Filed under: Newsworthy, Numero Press, Syl Johnson, Twinight | Tags: Fresh Air, NPR, Syl Johnson
Once again, ex-pat homie and NPR correspondent Ed Ward does us a solid and shed’s some light on the man himself, Syl Johnson, for NPR’s Fresh Air today. Clocking in at a little over 8 1/2 minutes, Ward traces Johnson’s musical career from his beginnings in Mississippi and Chicago to his recent success becoming one of hip-hop’s most sampled artists.Take a breather here.
Filed under: Living Liner Notes, Twinight | Tags: Dig Deeper NYC, Living Liner Notes, Renaldo Domino
After threatening to do a podcast for nearly two years, intern Leigh gets it done in his third week. We grappled with what the subject for this inaugural podcast should be, but when Renaldo Domino came by to sign a few contracts last week and talk about his upcoming gig at the Brooklyn Soul Festival it was settled.
Give it a listen: Download: 01LivingLinerNotes001
We’re hoping to make this a monthly thing, but don’t hold us to it. In the meanwhile, why don’t you buy tickets for this?
Right before we struck out on the Eccentric Soul Revue tour last falls, we got a call from our friends at Luaka Bop asking if Renaldo Domino would be interested in laying his sugary falsetto over a Javelin track for inclusion on their debut for the label. So he did.
The results are mixed. Renaldo spares no energy, but the track isn’t really right for his singing style. Ultimately “Let’s Get Down” was left on the cutting room floor. Perhaps it’ll be released some day on a Javelin rarities collection, but don’t hold your breath.
So today we give you a gift, dear reader. The gift of 100 downloads, first come, first served.
In the wake of Stormy’s unfortunate passing last week, Ben Poster has put together a little short of his last interview he did with us back in May 2009.
Stormy passed on today.
John Colley, known to the world as Stormy, died today after a long battle with cancer. Around a year ago we learned about Stormy’s illness when we began planning for the Eccentric Soul Revue that was coming up in March. He initially agreed to come perform “The Devastator” to open the show, but when we came closer to the point when rehearsals were starting, he was already starting to get too weak to perform. A few months ago we took a trip down to visit Stormy for a final interview with Ben Poster and Kyle Obriot, the documentarians behind the Downriver Revival film. We were surprised to see that he was still strong and healthy looking, although his sense 0f humor was starting to slip away. We’ll post some clips from the interview when we can get them editted.
Stormy had a pretty long career in the local Chicago scene. After his first record as Stormy was issued, he produced a few sessions on other people, including “Psychedelic Soul” for Saxie Russell and a few tracks on El Anthony (formerly of The Passions). He formed the group The Lost Family and issued a single 45, “Pretty Face” backed with “Blow Your Mind”. It was issued a few times and must’ve sold somewhat well locally. He attempted to release an LP on the group but they broke up before it was released. Saborian and the Los is the name he chose to release the material they had recorded under. “The Los” was actually a typo, it was intended to read “The Lost”. Its distinctive name and cover (shot in front of Chicago’s Planetarium) made it a local curiosity but didn’t sell well anywhere else. He continued recording in the late 1980s and 1990s, issuing a few CDs and producing a few other local artists. Nothing managed to breakthrough for Stormy, but he never stopped trying. We always loved to get a call from Stormy. He will be missed.
Filed under: Methodology, Syl Johnson, Twinight | Tags: Bronzeville, Kid Rock, Linda Yu, Oprah Winfrey, Public Enemy, Syl Johnson, Wu-Tang Clan
Last week Numero took a field trip to Syl Johnson’s Bronzeville home to interview him about his life growing up in Mississippi and his early musical memories and experiences. It took awhile for us actually sit down with him and talk since we were totally blown away by the sheer amount of eye candy on the walls of his home.
Here’s the record room with platinum LPs from the likes of Public Enenmy, Wu-Tang, Kid Rock and a 10,000,000 sold cassette of Syl’s self released Twinight comp!
We were equally floored by Syl’s wall of fame in the hallway which includes headhsots of an early 80′s Oprah, WLS afternoon anchor woman Linda Yu (check this great video of her from 1994) and a photo collage of Syl with some random elderly people who we thnk came with the frame.
On our way out the door we were pretty excited to see a actual stock share of the Twinight Record label made out to Syl Sylvester (Johnson) Thompson back in 1968. More to come on the name change in the liner notes to the box set coming atcha’ in 2010.
Filed under: Eccentric Soul Revue, Methodology, Twinight | Tags: Jennifer Ludden, Morning Edition, NPR, Renaldo Domino, Twinight's Lunar Rotation
The Chicago based music label Numero Group reissues forgotten gems from all different genres of music – rock and roll, gospel, funk, R&B and soul. Most recently some of the performers went on tour under the banner of the Eccentric Soul Revue. Guest host Jennifer Ludden speaks with one of the label’s co-founders Ken Shipley and one of the performers, Renaldo Domino.
Filed under: Good God!, Twinight | Tags: Gene Cash, Harrison & the Majestic Kind, Twinight
Yesterday we had our first sit down with Chicago ghetto-custom label legend Gene Cash. We’ve been working with Gene for the last few years as a songwriter on Harrison & the Majestic Kind’s “Can You Find Me A Love” for Twinight, and we finally got the license done for the Victory Travelers’ “I Know I’ve Been Changed” which appears on Good God! Born Again Funk (releasing 1/26/2010).
Pictured above is Gene with tha’ Group, captured for historical posterity by his friend Larry, whose last name none of us can seem to remember. More information about Gene Cash can be found by clicking Harrison’s link above.
Filed under: Twinight | Tags: Dig Deeper NYC, Five Spot Soul Food, Renaldo Domino
It was pure coincidence that we happened to be in Brooklyn working on the Al Jarnow DVD, allowing us to have dinner with Renaldo Domino and catch his smoking show at the Five Spot last Saturday night. Renaldo was living it up like a king in Brooklyn and having a blast being in the boroughs for the first time since his gig at the Apollo in 1969. He had a brief rehearsal with the band but was feeling good and looking forward to hitting the stage as we delved into some delicious soul food at the Five Spot.
The Dig Deeper crew had Renaldo learn a few of his cuts he recorded for Mercury Records back in the early 60′s which really upped the ante for the gig. The Divine Soul Rhythm Band and the Sweet Divines sounded great after a crash course in Renaldo’s repertoire that afternoon. You can listen to some of the tracks on the Dig Deeper website and again, many thanks to Richard and Michael for putting together this amazing show.
For all you East Coasters who couldn’t make it out to Chicago for our Eccentric Soul Revue last month, we’re happy to let you know that Renaldo Domino will be hittin’ the stage in Brooklyn next Saturday night, May 23rd at the Dig Deeper Soul Party in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
They’ve got quite a show planned for you as Renaldo will be backed by the Sweet Divines who have added three strings for the evening to flesh out some of his tunes. The venue is nice an intimate so don’t sleep on getting your tickets here before they sell out.
Here’s a link to a video of Renaldo’s first appearance on stage in over 35 years to hold you over until Saturday.
