African American singers

Quel drôle de destin que celui de Billie... !

Les paroles d'une chanson d'Esther Phillips que j'aime beaucoup, reprise par Robert Palmer (qui n'a rien d'un African American...) .

From a whisper to a scream...

From a whisper in the wind
To a loud scream
The message came
That Id lost you
To the warmth of another man

Ive seen more tears fall from your eyes
Than all the showers of april
I took kindness for granted
As if it came with the wallpaper

So inconsiderate of how much you cared
For some stupid reason, I just thought you had to be there
Oh my love
Oh my love
Oh my love
Oh my love

I simply must have been crazy
Or I must have been out of my mind
For me to overlook the need in you
Tell me, how could I have been so blind

Never giving thoughts to your wants and needs
Now Im begging you please
Oh my love
Oh my love

So inconsiderate of how much you cared
For some stupid reason, I just thought you had to be there
Oh my love
Oh my love
Oh my love

Esther Phillips - Cherry red

Run here pretty baby, set down on your daddy's knee
I want to tell ev'rybody, how you've been sending me
Now if that's your secret, you can keep it to yourself
'Cause if you tell me, I might tell somebody else
I ain't never loved and I hope I never will
Because a lovin' proposition, will get somebody killed
Lead me pretty baby, 'cause you know I can be led
Squeeze me pretty baby until my face turns cherry red

Melanie C (Melanie Chisholm) I Want Candy


I know a girl who's tough but sweet
She's so fine, she can't be beat
Got everything that I desire
Sets the summer sun on fire

I want Candy, I want Candy

Go to see her when the sun is down
Ain't no finer girl in town
Candy's just what the doctor ordered
She´s so sweet, she makes my mouth water

I want Candy, I want Candy

Ohhh, I want Candy, Ohhh
Hey
I want Candy, Candy, I want Candy


Her hair hang down
Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey

Candy on the beach, there's nothing better
But I like Candy when it's wrapped in a sweater
Some day soon I'll make you mine,
Then I'll have Candy all the time

I want Candy, I want Candy
I want Candy, I want Candy

Yehh
Ohh
Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey - I want Candy
Ohh, yeehh
Ohh, yeehh - Want Candy
I want Candy

Long John Blues


This R&B tune from 1948 is about Dinah's dentist, Long John. She visits him to get her cavity filled, of course. But I wonder just what cavity she's talking about...


Dinah WASHIGTON (Esther Phillips too...)
Long John Blues (Tommy George)

I've got a dentist who's over seven feet tall
Yes I've got a dentist who's over seven feet tall
Long John they call him, and he answers every call

Well I went to Long Johns office and told him the pain was killin'
Yes I went to Long Johns office and told him the pain was killin'
He told me not to worry, that my cavity just needed fillin'

He said "when I start drillin', I'll have to give you novocaine"
He said, "Yes, when I start drillin', I'll have to give you novocaine
Cause ev'ry woman just can't stand the pain"

He took out his trusted drill
And he told me to open wide
He said he wouldn't hurt me
But he'd fill my hole inside
Long John, Long John, you've got that golden touch
You thrill me when you drill me, and I need you very much

When he got through, he said "Baby that will cost you ten"
Yes when he got through, he said "Baby that will cost you ten
Six months from now, come back and see me again"

Say you're supposed to see your dentist
'Bout twice a year, that's right
But I think I feel it bobbin'
Yes I'll go back there tonight
Long John, Long John, don't ever move away
Say I hope I keep on achin' so I can see you every day.

Donna Summer Biography


Once upon a time, a young girl stood in front of the parishioners in a Boston church. She opened her mouth to sing, and a huge voice came out - moving the congregation to tears. At that moment the girl heard the voice of God tell her, "You're gonna be famous." From that time on, the girl knew that she was destined for greatness. That girl grew up to become Donna Summer.

Most people know about her hits. Great songs like "Last Dance", Hot Stuff", "On The Radio" and "She Works Hard For The Money." What most people don't know is that Donna started off as Donna Gaines in a rock band called The Crow. And that when the band broke up, she left school to be in the German production of the the musical Hair. Once in Germany, there was no stopping Donna. She was active in musical theater, playing in such shows as Showboat, Porgy And Bess, and The Me Nobody Knows, and in 1971 she cut her first solo record, "Sally Go 'Round The Roses"

By 1974, and now going by the name Donna Summer, she was doing a great deal of session work which brought her into contact with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. Together they recorded "The Hostage", a song which became Donna's first hit in Europe. An album and a few more European hits followed. Then in 1975, Donna recorded "Love To Love You Baby", the song that finally brought her success in America. The rest is history.

Since then she has racked up fourteen top ten hits, four number one singles, three platinum albums, five Grammy awards and twelve other Grammy nominations. She is the first female artist to have three number one solo singles in one year ("MacArthur Park", "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls") and she is the only artist to have three number one double albums in a row (Live And More, Bad Girls, and On The Radio).

Over the years Donna has proven herself to be a consummate artist and songwriter - she has written or cowritten many of her hits, and is currently writing a musical based on her life story. Most recently she has done a benefit performance for GHMC at Carnegie Hall that raised over $400,000 for that organization. She has also inked a multi-album deal with Epic Records and her first release her new label will be a live cd recorded at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. This concert was also videotaped and will air on VH1 sometime in the summer of 1999. Twenty years after her biggest success, Donna is poised for a major comeback. And no one deserves it more.

JAMES BROWN
Prisoner Of Love

Alone from night to night you'll find me
Too weak to break these chains that bind me
I need no shackles to remind me
I'm just a prisoner, don’t let me be a prisoner

From one command I stand and wait now
From one who's master of my fate now
I can't escape for it's too late now
I'm just a prisoner, don’t let me be a prisoner

What's the good of my caring if someone is sharing those arms, but not with me
Although she has another, and I can't have another for I'm, I’m not free

She's in my dreams awake or sleeping
Upon my knees to her I'm creeping
My very life, my life, is in her keeping
I'm just a prisoner, don’t let me be a prisoner

Prisoner of love, you made me a prisoner
Prisoner of love, and you made me love you
Prisoner of love, take the shackles of love and go away
Prisoner of love, cause I love you so much now
Prisoner of love, you you you, yooouuu made me a prisoner

Thanks to Art Turco for these lyrics

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalia_Jackson

Voici une magnifique collection de vidéos sur Esther Phillips !

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ZoPwHjamc

formidable

De James Brown à Liz Mc Comb, les 2 visages de la "Soul"

http://www.lizmccomb.com/spl/africultures.html