California Soul

Marlena Shaw "California Soul" (1969)


I have this thing about being late for flights. Like, I hate it. I'd rather show up two hours early than be a few minutes late. Running through an airport when you're late is not fun. But that's another story for another time. I arrived early only to find out that my flight had been delayed leaving McCarren Airport here in Las Vegas. I was headed to Nashville so I could attend my brother's graduation ceremony the next morning. I had an extra two hours to kill, no problem.

I walked over to this bar near my gate where they were showing the Lakers/Jazz playoff game. I ordered a Coke that cost me $2.50 and sat and watched my boy Deron Williams work over the Lakers. The bartenders were cool. Wearing my Ben Gordon Bulls jersey made for some easy jokes, especially with the game on. Then suddenly this commercial comes on:



One of the bartenders stopped pouring this drink and screamed to the other "Man, I gotta find out who this is!"

"Yeah, I've been seeing this commercial on TV and I keep wondering who it is."

"That's Aretha Franklin I bet."

"It's Lyn Collins." This old guy at the end of the bar raised his hand motioning that he had the answer. "She sang back up for James Brown."

The drunken arguments continued throughout the commercial break until the game came back on, but now the playoffs were secondary. The discussion had moved from Kobe Bryant to "Name That Tune". Sitting at the bar and enjoying the most expensive Coke known to man, I sat and listened to these guys go back and forth about an artist that had her peak ten years before I was even born. When there was a break, I motioned to the bartender for a refill. When he came close, I said, "'California Soul' by Marlena Shaw."

"HEY, HOLD UP EVERYBODY? This guy says it's...who did you say it was?

I repeated the name and the song for the bar to hear. I would have mentioned that Gang Starr sampled it for Check TheTechnique in 1991, but that would have gone over their heads....ha ha

Wanna know what's funny? Nobody challenged me on it. The bar was quiet. I don't consider myself the voice of music reason but, I was surprised nobody asked for proof considering my young age. I even had the song on my iPOD. Puzzled, I pulled the bartender back and asked him why nobody questioned it. Dude kinda laughed and said...

"Man, you're from Chicago. Chicago cats know their music."