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"Drinking Again" Avail Hollywood (Now #10 on the New Generation Chart!) Composed by Avail Hollywood
 May 16, 2021: "Girl You Bad" is now the 10th-ranked southern soul single...
...and Avail Hollywood is the 10th-ranked southern soul artist on Daddy B Nice's new Top-100 Chart---The New Generation. Click here.
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January 25, 2020:
NEW ALBUM ALERT!:
 Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's new BLACK LOCOMOTIVE album at CD Baby.
BLACK LOCOMOTIVE TRACK LIST: 1. Box Top Chevy (Deep 'N Tha Woods)
2. Love Train
3. That Was the Liquor Talking
4. Stop Playing with My Emotions
5. Temporary Nigga
6. Got 2 Get It
7. This Hit For Tha Grown Folks
8. The Grass Ain't Greener (But Sometimes)
9. Box Top Chevy (Music Mix)
See Daddy B. Nice's 4-star review! Scroll down...
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Buy Avail Hollywood's BLACK LOCOMOTIVE album at CD Baby.
Listen to Avail Hollywood's BLACK LOCOMOTIVE album at Spotify.
Buy Avail Hollywood's new BLACK LOCOMOTIVE album at Apple.
January 26, 2020:AVAIL HOLLYWOOD: Black Locomotive (Avail Hollywood / AvailMusic-Nlightnrecords). Four Stars **** Distinguished effort. Should please old fans and gain new. Avail Hollywood's 2019 album Still King marked a major step forward for the unique tenor with the hard-to-define style. Known for his problem-drinking hit singles like "Drinking Again," "Wasted," "Rehab" and "Rehab Ain't Working"--songs that plunged into emotional darkness and resurfaced with a singular soulfulness not heard in quite the same fashion on the southern soul circuit before--the album painted a broader canvas, incorporating domestic joys and sexual pleasures. Not that Hollywood hadn't recorded other themes before ("Club In The Woods," "Fatal Attraction," "Country Road," "A Little Age On It"). But prior to STILL KING those tunes hadn't carried the heft of the drinking songs. Suddenly Hollywood was singing emotionally-convincing material on a wide range of subjects: "Girl, You Bad," "Unbelievable Booty," "Don't Rush" and "DJ Let Me Grind On Her".
Avail's new album, Black Locomotive, continues this remarkable artistic maturation. The two songs that open the album, the punchy, guitar-driven "Box Top Chevy (Deep In The Woods)" and the orchestral-sounding, mid-tempo, lullaby-like "Love Train," are surefire crowd-pleasers and potential hit singles. The latter would have been better served with the album title "Black Locomotive," but that is easily overlooked. Watch for one or both of these tunes on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Southern Soul Singles for February 2020. If they're any indication of what's to come, we're in for a marvelous year to come in southern soul.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Box Top Chevy" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Love Train" on YouTube.
Nor does the balance of the set disappoint. The ballads "Stop Playing With My Emotions" and "Temporary Nigga" combine worthy lyrics with first-rate vocals and production. What does Avail Hollywood's "Got To Get It" have in common with another new single by Narvel Echols called "Country Folks Party"? They both share the iconic horn riff (from KC & The Sunshine's Band "Boogie Shoes") used by Floyd Hamberlin to great effect in Nellie "Tiger" Travis's "If I Back It Up".
"This Hit For The Grown Folks" is a novelty tune with nifty special effects including a cartoon-character-like voice over. "The Grass Ain't Greener (But Sometimes)" is a Hollywood ballad with a simple message: Sometimes it is greener. "That Was The Liquor Talking" mines Avail's specialty, the ballad, extracting a surprisingly strong message of apology. The instrumental track and production are sure-handed and impressively distinct. as they are throughout. Finally, "Box Top Chevy (Music Mix)" reprises the opening track with its influences made more prominent: namely Curtis Mayfield's beloved masterpiece, "Diamond In The Back". And like Curtis, we can...
"Just be thankful
For what Avail's got".
--Daddy B. Nice
Listen to all the tracks from Avail Hollywood's new Black Locomotive album on YouTube.
Download all the songs from Avail Hollywood's Black Locomotive album at CD Baby.
October 26, 2019: Excerpted from Daddy B. Nice's Mailbag Avail Hollywood Checks In! What’s up MR. B NICE ... Been a minute— HOPE ALL IS WELL!! You didn’t hear this from me, but Avail Still Sings, STILL PRODUCES, still records and mix, still writes, all his stuff, still pack out and HEADLINES venues, EVERY WEEKEND ... ??????. and sold a lil bit over $90,000.00 downloads this year alone on independently-that means by my damn self !!???????? Now if that ain’t worth a lil article I don’t know what is!!.... lol I can’t talk about show money. IRS MIGHT COME LOOKING FOR ME????.... IM THE REAL DEAL MAN!!!! peace LUV YA , keep doing what you do!
p.s. that ranked 47 southern soul artist is so UNDERRATED and only two 5 star singles. Come on now U CANT BE SERIOUS TWENTY FIVE AND UP GOT 5.5million hits just on YouTube man that’s a damn CLASSIC !!! Not to mention SINKING IN QUICK SAND, and Lil Age On It
Daddy B. Nice replies:
Good to hear from you, man. Always glad to hear you giving me some shit. I’m working on your calendar postings today. I like your letter too, and I’m trying to decide whether to put it in the Mailbag (pending your approval) or siphon some of the stuff into an upcoming DBN’s Corner “News & Notes”. Any preference? Stay bad now!
Avail Hollywood replies:
Lol now you know don’t no southern soul artist BOAST more than AVAIL HOLLYWOOD!! and plus the great SOUTHERNSOULRNB.COM IS the home of AVAIL HOLLYWOOD ???? now u remember that!!
no But humble-ly its always great to here back from you DADDY B! YOU R A LEGEND MANNN!!
but of course POST THIS!! like the younger generation say “a lil CLOUT/CONTROVERSY” don’t hurt nobody!
Ps! Pray for me I’m a 36 year old SOUL singer with 115 songs Out, and I’m itching to drop another 12track album after CHRISTMAS—— guess you could probably say I’m a studio junky, and “REHAB AINT WORKING” that’s why I been “DRINKING AGAIN”, I stay “WASTED”, but you can do that when you “TWENTY FIVE AND UP”!! ??????. Let me go I could do this all day!!
we Love ya Man!
Avail Hollywood
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Product, comments, information or questions for Daddy B. Nice?
Write to
daddybnice@southernsoulrnb.com
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Scroll down to "Tidbits" below for the latest updates on Avail Hollywood and reviews of his CD's.
To automatically link to Avail Hollywood's charted singles, awards, CD's and other citations on the website, go to "Hollywood, Avail" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.
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Daddy B. Nice's Original Profile:
Avail Hollywood fits the stereotype of the musician on the make. That's what happens when the hype gets a little too far ahead of the music. However, when Bigg Robb, one of Avail Hollywood's mentors, first came on the scene, he too was perceived to have a well-oiled talent for self-promotion.
Robb's first couple of albums didn't have a lot to do with Southern Soul music, but Bigg Robb's drive and determination, not to mention his willingness to absorb and change his musical perspective, catapulted him into the front ranks of Southern Soul.
Avail Hollywood is very much in the same, strong mold. Faced with daunting criticism from some quarters for his uneven debut album, which in his typically aggressive style he called The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul, Hollywood didn't shrink into the woodwork. There was no quit in him.
Less than a year later, he came back with an even stronger sophomore album--Drinking Again--that not only marked a sizable leap forward in material and execution but seized the spotlight with a surprisingly mature and soulful bid for a Southern Soul classic: "Drinking Again."
"Drinking Again" has few antecedents in Southern Soul or any other genre. The slow, measured tempo marks it as a ballad. The strong, clear bass line and slick, shimmering arrangement suggest a pedigree in new age jazz or pop-slash-funk.
But the intangibles of the song signify that Avail Hollywood has gone to a well deeper and more pristine than any of the mainstream genres of the last few decades. Indeed, the one song that "Drinking Again" resembles more than any other is Ms. Jody's priceless and equally idiosyncratic ballad, "Your Dog Is Killing My Cat," which also came out of nowhere while hitting the bullseye of authentic Southern Soul.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Drinking Again" on YouTube while you read.
"I've been in this club
And I said I wasn't
Going to be drinking.
Now I'm stumbling
All over this bar
With a dumb look on my face."
The opening stanzas of Drinking Again" constitute one of the most original beginnings by any composer in contemporary soul music. There's no self-promotion here. And there's no fronting either, even of the subtle kind. This is a singer intent on getting to the heart of the matter.
The second stanza is even better, and even more defining.
"That's how it is
When you're drinking
A lot of Hennessy.
Say you lost a girl,
Or say you lost your man."
The Hennessy-drinking is one of the few salient Southern Soul signposts. But the greater impact of the couplet is to extend the autobiographical and confessional thrust of the lyrics. The stage is set quickly, and already "Drinking Again" is more grounded, more focused and impactful than dozens of Southern Soul songs on the same topic.
Then comes the third stanza, which anyone who listens to the song for the first time remembers as the song's distinguishing theme. The Alcholics Anonymous reference jumps out from the rest of the words:
"And now you're in rehab,
Like 'Hi, my name is Hollywood,
And I'm an alcholic.'
"Ooooo baby,
You got me drinking again."
Compare, for instance, the lyrics to Avail Hollywood's "Drinking Again" to T. K. Soul's "Rehab." The latter is a Southern Soul mainstay, a former Daddy B. Nice # 1 Southern Soul Single of the year. As good as it is, though, T. K. Soul's lyrics have nowhere near the searing luminosity of Hollywood's "Drinking Again."
As a vocalist, Avail Hollywood already has a set of tools in his toolbox that would be the envy of any "young gun" starting out in contemporary R&B. His voice-over at the beginning of "Drinking Again" is chitlin' circuit-certified.
His distinctive tenor is instantly identifiable, not quite like anyone else on the scene--lyrical, melodic, crystal-clear. When he harmonizes with himself, the results are impressive. He can extend notes with the best technical singers, yet slur into a speaking voice at the most apt moments.
His producing skills are also substantial. The echoing effect at the end of key phrases is an important detail. The programming isn't "live"--the only thing that could make the song better--but the tinkling, up-and-down runs of the keyboard and the extensive horn charts are as full and polished as you'll hear on the majority of Southern Soul Singles.
Finally, the song is compressed. Hollywood avoids the too-common pitfall of dragging the song through an extended five minute length. He keeps it short and sweet, and--like all catchy music--"Drinking Again" flies by, begging to be played again.
Sample or Buy Avail Hollywood MP3's on I-Tunes.
--Daddy B. Nice
About Avail Hollywood (Now #10 on the New Generation Chart!)
Christopher Estell, aka Avail Hollywood, was born July 24, 1983 in Texarkana, Texas. His father, Collins Estell, was a professional guitarist (R&B and gospel), and two sisters, Loraine and Donna, were gospel singers.
Estell entered the music business as the drummer in Shades of Ebony, a gospel group that included his father and two sisters. The aggregation, three female singers and a full band, was signed to Claytown, Willie Clayton's label, in 1998.
Estell took the name "Avail Hollywood" from a poster that hung on the wall of the family's studio when he was growing up. The poster read: "Elvis Presley, Now Available in Hollywood." It was signed by Elvis and Lenny Lewis, the legendary owner of the seminal Southern Soul label, Suzie Q. Records which first brought such artists as David Brinston, O. B. Buchana and Maurice Wynn to the public. Christopher shortened the "available" to become Avail Hollywood.
After the break up of Shades of Ebony in 2000 Avail Hollywood produced his sister Loraine's solo album, Zipper on Shreveport's Suzie Q label, as well as her 3003 single, "Take A Lil' Risk," on the New Orleans' Baby Boy label. In 2005 he produced Donnie Ray's Bang That Thang CD for Ecko Records in Memphis.
Avail Hollywood wrote, produced, and performed his solo debut The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul, in 2009 on his own label, NLightn Records (distributed through CD Baby), and the single "Don't Leave Me" gained some attention.
In 2010 Hollywood produced Donnie Ray's well-received CD for Ecko, BYOB.
Then, in 2011, he released his second Avail Hollywood CD, Drinking Again, with its hit single "Drinking Again."
(Scroll down to "Tidbits" for subsequent activity.)
Song's Transcendent Moment
"And now you're in rehab,
Like 'Hi,
My name is Hollywood,
And I'm an alcholic.'
Ooooo baby,
You got me drinking again."
Tidbits
1.
January 5, 2012: Updated May 1, 2016
Avail Hollywood on YouTube:
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Rehab Ain't Working" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Fatal Attraction" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Creole Shuffle" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Real Love" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood & Black Zack singing "Club In Da Woods" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Country Road" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Fatal Attraction" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Domestic Love" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Drinking Again" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "I'ma Give It To You" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Forever And Always" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood and Certified Slim singing "Beat It Up" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Lonely At Christmas" on YouTube.
2.
Daddy B. Nice's CD Review of Avail Hollywood' Drinking Again posted in the new Avail Hollywood Artist Guide January 5, 2011:
May 17, 2011:
AVAIL HOLLYWOOD: Drinking Again (Nlightn) Three Stars *** Solid. The artist's fans will enjoy. Avail Hollywood's second CD, Drinking Again, is a huge step forward. Gone are the amateurish hiphop conventions, shaky synth-enhanced vocals and immature hype of his debut disc (2010).
Two things are instantly clear listening to the disc's first track, "One Man's Trash." Hollywood's ambition and determination are still in full force, but now they're channeled through a disciplined familiarity with the Southern Soul idiom.
However, Hollywood makes a crucial mistake in starting off the CD with a song derived almost entirely from Jeff Floyd's "Lock My Door," which itself was modeled on Floyd's signature hit, "I Found Love (On A Lonely Highway)." Even the horn arrangement on Avail's "One Man's Trash" reiterates "Lock My Door."
If the musical power surpassed the Jeff Floyd original, Hollywood might have succeeded. Unfortunately, Jeff Floyd's "Lock My Door" will surface in the minds of most listeners versed in contemporary Southern Soul.
But if its derivation sabotages "One Man's Trash," "Drinking Again"--the album's second and title track--more than compensates. Original, with a unique arrangement and lead vocal, "Drinking Again" should have already been a hit and still may become one.
Overshadowed by Mel Waiter's "When You Get Drunk," which was released at the same time earlier this year, Hollywood's ballad "Drinking Again" actually trumps the Waiters' song in emotional power.
Here's an excerpt from--
Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Review For. . .
FEBRUARY 2011
1. "Drinking Again"------------Avail Hollywood
One of two anti-drinking songs to debut in a February overflowing with new music. The other is Mel Waiters' "When You Get Drunk." Together, they make nice bookends around a subject that seldom gets discussed in Southern Soul.
Avail Hollywood's outing is the more compelling because it memorializes a young musician blossoming into a true artist, marshalling an intensity and focus he hadn't quite mastered on his debut, The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul, reviewed here last year.
All great music traces back to life moments of deep pain, and "Drinking Again" qualifies. The opening lines make it clear and unambiguous:
"I've been in this club
And I said I wasn't gonna be drinking.
Now I'm stumbling over to this bar
With a dumb look on my face.
That's how it is
When you're drinking a lot of Hennessey,
Say you lost your girl,
Or say you lost your man.
And now you're in rehab,
Like 'Hi, my name is Hollywood.
And I'm an alcoholic.'"
The reference to AA is especially telling and poignant. Meanwhile, the reservoir of emotion which gives the song so much substance is perfectly channeled through a sophisticated musical treatment that's as effortless as a conversation in "real life."
"Booty Dance," with a rhythm track based loosely on Nathaniel Kimble's "Can You Bag It Up," showcases the same Southern Soul ambience and overall professionalism as the opening tracks.
Avail Hollywood gives belated kudos to Jeff Floyd in this uptempo jam, while also nodding to:
"Steve Perry's song
Had them doing the 'Booty Roll.'
They did the 'Zydeco'
with T.K. Soul."
And. . .
"Nathaniel Kimble
Was in the house that night.
Ms. Jody was there,
The kind of girls I like."
The non-Southern Soul audience may frown on such in-bred musical references, but most true Southern Soul fans will enjoy the associations. Meanwhile, the Avail's slippery vocal fillips and peppercorn percussion keep things interesting.
By the time "Domestic Love" queues up, you may be wondering what else Avail can show in the line of Southern Soul credentials. Again, Avail surprises, slowing down the tempo with a mid-tempo ballad that perfectly touches Southern Soul sweet spot.
The comforting grooves of "The Weekend" and "Tribute To Tyrone" (based on Tyrone Davis's "Can I Change My Mind") are the best of the CD's remaining tracks. (The Carl Marshall-influenced "Forever and Always" is only slightly less appealing.)
By this time, you may be wondering why, after so many more albums under their belt, hiphop-influenced artists like Simeo and Cupid have so resolutely refused to absorb the Southern Soul ambience Avail here delivers with such freshness and ease.
In his humility, his willingness to learn, and his ability to graft the Southern Soul sound onto his unique producing capabilities, Avail follows the successful example of Bigg Robb. Drinking Again is tuneful, seamless and pleasant to the ear.
--Daddy B. Nice
Bargain-Priced Drinking Again CD, MP3's
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3.
November 22, 2014: Re-Posted from Daddy B Nice's NEW CD REVIEWS:
January 19, 2014: TWIN PICK
AVAIL HOLLYWOOD: Country Road (Nlightn) and... THE BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD (Nlightn) Five Stars ***** Can't Miss. Pure Southern Soul heaven.
For every hundred young Southern Soul recording artists with the brilliant creative talent of--say--a Luther Lackey (who recently quit performing), there may be one artist with the down-to-earth grit, want-to, and business acumen to succeed and make a bona fide career. The creativity may not even be apparent at first. What counts for more is the artist's determination to go the "extra mile," to shake off the deflating criticism, adapt, get better and--above all--keep knocking on doors and working phones (the hardest thing in the world for the typical young artist).
Avail Hollywood is that one in a hundred. In the recently-posted 2013 Southern Soul Music Awards, under the category "Hardest-Touring Crowd-Pleasers," your Daddy B. Nice noted:
Hardest-touring artists can be broken down by generations--1st gen (B.B. King), 2nd gen (Mel Waiters), 3rd gen (T.K. Soul).
What I almost added but didn't was:
4th gen (Avail Hollywood).
The young Texarkana native has blazed a new chitlin' circuit path through towns and hamlets rarely visited by even the most traveled veterans of Southern Soul. And yet, Hollywood (aka Christopher Estell, born 1983) made the awards in a more important category. His new CD Country Road (released in September '12) was a finalist for "Best CD" of the year.
The title tune, "Country Road," is replete with southern soul savvy, arranging and producing acumen, and Avail's unusual, pirouetting, closer-to-talking-than-singing vocal style.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Country Road" while you read.
Assisted by special effects and a thumping keyboard note that recalls Senator Jones' backing track to Mz. B's "My Name Is $$$$"--one of many references to southern soul lore--Avail has the following conversation with his significant other:
Hey, baby. Baby, what you doing?
I'm just going to pull over right here.
No, you just can't pull over on this country road like this.
What are you? Scared or something?
What if the sheriff come through?
I know the sheriff....
Avail's gal, of course, wins the argument, while Avail goes on to reference fellow young Southern Soul "guns" LaMorris Williams and Chris Ivy. Younger-generation stars Black Zack ("Sho' Wasn't Me" rap/remix) and Certified Slim contribute to the album (Certified Slim on “Beat It Up,”
Black Zack on “Club In The Woods”) befitting Hollywood's axis of influence. All this for a native of Texarkana, Texas, not exactly on the "beaten track," even by chitlin' circuit standards.
Beyond the tentative single “Don’t Leave Me,” Hollywood's first album, The Young Gunn of Southern Soul (2009), had little to define Avail Hollywood but swagger. But Hollywood came back with a vengeance, notching a signature single, "Drinking Again," on the album of the same name in 2011.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Drinking Again" on YouTube while you read.
Hollywood's Country Road represents another huge advance, combining the stellar arranging and producing skills of DRINKING AGAIN with an unprecedented songwriting bonanza: the anthem-like, stepping song, "Anniversary," the country-themed "Club In Da Woods," the touching "Trying Not To Break Up" and the chugging "Halle Berry," among others.
Meanwhile, in 2013, Hollywood was putting out more classy-sounding singles: the uptempo, cajun-themed Creole Shuffle and the typically flamboyant but painstakingly-produced "Fatal Attraction."
So it shouldn't come as such a surprise to open a CD entitled THE BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD (NlightN, 2014) and find an astounding quantity of music--and yet it does. Behind our backs, so to speak, this young star has accumulated quite a catalog. The contents include:
Fatal Attraction
Country Road
Club In Tha Woods
One Man's Trash
Domestic Love
Let's Get Raw
Drinking Again
Creole Shuffle
Halle Berry
Make The Bed Rock
Don't Leave Me
Beat It Up
Ima' Give It To You
Week-End
Anniversary
Forever & Always
Trying Not To Break Up
Christopher Estell does all the writing, arranging and producing. Pete Peterson of Desert Sounds Records, himself a 2012 Southern Soul Music Awards arranger/producer, is listed as “project coordinator” on the COUNTRY ROAD CD and appears to be collaborating with Hollywood on distribution through Select-O-Hits.
Is Hollywood an acquired taste? Perhaps, for the older generation. He certainly has made inroads with the younger audience. But even the traditional r&b crowd, listening to the seamless sequence of well-written, well-sung, well-produced songs gracing THE BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD, will come away with a genuine respect for this talented AND ambitious young performer.
Highly recommended.
--Daddy B. Nice
Read Daddy B. Nice’s Artist Guide to Avail Hollywood
Listen to Avail Hollywood & Black Zack singing "Club In Da Woods" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Country Road" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Fatal Attraction" on YouTube.
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's Country Road at CD Baby.
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4.
February 1, 2014:
CHART CLIMBERS 2014!:
Avail Hollywood and his hit Southern Soul single "Drinking Again" climbs from #61 to #47 on Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 21st Century Southern Soul Artist Countdown.
Go to the complete library of artist guides for Daddy B. Nice's Top 100 Countdown: 21st Century Southern Soul Artists
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January 26, 2014: NEW REVIEW!
See Daddy B. Nice's new five-star "southern soul heaven" review of Avail Hollywood's COUNTRY ROAD and BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD CD's.
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September 8, 2012: NEW ALBUM ALERT!
Sample or Buy Avail Hollywood's new bargain-priced Country Road CD.
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5. Re-Posted from Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews
January 24, 2015:
AVAIL HOLLYWOOD: Rehab (Nlightn) Three Stars *** Solid. The artist's fans will enjoy. Avail Hollywood kicks off the new year with REHAB, a mixed bag of new and previously-recorded material. The first new track is "Rehab Ain't Working," the latest in Hollywood's "Drinking Again" saga and a permutation of the young southern soul star's most identifiable theme. Radio fans will recognize "Rehab Ain't Working" as the song with the "freaking" lines....
"Because every freaking night, girl,
And every freaking day
I wanna freak your body, girl,
In every freaking way."
The second (done in two versions) is "Kiss My Southern Soul (Ass)," a boiler-plate dance jam built on a single chord and a cacophony of huffing and puffing percussion.
"You don't like my music,
And you don't like my swag.
You can kiss
My southern soul ass."
"Fatal Attraction," one of the most accomplished songs on the set, was introduced on THE BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD compilation, reviewed here a year ago. (See Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Avail Hollywood: Scroll down to Tidbits #3.)
However, THE BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD seems to have never been released commercially after the review, and a query to the usually loquacious Avail on the status of THE BEST OF AVAIL HOLLYWOOD has gone unanswered. Although "Fatal Attraction" has been released as a single (see "Fatal Attraction" mp3 at CD Baby), its inclusion on REHAB would therefore mark the first appearance on an album.
 "Make The Bed Rock," showcased on Hollywood's exceptional 2012 Country Road CD, is reprised twice--an "explicit" and "radio" version--with the aid of southern soul-loving rapper Black Zack.
Also included is the seductively-produced Creole Shuffle, a single released in 2013. Listen to Avail Hollywood singing the "Creole Shuffle" on YouTube.
Only two songs, "Promises Were Meant To Be Broken" and "Real Love," have not been heard in some recorded version before. The ballad "Real Love" is interesting for its relatively straightforward production and vocal, giving fans a glimpse of Avail Hollywood without the routinely exuberant backgrounds.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Real Love" on YouTube.
I had remembered the previously-released "Anniversary Song" as Avail's "wedding song." However, the CD Baby liner credits for "Real Love" (as opposed to my review copy) are subtitled the "wedding song," with "Anniversary Song" (after back-checking COUNTRY ROAD, ) subtitled the "request song."
With Hollywood's idiosyncratic and almost genetically-bizarre vocal style (whom to even compare him to? Lenny Williams maybe?) and his outstanding arrangements--as sure-handed and energetic as the masterful Bigg Robb--REHAB impresses as a compelling and rewarding set of music to which the prospective buyer can easily add another star if he/she hasn't bought any of the songs previously.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's REHAB CD at CD BABY.
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6. Re-posted from Daddy B. Nice's NEW CD REVIEWS.
July 5, 2015:
AVAIL HOLLYWOOD: Wasted Confessions (Nlightn) Two Stars ** Dubious. Not much here. Like the opening chords of the truly great songs (LaMorris Williams' "Impala," J'Wonn's "I Got This Record"), you know within the first few bars that "Wasted" is something very special and very deep. This is Hollywood's best single yet, even more remarkable than the durable "Drinking Again." --Daddy B. Nice
Arguably the hardest-working man on the chitlin' circuit, Avail Hollywood has released his second CD of the year. (REHAB appeared in January.) "Wasted" was Daddy B. Nice's #1 "Breaking" Southern Soul Single for March 2015, a five-star accomplishment if ever there was one. Anyone who has questioned Hollywood's abilities as a southern soul vocalist due to his idiosyncratic tone or hiphop tendencies will be converted and enthralled by this masterful vocal rendering of a new song fated to be a classic. Uncharacteristically, Hollywood has put neither "Wasted" nor "Sugga Hole," a dance jam from the collection released this summer, on YouTube.
This CD gets five stars for its incredibly deep and satisfying title cut, "Wasted," but it gets one star for its unprofessional padding and its inexcusable pandering to an inner circle of sycophants who may or may not want to hear Hollywood's navel-gazing verbalizing between tracks. There's so much talk you think he'll never get to the music. And then, after some music, there's more talk. Has Avail's opening for R. Kelly (a recent tour-date high) disoriented the onetime serviceman who formerly always had his musical boots firmly planted on the ground?
Hollywood has always been full of himself, a trait your Daddy B. Nice previously held up as a seasoned "toughness" many other, less-bold, young performers would be encouraged to emulate. Here, however, Avail crosses the line into self-absorption. He commits the cardinal sin of disrespecting his musical audience.
If you're up for a serious dose of artistic hubris, by all means buy the CD, but if you're not into chest-thumping outside of Tarzan in the treetops in the old movies, your Daddy B. Nice recommends just buying the ninety-nine-cent mp3 of Avail's new classic, "Wasted," one of the most pure southern soul experiences of the new year.
--Daddy B. Nice
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's WASTED CONFESSIONS CD at CD BABY.
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's WASTED CONFESSIONS CD at iTunes.
See Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Avail Hollywood.
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7.
AVAIL HOLLYWOOD AND DADDY B. NICE EXCHANGE LETTERS RE: "WASTED CONFESSIONS" CD REVIEW
Hey hey daddy b!!:
Just seen my new **REVIEW ** And let me say I would be upset! If the wasted album wasn't the number 1 seller n CLASSIC RNB and Southern Soul This year! & landed me a deal with "Capitol Records" Oww ohwaa ohh! That's my Tarzan impression!! Lol;)
No but humbly and with luv I respect your review as always, criticism always tend to give me the drive, rather than praise to do what I do best "Produce New Entertainment On Disc" lol! And you can't say you wasn't entertained!
Well that's what these WASTED CONFESSIONS ARE FOR! TO ENTERTAIN THE BEST FANS IN THE WORLD, THE LOVES OF MY LIFE "THE AVAIL HOLLYWOOD FANS"
Thanks for the 5(stars) on On the single WASTED! BUT understand this cd derives and bases it self tightly around that cut! Give it a listen again but pay attention to the Lyrics, The Horn Charts, the new organic progression n changes with soul classic organ! OR that it's just not the same ole thing on a typical southern soul album. 9 songs of just music and no life or Suspense! Lol! And pay attention to the confessions (man).. And understand how the thoughts make the single WASTED 5* IN YOUR EYES.
Don't focus on the proud man with swagg, the high level of confident in the work he brings you, focus on why I'm One of the hardest working in this thang!!! NOT WHY I CALL MY SELF THE KING OF RNB BLUES!
Luv u much DADDY B KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO BEST KEEPING US UP DATED WITH THE BEST MUSIC ON THE PLANET!
Avail Hollywood
Daddy B. Nice replies:
Hey Avail,
Thanks for taking the review so well. I admire you for it. I know it stung. Most guys would never have talked to me again (there have been a few). "Wasted" is an incredible song, and I really tried to stress how unusually good it is---putting compliments in headlines, etc. As for the negatives, you know I have to tell the truth. That's why people respect me.
Your letter is so fine I'd be glad to post it in the Mailbag. Would you like that, or not?
P.S.
Are you kidding me? Did you really get a deal with Capitol Records????
Avail Hollywood replies:
Yes sir! Writers deal and artist roster So it's possible that that may be the last review you do on me as a Chittlin Circuit artist! GUESS I CAME WITH 2** AND I'M LEAVING WITH 2**.... Kinda cool & kinda sucks
It didn't sting my man! Getting stung by a hornet would hurt a lot more!!! ?? lotta people think I'm arrogant, but I'm not, I guess being so cool and at ease with criticism I come off like that! and then the other part is I am really good at music ?? and don't mind flaunting it. ... God has really favored me, and I don't think he's threw with me yet!
OF COURSE U CAN POST ?? THIS!!!!!! negative criticism promotion is the best promotion I learned in this game! U REMEMBER THAT CHRISTMAS THING ... when Daddy B thought AVAIL HOLLYWOOD couldn't possibly be that hot ?? ?? Lol! I got 2** that year too! "quote there's no southern soul n him"
Hype is to much he's just seasonal, it's been a fun ?? 6 years!! Of hard touring! And not one award on the awesome SOUTHERN SOUL RNB.COM, but of course there were others more deserving than me, I'm just happy ?? to have been included!
It's Been GOOD MY FRIEND, keep up with me,
Avail Hollywood
Read Daddy B. Nice's review of Avail Hollywood's WASTED CONFESSIONS....SEE NEW CD REVIEWS.
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's WASTED CONFESSIONS CD at CD Baby.
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's WASTED CONFESSIONS CD at iTunes.
See Daddy B. Nice's Artist guide to Avail Hollywood.
********
8.
July 5, 2015:
Like the opening chords of the truly great songs (LaMorris Williams' "Impala," J'Wonn's "I Got This Record"), you know within the first few bars that "WASTED" is something very special and very deep. This is Hollywood's best single yet, even more remarkable than the durable "Drinking Again." Anyone who has questioned Hollywood's abilities as a southern soul vocalist due to his idiosyncratic tone or hiphop tendencies will be converted and enthralled by this masterful vocal rendering of a new song fated to be a classic."
--Daddy B. Nice
Scroll down this page to Tidbits #6 for Daddy B. Nice's review.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Wasted" on YouTube.
"WASTED" BY AVAIL HOLLYWOOD: #1 ON DADDY B. NICE'S TOP TEN SOUTHERN SOUL SINGLES REVIEW FOR MARCH 2015!
9.
April 3, 2016: NEW ALBUM ALERT:
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's OLD SKOOL KINDA GIRL CD at Soul Blues Music.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Twenty-Five And Up" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "I'm Sorry, Baby" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Until The Morning" on YouTube.
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's OLD SKOOL KINDA GIRL CD at CD Baby.
10.
February 3, 2018: Enjoy the "official" video of "Sinking In Quicksand" on YouTube while you read.
February 1, 2018: NEW ALBUM ALERT!:
GOOD WHISKEY TRACK LIST:
1. Twerk That (Booty Song)
2. Going Down
3. Kisses (Island Style Remix)
4. Good Whiskey
5. Zodiac Swing
6. Sinking in Quick Sand
7. A Little Age on It
8. Stay out Your Feelings
9. I Could Use a Drink
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's new GOOD WHISKEY album at CD Baby.
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's new GOOD WHISKEY album at iTunes.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "I Could Use A Drink" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "A Little Age On It" on YouTube.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Going Down" on YouTube.
February 3, 2018: Enjoy the "official" video of "Sinking In Quicksand" on YouTube while you read.
11.
March 2, 2019: NEW ALBUM ALERT!:
Sample/Buy Avail Hollywood's new STILL KING album at Amazon.
STILL KING TRACK LIST:
1
Unbelievable Booty
2
Honey and Lemon Juice
3
No More Tears Baby
4
Don't Rush
5
DJ Let Me Grind on Her
6
Mess Around and Loose
7
You're My Sugar Foot
8
Girl You Bad (feat. DJ Trac)
9
Go to Work (feat. DJ Trac)
Daddy B. Nice notes: "Unbelievable Booty" charted at #2 on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "Breaking" Southern Soul Singles for March 2019.
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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .
-------MARCH 2019-------
2. "Unbelievable Booty"-----Avail Hollywood
With this song and new album, Still King, Avail Hollywood is officially back, singing with a strength and panoramic scope that eclipses his already significant catalog.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Unbelievable Booty" on YouTube.
*****************
The ballad "Don't Rush" charted at #4 in December 2018.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Don't Rush" on YouTube.
*****************
"You Bad" charted in June 2018:
***************
Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .
-------JUNE 2018-------
10. "Girl You Bad"----Avail Hollywood featuring DJ Trac
Atmospheric and hiphoppy. From the upcoming Hollywood CD, Still King.
Listen to Avail Hollywood singing "Girl You Bad" on YouTube.
**************
Buy Avail Hollywood's Still King album at CD Baby.
Buy Avail Hollywood's Still King album at iTunes.
Browse Avail Hollywood albums at Daddy B. Nice's CD Store.
If You Liked. . . You'll Love
If you liked Ms. Jody's "Yo Dog's About To Kill My Cat," you'll love Avail Hollywood's "Drinking Again."
Honorary "B" Side
"Wasted"
|
|
Drinking Again
CD: Drinking Again
Label: Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Drinking Again |
Wasted
CD: Wasted Confessions
Label: Nlightn
|
Country Road
CD: Country Road
Label: Nlightn
|
Anniversary (The Request Song)
CD: Country Road
Label: Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Country Road |
Domestic Love
CD: Drinking Again
Label: Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Drinking Again |
Fatal Attraction
CD: Rehab
Label: Nlightn
|
Forever And Always
CD: Drinking Again
Label: Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Drinking Again |
Girl You Bad (feat. DJ Trac)
CD: Still King
Label: Nlightn
|
Rehab Ain't Working
CD: Rehab
Label: Nlightn
|
A Little Age On It
CD: Good Whiskey
|
Sample or Buy
Good Whiskey |
Club In The Woods
CD: Country Road
Label: Christopher Estell / Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Country Road |
Freaky Situations
CD: The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul
Label: Nlightn
|
I'ma Give It To You
CD: Drinking Again
Label: Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Drinking Again |
One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Gold)
CD: Drinking Again
Label: Nlightn
|
Sample or Buy
Drinking Again |
Slide-N-It
CD: The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul
Label: Nlightn
|
Trying Not To Break Up
CD: Country Road
Label: Nlighten
|
Sample or Buy
Country Road |
Let's Get Raw
CD: The Young Gunn Of Southern Soul
Label: Nlightn
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