THE MUSIC CLASSIC INFO

Having been involved with the Original Score for the film "Black Dynamite," I've had the chance to sit down with editor/producer/composer Adrian Younge on numerous occasions. With the upcoming release of the film on DVD & Blu-Ray (February 16th), the release of the music-video for "Shot Me In The Heart," live dates (Jan 22nd & 23rd) at the ASCAP Music Cafe at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival & (March 18th) at the SXSW Film & Music Festival in Austin, Texas for the Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, we decided to take some time out to spotlight the inspirations, decisions, and thought processes behind the making of both the video and song...


V4G: What was your inspiration behind the music-video for "Shot Me In The Heart"?

AY: In the video, we wanted to capture the feeling of "old soul." The movie, “The Five Heartbeats” captured this sentiment very, very well. We were therefore inspired by this movie heavily; we also took alot of inspiration from the book, “Light: On the Southside.” This Numero Group release is an archive of pictures that was taken from 1975 to 1977, at a club in the southside of Chicago. It's a very intensely detailed book, and the music featured within the accompanied compilation is a must have for any funk & soul lovers collection...

V4G: Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration for the music?

AY: The song is basically a mix of dark soul published by labels such as Stax Records from the late 1960's & 1970's. It combines a mixture of psychedelic rock & soul, meshed together under the superlative vocals of Loren Oden (who played Leon St. James in the film "Black Dynamite, spokesperson for "Anaconda Malt Liquour"). It's definitely one of my favorite tracks from the score, and was concieved after the film's production had concluded, so I was able to give the track (along with a few of the other bonus cuts) my undivided attention...


V4G: Approaching this video in the aspect of a "short film" -- has it lead you to approach song writing & composing in a different manner all together? I.E., while writing, do you think about what would conicide visually with the song if it were to ever become a video in the future?

AY: Well, the music comes first; the music is supposed to survive without a visual, regardless. I always approach a song in terms of it's own story, or journey, if you will. The only time I would approach a song differently is if I am actually scoring the music for a film, to the film. In this scenario, my job would be to enhance the video via the music; in this instance, the song was already completed, and I was basically editing the film to music, and my goal was to enhance the music with video. To enhance the "musical" moments.


V4G: How much forethought went into the overall writing of the song? Did you have the instruments and topic already chosen before recording, or did you just pick up the bass, or have a seat in front of the Rhodes and just "have at it"?

AY: A lot of thought went into this song, as well as a lot of changes at the beginning. (Vinyl4Giants actually has 2 completely different version of this song, one being an instrumental version inspired by the Jackson 5, the other a rougher version of the final cut, with both Adrian Younge & Loren Oden sharing vocal duties...) I was listening to the Stax anthology over and over, and became inspired; I wrote the song on bass & organ. Thereafter, I called Loren Oden into the studio, and we began composing the lyrics. The topic wasn’t chosen until after the music was written; however, we wanted to play with the juxtaposition of lyrics dealing with happiness and love on top of this dark instrumental that had been written.


V4G: Loren Oden (who also played Leon St. James in the film) really embodies a persona while doing the vocals on this track, both on the album and with your live performances. How much weight does that bare on which direction a song will take?

AY: None, actually. Loren can adapt to anything. Any song. Any situation. I can create something outta left field and he will always take it to that "next" level. We really make a good team together because no explanation is needed for either direction. He understands the logistics of “getting into character” which is something he did for every song on the "Black Dynamite" Original Score. Black people had different diction in the 60's & 70's, and he always understands his responsibility in becoming a character from that era.


V4G: Being an instrumentalist, first and foremost, I've heard your backing vocalists voice frustration that you "cover-up" backing keys & textures with instruments before they even have a chance to come into the studio to record. Do you feel that that pigeon-holes them while creating their vocals, or allows more room for them to shine? (No pun intended...)

AY: Well, when I create a song, there is always the question as to whether or not background vocals will be necessary at all. If the song is already full enough, there will be no need; I am a very independant musician... A lot of it has to do with the overall timing and scheduling. The vocalists I chose to work with are very creative, and very intellegent. They know when the cup is already full. They are very cognizant of when a song doesn’t need anything extra.


V4G: Can you tell us a little bit about the director, and why he was chosen for this project?

AY: The Director of "Shot Me In The Heart" is David Wong; he is a very skilled and educated director. My first choice was Scott Sanders (director of Black Dynamite) because we have tons of experience working one another, however, he was in Europe during the shoot, so I called on my equally competent friend, David Wong. We have worked with each other on other film projects, and I knew he would do a good job; he actually exceeded my expectations. He also brought in Mark Austin as Director of Photography, who was essential in establishing the style and look of the film.


V4G: Out of all the tracks off of the Black Dynamite Original Score, why did you choose "Shot Me In The Heart" to showcase as a music video or "short film"?

AY: The video was shot in conjuction with the Converse. And actually, an earlier version of the video exists where there's a bit of a confrontation between the other band members and Loren Oden, all of this cut over the instrumental track "Rafelli Chase." Converse was kind enough to publish an exclusive 45" record of “Rafelli’s Chase” prior to the commencement of the Video. These limited edition records were sent out to Wax Poetics subscribers as a bonus for subscribing (please subscribe to Wax Poetics!). Wax Poetics & Converse developed the notion of creating a video for the 45" record, and I wanted to incorporate “Shot Me In The Heart” into it, so we decided to synthesize the two songs into one. I wanted to incorporate "Shot Me In The Heart" because of the message that was conveyed in the song. I also thought it would be more appealing visually than just hearing "Rafelli’s Chase" over visuals... It's just funny how things worked out in reverse...



This interview was conducted in January of 2010, and since then, the video has recieved critical support by fans across the internet. Adrian Younge, The Black Dynamite Sound Orchestra, the production staff, and the people involved with this production would like to thank everyone for the support that has been recieved since the release of this video. Wax Poetics magazine has been kind enough to feature a photo spread of the making of the video in issue #40, which is in stores now... We now present to you, "Shot Me In The Heart" --

Featuring Trek Life as the main emcee, this album also showcases rhymes and vocals from Oddisee, Wyann Vaughn, Richard Wright, Mykestro, Ragen Fykes and many more. Combining a true West Coast sound with hard drums and gritty chops, J.Bizness sets the perfect backdrop for Trek Life and features to paint vivid hip-hop portraits, leaving the listener with no choice but to "run that back again." Along with being 2008 West Coast Regional Red Bull Beat Battle winner, J.Bizness has worked with Ras Kass, LMNO, Buff1, Danny Brown, Richard Wright and many more to bring a melodic yet raw sound to the table. Rhymes within Reason is the first of many upcoming projects from J.Bizness in 2010 including a song on Little Brother's final album Left Back and a series of 3 song EPs with various artist called "3Ps"... Trek Life has worked with several known artist from Bishop Lamont to Kev Brown and rocked over production from DJ Khalil, DJ Babu, Evidence, Oddisee and many more. With a growning global fanbase from consistantly touring from the States to the UK & Europe, Trek Life is planning on releasing 3 projects 2010 with J.Bizness (Rhymes Within Reason), Oddisee (Everything Changed Nothing) & Babu (Fire Outside) through Mello Music Group. Also with each album will be a series of Digital 12s that will feature Clean, Dirty and instrumental versions of the singles from the albums for free download. Trek Life is well known for his energetic delivery, straight forward lyrics, and engaging live show.



Grab up the entire album here.

Amazing female funk! Years after James Brown first rocked the Apollo Theater with his own live recordings, he returned to the Harlem showplace with the sock-soul diva Marva Whitney -- one of his greatest singers ever! This album's a monster all the way through -- hard and heavy funk, of the type that's been the blueprint for countless singers to come, especially most of those in the Desco/Daptone/Soul Fire mode. Backing is by the JBs, James produced, and the music is fantastically funky -- filled with great groovers like "Things Got to Get Better", "You Got to Have a Job", "Talk With JB", and "Respect". © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Tracks:
1 Things Got To Get Better(Part 1)
2 Respect
3 Things Got To Get Better(Part 2)
4 A Talk With James Brown
5 Foolish Fool
6 You Got To Have A Job(Part 1)
7 It's My Thing
8 You Got To Have A Job(Part 2)
9 I Made A Mistake Part 1
10 I Made A Mistake Part 2

James Brown dubbed her “Soul Sister #1.” Like any disc produced by James Brown and featuring the mighty JB's as a backing group, It's My Thing is a stone-cold funky record. Marva Whitney sang in the James Brown Revue from 1967 to 1969, and in 1969 she released this record. Not only did Brown produce but he wrote or co-wrote most of the tracks and it basically sounds like a James Brown record with a female singer. A tough, aggressive female singer. Marva sounds like she could take any comers and leave them shaking in their go-go boots. From the opening blast of "It's My Thing, Pt. 1 and "Pt. 2," a rewrite of the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing, she shouts, exhorts, wails, and basically lets it all hang out as the band lays down groove after groove. Thankfully after four exhausting tracks, Marva slows it down with "If You Love Me," an Otis Redding-style broken-hearted ballad. After an instrumental break she jumps right back into the funky fray with "Unwind Yourself," which features a classic horn line and some gritty vocalizing from Marva. The rest of the record follows this pattern of a couple of stompers and a ballad. The highlight of the record is "I'm Tired I'm Tired I'm Tired (Things Better Change Before It's Too Late)," a funky (yes, every track on this disc is funky) lament that details just how tired Marva is of society putting her down. Check out Brown going wild in the background about halfway through the song. The disc has five bonus tracks added to the original album, including the slow-burning "I Made a Mistake Because It's Only You, Pts. 1 & 2" and a duet with James Brown on "Sunny." This is a great record and it is a pity that it is on such a tiny label and not one of the major reissue labels because Marva deserves wider recognition. By all means seek this one out. ~ Tim Sendra

This is probably the most in demand, heavily sampled and bootleged funk album of all time. Originally Produced by James Brown and released in August 1969, this album has been heavily in demand since the mid 80s. It is issued here along with 4 tracks which were only issued on 7"singles and are also highly sought after in their own right., plus a duet with James Brown 'Sunny' which appeared in the sleeve notes of the original album but was not included in it. The album was actually a collection of 10 singles recorded over a period of 20 months in different studios across the USA. The tracks feature the famous James Brown band, Probably the tightest band of all time including Maceo Parker, Alfred 'Pee Wee'Ellis and St Clair Pinckney (Saxes), Fred Wesley (Trombone), Richard 'Kush' Griffith (Trumpet), Jimmy Nolen (guitar), (Sweet) Charles Sherrell (Bass), Clyde Stubblefield (Drums) amongst others. Marva Whitney was the leading Female singer in the James Brown Revue for 3 years from 1967 to 1969 and toured the USA, Africa and Vietnam (during the War).

1. It's My Thing (Pt 1)
2. It's My Thing (Pt 2)
3. Things Got to Get Better
4. What Kind of Man
5. If You Love Me
6. In the Middle
7. Unwind Yourself
8. You Got to Have a Job (If You Don't Work, You Don't Eat)
9. I'll Work It Out
10. Get Out of My Life
11. I'm Tired I'm Tired I'm Tired (Things Better Change Before I
12. Shades of Brown
13. I Made a Mistake Because It's Only You (Pt 1)
14. I Made a Mistake Because It's Only You (Pt 2)
15. What Do I Have to Do to Prove My Love to You
16. He's the One
17. This Girl's in Love With You
18. Sunny (Duet With James Brown)

Marva Whitney – The First Lady Of Funk by Charles Waring

"When it comes to feisty femme funk or sassy sock-it-to-‘em soul, mighty Marva Whitney has no equal.
Blessed with a lithe yet powerful church-raised voice, she first made her mark with the James Brown Revue in the late-1960s. Such was her impact during that time that she earned the titles “Marvellous Marva” and “Miss Excitement” for her dynamic stage performances. James Brown even went so far as to proclaim her “Soul Sister #1.” Many of the records she cut while she was the Godfather Of Soul’s protégé are now extremely rare and eagerly sought after by Rare Groove disciples, who regard Marva as the funkiest of all James Brown’s female singers.



Marva was born Marva Ann Manning on May 1st 1944 in Kansas City, Kansas. She was the eldest of seven children belonging to Ray Manning, a worker for the Santa Fe railway, and his wife, Willa Mae. Interested in music at an early age, Marva sang her first solo in her local church when she was only three years old. Later, during the1950s, she began singing and playing piano alongside her younger brothers in the Manning Gospel Singers, and toured the USA.
In 1960, when she was 16, Marva joined another Kansas gospel group, the Alma Whitney Singers, and ended up marrying Harry Whitney, the brother-in-law of the group’s leader. Now going by her married name, Marva Whitney, she also started playing piano for a local all-girl harmony group. Eventually they disbanded and Marva, who had elected to embark on a solo career, began studying voice and composition with the legendary jazz pianist and big band leader, Willie Rice, at the Kansas City Conservatory Of Music.



After Marva left school at 18, she got a job working at Fashion Built Garments, where she sewed fur collars to coats. She did this for two years, before getting an office job and doing clerical work.
But what she really dreamed of becoming was a professional singer. At weekends she performed in nightclubs and took part in talent competitions. By the mid-‘60s she had became lead singer for a local R&B group called Tommy and The Derbys, led by Tommy Gadson, brother of legendary drummer James Gadson (who rose to fame with Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band). When the group moved to California, Marva stayed behind.
Continuing to perform in Kansas clubs, she eventually caught the ear of Clarence Cooper, a local music entrepreneur who became her manager. In 1966 Cooper set up a meeting with Ben Bart, owner of Universal Attractions, James Brown's booking agency. Bart was going to Kansas with Brown, who was scheduled to play there. However, a riot broke out at the concert, which unfortunately prevented the meeting from taking place.



At the end of April 1967, James Brown visited Kansas again to play at the Memorial Hall. Cooper went along and discovered that the self-proclaimed “Hardest Working Man In Show Business” was seeking a new female vocalist for his Revue to replace the departing Vicki Anderson. Cooper persuaded Brown to grant Marva an audition. After the gig ended and the hall had cleared, Brown’s bandleader, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, brought Marva onto the stage and went through some songs with her. He was evidently impressed by her audition and strongly urged The Godfather to hire the 23-year-old singer.
By May, Marva was riding on the Brown tour bus. She also signed to the funk meister’s record company, the Cincinnati-based King label, and in early summer began cutting tracks. James Brown was actually absent from her first studio session, which yielded the debut single, Your Love Was Good To Me, a searing soul ballad penned and produced by Motown singer, J.J. Barnes, with Walter Whisenhunt. The Detroit-based duo also helmed the record's flipside, Saving My Love For My Baby, a driving uptempo soul tune, which is now popular on the UK's Northern Soul scene,
In June 1967, Marva joined Brown and his entourage at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theatre, where Soul Brother #1 recorded his second landmark in-concert album, Live At The Apollo Volume II. She duetted with Brown on the album's energetic opener, Think.
Marva then went with the Revue to Europe in September 1967, appearing in England, Germany, Denmark and France. Around this time, her second single, If You Love Me, a plaintive country-tinged ballad - and her first record featuring the input of James Brown - was released on King.
After it failed to chart, Brown decided to take Marva in a radically different direction and masterminded her recording of a tune called Unwind Yourself. A ferocious, highly charged chunk of funk characterised by manic horn lines and heavy rhythmic syncopations, the record featured an intense, strident vocal from Marva. Although it didn’t chart when it was released in January 1968, Unwind Yourself heralded Marva’s new funk-oriented sound.
Marva toured incessantly with James Brown throughout 1968. In March, she ventured as far as Africa’s Ivory Coast before embarking on a tour of the Far East in June, where after stops in Korea and Japan, a smaller version of Brown's group was allowed to play for US servicemen in war-torn Vietnam. Attired in combat fatigues and ferried by airplane, helicopter and armour-plated buses to various military bases within Vietnam, Brown and his group played to thousands of appreciative soldiers. But their adventure wasn’t without risk – while travelling by helicopter, the Viet Cong actually fired at them.
Further singles in 1968 by Marva (including I’m Tired I’m Tired I’m Tired and What Do I Have To Do To Prove My Love To You) heightened her profile, though sadly, national chart action still proved elusive. In January 1969, Marva performed with James Brown at President Richard Nixon's inaugural ball alongside Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Barbara McNair. Four months later she was rewarded with her first R&B hit, It's My Thing, co-written by Marva with James Brown and intended as an answer song to The Isley Brothers’ It’s Your Thing. The record spent seven weeks in Billboard's US R&B Hot 100, peaking at #19 in the summer of 1969 (#82 Pop).
Cover features on Marva followed in the US press – the prestigious magazines Jet and The Scene both included in-depth profiles. Marva also made numerous appearances on national television, performing on The Merv Griffin Show, Dick Clark's American Bandstand, the Mike Douglas Show, Playboy After Dark and many other TV programmes.
Further funk 45s, Things Got To Get Better and I Made A Mistake Because It's Only You, also made their presence felt on the US R&B Top 40. This prompted James Brown to consolidate Marva's success by releasing a long-playing record. She had already recorded an album of jazz standards for King with the Dee Felice Trio at the beginning of the year. Entitled I Sing Soul and assigned a record company catalogue number, the LP never came out, though test pressings were made. It is thought that King decided to shelve the album and release the harder hitting It's My Thing to capitalise on Marva’s newfound success as a funky diva.
Despite having some hit singles under her belt, the album It’s My Thing didn't experience any chart action. Even so, Marva scooped a “Golden Mike Award” from the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers that year. But by the end of 1969, Marva decided it was time to leave the James Brown camp. Her final engagement with Mr. Dynamite was at The Apollo Theatre just before Christmas in December 1969.
King issued a second LP, Live & Lowdown At The Apollo, in early 1970, by which time Marva was at home in Kansas waiting to make her next move. She wasn't inactive for long and cut a tremendous funk 45 called Giving It Up on Love, which was released on the Isley Brother's T-Neck imprint. But the record was poorly promoted and Marva withdrew from the music industry for a while.
In November 1970, she married Ellis Taylor, who began his own independent label called Forte based in Kansas. After a year's respite from the music business, Marva began recording for Forte and between the years 1972-74 released a clutch of strong but poorly promoted 45s – among them were Daddy Don’t Know About Sugar Bear and Live & Let Live, both of which were picked up for national distribution by Nashboro’s Excello subsidiary.
During the rest of the ‘70s Marva kept a low profile but in the early 1980s she briefly performed as part of a trio called Coffee, Cream & Sugar. In 1988, Marva’s career was revitalised by the release of James Brown’s Funky People, a CD showcasing the work of Marva and other members of The Godfather of Soul’s Revue. The success of that album (and a second volume released later the same year) resulted in several successful European tours as a member of the JBs Allstars alongside Bobby Byrd, Vicki Anderson, Lyn Collins, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis.
Marva’s music also provided some of hip-hop’s hardest working samples during that time. DJ Mark The 45 King famously looped the intro to Unwind Yourself on the dance hit, The 900 Number, in 1989 and introduced Marva to a new generation of listeners. In 1997, seven of Marva’s songs were featured on a Universal 2-CD retrospective called James Brown’s Original Funky Divas, while in 2000, Britain’s Soul Brother label reissued the in-demand It’s My Thing on CD for the first time.
In 2004, Marva’s career gained new impetus when she joined forces with DJ Pari and the Hanover-based Soulpower organisation. Recent high voltage performances in England, Germany, France, Sweden and Finland, attest that Marva is enjoying a new lease of life on the road. More importantly they confirmed that Marva Whitney is still the voice of funk."

We interrupt our regularly scheduled posting for this...

Nirvana’s third album "To Markos III" was originally slated for release on Island records but label boss Chris Blackwell wanted a singles band not an Island version of the Moody Blues and gave Patrick Campbell-Lyons & Alex Spyropoulos free reign to take their tape elsewhere.
This they duly did, writing the caustic "Christopher Lucifer" in barbed tribute to Mr Blackwell along the way. Funding for the as yet nameless project came in the form of financial aid from Spyrppoulos's uncle Markos III and a deal was put together with the US based Metromedia label.The album is full of some of the most lush and beautiful songs that the duo ever wrote.The real strength comes from songs like "Black Flower" and "Illinois" (covered by The New Seekers).
Alex Spyropolous left after this album and the bands recordings arguably never reached these standards again.If you liked the first two albums you will probably like this. -- courtesy of Dj Fanis over at HippyDjKit