Blues charts on Sirius XM?

Go to Memphis, of course.

Bob Perry, who had co-produced the Revelation's last album, Concrete Blues, with our friend Boo Mitchell down at Royal Studios in 2011, knew it would be a perfect fit for Dave Keller as well. Dave liked the idea so much he launched his own Kickstarter Project to fund the journey, and cut six tracks down on Willie Mitchell Boulevard this past February.

Assembling a Dream Team of musicians that included Charles, Teenie and Leroy Hodges, Bobby Manuel and Lester Snell (along with a horn section led by old pals Marc Franklin and Kirk Smothers), Perry managed to re-create that patented Hi 'Sound of Memphis' and bring it to five of Keller's original compositions about Love and Loss.

The coolest thing he did though, in my opinion, was to bring in our man Darryl Carter to co-write this great song we have here with Dave. As I said about Darryl last year: "In a way, perhaps that has been his greatest strength, the rare ability to truly collaborate with other people, and create something greater than the sum of its parts." Which is something (he informed me just last week) that he learned from his mentor Chips Moman.

After talking to Keller about the recent break-up of his marriage, Darryl proclaimed "There's the song right there!" and - just as he told me he had done with O.V. Wright and Charles Hodges on Blind, Crippled and Crazy at Royal some forty years before - he and Dave "wrote that song together... in about 25 or 30 minutes, and we cut it that same day." With a horn chart that could have been written by James Mitchell, Dave's own stinging guitar work, and all those Hodges in the house, "This one," as Darryl said, "is a hit!"

In a truly once-in-a-lifetime Memphis moment, Dave told me that while they were cutting 17 Years, photographer Thom Gilbert (who would also provide the cover photo for the album) brought Bobby Bland down to Royal for a photo shoot as part of his Stax Records Memphis Music Project "Soul Men". After he helped Bobby make his way back to the control room, Dave sat there pretty much in awe as Bobby listened to the playback, then gave him a few pointers on how best to go about singing it. How very cool is that?

The rest of the album consists of five more worthy covers of great Soul tunes (including one that I called the "absolute best record" I ever put up on The B Side) cut with The Revelations back at their home base in Brooklyn, making Soul Changes an all-around must have that reflects the incredible talent of all involved.

In the liner notes, Keller quotes the great Louis L'Amour; "There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning."

I am right there with that.

A New Road for Nathan & The Zydeco Cha-Chas

In this post-Rounder Records world we're living in, Nathan Williams has landed squarely on his feet, with a new self-produced Zydeco Cha-Chas album that just rocks the house, and is sure to be a Grammy contender.

Like Nathan himself, A New Road remains vibrant and alive, while being firmly rooted in the Zydeco tradition handed down by Clifton Chenier and Nathan's good friend and mentor Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural.

With a brand new website, and an appearance later this month at New York's Apollo Theater, the hardest working man in Zydeco is back, and he's ready to sock it to ya! "Et Toi! F'attention!!"

A NEW ROAD is now available on ITunes. Be sure and visit the new site: zydecochachas.com

Darryl Carter is Back!

STARTING TOMORROW (edit)

Songwriter, producer, raconteur and all-around awesome person Darryl Carter is back on the other side of the microphone performing as an artist, which is something he hasn't done in a very long time. As you may know, we are big fans of Darryl's singing voice, and have been urging him to record an album for years. This EP is a start, with a remixed version of his own take on Woman's Gotta Have It giving Womack a run for his money!

Starting Tomorrow, a song he wrote with the late great Jonah Ellis, was originally slated for Syl Johnson, and had been on the shelf for over fifteen years before Carter decided to cut it himself... we're sure glad he did - can you say funky?! Ellis, who passed on in 2010, had been Darryl's songwriting partner for many years, and four of their amazing compositions (including the title track) were included on Otis Clay's latest release, Truth Is.

Darryl's EP is available at Amazon, and for $1.78 you owe it to yourself to download a copy. He's the real deal!

Reunion of The Southern Soul Legends

Southern Soul Legends Radio Spot

RAT ON!

Hi Folks... you'd never know it, but I'm a huge fan of Jerry 'Swamp Dogg' Williams. Although I've mentioned his work as a songwriter and producer any number of times, somehow I never got around to writing about him as the groundbreaking artist and all-around Great American that he is. Well, as it turns out, now I don't have to.

David Marchese has put together a knockout interview and profile over on SPIN that covers all the bases (and then some!). From his early days hawking songs in the Brill Building, to becoming the first black producer at Atlantic ("Just draw your money and shut the fuck up"), to the great records he cut for Canyon and Mankind on folks like Freddie North and Irma Thomas, to his emergence as an acid-fueled R&B visionary, Marchese has captured the tone and spirit of this uncompromising self-made Legend intact. Check it out!

The Dogg's first two albums, Total Destruction Of Your Mind and Rat On! were re-issued on high quality vinyl and CD just yesterday by Alive Naturalsound Records...

It's great to see Williams finally getting some of the respect and name-recognition he deserves in the mainstream press... after all, he is Tha Real Mother****ing Doggfather!!

recent releases

Hi Folks... After I posted about a couple of new records by Percy Wiggins and Marion James, I thought it might be a good idea to put together an edition of Soul Sauce every once in a while that focused on the current 'small label' projects of some of our friends. Here goes...

clifford curry

STACKED IN THE BACK

When we spoke with Clifford Curry during the Soul Detective Road Trip this Summer, he gave us a copy of his latest album, The Soul of Clifford Curry. Once we popped it into the CD player in the rental car, we never took it out! With a bang-up production job by old hands Bruce Dees and Clayton Ivey, Clifford's amazing songwriting never sounded better. Available now at Off Row Records.

ralph 'soul' jackson

SEARCHING

Some three years in the making, The Alabama Love Man is the debut album from the great Ralph 'Soul' Jackson. We all knew Ralph could sing, and this package showcases his songwriting skills as well. With the committment to quality (and real instruments) we've come to expect from our friends at The Rabbit Factory, it's available on both heavyweight vinyl and CD. Get it now at Dusty Groove.

arthur adams

LIKE ONLY SHE CAN DO (preview)

Arthur Adams came up out of Jefferson Street in Nashville as the protege of our man Sir Lattimore Brown. Considered by most to be a 'blues man', there's so much more to Arthur than that. His new double sided single, Feet Back In The Door, was produced by Keb' Mo', and gives you an idea of the depth of his talents. We'll be taking a closer look at Arthur's career soon over on The B Side. In the meantime, you can download the single on iTunes.

willie wright

THIS IS NOT A DREAM (preview)

After The Numero Group reissued Wright's incredible and ultra-rare 1977 LP Telling The Truth last year, it inspired Willie and his longtime friend Bob Green to 'come slightly out of retirement' and cut This Is Not A Dream some thirty five years later. Despite ill health, Willie's soulful spirit remains, as does the haunting sincerity of his music. Available now from Green Coil Records

roy c

WHERE DID ALL THE LOVE GO

When Roy C called me and told me that he had just finished his first Gospel album, at first I couldn't believe it. After I thought about it a while, though, I realized that Roy's been out there preaching in his own way for almost fifty years! Released as a tribute to his good friend Marvin Sease, Let's Go Back To God represents Roy's unique perspective on Religion in America. Available in both CD and MP3 formats from CD Baby.

ronnie grieco

LOVE MAKES A WOMAN (preview)

Here's the new single from our friend and veteran sax man Ronnie Grieco, who was one of Benny Gordon's Soul Brothers back in the day. Ronnie's still out there performing, and has remained true to his R&B roots. You can purchase the single, along with a whole lot of other great music over at Ronnie's own Online Music Store.

jimmy church

ARE YOU IN

When Jimmy Church was kind enough to let us visit his home during the Road Trip, I noticed a stack of these CD singles on the kitchen table. Conceived as a benefit and theme song for The Concerned Citizens for the Re-Election of President Barack Obama, Jimmy wasn't selling them, he was giving them away to help spread the word. There's even a cool video on YouTube:

ARE YOU IN?

melvin carter

This is a picture of Don Robey, the man Willie Mitchell referred to as the "Houston Mafia,"
and Roosevelt Jamison depicted as a "cold-blooded man." His place in the history of this music we all love is secure, but he certainly leaves you wondering if his ends justified his means. In the superb The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'N' Roll, Preston Lauterbach paints the most complete (and chilling) picture yet of this gun-toting Texas misanthrope who knew how to get things done.

Although he most certainly was not alone in the practice, Robey made sure he got a piece of the songwriting and publishing on virtually every R&B record he released, often sharing it with the actual composer on the top side, but taking it all for himself on the flip.

After he took over the Duke label (literally at gunpoint) in 1952, he had no qualms about listing 'D.Robey' as the sole composer on most of Bobby Bland's and Junior Parker's early B sides. I'm not sure why (maybe he just thought it was too obvious or something), but by the early sixties, he had developed a songwriting alias, 'Deadric Malone'. The source of much speculation over the years as to whether or not this was an actual person (some said it was his wife), I've come to believe he just made it up.

It was the ever vigilant Lauterbach who pointed out to me that there are two Memphis streets which follow each other in quick succession as you cross over Lamar Avenue on Airways Boulevard on the way out of town - Deadrick and Malone! One can only imagine the wily Robey on his way to the airport, seizing on this random sequence as his new nom de plume. Wild!
All of this has been on a kind of hypothetical back burner over here for a while, but something happened just recently that really sort of drove it home. Ace's indefatigable Tony Rounce told me that they had recently acquired a tape of demos from Goldwax co-owner Doc Russell's son, and that this was on there:
Melvin Carter - original Goldwax demo
Ace Of Spades
It just gives me chills.
I was finally able to get a hold of our friend Roosevelt Jamison

the other day who, you'll be happy to hear, has responded amazingly well to the radiation treatment he received for eight brain tumors, which as of now no longer exist... how great is that?! Although he doesn't recall anything about the actual tape that Tony has, he knew Melvin Carter well. "Melvin and O.V. were very tight," he told me, "He was the guitar player for The Sunset Travelers when O.V. was with them, and when he crossed over, Melvin came along with him and started playing in O.V.'s band."

"Yes, Melvin wrote Ace of Spades - Eight Men, Four Women too! All Robey ever gave him was twenty five dollars for each of them, then when the records came out he took full credit for himself, and never paid Melvin another dime!"
Imagine? The discovery of these demos, which were apparently recorded before O.V. ever signed with Back Beat, points out what a ruthless son of a bitch Robey really was. Like O.V., Melvin had a day job as a sanitation man in Memphis, and he came in off his shift one day and laid down for a nap, asking his wife to wake him up around seven for a rehearsal that evening. When she tried to rouse him, however, he was dead - the victim of an apparent massive heart attack in his sleep.

Peacock 1934
Something Reminds Me
Melvin Carter had a couple of releases of his own on Robey's Peacock label in the mid-sixties (with Malone taking the composer's credit, of course), which go for big bucks if you can find them. This beautiful ballad comes to us courtesy of Sir Shambling, and illustrates how great Carter was.
I'd like to fill in some of the blanks on him (like - do any photographs of him exist?), so please, detectives, get in touch if you have any further information on Melvin to share with us.

Thanks!

update:

Thanks to super detective Marc Demuynck, here is the first known photograph of Melvin Carter:

Originally a publicity photo from Don Robey's Buffalo Booking, it was included in the ultra-rare book, Duke/Peacock Records-An Illustrated History with Discography by Galen Gart & Roy C. Ames. Interestingly, if you look closely, you'll notice that it says The Three Keys in parentheses after his name. Initially, I thought that this might be a reference to the mysterious credit to 'The Keys' that is listed on O.V. Wright's sole Goldwax single, the immortal That's How Strong My Love Is. I asked Quinton Claunch about that on our recent Fact Finding Mission, and he said no, The Keys was the name of the vocal group that sang behind O.V. on the session, a group which included Wright's wife at the time, Norma Rudd. So, does anybody have any clue who The Three Keys were, then?
I asked Howard Grimes, who was on the session, about Ace of Spades. He said Willie Mitchell cut it on Melvin first, and that they were all under the impression that Robey was going to release it as a 45. When O.V.'s version (over that same initial backing track, no doubt) was released instead, it led to some bad blood between Carter and Wright, as Melvin watched the song he had written (and got no credit for) climb the charts in the Fall of 1970. As we said before, if nothing else, Robey was one cold-blooded son-of-a-bitch.
I have recently learned that there is some unreleased Melvin Carter material in the Universal vaults from back in those days... man, I'd love to hear that!
Thanks Marc for the photo... you're the greatest!