Show #196: Songs to Lift the Spirits
A couple of weeks ago, we featured a playlist that attempted to “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive.” We present part 2 this week, and hopefully these songs will help lift your spirits despite all the current…
By Tom Schnabel • • 1 min read<!-- missing image http://blogs.kcrw.com/rhythmplanet/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/blog-spacer.jpg -->A couple of weeks ago,
we featured a playlist that attempted to “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive.” We present part 2 this week, and hopefully these songs will help lift your spirits despite all the current discord and strife. We begin with the big Philly International Sound, with
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes featuring
Teddy
Pendergrass. Many of you may know the recent version by John Legend, but this is the original.
English jazz rocker Brian Auger calms us next with a feel-good side, “Happiness Is Just Around the Bend.” The one-and-only Sister Rosetta Tharpe follows, with her version of “Trouble in Mind.” Then jazz singer Holly Cole covers Jimmy Cliff’s classic song, “I Can See Clearly Now.”
A lovely song about maternal wisdom and human kindness is next—”Mama Said” from an album by jazz trumpeter RodMcGaha, featuring Julie Lee on vocals. (Not to be confused with the Shirelles’ 60’s classic of the same name.) We then hear a new and fresh sound from a young L.A. musician named Taylor Mackall. His CD entitled Boy and the Saints features Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento and saxophonist Sam Gendel. I love his new album and this song really jumped out at me.
We wrap it all up this week with Damian “Jr. Gong Marley” and Nas, with a song about gratitude called “Count Your Blessings.”
Rhythm Planet Playlist for 2/3/17:
Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes / “Wake Up Everybody” / Collectors’ Item / Philly International
Brian Auger / “Happiness is Just Around the Bend” / Auger Rhythms: Brian Auger’s Musical History / Ghostown
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra / “Trouble in Mind” / The Gospel of the Blues/ MCA
Holly Cole / “I Can See Clearly Now” / Don’t Smoke in Bed/ Blue Note
Rod McGaha / “Mama Said” (ft. Julie Lee) / The Black Flower Project / CD Baby
Taylor Mackall / “On the Way” / Boy and the Saints/ Taylor Made Music
Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas / “Count Your Blessings” / Distant Relatives / Universal Republic