fyeahblackrockmusic

Troi Irons - Lost Angels

The 5th Dimension - Stoned Soul Picnic

Erica Falls & Galactic - They Say I’m Different

Sunny War - If It Wasn’t Broken

Shakura S’Aida - Heart Of Gold

The ‘whitewashing’ of Black music: A dark chapter in rock history

globalnews.ca

“Over the years, you see in the 1920s and 1930s, Black music was very underground, very benign, marginalized,” said Lisa Tomlinson, a cultural critic, formerly of York University and now a lecturer/professor at the University of the West Indies. “It was seen as sleazy. In a lot of cases, when this music becomes mainstream, it becomes disassociated from Black experience and Black context. We talk about cultural appropriation… we reduce it to just borrowing, or sampling, another reductionist term. ‘Borrowing’ or ‘sampling’ sound like nice words, because they sound like an equal exchange. But there’s a power dynamic embedded in that borrowing.” [Read More]

GUITAR GABBY'S GUIDE FOR BLACK WOMEN IN THE MUSIC BIZ

afropunk.com

Being Black in the world of rock music can be a lonely experience. The mindfuck of being Black and feeling like an anomaly in a musical genre that Black people created is what inspired the 2003 Afro-Punk documentary itself. Now imagine what it’s like being a Black girl who rocks, trying to make a way for herself and women like her in the white and male-dominated worlds of rock and the music business.

Enter: Gabriella “Guitar Gabby” Logan, lead singer and lead guitarist of the Atlanta-based, all-Black, all-women indie-rock band, The Txlips. She’s got a creative and a business mind: when not writing, recording, or performing music, Logan’s putting the degree she earned at University of Vermont Law School to good use, by managing both her own band and other artists. For this month’s focus on those who are Living the Fuck Out Loud, we felt that it was only right that we talk to Logan about her experiences as a businesswoman, band-member, music fan, and, ultimately, as an inspiration to others. [Read More]

Ayo - Love & Hate

When it comes to success in the music business, Jon has truly been there and done that. He’s released 19 albums, played major arena tours with bands like J. Geils, Rush, Def Leppard, Scorpions, INXS, licenses music to major TV and Cable networks, manages artists, and works corporate events.

But in this interview, Jon was kind enough to share some great personal stories with us, including feeling like a fish out of water moving from a VERY small town in Alaska to the east coast, facing racism for the first time, the impact of his mom on his life, his biggest successes, his biggest let down, and much more.

Dave Bartholomew, Mainstay of New Orleans R&B, Dies at 100

www.nytimes.com

Dave Bartholomew, the producer, arranger, composer, trumpet player and bandleader who had a major hand in the shaping of New Orleans rhythm and blues and early rock ’n’ roll, died on Sunday in New Orleans. He was 100.

His death was confirmed by his son Ron.

An influential figure who worked mainly behind the scenes, Mr. Bartholomew was best known for the hits he produced for and wrote with Fats Domino, including “Ain’t That a Shame” (originally released under the name “Ain’t It a Shame”) and “Blue Monday.”

Under Mr. Bartholomew’s direction, Mr. Domino placed 65 singles on the Billboard pop chart from 1955 to 1964. Among rock ’n’ roll singers, only Elvis Presley had more during that period.

Mr. Bartholomew’s musical reach extended well beyond his collaborations with Mr. Domino. He also produced and arranged signature hits by Lloyd Price (“Lawdy Miss Clawdy”), Shirley and Lee (“Let the Good Times Roll”) and Smiley Lewis (“I Hear You Knocking”). “My Ding-a-Ling,” Chuck Berry’s only No. 1 pop single, was an adaptation of “Little Girl Sing Ding-a-Ling,” a recording Mr. Bartholomew made under his own name in 1952. Elton John, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Hank Williams Jr. and Cheap Trick, among many others, have recorded material associated with Mr. Bartholomew.

“His importance cannot be overstated,” Dr. Ira Padnos, a practicing anesthesiologist and the founder of the Ponderosa Stomp, a national touring revue and foundation that recognizes and promotes the work of American roots music pioneers, said in an interview for this obituary in 2010.

“Dave was one of rock ’n’ roll’s first great producers,” Dr. Padnos said. “And he created what might have been the first rock ’n’ roll record with ‘The Fat Man,’ ” a hit for Mr. Domino in 1949. “There was nothing else like it at the time. He put a heavy backbeat behind an old blues tune, and it became rock ’n’ roll.” [Read More]

D’Angelo - Red Hot Mama