Sheldon Taylor's Souls of Black Notes

"When I say that (Peabo Bryson) is beginning and the end of everything you want to listen to! ---former O'Jay Sammy Strain (2003)  Only a week into Black Music Month, five bricks from our music's mighty mortar have fallen, including Peabo Bryson. Alongside Teddy Pendergrass, Bryson represented the second wave of R&B solo male vocalists who rose to prominence at the tail end of the 1970s on the heels of soul men Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Al Green, and Bobby Womack, who defined the first half of the decade. The antithesis of Teddy's quiet fire and ferocious virility — Bryson carved out his own lane, delivering ballads with a soaring vocal gentility and devotion, inspiring his label, Capitol Records, to brand him "The Gentleman of Soul."  Akin to Pendergrass's coronation as Philly's R&B king, Bryson was Atlanta's crown prince. Before Larry Blackmon/Cameo, La'Face Records, Keith Sweat, and a slew of rappers migrated to ATL---the Greenville...

  Michael Jackson has long dominated GOAT talk. Current opinions suggest otherwise, citing Beyoncé and Chris Brown's career durability as justification to supplant the King of Pop's long-standing reign.  It's a conversational coup that deserves to be toppled.  In a rare moment of self-celebration, Jackson encapsulated his career in a 2001Vibe Magazine piece: "Its a rarity. I had number one records in 1969 and '70. I entered the charts at number one in 2001. I don't think any other artist has had that kind of range." Seven years later, Jackson was dead at 50: eighteen  days shy of an ambitious 50-date farewell UK tour before walking off into the sunset (with his lucrative publishing catalog), having secured the bag, solidifying his triumphant destiny.  Jackson's legacy is unprecedented. His gravitational reach far.  Tap dance icons Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly---members of the Lost Generation and the Greatest Generation demographic born before the advent...

In an August 2022 npr.org article Revolutionary Fun: Why we can't stop talking about Beyoncé's 'Renaissance' music critic/musicologist Jason King shared fellow culture/music critic Greg Tate's summary of Beyonce Knowles' enduring appeal:  “She's a curatorial genius whose magic is to bring together collaborators and other people's intellectual property into a unique artistic vision that is a sum often greater than its parts.”   Critics frame the singer as a country music interloper even as Country Music Television (CMT) features acts who cribbed her machine-gun vocal as well as unique elements associated with urban music.  A 2004 video from contemporary country singer Gretchen ("Redneck Woman") back then reeked of early 2000s106 and Park. Knowles' biggest critic is John Schneider, the New York-born/Atlanta raised actor whose claim to fame was his portrayal  of southern good ol' boy Bo Duke on the hit TV series the Dukes of Hazzard. ...

                                                     New Edition’s appearance with fellow Bostonians NKOTB on last night’s American Music Awards was a full circle moment, continuing the string of victories continuing to tip the scales in their favor after decades of career ups-and-downs. During NE's early years, one-sided management deals devoured their royalties and performance earnings. As NKTOB became millionaires, NE languished in financial purgatory. Group implosions grounded lucrative career take-offs. As the years came and went, others passed them by and reaped rewards that were always just beyond their grasp.   Fast forward to 2021.  A pair of TV biopics, a partnership with a high-powered Hollywood agency and a looming V...