Ringtones Available From Malaco

It's been a long journey but Malaco is now offering ringtones for your cellphone. Visit www.malaco.com and click on the Ringtones tab at the top to browse what is currently available. New songs are added daily so keep checking back. If you don't see what you want, there is a button on the ringtone page to send a request for a ringtone. When we receive the request, we will get it up as soon as possible. Check to make sure that your phone is on the list of supported devices before downloading.

We are also continuing to make improvements to the layout of the site. Enjoy!

Shirley Brown - Unleashed

As seen in Soul Express

It took almost five years for us to hear new music from Shirley, but finally Unleashed (MCD7535; www.malaco.com) is here. It starts with a serene and rather mellow ballad called Upside Down, which, however, vocally grows into a passionate eruption. The song was written and produced by Frederick Knight, but unfortunately his second contribution, an almost funky beater called Let Me Relax You, isn’t on a par of that opener but, on the contrary, sounds rather dull.

Vick Allen did a lot of producing for this set, and the first song is his and Omar Cunningham’s I Don’t Wanna Leave, a slow swayer with powerful singing again. The mid-tempo If You Can’t Hit It Right (co-written by Tonya Youngblood Polk) is more mediocre and ominous. Vick also wrote and produced together with Shirley two songs, a poppy mid-tempo stepper titled You Should’a Know Better and a poignant and impressive deepie named Why, which is dedicated to the ones we’ve lost.

I’m afraid that the late Charles Richard Cason’s and Zuri’s two repetitive jams (Clean House and I Wish You Didn’t Love Me So Good) leave me cold. They simply are too “hip-hop” and contemporary for Shirley’s emotive and established old-school style.

On A Sample of my Love, a mid-tempo beater with an irresistible groove, and (You Promised Me Heaven, But) You Gave Me Hell, a bluesy slowie, it says that “initial tracks and lead vocals recorded at Ecko Sound Studios in Memphis, TN.” The writers of those two songs are John Ward, Raymond Moore and Larry Chambers. Malaco’s Vice president, Wolf Stephenson: “John Ward runs the Ecko studios in Memphis, and he has written a lot of songs for us in the past. He used to be a signed writer to Malaco Music for years. He submitted five songs, and Shirley chose those two. John Ward: “I sent those songs to Shirley, because I knew she was cutting her new CD. At first they were going to record them at Malaco and I assumed they would redo the tracks. But Shirley liked the feel I had on the tracks and was afraid they would lose the feel, if they recut them, so she asked if she could use my tracks. They decided to just come here and cut the vocals, since Wolf Stephenson was coming through town anyway on his way back
from Nashville to Jackson. So that’s how we ended up doing the vocals and basic tracks here. After the vocals were cut, we sent the tracks with her vocals down to Malaco for more overdubs and mixing. I was glad that Shirley did the songs and thought she did a great job on them.”

The last three tracks, produced by Wolf Stephenson, were cut at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in 2003, and they feature real instruments. Wolf: “Those three tracks were recorded at the same time as Shirley’s previous album (Woman Enough), and we did not use those songs. Since then I went back and listened to them and decided to put them on the album.”

The first of those tracks is a hurting ballad called When I Hear Your Name. Written by Rue Davis and Harrison Calloway, it’s another big-voiced performance from Shirley. “When we were getting ready to do that album, I told Rue Davis that we needed some songs for Shirley. He had a few ideas, and I asked him to finish them with her in mind. Rue Davis is the one, who comes up with the idea, lyrics and such, and Harrison Calloway wrote the music part of the song.”

Shirley is determined on Luther Lackey’s beat ballad named You Ain’t Gone Get No More of My Love and gives advice on another Luther’s tune, the softer Watch What You Tell Your Friends. Wolf: “Luther has written other songs for us. He’s a local guy, a writer and a singer, and he has a lot of ideas for songs. He writes songs all the time.”

“We released the single, the lead-off song, Upside Down, and that’s a ballad, but also some of the uptempo songs are getting action. Several radio stations are picking them up.”

Recently Wolf has spent a lot of time in the studio. “We just signed a new artist that we’re really excited about. She was, I think, a runner-up in last year’s America’s Got Talent show, Queen Emily (www.queenemily.org). We were able to sign her, and we just finished the tracks last week. Hopefully we have the product to come out in August.”

If you like Shirley’s music and if you only have time, you could read my 3-part Shirley Brown story at www.soulexpress.net/shirleybrown.htm.

Queen Emily in the studio

This week has been very eventful for Malaco. We have been honored to have Queen Emily from America's Got Talent in the studio working on her latest album. She recently signed to Malaco / Waldoxy and has been here all week. Joining her on this album are the renowned Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (Jimmy Johnson on guitar, David Hood on bass, Clayton Ivey on keyboard). Lending their talent on guitar was Reggie Young and James Robertson on drums. This all star line-up came out strong and this is going to be a great album.

House Wife Hotline

Be sure to tune in to Southern Soul Radio (www.southernsoulradio.com) Monday - Friday from 12:00 - 2:00pm CST for the very popular House Wife Hotline hosted by DJ Outlaw. The House Wife Hotline is designed with house wives in mind to get their groove on each and every day. You can also have the House Wife Hotline dedicated to you and only you. To do this, simply E-Mail DJ Outlaw at outlaw@southernsoulradio.com. The House Wife Hotline is part of the "At Work Network" that comes to you Monday - Friday from 11:00am - 3:00pm CST hosted by DJ Outlaw only on Southern Soul Radio (www.southernsoulradio.com). Changing the sound of Soul!

La Salle recognized by state lawmakers

Jackson, MS (WLBT) - A Mississippi blues legend was honored in the Mississippi State Senate Wednesday morning.

Denise La Salle was born in Leflore County in the Mississippi Delta.

Senator David Jordan presented her with a proclamation from the state legislature.

In 1971, her album "Trapped By A Thing Called Love" went gold.

She later signed with Malaco Records and recorded for them here in Jackson.

Lasalle told lawmakers she is proud to be from the state and she still has "Mississippi mud" on her shoes.

As posted on WLBT in Jackson, MS

Bobby "Blue" Bland

The Web site Rollingstone.com says of Bobby Blue Bland:

“Bobby “Blue” Bland is one of the eminent patriarchs of modern soul singing, his distinctively grainy vocal style drawing on gospel and blues. Raised in Memphis, he joined a gospel ensemble, the Miniatures, in the late 1940s. He later met guitarist B.B. King and joined the Beale Streeters, an informal group of Memphis blues musicians that included King, Johnny Ace, Roscoe Gordon, and Willie Nix. But not until 1954 (after working as King’s chauffer) did he land his first recording contract, when an executive at Duke Records heard him sing at a Houston talent show.

“His first successful single, “It’s My Life, Baby,” was released in 1955. He played one-nighters around the country accompanied by his band, led by tenor saxophonist Bill Harvey and trumpeter/arranger Joe Scott. Members of the band, under the pseudonym Deadric Malone, wrote or co-wrote most of Bland’s material. His band was bigger and brassier than most current blues bands, and anticipated the rich sound of 1960s soul music while harking back to big-band jazz.

“Since 1957, when “Farther Up the Road” was a Number Five R&B hit, Bland has had over 30 R&B Top 20 singles, including “I’ll Take Care of You” (Number Two, 1959), “I Pity the Fool” (Number One, 1961), “Don’t Cry No More” (Number One, 1961), “Turn on Your Love Light” (Number Two, 1961), and “That’s the Way Love Is” (Number Three, 1963).

“Most of Bland’s records enjoyed only modest success in the pop market; only three singles ever made the pop Top 30. In the mid-1960s Bland adopted a slicker, more upbeat style, but his career stalled until Duke Records was taken over by ABC-Dunhill in 1972. Dunhill paired him with producer Steve Barri (the Four Tops), who guided Bland back to a bluesier vocal style while giving him contemporary material by Leon Russell and Gerry Goffin, as well as new material by Deadric Malone. His California Album and Dreamer introduced him to white audiences and proved to be the most popular LPs of his career. After a fallow early-1980s he resurfaced mid-decade on the independent soul-blues label Malaco, revitalizing his career.

“While he never achieved the wide recognition of B.B. King (with whom he toured and collaborated on two LPs, Together and Together Again), he had a considerable influence on modern soul music. In 1997 he was the recipient of the Recording Academy’s coveted Lifetime Achievement Grammy. In 1998 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Blues Foundation. In 2002 Bland had a late-career resurgence with the excellent Two Steps From the Blues featuring an amalgam of blues, gospel and southern soul produced, co-written and arranged by Joe Scott with help from Duke head Don Robey. He continues to record and tour internationally well into his late seventies.

As seen in The Cape Cod Times.

New Songs Added to SSR

Below are some new songs you'll be hearing on Southern Soul Radio:

Joe Simon
Drowning In The Sea Of Love
It Be's That Way Sometimes
Power Of Love
Trouble In My Home

Johnnie Taylor
Disco Lady
Running Out Of Lies

Candi Staton
Victim

Dells
Standing Ovation
Oh What A Night
Stay In My Corner

Tyrone Davis
Turning Point
I Got Carried Away

Formula V
Part Time Lover

Soul Children
Don't Take My Kindness
Love Makes It Right

Z. Z. Hill
You're Ruining My Bad Reputation
Personally