Bobby Bland - Close-Order Drill Music ?

[Roburt]

Never gave too much thought to B'B'B's singing style .... got turned on to "Call On Me" (& it's B side) back in the mid 60's and have liked him ever since.

....... but the guy who wrote this article for a US 'white' music paper back in 1975 certainly had his own view on Bobby's way of delivering a song .....

[Roburt]

The guy obviously thought that Bobby was just 'doing it by the numbers' when he sang; both on record & to some degree when live.

I guess he is correct in that Bobby was never one to lose control during a song (as most gospel trained singers do).

When many other singers would take the intensity level up a notch, Bobby would ease back down in his level of vocal passion.

Certainly Bobby's tracks changed when Robey / Duke sold out & ABC got their hands on him.

This guy doesn't seem to like Bland's early ABC albums; they are way different to his Duke recordings but I have always liked them.

Guess, as is displayed on many threads on here, everyone's opinion of what makes a good cut is different.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Roburt

[Mike Lofthouse]

Very interesting read Roburt(ert). Always been a big fan of Bobby Bland and always thought his early post Duke stuff (on ABC) was superb - 'California' would be in my top 10 albums any day of the week.

I think he is being very unkind to Michael Omartian who along with Steve Barri rescued Bobby's musical career. It is documented elsewhere that by the end of the 60's (the Duke) period he had financial problems with his band broken up, he suffered from Depression and subsequently Alcohol dependency. The early ABC stuff was triumphant return to form.

On another point - the author sings the praises of Joe Scott, Whilst his contribution cannot be overstated, some of his stuff has always niggled me with its over arranged intricate horn parts - at times Bobby sounded liked the featured vocalist in The Joe Scott big Band!! Guess these things are all down to taste!

Mike

[Autumnstoned]

What do music critics know ?

Gradually discovering his stuff and came across this one today.

https://youtu.be/i30M4GQa_Tk

[Louise]

The guy obviously thought that Bobby was just 'doing it by the numbers' when he sang; both on record & to some degree when live.

I guess he is correct in that Bobby was never one to lose control during a song (as most gospel trained singers do).

When many other singers would take the intensity level up a notch, Bobby would ease back down in his level of vocal passion.

Certainly Bobby's tracks changed when Robey / Duke sold out & ABC got their hands on him.

This guy doesn't seem to like Bland's early ABC albums; they are way different to his Duke recordings but I have always liked them.

Guess, as is displayed on many threads on here, everyone's opinion of what makes a good cut is different.

Bobby had some health problem with his throat (which I can't just remember) that mean't he had trouble hitting the high notes later in his career, that's when he developed his trade mark growl to disguise this fact.

I highly recommend Charles Farley's book Bobby "blue" Bland "Soul Of The Man"

Dave

[Robbk]

I really like his early '50s Blues recordings with Modern, his early Duke recordings, and his later Duke recordings from the mid -late '60s. I haven't heard most of his recordings made after ABC bought out Duke. But he certainly was intense on his Blues recordings and his early Duke recordings.

"Call On Me" is my favourite of his "Soul" songs. It sounds like an early '60s Detroit-recorded song (although it was not written by Detroiters, nor recrecorded in Detroit. Which is ironic, because Robey later had a production agreement with Detroit's Joe Hunter, in which Hunter's Detroit crew wrote songs, and recorded Detroit artists AND Duke artists (including Bland, himself) both in Detroit and Houston, for release on Duke, (Peacock?), BackBeat and Sure Shot Record labels.

[Roburt]

In Dukes later years, Don Robey was casting his net far & wide to get people to work for him.

By 1970, Gene Dozier had returned to Philly (after time in Detroit & LA) and was working with Gamble & Huff on Atlantic & Neptune stuff.

Gene started some new collaborations while there (producing "Silly, Silly Fool" cut by Dusty Springfield with Roland Chambers), but he mainly worked with Bunny Sigler and Phil Hurtt. They wrote, performed and produced together, either as a pair or a trio. Gene and Bunny produced "Wild Child" on Carl Carlton which was released in April 1971 (Backbeat 619) and at the same time Duke Records licensed "Keep My Baby Cool" credited to Hot Chocolate for release (Duke 467).

Hot Chocolate were in fact Dozier / Sigler / Hurtt and the track was the result of some studio experimentation. They had cut an uptempo backing track which was then played back at a slower speed and vocals (by Sigler / Hurtt) were added to it (this grouping wrote other songs together -- "Picture Us" which was later recorded by Bunny himself being one of them).

(Eu)gene told me that Robey had been trying to sell Duke since 1971 & Gene used his LA contacts to get word to the management at ABC that the Duke set-up could be theirs. Just how big a role Gene actually played in setting the deal up I have no real idea, but he did 'big up' his role in getting the ball rolling on the deal.

Edited September 2, 2012 by Roburt

[Kris Holmes]

Gene and Bunny produced "Wild Child" on Carl Carlton which was released in April 1971 (Backbeat 619) .

just played this at a gig last weekend, i like that 45.

[Sunnysoul]

Very interesting read Roburt(ert). Always been a big fan of Bobby Bland and always thought his early post Duke stuff (on ABC) was superb - 'California' would be in my top 10 albums any day of the week.

I think he is being very unkind to Michael Omartian who along with Steve Barri rescued Bobby's musical career. It is documented elsewhere that by the end of the 60's (the Duke) period he had financial problems with his band broken up, he suffered from Depression and subsequently Alcohol dependency. The early ABC stuff was triumphant return to form.

On another point - the author sings the praises of Joe Scott, Whilst his contribution cannot be overstated, some of his stuff has always niggled me with its over arranged intricate horn parts - at times Bobby sounded liked the featured vocalist in The Joe Scott big Band!! Guess these things are all down to taste!

Mike

I don't think nearly enough credit has ever been given to all those white LA producers, arrangers, writers from the early 70s like Michael Omartian, Steve Barri, Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter and the great work they did with soul acts like The Four Tops, Tavares and host of others as well as Bobby Bland.

Edited September 2, 2012 by sunnysoul