0 Blood, Sweat & Tears - What In The Hell Really Did Happen To Them?

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 12/19/2024

Once in awhile a really good documentary shows up on Amazon Prime Video. Recently I couldn't resist watching 2023's What The Hell Happened To Blood, Sweat & Tears?" For BS&T, It was an Eastern European first encounter in Yugoslavia (now Macedonia), Romania, and Poland that pulls you in. This tour, and much more make this production well worth watching. Replacement singer David Clayton-Thomas, and original BS&T lead vocalist  - founder Al Kooper all enter the storyline. I wondered too why Blood, Sweat & Tears disappeared so quickly compared to the band Chicago, and other horn driven ensembles. Here's a remix I did of BS&T drummer Bobby Colomby talking with DJ Frankie Crocker for the US Air Force when the group was hot. I took the raw dialogue (basically with little music), added some tunes that had to be shortened to keep the rights police happy, and made it visually contemporary for the YouTube age! It's 8 minutes, 40 seconds. Enjoy. Note: You must watch this one on YouTube as video playback on websites is disabled by the copyright owner. Select / touch 'Watch on YouTube' below. Previous Post | Next Post

0 Art Blakey Interview - Jazz Is?

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 06/19/2024

Art Blakey has a lot to say about music and the electronic influences diluting the genre he loves in this audio interview recorded 13 years before his passing. I learn why Art Blakey thinks there is an important connection between our ears and the craft of jazz. You know I was thrilled to talk to this jazz legend live on-air during my broadcasting journey through Atlantic City, New Jersey radio. Definitely check this one out! Previous Post | Next Post

0 AWB - Average White Band Interview - Pick Up The Pieces Interview

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 05/16/2024

Average White Band - AWB were the real deal. While a student at New York University, I interviewed AWB members Hamish Stuart and Molly Duncan live on WNYU FM radio right after the first AWB Atlantic Records album was released. It was one of the first USA interviews by the Average White Band. It's 1974! AWB was in New York City to appear at the Bottom Line music venue. Enjoy! Previous Post | Next Post

0 Harvey Mason Sr Talks Marching in the Street

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 04/09/2024

Drummer Harvey Mason Sr. was 28, and I was 24, when we chatted up a storm live on-air in the WUSS 1490 AM Atlantic City radio studios. We discussed the life of a studio musician, growing up in the shore resort, and the release of Harvey’s first solo album, Marching in the Street. The conversation happened on a chilly, January day in 1976. In 2024, you can say that Harvey humbly reflects a persona of understated confidence. It goes without saying that you need a lot of talent to sustain a '50 year plus career.' In the video you’ll learn how the teenage Harvey played with his home town musical group while he matured in Atlantic City, New Jersey, before going on to be one of the most requested players for studio sessions among the greats. I had only been at WUSS for fourteen months, in what was my first full-time on-air gig. My entire story is in the highly rated audiobook, eBook, and paperback Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roads, Radiance, and Rebirth available at Amazon and other online retailers. Experience, Credentials, Expertise If you are not impressed by the artist shout-outs you'll hear in the video, check out this incredible list of Harvey Mason artist credits on his website. Harvey Mason Sr. attended Berklee, one of the leading institutions for music, dance, and theater study. He graduated from the New England Conservatory. Here's my nine minute and change, exchange with the amazing Harvey Mason. Previous Post | Next Post

0 Art Blakey Interview

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 12/05/2023

Art Blakey with his Jazz Messengers had an amazing career. Anyone who was anybody played with Blakey during the golden era of the art form. He showcased and featured fresh talent who were on the way up. How many albums did Art record? If you counted one per day each day consecutively you'd still be counting for several months! Thirteen years before he passed in 1990, I was lucky enough to sit down and talk with him at radio station WUSS AM in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Enjoy! Previous Post | Next Post

0 Jerry Butler Ice Man Interview

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 10/19/2023

You'll love what Jerry Butler is cooking up in this classic conversation I had with him at radio station WSSJ AM, Camden, New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia. In 2023 we finally added it to YouTube with some visual dynamite. Our chat is an upgrade to the audio only version that lived in our Powerhouse Radio Archive. Butler had four number one songs on the Billboard R&B Charts: "He Will Break Your Heart" 1960 "Let It Be Me" 1964 "Hey, Western Union Man" 1968 "Only The Strong Survive" 1969 His career was rejuvenated in the late 1970s - early 1980s when he recorded for Philadelphia International Records, and on his own label as you'll hear in my conversation with him. Watch the Jerry Butler audio interview on YouTube. Previous Post | Next Post

0 Ledisi Speaks From The Soul

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith and guest
• 08/22/2017

I've been a big fan of Ledisi since 2008 after writing about and listening to her holiday album in the update Ledisi Lifts Christmas Up with Musical Style. The New Orleans native has a lot to say in this brief six minute interview with the purveyors of You Know I Got Soul. She talks about the state of R&B music, her impressions of fan feedback, and gets us excited about a new album that she is about to drop. You can watch her thoughts below, and read the entire transcript of the conversation at Ledisi Interview: New Album "Let Love Rule", Evolving Sound, Having Fun With R&B at You Know I Got Soul. Previous Post | Next Post

0 Jerry Butler: The Ice Man Cometh and More

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 06/17/2017

  Jerry Butler The Philadelphia Sessions (CD) are 24 soulful tracks from two albums The Ice Man Cometh and Ice On Ice featuring all songs produced by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff. Butler was born in Sunflower, Mississippi right before World War II. He migrated to Chicago eventually singing with his Windy City friend Curtis Mayfield in the late 1950s. Jerry was an original member of The Impressions. Gamble & Huff had a huge impact on Jerry Butler's career with The Ice Man Cometh and Ice On Ice. Ice On Ice includes "A Brand New Me", the Gamble - Huff - Thom Bell song that Butler delivers in a spirited but slightly understated way (when compared to the Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield cover versions). Listen to 35 seconds of Jerry Butler singing "A Brand New Me." Your browser does not support the audio element. Butler's voice blends well with the Philly sound keyboard and strings arrangement. This element separates Jerry's rendering from the alternate approaches taken by both Aretha and Dusty.   The Very Best of Jerry Butler is also a solid collection of 11 hit songs including the classic "Ain't Understanding Mellow" duet with Brenda Lee Eager that is not included on either The Ice Man Cometh or Ice On Ice.   The Ice Man Cometh, Ice On Ice, and The Very Best of Jerry Butler are all perfect resources to hear the polished soul of "the Ice Man." Turn on your audio and listen to my 1982 interview with Jerry Butler.   Previous Post | Next Post

0 Masters of Funk Tour 2011 Rolls on

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 03/29/2011

Pictured, The Bar-Kays. The Masters of Funk 2011 World Tour rolls on. Below is the transcript of my interview with James "J.J." Underwood of JEA Right Now Records talking about the tour. You can also listen to the audio version with slide show in this video version: King: This is King from powerhouseradio.com and I am on the line with James JJ Underwood and JJ is the Office Manager for JEA Right Now Records. How you doing JJ? James JJ Underwood: I am doing fine, how about you there? King: I am hangin', I am hangin' in, feeling pretty good today. We want to talk to you a little bit about the Masters of Funk World Tour, which is featuring some of the great classic soul bands like the Bar-Kays, Con Funk Shun, Sugarfoot's, Ohio Players. I see you have a lot of different groups that are actually part of this tour but my understanding is not every group appears at every show. Can you tell us a little bit about that? James JJ Underwood: Yes, we mix it up a little for every different venue that we go to. The tours' actually been going on for two to three years now. but we mix it up and give each city a little different taste of each group; because there are like 20 Bands involved in the tour, out of those 20 Bands like 4, or 5 bands perform at each venue. So we kind of spice it up a little and give the people a little bit of everything as far as the funk and the soul goes. King: Now I see you guys are going to be in Detroit on April 2nd, 2011, so are you in the middle of the tour for the season. How many more dates do you have coming up in 2011? James JJ Underwood: We go to Detroit April 2nd, Chicago April 23rd, we do Memphis in May then we go to St. Louis in June. There is pretty much two dates a month, until the year is out for the Masters of Funk. People really want to see this, they missed all the soul and funk groups. then, the live music people, are still really interested in the live music so the tour is going really well. King: Is there any particular group among those that we have mentioned the Bar-Kays, Dazz Band, Sugarfoot's, Ohio Players, Brick, Klymaxx, Mary Jane Girls, any one of these group at every show, do you have like a foundation group, or is it subject to change every show? James JJ Underwood: It is subject to change every show it is usually, what the fans usually request. For Phoenix we had Cherelle, the Dazz Band, Con Funk Shun and it was sell out and that’s what people wanted to see in Phoenix. King: Where could people go to get the complete schedule of the Masters of Funk Tour? James JJ Underwood: You can go to www.bar-kays.net. There is a complete list of all the tour dates. www.bar-kays.net, a complete list of everything. King: I am King from powerhouseradio.com, we’re talking with JJ Underwood, he's with JEA Right Now Records. JJ you have mentioned that the tour is going through the end of the year, is that right into November and December? James JJ Underwood: Yeah, right until November and December. King: So tell me about this new Bar-Kays song, Return of the Mack, I was just listening to it its pretty good. How did they get involved in putting this one out there? James JJ Underwood: Mr. Larry Dodson, he likes to stay current with his music, and he is always coming up with something and he came up with this. I think it’s really a hit, it's real current it still has the funk to it and it really displays the creativeness the Bar-Kays, still have. King: And tell everybody who Larry Dodson is? James JJ Underwood: Larry Dodson is the lead singer of the Bar-Kays. King: Alright, say JJ I want to thank you very much for talking to us about the Masters of Funk Tour 2011, and you said the tour has been going for a couple of years. I hope in 2012 that you're back at it one more time. James JJ Underwood: Thanks for having me I appreciate it. The Masters of Funk World Tour - 2011 Saturday, April 2, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan featuring: The Dazz Band, The Bar-Kays, Zapp, Sugarfoot's Ohio Players Saturday, May 7 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin featuring: The Bar-Kays, Con Funk Shun, Sugarfoot's Ohio Players, Zapp, The Dazz Band Friday, June 3 in St. Louis, Missouri featuring: The Bar-Kays, Sugarfoot's Ohio Players, The Dazz Band Saturday, June 11 in Louisville, Kentucky, featuring: The Bar-Kays, Slave, The Dazz Band Saturday, July 16 in Nashville, Tennessee featuring: Slave, The Bar-Kays, The Dazz Band Saturday, August 20 in Kansas City, Missouri Featuring: The Bar-Kays, Slave, The Dazz Band Previous Post | Next Post

0 Jerry Butler and Brenda Lee Eager's December Song

• Interview
• by Kingsley H. Smith
• 12/11/2007

"Ain't Understanding Mellow," Jerry Butler and Brenda Lee Eager's dazzling duet hit the charts on December 11, 1971, eventually becoming a #3 R&B hit. One of those rare quiet storm songs that builds slowly to a sensational climax, "Ain't Understanding Mellow" was Eager's biggest hit, and her first. Discovered in the Windy City of Chicago, Brenda Lee went on to record several other songs with Jerry Butler. Flashback 25 years to my special conversation with the Ice Man Jerry Butler from the PowerhouseRadio.com archive. Previous Post | Next Post