Top 10, “I Love Soul Sisters”

The staff of www.Soulsummer.com tackled the task of constructing a list of today’s top 10 soul sisters, a chart we call “I LOVE SOUL SISTERS TOP 10”. After several days of combat and heart felt emotional warfare, we decided that the task at hand could be a lot less emotional and chaotic if we treated it as business and apply guidelines for our selections.

The sexy chick, decent actress with sexy legs simply couldn’t qualify for having nice legs. The smooth skin honey without much vocal skill, the sister with the body of a goddess on TRL every other day and the sister who can dance but can’t blow simply could not make the cut. The voices and music had to be amazing…simple enough…right?

Not so fast, the personalities in the SS office rival a den of lawyers so the technicalities came into play. The skinny graphics guys popped off with; “what about the pop chick, she is popular but is she technically soul”…good question; SoulSummer.com defines soul as “heartfelt R&B influenced music laced with significant emotions, quality story telling and delivered by voices that are undeniably divine”… see Arthea Franklin.

The Production Guy had his two cents…”what about country girls? Like Faith Hill she is soulful?” The editorial guys shouts, “ dude…Faith Hill is as far from R&B music as Whitney is to a comeback”… The quiet, tech girl added to the argument; “Which brings us to another point; can Whitney qualify for the top 10 since we’re dealing with “today’s” soul sisters, you know ones who are actually active in the music business?

GOOD POINT, a bit harsh to single out Bobby’s ex wife but they are correct…no yesterday stars without current hits.

After two full days of back forth, I laid down the selection constitution; “ok people, we are selecting by the following parameters:

• Must be active with an album less than two years old
• Must have an amazing voice (by anyone standards)
• Music must possess R&B influence
• Consistent body of work (more than one album to her credit)

The debate went on for a few more intense days so we decided the only way to be fair is to continue with our top ten series…next up “Top 10 soul sisters of the future” and “Soul sisters of all times”…submit your picks and please let us know your thoughts on our “I love soul sister top 10”…Peace & Love, The office manager

Here is the TOP 10

1. Mary J Blige: (the original soul sister of the hip-hop generation; now she is the modern day Aretha Franklin)

2. India Arie: (consistent, soulful, fearless and original-our #2 pick simply because Mary at the #2 spot in blasphemy)

3. Erykah Badu: (a true artists, #1 on the creative baby names top 10…)

4. Tamia (Amazing voice, underrated… ME, Stranger, in My House, Put a Move… perfect example of a rule #2..AMAZING VOICE)

5. Alicia Keys (beautiful voice and has knack for great songs…plus AK is sexy as hell…#1 on the SEXY SOUL SISTER chart)

6. Keisha Coles (raw and heart felt, The Mary J for the 18 year olds, did we mention ghetto as hell? That is why we love her…)

7. Amy Winehouse (Honest artists, unique singer and songwriter, crazy as hell!!! Gaining a few lbs wouldn’t hurt her far below average sexy rating!)

8. Jill Scott (a poet, hated that she got divorce but maybe it resulted in another great album…)

9. Angie Stone (We need more of Angie, the voice is undeniable…Angie is the slept on!!!!)

10. Mariah Carey (most controversial pick but she can sing her ass off (not there was much to start with)…a tad bit vain but her voice won her the #10 position)

Perhaps many of you will argue Beyonce Carter should have held down a spot in the count down but come on people, B makes me wanna dance and pat weaves not delve into my inner, tumultuous being and cry like a heart broken teenager…now Mary! She made me cry on several drunken occasions… Lauryn Hill was another one we battled with but ultimately she had an album out in some years…too bad she is top-5 material for sure.

I Love Soul Sisters, Top 10!

The staff of www.Soulsummer.com tackled the task of constructing a list of today’s top 10 soul sisters, a chart we call “I LOVE SOUL SISTERS TOP 10”. After several days of combat and heart felt emotional warfare, we decided that the task at hand could be a lot less emotional and chaotic if we treated it as business and apply guidelines for our selections.

The sexy chick, decent actress with sexy legs simply couldn’t qualify for having nice legs. The smooth skin honey without much vocal skill, the sister with the body of a goddess on TRL every other day and the sister who can dance but can’t blow simply could not make the cut. The voices and music had to be amazing…simple enough…right?

Not so fast, the personalities in the SS office rival a den of lawyers so the technicalities came into play. The skinny graphics guys popped off with; “what about the pop chick, she is popular but is she technically soul”…good question; SoulSummer.com defines soul as “heartfelt R&B influenced music laced with significant emotions, quality story telling and delivered by voices that are undeniably divine”… see Arthea Franklin.

The Production Guy had his two cents…”what about country girls? Like Faith Hill she is soulful?” The editorial guys shouts, “ dude…Faith Hill is as far from R&B music as Whitney is to a comeback”… The quiet, tech girl added to the argument; “Which brings us to another point; can Whitney qualify for the top 10 since we’re dealing with “today’s” soul sisters, you know ones who are actually active in the music business?

GOOD POINT, a bit harsh to single out Bobby’s ex wife but they are correct…no yesterday stars without current hits.

After two full days of back forth, I laid down the selection constitution; “ok people, we are selecting by the following parameters:

• Must be active with an album less than two years old
• Must have an amazing voice (by anyone standards)
• Music must possess R&B influence
• Consistent body of work (more than one album to her credit)

The debate went on for a few more intense days so we decided the only way to be fair is to continue with our top ten series…next up “Top 10 soul sisters of the future” and “Soul sisters of all times”…submit your picks and please let us know your thoughts on our “I love soul sister top 10”…Peace & Love, The office manager

Here is the TOP 10

1. Mary J Blige: (the original soul sister of the hip-hop generation; now she is the modern day Aretha Franklin)

2. India Arie: (consistent, soulful, fearless and original-our #2 pick simply because Mary at the #2 spot in blasphemy)

3. Erykah Badu: (a true artists, #1 on the creative baby names top 10…)

4. Tamia (Amazing voice, underrated… ME, Stranger, in My House, Put a Move… perfect example of a rule #2..AMAZING VOICE)

5. Alicia Keys (beautiful voice and has knack for great songs…plus AK is sexy as hell…#1 on the SEXY SOUL SISTER chart)

6. Keisha Coles (raw and heart felt, The Mary J for the 18 year olds, did we mention ghetto as hell? That is why we love her…)

7. Amy Winehouse (Honest artists, unique singer and songwriter, crazy as hell!!! Gaining a few lbs wouldn’t hurt her far below average sexy rating!)

8. Jill Scott (a poet, hated that she got divorce but maybe it resulted in another great album…)

9. Angie Stone (We need more of Angie, the voice is undeniable…Angie is the slept on!!!!)

10. Mariah Carey (most controversial pick but she can sing her ass off (not there was much to start with)…a tad bit vain but her voice won her the #10 position)

Perhaps many of you will argue Beyonce Carter should have held down a spot in the count down but come on people, B makes me wanna dance and pat weaves not delve into my inner, tumultuous being and cry like a heart broken teenager…now Mary! She made me cry on several drunken occasions… Lauryn Hill was another one we battled with but ultimately she had an album out in some years…too bad she is top-5 material for sure.

Mariah Carey

The best-selling female performer of the 1990s, Mariah Carey rose to superstardom on the strength of her stunning five-octave voice; an elastic talent who moved easily from
glossy ballads to hip-hop-inspired dance-pop, she earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material. Born in Long Island, NY, on March 27, 1970, Carey moved to New York City at the age of 17 — just one day after graduating high school — to pursue a music career; there she befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies, with whom she began writing songs. Her big break came as a backing vocalist on a studio session with dance-pop singer Brenda K. Starr, who handed Carey’s demo tape to Columbia Records head Tommy Mottola at a party. According to legend, Mottola listened to the tape in his limo while driving home that same evening, and was so immediately struck by Carey’s talent that he doubled back to the party to track her down.

After signing to Columbia, Carey entered the studio to begin work on her 1990 self-titled debut LP; the heavily promoted album was a chart-topping smash, launching no less than four number one singles: “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “Someday,” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” Her overnight success earned Grammy awards as Best New Artist and Best Female Vocalist, and expectations were high for Carey’s follow-up, 1991’s Emotions. The album did not disappoint, as the title track reached number one — a record fifth consecutive chart-topper — while both “Can’t Let Go” and “Make It Happen” landed in the Top Five. Carey’s next release was 1992’s MTV Unplugged EP, which generated a number one cover of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.” Featured on the track was backup singer Trey Lorenz, whose appearance immediately helped him land a recording contract of his own.

In June 1993, Carey wed Mottola — some two decades her senior — in a headline-grabbing ceremony; months later she released her third full-length effort, Music Box, her best-selling record to date. Two more singles, “Dreamlover” and “Hero,” reached the top spot on the charts. Carey’s first tour followed and was widely panned by critics; undaunted, she resurfaced in 1994 with a holiday release titled Merry Christmas, scoring a seasonal smash with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” 1995’s Daydream reflected a new artistic maturity; the first single, “Fantasy,” debuted at number one, making Carey the first female artist and just the second performer ever to accomplish the feat. The follow-up, “One Sweet Day” — a collaboration with Boyz II Men — repeated the trick, and remained lodged at the top of the charts for a record 16 weeks.

After separating from Mottola, Carey returned in 1997 with Butterfly, another staggering success and her most hip-hop-flavored recording to date. #1’s — a collection featuring her 13 previous chart-topping singles as well as “The Prince of Egypt (When You Believe),” a duet with Whitney Houston effectively pairing the two most successful female recording artists in pop history — followed late the next year. With “Heartbreaker,” the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow, Carey became the first artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s; the record also pushed her ahead of the Beatles as the artist with the most cumulative weeks spent atop the Hot 100 singles chart.

However, the early 2000s weren’t as kind to Carey. After signing an 80-million-dollar deal in 2001 with Virgin — the biggest record contract ever — she experienced a very public personal and professional meltdown that included rambling; suicidal messages on her website; an appearance on TRL where, clad only in a T-shirt, she handed out Popsicles to the audience; and last but not least, the poorly received movie Glitter and its attendant soundtrack (which was also her Virgin Records debut). Both the film and the album did poorly critically as well as commercially, with Glitter making just under four million dollars in its total U.S. gross and the soundtrack struggling to make gold sales. Following these setbacks, Virgin and Carey parted ways early in 2002, with the label paying her 28 million dollars. That spring, she found a new home with Island/Def Jam, where she set up her own label, MonarC Music. In December, she released her ninth album, Charmbracelet, which failed to become a success. Although she took nearly three years for a follow-up, Carey found a hit with 2005’s chart-topping The Emancipation of Mimi, her most successful record in years. Released by Island Records, the album climbed to multi-platinum status and earned Carey a Grammy Award, thus restoring her status as a megastar in the R&B arena. Two weeks before the release of her subsequent album, E=MC², Carey scored her eighteenth number-one hit with “Touch My Body”, a feat that pushed her into second place (past Elvis, no less) amongst all aritsts with the most chart-topping singles. The well-timed accomplished also increased the public’s appetite for E=MC², which arrived in April 2008. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Source: http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/carey_mariah/bio.jhtml

Angie Stone

A singer, a self-taught keyboardist, and a prolific songwriter, Angie Stone’s first claim to fame was being the lead vocalist on Vertical Hold’s smooth urban dance track “Seems You’re Much Too Busy.” An R&B Top 40 hit during the summer of 1993, it eventually led to a solo career, and her debut album Black Diamond was issued in 1999 by Arista. In six years, Stone had definitely gained an old-school, autobiographical vibe, exemplified by her hit ballad “No More Rain (In This Cloud),” which has samples from Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).” Contributors included Lenny Kravitz and former Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad as producers, and Stone’s ex-boyfriend D’Angelo as a vocal guest on “Everyday.”

Stone, a native of Columbia, SC, began singing gospel music at a young age at First Nazareth Baptist Church. Her father, a member of a local gospel quartet, would take his only child to see performances by gospel artists such as the Singing Angels and the Gospel Keynotes. During her youth, she wrote poetry, played sports, and, after high-school graduation, was offered college basketball scholarships. While working dead-end jobs, Stone began saving money to record her own demos at a local studio called PAW. She joined Gwendolyn Chisolm and Cheryl Cook in the rap trio the Sequence, who recorded hits for Joe and Sylvia Robinson’s Sugarhill label — “Funk You Up,” a remake of Parliament’s hit “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker” called “Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off),” and “I Don’t Need Your Love (Part One).” Soon after, Stone was working with futuristic rappers Mantronix and rocker Lenny Kravitz and formed the neo-soul trio Vertical Hold, who first charted with the Criminal single “Summertime.” Besides “Seems You’re Much Too Busy,” the group’s self-titled A&M album spawned another charting single, “ASAP.” She moved to J-Records in 2001 for her second record, Mahogany Soul, and the record cracked the Top 40 thanks to the pop/R&B hit “Brotha.” Three years later, her third record Stone Love became her biggest hit, with a number 14 placing. The Art of Love & War, released in 2007, was her first number one album on the R&B/Hip Hop chart. ~ Ed Hogan, All Music Guide

Source: http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/stone_angie/bio.jhtml

Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys helped redefine the term “overnight sensation” when her 2001 debut effort, Songs in A Minor, sold more than 50,000 copies during its first day of release. Mixing R&B songcraft with a sultry dose of neo-soul, the album went on to move more than ten million units worldwide, officially establishing the young Alicia Keys (who was only 19 during the recording process) as an international star. Although she shared the charts with such R&B contemporaries as Destiny’s Child, Keys’ talents distinguished her as a different sort of diva, one who played a variety of instruments and penned the vast majority of her songs without outside help. The Diary of Alicia Keys solidified her popularity two years later, and Alicia Keys spent the rest of the decade refining her now-signature sound. Alicia Augello Cook was born in Harlem in early 1981. Raised by her Italian-American mother, she enrolled in classical piano lessons at the age of seven and began writing songs four years later. An education at the Professional Performance Arts School helped hone her vocal skills, and Alicia graduated at the age of 16 as the class valedictorian. Two Columbias loomed on the immediate horizon: Columbia University and Columbia Records, both of whom had extended offers to the talented student/musician. Although she attempted to make both options work, Alicia found it difficult to juggle the two commitments and chose to focus exclusively on her music career. Assuming the stage name of Alicia Keys, she began to work with Columbia and contributed a song to the Men in Black soundtrack, but disputes with the label resulted in her contract’s termination. Keys bounced back by aligning herself with Clive Davis, the president of Arista Records, but work on her debut album stalled when Davis was ousted from the company in 2000. Davis soon formed his own label, J Records, and welcomed Keys back into the fold with an aggressive publicity campaign (including an influential appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show). Songs in A Minor was then released in June 2001 and debuted at the top of the charts, eventually netting five Grammys and platinum certifications in ten different countries. Released in 2003, The Diary of Alicia Keys enjoyed similar Grammy-certified success, and Keys released a book of poetry the following year. A live CD/DVD package, Unplugged, arrived in 2005 and followed Keys’ two previous releases to the top of the charts, even if it failed to win any of the four Grammys for which it was nominated. Alicia Keys then entered the acting world, starring in both Smokin’ Aces and The Nanny Diaries in 2007, before issuing the pop-influenced As I Am later that year. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

Source: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=433721

Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu

India Arie

India Arie

Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige

Donny Hathaway

by Steve Huey

Donny Hathaway was one of the brightest new voices in soul music at the dawn of the ’70s, possessed of a smooth, gospel-inflected romantic croon that was also at home on fiery protest material. Hathaway achieved his greatest commercial success as Roberta Flack’s duet partner of choice, but sadly he’s equally remembered for the tragic circumstances of his death — an apparent suicide at age 33. Hathaway was born October 1, 1945, in Chicago, but moved to St. Louis when he was very young, and began singing in church with his grandmother at the scant age of three. He began playing piano at a young age, and by high school, he was impressive enough to win a full-ride fine arts scholarship to Howard University to study music in 1964. While in college, he performed with a cocktail jazz outfit called the Ric Powell Trio, and wound up leaving school after three years to pursue job opportunities he was already being offered in the record industry.

Hathaway first worked behind the scenes as a producer, arranger, songwriter, and session pianist/keyboardist. He supported the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jerry Butler, and the Staple Singers, among many others, and joined the Mayfield Singers, a studio backing group that supported Curtis Mayfield’s Impressions. Hathaway soon became a house producer at Mayfield’s Curtom label, and in 1969 cut his first single, a duet with June Conquest called “I Thank You Baby.” From there he signed with Atco as a solo artist, and released his debut single, the inner-city lament “The Ghetto, Pt. 1,” toward the end of the year. While it failed to reach the Top 20 on the R&B charts, “The Ghetto” still ranks as a classic soul message track, and has been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists. “The Ghetto” set the stage for Hathaway’s acclaimed debut LP, Everything Is Everything, which was released in early 1970. In 1971, he released his eponymous second album and recorded a duet with former Howard classmate Roberta Flack, covering James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” It was a significant hit, reaching the Top Ten on the R&B charts, and sparked a full album of duets, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, which was released in 1972. The soft, romantic ballad “Where Is the Love?” topped the R&B charts, went Top Five on the pop side, and won a Grammy, and the accompanying album went gold.

Also in 1972, Hathaway branched out into soundtrack work, recording the theme song for the TV series Maude and scoring the film Come Back Charleston Blue. However, in the midst of his blossoming success, he was also battling severe bouts of depression, which occasionally required him to be hospitalized. His mood swings also affected his partnership with Flack, which began to crumble in 1973. Hathaway released one more album that year, the ambitious Extension of a Man, and then retreated from the spotlight; over the next few years, he performed only in small clubs. In 1977, Hathaway patched things up with Flack and temporarily left the hospital to record another duet, “The Closer I Get to You,” for her Blue Lights in the Basement album. The song was a smash, becoming the pair’s second R&B number one in 1978, and also climbing to number two on the pop charts. Sessions for a second album of duets were underway when, on January 13, 1979, Hathaway was found dead on the sidewalk below the 15th-floor window of his room in New York’s Essex House. The glass had been neatly removed from the window, and there were no signs of struggle, leading investigators to rule Hathaway’s death a suicide; his friends were mystified, considering that his career had just started to pick up again, and Flack was devastated. Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway was released in 1980, and both of the completed duets — “Back Together Again” and “You Are My Heaven” — became posthumous hits. In 1990, Hathaway’s daughter Lalah launched a solo career.

Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge will forever be associated with “When a Man Loves a Woman,” a pleading, soulful ballad he sang with wrenching, convincing anguish and passion. Sledge sang all of his songs that way, delivering them in a powerful rush where he quickly changed from soulful belting to quavering, tearful pleas. It was a voice that made him one of the key figures of deep Southern soul during the late ’60s. Sledge recorded at Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, where he frequently sang songs written by Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn. Not only did he sing deep soul, but Sledge was among the pioneers of country-soul, singing songs by Charlie Rich and Kris Kristofferson in a gritty, passionate style. During the ’70s, his commercial success quickly faded away, but Sledge continued to tour and record into the ’90s.

While he worked as a hospital nurse in the early ’60s, Sledge began his professional music career as a member of the Southern soul vocal group the Esquires Combo. On the advice of local disc jockey Quin Ivy, he went solo in 1966. Ivy fancied himself a record producer and he agreed to help shape Sledge’s song “When a Man Loves a Woman” into a full-fledged single, hiring Spooner Oldham to play a distinctive, legato organ phrase. Ivy released the single independently and quickly licensed it to Atlantic Records, who quickly bought out Sledge’s contract. “When a Man Loves a Woman” became a huge hit in the summer of 1966, topping both the pop and R&B charts. It was quickly followed that year by two Top Ten R&B hits, “Warm and Tender Love” and “It Tears Me Up,” which were both in the vein of his first hit. Although few of his subsequent singles were hits — only “Take Time to Know Her” reached the R&B Top Ten in 1968 — many of the songs, which were often written by Dan Penn and/or Oldham, were acknowledged as classics among soul aficionados.

Despite his strong reputation among deep soul fans, Sledge’s sales had declined considerably by the early ’70s, and he headed out on the club circuit in America and England. In 1974, he left Atlantic for Capricorn Records, where he surprisingly returned to the R&B Top 20 with “I’ll Be Your Everything.” Instead of re-igniting his career, the single was a last gasp, as far as chart success was concerned. Over the next two decades he continued to tour, and in the late ’80s, “When a Man Loves a Woman” experienced a resurgence in popularity, due to its inclusion in movie soundtracks and in television commercials. Following its appearance in a 1987 Levi commercial in the U.K., the single was re-released and climbed to number two. Two years later, he won the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Career Achievement Award. Sledge was able to turn this revived popularity into a successful career by touring constantly, playing over 100 shows a year into the ’90s. In 1994, he released Blue Night, his first collection of new material in over a decade, to uniformly positive reviews. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Percy’s 1967 hit “Take time To Know Her, ” was a prime example of the role Percy played as an innovator of the Country/Soul music movement. In the late 1970’s, other good examples are Percy’s own renditions of Ray Price’s “For The Good Times, or Charley Pride’s “Kiss An Angel Good Morning”. In 1979, Percy Sledge made updated recordings of all of his hits on the state-of-the-art equipment at Gusto King Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Those songs, along with many other classic pop, country, soul and R&B recordings by Percy Sledge, round out a special era by “The Golden Voice Of Soul” and he never sounded better.

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