   [mood** | 6 stars] [music** |
Johnnie Taylor ~ I Am Somebody (Part II.)] I picked up this up from Barnes & Noble last week because this double-disc set was priced the same as a regular CD. Oh, and because of the subject matter also, of course; but at first glance, most of the song titles eluded me. But I'm glad I purchased it. I think it's a shame that the memory of the Black Power movement is steadily fading away. It may not have been powerful on an organisational level, but it was just what the doctor ordered for a group of Americans who were told for hundreds of years that they were less than human.The disc combines music, spoken/word poetry, and monologues/speeches all together. All recordings range from 1968-1979. The opening track is by Huey Newton making a speech about the Blank Panther Party (The Black Panther Party Calls For) and in general I find the first disc to be a bit more militant and outspoken with tracks like Let's Clean Up the Ghetto by THe Philadelphia International All Stars and Blackenized by Hank Ballard. There are also hits like Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud by James Brown and Fight The Power by the Isley Brothers which is a reminder that there was a time when Black music in America could have strong socio-political messages and still be hugely popular. But you also have some rare gems such as beat-savvy Right On by the Sons of Slum and speeches from Huey Newton, Stokely Carmichael, Kathleen Cleaver, and Malcolm X that forever captures the messages conveyed by this brillant and forceful orators.The second disc is more melodic and more diverse. The immortal Message From A Black Man from the Temptations comes early in the disc and the spoken-word, Afro-centric rhythms of The Last Poets on When The Revolution Comes is a hidden surprise. A few more tunes that were once anthems but now pushed to the back burner follow including a live version of Curtis Mayfield's We're a Winner, Nina Simone's To Be Young, Gifted and Black, and The Staple Singers Respect Yourself are included; along with classic funk such as Parliament's Chocolate City and Dyke & The Blazers We Got More Soul which were both tunes that probably never made it past the underground although they're very danceable. But my favorites are definitely Be Thankful For What you Got which contains lyrics with a beautiful theme as well as a silky-smooth 70s soul melody and a superbly done Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing by Miss Kim Weston where she takes a song which usually only sounds right when it's sung by a classically trained choir, and makes it her own. Hip-hop fans will love having the original inspiration for N.W.A.'s Express Yourself by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The CD closes with the very suitable Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now by McFadden & Whitehead which is miles away from anything else on the collection as far as style and popularity but somehow seems to fit right in anyway.Despite all these wonderful recordings however, I find the collection very tough to listen to casually. There's not enough of one genre to just play it straight through, and although the lyrical content is uplifting, it's a chilly reminder of the Black experience in America at that time. It would have also helped if the recordings were organised chronologically since there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the current track listing. And although quite a few of the songs charted, the majority are on the avant-garde side so even hardcore fans of funk or soul music may be a bit disappointed in the non-adherence to the pop music formula of the times.This CD is a soundtrack to a particular mode of Black thinking and philosophies during a particular time. To pass it off as just a collection of soul music would not be doing it or the Black Power movement much justice. |