By Kandia Crazy Horse
Aw rooty, now! This here biased and concise guide to some of the masterpieces of black rock should serve as a suitable entree to the aesthetics and titans of the genre. There are more black rockers on the planet than blackglama playa Lenny Kravitz and the on-again socio-shred quartet Living Colour, y'know? Blackfolks' history in the rock & roll arena has been likened to an "electric purgatory," but out of the madness comes magnificence.
Ike Turner
Before he beat (ex-wife) Tina, the Father of Rock & Roll, Ike Turner, transformed boogie-woogie into rock music with a driving back beat, fuzzy electric guitar and wailing saxophone at Memphis' Sun Studios in 1951, via legendary Oldsmobile ode "Rocket 88" (mistakenly credited to Turner's vocalist Jackie Brenston). From the highs of that No. 1 hit with his band the Kings of Rhythm through the lows of Turner's coke-fueled LA studio paradise, rock's first likely guitar god perfected a mix of blues, country and western, R&B, jazz and everything after. The Ikon has certainly been lauded by greats: Turner was referred to by Little Richard as "The Man" and B.B. King dubbed Tina's Bane "[The] best band leader I've ever seen." Check out Rhythm Rockin' Blues (Ace) to see if the Blues Boy was right.
Little Richard
Hailing from Macon, "Little" Richard Wayne Penniman is more than the Georgia Peach and a minister, honey -- he's the self-proclaimed "Architect of Rock & Roll." You can practice your piano bang with the Great Emancipator's debut, Here's Little Richard (Specialty), as accompaniment. Bow down before such rockin,' gender-bending, electrifying classics as "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Keep A Knockin'" -- or shuut up!
Ray Charles
Recently deceased and eulogized on celluloid via Jamie Foxx' Oscar-winning performance, Brother Ray will forever remain an American treasure due to his revolutionary erosion of the boundaries between Saturday night devil music and sanctified Sunday morning sounds. Furthermore, remember him not just for his keys mastery but his innovations in country music. Charles' Anthology (Rhino/WEA) collects several of his standards: "Hit the Road Jack," "I Got A Woman," "Georgia On My Mind." What'd I Say? Go git it!
Love
This high 60s psych-rock band was led by black Crenshaw-Adams native (by way of Memphis) Arthur Lee, a brilliant, mercurial musician who not only inspired and mentored the world's most famous (black) rock star, Jimi Hendrix, but Lee influenced Jim Morrison as well. Forever Changes, the Love group's string-laden classic full of dark visions of the American Way and baroque prefaces to suicide notes, regained its pride of place as a perennial cult favorite during Lee's recent tours (now sadly ended) with the young LA band Baby Lemonade.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
This ubiquitous guitar mag posterboy needs no introduction. If your record collection lacks eternal ax spirit and "Voodoo Chile" Jimi's finest hours on tape, Electric Ladyland (Experience Hendrix), then get hip.
Sly & the Family Stone
The artist and funk king formerly known as Sylvester Stewart almost single-handedly revolutionized many forms of pop music at the turn of the 70s, with the release of his desperate, downer symphony There's A Riot Goin' On (Sony). Few musicians dared plumb the depths of such Sly songs as "Luv 'N' Haight" and "Spaced Cowboy" but many, from Madonna to Janet Jackson to Human League to World Party's Karl Wallinger, have made a mint aping the Family Stone's churchy harmonies, elastic beats, and multiracial/multi-gendered communion. Of interesting note: Sly produced the Jefferson Airplane classic, Surrealistic Pillow.
Betty Davis
This Betty Davis was born Miss Mabry. However, her eponymous debut (a rare groove Grail recently reissued in the UK -- where else?) places Miles Davis' ex-wife in badass league with the late Hollywood actress of the same name. These superstar ladies share not only factory-town heritage (Mabry hails from Pittsburgh, the actress from Lowell, MA), but inimitable voices and womanist strength. Corraling a slew of former Janis Joplin and Sly Stone sidemen, along with rocker-turned-disco divo Sylvester and the Pointer Sisters, the hot bitch who introduced her good friend Jimi to Miles fearlessly sings such lyrics as, "If I'm in luck I just might get picked up" in a pre-punk snarl Johnny Rotten could never top.
Prince
This many-handed, multiple-monikered one-man band from Minneapolis was almost the sole reservoir of rock in the 80s for "the Youth" and other folks of discerning taste. As an earlier generation of rockers descended into self-parody and desperate bids for relevance (ahem, world music, ahem), Prince's sexy electro and funkdafied psych provided a breath of fresh air in the Reagan Era, as the bouncy street track "Lady Cab Driver," Chuck Berry-esque road song "Little Red Corvette" and premillennial anthem "1999" attest.
David Ryan Harris
Former Follow For Now leader Harris, from down the road in Hot'lanta, delivered some of his finest tunes on 2001's unjustly overlooked Tragic Kingdom (Elektra/WEA), recorded as part of power trio Brand New Immortals. Even if you're not charmed by this disc's rave-ups ("Blacksun") and funky Wonderlove ("High Time"), the transcendent, soulful elegance of Harris' greatest song, "If I Had A Dime," will melt your Philistine heart.
Glen Scott
Scott may be the most unsung player amongst the last decade's crop of progressive black musicians. His first release, Without Vertigo (Sony), barely registers even with the crate-digger crowd, yet it's one of the best-crafted exhibits of the awesome might of black rock. Purveying a lush, Beatlesque soundtrack fit for archetypal black boho Denise Huxtable's wet dreams, Brer Scott's album deserves recognition amongst such 90s alternative fusion touchstones as Beck's Odelay and The Jayhawks' Sound Of Lies instead of being consigned to the dustbin of sonic history. He croons Sly's lyric "Shadrach, Meshach, Abendego" in the coda of "Way I Feel," self-consciously measuring the distance between Sly and himself. Both were maverick artists compromised by the major-label shortsightedness that still plagues black genius today.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this info.
Source: http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=125511
