Artist Guide

"Three"

Coldrank (#32 The New Generation Southern Soul)

Composed by Charles Lewis (Highway Heavy)

See the chart.

May 1, 2024:

Daddy B. Nice's Profile of Coldrank

Southern soul music fans well remember King George's "Keep On Rolling'," especially the lyrics that stretched the limits of grown-folks naughtiness. Which, of course, made it immensely notorious and popular and, eventually, beloved.

"If you want to leave,
Go ahead and leave, baby,
'Cause one thing that I found out--
I can't have one woman--
Gotta have three.
One woman just to hold me down,
One woman just to lift me up,
And I gotta have at least one woman on the side
That really don't give a fuck."

However, George wasn't the first southern soul recording artist to brag (in his case) or complain about---having three. Coldrank had the number-one song of 2016 with this quite different take on three.

"Already got a woman at home,
There's another one I love on the side.
Already got two house notes,
Man I'm barely getting by.

My wife know about my sidepiece,
My sidepiece know about my wife,
But if they found out about you
I could lose everything in my life."

The Chorus:

"I used to have two.
Now I'm taking care of three.
Got a wife, the other woman, and a sidepiece."

Musically speaking, the two tunes are equally powerful. They're also similar in featuring emerging artists' essentially first efforts at hit singles. Was it the flippant attitude embodied in "Keep On Rollin'" that made it so successful? As opposed to the harsh realities Coldrank wails about in "Three"?

Here's my commentary from 2016:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 25 Songs Of 2016

1. "Three"------Cold Drank

"Already got two house notes. / Man, I'm barely getting by." Absolutely the best "Sidepiece" response song ever. At first producer Heavy had trouble persuading Cold Drank to sing it. That is, until he threatened taking the incendiary lyrics to Big Pokey Bear, as he had "Sidepiece" a couple of years before. A masterpiece of atmosphere and compression, "Three" synthesizes so many musical elements into its vertiginous three minutes it'll be studied by producers for years to come...
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To know Coldrank you have to understand the unique Baton Rouge recording community he belongs to. Back in the mid-teens, when Beat Flippa launched the Louisiana Blues Brothas (Pokey Bear, Tyree Neal and Adrian Bagher), Coldrank was Pokey Bear's manager. Highway Heavy, writer/producer of "My Sidepiece," offered the lead vocal to "My Sidepiece" to Coldrank (who turned it down) before giving it to Pokey. Of course, we all know how that turned out. Pokey Bear went on to become one of the top earners in the southern soul genre.

All of these artists---Coldrank, Pokey Bear, Adrian Bagher, Tyree Neal, Beat Flippa and Highway Heavy---have continued to make records with one another, surrounded by a constellation of lesser-known artists (Dave Mack, Robert Butler, Champagne, Fya Red, Johnny James, C-Loc, Mark Holloway, Curly Head, etc.), not to mention occasional stars like King George, Omar Cunningham and Crystal Parker.

Of them all, Coldrank has arguably been the most in demand for collaboration, which may be at least partially because he has never published a solo collection of his own material. In this respect his history of hesitation---not recording "My Sidepiece," not publishing solo albums---may have hurt his personal career. On the other hand, Coldrank has benefitted greatly from being in Highway Heavy's orbit. The indefatigable writer/producer has showered Coldrank with material and instrumental tracks to showcase his vocal chops, none more impressive than the thick, bluesy organ that lends "Three" such unforgettable atmosphere.

And yet, compared to most projects of the Baton Rouge artists, Coldrank's "Three" was scantly marketed. The original YouTube video was yanked and no retail single was ever published. "Three" remains the best vocal of Coldrank's career, an impassioned outing that, whether consciously or unconsciously, the vocalist has never reproduced, choosing instead projects with a lower quotient of passion and angst. And Highway Heavy's insistence on marketing the bulk of their projects under the Highway Heavy brand with Coldrank listed as the "featured artist" hasn't helped the latter's market visibility. Nevertheless, Coldrank has unassumingly built a loyal if modest following amongst southern soul fans, particularly in the Gulf Coast region, with a string of creditable singles. (See right-hand column, "Recommended Tracks".)

--Daddy B. Nice

Tidbits

May 1, 2024:

Coldrank on YouTube:

Honorary "B" Side

"Chocolate Drop"