"Southern Soul Music"
Toni Green
--Daddy B. Nice
About Toni Green
Memphis-bred Toni Green's R&B credentials include a long career as a backup vocalist. Beginning in the seventies, she had prominent back-up stints with both Isaac Hayes and Luther Ingram, and over the years she worked with Millie Jackson, the Barkays, The Doobies, Dennis Edwards and many other artists.
Green debuted as a solo artist with the CD Mixed Emotions (Soultrax) in 1998. The album was produced by veteran producer Quinton Claunch (James Carr, etc.), and although one track--"You've Got The Papers (I've Got The Man)"--hinted at better things to come, the album didn't cause much of a stir.
Green subsequently moved to Good Time Records and released the CD Strong Enough (2002), produced by Victor Allen (Southern Soul performer and studio maven Vick Allen), but middling material again made for a lukewarm response.
It wasn't until Southern Soul Music followed in 2003 that Toni Green made genuine inroads with chitlin' circuit listeners. "Southern Soul Music," the first radio single from the CD, was a significant step forward musically, and the song had a message that resonated with Southern Soul fans and deejays.
Floyd Taylor joined Toni Green on "I Want It" from the Southern Soul Music disc, and another single from the album, the slow and soulful "Just Ain't Working Out," gained significant Stations of the Deep South airplay.
The uptempo track "Cheat Receipt" was overlooked, even though it did for Green what "Guess What" had done for Syleena Johnson a couple of years earlier: showcased a songstress negotiating a sinuous dance groove with impressive results.
Green also does charity work and was given the "Outstanding Entertainer and Outstanding Citizen Award" by the city of Memphis.
Song's Transcendent Moment
"'Soul music is dead and gone,'
That's what they say,
And I'm just about to prove them wrong.
One day soon, and it won't be long,
They're gonna be playing my song."
Tidbits
1.
Toni Green's "Southern Soul"-titled hit was followed in 2004 by another song incorporating the term "Southern Soul": Little Kim Stewart's "Southern Soul Woman."
2.
The song "More Love," from the CD of the same name (More Love, Pegasus), brought Toni Green back to the Southern Soul play lists in 2005. A strong ballad, full of energy and emotion, "More Love" gave evidence that Toni Green was still a force to be reckoned with.
3.
November 23, 2006. Toni Green recycled her 2003 hit, "Just Ain't Workin' Out" (from the Southern Soul Music CD, in 2006. The new song, "We Can Work It Out," amps up the arrangement considerably and features a duet with Stacey K (if I'm not mistaken).
"I thought I could walk away from you. . . " the song begins, but "I'm still in love with you." From a new CD (We Can Work It Out), the track has reaped a lot of airplay on the Stations of the Deep South this last summer.
4.
January 9, 2011: NEW ALBUM ALERT!
It's a "best-of" album that could be considered a retrospective, and a bargain at that: 33 songs for $20.
Bargain-Priced Rebirth: Toni Green's Greatest Hits CD and MP3's.
5.
April 6, 2014: NEW INTERVIEW ALERT!
Read Heikki Suosalo's exhaustive Toni Green interview and career summary at Soul Express.
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If You Liked. . . You'll Love
If you loved the Pointer Sister's "Slow Hand," you should ease into Toni Green's "Southern Soul Music" with no trouble.
Honorary "B" Side
"Just Ain't Working Out"
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