Our Lady of Mysterious Sorrows

Posted by Lance Davis - August 23, 2018 - Aretha Franklin, Atlantic Records, Chips Moman, Dan Penn, Jerry Wexler, King Curtis, Ray Charles, Sweet Inspirations

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Like Ray (Charles), Aretha was a hands-on performer, a two-fisted pianist plugged into the main circuit of Holy Ghost power. Even though we produced Aretha in a way that we never produced Ray, she remained the central orchestrator of her own sound, the essential contributor and final arbiter of what fit or did not fit […]

Ringing the Doorbell in Your Mind

Posted by Lance Davis - August 4, 2009 - D. Boon, Dinosaur Jr, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, J Mascis, Mike Watt, Minutemen, Ray Charles, Richard Manuel

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When in doubt: Minutemen. That’s a personal code and I’m passing it along to you free of charge. Don’t forget it. Etch it in your brain. Not many people got a code to live by anymore. To that end, I’ve found that playing Double Nickels On The Dime at least once a month is […]

RIP Jerry Wexler

Posted by Lance Davis - August 18, 2008 - Atlantic Records, Big Joe Turner, Bob Dylan, Booker T and the MGs, Champion Jack Dupree, Dire Straits, Doug Sahm, Dr. John, Drifters, Dusty Springfield, Etta James, James Booker, Jerry Wexler, LaVern Baker, Meters, Professor Longhair, Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, Stax, Willie Nelson, Wilson Pickett

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The Adios Lounge would be remiss if it didn’t acknowledge the passing of Jerry Wexler, who died Friday at the age of 91. I’ve often said that if I could live anyone else’s life in history, I’d live Jerry Wexler’s. He coined the phrase “rhythm and blues” while writing for Billboard. He helped create rock […]

Ray Charles Redux (aka “Music Is Music”)

Posted by Lance Davis - May 10, 2008 - Eddy Arnold, Ray Charles

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After yesterday’s post about black singers in country music, I decided to get away from the computer and chill with some more Ray Charles. I went to the stack o’ vinyl, took out the LP, What’d I Say (pictured right), and hunkered down with the back cover liner notes. I was only to the third […]

Black Voices and Honky Tonks

Posted by Lance Davis - May 8, 2008 - Al Green, Charley Pride, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Ray Charles, Roy Clark, Solomon Burke, Ted Hawkins

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“I am not a blues singer, I am not a jazz singer, I am not a country and western singer. But, I am a singer that sings rhythm and blues, I am a singer that can sing country music, I am a singer that can sing jazz. There’s a big difference.” -–Ray Charles, in […]