Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Luther brought his heart felt respect for this time-honored song and his ultimate influence Ms. Dionne Warwick, who originally recorded A House Is Not A Home for her 1964 album, Make Way for Dionne Warwick. As the fate of any great composition, this single has been rotated through the voices of Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and many other icons. However on the flip side, this song has also been “punked” by Twista featuring Kanye West & Jamie Foxx so it hasn’t gone unscathed. But despite it’s musical travel, this song holds an emotional agony that I absolutely love to hear through the riffs, runs and “on the edge of your seat” anticipation of Luther. While I respect the original version from Dionne, the song seems to find “a home” in the expression of the late Luther Vandross.
Here is Luther giving a well deserved tribute to his idol with that wonderful song. Oh and by the way, you new artists and BET, let this be a teachable moment. This is what a real tribute looks like. Those Trey Songz and Tamar Braxton performances you’re passing off as tributes ain’t cutting it. Please take note and properly execute.
A new series of thoughts on music from characters Tim and Tip.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the video are solely those of the characters, not Grown Folks Music or the diseased brain of their creator(me). Enjoy!
Only slightly objectionable language is this clip.
Ahh… what better time to wax philosophically than a Monday morning. Yeah right. But something has been on my mind for a while now and I just wanted to commit a few words to what I’ve been thinking about.
I’m wondering if this concept of “Grown Folks Music” has always been with us? Is it a natural progression in musical taste as one matures? Or is the concept a fairly recent development( and by recent I mean the last 20 years or so) spurred on by a perception of a downgrade in the quality of popular music. Really and truly that’s what we are discussing here, popular music because there has always been great music that for one reason or another does not become popular so unfortunately it is not part of the discussion. (more…)
When I first learned of my assignment to cover Trey Songz’ Passion, Pain & Pleasure listening session here in Atlanta, I jokingly said in my Eddie Murphy voice, “Get the f**k outta here! Are you serious?!?” While I was very grateful for the invitation, truth be told, (more…)
Ok, so I’m headed out the door and going home for the evening. Around this time I’m usually catching up on emails and responding back to my text messages. As I scrolled through my phone, I got one particular message from my GFM crew that ’bout made me throw my damn phone. They gave me this “exciting” news:
“On the Kenny Burns Show, Luda is in the studio playing his new album….his fave…”Sex Room” featuring…..your boy Trey Songz!!! Lol!!!!”
I’m saying to myself ain’t this a b*****h?!? Now for those of you who personally know me, you already know I was calling on Jesus to hold my mule because my inner Florida Evans was starting to come out again.
Last week was quite the week for the remix. While I’m an advocate of creativity and stamping your own individuality to a song, I do have boundaries when it comes to certain songs. The other week I was glad to see artists coming together for the relief efforts in Haiti however the remake of “We Are the World” shouldn’t have been the song they rallied behind. I can’t say the remix didn’t have “any” hopeful moments but honestly the bad faded out the good efforts. I, like many fans, probably agree with Jay’s statement given to MTV about the remake efforts.
“I’m a fan of music. I know the plight and everything that’s going on in Haiti. … So I appreciate the efforts and everything, but We Are the World is [musically] untouchable like Thriller is untouchable. It was a valiant effort, but for me, it’s gonna be untouchable.”
Truthfully, there are some songs that just have a magic. Maybe the stars are perfectly aligned or Jupiter just happens to rise in Leo’s moon – hell, I don’t know, but they have a timeless, “Sistine Chapel” appeal to them. In this case, “We Are The World” happens to be one of those songs. Unfortunately, when you touch a song of that caliber, it can lose the magic and take an awful turn as we saw in that remake. Another song that’s been placed on the assembly line for a “spit shine” remix is (more…)
Intro: A generation can be defined as: “A group of persons living contemporaneously”. In this state of contemporary living there are many factors that serve as “Signs O’ The Times” (pun intended). Economics, politics, religion, the media etc., all play an integral part in influencing the music of every generation. Often, there is a disconnect between the music and the messengers of different generations which often pits members of different generations on opposing sides of the musical landscape. Interestingly enough, if we delve deeply enough into the subject matter of songs from purportedly opposing generations, often there is more that unites us on a human level than divides us.
In the spirit of the season we would encourage members of different generations to get together to discover and discuss the music of a different generation. This should be a time to put away the bias divides us and create an environment whereby each generation might learn from the other. As different as 1979 is from 2009 there are many similarities in how we relate to one another that should unite us.
Over the next few weeks we will compare and contrast songs from different eras that fall under a similar subject matter heading. We will examine topics ranging from relationships to materialism to simply having a good time. This is not a best of list or a popularity contest list but really it is a tool to spark some meaningful conversations, full of constructive debate that should lead to some “teachable moments”.
This week’s topic: Relationships
Miss Independent-Ne-Yo/Around The Way Girl-LL Cool J
The Message
With declarations like “Cause she walk like a boss talk like a boss manicured nails to set the pedicure off” from Ne-Yo to “Silky, milky her smile is like sunshine that’s why I had to dedicate at least one rhyme” from LL Cool J, these songs reside in the infatuation aisle at “I’d like to get to know you better” Mart. Yet, at the same time these songs serve as an ode to the independent woman. (more…)
Now I couldn’t miss this opportunity to comment on the premiere of Trey Songz’s “I Invented Sex” video. Was it because the video was so different and innovative? Well, no…not really. I mean think about it! You have a R. Kelly inspired song called “I Invented Sex”. What do you think the video’s gonna be about?!? The Care Bears reunion!?! I’m afraid not. What you can expect from this video is pretty much what it says……SEX! If you’ve seen “9 1/2 Weeks” or any other explicit sex scene in a movie, you’ve basically seen this video already.With no argument, this imagery is targeted towards Trey’s female demographic to solidify – if he hadn’t already – himself as the ultimate sex symbol.
