Women's History Month Day 4 - Justine "Baby" Washington

Today we turn our ears to Justine "Baby" Washington.  She's long been in my top ten favorite soul singers.  

You know how it is when you find that one singer who seems to be singing your story?  It feels as if they're plugged into you heart and are singing it all just for you?  I think the best modern comparison I can think of would be the way people are generally affected by Adele.  It's like she jumps through the speakers and plucks the tears right out of your eyes.  That's how I feel about Baby Washington. And I'm not the only one.  In fact, Dusty Springfield once named Baby Washington as her all-time favorite singer. It seems that Washington managed to capture and perfectly express the feeling of being misunderstood and alone (a feeling all too common for LGBTQ folks).  As the songwriter for many of her own recordings, loneliness is the theme Justine Washington crafted for herself.  Her vocals have been described as "haunting" and otherworldly, but like so many truly exquisite artists, it's really difficult to find words to describe exactly what it is she does that wrenches your heart and nearly brings you to tears.

She was born in South Carolina but most of her best known recordings were made as part of the "uptown" New York soul scene of the early 60s.  The scene is characterized by intricate lush arrangements and artful productions.  She started in the mid-50s as the youngest member of the girl group The Hearts, which is how she earned the nickname "Baby".  After leaving the group, she launched her solo career with a couple of labels before she landed on Sue Records, where she scored her biggest hits and recorded her most celebrated songs.

Please take a few moments to listen to just what makes her so great.

This is an early solo record. HAND CLAPS!


She also recorded as "Jeanette"


This was her biggest hit.






Dusty covered a couple of Baby Washington records and this is one of them.


This is a nice version of a song that was a hit for Little Anthony and the Imperials.


I would like to close with what I consider to be an incredible video of Baby Washington in a sparkling top performing to the Knights of Columbus in Maryland in 2009. Skip to about 3 minutes. She performs her song "Nobody Cares" followed by "Leave me Alone". At a couple of points she hands over the mic to a few audience members who sing parts of the song. It's very touching. I sure would love to have her come visit us in the PNW.


- Post by Portland's DJ Action Slacks of Sugar Town

Today I'm featuring the under-appreciated Louisiana soul belter, Carol Fran.  

I was first introduced to her music during my radio days in the late nineties through what was then some contemporary "soul-blues" recordings she released with guitar player Clarence Holliman.  The soul blues scene emerged in the 1980s after traditional soul music had lost favor with the general public.  It was in this scene that some 1960s soul artists (Irma Thomas, Etta James, Johnnie Taylor, Ann Peebles, Bobby Blue Bland, etc) were able to find a second career when record labels like Malaco, Black Top and Bullseye repackaged southern soul, called it blues and marketed it towards dudes who were really into "the Blues Brothers".  At least that's how I imagine the idea came about.  If you ever want to see the kind of dudes I'm talking about, spend a day at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival this summer and look for the shirtless middle-aged white guys.  I used to kind of resent this industry-created genre, but now I feel differently.  At least some artists were able to continue their careers after their music lost it's wider popularity.  Not to mention, had it not been for the "soul-blues" scene of the 80s and 90s, it probably would have been a lot longer before I had found out about Carol Fran since her mid-century records weren't exactly easily accessible in Olympia, WA. 

Carol is one of those artists who's had a lengthy career with very little commercial success.  Perhaps she was a victim to over-saturation of the soul market, or maybe she just didn't land on a label with enough power to get her radio play.  One thing is for sure, with the distinct quality of her voice and her creative delivery, she should have been a huge star.  Carol Fran stands out.  If you want to learn more about her you can find a detailed biography here  http://allmusic.com/artist/carol-fran-p77338/biography and here's a great article about her http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/lady-sings-the-blues/Content?oid=1242771

Please join me in appreciating some of her finest recordings.

Her earliest sides were cut for swamp blues/r&b label Excello.

This is sequel to the above.


One of my all-time favorites.





And listen to how she handles a ballad. I dare you not to melt into a great big puddle right here on the spot.


- Post by Portland's DJ Action Slacks of Sugar Town

Women's History Month - The Bobbettes

Today I'm featuring one of the original "girl groups," the Bobbettes.

Check out this short interview to hear a couple of the Bobbettes talk about the groups' beginnings in Spanish Harlem.  Also some interesting facts about Mr. Lee.  Skip to about 1:20.





They were the first girl group to have a # 1 R&B hit that also reached the top 10 on the pop charts.  Of course I'm talking about "Mr. Lee".  If you're from my generation you were most likely introduced to "Mr. Lee" through the film "Stand By Me."  However, even if it hadn't been one of the many jewels on that soundtrack, you most likely would have encountered the song because it is one of the best records EVER.  The internet tells me that the song was originally written as a slam on the girls' teacher, Mr. Lee.  Atlantic Records reportedly made them change the lyrics to make the song less controversial.

"Mr. Lee" was their biggest hit and though the group stayed together until the mid-70s, they failed to reach that kind of chart success again.  But who cares?!  Too much of 20th century music history writing is focused on hits and chart success.  The simple fact is that these girls were a group of ATOMIC FIREBALLS - sweet, explosive and they set the listener on FIRE!

Why do I love the Bobbettes? Let me count the ways:

1. They wrote at least half of their songs. 

2. They were far more gritty than most of their fellow girl group counterparts at the time (see the Chantels). 

3. Incredible harmonies with really interesting, unique, multi-layered parts that made their records ultra energetic.

4. Sass.  Pure and simple.  I love me some sassy ladies!


So, today I ask you to celebrate Women's History Month by listening to these choice Bobbettes selections.





THIS ONE!




There are so many good ones. It's really hard to restrict myself here. Check this one out!



This is an answer to Chris Kenner's "I Like it Like That". 
It's superior to the original as far as I'm concerned.


They are rumored to have done backing vocals on this classic.



Here we have a fine mid-60s effort.



This super feminist message song has become a northern soul favorite. 
Take a listen and you'll see why.




And we'll close out our Bobbettes listening session with this cover of a pop classic.


- Post by Portland's DJ Action Slacks of Sugar Town

Sugar Town / Soul kitchen - 8/2/2002

I couldn't be happier! The first Sugar Town was beautifully well-supported by the Portland Queer community! Now we're on the brink of an equally exciting second Sugar Town on August 18th!  Thanks to DJ Pukes in Vans and everyone in the Portland community who helped to make my dream come to life!

And now we start dancing towards August!  I'm so excited to be spinning with Beyonda and Hard French's Brown Amy & Carnita!  I haven't seen the Hard French kids since the crazy time at the  Hard French Winter Ball where my brief obsession with ghosts (and Celebrity Ghost Stories) was born.  With these combined queer soul dee jay forces, August Sugar Town is bound to be a BLAST!  Maybe we'll even get to hear Casey play her coveted copy of "Blowin' Up My Mind" by the Exciters (I sure hope so!)

Carnita, Action Slacks & Brown Amy
Photo by Shot in the Dark

To tide you over, as promised, I've uploaded another vintage episode of Soul Kitchen. Let me take you back to August 2002, a unique time in which we were between 9/11 and just 8 months away from the Iraq War.  So many of us counter-culturists in Olympia, WA still believed that some how we could prevent a war if we just protest hard enough.  No luck.....Still we dreamed.  I'm proud to have been among those idealists.

And now....hear DJ Shannon "Action Slacks" dork out! BTW Apologies for the sound quality. It's an old cassette, a little muffled. You'll also get to hear me clumsily try to pronounce Spanish song titles. Good times.

Part 1 is here:
01 Soul kitchen Aug 2, 2002 by Sugar Town Action Slacks

Part 2 is here:
1-01 Soul Kitchen Aug 2, 2002 pt 2 by Sugar Town Action Slacks