Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Donny Hathaway || ||
Album Title: These Songs For You, Live!
Year: 2004

This is why I love music..

How I Got Into This Music
Annoying little man, Hieronymus Fox.. The guy’s right 99% of the time and it would be a serious pain in the ass if it wasn’t for the fact that I always benefit from it.
The man brought along this CD for me to listen to from a singer called Donny Hathaway. The name rang a bell, and after some mental excercise I remembered this track from a Back To Mine compilation by Everything But The Girl called Someday We’ll Be Free. I liked but I thought it was a bit too sweet and soft.
Most of us old-timers know him from his duet with Roberta Flack . That bone-chillingly beautiful Where Is The Love?, remember that?
These Songs For You, Live! is a compilation of live tracks performed during the 70s, the man himself died 1979.

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Tracks that got my attention:
Flying Easy
Love this recording, the sound system isn’t working right, so the first minute or so the vocals are a bit too soft. No slickness here, boys and girls! And it doesn’t matter cause the man’s vocals bring a spring sunshine to anybody’s dark winter day..

Valdez in the Country
One of his own tracks, love the crispy keyboards on this instrumental track.

Someday We’ll All Be Free
Ohmygod.. The track I thought to be a bit too soft and sweet: this live version just breaks my heart in a gazillion pieces. Fuckmethisisbeautifulnuffsaid..
Listen to this man’s voice.

You Got A Friend
Now we get a coupla covers of Classic tracks. First one, Carole King’s masterpiece. It’s an easy sing-along track, and the crowd eats it all up. But listen to Hathaway’s subtle vocal changes, brilliant!

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
This is the slowest version of this track ever and it’s friggin’ incredible!! His mix of whispery soft and booming gospel vocals, it’s.. Can’t find the words, just go have a listen..

What’s Going On
You gotta have some very large balls to cover a Marvin Gaye classic; and perform it in a way that makes you accept the fact that someone else is singing it. Shit, this is a very close to a perfect alternative version!

Yesterday
I swear when the Beatles heard this version, they must’ve realised that not only did they make one of the greatest songs of all time, but that there’s someone else who can perform the track better than themselves. Think the Beatles went like: Right, we’re done here, nothing left to do, guys. Off to the pub, cause this bastard’s put us to shame.. Who the hell is this guy?!?

Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)
See previous track. I’ve posted it before: this version of Superwoman is one of the most breath-taking things I’ve ever heard.

A Song For You
When the man’s vocals go all gospel on you, it just makes you stop whatever you were doing and pay attention. However the crowd isn’t behaving at its best, mucking about during such a delicate song, but hey, it comes with the territory.

Sack Full Of Dreams
Wow, such slow sweetness. I can not be grumpy when I hear this one.

Little Ghetto Boy
First heard this as a sample on Dr.Dre’s Chronic and he knew what to use from his Elders. Beautiful vocals singing harsh lyrics with an upbeat ending.

I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know
Damn, the opening vocals on this track! Soul & Blues mixed up in one heart-wrenching song.

The Ghetto
The keyboard buildup is nice and mellow, followed by a lovely up-tempo groove. Great crowd participation and again, when Hathaway puts out that voice out there, I get goose bumps.

Interview
An interesting addition to the album: bits and piece from an interview with Hathaway. You get to see what he was doing, thinking and planning. His life plans, what he wants to do musically, it goes in all directions.

Conclusion
I haven’t heard a contemporary performer put so much heart and talent into the music like Donny Hathaway. It’s possible that I wouldn’t like the studio albums as much as this live compilation, who cares?
It’s very regrettable that we don’t have Donny Hathaway in our midst any more, it is a sad thing that we don’t have a performer of his stature in our midst at the moment.
Enough with the praise, I love this album!

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General Description
Artist/Band: 4Hero
Album Title: Play With The Changes
Year: 2007

British producers, global quality..
 
How I Got Into This Music
To the best of my recollection, the first track I heard from them was back in 2000/2001 (not sure), a weird and weak 70s rip-off track, called Les Fleur. That song really got me all agitated and the video was even worse; it all just got under my skin for being such a blatantly cheap copycat action. But, it still stuck in that vast grey bucket of trivia called my brain, referenced under Crappy Rip-offs That Are Kinda Interesting.
Flash forward to 2006: I discover this insane album called How About A Game Of Chess? thru the nice people at Last.fm. And I find out that the guy behind that album, Marc Mac is one half of a band called 4Hero, and that triggered other stuff: these guys also worked on a track with miss Jill Scott, called Gotta Get Up (Another Day). Still with me?
So, it turns out that 4Hero were the people behind the aforementioned abomination Les Fleur, a great Jill Scott track and that Chess album. A coupla months back this new album by 4Hero came out and I just had to try it out…

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Tracks that got my attention:
Morning Child ft. Carina Andersson
Same lady doing the vocals as Les Fleur, but now somehow, it works for me. The other weird thing, the horns remind me of Toto’s Georgy Porgy (later covered by Eric Benet).

Take My Time ft. Jack Davey
Nasty and innocent vocals, love it.. Never heard of J*Davey but I might check it out soon.

Look Inside ft. Face
Hmm.. Just a bit too up-tempo for me, gets anoying some times.

Sink Or Swim ft. Lady Alma
Retro Soul, incredibly catchy bass loop and chorus. And some very sweet vocals!

Give In ft. Darien Brockington/Phonte
Oooooo… This track helps me get through the worst of moods, calms me down, makes me enjoy the rainy day. Compact cameo rap by Phonte of Little Brother.

Play With The Changes ft. Talita Long/Harry Mizell
A friend of mine (hiya Tama!) thought the first part of this song sounded like something done by Sergio Mendes; hadn’t thought about it like that, but she was right. The second part is my favorite: added beat is simple, effective and incredibly groovay.

Something In The Way ft. Bembe Segue/Kaidi Tatham
Nothing wrong with this track, it’s great. But it does get skipped sometimes.

Stoke Up The Fire ft. Face
Impossible to skip! The bass on this song is just superb, it’s all over the place while still managing to function as part of the rhythm section. Gonna cost me some months of annoyance but I’ll be trying this one out with my bass teacher. He’ll probably just grin insanely: the pupil’s getting in way over his head again

Awakening ft. Ursula Rucker
New mantra:
I must and shall listen to more stuff by Miss Ursula Rucker
I must and shall listen to more stuff by Miss Ursula Rucker
I must and shall listen to more stuff by Miss Ursula Rucker
This lady’s been on the edge of my musical radar since her work with Jazzanova, Circe (from The Remixes 1997-2000). But I never took the time to seriously get into her music; an entry on my To Listen List..
Back to the song; this one reminds me of United Future Organization: like the soundtrack to some 70s cop movie or TV show. Miss Rucker’s vocals/poetry flows smoothly, carrying a poignant message about The Message.

Sophia
Great one to enjoy while driving the car along the Maasboulevard into Rotterdam, with its beautiful skyline. (And no, I ain’t getting paid one cent for this endorsement, cheap bastards..)

Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) ft. Terry Devos
What can I say? The first part takes getting used to, but knowing what’s coming after that is worth stealing Fire (and the Comfy Chair) from the Gods.
Terry Devos’ voice takes your breath away, this cover of the Stevie Wonder classic is perfect!

Bed Of Roses ft. Jody Watley
Who’d thought Miss Jody Watley would still be active in this crazy music business? She used to be in the 80s groove band Shalamar and some of us senior citizens remember her for that classic catch phrase: “Hasta La Vista, Baby” (Yep, Arnie stole that one..). She’s also one of the few US artists that contributed to the classic Band Aid track, Do They Know It’s Christmas?.
Enough trivia, this is a great collaboration: UK Garage/Soul mixed with US vocals. Catchy as hell!

Our Own Place
Don’t know who’s doing the vocals, but they’re nice. Reminds me of Zero 7.

Dedication To The Horse
An unexpected way to finish the album, but the guitar work works for me. Just gotta keep from playing this track while driving, I cannot keep on getting those speeding fines

Conclusion
First album from these guys I’ve listened to and I like it a lot. Not sure if I’ll be checking out their previous work, more curious about what they’ll be doing on a next album. Their work is solid and mature, there’s this sense of cocky independence: This Is How We Do It, And That’s That. I like that in a musician and 4Hero are excellent craftsmen. I’ve played this album in my car for three weeks straight and now, while listening to it again for this review, I still love it very much: a Frenchy’s Favorite, indeed!

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You know how you really, really know that life is a truely grand experience? When you get to experience three great versions of one incredible song, in this case: Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) by the legendary mister Stevie Wonder.
So, the original is the first of the great triad, followed by the late great Donny Hathaway’s live version and last but not least the version done by the mega-talented mob called 4hero featuring Terry Devos.
Go have a listen. It’s that simple.

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