Grown Folks Music had the exciting opportunity to speak with the legendary Mrs. Shirley Murdock. Listen in to hear the true stories behind some of your favorite songs, including “As We Lay” and “Go On Without You”. During the interview, Mrs. Murdock also speaks about everything from her most recent release, “Live: The Journey” to the experience of singing at the MLK memorial dedication to touring with the legendary Luther Vandross. Mrs. Murdock also speaks on how she addresses critics who question an artist’s ability to vacillate between the worlds of gospel and soul music. You will also hear about the new genre of music that she is proposing to start.
“Live: The Journey” is available in both cd and dvd formats at Amazon.com.
For more on Mrs. Murdock, you can visit her Facebook page or her official website. When you get the chance, follow her on Twitter. Tell her that Grown Folks music sent you!
Grown Folks Music recently had the pleasure of speaking with the legendary Mr. Rance Allen. During our conversation he talks about the release of the “Music Majors” collection, which commemorates over 40 years in the music business for the Rance Allen Group. He also discusses the interesting story behind the writing of “Miracle Worker” and why it took almost 20 years for the song to actually be released. Mr. Allen also reveals his favorite artists. Listen in to learn more about this iconic inspirational musician.
Aspiring and established songwriters: You may submit your music directly to Mr. Allen at:
PO BOX 3297
TOLEDO OH 43607-0297.
**All submissions must be copyrighted prior to being submitted to Mr. Allen.**
The cd/dvd combination of “Amazing Grace” is available at Amazon.com. You should also check out Rance Allen’s amazing “Stax Profiles” cd. You won’t be disappointed.
I remember the first time that I heard this song. I smiled as the lyrics progressed, as Whitney runs down her man’s evening out. I remembered thinking, “busted”! Even though her man’s indiscretions open “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay”, the song is much more than that. The video visuals show Whitney decked out in black leather.
This was key because by the time the tune was released, a lot had transpired in both Whitney’s personal and professional life. The black leather portrayed a strong, confident Whitney. The video was not only a message to her cheating man, but it was a message to the world that affirmed “This isn’t a comeback, because I never left”.
Today we have a double spin/treat for you. Several of Whitney’s singles were actually covers, but Whitney was such an amazing artist that you would have thought the singles were her original songs. “One of Those Days” is one of those tracks that is so breezy and melodic that it immediately mentally transports you to the very places Whitney describes in the lyrics,
This is my personal favorite remake from Ms. Houston. It’s great to see the members of TLC early in their career jamming along with Ms. Chaka Khan…..and may I add that a pregnant Whitney Houston is absolutely gorgeous.
“Exhale (Shoop, Shoop)” is one of those tracks that you find yourself mindlessly singing along to even after just one listen. I dare you to listen to the track without a few “shoop, shoop” string of words escaping your lips. The extremely catchy Babyface produced single reached #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip Hop charts.
I am writing this 40 years too early…..She wasn’t supposed to be gone. She was supposed to have her opportunity to have her full comeback, a true return to her glory. The type of comeback that would make all of her detractors shut up and recognize the greatness. But that wasn’t in the cards. We just didn’t realize that she would only be with us a short time, but thank God for the time that he did allow us to spend with his child Ms. Whitney Elizabeth Houston.
Past
At times like this, it is best to focus on the reason why Ms. Houston is important to us. For many, she is the woman who you grew up with. Her songs were so iconic and her influence was so far reaching that even now you can probably remember a major event that occurred in your own life during the release of “Run to You” or at the time that “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” was released. Only a few people ever had the opportunity to come in direct contact with Ms. Houston, and an even smaller number of people knew the real Whitney Houston. I have heard that she was both extremely warm and had an amazing, down-to-earth sense of humor. You can see a display of both in the clip below.
In this clip die hard fan Quencie Thomas interviews Whitney. Whitney interacts so naturally with Quencie, as if they have been hanging out for years. The interview was arranged by MTV, but that doesn’t matter. Whitney still could have chosen to either decline the interview or to be standoffish. She chose to do neither.
There are no pretenses here, and she even touches Quencie’s hands and her back…….Who knew that Whitney loved to vacuum?
Whitney the Thespian
I loved Whitney as an actress. In “Waiting to Exhale” she was so seamless and so natural as the girl waiting on a man who belonged to someone else to love her. In “The Preacher’s Wife”, she was just as convincing in a very different role, one in which she played wife, mother, and teased us with a friendship with a very handsome angel.
I was thinking about Whitney’s career earlier this week, and the thought hit me that even in her short time on Earth, Whitney worked with almost everyone (in the vein of heavyweights in the music and film industries). As an actress she worked with both Angela Bassett “Waiting to Exhale” and Denzel Washington “The Preacher’s Wife”. There are hundreds of professional actors that would love to work with either Angela or Denzel, and Ms. Houston had the honor of accomplishing a major film with both actors. Skeptics would say that both of these opportunities were solely due to her star power and projected box office power. While I am sure that may have been part of the initial thought process with regards to casting, in the end Ms. Houston proved to more than hold her own in her roles. She never overacted or underacted, she was relaxed and convincing in her portrayals. It should also be noted that neither Angela Bassett nor Denzel Washington accept movie projects idly (which is why we rarely see Ms. Bassett on screen). They welcomed working with Ms. Houston, and that speaks well of Whitney’s character on set.
