Wendell B. Passes Away
Daddy B. Nice's #45 ranked Southern Soul Artist
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Wendell B. Passes AwayDaddy B. Nice's #45 ranked Southern Soul Artist |
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"Just Don't Understand You" Wendell B. Passes Away Composed by Wendell Brown
Wendell B, the "Barry White" of Southern Soul music, has passed away.Wendell Brown, aka Wendell B, died peacefully from cancer complications early Thursday, August 3, 2023. Wendell Brown had been noticeably absent from the concert scene for the past year, and his battle with cancer had been kept secret by his family. Wendell had been scheduled to return to concert appearances only recently. Click here to read reactions and tributes from friends and peers. Wendell B. is a Top 10-ranked southern soul artist on Daddy B. Nice's most current artist chart, the New Generation of Southern Soul.************************************************************** April 1, 2021: 
Wendell B is now the #8-ranked southern soul artist on Daddy B Nice's new Top-100 Chart---The New Generation. Click here. ******************************* February 6, 2021: Daddy B. Nice’s Top 25 Songs of 2020 #2 & #8 Songs of 2020 2. "Staying In Love Ain't Easy"------Wendell B
See the chart. 8. "Get'cha Head Right"------Wendell B See the chart. Best Male Vocalist: "Get'cha Head Right" and "Staying In Love Ain't Easy" by Wendell BListen to Wendell B singing "Get'cha Head Right" on YouTube. Best CD of 2020: Real Talk by Wendell B
November 1, 2020: WENDELL B.: Real Talk (Smoothway Music) Five Stars ***** Can't Miss. Pure Southern Soul Heaven. Wendell B kicks off "Cadillac Willie," the closing track of his new album Real Talk with, "Hey, Willie, here's a little change. Dance for me." "Cadillac Willie" is a new version (or an updated vision) of "Mr. Bojangles," the beloved folk-rock standard by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (written and also performed by Jerry Jeff Walker), which in turn is based on the real Mr. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who was born in the 1880's and was making $3500 a week---not exactly spare change---at his peak. The lyrics are delightfully personal and detailed, but it's the music in "Cadillac Willie," and indeed throughout this, the best album of Wendell B's career, that serves as the platform for all the good words---and "real talk".
It's hard to believe Wendell B already has eight major albums to his credit---hard to believe "Just Don't Understand You" was fifteen years ago! Virtually all southern soul insiders consider Wendell to be a major artist, and yet even the term "major" doesn't do justice to the man's off-the-charts vocal gift. Every time he opens his mouth, it's hard not to think (in a conspiratorial whisper), "He could be number one."  Currently in southern soul music there are two "W. Browns," Wendell and Wardell (the latter much better known under his recording and performance name of Big Pokey Bear.) The two outsized talents form bookends at opposite ends of the southern soul spectrum. Stylistically, Pokey plays it "rough" and Wendell B plays it "smooth." (Even his label is called Smoothway.) Pokey Bear presently rules the roost at #1, but no one is counting Wendell B out, and to imagine southern soul without either one of the "Browns" is unimaginable.
Wendell B's blockbusters from 2019 are both here. That would be "Beautiful," with the atmospheric, synth-washed, Sir Charles-like production, and "Still Learning 'Bout Love," with the Soul Music Representatives (Magic One, Jason Little & Curtis Jefferson), in which Wendell collaborates with his "brothers" but dominates like a man among boys. "Beautiful" charted as the #1 Southern Soul Single in April of 2019. "Still Learning 'Bout Love" charted at #3 in December of 2019. The latter amassed nearly a million YouTube views (that was in 2019---the views in 2020 now number over 5 million) and achieved Daddy B Nice's "Best Collaboration of 2019," the second year in a row Wendell was an instrumental and indeed commanding cog in a southern soul communal effort. See Daddy B Nice's Best Collaboration of 2018: "High Heels & Jeans," with Magic One, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood. I gave REAL TALK an extensive and enthusiastic new album alert! in January when the CD first broke, cautioning that I didn't want to give the album too much hype on such scant and preliminary listening. To illustrate how long ago that now seems, the Covid-19 pandemic hadn't yet broken. In January I wrote prudently that "even a humble tune like "Get'cha Head Right" charms." Three months later, after months of listening, "Get'cha' Head Right" was #1 with a bullet in Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles, occasioning the aside: "Wendell is this generation's Ronnie Lovejoy, and if you were going to record a new version of top-rated southern soul classic "Sho' Wasn't Me," Wendell would be the no-brainer choice to sing it." "Staying In Love Ain't Easy," charted at #3 in June, and "Cadillac Willie came in at #3 in July. There hasn't been such a run of Top 10 singles from a solo album since Tucka's "Working With The Feeling". But what about the filler, you say? There is no filler. "Make'em Mad" is a typical Wendell B track, reminiscent of his earlier work, cloning hiphop techniques with Luther Vandross-style vocals. "Check Now" has the stirring chords of a true anthem, accentuated by synthetic strings that wash over the chorus in pleasurable waves. Watch for it yet to hit the charts. "That's What We Gone Do" pulses with feeling, propelled by a scintillating "stepping" beat. Background vocals lend even more to the sensation of dancing. "Love Directions" rocks back and forth like a baby in an old-fashioned cradle, with pristine keyboard runs playing like light around Wendell's phrasings. "Can We Just Talk" sails along on a "Summertime Madness"-like synthesizer line with Wendell weaving and bobbing vocally through the ascending and descending chords. "Missing You" slows down to prime White/Vandross territory, with a dense, syruppey-sounding chorus. There isn't a bad or reptitive cut on the album. Each song has something in common with the others---a certain style, a certain quality, Wendell's brand---yet each carries its own weight. Which leads me to proclaim: Real Talk is an honest-to-God primer in the art of production. In most of these songs, it's difficult to assess whether it's the melody or the arrangements toting the creative load. That's really remarkable. As for the lyrics, I know most fans (and most recording artists, actually) place the importance on the words, but the fans wouldn't be listening to the words if the music hadn't gotten their attention. Take "Get'cha Head Right": Listen to Wendell B singing "Get'cha Head Right" on YouTube. The words are specific, urgent, and meaningful, from one lover to another---"If Shorty get her head right/ The Boss stay every night" (the "Boss" being Wendell B, of course)---but the music runs even deeper. First, the delicate, moody, treble-clef strumming that sounds vaguely like one of those big harps you only see in movies anymore. Then the White-like opening voice-over. The pulsating of the drum. The thumping of the bass. Quirky. Hand claps. Spare. Yet ideal. Mixed to perfection, each element sounding like whole sections of a symphony orchestra. And then, like a curtain opening on the main event, the Wendell B vocal in all its wandering glory, the "real talk" as only "The Boss" can sang it, synthesizer fillips curling around his prolonged phrases. Oh yes, and the rap, an undulating verse of words to spice it up. And then all the elements start swirling around one another as Wendell bobs between lead, background and chorus vocals. It's incredible. This may be a year you want to put behind you, but before you evacuate 2020, pick yourself up a little Wendell B and bring it along with your pets, precious papers and memories. ---Daddy B. Nice Buy Wendell B's Real Talk album at Apple. Read Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Wendell B. Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . . -------NOVEMBER 2020------- …2. "Check Now"-----Wendell B.
When Wendell gets to, "Can't you see Martin shaking his head?", the pounding piano and the gorgeous musical depth transported me back to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" This is looking like the album of the year. Read Daddy B. Nice's 5-star review of Wendell B's Real Talk. Listen to Wendell B singing "Check Now" on YouTube. ************
January 25, 2020: NEW ALBUM ALERT!:Buy Wendell B's new REAL TALK CD at Apple.REAL TALK TRACK LIST:1In the Club 4:21 2 Make'em Mad 3:43 3 Beautiful 4:40 4 Check Now 4:02 5 Get'cha Head Right 4:56 6 That's What We Gone Do 4:00 7 Staying in Love Ain't Easy 5:20 8 Still Learning Bout Love 5:32 9 Can We Just Talk 5:05 10 Missing U 5:23 11 Love Directions 4:15 12 Cadillac Willy Daddy B. Nice notes: The blockbusters from 2019 are both here. That would be "Beautiful," with the atmospheric, synth-washed, Sir Charles-like production, and "Still Learning 'Bout Love," with the Soul Music Representatives (Magic One, Jason Little & Curtis Jeffreson), in which Wendell collaborates with his "brothers" but dominates like a man among boys. The latter amassed nearly a million YouTube views and achieved Daddy B Nice's "Best Collaboration of 2019," the second year in a row Wendell was an instrumental if not commanding cog in a southern soul communal effort. See Daddy B Nice's Best Collaboration of 2018: "High Heels & Jeans," with Magic One, Vick Allen, L.J. Echols & Avail Hollywood.
It's hard to believe Wendell already has six major albums to his credit--hard to believe "Just Don't Understand You" was fifteen years ago! Virtually all southern soul insiders consider Wendell to be a major artist, and yet even the term "major" doesn't do justice to the man's off-the-charts vocal talent. Every time he opens his mouth, it's hard not to think, "He could be number one." So as we await a new Wendell B release, the expectations are sky-high, and on first impression, the REAL TALK album doesn't disappoint. The songwriting and production across the board sounds solid and fertile, out of which might come any number of popular singles. "Cadillac Willie" is interesting (above and beyond the street-nostalgia in the lyrics) because it shows Wendell riding a mid-tempo, near-dance-able, "stepper" without the oft-past digressions into hiphop. It almost sounds like a typical southern soul song, meaning the kind of song most artists record. (With the added bonus of Wendell on vocals.) And even when Wendell does serve up his usual fare, mixing the Luther Vandross/Barry White style with interludes of rap as in "Love Directions," it's done with exquisite precision and taste. More remarkably, the set doesn't let up. One stellar tune after another, the CD gathers momentum, as with the masterful sounds of "Staying In Love Ain't Easy," which has all the earmarks of the finest hits from Wendell's past, "Just Don't Understand You" among them. And even a "minor" tune like "Get'cha Head Right" charms and infatuates with its modesty and humility, with just the right instrumental touches for the content. I don't want to give the album too much hype on such scant and preliminary listening, but at its very least, Real Talk sounds like one of those rare CD's you can listen to repeatedly without getting irritated. Real Talk will buoy you up with energy and optimism. Finally--dare I say it?--it may be the album that finally takes Wendell B to the mountaintop. By the way, Wendell B. just charted this month (April 2020) on a stunning collaboration with Bigg Robb. Here it is: Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .
Listen to all the tracks from Wendell B's REAL TALK on YouTube. Wendell B's new REAL TALK album at Spotify. Listen to Wendell B's new REAL TALK album on iHeart Radio. Buy Wendell B's new REAL TALK album at iTunes. 
**************** See "Tidbits" below for the latest updates on Wendell B. To automatically link to Wendell B’s charted radio singles, awards, CD's and many other references on the website, go to "Wendell B." in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index. ************** Daddy B. Nice's Original Critique:
All the great Southern Soul songs have catch phrases that dominate the music and resonate in the minds of fans. Wendell B.'s "Just Don't Understand You" is one such great song, and every Southern Soul fan knows and loves this phrase: "Mama taught me my ABC's. Daddy taught me how to 1, 2, 3. Went to school and got a college degree, But I just don't understand you." Wendell is often compared to Barry White and Luther Vandross, among other great crooners of yesteryear, and with justification, but it's high time all comparisons were dropped, at least amongst the Southern Soul audience. For Southern Soul fans, Wendell B. has already surpassed his influences. In less than a decade, and in the space of only a handful of CD's, he has recorded a dozen to two dozen classic songs that already overshadow the work of his mentors and have far more relevance to contemporary fans. These are songs that unashamedly bask in melody and traditional arrangements, songs that are buoyed by the vocal briliance of the greatest all-around crooner to arrive on the scene since Sir Charles Jones. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Just Don't Understand You" on YouTube while you read. In a perfect world, these songs would be dominating the national R&B and even Pop charts. The fact that they don't isn't of any great concern, because--thanks to today's media--Wendell's soul is available for anyone who appreciates the finest in composition and execution. "Just Don't Understand You" begins with a supple rhythm section, reverential strings and Wendell scat-singing, "Ooh nah nah nah nah nahhhh" over and over. In just a few bars, before he has even sung any lyrics, the listener is transported to the heavenly regions Vandross achieved in "Think About You"-- "Bought a pillow for my room. Heard Alicia sing a tune. Sends my rocket to the moon. Happens every time I think about you." --But Wendell is only getting started. "It's time we get it together Or leave it alone." --He tells his loved one, who has him between a rock and a hard place. "Just Don't Understand You" is the story of a good man--and a deep man--married to a "woman who just won't do right." "Been round the world, crossed the seven seas, Swam the deepest oceans, highest trees, Went back to school and got a Masters degree, But I just don't understand you." By the last stanza, when he's got his Ph.D, Wendell's still searching for his loved one's commitment. He doesn't complain; he doesn't list transgressions. He reminds her that they've been together a long time and he still loves her. "Now here I go again Trying to make you understand All the pain I go through Trying to be a strong man." "It's "time for me to smile," Wendell says, but "I'll keep my door open." Although-- "If we can't get it together, We should leave this thing alone." "Just Don't Understand You" is probably the finest expression of a man's path to separation that exists in Southern Soul music. Early in his career, after he had published the breakthrough album that included "Just Don't Understand You," Wendell B. let it be known that he didn't want to be considered "a Southern Soul artist." The remark raised both some eyebrows and some hackles around the chitlin' circuit, even though many more established soul, r&b and blues artists than Wendell had made similar comments in the past. But Southern Soul as a genre continued to grow, and Southern Soul fans as a whole tended to let the statement pass based on the evidence in Good Times, which in addition to "Just Don't Understand You" contained such Southern Soul fare as "Y'all Ain't Ready," "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love," "Should We Break Up," "I Ain't Never Been Down Like That" and "Heaven Sent Me An Angel." Many peers and fans put it down to Wendell's own misconceptions and too-limited definition of what Southern Soul music was. And sure enough, after a very good transitional album called Time To Relax...Love, Life & Relationships, Wendell returned with two separate albums in 2010, one of which was called In Touch With My Southern Soul. In this album Wendell made sure his fans knew that he knew all about the Delta and travelling down "Highway 55" (Interstate 55 between Memphis and Jackson) in such songs as "Mississippi Girl," "The Best Time I Ever Had In My Life," "I Can Deal With The Leaks," "Working On The Building" and "Everything Gone Be All Right." Finally, early in 2012 (at the time of this writing), Wendell B. released his "Good Man" Single, a sweet, pure Southern Soul ballad harking back to "Just Don't Understand You" in its melodic originality and lucid expression of stalwart male character. "Just a simple man," Wendell asks only for "the strength to go after" a new woman for whom he has feelings. "Said I ain't perfect, But I'm damn good. Said I work hard every day Said I'm pushing like a good man should." See Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .MARCH 2012. . .1. "Good Man"-----------Wendell B. Admirably, Wendell B. has never recorded an uptempo song. How many solo artists can one say that about? Your Daddy B. Nice can't think of another. In fact, serenity is the touchstone of Wendell B.'s music, and Wendell's comfort in his own artistic personality infuses his work with a rare rootedness and inner peace. It's not the generic "wisdom" of New Age music--and there's nothing "spacey" about it. The framework is always the male/female yin/yang, the context is always the conflict between love and loss. There is plenty of real-world grit in the hidden spaces of the lyrics. With his star steadily rising, Wendell B. has secured himself an important niche in contemporary Southern Soul. Transforming the joys and pains of daily life into songs of beauty has seldom had a more accomplished advocate. --Daddy B. Nice About Wendell B. Passes Away Wendell Brown, aka Wendell B., was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents were from the South, and as a child Brown attended family reunions in Mississippi and Alabama, where he soaked up the blues and gospel culture. He also sang in family-oriented gospel groups, where he inevitably became the lead singer.
Song's Transcendent Moment "So tell me,
Tidbits 1.April 15, 2012: Wendell B.'s tunes are well-represented on YouTube:Listen to Wendell B. singing "Just Don't Understand You" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "She Didn't Have To Hurt Ya Boy Like That" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. Singing Live Onstage in Arkansas on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "The Best Time I Ever Had In My Life" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "I Can Deal With The Leaks" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Mississippi Girl" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Everything Gone Be All Right" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Heaven Sent Me An Angel" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Save A Little Room For Me" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. and Stacie Kaid singing "Should We Break Up" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Bounce" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Sing A Song For You" featuring Roger Troutman on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Working On The Building" on YouTube. 2.March 16, 2013: NEW ALBUM ALERTSample/Buy Wendell B.'s new GET TO KNOW ME CD. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Celebrate “Cho Day" on YouTube. 4.August 29, 2015: REPRINTED FROM DADDY B. NICE'S CORNERMarch 15, 2015:
A DADDY B NICE “SHOUT OUT" TO SOUTHERN SOUL’S BEST BIRTHDAY SONG! WENDELL B’s “CELEBRATE ‘CHO DAY.”Listen to Wendell B. singing "Celebrate “Cho Day" on YouTube. Imagine vintage Notorious B.I.G. channeled through vintage Luther Vandross and you have Wendell B., the pride of St. Louis, singing one of the finest stepping songs ever made. And it's a birthday song! You can recycle it for a half-hour at a time, basking in the pleasant buzz of energy pulsing through the speakers. A great song to clean the house to (on the 364 days of the year it's not your b-day), it makes you feel like one of the seven dwarves whistling while you work. You can’t slow down, the track is too mesmerizing. You’re compelled to keep moving, to keep doing whatever you’re doing. "If you're sexy and grown, Get your ass onnnn. Don't you want to celebrate? Don't you want to celebrate? Celebrate 'cho day?" There are a number of YouTube postings for “Celebrate Cho Day.” (Type in keywords “Wendell b celebrate you tube”.) It remains to be seen how many will remain when Wendell gets wind of the iterations out there. Your Daddy B. Nice hopes he keeps at least one on the “air” on YouTube, because in this age of balkanized radio there is no one, universal, melting-pot top-forty (like my day) for a song like “Celebrate” to become the (inter) national hit it deserves to be. It’s also interesting to study the (primarily) women and romantic couples behind the postings for “Celebrate Cho Day.” Wendell’s birthday song obviously resonates with people who are experiencing some of the loveliest feelings in the human condition, like the stunningly contemplative woman in the video from my favorite Wendell B. song ”Just Don’t Understand You.” It's easily one of the top dozen songs by younger-generation southern soul stars, but Wendell’s “Celebrate Cho Day” is right up there at its side in Southern Soul Heaven, and today your Daddy B. Nice salutes its birthday power. See Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Wendell B. ******** March 15, 2015: DADDY B NICE SAYS WENDELL B's "CELEBRATE CHO DAY" IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY SONG IN SOUTHERN SOUL! See Daddy B. Nice's Corner Listen to Wendell B. singing "Celebrate “Cho Day" on YouTube. Also: Here's a vintage blast from Wendell B with a reggae/hiphop style: Listen to Wendell B. & friends singing "STL Thang" on YouTube. 4.December 1, 2016: NEW ALBUM ALERT!Sample/Buy Wendell B's new THE NEXT 1 CD at CD Baby. Sample/Buy Wendell B's new THE NEXT 1 CD at iTunes. Listen to Wendell B. singing "Imon Put It Down Tonight" on YouTube. The Next 1 Track List:1. The Next 1 (feat. The Soul Man Bill Bland)2. Wendell B Sounds 3. Advertise Me 4. Confusion 5. Nothing Else to Talk About 6. Where Were You Last Night 7. When She Stood Next Ta Me 8. Fooled Around and Fell in Love 9. If You Don't Know 10. Imon Put It Down ta Night 11. Sunshine 12. Do You Think About Me (feat. Lacee) 13. 'Til You Come Back to Me 14. The Day That I Met You 15. I Can't Hardly Wait Until the Weekend Listen to Wendell B. singing "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" on YouTube. Listen to Wendell B. and Lacee singing "Do You Think About Me" on YouTube. From Daddy B. Nice's Corner:Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . . -------DECEMBER 2016-------  ….2. "Do You Think About Me?"------Wendell B. featuring Lacee
Slow jam city, baby. The instrumental track is like a mattress of sound you want to jump into and bury yourself. Wendell B has quietly become one of the foremost vocalists in all of R&B--and without losing his southern soul! Lacee's terrific. Check out the poignant, Ms. Tabatha-like guitar. Worthy to be played with Luther Vandross' "Think Of You." Listen to Wendell B. and Lacee singing "Do You Think About Me?" on YouTube.
If You Liked. . . You'll Love If you liked Luther Vandross's "Think Of You," you'll love Wendell B.'s "Just Don't Understand You." Honorary "B" Side "Good Man" |
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