FIRST!

(sorry for the delay+)

First day of the month.
Favorite track 1's.
Four songs.













Donny Hathaway "What's Goin' On" // Donny Hathaway Live (1971)


The job of any live album is to provide a ticket to the listener. Yes, a ticket. I need to feel like I'm there, at the show, IN THE FRONT ROW!

The sound of microphone feed back.
The sound of a restless crowd.
The sound of the drummer sitting down to his throne.
I need all of that.

The idea of a live album is to essentially recreate the show on record. Even though Donny Hathaway has passed on, there are tickets still available to one of his best shows.

I don't use the term 'amazing' with many albums. I don't. I can't. Donny Hathaway's Live LP is one of the best concert and soul albums of all time. IT'S AMAZING! And I say that with no doubt on my lips. Donny Hathaway's Live is what really opened my eyes to his genius in addition to my love for collecting live performances. For weeks I couldn't stop playing both "What's Goin' On" and "The Ghetto".

In fact when I think about it, I didn't get to the third song until months later. Those two songs back to back are a sick combo. The voice? The keys? The grooves? The band? And even better yet, the crowd? Powerful. It's almost scary the feelings that were going on during this show. Donny's voice and that band had this crowd in complete control.

Even though Live is an amalgam of a few shows, it's still a complete piece of work. Listening to this album really puts me in the center of this show. If you haven't heard this show, you're in luck. Tickets are still available.













Jay Dee "Welcome 2 Detroit" // Welcome 2 Detroit (2001)


Fantastic Vol. 2 had just dropped the previous year. Beats, Rhymes & Life a few years before. Then there were the countless tracks produced for Busta Rhymes, De La Soul and The Pharcyde. I was sold. I was a fan. In my eyes, everything Jay Dee touched was gold. So when I read about his solo project on BBE I was hyped. Plus the snippet I heard of Donald Byrd's "Think Twice" remake with this unknown crooner from the 'D' was just sick. CD release Tuesday finally came (remember those?). I sat in my 1988 Toyota Camry with a CD discman and a tape adapter.

I pressed play.

I must be honest with you, I wasn't ready. That first song had this distorted beauty that confused me. The bass sounded as if he clipped it to a truck and dragged it 50 feet. It was just, dumb dirty. Clumsy. Not the clean bass lines I was used to hearing. Somebody took some scissors to this beat and just stabbed it. I would later learn to love and appreciate this sound, for this was the new Jay Dee (or JDilla). Welcome 2 Detroit was the dress rehearsal for Jaylib and especially Donuts. That first listen I just wasn't ready.













Al Green "Call Me (Come Back Home)" // Call Me (1973)


In honor of Al's new album Lay It Down, I thought I'd go back 35 years to one of his best albums. Other than a few greatest hits comps, Call Me was my first Al LP. Like hearing Rakim for the first time, I wasn't ready. The good Reverend had my ears wide open. That voice! I think ?uestlove said it best during this video documentary...

"No one has range like Al Green. He's like a 5 part harmony chorus inside of his own body. There's the falsetto Al Green. The church growling Al Green. Ferocious soulful Al Green. There's a very church mouse Al Green..."

The Call Me LP has a solid soulful organic sound. It's rich and rough at the same time. Does that make sense? Sometimes genius can't make sense.














J-Live "Got What It Takes" // The Best Part (1999)


"I live and die for a just cause not just cause.
So if it ain't justice then you get just ice."

I'm sorry, I think that line is so sick! If there's one reason why I will always support J-Live it's that he's one of the only MC's that doesn't waste words. EVERY word he spits has a purpose. He is a true lyricist. Yes, lyricist. I can't think of any current MC out today that uses language as creatively as this brother. For more examples, check my favorite J-Live song "Braggin Writes".

My guy Avery turned me on to the heavily bootlegged The Best Part around 2000 and I've been hooked ever since. The beat and the flow of "Them That's Not" sucked me in, but J-Live's lyrics kept me there. "Got What It Takes" is one of those songs where you'll discover new things even after 20 listens.

(+)