Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Soul Tracks

Soul singers has the innate ability to express love, lust, joy, pain, trials and tribulations and emotions - plenty of emotions. Some singers are so good at expressing their emotions that you know they are going through some things. A cheating man. A sour relationship. The loss of a loved one. The list goes on and on. Aretha was going through some things when she sang 'Ain't No Way.' It's obvious Gladys Knight was going through some things when she recorded 'Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye).' When Mavis Staples stepped into a Detroit studio to record 'I Have Learned To Do Without You' she was going through some things, a bitter divorce to be exact. Mavis recorded the song for her Stax sophomore album Only For The Lonely. The highlight of the track isn't the Stax Sound, the behind-the-beat horn arrangements and the prominent, pulsating rhythm section, but it is Mavis' voice. A voice that conveys sheer raw emotions, Mavis was going through some things.

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