Keith Sweat
By Michael Ivey
Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961, Harlem, New York, New York) is an African
American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality. On
top of being a wildly successful solo artist, he also became a member of the
90’s supergroup LSG with Gerald Levert and Jonny Gill.
Keith Sweat is an
interesting artist and personality from many respects. Considered by some as a
“Beggar” because of his, at times whiny vocals and yet by
others as a sex symbol because of some of his explicit, straight to the drawers
lyrics. I met him once briefly on a chance encounter at a party at a club in LA,
right when his debut song “I Want Her” was at full glory. I awkwardly approached
him, trying to convince him how awful his album cover was and I tried to
persuade him to let me photograph his next one. He was very direct in answering
me (lol). I think he might have misconstrued my bold attempts as overt criticism
of the musical contents of his album, which was not the case. It was a superb
album. I was impressed that he knew the sales numbers and used hem in rejection
of my offer.
And speaking of his debut hit “I want her” which was # 1
on the R&B charts for 3 weeks in early 1988, it was producer/songwriter
Teddy Riley’s first huge “New Jack Swing” style hit and it made the dead rise at
the clubs when it was played back in the day. The hit was so popular, one would
have guessed that Sweat future would be in recreating this hot new sound but
instead he became one of his generation’s leading crooners.
Keith Sweat
is the son of hairdresser Juanita Sweat and factory worker Charles. Charles died
in 1973 and Juanita raised her five kids alone in Grant projects in Harlem,
which was not far from the Apollo Theater. When Keith was 14 he saw the Jackson
5 perform there and it blew him away, so he had a thirst to be in the field of
music after this concert. Sweat earned a BS in communications from City College
of New York, where he worked to achieve a Bachelor’s degree in Communications
and Child Psychology. He worked as a night stock boy at Macy's and then a
mailroom clerk Paine Webber on Wall Street. In just four years he worked his way
up to a lucrative brokerage assistant job on the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange. Sweat worked for the commodities market in the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Sweat started his musical career as a member of a Harlem band
called "Jamilah" in 1975. With the help of Jamilah, Sweat was able to hone his
craft as a lead singer by performing regionally throughout the tri-State area of
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The group was started by bassist Larry
Peoples, guitarist Michael Samuels, and drummer Walter Bradley. Additional
members of the group included Peter DaCosta (vocals), Joseph McGeachy (sax),
Dwight Banks (trumpet), and Kenneth Varner (keyboards). They were quite
successful locally and were often used as a supporting band for visiting artists
such as Teddy Pendergrass, the Whispers, the Delfonics, etc.
After
leaving the group in 1984 to aspire for a solo career, he sang at nightclubs
throughout New York City and landed a chance to record for the independent
label, Stadium Records. Sweat recorded only one tune for Stadium called "My Mind
Is Made Up", which was their third ever release, but on Stadium's first release,
he is credited as co-writer and co-producer of "You Are The One For Me", the
last recording ever made by the group GQ. One of GQ's original members is his
uncle, Keith "Sabu" Crier. GQ offered him the opportunity to record at their
studio there in the Bronx.
Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961, Harlem, New York, New York) is an African
American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality. On
top of being a wildly successful solo artist, he also became a member of the
90’s supergroup LSG with Gerald Levert and Jonny Gill.
Keith Sweat is an
interesting artist and personality from many respects. Considered by some as a
“Beggar” because of his, at times whiny vocals and yet by
others as a sex symbol because of some of his explicit, straight to the drawers
lyrics. I met him once briefly on a chance encounter at a party at a club in LA,
right when his debut song “I Want Her” was at full glory. I awkwardly approached
him, trying to convince him how awful his album cover was and I tried to
persuade him to let me photograph his next one. He was very direct in answering
me (lol). I think he might have misconstrued my bold attempts as overt criticism
of the musical contents of his album, which was not the case. It was a superb
album. I was impressed that he knew the sales numbers and used hem in rejection
of my offer.
And speaking of his debut hit “I want her” which was # 1
on the R&B charts for 3 weeks in early 1988, it was producer/songwriter
Teddy Riley’s first huge “New Jack Swing” style hit and it made the dead rise at
the clubs when it was played back in the day. The hit was so popular, one would
have guessed that Sweat future would be in recreating this hot new sound but
instead he became one of his generation’s leading crooners.
Keith Sweat
is the son of hairdresser Juanita Sweat and factory worker Charles. Charles died
in 1973 and Juanita raised her five kids alone in Grant projects in Harlem,
which was not far from the Apollo Theater. When Keith was 14 he saw the Jackson
5 perform there and it blew him away, so he had a thirst to be in the field of
music after this concert. Sweat earned a BS in communications from City College
of New York, where he worked to achieve a Bachelor’s degree in Communications
and Child Psychology. He worked as a night stock boy at Macy's and then a
mailroom clerk Paine Webber on Wall Street. In just four years he worked his way
up to a lucrative brokerage assistant job on the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange. Sweat worked for the commodities market in the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Sweat started his musical career as a member of a Harlem band
called "Jamilah" in 1975. With the help of Jamilah, Sweat was able to hone his
craft as a lead singer by performing regionally throughout the tri-State area of
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The group was started by bassist Larry
Peoples, guitarist Michael Samuels, and drummer Walter Bradley. Additional
members of the group included Peter DaCosta (vocals), Joseph McGeachy (sax),
Dwight Banks (trumpet), and Kenneth Varner (keyboards). They were quite
successful locally and were often used as a supporting band for visiting artists
such as Teddy Pendergrass, the Whispers, the Delfonics, etc.
After
leaving the group in 1984 to aspire for a solo career, he sang at nightclubs
throughout New York City and landed a chance to record for the independent
label, Stadium Records. Sweat recorded only one tune for Stadium called "My Mind
Is Made Up", which was their third ever release, but on Stadium's first release,
he is credited as co-writer and co-producer of "You Are The One For Me", the
last recording ever made by the group GQ. One of GQ's original members is his
uncle, Keith "Sabu" Crier. GQ offered him the opportunity to record at their
studio there in the Bronx.
Carlos Santana
by Michael Ivey
Carlos Augusto Alves
Santana (born July 20, 1947, Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, México) is a Mexican
and American musician who became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with
his band, Santana.
In the Sixties, Carlos Santana pioneered an innovative fusion of rock, fiery
Afro-Latin polyrhythms, and contrasting cool, low-key vocals. In time, he was
drawn to jazz-rock fusion and worked outside the band with John McLaughlin,
Stanley Clarke, and others. Though the mid-Seventies saw Santana becoming
involved in spiritual mysticism (he affixed "Devadip" before his name), and by
the decade's end his band was back in hard-driving rhythmic form and chalked up
several hit dance singles. The group continued to perform off and on into the
Nineties; in 1994 Santana appeared at Woodstock '94, one of three acts who had
previously performed at the original 1969 festival that were asked to return to
the 25th anniversary concert.
He learned to play the violin at age five,
and the guitar at age eight. His younger brother, Jorge Santana, would also
become a professional guitarist. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie
Valens at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop
music. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the city on Mexico's
border with California, and then San Francisco. Carlos stayed in Tijuana but
later joined his family in San Francisco and graduated from James Lick Middle
School and in 1965 from Mission High School. Carlos was accepted at California
State University, Northridge, and Humboldt State University, but turned down
these offers.
He got the chance to see his idols (most notably B.B.
King) perform live in San Francisco. He also was introduced to a variety of new
musical influences, including jazz and folk music, and witnessed the growing
hippie movement centered in San Francisco in the 1960s. After several years
spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and busking for spare change, Santana
decided to become a full-time musician. In 1966 he gained prominence by a series
of accidental events all happening on the same day. Santana was a frequent
spectator at Bill Graham's Fillmore West. During a Sunday matinee show, Paul
Butterfield was slated to perform there but was unable to do so as a result of
being intoxicated. Bill Graham assembled an impromptu band of musicians he knew
primarily through his connections with the Grateful Dead, Butterfield's own band
and Jefferson Airplane, but he had not yet picked all of the guitarists at the
time. Santana's manager, Stan Marcum, immediately suggested to Graham that
Santana join the impromptu band and Graham assented. During the jam session,
Santana's guitar playing and solo gained the notice of both the audience and
Graham. During the same year, Santana formed the Santana Blues Band, with fellow
street musicians, David Brown and Gregg Rolie (bassist and keyboard player,
respectively).
With their highly original blend of Latin-infused rock,
jazz, blues, salsa, and African rhythms, the band (which quickly adopted their
front man's name, Santana) gained an immediate following on the San Francisco
club circuit. The band's early success, capped off by a memorable performance at
Woodstock in 1969, led to him signing a recording contract with Columbia
Records, then run by Clive Davis.
Santana were signed by CBS Records and
went into the studio to record their first album. They were not satisfied with
the release and decided changes needed to be made. This resulted in the
dismissal of drummer Bob Livingston. Santana replaced him with Mike Shrieve, who
had a strong background in both jazz and rock. Percussionist Marcus Malone was
forced to quit the band due to personal problems, and the band re-enlisted
Michael Carabello. Carabello brought with him percussionist Jose Chepito Areas,
who was already well known in his country, Nicaragua, and, with his skills and
professional experience, was a major contributor to the band.
Bill
Graham had been a fan of the band from its inception, and arranged for them to
appear at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival before their debut album was even
released. They were one of the surprises of the festival; their set was
legendary and later the exposure of their eleven-minute instrumental "Soul
Sacrifice" in the Woodstock film and soundtrack album vastly increased their
popularity. Graham also gave the band some key advice to record the Willie Bobo
song "Evil Ways", as he felt it would get them radio airplay. Their first album,
Santana, was released in August and became a huge hit, reaching number four on
the U.S. album charts, with the catchy single "Evil Ways" reaching number nine
on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1969, Santana's performance at the
Woodstock festival introduced the band to an international audience and garnered
critical acclaim, although the band's sudden success put pressure on the group,
highlighting the different musical directions in which Rolie and Santana were
starting to go. Rolie, along with some of the other band members, wanted to
emphasize a basic hard rock sound which had been a key component in establishing
the band from the start. Santana, however, was increasingly interested in moving
beyond his love of blues and rock and wanted more jazzy, ethereal elements in
the music, which were influenced by his fascination with Gábor Szabó, Miles
Davis, Pharoah Sanders, and John Coltrane, as well as his growing interest in
spirituality. At the same time, Chepito Areas was stricken with a near-fatal
brain hemorrhage, and Santana hoped to continue by finding a temporary
replacement (first Willie Bobo, then Coke Escovedo), while others in the band,
especially Michael Carabello, felt it was wrong to perform publicly without
Areas. Cliques formed, and the band started to disintegrate.
Teenage San
Francisco Bay Area guitar prodigy Neal Schon was asked to join the band in 1971,
in time to complete the third album, Santana III. The band now boasted a
powerful dual-lead-guitar act that gave the album a tougher sound. The sound of
the band was also helped by the return of a recuperated Chepito Areas and the
assistance of Coke Escovedo in the percussion section. Enhancing the band's
sound further was the support of popular Bay Area group Tower of Power's horn
section, Luis Gasca of Malo, and other session musicians which added to both
percussion and vocals, injecting more energy to the proceedings. Santana III was
another success, reaching number one on the album charts, selling two million
copies, and yielding the hits "Everybody's Everything" and "No One to Depend
On".
But tension in the band continued. Along with musical differences,
drug use became a problem, and Santana was deeply worried it was affecting the
band's performance. Coke Escovedo encouraged Santana to take more control of the
band's musical direction, much to the dismay of some of the others who thought
that the band and its sound was a collective effort. Also, financial
irregularities were exposed while under the management of Stan Marcum, whom Bill
Graham criticized as being incompetent. Growing resentments between Santana and
Michael Carabello over lifestyle issues resulted in his departure on bad terms.
James Mingo Lewis was hired at the last minute as a replacement at a concert in
New York City. David Brown later left due to substance abuse problems. A South
American tour was cut short in Lima, Peru, due to student protests against U.S.
governmental policies and unruly fans. The madness of the tour convinced Santana
that changes needed to be made in the band and in his life.
Carlos
retained rights to the group's name and he proceeded to lead a band called
Santana from then on, though it consisted of himself and a constantly changing
collection of hired musicians. His first recording after the breakup of the
original group was a live show performed in Hawaii with singer and drummer Buddy
Miles, released in June 1972 as Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!
Consistent with the success of the Santana band, the album reached the Top Ten
and eventually went platinum. Following the release of the Santana band album
Caravanserai (1972), Carlos formed a duo with John McLaughlin, guitarist for the
Mahavishnu Orchestra. The two shared a spiritual leader in guru Sri Chinmoy, who
bestowed upon Carlos the name Devadip, meaning "the eye, the lamp, and the light
of God." Devadip Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's duo album Love
Devotion Surrender was released in June 1973. It reached the Top 20 and
eventually went gold. After releasing another Santana band project, Welcome,
Carlos next teamed up with another religious disciple, Turiya Alice Coltrane,
widow of John Coltrane, for a third duo album. Their collaboration,
Illuminations, was released in September 1974; it spent two months in the
charts, peaking in the bottom quarter of the Top 100.
Carlos focused on
the Santana band for most of the rest of the 1970s, releasing a series of gold
or platinum albums: Borboletta (1974), Amigos (1975), Festival (1976),
Moonflower (1977), and Inner Secrets (1978). In February 1979, he finally
released his first real solo album, the half-live, half-studio Oneness/Silver
Dreams -- Golden Reality, actually credited to Devadip. Like Illuminations, it
spent a couple of months in the charts and peaked in the bottom quarter of the
Top 100. After another gold Santana band album, Marathon (1979), he returned to
solo work with the double-LP jazz collection The Swing of Delight in August
1980. Featuring such guests as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Ron Carter, it
sold a little better than his previous solo album. Two more Santana band albums,
Zebop! (1981) and Shango (1982), followed before Carlos released a more
pop-oriented solo effort, Havana Moon, in April 1983. Featuring Willie Nelson,
Booker T. Jones, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the album reached the Top 40,
actually a better showing than the next Santana band album, Beyond Appearances
(1985). In 1986, Carlos undertook his first musical score, writing music for the
Ritchie Valens film biography La Bamba. He then made another Santana band album,
Freedom (1987), and followed it in October 1987 with a solo album, Blues for
Salvador. The album did not sell well, but the title track won Carlos his first
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. After a final Santana band
album for Columbia Records, Spirits Dancing in the Flesh (1990), Carlos left the
label and signed to Polydor, which gave him his own custom label, Guts and
Grace. The first Santana band album for the new company, Milagro, was followed
by what was projected to be a series of releases of tapes from Carlos' own
collection of his favorite musicians, Live Forever: Sacred Sources 1, featuring
Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Coltrane.
Then came a Santana band live album (Sacred Fire - Live in South America, 1993)
and in September 1994, Carlos released Santana Brothers, a trio album also
featuring his brother Jorge Santana and their nephew, Carlos Hernandez. It
charted briefly and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance.
Carlos spent almost five years away from recording, not
returning until June 1999 when he issued Supernatural on Arista Records. The
Santana band album featured many tracks co-written by guest stars such as Rob
Thomas of Matchbox 20, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, and others. Paced by the
number one singles "Smooth" and "Maria Maria," the album became the biggest hit
of Santana's career, selling upwards of ten million copies. It also won Santana
eight Grammy Awards.
Carlos Augusto Alves
Santana (born July 20, 1947, Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, México) is a Mexican
and American musician who became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with
his band, Santana.
In the Sixties, Carlos Santana pioneered an innovative fusion of rock, fiery
Afro-Latin polyrhythms, and contrasting cool, low-key vocals. In time, he was
drawn to jazz-rock fusion and worked outside the band with John McLaughlin,
Stanley Clarke, and others. Though the mid-Seventies saw Santana becoming
involved in spiritual mysticism (he affixed "Devadip" before his name), and by
the decade's end his band was back in hard-driving rhythmic form and chalked up
several hit dance singles. The group continued to perform off and on into the
Nineties; in 1994 Santana appeared at Woodstock '94, one of three acts who had
previously performed at the original 1969 festival that were asked to return to
the 25th anniversary concert.
He learned to play the violin at age five,
and the guitar at age eight. His younger brother, Jorge Santana, would also
become a professional guitarist. Young Carlos was heavily influenced by Ritchie
Valens at a time when there were very few Latinos in American rock and pop
music. The family moved from Autlán de Navarro to Tijuana, the city on Mexico's
border with California, and then San Francisco. Carlos stayed in Tijuana but
later joined his family in San Francisco and graduated from James Lick Middle
School and in 1965 from Mission High School. Carlos was accepted at California
State University, Northridge, and Humboldt State University, but turned down
these offers.
He got the chance to see his idols (most notably B.B.
King) perform live in San Francisco. He also was introduced to a variety of new
musical influences, including jazz and folk music, and witnessed the growing
hippie movement centered in San Francisco in the 1960s. After several years
spent working as a dishwasher in a diner and busking for spare change, Santana
decided to become a full-time musician. In 1966 he gained prominence by a series
of accidental events all happening on the same day. Santana was a frequent
spectator at Bill Graham's Fillmore West. During a Sunday matinee show, Paul
Butterfield was slated to perform there but was unable to do so as a result of
being intoxicated. Bill Graham assembled an impromptu band of musicians he knew
primarily through his connections with the Grateful Dead, Butterfield's own band
and Jefferson Airplane, but he had not yet picked all of the guitarists at the
time. Santana's manager, Stan Marcum, immediately suggested to Graham that
Santana join the impromptu band and Graham assented. During the jam session,
Santana's guitar playing and solo gained the notice of both the audience and
Graham. During the same year, Santana formed the Santana Blues Band, with fellow
street musicians, David Brown and Gregg Rolie (bassist and keyboard player,
respectively).
With their highly original blend of Latin-infused rock,
jazz, blues, salsa, and African rhythms, the band (which quickly adopted their
front man's name, Santana) gained an immediate following on the San Francisco
club circuit. The band's early success, capped off by a memorable performance at
Woodstock in 1969, led to him signing a recording contract with Columbia
Records, then run by Clive Davis.
Santana were signed by CBS Records and
went into the studio to record their first album. They were not satisfied with
the release and decided changes needed to be made. This resulted in the
dismissal of drummer Bob Livingston. Santana replaced him with Mike Shrieve, who
had a strong background in both jazz and rock. Percussionist Marcus Malone was
forced to quit the band due to personal problems, and the band re-enlisted
Michael Carabello. Carabello brought with him percussionist Jose Chepito Areas,
who was already well known in his country, Nicaragua, and, with his skills and
professional experience, was a major contributor to the band.
Bill
Graham had been a fan of the band from its inception, and arranged for them to
appear at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival before their debut album was even
released. They were one of the surprises of the festival; their set was
legendary and later the exposure of their eleven-minute instrumental "Soul
Sacrifice" in the Woodstock film and soundtrack album vastly increased their
popularity. Graham also gave the band some key advice to record the Willie Bobo
song "Evil Ways", as he felt it would get them radio airplay. Their first album,
Santana, was released in August and became a huge hit, reaching number four on
the U.S. album charts, with the catchy single "Evil Ways" reaching number nine
on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1969, Santana's performance at the
Woodstock festival introduced the band to an international audience and garnered
critical acclaim, although the band's sudden success put pressure on the group,
highlighting the different musical directions in which Rolie and Santana were
starting to go. Rolie, along with some of the other band members, wanted to
emphasize a basic hard rock sound which had been a key component in establishing
the band from the start. Santana, however, was increasingly interested in moving
beyond his love of blues and rock and wanted more jazzy, ethereal elements in
the music, which were influenced by his fascination with Gábor Szabó, Miles
Davis, Pharoah Sanders, and John Coltrane, as well as his growing interest in
spirituality. At the same time, Chepito Areas was stricken with a near-fatal
brain hemorrhage, and Santana hoped to continue by finding a temporary
replacement (first Willie Bobo, then Coke Escovedo), while others in the band,
especially Michael Carabello, felt it was wrong to perform publicly without
Areas. Cliques formed, and the band started to disintegrate.
Teenage San
Francisco Bay Area guitar prodigy Neal Schon was asked to join the band in 1971,
in time to complete the third album, Santana III. The band now boasted a
powerful dual-lead-guitar act that gave the album a tougher sound. The sound of
the band was also helped by the return of a recuperated Chepito Areas and the
assistance of Coke Escovedo in the percussion section. Enhancing the band's
sound further was the support of popular Bay Area group Tower of Power's horn
section, Luis Gasca of Malo, and other session musicians which added to both
percussion and vocals, injecting more energy to the proceedings. Santana III was
another success, reaching number one on the album charts, selling two million
copies, and yielding the hits "Everybody's Everything" and "No One to Depend
On".
But tension in the band continued. Along with musical differences,
drug use became a problem, and Santana was deeply worried it was affecting the
band's performance. Coke Escovedo encouraged Santana to take more control of the
band's musical direction, much to the dismay of some of the others who thought
that the band and its sound was a collective effort. Also, financial
irregularities were exposed while under the management of Stan Marcum, whom Bill
Graham criticized as being incompetent. Growing resentments between Santana and
Michael Carabello over lifestyle issues resulted in his departure on bad terms.
James Mingo Lewis was hired at the last minute as a replacement at a concert in
New York City. David Brown later left due to substance abuse problems. A South
American tour was cut short in Lima, Peru, due to student protests against U.S.
governmental policies and unruly fans. The madness of the tour convinced Santana
that changes needed to be made in the band and in his life.
Carlos
retained rights to the group's name and he proceeded to lead a band called
Santana from then on, though it consisted of himself and a constantly changing
collection of hired musicians. His first recording after the breakup of the
original group was a live show performed in Hawaii with singer and drummer Buddy
Miles, released in June 1972 as Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!
Consistent with the success of the Santana band, the album reached the Top Ten
and eventually went platinum. Following the release of the Santana band album
Caravanserai (1972), Carlos formed a duo with John McLaughlin, guitarist for the
Mahavishnu Orchestra. The two shared a spiritual leader in guru Sri Chinmoy, who
bestowed upon Carlos the name Devadip, meaning "the eye, the lamp, and the light
of God." Devadip Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin's duo album Love
Devotion Surrender was released in June 1973. It reached the Top 20 and
eventually went gold. After releasing another Santana band project, Welcome,
Carlos next teamed up with another religious disciple, Turiya Alice Coltrane,
widow of John Coltrane, for a third duo album. Their collaboration,
Illuminations, was released in September 1974; it spent two months in the
charts, peaking in the bottom quarter of the Top 100.
Carlos focused on
the Santana band for most of the rest of the 1970s, releasing a series of gold
or platinum albums: Borboletta (1974), Amigos (1975), Festival (1976),
Moonflower (1977), and Inner Secrets (1978). In February 1979, he finally
released his first real solo album, the half-live, half-studio Oneness/Silver
Dreams -- Golden Reality, actually credited to Devadip. Like Illuminations, it
spent a couple of months in the charts and peaked in the bottom quarter of the
Top 100. After another gold Santana band album, Marathon (1979), he returned to
solo work with the double-LP jazz collection The Swing of Delight in August
1980. Featuring such guests as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Ron Carter, it
sold a little better than his previous solo album. Two more Santana band albums,
Zebop! (1981) and Shango (1982), followed before Carlos released a more
pop-oriented solo effort, Havana Moon, in April 1983. Featuring Willie Nelson,
Booker T. Jones, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the album reached the Top 40,
actually a better showing than the next Santana band album, Beyond Appearances
(1985). In 1986, Carlos undertook his first musical score, writing music for the
Ritchie Valens film biography La Bamba. He then made another Santana band album,
Freedom (1987), and followed it in October 1987 with a solo album, Blues for
Salvador. The album did not sell well, but the title track won Carlos his first
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. After a final Santana band
album for Columbia Records, Spirits Dancing in the Flesh (1990), Carlos left the
label and signed to Polydor, which gave him his own custom label, Guts and
Grace. The first Santana band album for the new company, Milagro, was followed
by what was projected to be a series of releases of tapes from Carlos' own
collection of his favorite musicians, Live Forever: Sacred Sources 1, featuring
Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Coltrane.
Then came a Santana band live album (Sacred Fire - Live in South America, 1993)
and in September 1994, Carlos released Santana Brothers, a trio album also
featuring his brother Jorge Santana and their nephew, Carlos Hernandez. It
charted briefly and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental
Performance.
Carlos spent almost five years away from recording, not
returning until June 1999 when he issued Supernatural on Arista Records. The
Santana band album featured many tracks co-written by guest stars such as Rob
Thomas of Matchbox 20, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, and others. Paced by the
number one singles "Smooth" and "Maria Maria," the album became the biggest hit
of Santana's career, selling upwards of ten million copies. It also won Santana
eight Grammy Awards.
Damian Marley
by Michael Ivey
Damian Robert Nesta "Jr.
Gong" Marley (born July 21, 1978, Kingston, Jamaica), also known as "Gong
Zilla", is a three-time Grammy Award winning Jamaican reggae artist. Damian is
the youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley.
...Damian Marley was only two when his father died, but
the youngest of the Marley sons must have learned something. Marley has
described his music as "dancehall and reggae. I've noticed...people trying to
separate the two of them," he continues. "It's Jamaican culture in general. I
don't try to classify or separate."
At age 13, he formed a musical group
by the name of the Shephards, which included the daughter of Freddie McGregor
and son of Third World's Cat Core. The group opened the 1992 Reggae Sunsplash
festival. The band fell apart in the early 1990s and Damian started his solo
career.
With the backing of his father’s label, Tuff Gong, he released
his 1996 debut album Mr. Marley which surprised many who were unaccustomed to
hearing a Marley deejaying rather than singing. Damian’s brother, Stephen
Marley, was a producer and co-author for this album.
His second album,
Halfway Tree was released in 2001. The cover of Halfway Tree depicts him
standing under the clock at halfway tree. This is an embodiment of his parent’s
different social origins with his mother from uptown and his father from the
ghetto. In Kingston, Jamaica the Halfway Tree was used as a shady halfway point
for farmers and vendors who would pass the tree on their route to transport
their goods to the downtown market. It brought him much recognition, remaining
on the Billboard top reggae albums chart for 158 weeks, and winning the 2002
Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
His third album, Welcome to Jamrock
was released in September 2005, named after the hugely successful song of the
same name. The lyrics to the single "Welcome to Jamrock", which was performed
over a riddim produced by Sly and Robbie for Ini Kamoze some 20 years earlier,
centered around poverty, politics and crime in Jamaica. While the single was
controversial at home over its perceived negative viewpoint of the island, many
praised the content of the song. Dr. Clinton Hutton, professor at the University
of the West Indies, said of the single, "'Jamrock' uses the icon of the inner
city, of alienation, of despair, of prejudice, but of hope, of Jamaican
identity, to remind us of the fire of frustration, the fire of creativity, the
fire of warning to open up our eyes and look within to the life we are living.
And still some of us don't want to hear and to look and say enough is enough."
The single reached #13 on the UK Singles Chart and #55 on the US Billboard Hot
100 chart. It was also #100 on the Top 100 Songs of the Decade listing by
Rolling Stone.
At the 2009 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album and
Best Urban/Alternative Performance for Welcome to Jamrock. He is the only
Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night. He
is also the only reggae artist to win in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance
category at the Grammy Awards. The album sold 86,000 copies in its first week of
release, and was eventually certified gold after selling 500,000 copies in the
United States. Other notable singles from the album include "The Master Has Come
Back", "Road to Zion" featuring Nas, and "Khaki Suit" featuring Bounty Killer
and Eek-A-Mouse.
On May 17, 2010, Marley released Distant Relatives, a
collaborative album with Nas. The album title refers not only to the bond
between the artists, but the connection to their African ancestry, which
inspired the album both musically and lyrically. They have previously
collaborated on “Road to Zion”, on Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock album. The album
joins two different flavors of music with Marley’s dub-rock aesthetic and Nas’
flow. Damian and Stephen produced much of the album. The proceeds of this album
will go to building schools in the Congo.
In a 2011 interview on Tim
Westwood, Damian revealed he had started work on a new album. His street single,
released in Jamaica was titled "Just Aint The Same". He has also joined Mick
Jagger's musical project SuperHeavy with Joss Stone, Dave Stewart and A.R.
Rahman. Their debut single "Miracle Worker" was released on June 6, 2011, with
the album scheduled for a September 2011 release. Damian also worked with
electronic artist Skrillex on a song called "Make It Bun Dem".
Phyllis Hyman
by Micheal Ivy
Phyllis Linda Hyman (July
6, 1949 – June 30, 1995 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an African American
singer-songwriter and actress.
Phyllis Hyman has come to symbolize what
happens in the music industry when your talent exceeds the
limitations of the industry’s management and vision. Some artists like Phyllis
also arrive too early and they set the stage for those who follow. A beautiful,
statuesque woman, with a gifted voice that was tailor made for Jazz expressions.
Her style was classy, urbane and flavorful. She had a quick wit, but often was
subject to moodiness and diva like manners. After years of high expectations
from the industry and from fans of really breaking out to be a major star, over
this time period while waiting, she had amassed and impressive body of work and
a cult following, especially amongst Black women.
Phyllis Hyman was
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the St. Clair Village, the
South Hills section of Pittsburgh. Born to an African American family, she was
the eldest of seven children and a third cousin of actor Earle Hyman (best known
for his recurring role on TV's The Cosby Show as Cliff's father, Russell
Huxtable). After leaving Pittsburgh, her music training started at a music
school. On graduation, she performed on a national tour with the group New
Direction in 1971. After the group disbanded, she joined All the People and
worked with another local group, The Hondo Beat. At this time, she appeared in
the film Lenny (1974). She also did a two-year stint leading a band called
Phyllis Hyman and the P/H Factor. Hyman was discovered in 1975 by
internationally known pop artist and music industry veteran Sid Maurer, and
former Epic Records promoter Fred Frank, and signed to their Roadshow
Records/Desert Moon imprint.
Hyman moved to New York City to work on her
reputation. She did background vocals on Jon Lucien's Premonition and worked in
clubs. In 1975 when Norman Connors was laying tracks for "You are My Starship"
(1976) he could not get permission to use Jean Carne for the album and had heard
about Phyllis Hyman, who was working at a club on the upper Westside of
Manhattan. One night after a Jon Lucien concert at Carnegie Hall he went to see
Phyllis perform and offered her a spot as the female vocalist on his fourth
album for Buddah Records. Once the title song got airplay on Jazz radio,
"Starship" went gold, catapulting Phyllis' career along with Norman Connors and
Michael Henderson to new heights. R&B radio jumped on board and Norman and
Phyllis scored on the R&B charts with a remake of The Stylistics' "Betcha by
Golly Wow!"
Hyman sang with Pharoah Sanders and the Fatback Band while
working on her first solo album, Phyllis Hyman, released in 1977 on the Buddah
Records label. Phyllis Hyman is curiously one of her most forgotten efforts,
though it include a couple of gems that she would be later be identified with.
Skip Scarborough's "No One Can Love You More" is indicative of her plentiful
sensual charm and her rich vocal timbre. Although Hyman's vocal prowess is well
known, this set also shows that she was gifted with an uncommon maturity. Hyman
was only in her mid 20's when this was recorded. There is also the cover of the
Thom Bell and Linda Creed's "I Don't Want to Lose You" (originally recorded by
the Spinners) has Hyman's version even more of a tearjerker. From singing the
chorus in the intro, to doing a Sarah Vaughan-like scat in the middle, the song
was hers. Also receiving considerable airplay and showing that she could hang
in the disco arena was “Loving You, Losing You.”
When Arista Records
bought Buddha, she was transferred to that label. Her first album for Arista,
Somewhere in My Lifetime, was released in 1978; the title track was produced by
then-label mate Barry Manilow. Clive Davis wanted to get her exposed to a cross
over audience. This album contained one my favorite songs by Phyllis, the
smooth, torch song “The Answer Is You.”
Her follow-up album, You Know How
to Love Me, made the R&B Top 20 and also performed well on the club–dance
charts. In the late 1970s, Hyman married her manager Larry Alexander (who is the
brother of Jamaican pianist and melodica player Monty Alexander), but both the
personal and professional associations ended in divorce. Around this time, Hyman
began using cocaine, which led to a lifelong dependency.
Hyman's first
solo Top Ten hit came in 1981 with "Can't We Fall In Love Again", a duet with
Michael Henderson. The song was recorded while she was performing in the
Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies, a tribute to Duke Ellington. She
performed in the role for almost two years, receiving a Tony Award nomination
for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical and winning a Theatre World Award for
Best Newcomer.
Problems between Hyman and her label, Arista, caused a
pause in her recording career. She used the time to appear on movie soundtracks,
television commercials and guest vocals, working with Chuck Mangione, The
Whispers and The Four Tops. Hyman provided vocals for three tracks on jazz
pianist McCoy Tyner's Looking Out (1982). She toured often and did a college
lecture tour.
In 1983, Hyman recorded the song "Never Say Never Again"
as the title song for the James Bond movie of the same name, written by Stephen
Forsyth and Jim Ryan. However, Warner Brothers informed Forsyth that Michel
Legrand, who wrote the score for the film, had threatened to sue them, claiming
he contractually had the rights to the title song. An alternate title song
composed by Legrand was eventually used for the film and performed by singer
Lani Hall, formerly of Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66.
Free from Arista in
1985, she released clearly her best album, Living All Alone on Kenny Gamble and
Leon Huff's Philadelphia International label the following year, capitalizing on
the torch songs, the highly textured title song, "Old Friend" and the melancholy
title track, as well as "You Just Don't Know" and "Screaming at the Moon". In
1987, Phyllis Hyman recorded "Black and Blue" as a duet with Barry Manilow on
his 1987 Swing Street Arista album. Manilow was a long time admirer of Phyllis
and her work. Shortly afterwards, she appeared in the films School Daze and The
Kill Reflex. She would also continue to lend her voice to albums for other
artists and musicians like Grover Washington, Jr. and Lonnie Liston Smith, while
at the same time doing international tours.
Her next album, again on
Philadelphia International, called Prime of My Life, released in 1991, was the
biggest of her career. It included her first number one R&B hit as well as
her first Billboard Top 100 hit, "Don't Wanna Change the World". The album
provided two more top 10 R&B singles in "Living in Confusion" and "When You
Get Right Down to It", and the less successful "I Found Love". Just over a year
later, she appeared one last time on a Norman Connors album, singing the title
song, "Remember Who You Are", which became a minor R&B hit. Prime of My Life
has sold 454,000 copies to date. The album and debut single were both RIAA
certified Gold in 1992.
Hyman's last album, I Refuse to Be Lonely, was a
journey into her personal life. Both the title track and the single "I'm Truly
Yours" became minor R&B hits.
On the afternoon of June 30, 1995,
Hyman committed suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in the
bedroom of her New York City apartment at 211 West 56th Street. She was found
unconscious at 2pm, hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo
Theater and died three hours later at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. Her suicide
note read in part:
"I'm tired. I'm tired. Those of you that I love know
who you are. May God bless you."
She was 45 years old. A memorial
service was held at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan. The following week
would have been her 46th birthday.
Phyllis Linda Hyman (July
6, 1949 – June 30, 1995 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an African American
singer-songwriter and actress.
Phyllis Hyman has come to symbolize what
happens in the music industry when your talent exceeds the
limitations of the industry’s management and vision. Some artists like Phyllis
also arrive too early and they set the stage for those who follow. A beautiful,
statuesque woman, with a gifted voice that was tailor made for Jazz expressions.
Her style was classy, urbane and flavorful. She had a quick wit, but often was
subject to moodiness and diva like manners. After years of high expectations
from the industry and from fans of really breaking out to be a major star, over
this time period while waiting, she had amassed and impressive body of work and
a cult following, especially amongst Black women.
Phyllis Hyman was
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the St. Clair Village, the
South Hills section of Pittsburgh. Born to an African American family, she was
the eldest of seven children and a third cousin of actor Earle Hyman (best known
for his recurring role on TV's The Cosby Show as Cliff's father, Russell
Huxtable). After leaving Pittsburgh, her music training started at a music
school. On graduation, she performed on a national tour with the group New
Direction in 1971. After the group disbanded, she joined All the People and
worked with another local group, The Hondo Beat. At this time, she appeared in
the film Lenny (1974). She also did a two-year stint leading a band called
Phyllis Hyman and the P/H Factor. Hyman was discovered in 1975 by
internationally known pop artist and music industry veteran Sid Maurer, and
former Epic Records promoter Fred Frank, and signed to their Roadshow
Records/Desert Moon imprint.
Hyman moved to New York City to work on her
reputation. She did background vocals on Jon Lucien's Premonition and worked in
clubs. In 1975 when Norman Connors was laying tracks for "You are My Starship"
(1976) he could not get permission to use Jean Carne for the album and had heard
about Phyllis Hyman, who was working at a club on the upper Westside of
Manhattan. One night after a Jon Lucien concert at Carnegie Hall he went to see
Phyllis perform and offered her a spot as the female vocalist on his fourth
album for Buddah Records. Once the title song got airplay on Jazz radio,
"Starship" went gold, catapulting Phyllis' career along with Norman Connors and
Michael Henderson to new heights. R&B radio jumped on board and Norman and
Phyllis scored on the R&B charts with a remake of The Stylistics' "Betcha by
Golly Wow!"
Hyman sang with Pharoah Sanders and the Fatback Band while
working on her first solo album, Phyllis Hyman, released in 1977 on the Buddah
Records label. Phyllis Hyman is curiously one of her most forgotten efforts,
though it include a couple of gems that she would be later be identified with.
Skip Scarborough's "No One Can Love You More" is indicative of her plentiful
sensual charm and her rich vocal timbre. Although Hyman's vocal prowess is well
known, this set also shows that she was gifted with an uncommon maturity. Hyman
was only in her mid 20's when this was recorded. There is also the cover of the
Thom Bell and Linda Creed's "I Don't Want to Lose You" (originally recorded by
the Spinners) has Hyman's version even more of a tearjerker. From singing the
chorus in the intro, to doing a Sarah Vaughan-like scat in the middle, the song
was hers. Also receiving considerable airplay and showing that she could hang
in the disco arena was “Loving You, Losing You.”
When Arista Records
bought Buddha, she was transferred to that label. Her first album for Arista,
Somewhere in My Lifetime, was released in 1978; the title track was produced by
then-label mate Barry Manilow. Clive Davis wanted to get her exposed to a cross
over audience. This album contained one my favorite songs by Phyllis, the
smooth, torch song “The Answer Is You.”
Her follow-up album, You Know How
to Love Me, made the R&B Top 20 and also performed well on the club–dance
charts. In the late 1970s, Hyman married her manager Larry Alexander (who is the
brother of Jamaican pianist and melodica player Monty Alexander), but both the
personal and professional associations ended in divorce. Around this time, Hyman
began using cocaine, which led to a lifelong dependency.
Hyman's first
solo Top Ten hit came in 1981 with "Can't We Fall In Love Again", a duet with
Michael Henderson. The song was recorded while she was performing in the
Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies, a tribute to Duke Ellington. She
performed in the role for almost two years, receiving a Tony Award nomination
for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical and winning a Theatre World Award for
Best Newcomer.
Problems between Hyman and her label, Arista, caused a
pause in her recording career. She used the time to appear on movie soundtracks,
television commercials and guest vocals, working with Chuck Mangione, The
Whispers and The Four Tops. Hyman provided vocals for three tracks on jazz
pianist McCoy Tyner's Looking Out (1982). She toured often and did a college
lecture tour.
In 1983, Hyman recorded the song "Never Say Never Again"
as the title song for the James Bond movie of the same name, written by Stephen
Forsyth and Jim Ryan. However, Warner Brothers informed Forsyth that Michel
Legrand, who wrote the score for the film, had threatened to sue them, claiming
he contractually had the rights to the title song. An alternate title song
composed by Legrand was eventually used for the film and performed by singer
Lani Hall, formerly of Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66.
Free from Arista in
1985, she released clearly her best album, Living All Alone on Kenny Gamble and
Leon Huff's Philadelphia International label the following year, capitalizing on
the torch songs, the highly textured title song, "Old Friend" and the melancholy
title track, as well as "You Just Don't Know" and "Screaming at the Moon". In
1987, Phyllis Hyman recorded "Black and Blue" as a duet with Barry Manilow on
his 1987 Swing Street Arista album. Manilow was a long time admirer of Phyllis
and her work. Shortly afterwards, she appeared in the films School Daze and The
Kill Reflex. She would also continue to lend her voice to albums for other
artists and musicians like Grover Washington, Jr. and Lonnie Liston Smith, while
at the same time doing international tours.
Her next album, again on
Philadelphia International, called Prime of My Life, released in 1991, was the
biggest of her career. It included her first number one R&B hit as well as
her first Billboard Top 100 hit, "Don't Wanna Change the World". The album
provided two more top 10 R&B singles in "Living in Confusion" and "When You
Get Right Down to It", and the less successful "I Found Love". Just over a year
later, she appeared one last time on a Norman Connors album, singing the title
song, "Remember Who You Are", which became a minor R&B hit. Prime of My Life
has sold 454,000 copies to date. The album and debut single were both RIAA
certified Gold in 1992.
Hyman's last album, I Refuse to Be Lonely, was a
journey into her personal life. Both the title track and the single "I'm Truly
Yours" became minor R&B hits.
On the afternoon of June 30, 1995,
Hyman committed suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in the
bedroom of her New York City apartment at 211 West 56th Street. She was found
unconscious at 2pm, hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo
Theater and died three hours later at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. Her suicide
note read in part:
"I'm tired. I'm tired. Those of you that I love know
who you are. May God bless you."
She was 45 years old. A memorial
service was held at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan. The following week
would have been her 46th birthday.
Maxi Priest
by Michael Ivy
Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliot (born June 10, 1961, Lewisham, London,
England) is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for
his 1990 # 1 Pop hit “Close to you” and his 1991 R&B hit with Shabba Ranks
“Housecall.”
His music is sometimes closer to R&B, and pop, than to reggae music
itself. This has causes him some derision from reggae purists, but his R&B
fans just adore him that much more. Definitely has played a factor for similar
artists who have followed him, most notably Sean Paul. His cousin, Jacob Miller,
a reggae icon, was the frontman in the popular reggae group Inner Circle.
Priest was the eighth of nine children, born to parents who had emigrated
from Jamaica several years before his birth. His mother was active in the
Pentecostal church, and the family grew up singing gospel music together; Maxi
would later convert to Rastafarianism, upon which point he changed his name to
Maxi Priest. He was working as a carpenter when he was invited to build speaker
boxes for the prominent Saxon International sound system. It wasn't long before
his contacts there discovered that he could sing as well, and soon he was
participating in live dancehall shows; in 1984, he and Paul "Barry Boom"
Robinson also co-produced Phillip Levi's "Mi God Mi King," the first U.K.-born
reggae single to hit # 1 in Jamaica.
Priest signed with Virgin Records
and released his debut album, You're Safe, in 1985. A more traditional reggae
set than his subsequent releases, it featured production by Robinson and live
instrumental backing from the band Caution, and spun off the U.K. hit "In the
Springtime." His 1986 follow-up, Intentions, featured two more U.K. successes in
"Strollin' On" and the Van Morrison cover "Crazy Love." However, it was 1988's
Sly & Robbie-produced Maxi Priest that ranked as his true breakthrough; his
Top 30 cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" gave him his first American hit, and
another cover, Robert Palmer's "Some Guys Have All the Luck," kept his hit
streak alive in the U.K. Elsewhere, he embraced slinky lovers rock grooves to a
greater extent than ever before, and even made a rare detour into social
consciousness with the Beres Hammond duet "How Can We Ease the Pain?."
Now hugely popular in the U.K., and on his way in the U.S., Priestrecorded what
would become his biggest-selling album, Bonafide. Released in 1990, it climbed
up the charts by virtue of the steamy single "Close to You (# 2 R&B)," which
went all the way to # 1 on the American pop charts. Follow-ups "Just a Little
Bit Longer (# 30 R&B)" and "Space in My Heart (#76 R&B)" failed to
duplicate its success Stateside, although "Peace Throughout the World" and
"Human Work of Art" were both popular in Britain. The hits collection Best of Me
was rushed out in 1991, not long after Priest teamed with Shabba Ranks for the
dance-club hit "House Call (# 4 R&B, # 37 Pop)," and not long before another
Priest duet, the Roberta Flack collaboration "Set the Night to Music (# 45
R&B, # 6 Pop)," climbed into the U.S. Top Ten. Nonetheless, Priest's next
album, 1992's Fe Real, was a solid outing but a commercial disappointment;
neither of the American singles, "Groovin' in the Midnight" or the Shaggy duet
"One More Chance (# 77 R&B)," made much of an impact either. But his next
release a collaboration with jazz impresario guitarist Lee Rittenour, a softer,
more gentle cover of the Bob Marley classic “wait in Vain (# 54 R&B) is
definitely worth a listen to. After a supporting role in the movie Scam, Priest
took a sabbatical from recording for a few years to concentrate on launching his
own U.K. label, Dugout. His duet with Shaggy in 1996, "That Girl (# 34 R&B,
# 20 Pop)", was also a hit in the United States.
