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"The Beauty Shop" Omar Cunningham (Songwriter Supreme) Composed by Omar Cunningham
December 11, 2022: Omar Cunningham: Southern Soul's Songwriter (The Complete List of Songs)
 Daddy B. Nice notes: The following line-up of songs written by Omar Cunningham may or may not be "complete". In a career as prolific as Omar's, the word "complete" is a dynamic and ever-changing number. But Kim Cole, former publicist for T.K. Soul and many other southern soul stars---now working in the same capacity for Omar Cunningham---has without a doubt assembled the most exhaustive list of Omar Cunningham compositions to date for your Daddy B. Nice.
Highlights include "If You Can Beat Me Rockin'," "Soul Music" and "My Baby's Phone," the rousing tunes that catapulted Vick Allen into the first rank of southern soul singers;
"(If You're) Man Enough (To Leave)," "B.O.B. (Battery Operated Boyfriend)" and "That Chick Ain't Me" (aka "That Bitch Ain't Me"), the songs that raised Karen Wolfe into the first tier of female southern soul singers;
"Bedroom Rodeo" and "The Boots On Song," the songs that solidified Big Yayo's performance credentials after the former writer/producer's breakthrough with "Cowgirl";
"Put It On Me," the tune that transformed the unknown West Love into a bonafide star;
"Rowdy Rowdy," a signature triumph of O.B. Buchana's mid-career oeuvre, and O.B.'s duet with Nellie "Tiger" Travis, "My Baby";
"I Don't Want To Leave," one of the legendary Shirley Brown's most searing, latter-day singles;
Willie Clayton's and Dave Hollister's Billboard-charting "We Both Grown";
...and most recently (2022) Omar's tailor-made anthem for Big Pokey Bear's catalog, "Here Comes Pokey".
And note that the list does not include any of the solo-career singles that made Cunningham the #20th-ranked southern soul star in his own right: (21st Century Southern Soul Chart: 2000-2020) : "Baby Don't Leave Me," "The Beauty Shop," "Check To Check," "Give Me A Chance," "My Life" and "I Get By". So with no further adieu, here is the most complete list yet published of Omar Cunningham's songwriting credits.
1. Shirley Brown “I Don’t Wanna Leave”
2. Mel Waiters “I Ain’t Gone Do It” Title track of his last album
3. Lacee “Find Somebody”
 4. Lacee “No Broke Man”
5. Lacee “Who’s Is It?”
6. Lacee “Away From Him”
7. Lacee “Thick Girl Love”
8. Vick Allen "If They Can Beat Me Rockin'"
9. Vick Allen “I’m Hooked” co-wrote with Tonya Youngblood
10. Vick Allen “Soul Music”
11. Vick Allen “My Baby’s Phone”
12. Vick Allen “True To Me”
13. Vick Allen “Have A Good Time”
14. Vick Allen “I’ll Take Your Word For It”
15. Willie Clayton “We Both Grown” feat. Dave Hollister of the group Blackstreet
Reached Billboard R&B charts and Billboard R&B and Hip Hop Charts, 2010
16. Willie Clayton “Shake Your Money Maker”
17. Willie Clayton “Special”
18. Willie Clayton “Good Woman”
19. Willie Clayton “Wonderful”
20. Archie Love “Before A Judge” of the Barkays
 21. Karen Wolfe “Ain’t No Right Way To Do Wrong”
22. Karen Wolfe “Man Enough”
23. Karen Wolfe “Stuttering”
24. Karen Wolfe “Shake A Little Something” feat. Denise La’Salle last record she recorded
25. Karen Wolfe “B.O.B.”
26. Karen Wolfe “Girls Night Out”
27. Karen Wolfe “That Chick Ain’t Me”
28. Karen Wolfe “Don’t Try Me”
29. Chris Ivy “Bout To Lose A Dollar”
30. Lenny Williams “Good Girl”
 31. Dave Mack “You Got That Southern Soul”
32. Dave Mack “She’s Gone”
33. Big Yayo “Bedroom Rodeo”
34. Big Yayo “Boots On Song”
35. Big Yayo “I’m Your Man”
36. Big Yayo “A Little Freaky”
37. Big Yayo “Grown Man Business”
38. Big Yayo “Trail Ride Crush”
39. CoCo “We Gone Do It Again”
40. CoCo ”Love Can’t Pay My Bills”
41. Chick Rodgers “Messed Up”
42. Chick Rodgers "How Long"
43. Jinda “I’m Tired”
44. Jinda “Sweeping It Under The Rug”
45. Summer Wolfe “Imma Let Him Hit It”
46. Mark Holloway “What You Got”
47. Mark Holloway “Big Leg Woman”
48. Mark Holloway “Old Flame”
49. Stevie J. “Another Jody Song”
50. Stevie J “Biscuits and Gravy”
 51. Augusta Walker “Talk To Your Old Lady”
52. Nellie “Tiger” Travis “My Baby” feat. O.B. Buchana
53. West Love “Put It On Me”
54. Lady Q “Ride It Like A Rodeo”
55. Lady Q “Spend My Whole Life”
56. Lady Q “My Man”
57. Ms. Robbie “I Been Thinking Bout Cheating”
58. Sweet Nay “Get Closer”
59. O.B. Buchana “Hideaway Motel”
60. O.B. Buchana “Rowdy, Rowdy”
61. O.B. Buchana “I’m Jody”
62. King Fred “Put You To Sleep”
63. Highway Heavy “Inside Man”
64. Donyale Renee “Waiting It Out”
65. Da Don Washington “You All On Me”
66. Stefunie Luckett “I Can’t Touch You”
67. Stefunie Luckett “Good, Good”
68. Tony T “My 2 Step”
69. Veronica Ra’elle “Tear It Up”
70. Rhomey Rhone “Mr. Head Bad”
71. Mz. Brown Suga "Cheat Right"
72. Tina Brown "Sneak A Piece"
 73. Calvin Taylor "Nose Wide Open"
74. Cadillac Man "Strokin' Kind"
75. Big Pokey Bear "Here Come Pokey"
76. Sweet Angel "Do Wrong"
77. Dolla Bill "Ain't No Fun"
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February 1, 2021: NEW ALBUM ALERT!: Buy Omar Cunningham's new CERTIFIED album at Amazon.
CERTIFIED TRACK LIST:1
Call Me Daddy
2
Good Ol' Country Girl
3
On My Way To Memphis
4
Let Me Be The One
5
This Smoke (Interlude)
6
Do Me (Lyric Video)
7
Inside Man/Outside Help
8
I Feel Like Making
9
Straighten It Out
10
You Can't Do
Daddy B. Nice notes:  Omar Cunningham released five albums in less than a decade (2003 to 2011) containing a number of popular southern soul singles: "Baby Don't Leave Me," "Check To Check," "I'm In Love With A Married Woman," "Beauty Shop," "Give Me A Chance," "I Get By" and "My Life". Since then, however, he has kept a low profile as a performer (no albums, scant tour dates) while remaining active as a producer, composer and first-rate collaborator. He has even given his best singles to other artists, most famously "If They Can Beat Me Rockin'," which went to Vick Allen, and "(If You're) Man Enough (To Leave)," which went to Karen Wolfe. Although this career path may have been more lucrative and "smart like a fox" (compositional royalties), it has diminished Omar's southern soul brand and name recognition in the twenty-tens.
Now comes Certified, Omar's first collection in seven years, highlighted by his popular 2020 single "Call Me Daddy," produced by Tony Tatum, and even more popular 2019 single "Inside Man/Outside Help," produced by Highway Heavy.
New songs from the set to watch for are the briskly-tempoed "Good Ol' Country Girl" and the orchestral ballad, "On My Way To Memphis". Previously released in mid-2020, the songs couldn't be more different, which begs the question, "Who Is Omar at this point in time?" There's nothing on CERTIFIED that steps out and grabs the listener with an answer. Your Daddy B. Nice thinks Omar is just getting started again as a solo artist, and only more new music will tell.
By the way, this album has just been posted on YouTube.
Listen to all the tracks from Omar Cunningham's new CERTIFIED album on YouTube.
Listen to all the tracks from Omar Cunningham's CERTIFIED album on Spotify.
Buy Omar Cunningham's new CERTIFIED album at Apple.
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February 28, 2018:
Daddy B. Nice Announces THE WINNERS of the 2017 (11th Annual) SOUTHERN SOUL MUSIC AWARDS.
Best CollaborationTop Contenders
“Need A Mr. Do Right” ----- Sharnette Hyter & Big Cynthia
“Shake Something (Remix)” ----- J. Red, Columbus Toy & Ms. Lady Blues
“Do You Want Somebody?” ----- Alonzo Reid & LaKeisha Burks
“I Can’t Be Faithful” ----Big Pokey Bear & Bishop Bullwinkle
“Old Man’s Sweetheart” ----- Coco & Big Yayo
"In The Mood" ----- Pokey Bear & Cupid
“You’re The One, Baby” ----- O.B. Buchana & Lomax
“If You Need Some” ----- J. Red & Ms. Mini
“Lit” ---- Big Pokey Bear & Cupid
 “Going Down Slow” ------ Sir Charles Jones & Wendell B.
“Hold On” ------ Sharnette Hyter & Joe Tex II
“Turn It Out” ----- J. Red & Sir Charles Jones
“Super Woman” ---- David J. & Geno Wesley
“Put It On Paper” ---- Sharnette Hyter & Patrick Henry
“Bedroom Rodeo (Remix)” ----- Big Yayo, Gentry Jones, Omar Cunningham
“Pretty Girl” ----- J-Wonn & Tucka
“Go On And Get It” ----- Ra’Shad The Blues Kid (w/ L.J. Echols)
“Watch My Boots Pt. 2” ----- Deacon Dukes, Jeter Jones, Big Lee, Pokey Bear
“All I Want Is You” ----- Pokey Bear & Crystal Thomas
"Call My Name" ----- Sharnette Hyter & J. Red
Best Collaboration: Big Yayo, Gentry Jones & Omar Cunningham for "Bedroom Rodeo"
Listen to Big Yayo, Gentry Jones & Omar Cunningham singing "Bedroom Rodeo" on YouTube.
See Omar's other nominations in Daddy B. Nice's Best of 2017.
Note: Omar Cunningham also appears on Daddy B. Nice's original Top 100 Southern Soul Artists (90's-00's). The "21st Century" after Omar Cunningham's name in the headline is to distinguish his artist-guide entries on this page from his artist-guide page on Daddy B. Nice's original chart.
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July 9, 2017: Re-Posted from Daddy B. Nice's Corner, "News & Notes, Omar Cunningham's New Single" 7-8-17
What's Up With Omar Cunningham?
(Has he gone off the R. Kelly "deep end"?) In a May 10, 2017 "News & Notes" entitled "Southern Soul's Stock Is Rising" (scroll down this column), your Daddy B. Nice wrote:
Due in part to the mingling of mainstream stars (both hiphop and urban R&B) and southern soul stars at an increasing number of performance venues and recording opportunities, a new generation of chitlin' circuit artists is making the leap to national recognition, further raising the visibility of southern soul music. They include Sir Charles Jones, Calvin Richardson, T.K. Soul, Big Pokey Bear, Bigg Robb, Tucka and Cupid, among others...
But there is a flip side to this "progress". What I didn't add at the time was that when southern soul artists rub creative shoulders with mainstream artists, there is the danger of being co-opted. That is, in the very act of collaborating with the more famous mainstream artists, southern soul artists may be tempted to compromise their own conventions in favor of the musical techniques of the artists with more name recognition. That process may lead to a loss of identity, a "floundering," so to speak, in a genre foreign to the artist's fans.
Of course, as southern soul grows in stature, that kind of co-option may very well occur and transform the music itself, in which case the southern soul music of tomorrow may be a very different southern soul than we know today. Sir Charles Jones recently recorded a tune with the popular hiphop star Mystikal in which he did something similar, abandoning his southern soul style to deliver a gravelly-pitched, monochromatic vocal in the hiphop style. To a fan with southern soul tastes, it sounded awful.
These thoughts occurred to me as I listened to the new Omar Cunningham single, "Come See About Me"---
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Come See About Me" on YouTube.
---promoted by Cunningham as a significant new addition to his catalog and possibly a new, more urban-sounding musical direction for the recording artist. Here's what everyday southern soul fans may not know.
 "Come See About Me" premiered only a few months after Omar's collaboration with Bigg Robb on a remix of R. Kelly's urban R&B tune, "Sufferin’," in which Kelly also guests on a verse.
Listen to Omar Cunningham, Bigg Robb & R. Kelly singing "Sufferin’" on YouTube.
In the introduction to the "Sufferin'" video, Omar explains how he got the idea of recording a southern soul version of an R. Kelly song. It's very instructive. The only trouble is, the Omar/Bigg Robb "Sufferin'" isn't a southern soul version of anything. It's hard-edged, funk-based, urban R&B. And the words...
Imagine Omar singing:
"I got a mansion
Surrounded by gates,
Mayback (?) and a Rolls Royce
Sitting in the driveway.
I've got a big old yacht
Made up of gold and cherry wood."
Doesn't sound like "sufferin'," or anything else his fans could relate to. And the new Cunningham single, "Come See About Me," features the same aggressively-arranged, non-melodic, in-your-face, Brownian-down-thru-hiphop style. Everyone knows what I'm talking about; we hear it on our media all day long, whether it be commercial R&B, hiphop/rap or reggae/dancehall. BET calls it all "soul" nowadays.
I'm sure Omar nursed high expectations for "Come See About Me," but it hasn't fared well with the fans, gaining 1,760 YouTube views in a little over two months. Respectable maybe, but disappointing definitely. And if you're a longtime Omar Cunningham fan like your Daddy B. Nice, it makes you a little nervous. Is Omar losing his musical identity by going down this road? And what is that long-awaited Omar Cunningham album going to sound like?
This is not the artist who recorded "My Life," "Check To Check" (on the same subject as "Come See About Me"), "The Beauty Shop," and "Baby, Don't Leave Me Alone."
Nor is this the artist who made waves throughout the Southern Soul world for his songwriting acumen, delivering hit singles for Willie Clayton and Dave Hollister ("We Both Grown"), Karen Wolfe ("Man Enough") and Vick Allen ("If They Can Beat Me Rocking"), and in the process becoming the most sought-after composer in the genre.
Writing songs for composing rights is one of the more lucrative if less well-known paths available to a musician of Omar Cunningham's caliber, but I often wonder what recording those songs for himself might have meant to Omar's career. They might have catapulted him into the top echelon of male vocalists.
"If You Can Beat Me Rockin'" was the #1 song here in 2010 (for Vick Allen). Just think if Omar's name and picture was attached to it. How differently we would regard him. And then imagine if had done "Man Enough" as "Woman Enough" on top of that. "If you're woman enough to leave / I'm man enough to let you go." (Come to think of it, that's the way my ex-wives divorced me.) Those songs are classics--quintessentially southern soul.
One thing's for sure. We'd regard Omar differently, and Omar might feel a lot more comfortable in his southern soul skin. Instead, he's going down the road of his "Maintenance Man," a harsher sound with more than a little funk. Who knows? Maybe he can forge it into a workable southern soul style. But for his fans, I'd say fastening seat belts and helmets is recommended. The ride will be rocky.
--Daddy B. Nice
See Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Omar Cunningham.
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For the latest updates on Omar Cunningham, scroll down this page to "Tidbits". To automatically link to Omar Cunningham's charted radio singles, awards, CD's and many other references and citations on the website, go to "Cunningham, Omar" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.
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July 19, 2015: NEW ALBUM ALERT!
Sample/Buy Omar Cunningham's ALL MY BEST: THE SOUL HITS at Amazon.
Sample/Buy Omar Cunningham's ALL MY BEST: THE SOUL HITS at iTunes.
Track List:
Hell at the House
Check to Check
Club 231
Party Have a Good Time
Something's Gotta Give
I'm in Love With a Married Woman
Shysters & Wannabes
Find a Good Woman
If We Can't Get Along
I'm Your Maintenance Man
That's a Lie
Can't Make You Do Right
What You Want With My Mama
That's My Jam
My Life
Right Woman
Same Soap
Beauty Shop
I Get By
Sweet, Sweet
She's Making Eyes at Me
Momma
Send Her to Me
Browse all of Omar Cunningham's CD's in Daddy B. Nice's CD Store.
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July 19, 2015:
Omar Cunningham's longtime friend and fellow Soul 1st recording artist Vick Allen gives a "shout-out" to Omar in his evocative and popular ballad, "My Baby's Phone" (Soul Music) in a manner much more creative than usual, embedded in the song's narrative. He makes Omar the villain/cheater/Mister-Jody character:
"Tried to figure out where she was,
Tried to guess who she was with.
Then I heard her say his name,
And I broke out in tears
It was my good friend Omar
I worked with him for years."
Fans needn't take the lyrics literally. This is the way one singer/songwriter toasts another singer/songwriter he considers his peer.
Listen to Vick singing "My Baby's Phone" (with references to Omar Cunningham) on YouTube.
Now if you really want to take this personal/professional matrix to a mind-bending level, listen to Omar Cunningham's lyrics on a song that could be considered a prequel to Vick Allen's "My Baby's Phone." The song is an adaptation of the Staples Singers "Do It Again" called "She's Making Eyes At Me":
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "She's Making Eyes (At Me)" on YouTube.
(From Omar Cunnningham's ALL MY BEST: THE SOUL HITS)
--Daddy B. Nice
December 16, 2012: Daddy B. Nice's Updated Profile
If there's any one thing that gives your Daddy B. Nice satisfaction, it's knowing that in some small way I was able--through the Southern Soul website--to give the young musicians of the Deep South the public platform and the reassurance that the music of the passing masters could succeed in today's world--that it MEANT something, and that it had a name, "southern soul," that they could take pride in--something even the old masters didn't think possible. And sure enough, instead of the music dying with Johnnie, Marvin, Tyrone, Quinn, Blackfoot and Little Milton, an entire generation of stars has sprung up to replace them.
Number eighty-one. That's where Omar Cunningham started out on Daddy B. Nice's original Top 100 Southern Soul Artists chart after his first album, Hell At The House. Five albums and a decade later, Omar debuts in the Top Twenty Southern Soul Artists of the new century.
No one ever talks about Omar Cunningham as a pure singer. His accomplishments as a songwriter and arranger/producer tend to take center stage, but a song such as "Give Me A Chance" ("The Early Bird Always Catches The Worm") is a vocalist's fantasy: verses rendered in a rich, charismatic tenor with just the right conversational tone and choruses featuring tracks overlaid with heavenly barbershop harmonies.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Give Me A Chance" on YouTube.
The reason we forget about Cunningham's vocals is their effortlessness--Omar's "oneness" with the lyrics. Whether he's singing about a potential lover ("Give Me A Chance") or relating the incriminating gossip filtered through an angry wife's eyes ("The Beauty Shop"), Cunningham inhabits his lyrics like a comfortable pair of house slippers, never drawing attention to his impeccable technique. Everything is in service to the story in the song.
Cunningham started out under the influence cast by Sir Charles Jones in the first years of the century, which resulted in one fantastic collaboration:
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Baby Don't Leave Me" on YouTube.
("You'd have to go back to the first album by Crosby, Stills & Nash or the Pet Sounds album by the Beach Boys to find its equal in harmonizing." Daddy B. Nice, 2008.)
But Cunningham's real calling card at the outset of his career was a folksinger-like bent as seen in early hits like "I Get By" and "Check To Check," songs that would have sounded just as natural coming from singer-songwriters like Randy Newman, Neil Young or James Taylor.
Omar soon discarded the "bouncy" style of those early hits, however, in favor of the rich, melodic, ballad-style material at which he so obviously excelled. And if there was any doubt that Omar had what it took to pen great slow jams (without Sir Charles Jones), "Sweet Sweet" from the second album (Omar Cunningham) was the harbinger of change.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Sweet Sweet" on YouTube.
From there--and with the next two albums in particular--Cunningham was on his way. Worth The Wait (2006) and Time Served (2008) are albums that can stand with the song-rich, every-track-counts LP's of yesteryear, full of meaningful song/stories delivered with Omar's casually powerful vocals.
Among the great songs from those sets are:
"My Life"
"I'm In Love With A Married Woman"
"Party, Have A Good Time"
"Better Days"
"The Right Woman"
"The Same Soap"
"The Beauty Shop"
and "Give Me A Chance"
--and when Southern Soul fans perk up with respect at the name Omar Cunningham, they are thinking of the repertoire represented by those songs.
Read about Omar Cunningham's early career in Daddy B. Nice's original Artist Guide to Omar Cunningham. (090's--00's).
--Daddy B. Nice
About Omar Cunningham (Songwriter Supreme)
Omar Cunningham was born in Gadsden, Alabama in 1969. Like most R&B musicians, he grew up singing gospel music, and he was exposed to secular music through his family members, including a grandmother who ran a boarding house that catered to musicians.
As a teen Cunningham began singing in local bands, one of which went on tour with Cameo in the mid-nineties, and Cunningham later played trumpet in Cameo's horn section. He also attended Jacksonville State University, where he reportedly won every talent contest he entered, and where he sang in the school's Gospel Choir, continuing a lifelong love for gospel music.
As the taste of professional life gained with Cameo faded in the late nineties, Cunningham worked to establish a solo career while holding down a day job as a policeman. He later published a book about his experiences titled You Be The Judge (Trafford, 2002).
At last, in 2003, Cunningham released his debut CD, Hell At The House, on the On Top record label. The radio single "Check To Check" (composed by Cunningham and Austin L. Hall) became a major hit on the Stations of the Deep South, establishing Cunningham as a purveyor of a rockabilly-tinged R&B in the style of Theodis Ealey's "Stand Up In It."
Sir Charles Jones added technical support on the CD, and although the credits aren't specific, the musical marks (and voice) of Sir Charles Jones are all over the track, "Baby Don't Leave Me." Indeed, for Sir Charles Jones' fans, this song--with its stately melody and impeccable, instantly-recognizable arranging style--constitutes a major contribution to the Jones oeuvre.
Cunningham followed Hell At The House with a masterful second album. Omar Cunningham (Endzone, 2004) displayed a rapidly maturing style, both as a performer and songwriter, and the CD vaulted Cunningham back to the top of the chitlin' circuit charts with another folk-and-gospel-blended hit, "I Get By." The song appealed to the same working-class audience that had enthusiastically responded to the message in "Check To Check."
The Omar Cunningham album gained even more prominence as the popular "I Get By" was succeeded on radio playlists with the evocative singles "Sorry Man" (late 2004) and "Sweet, Sweet" (2005). Southern Soul superstar Willie Clayton sat in as a vocalist on one of the album's cuts, "Shysters And Wannabe's."
Worth The Wait (EndZone), Cunningham's third album, arrived in 2006, notching top chitlin' circuit singles with "I'm In Love With A Married Woman" and "Give Me A Chance," underlining Cunningham's reputation as a singer-songwriter.
Omar Cunningham moved to the Soul 1st label for his 2008 release, Time Served. The album's showpiece was a quasi-autobiographical, acoustic ballad titled "My Life."
The Time Served CD was Cunningham's most consistent to date, scoring a number of well-received singles in addition to "My Life," including the memorable "The Beauty Shop," about a man learning first-hand from his wife that his marital infidelities were the topic of choice at the local beauty parlor.
Other notable singles from the Time Served album were "That's My Jam," "The Same Soap" and "This Old Music."
In 2009 Omar Cunningham made waves throughout the Southern Soul world for his songwriting acumen, delivering hit singles for a trio of artists-- "We Both Grown" for Willie Clayton and Dave Hollister, "Man Enough" for Karen Wolfe and "If They Can Beat Me Rocking" for Vick Allen--and in the process becoming the most sought-after composer in the genre.
Coming on the heels of his finest album (Time Served) and the spectacular hits written for the above-named performers, Cunningham's fifth CD, Growing Pains (Soul 1st, 2011), by most accounts fell short of expectations while registering modest chitlin' circuit hits with "I'm Your Maintenance Man" and "If We Can't Get Along."
Go to Omar Cunningham's Official Website.
Omar Cunningham on iTunes.
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Omar Cunningham Discography:
2003 Hell At The House" (On Top)
2004 Omar Cunningham (EndZone)
2006 Worth The Wait" (EndZone)
2008 Time Served (Soul 1st)
2011 Growing Pains (Soul 1st)
2015 All My Best: The Soul Hits (Soul 1st)
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Song's Transcendent Moment
"Baby, Baby,
You don't understand.
Getting next to you
Is just part of my plan."
Tidbits
1.
December 16, 2012: Omar Cunningham on YouTube
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "The Beauty Shop" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Baby Don't Leave Me" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Sweet Sweet" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "I'm In Love With A Married Woman" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Haters Gone Hate" along with Vick Allen and T. K. Soul on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham chatting en route to a concert in Alabama on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "That's A Lie" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "I'm In Love With A Married Woman" Live Onstage on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "My Life" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "If We Can't Get Along" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Give Me A Chance" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "If We Can't Get Along (The Official Video)" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Let Me See You Shake Your Jelly" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "This Old Music" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "The Same Soap" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "That's My Jam" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Sorry Man" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "Older Woman" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham singing "If You Want Me" on YouTube.
Listen to Omar Cunningham and Sir Charles Jones singing "Half" on YouTube.
December 16, 2012:
FROM THE ARCHIVES
October 30, 2011:
OMAR CUNNINGHAM: Growing Pains (Soul 1st) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort. Should please old fans and gain new.
Pent-up interest in this new Omar Cunningham album, Growing Pains, has been heavy, so let me just caution fans at the outset that it's not the home run some--including your Daddy B. Nice--may have anticipated. That speaks to expectations, and when you're beginning to put a guy up there with Sir Charles Jones and T. K. Soul and two or three other top young guns in Southern Soul music, expectations can get out of hand.
A lot of the expectations were based on two songs Omar Cunningham didn't even record but gave to others, both of which became very popular Southern Soul singles in the last two years, "Man Enough" by Karen Wolfe and "If They Can Beat Me Rockin'" by Vick Allen. If Omar could string together together two or three more classics like that on a CD, the thinking went, he'd have the Southern Soul equivalent of "Sergeant Pepper."
All of the selections on Omar Cunningham's Growing Pains CD are of excellent quality, but they blend into one another rather than jump out at you. In fact, the most surprising thing about the album is that there is no one spectacular cut: no song on the order of "Baby Don't Leave Me" or "I Get By" or "Give Me A Chance" or "The Beauty Shop" or "My Life."
"Maintenance Man," the first radio single and the most radical departure from any prior style of Omar's, is probably the best candidate for an exception, but let's get to the tracks in order first.
1. "Let Me See You Shake Your Jelly" is a variation on the most well-known "jelly" song, the late Fred Bolton's "It Must Be Jelly" ("Girl it must be jelly/ Because girls don't shake like that)." Omar's song honors the same tempo and keyboard sound.
2. You may shed a tear when you hear how close the rhythm track, tempo and overall sound of "Find A Good Woman" are to "Man Enough," the song Omar wrote for Karen Wolfe, the song that put her over the top, the song--let's admit it--that's better than this one. The tears may continue for two or three listenings, then the "Good Woman" hook begins to take over. You gradually forget about "Man Enough" and everything's okay.
3. "Here I Am" is as traditional and Vandrossian as you can get, almost--dare I say the dreaded word--"mainstream".
"Here I am standing here
Ready and willing and able.
I just want you to know
I'm putting my cards on the table."
The chorus is old-old-school (which I liked), Ames Brothers-old if anyone is left alive who remembers them. One oddity is a man/woman call and response in which Omar uses his own voice, rather than a female's, on the woman's part.
4. But just when you're maybe thinking this is Cunningham's bedroom album, along comes "If We Can't Get Along," a ballad on the subject of separation.
"If we can't get along
We need to get apart,
Because you broke up all of my shit
And now you're breaking my heart."
As with the preceding cuts, the production is crisp and lush.
5. A real change of pace, "I'm Your Maintenance Man" features upfront percussion and a Ray Manzarek-style keyboard on a fast, bare blues that visits the territory of Bobby Rush's "I'll Be Your Handyman." This is the toughest, most aggressive rocker ever by Omar.
6. "That's A Lie" returns to the separation theme of "If We Can't Along." Here Omar takes it to the limit, complete with rousing arrangement with urban r&b crescendos hitherto unheard (except for maybe Carl Sims and more recently Queen Emily) in Southern Soul.
Maybe this is the album's "spectacular" song. It's without a doubt Omar's most impassioned vocal.
7. "What You Want With My Momma" is a novelty song with children's voices somewhat reminiscent of the late Jackie Neal's "The Way We Roll" or, more recently, Unckle Eddie's and Crystal Dylite's "I'm Gone Tell Momma."
"Mr. Lowdown" (9) and "Do Right" (8) are mid-tempo, "Check To Check"-like tunes, the latter co-composed with Vick Allen. The hooks are generic but the scintillating sheen of Cunningham's production is everywhere evident.
Omar closes out the set with an extravaganza of guest cameos on a soulful, gospel-drenched coda, "Gotta Keep (Do You Know Him?)," in order of appearance Lacee, Bigg Robb, Vick Allen and LaMorris Williams. The album is co-produced by Soul 1st Record's Reginald McDaniel.
Growing Pains, I think, is an apt title. This album has a "transitional" feel to it.
One thing's for sure. Once you start playing it, you won't turn it off. Highly recommended.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample or Buy Omar Cunningham's Growing Pains CD/MP3's.
Honorary "B" Side
"Baby Don't Leave Me"
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The Beauty Shop
CD: Time Served
Label: Soul 1st
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Sample or Buy
Time Served |
Baby Don't Leave Me
CD: Hell At The House
Label: On Top
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Check To Check
CD: Hell At The House
Label: On Top
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Give Me A Chance
CD: Worth The Wait
Label: Endzone
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My Life
CD: Time Served
Label: Soul 1st
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Sample or Buy
Time Served |
I Get By
CD: Omar Cunningham
Label: Endzone
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I'm In Love With A Married Woman
CD: Worth The Wait
Label: Endzone
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I'm Your Maintenance Man
CD: Growing Pains
Label: Soul 1st
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Sample or Buy
Growing Pains |
Right Woman
CD: All My Best: The Soul Hits
Label: Soul 1st
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Same Soap
CD: Time Served
Label: Soul 1st
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Sorry Man
CD: Omar Cunningham
Label: Endzone
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Sweet Sweet
CD: Omar Cunningham
Label: Endzone
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Find A Good Woman
CD: Growing Pains
Label: Soul 1st
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Sample or Buy
Growing Pains |
Hell At The House
CD: Hell At The House
Label: On Top
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If We Can't Get Along
CD: Growing Pains
Label: Soul 1st
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Sample or Buy
Growing Pains |
Party, Have A Good Time
CD: Worth The Wait
Label: Endzone
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This Old Music
CD: Time Served
Label: Soul 1st
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Sample or Buy
Time Served |
What You Want With My Mama
CD: All My Best: The Soul Hits
Label: Soul 1st
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