Sunday October 8th, 2006 HOME
New CD's this past week:
- Oleta Adams - Christmas time with Oleta
- Jeremiah - Chasing forever
- K-Ci - My book
- Monica - The makings of me
- Gary Taylor - Retro blackness
- Incognito - Bees + things + flowers (UK release)
- Diana Ross - I love you (UK release)
Music news headlines this week:
Mary Mary Whishing You "A Mary Mary Christmas"
Erica Campbell and Tina Campbell, the best-selling
R&B/Gospel duo Mary
Mary, are giving their fans "A Mary Mary Christmas," a brand-new
spirit-filled album celebrating the Christmas holidays. "A Mary Mary
Christmas" will be in stores Tuesday, October 10.
Produced by Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell for My Block Records, "A Mary Mary
Christmas" combines best-loved traditional carols with some swinging new
original Mary Mary contemporary gospel sounds to help celebrate
Christmases present and future.
Erica's husband, Warryn Campbell helmed the first two Mary Mary albums,
the RIAA gold and platinum-certified Thankful and the RIAA gold-certified
Incredible. Last year, Mary Mary took home the coveted American Music
Awards trophy in the Contemporary Inspirational Music category, adding to
a growing collection of critical and popular kudos that includes a Grammy
and numerous other awards.
Prince Contributes To Animated "Happy Feet"
International performing star Prince is getting a little more
animated
these days. The artist has contributed an original song titled "The Song
Of The Heart" to the soundtrack of the upcoming animated movie Happy Feet,
due on Atlantic on October 31st. The song is described as featuring slap
bass, piano and horns, according to Billboard.com.
The song represents a rare occasion that the prolific Minneapolis musician
has written a song specifically for a film in which he didn't star. After
writing the music for the vehicles Purple Rain, Under The Cherry Moon, and
Graffiti Bridge, Prince also wrote music for the 1989 blockbuster Batman.
Songs from his albums have turned up in numerous other films.
The soundtrack to Happy Feet also features a version of Stevie Wonder's "I
Wish" performed by Patti LaBelle, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia; Rufus' "Tell
Me Something Good" by Pink; the Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" by Jason
Mraz; and actress Brittany Murphy tackling Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie
Wonderland." Also on the set are the Brand New Heavies, Chrissie Hynde,
funnyman Robin Williams, the Beach Boys, k.d. lang, and actors Nicole
Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
Happy Feet is about a family or Arctic penguins and one penguin named
Mumbles who tries to fit in.
Sam Moore Finds Right Talent For Comeback CD
If you were looking for a producer to work on a soul veteran's
first new
music in years, Randy Jackson, the "hey dawwg" "American Idol" personality
might not seem the obvious choice.
Sam Moore, the trademark voice of the classic soul duo Sam & Dave, was
skeptical, too, until he had an instant rapport with Jackson.
The result, "Sam Moore: Overnight Sensational," hit the stores a few weeks
ago and shows off Moore's still-tight singing chops. He sings alongside a
variety of partners, including Bruce Springsteen, the late Billy Preston,
Mariah Carey and "AI's" Fantasia.
Moore, whose gospel roots infused his supple voice on hits such as "Soul
Man," says he passed on working with producers he felt would only lather
on the flattery.
"He did it the old-fashioned way," Moore says approvingly.
"If you're going to produce Sam Moore, you've got to have somebody who can
say, 'Guess what, Sam Moore, you're singing flat or you're singing sharp,'
" he says. "You've got to have someone to stand up to you. Sure, Randy's
impressed with my vocal qualities, but he was saying, 'You're good; let's
make it better!' "
Singing flat or sharp is something Moore notices a lot in today's singers,
and he doesn't like it. Moore came up the old-school way, when singers had
to be able to stand and deliver live.
"I hear them going flat, I hear them going sharp, or get real pitchy. My
daughter will say, 'No, Daddy, they're putting it down.' They're cute and
wear the tight outfits but people are not hearing quality talent."
Moore was thus wary of working with one new singer, Fantasia. But he says
he was pleasantly surprised.
"I was concerned about all that squalling and screaming, wanting to be
like Patti LaBelle," Moore says, laughing. "Randy said, 'Sammy, trust me.
I'll deal with her.' " After Fantasia heard the track, she said, "I don't
sing like that."
"Randy said, 'Sweetheart, now they can see that you can really sing,' "
Moore says. He sighs. "I go back to Aretha, I go back to Mavis (Staples)
these are singers. I go back to Carla Thomas and Sarah, Ella and Billie ."
In honor of Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records chief who discovered him,
Moore cut his "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)." He also has Jon Bon Jovi
on "Lookin' for a Love," Stevie Winwood swapping verses on "Ain't No
Love," Sting on "None of Us Are Free," Wynonna on "I Can't Stand the Rain"
and Springsteen helping out on "Better to Have and Not Need."
"I knew Bruce could do it. So I stepped back a couple of seconds, we did a
call and response, he had to come up to it," Moore says. "Well, he sounded
like C.L. Franklin. We screamed! He really nailed it."
Moore puts a soulful spin on Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe" with
Carey and Vince Gill piping in backing vocals.
Most poignant is the last song, "You Are So Beautiful," which opens with
the late Preston playing the organ and then singing with Moore.
Court Says Beyonce Didn't Steal Song
A federal judge has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit a
Minneapolis singer-songwriter filed against Beyonce, ruling the songs were
'substantially dissimilar.'
Jennifer Armour sued the R&B star last year, claiming that the 2003 hit
song 'Baby Boy,' from Beyonce Knowles' Grammy-winning album 'Dangerously
in Love,' took lyrics from her own song, 'Got a Little Bit of Love For
You.'
Armour said her former manager submitted demo recordings of her song to
various studios including Columbia Records and Atlantic Recording
Corporations, record labels for Knowles and Sean Paul, who is featured in
the song.
However, the court did a side-by-side comparison of the two songs to look
for substantial similarity _ a key component of copyright infringement _
and found they were 'substantially dissimilar.'
'It's unfortunate that lawsuits such as this one occur, but I am grateful
and relieved to have this behind me and I am eager to move on,' Knowles, a
Houston native, said in a statement issued by Music World Entertainment,
the music management company her manager father founded.
Armour could not be reached for comment.
Bobby Brown Wanted In Massachusetts Again
Bobby Brown is in trouble with the law again. Massachusetts
Family Court
Judge Paula Carey issued another arrest warrant for the R&B singer on
Monday when Brown failed to put in an appearance at another hearing on his
delinquent child-support payments. It's the second time within a year that
the court has had to issue a warrant for Brown over his two teenaged
children, Bobby Jr. and LaPrincia, from his relationship with Kim Ward.
Brown was due in the Canton Family Court Monday morning to explain why he
has fallen two months behind -- or some $11,000 -- in his payments for the
teens.
Judge Carey seemed unmoved by news that Brown is now in the process of a
divorce from diva Whitney Houston. "If he comes into the state of
Massachusetts, he will be arrested," said Carey, according to AP reports.
"Whether or not he is going through a divorce does not negate the fact
that he still owes child support relative to his two children that he had
prior to his marriage."
Fantasia's "Fairytale" Sparks Lawsuit From Dad
Fantasia's best-selling book, Life Is Not A Fairytale, and its
top-rated
Lifetime TV movie companion are stirring up controversy. The American Idol
champ's father, Joseph Barrino, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against
the book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, claiming that the book is full of
"malicious untruths." Though Fantasia is the bylined author of the book,
Mr. Barrino doesn't aim his wrath at his daughter, a self-confessed
"functional illiterate," because the book was ghostwritten. "We don't
understand how Mr. Barrino considers Simon & Schuster rather than his
daughter responsible for the book's content," S&S spokesman Adam Rothberg
told The Washington Post.
In the meantime, the woman who was hired as the ghostwriter of the
autobiography says she wants a bigger piece of the pie. Writer Kim Green
says she was paid just $45,000 to help the High Point, North Carolina
vocalist get her book together, and that her contract required her to keep
mum.
Green told Radar Online that she suggested to the publisher that she be
listed as a co-writer, since Fantasia admitted that her reading and
writing skills were problematic. But the idea was shot down.
When news of the Lifetime movie starring the singer herself came out,
Green felt she could not keep silent. "Nobody even called me to say 'Do
you have any insights? Do you want to tell us some anecdotes?'" she says
of the network, which aired Life Is Not A Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino
Story in August. "I found it to be so appalling that nobody thought, 'Oh,
we should call Kim Green.'"
"I'm really grateful for the experience, but I was a little soured by the
process," Green continued.