I was raised on a lot of different tastes and styles of music. In fact, my dad still prefers classic 70's rock and old country tunes, while my mom drives around in a giant Yukon with a bass tube in the back and jams out to Tupac's All Eyez On Me. That should give you quite a bit of background on what to expect from my musical foundation - varied ain't exactly the word for it, not strong enough, to be completely honest. I have a good friend of mine that calls me "The Human iPod," as I have a tendency to know what song is playing over any speaker within 5 seconds of it playing, no matter at what point the song has progressed to at the time of my picking it up.

Granted, that's an extreme exaggeration. I'm not "The Human iPod," but I am damn close at the strangest of times.

So, today I decided to do a little bit of "soul-saving," not in the sense of religion, but in the sense of saving the memory of one incredible era of musical achievement. Congregation, please rise and turn to
page 777 in your hymnals, we're about to get the spirit moving.

The spirit of love, that is.


-EVERYDAY LEGEND'S RIGHTEOUS SOUL CHARGE-



James Brown - The Payback

If you've ever had someone do you wrong, double-cross you or just straight up stab your ass in the back, you'll identify with this tune. This song has been used everywhere, but since I was raised on old 60's soul music from a very early age, this track has never lost its luster over time no matter how many places I've heard it played. I am not a man who cries easily, but when James Brown died on Christmas Day 2006, I wept openly. It wasn't that he was famous or anything like that, but because I had such a deep respect for his particular art and knew that there would never be another like him - the mold that cast him was broken the moment he was born. There cannot be another James Brown. God rest the Godfather's soul, he paid the cost to be the boss.


Bill Withers - Grandma's Hands

This song got ripped off by Dr. Dre and Blackstreet for the single "No Diggity," but anyone who knows the original work that inspired the beat behind the song knows that the original work was downright untouchable. This is a live version, put on here just to display that this man needed no fucking voice modulator. He didn't need studio cleanup of any sort, no ProTools, no production bullshit to weigh the song down under any kind of artifice of any kind. This is his voice, natural and clean, and live. This, my friends, is an actual musician performing actual music. Take notes.


The Four Tops - Standing In The Shadows Of Love

This is old-school soul in its absolute finest, purest form. I remember my dad playing his greatest hits albums when I was a small child and bugging out over this song, especially during the "now, didn't I" break. The harmonies were on point, the instrumentation lent a weight that was light and breezy and yet deadly serious, all in simultaneous sonic synchronicity. This is one song I consider to be absolutely perfect in all senses of the word.


Al Green - Take Me To The River

Talking Heads did a phenomenal cover version of this song, and that's a topic I plan on covering (pun intended) later on in the week (stay tuned for that entry, it's going to be a great one). However, the original remains the undisputed champion, and the Reverend (not Burch this time) is one of the all-time greats of the genre, this song being a high-water mark to me. I'm a sucker for a good brass section, but adding organ and strings and a slick drum beat with slicker changeups just kicks my entire being into a sense of happiness that my body absolutely cannot contain. I dance when I hear this song, I can't help it. Al Green is so good that he's the only person on this list that I feel I have to mention twice.


Al Green - Here I Am (Come And Take Me)

Again, a song that was originally his covered by another group years later, this time by UB40. Unfortunately, the YouTube copyright gestapo has put the nix on the audio track of the one version that was an album cut, which I would have loved to put here. Instead, I am bringing you a live version sung by the man himself on September 7, 2007 at the B.B. King Blues Festival at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California. Is it the album cut I wanted? No. Is it still worth listening to? Well, listen to how the crowd is going buck-wild and determine that for yourself. The man's still got it, no doubt about that, and his position as an ordained minister hasn't dulled his edge one bit - he can still get right down to the point. It's not like he can deny the impact of his own music, when it has contributed to if not directly caused the conception and subsequent births of thousands, if not millions, of human beings alive today. You tell 'em, Reverend. You tell 'em.


That's 5 songs for you to get your Tuesday morning soul groove on. Peace be with you. Don't forget to have your favorite girl (or guy) in the room while you're listening, 'cause love is the message, baby.

Can you dig it?
- EL

Coming up:

We: Everyday Legend is Lost Under The Covers
Tr: Everyday Legend Tours the Japanese Bomb Factory
Fr: Everyday Legend Thinks Videogame Music Counts As Actual Music