When we celebrate the great contributions of music artists, we always like to give a narrative picture from those who knew them well. In our tribute of the late, great Gerald Levert, we brought a dear friend of the Grown Folks Music family, Mrs. Sheri Riley. For those not familiar with Sheri’s name, you definitely know her work. She is the founder and president of the successful entertainment consulting company, Glue, Inc., former marketing executive with Atlantic and LaFace Records and the marketing hand behind artists like TLC, Donell Jones, Usher, Toni Braxton, OutKast and of course Mr. Gerald Levert. From her story, we hope you will thoroughly enjoy this interview and gain more insight into this R&B legend. Also, catch some of Sheri’s exclusive pics with Gerald, Sean and Eddie Levert, Isaac Hayes, Phyllis Hyman, Don Cornelius and many more!
Gerald Levert, Joe N Little and friend
Gerald Levert & Sheri Riley's mother, Ms. Huguely
Eddie Levert, Gerald Levert and his girl group, 1 Of The Girls
Eddie Levert , Phyllis Hyman, Don Cornelius, Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert and son, LeMicah
Eddie Levert , Don Cornelius, Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert, Isaac Hayes, Sean Levert
Gerald Levert, Sheri Riley and friend
Gerald Levert performing on Soul Train
Gerald Levert & Sean Levert
Gerald Levert, Members of Men At Large and the Rude Boys and Michael McCary of Boy II Men
The TV One series, “Unsung”, whose premise parallels one of our goals here at GFM, giving those artists that may not be quite as well known, their well deserved accolades and attention. One of their early episodes featured Phyllis Hyman, which gives us an excuse to share some of her classics with you.
The history of modern soul music is unfortunately littered with stories of truly magnificent artists who spent much of their adult lives fighting personal demons while creating seminal music. Phyllis Hyman is, sadly, one of those stories. The Philadelphia native was a popular jazz club singer in New York when hot producer Norman Connors witnessed her show and pegged her to perform a cover of the Stylistics’ “Betcha By Golly Wow” on his You Are My Starship album. Her emotive, jazzy stylings melded perfectly with Connors’ production, and her stunning performance resulted in her being signed by Buddah Records for a 1977 self-titled solo debut. (more…)
New York, 2011 – After amassing an impressive collection of prestigious awards and penning hit songs for some of R&B’s most iconic legends such as Anita Baker, Beyonce, Usher, Brownstone, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Patti Labelle, and The Isley Brothers, esteemed Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Gordon Chambers is on the precipice of yet another exciting milestone in his career as a recording artist with the release of his third solo album, Sincere. Featuring production by The BeatBanggahz (Kenny Lattimore, Trey Songz, J. Holiday); A. Jermaine Mobley (Music Soulchild, Lalah Hathaway, Carl Thomas, Eric Roberson), and Chambers himself—alongside flavorful newcomers Darien Dorsey, Blake Melodius and Mike Severson, Sincere effortlessly melds a pop/ R&B sound with a classic soul aesthetic that is certain to surprise and delight contemporary R&B fans and soul enthusiasts alike. (more…)
GFM fam I wanted to take a little time out to post this fantastic track by James Day & Mikelyn Roderick. This is “Bridging the Gap” personified. Unlike many “artists” these days James & Mikelyn’s acknowledge that only way that we arrived here was from there. As a student of history and lover of music there’s a very special place for music like this with me. I hope you all enjoy this wonderful tribute as much as I am and if you do tell a friend or two.
Composed & produced by James Day & Dow Brain featuring Mikelyn Roderick on vocals. From the album: JAMES DAY ‘NATURAL THINGS – US Digital Edition’ Now on CDBaby, Coming Soon to iTunes!
Yeah, we know it’s “Valentine’s Day” but who said we gotta pay Cupid some damn tribute!!!! If you’re one of those lovesick puppies and hopeless romantics looking for your fix on V-Day, we got your fix but it sure as hell ain’t what you think!!! On this day of love, we wanted to send Cupid a special mixtape! A list of songs that really express our deep passion in the subject of amour. So if love has kicked you in the ass, made a complete fool of you, had you crying like Lenny Williams and broadcasted your shame all over Facebook and Twitter, then welcome my friends to our official “F!ck, Cupid,!!” mixtape!! A Valentine’s mix that is sure to have you burning down someone’s car and lighting a cigarette afterward!!!
And Cupid, in case you missed our sentiments, let us say it again……….”F**K YOU!!!” (in my Cee-Lo voice) (more…)
01 – High Rise – Ashford & Simpson
02 – It Seems To Hang On – Ashford & Simpson
03 – Stuff Like That – Quincy Jones
04 – Found A Cure – Ashford & Simpson
05 – Love Don’t Make It Right – Ashford & Simpson
06 – It’s My House – Diana Ross
07 – Have You Ever Tried It – Main Ingredient
08 – Bourgié Bourgié – Ashford & Simpson
09 – Don’t Cost You Nothing – Ashford & Simpson
10 – Street Corner – Ashford & Simpson
11 – Over And Over – Sylvester
12 – Clouds – Chaka Khan
13 – I Ain’t Asking – Phyllis Hyman
14 – By Way Of Love’s Express – Ashford & Simpson
15 – Send It – Ashford & Simpson
16 – Is It Still Good To Ya? – Teddy Pendergrass
