Sunday, September 30, 2007

MESSAGE FROM A SOUL SISTER


"Message From A Soul Sister"
Written by James Brown
Produced by James Brown
Recorded September 9, 1970, King Studios, Cincinnati,OH.
Vicki Anderson (vocals)
Clayton "Chicken" Gunnels and Darryl "Hassan" Jamison (trumpets)
Robert McCollough (tenor sax)
Bobby Byrd (piano)
Phelps "Catfish" Collins (guitar)
William "Bootsy" Collins (bass)
Clyde Stubblefield (drums)

This track represents some of the funkiest female soul ever recorded. Vicki was one of the first female singers to work with James Brown--replacing the sweeter style of vocalist Anna King in the James Brown Revue of the late 60s, and setting the stage for better-known hard soul singers Marva Whitney and Lyn Collins in years to come. Vicki recorded some excellent singles with James and the band backing her up, all of which have been ruthlessly sampled by countless hip hop acts over the past 10-15 years.

Vicki's got a socking-hard sound that worked equally well with the early funk sound of the James Brown Band of the late 60s, as it did during her later recordings with the JBs and Bobby Byrd. "Message from A Soul Sister" is the essence of funky female soul--a hard-stepping and massively grooving nugget all the way through. This track has been sampled by artists like Big Daddy Kane ("Calling Mr. Welfare), GangStarr ("No More Mr Nice Guy"), and LL Cool J ("God Bless.")

No comments: