Daddy B. Nice's SouthernSoulRnB.com - Guide to Today's Top Chitlin' Circuit Rhythm and Blues Artists


 

Daddy B. Nice's Corner

Looking for Daddy B. Nice's latest commentary?
Click here for the 2022 Corner.

See Daddy B. Nice's 2014: The Year In Review (click here)

Daddy B. Nice Announces THE WINNERS of the 2014 (8th Annual) SOUTHERN SOUL MUSIC AWARDS. The winners are posted at the end of each list of finalists.

Music published before 2014 was eligible if the bulk of its chitlin' circuit airplay came in 2014. Because of its length and complexity, the List of Finalists is one of the rare features for which your Daddy B. Nice does NOT provide links. Links to mp3's, CD's and song samples are available by going to the artist's name in either Daddy B. Nice’s CD Store or Daddy B. Nice’s Comprehensive Index. A permanent listing and link in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index will eventually be made on behalf of each performer for each nomination listed.

P.S. If you believe a well-known southern soul song has been ignored, look to the previous year's "BEST OF SOUTHERN SOUL". Daddy B. Nice's charts usually precede general air play by a few months, due to the "preview" aspect of the singles reviews.

THE CATEGORIES:

Best Mid-Tempo Song
Best Club Song
Best Ballad
Best Song by Longtime Veteran
Best Female Vocalist
Best Male Vocalist
Best Debut
Best Collaboration
Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song
Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song
Best Cover Song
Best Arranger/Producer
Best Songwriter
Best CD
Hardest-Touring Crowd Pleaser.

--Daddy B. Nice

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Best Mid-Tempo Song:

Top Contenders:

Now This Is A Party (For The Grown Folks)---T.K. Soul
Keep Knockin' (But You Can't Come In)---Anita Love
On The South Side---Grady Champion
I Lost My Baby On Facebook---Jesse James
Here In The South (That's The Way We Do It Down In The South)/Southern Soul Blues Fest---John Cummings
Cat Daddy---Billy "Soul" Bonds
She's Been Good---JR Blu
Miss Apple Cheeks---Stevie J
Cold Feet---Nellie "Tiger" Travis
I Just Fell In Love---Ms. Charli
Southern Soul Slide---Big Al
I Gotta Get My Groove On---Willie Hill
Sugar Daddy---Donnell Sullivan
Sweet Sweet---Sir Charles Jones
Stir It Like Coffee---Peaches Jones featuring Nelson Curry

Best Mid-Tempo Song: "I Lost My Baby On Facebook" by Jesse James

Listen to Jesse James singing "I Lost My Baby On Facebook" on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Club (Fast/Dance/Jam) Song:

Top Contenders:

Roll It Roll It/The Coolest---Gentry-Jones featuring Mr. Sam
You Can Kiss My Southern Soul Ass---Avail Hollywood
How Come The Dog Ain't Barking?---Simeo
She Was Twerkin'---Lil' Jimmie
Fill It Up/Gettin' It In---Bigg Robb
Shake Your Money Maker---Lady Tee
What's The Name Of That Thang?---Larome Powers
Room 229---Sweet William Calhoun
Do You Feel (Like Partying Tonight)---Sir Charles Jones featuring Willie Clayton
Party Starter (Michael Jordan)---Joe Nice featuring Nelson Curry & Blakfist
Booty Poppin'---Steve Perry
You're Welcome To The Party/O.B. Shuffle---O.B. Buchana
I'm On Fire---J.B. Hendricks
True To Me---Vick Allen
Bad Mama Jama---Nathaniel Kimble
Ms. Jody's Boogie Slide---Ms. Jody

Best Club (Fast/Dance/Jam) Song: "She Was Twerkin'" by Lil' Jimmie


SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Ballad:

Top Contenders:

So Beautiful---Sir Charles Jones
I Stay Ready/Caught Up In Doing Wrong---T.K. Soul
So Lonely---Simone De
Make Up Sex---Jaye Hammer
True Love---J'Wonn
I'm So Glad---Bigg Robb
Girl, I Want Your Body---Willie Clayton
I Apologize---Ms. Jody
It's A Good Thing I Met You---Theo Huff
Looking For A Lady---T.K. Soul
Rehab Ain't Working---Avail Hollywood
">Good Love/Arkansas Caramel---John Cummings
When We Lie---Omar Cunningham featuring Wendell B.
My Queen---Willie B. (Beachman)
Didn't I---Lenny Williams
All Right (Let' Get Out Of This Club)---J'Wonn
Who You With---Louisiana Blues Brothers
I Forgot To Be Your Lover---William Bell featuring Snoop Dog

Best Ballad: "It's A Good Thing I Met You" by Theo Huff

Listen to Theo Huff singing "It's A Good Thing I Met You" on Grooveshark.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Song By Longtime Veteran:

Top Contenders:

I Lost My Baby On Facebook---Jesse James
I Forgot To Be Your Lover---William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg
So Beautiful---Sir Charles Jones
Cat Daddy---Billy "Soul" Bonds
We're Gonna Party, We're Gonna Have Some Fun---Chuck Roberson
I Gotta Get My Groove On---Willie Hill
Trying To Live My Life Without You---Otis Clay featuring Lil' P-Nut
If The Lord Keeps The Thought Of You Out Of My Head---Barbara Carr
Now This Is A Party (For The Grown Folks)---T.K. Soul
A Woman's Gotta Do---Uvee Hayes
I'm Gonna Tighten Up---Wilson Meadows
She Was Twerkin'---Lil' Jimmie
Do You Feel (Like Partying Tonight)?---Sir Charles Jones featuring Willie Clayton
What's The Name Of That Thang?---Larome Powers
Give Me Your Love---Nathaniel Kimble
I Am Taking Out The Trash---Pat Brown
Another Murder Down In New Orleans---Bobby Rush featuring Dr. John
I Ain't Easy To Love---Candi Staton
It's On Me---Floyd Taylor featuring Simeo & Mel Waiters

Best Song By Longtime Veteran: "So Beautiful" by Sir Charles Jones

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "So Beautiful" On YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Female Vocalist:

Top Contenders:

My Man Is A Cheater---Krishunda Echols
Stir It Like Coffee---Peaches Jones
Annie Mae's Cafe Swing Out Song/Party At The Trail Ride---Stephanie McDee
Pay Before You Lay---Betty Padgett
I Just Fell In Love---Ms. Charli
Cold Feet---Nellie "Tiger" Travis
He Won't Leave His Wife---Adrena
Keep Knockin'---Anita Love
Two Is Company---Val McKnight
Stay With Your Wife---Sheba Potts-Wright
I Apologize---Ms. Jody
Ain't Nobody Got Time For That---Karen Wolfe
I'll Play The Blues For You---Raine
I Am A Hell Of A Woman---Angel Faye Russell
City Life/Find Me A Candy Licker---Lady E./Rita Monroe
Shake That Money Maker---Lady Tee
I'm A Southern Girl---Jureesa McBride
If The Lord Keeps The Thought Of You Out Of My Head---Barbara Carr

Best Female Vocalist: "Keep Knocking (But You Can't Come In)" by Anita Love

Listen to Anita Love singing “Keep Knockin’” on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Male Vocalist:

Top Contenders:

Back To The Sweet Shop---Tucka
Cat Daddy---Billy "Soul" Bonds
You're Welcome To The Party---O.B. Buchana
So Beautiful---Sir Charles Jones
Now This Is A Party---T.K. Soul
I Lost My Baby On Facebook---Jesse James
Party Starter (Michael Jordan)---Nelson Curry
True To Me---Vick Allen
Make Up Sex---Jaye Hammer
Arkansas Caramel---John Cummings
How Come The Dog Ain't Barking---Simeo
So Lonely---Simone De
It's A Good Thing I Met You---Theo Huff
Sweet Sexy Southern Girl---Big Ro' (Williams)
Room 229---William Calhoun
What's The Name Of That Thang?---Larome Powers
True Love---JWonn
Rehab Ain't Working---Avail Hollywood
Miss Apple Cheeks---Stevie J.
She Was Twerkin'---Lil' Jimmie

Best Male Vocalist: "Now This Is A Party (For The Grown Folks)" by T.K. Soul

Sample T.K. Soul singing "Now This Is A Party" at Amazon.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Debut:

Top Contenders:

Keep Knocking---Anita Love
It's A Good Thing I Met You---Theo Huff
Stir It Like Coffee---Peaches Jones
Shake That Money Maker---Lady Tee
She's Been Good---JR Blu
City Life/Find Me A Candy Licker---Lady E./Rita Monroe
Roll It Roll It---Gentry Jones
I Wanna Party---David J.
Room 229---William Calhoun
Pickin' These Blues Away---Louisiana Blues Brothers
All Right (If I Can Just Move My Feet)--Stony Murphy
Southern Soul Slide---Big Al
Roll With It---Geno Wesley
Better Day---Junior Turner

Best Debut: "Keep Knocking" by Anita Love

Listen to Anita Love singing “Keep Knockin’” on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Collaboration:

Top Contenders:

I Forgot To Be Your Lover---William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg
Party Starter (Michael Jordan)---Joe Nice featuring Nelson Curry & Blackfist
Do You Feel (Like Partying Tonight)---Sir Charles Jones featuring Willie Clayton
Don't Blame The Man---Walt Luv featuring Roy C.
Another Murder In New Orleans---Bobby Rush featuring Dr. John
It's On Me---Floyd Taylor featuring Simeo & Mel Waiters
Trying To Live Me Life Without You---Otis Clay featuring Lil' P-Nut
Serious Love---Keri featuring John Cummings
Ain't Nobody Got Time For That---Karen Wolfe featuring Nelson Curry
Ghetto Tactics---RawShaw featuring Lina
Roll It Roll It---Gentry-Jones featuring Mr. Sam
I Will (If He Won't)---Black Diamond featuring J. Red
Party At The Trail Ride---Stephanie McDee featuring 100% Cotton
Go Head Cupid---Cupid featuring Mr. Collipark
Pretty Girl Swag---Curly featuring Tyree Neal

Best Collaboration: "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg

Listen to William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg singing "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song:

Top Contenders:

Two Step---Sir Charles Jones
How Come The Dog Ain't Barking---Simeo
Keep Knockin'---Anita Love
She Was Twerkin'---Lil' Jimmie
You Bad---LaMorris Williams
My Man Is A Cheater---Krishunda Echols
Better Day---Junior Turner
Party Starter (Michael Jordan)---Joe Nice featuring Nelson Curry
It's A Good Thing I Met You---Theo Huff
Miss Apple Cheeks---Stevie J.
Southern Soul Slide---Big Al
Here In The South (That's The Way We Do It Down In The South)/Southern Soul Blues Fest---John Cummings
Roll With It---Geno Wesley
I Lost My Baby On Facebook---Jesse James
Born To sing Southern Soul Blues---Sir Jonathan Burton
I'll Be All Right (If I Can Just Move My Feet)---Stony Murphy

Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song: "Here In The South (That's The Way We Do It Down In The South)" / "Southern Soul Blues Fest" by John Cummings

Sample John Cummings singing "Here In The South" at Amazon.
Listen to "Southern Soul Blues Fest on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song:

Top Contenders:

On The South Side---Grady Champion
She Was Twerkin'---Lil' Jimmie
What's The Name Of That Thang---Larome Powers
Now This Is A Party (For The Grown Folks)---T.K. Soul
Sweet Sexy Southern Girl--Big Ro' (Williams)
Cat Daddy---Billy "Soul" Bonds
Hotter Than Catfish Grease---Bigg Robb
Booty Poppin'---Steve Perry
Here In The South (That's The Way We Do It Down In The South)/Southern Soul Blues Fest---John Cummings
Annie Mae's Cafe Swing Out Song---Stephanie McDee
Room 229---William Calhoun
Independent Ladies---Sir Charles Jones

Best Chitlin' Circuit Blues Song: "On The South Side" by Grady Champion

Listen to Grady Champion singing "On The South Side" on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Cover Song:

Top Contenders:

End Of The Rainbow---RawShaw
City Life (Mississippi Boy)/Find Me A Candy Licker (Hoochie Mama)---Lady E./Rita Monroe
In The Mood---Uvee Hayes
Don't Blame The Man---Walt Luv featuring Roy C.
I'll Play The Blues For You---Raine
I Forgot To Be Your Lover---William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg
Trying To Live My Life Without You---Otis Clay featuring Lil' P-Nut
If The Lord Keeps The Thought Of You Out Of My Head---Barbara Carr
Back To The Sweet Shop---Tucka
When Something Is Wrong With My Baby---Chuck Roberson
I'll Drink Your Bathwater, Baby---Jaye Hammer

Best Cover Song: "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" by William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg

Listen to William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg singing "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Arranger/Producer:

Top Contenders:

Sir Charles Jones---Sir Charles Jones ("So Beautiful," "Two Step," "Sweet Sweet," "Do You Feel (Like Partying Tonight)," "Independent Ladies")

T.K. Soul---T.K. Soul ("Now This Is A Party (For The Grown Folks)," "Caught Up In Doing Wrong," "I Stay Ready,") and w/ Ricky White ("Looking For A Lady")

Chris (Big Yayo) Mabry---J'Wonn ("I Got This Record," "True Love," "All Right (Let's Get Out Of This Club)," "Sleep In It," "Night Time Lover")

John Ward---John Cummings ("Here In The South (That's The Way We Do It Down In The South"), John Cummings ("Good Love" (with Morris Williams)), O.B. Buchana ("You're Welcome To The Party," "O.B. Shuffle," "It Should Have Been Me"), Jaye Hammer ("Make Up Sex," "Hammer's Juke Joint Shack," "I'm A Booty Freak"), Ms. Jody ("Ms. Jody's Booty Slide," "I Apologize")

Jim Bennett---Jim Bennett ("The Body Roll," "Goldylocks," "Mr. Right On Time Dr. Feelgood," "Slap It Slap It Tap It Tap It...")

James Cain---John Cummings ("Arkansas Caramel," "Mr. Do Right," "Back On The Grind")

Ricky White---Jerry L. ("She's Got That Ooo Wee"), Ricky White ("Sexy," "Casino Blues"), Gwen White ("Ladies Got To Get That Money"), William Calhoun ("Room 229"), T.K. Soul ("Looking For A Lady")

Felton Pilate, Harvey Scales & Jesse James---Jesse James ("I Lost My Baby On Facebook")

Best Arranger/Producer: Terry (T.K. Soul) Kimble



SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best Songwriter:

Top Contenders:

John Cummings & Morris J. Williams---John Cummings ("Good Love," "Arkansas Caramel," "Mr. Do Right" and "Southern Soul Blues Fest") John Cummings & John Ward---John Cummings ("Here In The South (That's The Way We Do It Down In The South)")

Chris (Big Yayo) Mabry and Jawonn Smith---J'Wonn ("I Got This Record," "True Love," "Sleep In It," "All Right (Let's Get Out Of This Club)," "Night Time Lover")

T.K. Soul (Terry Kimble)---T.K. Soul ("Now This Is A Party," "I Stay Ready," "Caught Up In Doing Wrong," and w/Ricky White ("Looking For A Lady")

Charles Jones---Sir Charles Jones ("So Beautiful," "Sweet Sweet," "Independent Ladies," "Do You Feel," "Tear Our Love Down," "Two Step")

Simeo Overall---Simeo ("How Come The Dog Ain't Barking," "Rock The Boat"), Floyd Taylor ("I Like The Way," "It's On Me")

Ricky White---Ricky White ("Sexy," "Ricky White Shuffle," "Casino Blues" and w/ T.K. Soul--T.K. Soul ("Looking For A Lady") William Calhoun ("Room 229"), Nathaniel Kimble ("Bad Mama Jama"), Jerry L. ("She's Got That Ooo Wee")

Sam Fallie (Mr. Sam)---Mr. Sam (w/ Gentry-Jones) ("Roll It Roll It," "The Coolest"), Mr. Sam ("Bust A Move"), Sheba Potts-Wright ("Put Your Hands Up"), Ms. Genii ("Tonight's Another Night")

Aubles Buchana (O.B. Buchana)---O.B. Buchana ("I'm Rowdy Rowdy (Remix)," "O.B. Shuffle," "Party On The Weekend," and (w/William Norris) "Private Party"

Henderson Thigpen---Jaye Hammer ("Make Up Sex," "Any Kind Of Party"), and w/John Ward--O.B. Buchana ("You're Welcome To The Party")

Best Songwriter: Chris (Big Yayo) Mabry & Jawonn (J'Wonn) Smith



SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Best CD:

Top Contenders:

PORTRAIT OF A BALLADEER---SIR CHARLES JONES
I GOT THIS RECORD---J'WONN
LIFE AFTER LOVE---T.K. SOUL
SOUTHERN SOUL HIGHWAY---JIM BENNETT
BACK ON THE GRIND---JOHN CUMMINGS
POP YO' BOTTLE---O.B. BUCHANA
JAYE HAMMER'S STILL GOT IT---JAYE HAMMER
FEELING SOULFUL EP----RAWSHAW
TRU BLU---JR BLU
RICKY WHITE PRESENTS COMBINATION 2---VARIOUS ARTISTS
GOOD LOVE MUSCLE EP---BIG RO' WILLIAMS
LIFE HAPPENS---CANDI STATON
IN THE MOOD---UVEE HAYES
THE OTHER SIDE OF ME---CHUCK ROBERSON
UNTAMABLE---WILLIE CLAYTON
BACK ON TRACK---DAVID BRINSTON
MAJIC---RICKY WHITE
SWEET JONES LIVE @ LEROY'S CHICKEN SHACK---JETER JONES
SUGAR DADDY EP---DONNELL SULLIVAN
LOVE ON THE BAYOU---LOUISIANA BLUES BROTHERS
BOOTLEG WHISKEY---GRADY CHAMPION
TIGHTEN UP---WILSON MEADOWS

Best CD: I GOT THIS RECORD---J'Wonn

Sample J'Wonn's I GOT THIS RECORD CD at Amazon.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Hardest-Touring Crowd-Pleasers:

Top Contenders:

Sir Charles Jones
Mel Waiters
T.K. Soul
Avail Hollywood
Vick Allen
L.J. Echols
J'Wonn
Grady Champion
Willie Clayton

Hardest-Touring Crowd Pleaser: T.K. Soul



SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!



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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide
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Monthly Singles Charts, Continued From Right-Hand Column


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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide
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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

----------JUNE 2014------------

1. “Keep Knockin’”----Anita Love

Music’s still rockin' your Daddy B. Nice’s world, and truthfully, there's no qualitative difference between Anita Love’s stupendous 2014 hit-single-to-be and The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (written by Goffin/King) fifty-plus years ago.

Flash forward to 21st Century Southern Soul: “Keep Knockin’” continues the rich tradition of Queen Isabella’s and Rasheeda's and Mystery Lady’s “I Hear You Knocking (But You Can’t Come In)”--but with an even more seductive melody.

Hailing from Memphis (a former back-up singer for Sweet Angel), Anita Love Humphrey is being promoted and booked by Terry (100%) Cotton (225-239-1012).

Listen to Anita Love singing “Keep Knockin’” on YouTube.

2. “Another Murder In New Orleans”---------Bobby Rush, Dr. John & Blinddog Smokin'

Bobby Rush, ambassador of southern soul, sharing the vocals with Dr. John, the-hippest-of-the-hip in the white blues world. Like Dan Ackroyd headlining the Medgar Evers Blues Festival (bursting with southern soul acts) in Jackson, Miss. this summer, it’s another step towards visibility for the little genre that could.

But it’s not just a cultural breakthrough for southern soul. It’s a musical triumph too, with Dr. John delivering a typically shrewd and revealing vocal, meshing perfectly with Rush’s atypically serious ambience.

Listen to Bobby Rush, Dr. John & Blinddog Smokin’ singing “Another Murder In New Orleans” on YouTube.

3. “She Was Twerkin’”----Lil' Jimmie

Lil' Jimmie (Jimmie Forbish, Jr. of Beaumont, Texas) has a loyal underground following for his obscure southern soul classic, "Moving On (I'll close the door on yesterday").

Listen to Lil' Jimmie singing "Moving On (Closing The Door On Yesterday)" on YouTube.

“She Was Twerkin’,” less melodic than "Moving On" but no less fascinating for its tasty, no-quit-in-it rhythm guitar riff, is Lil' Jimmie's best new song in years.

See Lil' Jimmie's debut on Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 21st-Century Southern Soul Countdown.

Download Lil' Jimmie's "She Was Twerkin'" mp3.

4. “Room 229”------------“Sweet” William Calhoun

Unabashedly commercial and hooky, like something Sheba Potts-Wright might have put on her first album, "Room 229" succeeds by virtue of its earthy, good-humored lead vocal and flamboyant female chorus line. So why is it so hard to come up with this kind of popular fare more often?

Sample/Buy William Calhoun's "Room 229" on the RICKY WHITE PRESENTS COMBINATION 2 CD.

5. “I’m On Fire” -----J.B. Hendricks

Extremely contagious dance jam--and the best yet--from a young Southern Soul artist hailing from the Shreveport, Louisiana area. Hendricks (the initials stand for Junior Bruce) charted on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For APRIL 2011 with "Back Door Quarterback." He has three previous albums released on CD Baby: 2008's Life After Love (recently co-opted by T.K. Soul), 2009's Welcome to J.B.'s Playhouse and 2011's "Pimpin' Ain't Easy.

Listen to J.B. Hendricks singing “I’m On Fire” on YouTube.

6. “She’s Been Good"----Jr. Blu

Here's a David Ruffin-like vocal with sweet Van Morrison-style saxophone fills (double harmony lines, no less!) that should come as a revelation to all those producers who rely to a fault on the same old, tired horn programming. A new artist to watch!

Listen to Jr. Blu singing “She’s Been Good” on YouTube.

Sample/Buy "She's Been Good To Me" Single on Jr. Blu's Tru Blu CD.

7. “He Won’t Leave His Wife”------Adrena

“Now I’m pissed off
And turned on at the same time.”

Great line....by songwriter Luther Lackey, no less. He's devised an answer song to Adrena’s and Nellie "Tiger" Travis's “Another Woman’s Man,” which charted #1 on Daddy B. Nice's Top Ten Singles Review for March 2013 (beating out Nellie's "Mr. Sexy Man" at #2).

Listen to Adrena and Nellie “Tiger” Travis singing “Another Woman’s Man” on YouTube.

Adrienne "Adrena" Ervin is available for track dates and promo tours. Contact her at Email:
adrienne69331@bellsouth.net

....And by the way, this is the best treatment of a Luther Lackey project since the eponymous musician "retired" a year ago. At last he's found an artist strong enough to take over one of his songs.

Sample/Buy Adrena’s “He Won’t Leave His Wife” at CD Baby.

8. “The End Of The Rainbow”------------Raw Shaw

Along with Ellis Blake of Soul Unlimited, Lewis "Raw Shaw" Shaw is one of the current great "interpreters" of contemporary Southern Soul. He made a name for himself covering Lina's "I Won't Let My Baby Down," and now he turns to McKinley Mitchell's classic.

From his new album Feeling Soulful.

Listen to Raw Shaw singing “The End Of The Rainbow” on YouTube.

Listen to the original: McKinley Mitchell singing “The End Of The Rainbow” on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Raw Shaw's "The End Of The Rainbow" single and his FEELING SOULFUL CD.

9. “Rehab Ain’t Working”-------Avail Hollywood

Thankfully, the maturing Avail is still connected in a primal way to his libido. Nor has he lost his touch for durable grooves.

Listen to Avail Hollywood singing “Rehab Ain’t Working” on YouTube.

10. “Born To Sing Southern Soul Blues”-------Sir Jonathan Burton

....And also bringing the requisite passion and autobiographical detail to his work: the “I-was-born-in-Jersey” Jonathan Burton. From his new CD.

Sample/Buy Sir Jonathan Burton's "Born To Sing Southern Soul Blues" single on his new OTHERSHIP CONNECTION CD.


SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

----------MAY 2014------------

1. "Here In The South" -------Big John Cummings

"Everybody's talking about the Dirty South."

How I wish I could play this for you on YouTube! And if the song dies it will only be from lack of exposure, because it's the best, low-key, country-sounding single since "Mississippi Boy" and the first great surprise single of 2014. I could even see Bigg Robb doing a super-charged cover version.

Technically, it came out last year on the Ecko compilation, Blues Mix 11: Sweet Soul Blues. Read more about it on Daddy B. Nice's Corner News & Notes April 13, 2014, #4.

With extended shout-outs to southern soul artists, cities and radio stations.

Sample/Buy John Cummings' "Here In The South" mp3.

2. "Do You Feel (Like Partying Tonight)"--------Sir Charles Jones & Willie Clayton

With expectations high, duets are almost always a little disappointing, but this collaboration defies the odds: it's the two right superstars at the right time, ready and willing to give one other unconditional respect. Both are in awesome vocal form, performing vocal acrobatics (like kids on a trampoline) over the robust and resonant rhythm track.

Sample/Buy Sir Charles Jones' and Willie Clayton's "Do You Feel" mp3.

3. "City Life"-------Lady E. (Rita Monroe)

Man, this lady is in love with her southern soul. (See April's #3 Single "Candy Licker.") Now she does a cover of "Mississippi Boy" and knocks the boots off the Will T. classic with a great, bass-heavy rhythm track, a riff reminiscent of Joy's "Cuttin' Up Sideways" and lyrics that wryly convey city doings--

"I'm just a city girl.
I wear an executive suit.
I'm just a city girl.
Right here begins my route."

--lyrics, by the way, that morph into a "Let's Get It On" chorus. Did I mention a sly and surprisingly seasoned vocal?

Listen to Lady E. singing "City Life" on YouTube.

4. "Caught Up In Doing Wrong"-----------T.K. Soul

Your Daddy B. Nice told you this new T.K. Soul album was going to be outstanding. Here's another choice cut, a ballad situated somewhere between "You Ring My Bell" and "Rehab" in the T.K. Soul canon. Prime territory, in other words, with transparent emotion delivered through scintillating production. If you listen to it once and think, "So what?," listen to it twice and you'll think different.

Listen to T.K. Soul singing "Caught Up In Doing Wrong" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy T.K. Soul's "Caught Up In Doing Wrong" mp3 or LIFE AFTER LOVE CD.

5. "Pay Before You Lay"------------Betty Padgett

Come one and come all, you blues purists and old-school fanatics. Listen to someone with the chops of Tina Turner in the flesh, in the present time period: a powerful singer singing a powerful song.

And to the southern soul homeys.... This might be Betty's best since "Never Coming Home."

Sample/Buy Betty Padgett's "Pay Before You Lay" mp3.

Sample/Buy Ricky White's Combination sampler from which it is taken.


(BROKEN OFF BY DADDY B. NICE'S APRIL-MAY SURGERIES...)

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

----------APRIL 2014------------

1. ”Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That”-------Karen Wolfe featuring Nelson Curry

Your Daddy B. Nice has been encouraging Karen to branch out and do something "different," and this is what I'm talking about. It's a revelation listening to her fronting a bad-assed real live band. It's a Nelson Curry/Klass production all the way. Nevertheless, it’s all Karen on the vocals, representing the ultimate, band-fronting, female southern-soul singer. (Curry wisely cameos near the end.)

Listen to Karen Wolfe feat. Nelson Curry singing “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That.”

2. “Cat Daddy”--------Billy “Soul” Bonds

Bonds is becoming an “institution” for a very small number of people, meaning the locals and insiders lucky enough to hear his scantly-marketed music. This ongoing installment in the kitty-cat saga is a routine, easy-going bar-blues, but Bonds’ witty lyrics and sugary vocal transform it into something with much wider appeal. Malaco is supposed to be releasing the upcoming Billy “Soul” Bonds album, but with anticipation so high (as with Queen Emily) the process seems glacially slow.

3. ”Candy Licker”-----------Lady E (Rita Monroe)

Based not on Marvin Sease’s “Candy Licker” but “Hoochie Momma,” which was always the stronger tune musically, but “candylicker’ will always be the operative catch word for Sease’s ouevre. This is a snappy, seductive retooling of the classic with an outstanding arrangement.

Listen to Rita Monroe singing “Candy Licker” on YouTube.

Listen to the man himself, Marvin Sease, singing “Hoochie Momma” Live Onstage.

4. ”Diamond In The Middle” ------------David Brinston

Just when you think the genre has exhausted all the possibilities for sexual double entendres (i.e. "stand up in it," "rock that man in the boat," "beat it up,"), we’re surprised with yet another: "diamond in the middle," which certainly strikes your Daddy B. Nice as both vivid and appropriate. If David Brinston’s one-of-a-kind vocal were any more ravaged and tattered, it'd blow away in the wind.

Sample/Buy David Brinston's “Diamond In The Middle” mp3 and BACK ON TRACK CD.

5. ”I Wanna Party”-----------David J.

Very rawly arranged and mixed, but it’s a primal dance groove, and David J.’s vocal is bursting with possibilities. I hear echoes of southern soul singers past in his especially evocative verses.

Listen to ”I Wanna Party” by David J. on YouTube.

6. ”Party At The Trail Ride”----------Stephanie McDee

Produced by Terry 100% Cotton, Stephanie McDee’s latest catches her in typical, hard-hitting, husky-voiced, no-frills-WWE form. From her upcoming album, T.C.B. (TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS).

Listen to Stephanie McDee singing “Party At The Trail Ride.”

7. “Da Boot Scoot Remix”-----------Jeter Jones featuring Cupid

Jeter Jones is another in a fascinating line of Louisiana singers, with a suede-soft vocal style similar to Tucka and Cupid. Producer Eric “Smidi” Smith (Chuck Roberson, Peggy Scott-Adams, Bobby Jones) helps facilitate his southern soul debut. Indeed, “Boot Scoot” recycles the very same “Smidi” instrumental track Bobby Jones used in his 2011 “Ain’t Got No Proof” single. “Smidi” himself responds to some of the issues in Daddy B. Nice’s review of the CD in Daddy B. Nice’s Mailbag.

Listen to Jeter Jones singing "Da Boot Scoot" on YouTube. (This is the original. The remix is not posted on YouTube as of this date (4/5/14).)

8. ”(Party) ‘Til The Sunrise” ------Chris Ardoin

Forgotten in the commentary about zydeco’s inroads into southern soul is southern soul’s inroads into zydeco—for example, this appealing party tune by Chis Ardoin, the singer/accordionist from one of zydeco’s most storied families.

Listen to Chris Ardoin singing “(Party) ‘Til The Sunrise on ReverbNation.

Sample/Buy Chris Ardoin’s “Till The Sunrise.”

9.“Serious Love”----------Keri featuring John Cummings

The Percy Friends-written "Serious Love" showcases the silky-voiced but seldom-heard southern soul singer Keri, whose lone single "Borrowed Time" charted on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10: April 2007.

Sample/Buy Keri feat. John Cummings' “Serious Love” on Cumming’s BACK ON THE GRIND CD.

10. ”If He Won’t, I Will”---------Black Diamond featuring J. Red

J. Red is Theodis Ealey’s “nephew,” who co-sung last year’s “Keep On Dancing” with the “stand-up-in-it” man.

Listen to J. Red and Black Diamond singing “If He Won’t, I Will” on YouTube.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide
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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

----------MARCH 2014------------

1. "Looking For A Lady"-------------------T.K. Soul

Dare we say....the Return of T.K. Soul?

In a case similar to the late Michael Jackson’s, the real T.K. Soul, while recording a “stepping” song in 2012, was abducted and replaced by aliens. The aliens co-opted the song, the album (Ghetto Superstar) and Soul’s body until—in 2014—unable to withstand a ten-minute trance during which TK played “Where I’m From” over and over, the invaders’ heads exploded just like the Martians in “Mars Attacks” when they heard yodeling country music.

Happily for Southern Soul fans, the survivors returned to their own galaxy and a rejuvenated T.K. Soul penned the instant classic “Looking For A Lady”--not to mention the superb new album surrounding it--in one dazzling swoop of pent-up inspiration.

Listen to T.K. Soul singing "I'm Looking For A Lady" on MySpace.

Sample/Buy T.K. Soul's "Looking For A Lady" mp3 or LIFE AFTER LOVE CD.

2. "Miss Apple Cheeks"-------------------Stevie J.

I wish I could sift through every artist’s slush pile for overlooked gems like this southern soul/zydeco hybrid. “Miss Apple Cheeks” has the ambience of an artist recording a “throwaway,” an experiment, and just having fun. The take is short and loose (another reason to love it), and Stevie J deserves credit for getting it on the album.

Listen to Stevie J. singing "Miss Apple Cheeks" on Kim Cole Presents.

Buy "Miss Apple Cheeks" mp3 or UNSTOPPABLE CD.

3. "Arkansas Caramel"-----------------John Cummings

Now this is southern soul. It’s so hard to describe, yet so instantly recognizable. Reminds me of Karen Wolfe’s “Man Enough.” This is that mid-tempo, sweet-spot heart of southern r&b courtesy of James L. Cain's rhythm track and guitar sound. And kudos on the vocal by longtime songwriter Cummings (Jaye Hammer's "Soul Train Dancer," O.B. Buchana's "I'm Goin' Back Home," Rick Lawson's "This Is The Party," Sheba Potts-Wright's "Lipstick On His Pants," Joy's "Cuttin' Up Sideways," Ms. Jody's "I Never Take A Day Off" and his own "Outside Man" (2010).

Buy John Cumming's "Arkansas Caramel" mp3 or BACK ON THE GRIND CD.

4. “Don’t Blame The Man”--------Walt Luv feat. Roy C.

Yes, it’s the little-heard--outside of the Carolinas--Roy C. classic, Don't Blame The Man," all "souped-up" with Roy C. himself on-board both background and live. No slouch himself as a singer, Walt Luv’s Clarence Carter-styled voice-overs in particular mesh with Roy C.’s vintage tone to create something sweetly humorous. Luv does for "Don't Blame The Man" what Bigg Robb did for Carl Marshall's "Good Lovin'."

Note: The current (3/2/14) YouTube offerings for this song mistakenly label the original Roy C version as the new Walt Luv/Roy C version.

5. "When We Lie"---------Omar Cunningham feat. Wendell B.

The dazzling, just-out-of-the-body-shop arrangement and the show-stopping vocals by Omar and Wendell, not to mention intricate male and female voice-overs and backgrounds, are state-of-the-art, Billboard R&B caliber.

Listen to Omar Cunningham and Wendell B. singing "When We Lie."

6. "Ms. Jody's Boogie Slide" ----------------Ms. Jody

Just your basic, 21st-century Ms. Jody dance jam, with yours truly holding the microphone and dancing barefooted onstage.

Listen to Ms. Jody singing "Ms. Jody's Boogie Slide" on YouTube.

Buy Bargain-Priced Ms. Jody's IT'S ALL ABOUT ME CD.

Buy even cheaper digital version (mp3 or full album).

7. "Superman" ("I Wanna Be Your Superman")--------LaMorris Williams

Like LaMorris Williams' "You Bad," December 13's #1 song (See Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles-2013), I first heard "Superman" on Jackson, Mississippi's WMPR. In fact, I first heard the soothing melody from "Superman" as a bump LaMorris did for DJ Handyman, who dutifully plays it every afternoon. Neither song has been officially released yet.

8. “It’s On Me”-----------Floyd Taylor feat. Mel Waiters, Simeo

By now, you’ve probably heard of Floyd Taylor’s death, so you know this song will be released “posthumously.” Your Daddy B. Nice thought of Floyd Taylor as a “young” guy, so it’s baffling.

The Simeo Overall-written song is one in a recent trend of "what-a-man-can-do-for-a-woman-financially" songs, i.e. Chuck Strong's "Can I Spend Some Money On You?" and LaMorris Williams' "It's Whatever (You Want)." The great Mel Waiters cameos.

9. “Celebrate Cho’ Day”----------Wendell B.

I hardly ever hear (and have never received) Wendell B's music, so I'm not sure if this song has already cycled through; I’m just getting into it. Wendell B. grafts fluid melody lines onto lively rhythm tracks. He's got the unique, Vandross-ian voice. This is the best thing yet from his newest CD. You could clean your house to this record.

3/4/14 Update, DBN notes: I take back what I said at the outset. Quite by coincidence, I came across a "promo" copy of this very Wendell B. tune I received in 2013. I guess I whiffed.

Listen to Wendell B. singing "Celebrate Cho' Day" on MySpace.

Buy Wendell B's "Celebrate Cho' Day mp3 or GET TO KNOW ME CD.

10. “Tragic Love”----------David Brinston

This is brand new David Brinston getting back to his roots, vocally-speaking. Like an old Fredrick Brinson. (That’s a joke.) But there’s truth in the fact that at their best, both the young artist and the old artist convey weathered wisdom and strafed vulnerability. Thumbs up for the (some-might-say-amateurish) female background: it fits in with the overall strangeness.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide
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(CLICK HERE FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY TOP TEN SINGLES.)

 


Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Souther Soul Singles

Scroll down for Daddy B. Nice's MONTHLY SINGLES CHARTS.

Daddy B. Nice's
TOP 25 SOUTHERN SOUL SONGS OF 2014



1. "I Lost My Baby On Facebook"-----Jesse James

What a message! What a melody! Deejays will get two versions. The "remix" is better, with more southern soul-style instrumental fills and more of James' double-tracked, mahogany-rich tenor. This is James' best record since "I Can Do Bad By Myself" and his best vocal ever.

Listen to Jesse James singing "I Lost My Baby On Facebook" on YouTube.

2. "Keep Knockin'"-----Anita Love

Anita Love’s hit-single-to-be continues the rich tradition of Queen Isabella's/Mystery Lady's/Rasheeda's "I Hear You Knockin'," but with an even more seductive melody. A former back-up singer for Sweet Angel, Anita hails from Memphis.

Listen to Anita Love singing “Keep Knockin’” on YouTube.

3. "Now This Is A Party (For The Grown Folks)"-----T.K. Soul

The culmination of everything we could have hoped for from this "phenom" a dozen years ago, this tune brings out the Michael Jackson in T.K. At times, aided by T.K.'s impeccable vocals and feathery-light acoustic guitar, the resemblance is eerie.

Sample "Now This Is A Party" at Amazon.

4."I Forgot To Be Your Lover"-----William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg

A rare case of vintage Southern Soul lavished with all of the musical talent and technical expertise money can buy. Pure southern soul heaven. From the upcoming TAKE ME TO THE RIVER documentary soundtrack.

Listen to William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg singing "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" on YouTube.

5. "So Beautiful"-----Sir Charles Jones

After the long hiatus from recording CD's, Sir Charles' vocal sounds oh-so-fresh, simultaneously relaxed and full of "want-to," and the lush instrumentation (with a touch of the Far East) is served up with a technical flair that surpasses even his vintage work.

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "So Beautiful" On YouTube.

6. "It's A Good Thing I Met You"------Theo Huff

“It’s A Good Thing I Met You” sounds like Willie Clayton in his prime--and that's a good thing. Chicagoan Theo Huff’s technique is rough by comparison, but it’s a hell of a song, and the inherent musical majesty shines through the tattered sails of the production like a glorious sunset.

Listen to Theo Huff singing "It's A Good Thing I Met You" on Grooveshark.

7. "Here In The South (Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout The Dirty South)"------John Cummings

A great southern soul songwriter (O.B. Buchana's "I'm Goin' Back Home," Sheba Potts-Wright's "Lipstick On His Pants," Joy's "Cuttin' Up Sideways," Ms. Jody's "I Never Take A Day Off") takes center stage.

Sample "Here In The South" at Amazon.

8. "Cat Daddy"----Billy "Soul" Bonds

Bonds is becoming an “institution” for a very small number of people, meaning the locals and insiders lucky enough to hear his scantly-marketed music. This ongoing installment in the kitty-cat saga is a routine, easy-going bar-blues, but Bonds’ witty lyrics and sugary vocal transform it into something with much wider appeal.

Sample Billy "Soul" Bonds singing "Cat Daddy" at Amazon.

9. "She Was Twerkin'"-----Lil' Jimmie

Lil' Jimmie (Jimmie Forbish, Jr. of Fort Worth, Texas) has a loyal underground following for his obscure southern soul classic, "Moving On (I'll close the door on yesterday)". “She Was Twerkin’,”
a mindlessly obsessive dance jam on the order of Steve Perry's "Booty Roll" and no less fascinating for its tasty, no-quit-in-it rhythm guitar riff, is Lil' Jimmie's best song in years.

10. "On The South Side"--------Grady Champion

This has been Grady's year, signing with Malaco Records and making the cover of "Living Blues" magazine. The Jackson, Mississippi native is taking a Bobby Rush career trajectory, equally adept at blues and southern soul ("On The South Side") and beloved in both.

Listen to Grady Champion singing "On The South Side" on YouTube.

11. "What's The Name Of That Thang"-----Larome Powers

Larome's devastating mid-tempo dance jam is his best since "Shake And Shimmy."

Listen to Larome Powers singing "What's The Name Of That Thang" on YouTube.

12. "Do You Feel Like Partying Tonight?"----Sir Charles Jones & Willie Clayton

With expectations high, duets are almost always a little disappointing. This collaboration defies the odds, the right superstars at the right time, ready and willing to give one another unconditional respect.

Sample Sir Charles and Willie singing "Do You Feel" at CD Universe.

13. "You're Welcome To The Party"-----O.B. Buchana

If you want to help an outsider understand the stylistic extremes southern soul vocalists routinely traverse, you've got to start (and end) with O.B., the ultimate southern soul singer.

Sample to O.B. Buchana singing "You're Welcome To The Party" at CD Universe.

14. "How Come The Dog Ain't Barking"-----Simeo

In retrospect, the transformation was quietly in the works throughout his ever-more-impressive collaborations with the late Floyd Taylor. To hear Simeo singing with such unapologetic authority is a revelation and cause for celebration.

Sample/Buy Simeo's "How Come The Dog Ain't Barking" at CD Baby.

15. "Make Up Sex"----Jaye Hammer

As evidenced by this deep-soul sexual hymn, Hammer has quietly become one of southern soul's preeminent singers.

Sample/Buy Jaye Hammer's "Make Up Sex" at iTunes.

16. "Miss Apple Cheeks"----Stevie J

This zydeco/southern soul hybrid is a grown folks' dancing dream.

Listen to Stevie J singing "Miss Apple Cheeks" on Kim Cole Presents on Facebook.

17. "True Love"------J-Wonn

Southern Soul's golden-toned newcomer teams up with Big Yayo on this younger-generation version of Carl Sims' soul-shattering mini-drama, "I'm Trapped."

Sample/Buy J-Wonn's "True Love" at iTunes.

18. "Party Starter (Michael Jordan)"------Joe Nice featuring Nelson Curry

In a collaboration similar to Black Zack's and the late Fred Bolton's "Sho' Wasn't Me," the Klass Band's Nelson Curry joined rapper Joe Nice (no relation to Daddy B. Nice) for his best of many vocals in 2014.

Listen to Joe Nice and Nelson Curry singing "Party Starter (Michael Jordan)."

19."Lonely"-----Simone De

One of the very best ballads of the year, courtesy of the Gulf Coast's soulful master vocalist, Simone De.

Listen to Simone De singing "Lonely" on YouTube.

20. "My Man Is A Cheater"-----Krishunda Echols.

Any chance that Ms. Echols' terrific "Mad Dog 20/20" was a one-and-done fluke is blown up by her unexpectedly complex and sophisticated vocal on "My Man Is A Cheater," with elder brother L.J.'s frenetic guitar track adding to the sweat and sweetness.

Listen to Krishunda Echols singing "My Man (Is A Cheater)" on ReverbNation.

21. "I Stay Ready"-----T.K. Soul

One of many classic singles on T.K.'s 2014 album LIFE AFTER LOVE, I like this one in particular for its simplicity and groove--a true successor to "You Ring My Bell."

Sample/Buy T.K. Soul singing "I Stay Ready" at iTunes.

22. "Sweet Sexy Southern Girl"------Big Ro (Wiliams)

Of the many great singles by emerging male vocalists in 2014, (J.B. Hendricks, JR Blu, Donnell Sullivan, Big Al, Geno Wesley) this jam by Big Roosevelt Williams finally won over your Daddy B. Nice for sheer, persistent atmosphere and an orneriness sorely lacking in southern soul since the passing of "bad boys" like Lee "Shot" Williams and Reggie P.

Listen to Big Ro singing "Sweet Sexy Southern Girl" on YouTube.

23. "I'm So Glad"------Bigg Robb

The deejays mostly played Robb's dance jams ("Fill It Up," "Gettin' It In"), and that's okay, but while the fast stuff rules in the club, there's no one who produces a slow jam better than Bigg Robb. It's a thang of southern soul beauty.

Sample/Buy Bigg Robb singing "I'm So Glad."

24. "You Bad"------LaMorris Williams

I love this song and thought it would be released by now (and forgot to ask LaMorris about it when I saw him this summer). "You Bad" has the lovable quality of a nursery rhyme, with funky and funny lyrics. "So yeah... Go tell yo mama / Michelle-Barack Obama."

25. "Two Step"----Sir Charles Jones

In contrast with his sumptuously-produced, Daddy B. Nice-acclaimed PORTRAIT OF A BALLADEER CD, this Sir Charles line dance was quietly posted on Grooveshark with a "self-produced" simplicity harking back to "Friday" and "Better Call Jody". It's irresistable.

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "Two Step" on Grooveshark.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

-------DECEMBER 2014---------

1. "Independent Ladies"-------Sir Charles Jones

"Any boy can make a baby,
But it takes a man
To stick by your little babies
The best that you can."

With the right music and the right vocal, Charles addresses the central theme of his childhood and the central theme of young black men today, not to mention the heavy toll of responsibility the absence of fathers places on the mothers.

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "Independent Ladies" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Sir Charles Jones's "Independent Ladies" mp3 or PORTRAIT OF A BALLADEER CD.

2. "Southern Soul Slide"----Big Al

This underground record has been bumping around the corners of the chitlin' circuit for months, refusing to die, gaining adherents everywhere it's played. It's Big Al from San Antonio, Mel Waiter's hometown.

Listen to Big Al singing "Southern Soul Slide" on SoundCloud.

No national distribution yet.

3. "Give Me Your Love"-------Nathaniel Kimble

Although his songs would benefit from added instrumentals and background voices, Kimble's spare, toe-tapping jams blend the timeliness of hiphop with the authenticity of southern soul.

4. "I Gotta Get My Groove On"-------Willie Hill

The reclusive artist returns with a surprisingly sophisticated sound on Theodis Ealey's Ifgam label.

Sample/Buy Willie Hill's "I Gotta Get My Groove On."

5. "Sugar Daddy"--------Donnell Sullivan

Young Donnell makes the chart for the second month in a row with the confidently-swinging, somewhat precocious (Aren't sugar daddies supposed to be old guys?) "Sugar Daddy."

Listen to Donnell Sullivan singing "Sugar Daddy" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Donnell Sullivan's "Sugar Daddy" mp3 or his new SUGAR DADDY EP.

6. "We're Gonna Party, We're Gonna Have Some Fun"------Chuck Roberson

An easy-going, mid-tempo jam with a beguiling guitar hook and first-rate Roberson vocal, from Chuck's new CD, THE OTHER SIDE OF ME.

See Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews.

7. "Mad Love"------Brenda Williams

This wasn't sent to me. Your Daddy B. Nice came upon this rare and deeply soulful track on one of my excursions into the endless frontiers of YouTube, where it's just been posted. It's Morris J. Williams' wife, Brenda, who released a solo debut CD reviewed here a few years ago--with this song included. Produced by Morris, Jack Daniels (presumably not the bottle) and John Cummings, whose songwriting prints are all over it.

Listen to Brenda Williams singing "Mad Love" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Brenda Williams' "Mad Love" mp3 or I Wanna Rock You One More Time CD.

8. "Who You With"-------Louisiana Blues Brothers

How about a little southern soul super-group action? Tyree Neal, Adrian Bagher and Pokey are the Louisiana Blues Brothers, with their second charting in two months. I especially like Pokey--he's got a lot of Reggie P. in him.

Listen to the Louisiana Blues Brothers singing "Who You With" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy the Louisiana Blues Brothers' "Who You With" mp3 or LOVE ON THE BAYOU CD.

9. "I Miss Dancing"-----Mr. David

Strange, stripped-down, percussion-heavy jam from Mr. David that ultimately gains favor via its daring and originality.

10. (TIE) For the last entry of 2014 I've chosen three songs that deserve not to be overlooked.

"Roll With It, Baby" by Geno Wesley has been rocking the Gulf Coast for at least six months

Listen to Geno Wesley singing "Roll With It, Baby" on YouTube.

And Raine's cover of Albert King's "I'll Play The Blues For You" has the cleansing power of a Mississippi afternoon gully-washer.

Listen to Raine singing "I'll Play The Blues For You" on YouTube.

And what better song to drop the curtain on 2014 than John Cummings' feel-good "Southern Soul Blues Fest"?

Listen to John Cumming singing "Southern Soul Blues Fest" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy John Cummings' "Southern Soul Blues Fest" mp3 on BLUES MIX 14: TOTAL SOUL BLUES.

See Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

-------NOVEMBER 2014---------

1. "I Forgot To Be Your Lover"------William Bell with Stax Music Academy featuring Snoop Dogg

A rare case of vintage Southern Soul embellished with all of the musical talent and technical expertise money can buy. Pure southern soul heaven. From the upcoming TAKE ME TO THE RIVER documentary soundtrack.

Listen to William Bell featuring Snoop Dogg singing "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" on YouTube.

Buy TAKE ME TO THE RIVER soundtrack at Amazon.

Read Daddy B. Nice's new Artist Guide to William Bell.

2. "Stir It Like Coffee"-----Peaches Jones featuring Nelson Curry (from Klass Band Brotherhood)

Newcomer Peaches Jones sounds like the reincarnation of Bobbye "Doll" Johnson on this lascivious--

"I said, 'Oooh, Baby, wipe your mouth off.
You got juices running down your chin.'"

--melodically catchy and well-produced single from the upcoming compilation on Nelson Curry's new Neo Blues Label. The sampler will include a single called "By My Damn Self" featuring Nelson and Mr. David and the already-charted (#4 August 2014) single "Party Starter (Michael Jordan)" by rapper The Real Joe Nice.

3. "Sweet Sweet"------Sir Charles Jones

This excellent track from PORTRAIT OF A BALLADEER starts off where "Ain't No Sunshine" (from TRIBUTE TO THE LEGENDS) left off.

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "Sweet Sweet" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Sir Charles Jones' "Sweet Sweet" single on his new Portrait Of A Balladeer CD.

4. "Rock The Boat"--------Simeo

From the artist who once told your Daddy B. Nice he wished my "hard drive crashed" (which would be the end of Southern Soul RnB). What made Simeo so mad? I kept telling him he wasn't making Southern Soul--a criticism that doesn't apply any more. (See #1 Single August 2014 "How Come The Dog Ain't Barking") Simeo is hitting that "sweet spot" of southern soul like nobody else, with a little zydeco thrown in on this one. Get these out to "your deejays," Simeo!

5. "Pickin' These Blues Away"-------The Louisiana Blues Brothas featuring Tyree Neal

Tyree may be "pickin'" these blues, but what makes this song special is the beautiful harmony of the live horns. The Louisiana Blues Brothas are Tyree Neal, Pokey and Adrian Bagher.

Listen to The Louisiana Blues Brothas featuring Tyree Neal singing "Pickin' These Blues Away" (preceding the song "Who You With") on YouTube.

Buy "Pickin' These Blues Away" mp3 on the LOVE ON THE BAYOU compilation CD from the Louisiana Blues Brothas.

6. "Annie Mae's Cafe Swing Out Song"-------Stephanie McDee

The still under-rated, seldom-played "southern soul queen" Stephanie McDee is back with her best vocal since "When I Step In The Club." From her upcoming album TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS.

Listen to Stephanie McDee singing "Annie Mae's Cafe Swing Out Song" on YouTube.

7. "Trying To Live My Life Without You"------Otis Clay featuring Lil' P-Nut

More rapping-slash-southern soul (see this month's #1 above) from the TAKE ME TO THE RIVER documentary soundtrack. Otis Clay is in fine form on his classic tune. Lil' P-Nut steals the show.

Listen to Otis Clay featuring Lil' P-Nut singing "Trying To Live My Life Without You."

Buy TAKE ME TO THE RIVER soundtrack at Amazon.

8. "Girl I Want Your Body"------Willie Clayton

Willie's newest single is in the vein of "Boom Boom Boom" and reminding many people of Ronald Isley.

Listen to Willie Clayton singing "Girl I Want Your Body" on YouTube.

9. "Whistle While You Twerk"-------Donnell Sullivan

The new kid on the block is slowly but surely becoming a master of his southern soul craft.

Sample/Buy Donnell Sullivan's "Whistle" mp3 on his new SUGAR DADDY EP at CD Baby.

10. "Booty Poppin'"-----Steve Perry

Before James Brown's "Brand New Bag" and "Sex Machine" we called it "vamping" onstage--repeating a two-bar phrase--you didn't do that for a whole song. Steve Perry's "Booty Roll" is the southern soul equivalent and "Booty Poppin'," with Perry's whiskey-laced tenor, exerts the same dance-floor magnetism.

Listen to Steve Perry singing "Booty Poppin'" on YouTube.

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide
Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

-------OCTOBER 2014---------

1. "I Stay Ready"-------T. K. Soul

Songs from LIFE AFTER LOVE already featured on Daddy B. Nice's Singles Review include "Looking For A Lady" (#1/March/14), "Caught Up In Doing Wrong" (#4/May/14) and "Now This Is The Party" (#2/July/14).

"I Stay Ready" is right up there with them--a slow jam as pure and sparkling as a high country brook.

Listen to T.K. Soul singing "I Stay Ready" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy T.K. Soul's LIFE AFTER LOVE CD.

See Daddy B. Nice's new 5-star review of T.K. Soul's LIFE AFTER LOVE CD.

2. "Good Love"-------John Cummings

John's vocal is one of his best yet, confident, and sweet as sugar. Cummings scored a #1 single on Daddy B. Nice's Southern Soul Singles Review with "Here In The South (Everybody's Talking About The Dirty South)" in May of 2014. Yet neither of the songs are on YouTube and airplay for Cummings' songs has been non-existent. "Here In The South" was released only once--on Ecko's Blues Mix 11: Sweet Soul Blues sampler. Awesome talent. Beautiful guitar solo.

Sample/Buy John Cummings' "Good Love" mp3 on Ecko Records' Blues Mix 14: Total Soul Blues compilation at Soul Blues/Blues Critic.

3. "All Right (Let's Get Up Outta This Club)"----J-Wonn featuring Big Yayo

This horny, rainy-day-kinda slow jam sounds like it's written in a minor key. J-Wonn's vocal fronts a somber, pulsing background that lingers in the mind long after listening, not unlike Ann Peebles' "I Can't Stand The Rain".

Listen to J-Wonn and Big Yayo singing "All Right (Let's Get Up Outta This Club)" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy J-Wonn's "All Right" single on his debut album, I GOT THIS RECORD (THE CD).

See Daddy B. Nice's new 5-star review of J-Wonn's I GOT THIS RECORD CD.

4. "Tear Our Love Down"------Sir Charles Jones

Your Daddy B. Nice once confided to all the southern soul singers who developed via singing gospel and staying true to the unique southern soul sound that they need never fear "branching out"--that it might even be stimulating creatively--never thinking I'd be having second thoughts, especially on Sir Charles Jones' account, but going all the way back to "Country Boy," his lounge-lizard cover of lovably loosey-goosey "Mississippi Boy," Charles has been experimenting with slick, jazzy forms that are antithetical to the anthems like "Slow Roll It" and "Friday" that made him famous.

This slow blues walks that creative tightrope, mixing brilliant vocal and production with an almost show-tune approach to the blues.

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "Tear Our Love Down" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Sir Charles Jones' "Tear our Love Down" single on his new Portrait Of A Balladeer CD.

5. "Love On Me"-----Nelson Curry

I feel some trepidation whenever a lead singer "leaves" his band, as Nelson has just done with the Klass Brotherhood, and as Tre' Williams did a year ago with The Revelations. Will a major piece of what made them so good fall by the wayside? On the other hand, I also know the only path to stardom in southern soul music has always been and continues to be as a solo artist.

Listen to Nelson Curry singing "Love On Me" on Spreaker.

Sample/Buy "Love On Me" at Klass Band Brotherhood website.

6. "Pretty Girl Swagg (Watching You)"------Jarreau (Tyree Neal featuring Curly & Mr. Laidback)

The promotional copy I received merely said "Curly featuring Tyree Neal," but the song is being marketed under the artist title "Jarreau." (Go figure.) Loving this "new day" of southern soul when zydeco fits into any top ten with just the right degree of variety.

Sample/Buy Jarreau's (Tyree Neal's) "Pretty Girl Swagg (Watching You)".

7. "Why Can't We Just Get Along?"-----Rob Hewz aka Big Rob

Another confusing credit--not southern soul's beloved B-i-g-g R-o-b-b--but a new artist who also stakes claim to the nickname. And what a song it is, blowing up the radio with a righteous new sound full of good vibes and a memorable melody. This song was first published in 2010 on the CD Life After "the 9-5".

Listen to Rob Hewz aka Big Rob singing "Why Can't We Just Get Along?" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Rob Hews' "Why Can't We Just Get Along" at CD Baby.

Read bio of Rob Hewz.

8. "Next Time"------Lil' Jimmie

I've received many letters from fans asking where they can buy Lil' Jimmie's "She Was Twerkin'," previously touted on Daddy B. Nice's Singles Review (#3/June/'14), and the answer is still nowhere--on the Web, at any rate. "Next Time" is the follow-up single, utilizing the same staccato guitar style and truly wonderful, female background singing. In his "cool" obscurity and his tenacious old-school style, Lil' Jimmie reminds me of the legendary Eddie Holloway.

9. "In This Club Tonight"-----------Adrena

The newest from Adrena, whose ability to communicate vulnerability took a quantum leap forward on her duet with Nellie "Tiger" Travis, "Another Woman's Man" (#1/March/'13/Daddy B. Nice's Singles Review). "In This Club Tonight" is one of Adrena's rare forays into uptempo since her breakthrough hit, "Cheating On The Back Street." Her trembling, not-so-tough style is almost suspenseful on a dance jam. Not for sale yet.

Listen to Adrena singing "In This Club Tonight" on SoundCloud.

10. "One For The Road"---J-Wonn featuring Big Yayo

This song--a set-ending onstage blast/encore number--is fascinating for its glimpse into what J-Wonn (a quintessential balladeer) sounds like fronting an uptempo jam. Peppered with Big Yayo half-gypsy, half-disco keyboard riffs and rap-like exhortations.

"SOUTHERN SOUL NATION Y'ALL!"

Listen to J-Wonn and Big Yayo singing "One For The Road" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy J-Wonn's "One For The Road" single on his debut album, I GOT THIS RECORD (THE CD).

SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

-------SEPTEMBER 2014---------

1.“It’s A Good Thing I Met You”--------Theo Huff

“It’s A Good Thing I Met You” sounds like Willie Clayton in his prime--a very good thing. Theo Huff’s technique is rough by comparison, but it’s a hell of a song, and the inherent musical majesty shines through the tattered sails of the production like a glorious sunset.

Alternatively, looking like the young Tyrone Davis (good-lookin’) and hailing from the late Wonder Boy’s hometown of Chicago, Huff sounds like Davis on “Wet Pannies,” a single released last year. You’ll be hearing a lot more from him.

Listen to Theo Huff singing “It’s A Good Thing I Met You” on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Theo Huff’s “It’s A Good Thing I Met You” mp3 or full NOW IS THE TIME debut CD at CD Baby.

2. “South Side”----Grady Champion

The funky south side--so true everywhere. With a terrific, seasoned chorus and nicely-detailed lyrics, singer/harpist Champion makes another stab at the "elusive universal"--not quite in the rarified air of “Make That Monkey Jump,” but close enough.

This, by the way, is the first--definitively the first--southern soul song to make reference to herb (“He sells the best weed”). Grady may not be aware he’s breaking a long-running taboo in a genre that has nevertheless blessed Twinkie Man’s “I’m In Love With A Crackhead” and Krishunda Echols’ “Mad Dog 20-20.” Long a penal nightmare for the black man, Mississippi recently decriminalized marijuana.

Sample/Buy Grady Champion’s “South Side” mp3 at iTunes.

3. “I’m So Glad” -------Bigg Robb

This is the best Bigg Robb song in awhile, better than the admittedly admirable “Fill It Up.” Robb is especially impressive on slow-to-mid-tempo songs (see Carl Marshall’s “Good Lovin’ Will Make You Cry”). And, in southern soul, with an abundance of gifted singers, it’s easy to forget that we’re listening to a vocally-enhanced vocalist, an audio construct we know as “Bigg Robb.”

Are we looking at a reincarnation here? At times, Robb approaches Roy Orbison's special, plaintive artistry. ("In Dreams")....("Only The Lonely.")

Listen to Bigg Robb singing "I’m So Glad" on YouTube.

4. "Cold Feet"--------Nellie “Tiger” Travis

"Cold Feet" has a little Pointer Sisters “Slow Hand” and a little Candi Staton “Stand By Your Man.” As usual, Chicago-based writer/producer Floyd Hamberlin has fashioned a hook into an anthem of indeterminate power, and it'll be fun to see if it’s as indeterminate as Nellie and Floyd’s last smash, "Mr. Sexy Man.”

Listen to Nellie “Tiger” Travis singing "Cold Feet" on the Nellie “Tiger” Travis website.

Sample/Buy Nellie “Tiger” Travis’s “Cold Feet” mp3 at CD Baby.

5. “Sweet Sexy Southern Girl”------------Big Ro Williams

Steeped in just enough techno to make it current, “Sweet Sexy Southern Girl” emerges from the same raunchy source as 2013’s “Good Love Muscle.” Williams’ lead vocal isn’t as overpowering as it was in "Muscle," but the song rolls along like a big southern river, verse after generous verse, restoring some sorely-missed grit to the chitlin’ circuit. Another Williams—the late Lee “Shot”—would have loved singing these lyrics.

Another interesting note: Big Ro was a hiphop artist when he ran into an old high school classmate, Sir Charles Jones, who recommended he get into southern soul.

Listen to Big Ro Williams singing "Sweet Sexy Southern Girl" at JW Music Management.

6. “I Just Fell in Love”----------Ms. Charli

Bubbly and memorable, with well-thought-out production, "I Just Fell In Love" is both accessible and accomplished, Ms. Charli’s most solid tune to date.

Listen to promotional video for Ms. Charli’s “I Just Fell In Love.”

7. "Better Day"-----Junior Turner featuring Jess Wood

Someone once defined the difference between rock and roll and pop music as "danger." Then Rhythm & Blues (the even more "dangerous" source of rock and roll) entails two degrees of separation. Put off at first by the pop arrangement, your Daddy B. Nice inevitably surrendered to the Pied-Piper charisma of "Better Day's" melody and soulful singers (from Britain, no less). Move over, Robin Thicke. Turner is being promoted in the chitlin' circuit by Jenni Weber of JW Management.

Listen to Junior Turner singing "Better Day" on YouTube.

8. “Shake Your Money Maker (Make That Body Move)”---------Lady Tee

Bad-girl stuff, recorded in a bathroom maybe, with lots of echo. Still trying to track down the exact title and artist for this one, but you know your Daddy B. Nice wouldn't stand between his readers and a powerful, raw, new dance-floor jam.

October 1, 2014 Update: Was able to confirm it's Lady Tee, not "Lady G." as I first reported. (Heard and cited on WDLT Mobile, Alabama, DJ Stormy.)

9. “(If I Can Just Move My Feet, I Think That) I’ll Be All Right”----------Stony Murphy

Pensacola artist. Reminds me of a guy named George “Guitar” Baker, who had a melodic, smooth-jazz-like song called Black Night” which was a “most-requested song” for months running in 2006 on the now defunct “Chitlin’ Circuit” website.

Sample/Buy Stony Murphy’s “I’ll Be All Right” at CD Baby.

10. "Kiss My Southern Soul"--------Avail Hollywood

No melody, but loads of wild percussion (including cowbells and kazoos) should make this a dance floor favorite.

Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's "Kiss My Southern Soul" at CD Baby.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

----------AUGUST 2014------------

1. "How Come The Dog Ain't Barking"--------Simeo

In retrospect, the transformation was quietly in the works throughout his ever-more-impressive collaborations with the late Floyd Taylor, but to hear Simeo singing with such nonchalance, such unapologetic authority--especially on a dance-floor jam--is a happy and unexpected revelation. With Stevie Wonder "Superstition"-like instrumentation on the verses and a satisfyingly bizarre "wall of sound" on the choruses, you have an updating of the blues, southern soul style: if not the biggest--the most important--hit of Simeo's career.

Sample/Buy Simeo's "How Come The Dog Ain't Barking" Single.

2. "True Love"-------J-Wonn

This one's just a notch below the level of Carl Sims' soul-shattering mini-dramas, Big Yayo out-Robbing Bigg Robb in a brief intro to J'Wonn's stunningly-innocent alto vocalizing the ballad's soulful lament:

"True love...
Oh, it's so hard to find."

It stops you in your tracks the way a song with the phrase "I got this record" still does, and when, quivering with vibrato, a totally-unexpected, deep-soul-Stax organ kicks in behind J-Wonn, your Daddy B. Nice wants to jump up and plant a big kiss on producer Yayo's forehead. From J-Wonn's terrific debut album--just released.

Listen to J-Wonn singing "True Love" on YouTube."

Sample/Buy J-Wonn's debut album, I GOT THIS RECORD (THE CD) at Amazon.

Sample/Buy J-Wonn's debut album, I GOT THIS RECORD (THE CD) at iTunes.

3. "Back To The Sweet Shop"---------Tucka

To be candid, the new Tucka album doesn't have anything to match "Sweet Shop," "Don't Make Me Beg," "Forever Swing," "Candy Land" and the other singles that have so rapidly established the Tucka brand. The inclusion of "Back To The Sweet Shop," therefore, is a blessing if for nothing more than the iconic, swirling, ascending-the-scale string-section riff on the chorus, as the six thousand people who have already viewed the "Back To The Sweet Shop" video would attest.

Listen to Tucka singing "Back To The Sweet Shop" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Tucka's new "Back To The Sweet Shop" mp3 or GROOVE CITY CD.

4. "Party Starter (Michael Jordan)"------(The Real) Joe Nice featuring Nelson Curry & Blakfist

No relation to your Daddy B. Nice, Rapper Joe Nice sounds like the Fresh Prince. Nelson Curry (from the Klass Band) is terrific. He carries the rap/southern soul hybrid with his R&B vocal in the same way the late Fred Bolton carried Black Zack's rap version of "Sho' Wasn't Me."

"Party Starter (Michael Jordan)" also reminds your Daddy B. Nice of Sir Nature AlexZander's "Let's Party " an obscure, under-produced but groovy single (mostly gulf-coast) from 2008. (See A's, Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.)

Listen to Joe Nice, Nelson Curry & Blakfist singing "Party Starter (Michael Jordan)" on YouTube.

5. "Make Up Sex"------Jaye Hammer

Hammer, befitting his name, is like a bull in a china shop, creatively speaking. I still think he missed out on the song of his career by not promoting One Stop Lover" as a single and not putting it on YouTube. (It now is. But it may be too late unless it's reissued. Click here.) On "Make Up Sex" from the new album), Hammer dives to an similarly unbelievable depth of soul, and--happily--you can hear it instantly:

Listen to Jaye Hammer singing "Make Up Sex" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy Jaye Hammer's "Make Up Sex" mp3 and Jaye Hammer's STILL GOT IT CD.

6. "Lonely"------Simone De

When it comes to great vocalists, we fans are spoiled by an abundance of riches. Gospel-hewn, southern soul-seasoned, Simone De is a joy to listen to, with a voice simultaneously "guy next door" and heroic.

Listen to Simone De singing "I'm So Lonely" on YouTube.

7. "The Coolest"-------Gentry-Jones featuring Mr. Sam

After listening to Mr. Sam's (with Gentry-Jones') "Roll It" and "The Coolest" over the last couple of months, I have to say I like the reggae groove of "The Coolest." To your Daddy B. Nice's mind, reggae WAS the soul music of the mid-to-late seventies, but I've never featured it here. However, "The Coolest" is much faster than typical reggae, more dancehall, with a Southern Soul singer (Mr. Sam), a line-dance/parade whistle and--on the chorus--a revved-up, mariachi-band horn riff that captures the tequila enthusiasm of The Swinging Medallions' "Double Shot Of My Baby's Love." Pretty eclectic. From their upcoming album.

Listen to Mr. Sam & Gentry-Jones singing "The Coolest" on YouTube.

8. "Hotter Than Catfish Grease"----------Bigg Robb

Remember, back in the dawn of his gradually-lengthening career, when Bigg Robb had that band full of singers--the Trouble Makers, the Trouble Shooters (just kidding!), the Problem Solvas (!) and he was singing about those large women from the South he loved so much? Don't know if he even realizes it, but Robb is recycling some of those old "Big Women" chords.

Listen to Bigg Robb singing "Hotter Than Catfish Grease" on Spreaker.

9. "Live My Life Again"-----------Steve Perry

There are certain things a commentator like your Daddy B. Nice just has to let play out, even though he knows the result is doomed from the get-go, like Luther Lackey "retiring" from Southern Soul or Steve Perry changing his name to Prince Mekl to avoid being confused with Journey's Steve Perry.

It's easier said than done, and it looks as if Steve has thought better about it--to the extent of calling himself "Steve Perry" in the middle of his new song, "Live My Life Again," a contemporary re-tooling of Tyrone Davis's "Turn Back The Hands Of Time.

Listen to Steve Perry singing "Live My Life Again" on Spreaker/YouTube.

10. "What's The Name Of That Thang"-----Larome Powers

Sample/Buy Larome Powers "What's The Name Of That Thang" mp3 at iTunes.

Sample/Buy Larome Powers' "What's The Name Of That Thang" mp3 at CD Express.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Send product to:

SouthernSoulRnB.com
P.O. Box 19574
Boulder, Colorado 80308

Or e-Mail:

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .

----------JULY 2014------------

1. "I Lost My Baby On Facebook"--------Jesse James

What a message! What a melody! Deejays will get two versions. The first begins like "Summer Madness" (good) but doesn't fulfill. The "remix" is better, with more southern soul-style instrumental fills and more of James' double-tracked, mahogany-rich tenor. This is James' best record since "I Can Do Bad By Myself" and his best vocal ever.

No YouTube!

9/13/14 Update: Just posted! Listen to Jesse James singing "I Lost My Baby On Facebook" on YouTube.

2. "Now This Is A Party For The Grown Folks"-------T.K. Soul

It's the summer of 2014 and it's great to be alive, with T.K. Soul grooving on the radio, sporting impeccable vocals and feathery-light acoustic guitar, the culmination of everything we could have hoped for from this "phenom" a dozen years ago.

This tune brings out the "Michael Jackson" in T.K. At times, aided by T.K.'s extraordinary confidence, technique and maturity, the resemblance is eerie.

Listen to T.K. Soul singing "Now This Is A Party For The Grown Folks" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy T.K. Soul's LIFE AFTER LOVE CD.

3. "So Beautiful"----Sir Charles Jones

And while we're giving into summer madness, are you ready to slow jam? How about yours truly, Sir Charles, with HIS new and magical song with a hint of the Far East? After the long hiatus from recording CD's, Sir Charles' vocal sounds oh-so-fresh, simultaneously relaxed and full of "want-to," and the lush instrumentation is served up with a technical flair that surpasses even his vintage work.

Sir Charles' "So Beautiful" reminded your Daddy B. Nice of Malcom McClaren's electronica version of Madame Butterfly.

Sample/Buy Sir Charles Jones' new Portrait Of A Balladeer CD.

Listen to Sir Charles Jones singing "So Beautiful" on YouTube.

4. "My Man Is A Cheater"-------Krishunda Echols

Speaking of Madame Butterfly, Krishunda Echols continues to impress. This is a sophisticated, almost operatic blues vocal delivered over a frenetic, guitar-driven instrumental track, and if that's mostly L.J. on guitar (and it probably is) then your Daddy B. Nice puts him up there with the great Theodis Ealey and young gun Tyree Neal. (With a nod to Stevie J.)

Not much of a melody--it's a blues chant--but there's a recurring, seductive change of key that Krishunda just CRUSHES and, towards the end, a descending series of notes--all Krishunda's improvisation--that will make your jaw drop.

Listen to Krishunda Echols singing "My Man Is A Cheater" on ReverbNation.

5. "O.B. Shuffle"------O.B. Buchana

"Turn It Up" is the promotional single you're probably hearing on the radio, but there are numerous treasures on O.B.'s new album, not least this rousing jam with a vaguely Blondie's "Rapture" beat. Imagine grafting O.B.'s "I'm Rowdy Rowdy" onto an accelerated "Rapture" and you have the flavor of the "O.B. Shuffle." O.B. will be rocking concert crowds with this anthem for years to come.

Listen to O.B. Buchana singing "O.B. Shuffle" on YouTube.

Sample/Buy O.B. Buchana's Pop Yo Bottle CD.

6. "Ghetto Tactics"-------Raw Shaw featuring Lina

This superbly-executed southern soul/hiphop hybrid has the tempo and ambience of Lijuana's underground classic, "Wasn't None Of You." The commendable female vocal is by Lina, who recorded the unlikely smash southern soul single, "I Won't Let My Baby Down (My Man)" a couple of years ago. She (Denver-born Shelina Wade) also wrote the new tune, combining with Lewis (Raw Shaw) Shaw to make a formidable new song-creating team at Malindy Records.

Sample/Buy Raw Shaw & Lina singing "Ghetto Tactics" on Raw Shaw's new FEELING SOULFUL CD.

7. "Sleep In It"-----J-Wonn

Smooth and sparkling, the new single from J-Wonn. Not as ground-breaking as "I Got This Record," but as your Daddy B. Nice noted last year, "That's a once-in-a-lifetime song." In tandem with the release of the new single comes the release of J-Wonn's much-anticipated first album, I GOT THIS RECORD, due on July 5th.

8. "True To Me"-----Vick Allen

The tune is "lite," but who's quibbling? It's another great video and an amusing, "sassified" vocal from Vick Allen.

Listen to Vick Allen singing "True To Me" on YouTube.

9. "The Longer You Love Me"----------Jaye Hammer

Where's the beef? On this, the first single from Jaye Hammer's upcoming new Ecko CD, JAYE HAMMER'S STILL GOT IT.

10. "I'm Gonna Be Somebody"-----------Tucka

Tucka's heartfelt personal testimonial could easily reside on the "Americana" charts. From his new CD, Groove City.

Listen to Tucka singing "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" on YouTube

Sample/Buy Tucka's new GROOVE CITY CD.

Tucka debuts at #72 on Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 21st Century Southern Soul Countdown.

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

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SINGLES CHARTS CONTINUED IN MIDDLE COLUMN....

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide

Send product to:

SouthernSoulRnB.com
P.O. Box 19574
Boulder, Colorado 80308

Or e-Mail:

daddybnice@southernsoulrnb.com

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SINGLES CHARTS CONTINUED IN MIDDLE COLUMN....

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SouthernSoulRnB.com - Chitlin' Circuit Southern Soul Music Guide


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