Best known as one-half of the country super-duo Florida Georgia Line, Kelley will release a solo album, “Tennessee Truth,” on Friday. It is a collection of 12 anthemic country songs ripe for a road trip and tailgate in equal measure.

For “Tennessee Truth,” produced by Dan Huff, Kelley says he aimed to “dive into the music I grew up on — obviously the music I love and themes of just country living, rural living, hard work, good times, outdoors, love,” he told The Associated Press from his home in Nashville.

Good songwriting, Kelley says, is a lot like fishing — you need patience. “I wrote probably over 100 songs for this record.”

Eight of the 12 songs on the album were written by Kelley, and he worked with whomever he could on others, trying to get outside his comfort zone. “Every song gets you to the next song,” he says.

“I think it’s a fun record,” he says, adding that the creative process was dependent on these tracks translating live.

Geography still plays a prominent role in the music Kelley makes. Throughout “Tennessee Truth” are beaches in Florida, farms in Nashville, his wife’s family farm in Georgia. Hunting, sitting on the porch drinking sweet tea and eating peanuts, conversations with loved ones — that’s the kind of life he hopes comes across on the album. “Just being free,” he says.

Fans looking for more coastal country from Kelley — like what was found on his pandemic album, “Sunshine State of Mind,” released in 2020 — will want to skip over to “10 O’clock on the Dot.”

“It was a passion project,” he says of “Sunshine State.” “It was supposed to just be its own little thing.”

Kelley says he also made that record with the thought that he would record solo and with Florida Georgia Line. “I made it with a sonic respect to what we were, what we had done and what we had built. So, I didn’t want to tread on anything even close to that, out of respect, you know?”

He says he considers “Tennessee Truth” his true solo debut.

In 2022, Florida Georgia Line embarked on an indefinite hiatus. At that point, the duo of Kelley and Tyler Hubbard had been together more than a decade, and whether you were a fan of their bro country sound or not, their music ( “Cruise,” “Meant to Be,” “Round Here”) set the tone for a generation of country fans. The following year, Hubbard released a self-titled debut solo record.

“I’m thankful that (Brian) had the courage to step into this new space and to make that decision that ultimately kind of pushed me to make the same decision and lead me to where I’m at now,” Hubbard told AP at the time. “I had quite a few people tell me that it couldn’t be done and that I should definitely continue with FGL, and it sort of lit a spark in me, a fire.”

The closing song on “Tennessee Truth” is the feisty “Kiss My Boots,” which features Kelley delivering vinegary lyrics like: “Want the world to know that you did me wrong / I don’t know how you act sweet, after how you did me / Here’s a middle finger to you through a song.” Some fans theorize it is a direct message to Hubbard.

“I’ve read some of that, too,” Kelley says, adding that he understands people might make associations in order to find meaning in the song.

“But at the end of the day,” he says, the song means a lot of different things for his collaborators, “And it really means a lot of different things for me.

“I really put that song out because I wanted people to know that I’m a real human, and I’m not just some face on social media or some somebody that’s had some success,” he adds. “You know, I’ve been through hard times in my life.”

But could there be a reunion on the horizon?

“The old saying is, ‘Tell God your plans and he’ll laugh,’” he says. “So, I have no idea. I really don’t know what the future holds. I know that I’m really focused on what I’m doing now, and I’m really proud of … the work that I put in.”

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The band was launching a tour, and despite doing all he could do to be vocally ready, the “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer struggled through songs and couldn’t hit the notes the way he used to.

Critics noticed and wrote about it. A review from Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota, said: “It felt like he had forgotten how to sing.”

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Bon Jovi said the reaction at the time was “heartbreaking.” After exhausting holistic options, he saw a doctor who said one of his vocal cords was atrophying.

“This was unique. It wasn’t a nodule. The strong (vocal cord) was pushing the weak one around, and suddenly, my inabilities were just exacerbated,” said Bon Jovi. He underwent major surgery and is still recovering.

“Every day is sort of like doing curls with weights and just getting them both to be the same size and to function together.”

This year has been a turning point. In February, he performed for an audience for the first time since his surgery at the MusiCares Person of the Year benefit gala where he was also named Person of The Year. The band’s next album, “Forever” hits stores June 7, and its first single “Legendary” is out now. The four-part, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” debuts Friday on Hulu.

In a Q&A, Bon Jovi talks about his voice, his famous hair, the music industry and his work ethic.

Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

The work you put in behind-the-scenes is like a quarterback in between football games. Are you still rehearsing at that intensity, and how are you now?
BON JOVI: I’m doing great. The record was easy to do. The process has been steady. Would I like it to be a light switch? Yeah. I said to the doctor, ‘I want to flip the switch and be done with this.’ It’s just not how it works. Like an athlete coming back from an ACL tear or whatever, it just takes time. The therapy is still intensive and yet I’m confident that it gets progressively better.

We learn in the docuseries that your father was a barber. You’ve always been known for having good hair, especially in the 1980’s. Does that come from your dad?
BON JOVI: Not in as much where he sat down and said, ‘I’ve got this idea.’ Really, I was a byproduct of what was the 80s. Those were my baby pictures. I love laughing at them. Now, I can jokingly at least say, ‘After 40 years of a career, I still have all my hair.’ That is a good thing. Genetics works in my favor.

Do you ever think about acting again?
BON JOVI: I do, on occasion. My day job then comes back to get in the way. In truth, I’ve got a big record coming out, and I’m hoping to go out on the road, so I don’t have time for it. And I respect the craft far too much to think I’m going to walk on a set and hit my marks and call that acting.

Your work ethic stands out in “Thank You, Goodnight.” We see in the early days you would sleep at the music studio. Where does that come from?
BON JOVI: If you’re not going to be great, the guy that’s coming in tomorrow night is going to be better. This isn’t a career that you should take lightly. There’s a million other young guys that are waiting to take your spot. And there are no guarantees in this business…You have to win hearts in order to win people’s hard-earned dollar. If you’re asking them to stay with you for four decades, that’s a task. You better be one of the greats or else good luck.

Richie Sambora is interviewed in the series. The fans love seeing him. Do you think you will ever perform together again?
BON JOVI: We never had a big falling out. He quit 10 years ago. It’s not that we’re not in contact or anything like that, but he was choosing to, as a single dad, raise his child. The door is always open if he wants to come up and sing a song. I mean, there’s many of them that we co-wrote together. That’s a great part of both of our lives. There’s no animosity here.

A lot of musicians are selling their music catalog. Would you?
BON JOVI: For some, it makes sense because they need to. For some, it makes sense because they want to. I just find (Bon Jovi’s music) to be my baby, and I have no desire at this juncture in my life to ever even consider it.

You’re one of New Jersey’s favorite sons like Bruce Springsteen. It’s a point of pride for New Jersey residents that you’re from there, but you moved to Florida?
BON JOVI: Part-time! My license is still New Jersey. I still vote in New Jersey.

AP: The music industry is such a singles market now. Did you ever consider just putting out some new songs and not an entire album?
BON JOVI: See, I’m the opposite. I can only put out an album. I do all I know how to do. I have to tell the complete story. It has to be the beginning, a middle and an end because that’s who and what we are.

How do you describe the new album?
BON JOVI: What comes through is joy. My goal with this record was to capture joy which for these last few years has been difficult, whether it’s the dark cloud of COVID that the world experienced or my own personal journey. With this record, I think we captured joy.

The post After 4 decades in music and major vocal surgery, Jon Bon Jovi is optimistic and still rocking appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

“This is the first new music I have been working on in seven years,” he says, sitting in his home rehearsal studio surrounded by guitars and amps that also houses his art studio. “I performed some of the new songs at these concerts and released a record in April 2021.”

Newsted has been playing some shows with his revolving members of The Chophouse Band for a few years but playing all covers of such roots giants as Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, and Bob Seger.

Jason Newsted’s life has been steeped in music from his early years growing up in the 60s in Battle Creek but grew up in Niles, Michigan where he listened to records his older brother had, including Jimi Hendrix, Earth Wind and Fire, and the Jackson 5. Surprisingly funky choices and Newsted says “The dominance of the bass attracted me to that music though I wasn’t aware of that then.”

His parents listened to mellower folk music like the Mamas and the Papas and the 1910 Fruitgum Company. As the decade progressed into the 70s he listened to the Ohio Players, Jeff Beck, and the band that really put him over the edge – KISS.

How it all began

By 1981 he was in Arizona with $300 in his pocket, some records, a bass, and his amp. They rented a house and he took jobs in a sandwich shop and as a dishwasher. He did that for a year, then finally put a band together out of Scottsdale called Flotsam & Jetsam.

The underage young band couldn’t even hang out in the clubs they played but won some Battle of the Band contests in 1985 that included recording studio time.

First band

His band was doing well and were Kings of the City of Phoenix but Newsted felt he had to try as Phoenix wasn’t very big at the time.

They banged out six songs in one day to make a demo. From there Newsted put together a press kit and mailed it out to as many people as I could. They got a review – from a demo! – in KERRANG! magazine – that was a big deal. Then they got a small record deal and had six days to record. One of those people that he sent that record to was Michael Alago in New York at Elektra Records who had signed Metallica in 84.

Metallica

For the next 15 years, Newsted hit the big time in a perfect storm of literally dominating a new genre of music. He participated in the recording of 6 Metallica albums (including …And Justice for All, Metallica, Load, ReLoad, and Garage Inc.) which have sold over 66 million copies worldwide to date. In addition, he played on numerous worldwide tours to millions of fans representing over 1,000 gigs in all. The band went on to win MTV Awards, American Music Awards, 8 Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, and dozens more.

A major snafu happened when they were nominated for the debut Grammy for Best Hard Rock Metal Performance in 1989 and the winner was…Jethro Tull.

A firestorm erupted over that one and Jason says they had pre-printed banners saying they had won but then they stamped a giant LOSER instead – which of course became a huge collector’s item.

Why leave it all?

After leaving Metallica due to a combination of health and creative issues, Jason took control of his new freedom and began a remarkable painting career as well as forming band projects with music “I could play forever,” he says.

The Chophouse Band name was given by the Martin brothers from Castro Valley, CA, Jim Martin, the flying V guitar player from Faith No More, who was Cliff Burton’s best friend, and Lawrence Martin, his older brother. They originally dubbed the recording studio in Walnut Creek, California, “The Big Rigor Chophouse” and then after a couple of years, it was whittled down to be The Chophouse Studio, Record Co. & Band.

The current group (Robert John Tucker on drums, Tom Coughter on bass, Carl Schmid on violin and fiddle, Amir Tal on Lead guitar and backing vocal) has been playing 6 shows a year with them. Guest performers include Micah Scott on banjo and Matt Farr, on keyboards.

“My songwriting process is similar to my painting process,” he says gesturing with his arms straight up to the ceiling. “I open up to the universe and tap into a channel. The more you do it the easier it gets. On a more practical level, I lay down a drum and bass track first. Certain instruments have the songs in them, then I pull out a melody and lyric. I work from the rhythm up probably due to my bass playing history. I’m always chasing that zone. It’s the same with my art, I pick up certain materials – brush, paint stick, marker – and just start hitting the canvas with it.”

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Because he wanted to match his previous success — and reach even greater heights — Ozuna got more involved in the production process of “Nibiru,” his third full-length album released Friday.

“I believe this is the album (that) I have dedicated (the most) time in my career,” Ozuna said in Spanish in a phone interview from New York City this week. “I feel good (about) the music … we took things from everywhere to do this.”

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The album features the hit single “Baila Baila Baila,” which earned him his first Latin Grammy nomination this year (he lost to Rosalía). “Nibiru” also includes “Reggaeton en Paris,” featuring Dalex and Nicky Jam, and his latest single “Hasta Que Salga el Sol,” which he said was made “for the disco and the party.”

“It’s a great song with great energy,” he said. “If you wake up with a song like this, you got to cheer up that day.”

“Nibiru” also includes collaborations with high-profile performers such as Diddy and DJ Snake (“Eres Top”), Snoop Dogg and Anuel AA (“Patek”) and Swae Lee (“Sin Pensar”). The track “Temporal” features Willy of the Puerto Rican rock band Cultura Profética — a song that takes the rocker to more tropical grounds.

“I love the style of rock. I love the electric guitar,” said Ozuna about his relationship with rock music.

Ozuna, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, performed at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City on Thursday, Nov 28. Last week he was one of the headline acts at the Coca-Cola Flow Fest in Mexico City, where 75,000 fans attended and Ozuna shined onstage with a bright red jacket and hat.

“It’s out of respect for my fans, you got to look and dress good,” Ozuna said of his fashion choices.

He will return to Mexico for the Machaca Festival next year. His 2020 will be super-busy: He’ll launch his “Nibiru” world tour and he will appear in “Fast & Furious 9,” which will hit U.S. theaters on May 22.

Ozuna is ending 2019 on a bright note. At the beginning of the year, he said he was being extorted over an explicit video filmed when he was 16 years old.

To those facing similar challenges, Ozuna said: “Keep going forward.”

“Those are special situations, everyone comes here to learn something, surely they will learn from those situations. It’s just going to be an experience.”

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Latin Star Ozuna Worked Hard to Make ‘Nibiru’ Great

The post Latin Star Ozuna Says he Worked Hard to Make ‘Nibiru’ Great appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

“I kind of have my fire back and I’m not so internal and broody as I was four years ago,” Lambert said of “Wildcard,” her seventh album dropping Friday.

This is her first solo record since putting out the excellent 2016 double album, “The Weight of These Wings,” a highly personal and critically acclaimed record that came after her divorce from Blake Shelton and won album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

“I’m 35. I went through a divorce,” Lambert said. “I’m thankful that fans allowed me that time to do that. I’m just going through stuff everybody else goes through.”

Now Lambert, who surprised many earlier this year by announcing her marriage to New York City police officer Brendan McLoughlin, is returning to the rock ‘n’ roll sound that she displayed on her 2005 debut “Kerosene” with the help of Nashville producer Jay Joyce. Joyce had played guitar on her first three records, but this was the first time he took the lead as producer for Lambert.

“Writing for this record, I don’t know, I felt like the color came back, so the imaging reflects that and the songs reflect that,” said Lambert. “Even the wardrobe is a little bit brighter.”

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Joyce, who has worked with Eric Church, Little Big Town and Brothers Osborne, pushed her out of her comfort zone on songs like “Locomotive,” a Joan Jett-meets-Patty Griffin rocker in which Lambert barrels through fuzzed-out guitars and harmonica.

“Jay’s idea to kind of cut it in a punk way was brilliant and I wasn’t sure I could pull it off, but sure enough, we did,” said Lambert.

She also wrote with Luke Dick, who has written songs with Dierks Bentley and Kip Moore, and as a side gig, fronts a new wave punk band called Republican Hair. Lambert and her longtime songwriting pal Natalie Hemby would go to his East Nashville house with a cooler of booze and snacks for nighttime writing sessions and Dick would cue up different tracks as inspiration.

He played her a bit of a slick, new wave rock song called “Mess With My Head” that he initially thought might work for his band.

“I’m a kid of the ’80s and I gravitate sometimes toward things that I grew up on, whether it’s the Cars or Joan Jett or whatever,” Dick said. “I’ve always thought Miranda was the closest thing to Joan Jett country has.”

Lambert’s natural wit and self-effacing humor come out on songs like “White Trash” or “Pretty Bitchin’” — in which Lambert declares, “I’m pretty from the back, kinda pretty in the face.”

“My strong suit as a writer I feel like is sarcasm,” Lambert said proudly. “Whether it’s sad or happy or fun, I’ve kind of built a career on being kitschy and a little snide.”

She’s had to build up that thick skin after years of being hounded by tabloids, whether it was about her marriage and divorce to Shelton, her weight or her subsequent romances. Now she shrugs it off as free press.

“My guitar player who has been with me for 17 years, Scotty Wray, texted me yesterday and said, ‘I just read at the Kroger that you’re pregnant. Congrats again,’” Lambert said, who noted that the lies spread about her are almost always about her getting pregnant. “Guys, sometimes I just eat cheeseburgers. That’s all it is.”

But even as Lambert and other female stars of the genre, including Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, and Maren Morris, are putting out the most lauded music of their careers, their music is mostly ignored by country radio, while the airplay charts are churning with dozens of male country artists.

Lambert has been taking out other female artists on her Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars tour for years, has her own female trio, the Pistol Annies, and created a college scholarship for female artists. But the Grammy winner can’t wrap her head around radio’s lack of support.

“I’m on the road now and I see how much it helps when someone knows your new single,” Lambert said. “But also I went through this whole period of ‘Weight of These Wings,’ and won song of the year and album of the year and I didn’t have anything on the radio at all.”

Lambert also enthusiastically endorsed Underwood for the Country Music Association’s highest prize, entertainer of the year. Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, and Eric Church will compete with Underwood at the Nov. 13 show.

“I’m a huge fan of everyone in that category,” Lambert said. “But if you think about someone who hosted the CMAs pregnant, then started an all-female tour and then had a baby and then went right back on the road three months later… she has a brand, Calia by Carrie Underwood, and it lifts up women. She does Monday Night Football. I just feel like as a whole entertainer of the year should be someone that entertains in all facets of music.”

Lambert, who has more CMA Awards than other female artists, is nominated for female vocalist of the year, a trophy she has won seven times and will be performing her new single, “It All Comes Out in the Wash,” which Lambert said kind of sums up her new album.

“The whole theme of the record is it all comes out in the wash,” Lambert said. “There are really bad times in everybody’s journey, but somehow you’re gonna smile again and I think this record reflects that.”

______

Online: https://www.mirandalambert.com [/ihc-hide-content]

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Miranda Lambert is Bold, Funny and Ready to Rock Again

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The guitar guru was so bursting with creative inspiration 50 years ago that he felt compelled to pick up a brush and use his skills from art school to take poster paints to his favorite instrument, a 1959 Fender Telecaster, and decorate it with a psychedelic beast.

He calls the axe “the Excalibur” that he wielded through the wildly eventful year of 1968, when his old band, the Yardbirds, crashed, and his new band, Led Zeppelin, was born just two months later.

“My whole life is moving so fast at that point,” Page, now 74, said as he reflected on Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary in an interview with The Associated Press at the Fender guitar factory in California. “Absolutely just a roller-coaster ride.”

Page said he had Led Zeppelin’s sound, and first songs, fully formed in his mind before the Yardbirds were even done.

“I just knew what way to go,” Page said. “It was in my instinct.”

He found his first ally in singer Robert Plant, whom he invited to his house to thumb through records and talk music.

Page said he used an unlikely bit of folkie inspiration — Joan Baez — to show Plant the sound he wanted, playing her recording of the song “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” and telling him to emulate the way she sang the top line of the song. Zeppelin would put the tune on its first album.

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Half a century on, guitarist Jimmy Page recalls how he put legendary rock outfit Led Zeppelin together. (Oct. 30)
Page still marvels at how fast the whole thing took off after Plant brought on drummer John Bonham and Page pulled in his friend John Paul Jones to play bass.

“The whole journey of Led Zeppelin and the rise of Led Zeppelin, each tour was just extraordinary, and the growth and the respect and love of the band, and the people that were flooding to see us,” Page said.

The first record also included “Dazed and Confused,” with Page famously using a violin bow on the dragon guitar, which he played on every electric song on the record.

The guitar had been a cherished gift that guitarist Jeff Beck had given Page to thank him for recommending Beck for a job in the Yardbirds, which had brought a handsome payday.

“He’d bought a Corvette Stingray, and came roaring up my driveway with it,” Page remembered. “He said, ‘This is yours.’ I was absolutely thrilled to bits. It was given to me with so much affection.”

Page said he made immediate and intense use of the instrument, and wanted to “consecrate” it, so he went at it with paints that were used at the time for psychedelic posters, and summoned the dragon.

Page later left the guitar behind at his home in England on an early U.S. tour with Led Zeppelin in 1969. He’d come to regret it.

When he returned, exhausted and abuzz, he found that a ceramicist friend who had been serving as his house-sitter had painted over the dragon in his own mosaic style as a “gift” for Page.

“It was a disaster,” he said.

Page angrily stripped off all the paint and he placed it in storage, where it sat for decades.

Flash forward 50 years. Page was assembling a book for the band’s anniversary, and the dragon guitar kept popping up in pictures.

Page felt that maybe it was time to bring the old beast back to life. He worked with a graphic artist who helped illustrate the book, using photos to repaint the guitar, and recreate its old look.

He loved the result so much that he approached Fender, guitar maker happily signed on to make an anniversary rendition for the public. The design will be unveiled in January.

“It’s absolutely identical,” Page said. “You wouldn’t see any difference. If anything, the colors were just slightly richer.”

Four different versions of the guitar will be released next year.

Along with the book, the instruments are a tribute to the band’s 50-year legacy.

Asked what kind of gift one might get for his bandmates for such a milestone, Page said, “I might give them a paintbrush, and the body of a guitar, and see if they can do something with it.”

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Guitarist Jimmy Page Looks Back at 50 Years of Led Zeppelin

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Publicist Gwendolyn Quinn tells The Associated Press through a family statement that Franklin died Thursday at 9:50 a.m. at her home in Detroit. The statement said “Franklin’s official cause of death was due to advanced pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute” in Detroit.

The family added: “In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family. The love she had for her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins knew no bounds.”

The statement continued:

“We have been deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. Thank you for your compassion and prayers. We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”

Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.

Franklin, who had battled undisclosed health issues in recent years, had in 2017 announced her retirement from touring.

A professional singer and accomplished pianist by her late teens, a superstar by her mid-20s, Franklin had long ago settled any arguments over who was the greatest popular vocalist of her time. Her gifts, natural and acquired, were a multi-octave mezzo-soprano, gospel passion and training worthy of a preacher’s daughter, taste sophisticated and eccentric, and the courage to channel private pain into liberating song.

Half century of hits

She recorded hundreds of tracks and had dozens of hits over the span of a half century, including 20 that reached No. 1 on the R&B charts. But her reputation was defined by an extraordinary run of top 10 smashes in the late 1960s, from the morning-after bliss of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” to the wised-up “Chain of Fools” to her unstoppable call for “Respect.”

Her records sold millions of copies and the music industry couldn’t honor her enough. Franklin won 18 Grammy awards. In 1987, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Clive Davis, the music mogul who brought her to Arista Records and helped revive her career in the 1980s, said he was “devastated” by her death.

“She was truly one of a kind. She was more than the Queen of Soul. She was a national treasure to be cherished by every generation throughout the world,” he said in a statement. “Apart from our long professional relationship, Aretha was my friend. Her loss is deeply profound and my heart is full of sadness.”

Fellow singers bowed to her eminence and political and civic leaders treated her as a peer. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a longtime friend, and she sang at the dedication of King’s memorial, in 2011. She performed at the inaugurations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and at the funeral for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Clinton gave Franklin the National Medal of Arts. President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 2005.

Franklin’s best-known appearance with a president was in January 2009, when she sang “My Country ’tis of Thee” at Barack Obama’s inauguration. She wore a gray felt hat with a huge, Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow that became an Internet sensation and even had its own website. In 2015, she brought Obama and others to tears with a triumphant performance of “Natural Woman” at a Kennedy Center tribute to the song’s co-writer, Carole King.

Her life

Franklin endured the exhausting grind of celebrity and personal troubles dating back to childhood. She was married from 1961 to 1969 to her manager, Ted White, and their battles are widely believed to have inspired her performances on several songs, including “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone,” ″Think” and her heartbreaking ballad of despair, “Ain’t No Way.” The mother of two sons by age 16 (she later had two more), she was often in turmoil as she struggled with her weight, family problems and financial predicaments. Her best known producer, Jerry Wexler, nicknamed her “Our Lady of Mysterious Sorrows.”

Franklin married actor Glynn Turman in 1978 in Los Angeles but returned to her hometown of Detroit the following year after her father was shot by burglars and left semi-comatose until his death in 1984. She and Turman divorced that year.

Despite growing up in Detroit, and having Smokey Robinson as a childhood friend, Franklin never recorded for Motown Records; stints with Columbia and Arista were sandwiched around her prime years with Atlantic Records. But it was at Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father was pastor, that Franklin learned the gospel fundamentals that would make her a soul institution.

Aretha Louise Franklin was born March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee. The Rev. C.L. Franklin soon moved his family to Buffalo, New York, then to Detroit, where the Franklins settled after the marriage of Aretha’s parents collapsed and her mother (and reputed sound-alike) Barbara returned to Buffalo.

C.L. Franklin was among the most prominent Baptist ministers of his time. He recorded dozens of albums of sermons and music and knew such gospel stars as Marion Williams and Clara Ward, who mentored Aretha and her sisters Carolyn and Erma. (Both sisters sang on Aretha’s records, and Carolyn also wrote “Ain’t No Way” and other songs for Aretha). Music was the family business and performers from Sam Cooke to Lou Rawls were guests at the Franklin house. In the living room, the shy young Aretha awed friends with her playing on the grand piano.

Franklin occasionally performed at New Bethel Baptist throughout her career; her 1987 gospel album “One Lord One Faith One Baptism” was recorded live at the church.

Her most acclaimed gospel recording came in 1972 with the Grammy-winning album “Amazing Grace,” which was recorded live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in South Central Los Angeles and featured gospel legend James Cleveland, along with her own father (Mick Jagger was one of the celebrities in the audience). It became one of of the best-selling gospel albums ever.

The piano she began learning at age 8 became a jazzy component of much of her work, including arranging as well as songwriting. “If I’m writing and I’m producing and singing, too, you get more of me that way, rather than having four or five different people working on one song,” Franklin told The Detroit News in 2003.

Franklin was in her early teens when she began touring with her father, and she released a gospel album in 1956 through J-V-B Records. Four years later, she signed with Columbia Records producer John Hammond, who called Franklin the most exciting singer he had heard since a vocalist he promoted decades earlier, Billie Holiday. Franklin knew Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. and considered joining his label, but decided it was just a local company at the time.

Franklin recorded several albums for Columbia Records over the next six years. She had a handful of minor hits, including “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody” and “Runnin’ Out of Fools,” but never quite caught on as the label tried to fit into her a variety of styles, from jazz and show songs to such pop numbers as “Mockingbird.” Franklin jumped to Atlantic Records when her contract ran out, in 1966.

“But the years at Columbia also taught her several important things,” critic Russell Gersten later wrote. “She worked hard at controlling and modulating her phrasing, giving her a discipline that most other soul singers lacked. She also developed a versatility with mainstream music that gave her later albums a breadth that was lacking on Motown LPs from the same period.

“Most important, she learned what she didn’t like: to do what she was told to do.”

At Atlantic, Wexler teamed her with veteran R&B musicians from Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, and the result was a tougher, soulful sound, with call-and-response vocals and Franklin’s gospel-style piano, which anchored “I Say a Little Prayer,” ″Natural Woman” and others.

‘Respect’

Of Franklin’s dozens of hits, none was linked more firmly to her than the funky, horn-led march “Respect” and its spelled out demand for “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”

Writing in Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, Wexler said: “It was an appeal for dignity combined with a blatant lubricity. There are songs that are a call to action. There are love songs. There are sex songs. But it’s hard to think of another song where all those elements are combined.”

Franklin had decided she wanted to “embellish” the R&B song written by Otis Redding, whose version had been a modest hit in 1965, Wexler said.

“When she walked into the studio, it was already worked out in her head,” the producer wrote. “Otis came up to my office right before ‘Respect’ was released, and I played him the tape. He said, ‘She done took my song.’ He said it benignly and ruefully. He knew the identity of the song was slipping away from him to her.”

In a 2004 interview with the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, Franklin was asked whether she sensed in the ’60s that she was helping change popular music.

“Somewhat, certainly with ‘Respect,’ that was a battle cry for freedom and many people of many ethnicities took pride in that word,” she answered. “It was meaningful to all of us.”

In 1968, Franklin was pictured on the cover of Time magazine and had more than 10 Top 20 hits in 1967 and 1968. At a time of rebellion and division, Franklin’s records were a musical union of the church and the secular, man and woman, black and white, North and South, East and West. They were produced and engineered by New Yorkers Wexler and Tom Dowd, arranged by Turkish-born Arif Mardin and backed by an interracial assembly of top session musicians based mostly in Alabama.

Her popularity faded during the 1970s despite such hits as the funky “Rock Steady” and such acclaimed albums as the intimate “Spirit in the Dark.” But her career was revived in 1980 with a cameo appearance in the smash movie “The Blues Brothers” and her switch to Arista Records. Franklin collaborated with such pop and soul artists as Luther Vandross, Elton John, Whitney Houston and George Michael, with whom she recorded a No. 1 single, “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me).” Her 1985 album “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” received some of her best reviews and included such hits as the title track and “Freeway of Love.”

Critics consistently praised Franklin’s singing but sometimes questioned her material; she covered songs by Stephen Sondheim, Bread, the Doobie Brothers. For Aretha, anything she performed was “soul.”

From her earliest recording sessions at Columbia, when she asked to sing “Over the Rainbow,” she defied category. The 1998 Grammys gave her a chance to demonstrate her range. Franklin performed “Respect,” then, with only a few minutes’ notice, filled in for an ailing Luciano Pavarotti and drew rave reviews for her rendition of “Nessun Dorma,” a stirring aria for tenors from Puccini’s “Turandot.”

“I’m sure many people were surprised, but I’m not there to prove anything,” Franklin told The Associated Press. “Not necessary.”

Fame never eclipsed Franklin’s charitable works, or her loyalty to Detroit.

Franklin sang the national anthem at Super Bowl in her hometown in 2006, after grousing that Detroit’s rich musical legacy was being snubbed when the Rolling Stones were chosen as halftime performers.

“I didn’t think there was enough (Detroit representation) by any means,” she said. “And it was my feeling, ‘How dare you come to Detroit, a city of legends — musical legends, plural — and not ask one or two of them to participate?’ That’s not the way it should be.”

Franklin did most of her extensive touring by bus after Redding’s death in a 1967 plane crash, and a rough flight to Detroit in 1982 left her with a fear of flying that anti-anxiety tapes and classes couldn’t help. She told Time in 1998 that the custom bus was a comfortable alternative: “You can pull over, go to Red Lobster. You can’t pull over at 35,000 feet.”

She only released a few albums over the past two decades, including “A Rose is Still a Rose,” which featured songs by Sean “Diddy” Combs, Lauryn Hill and other contemporary artists, and “So Damn Happy,” for which Franklin wrote the gratified title ballad. Franklin’s autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots,” came out in 1999, when she was in her 50s. But she always made it clear that her story would continue.

“Music is my thing, it’s who I am. I’m in it for the long run,” she told The Associated Press in 2008. “I’ll be around, singing, ‘What you want, baby I got it.’ Having fun all the way.”

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‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin Dies at 76

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Early on he penned a song called “From Hell to Paradise” that chronicled the journey of his family from dictatorship to democracy. After decades of success, a Grammy Award, several albums and international tours, PBS decided to put together a TV special to bring the Mavericks to Havana for the first time and also showcase some of the classic and contemporary musicians there. The Mavericks are now located in Nashville where they have started their own record label.

One of the groups PBS found was Sweet Lizzy Project, a Cuban Alt rock band formed in Havana in 2013 by Lisset Diaz on vocals and Miguel Comas on lead guitar. They worked on songs they had done together and added more musicians to the group, all of it in English without too much political angst. By 2015 they put out an album called Heaven that gained local and some international attention.

Raul’s wife Betty found out about the band from producers at PBS when they came to Nashville to discuss the Havana Time Machine special that was to be filmed in Cuba with the Mavericks. Betty liked the bands cd right away and gave it to Raul, he listened to it a lot and it began to grow on him.

“The music kept playing around the house and I really started digging it,” he says by phone from his own East Coast tour. “What really impressed me was the sound, then I came to realize their determination and resolve. Once I got to Havana and met with them at their meager apartment/recording studio I saw how resourceful they had to be as they really go without so much we take for granted. I saw that they had really done as much as they could there – made a record, done a bare bones video on the site of an abandoned hotel, played some clubs and festivals. They had some setbacks when due to a clerical error they were off the union, and you can’t get booked in Cuba if you’re not in it. I then got interested in bringing them to Nashville and signing them to my label Mono Mundo Recordings. I think it’s a perfect place for them to grow and see the US and learn about the music business. “

Sounds like an easy fairy tale right? Not so fast, the major upheaval in US presidential elections had just happened.

“But then our first challenge was just getting them out of there as the US politics were changing last year. The work visas for Lisset and Miguel were denied for a few weeks and we thought that was it. Then they came through but we worried that the rest of the band would be stuck so we made the commitment and we got all seven members out just before Christmas last year. We’ve all pitched in to help them with places to stay while they get going. I just really admire their work ethic and ingenuity, they had so many roadblocks, I mean almost everything against them and they were still able to develop this unique sound and spirit.”

The bands music is not overtly political, as that would have perhaps sealed their fate in Cuba, but instead it has a philosophy of freedom expressed in a song like Travel to The Moon.

Speaking from Nashville, an excited Lizzy says “This has been great, we like Nashville a lot, there’s music everywhere and we’re really excited to come to Miami and perform too. I have friends and family there so it will be the first time they have seen my band. We’re keeping busy in Tennessee working on our next record called Technicolor which should be out by the end of this year.”

Betty Malo has been acting as their manager while things settle in and has been impressed by their resourcefulness.

“They did a video here for the song “Travel to the Moon,“ she says “they made their own costumes and wrapped the whole basement in tin foil to look like some goofy spaceship den. The budget was like $300.”

Betty and Rauls bulldog Clementine even makes a cameo at the end wearing a space helmet.

“Bringing them to Nashville and signing them is the bit of support I am able to do,” Raul says modestly. “There is no artist development anymore through major labels as the economics of it doesn’t allow that. New bands get eaten up by debt as soon as they’re signed and get a lot of bad advice. I’m coming from the other side and can tell them straight up what’s what, help lift the shackles. I’m hoping they can tour, sell some records and tell a great story with their Cuban roots and rock attitude.”

Video of The Mavericks performing with Sweet Lizzy Project’s Lisett Diaz in Havana for PBS:

Sweet Lizzy Project video made in Cuba:

For information about the band’s current and future projects, visit Sweetlizzyproject.com

From Havana to America: Sweet Lizzy Project Gets Some Maverick Help 

The post From Havana to America: Sweet Lizzy Project Gets Maverick Help appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

‘Love Is A Temple’ is a trap-infused cut, which demands airtime at the biggest and best festivals around the globe. With IRO offering his soothing vocals, Alok effortlessly works his magic, blending a variety of musical styles to bring a fresh and unique offering to his already impressive catalogue. Brimming with reverberating synths, and an electrifying bassline, ‘Love Is A Temple’ is built up around Iro’s meaningful vocal piece, and is destined to light up the sonic sphere all summer long.

Teaming up with Tomorrowland’s Official Global Sponsor Budweiser, ‘Love Is A Temple’ has been selected as the brand’s Official 2017 Tomorrowland anthem, and will see its debut live performance by Alok & IRO at this year’s edition. Budweiser has unveiled a visual accompaniment, which follows the video’s main character on a dream-like adventure, where she is lead to a subway party hosted by Alok and IRO, which ends up at the magical world of Tomorrowland.

Alok has been on a non-stop roll over the past year; with every track he releases commanding attention from dance music lovers all over the planet, pushing his name further into the global music scene.

Satisfação enorme em dividir o palco aqui na Suécia com o @tiesto – Big honor to play with my bro Tiesto! : @alissondmphoto

A post shared by Alok Petrillo (@alok) on Jun 2, 2017 at 4:20pm PDT

Now in just 1 month, ‘Never Let Me Go’ has amassed over 12 million streams on Spotify, and has remained in Brazil’s Spotify Top 10 ever since its release. Having just completed his run of North American tour dates, selling out San Francisco, and packing shows from Tampa to Montreal, the young producer will be bringing his sensational Brazilian Bass music to an array of festivals and clubs on his world tour this summer.

Make sure to check out one of his enthralling live shows near you!

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The post New Release ‘Love Is A Temple’ by Brazilian superstar DJ Alok appeared first on The Florida Daily Post.

I hear 2017 has been a promising year for the budding producer, having performed at some of the biggest venues and events around. Playing at ULTRA Music Festival twice – both Main Stage performances, including opening the whole festival – World DJ Festival, and with shows at Madrid’s Superclub FABRIK and Seoul’s famous Club Octagon (#5 in DJ Mag Top 100), Raiden’s position as a world-class DJ has well-and-truly been asserted.

He recently unveiled a stunning new remix of Galantis‘ ‘Runaway’. First heard at his opening performance on the Main Stage at ULTRA Music Festival, the remix is available now exclusively as a free download via his SoundCloud channel.

Listen now…

Keeping the original vocal topline from ‘Runaway’ in tact, Raiden has re-vamped the production, adding a serious bass boost. Kicking off with minimalistic percussion and atmospheric synths, the track quickly elevates into a 4×4 stomper. Layering the production with anthemic and euphoric synths that compliment the uplifting vocals flawlessly, he has transformed the original into a high-octane stomper, sure to be a must at all the major events as we head into to the summer festival season.

Continuing on this colossal streak of shows, Raiden can also be seen at the largest electronic festival in Europe, Tomorrowland, Ultra Korea and more top-tier events in the upcoming weeks.

You can now watch Raiden’s Main Stage Set at ULTRA Music Festival 2017:

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Get to know more about DJ Raiden, a fast-rising talent who has played at ULTRA Music Festival Main Stage and at some of the biggest venues around.

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