When Sunday Comes, Taana Gardner & more
Sharing some upcoming releases that I was involved with and the latest episodes of the podcast!
I am behind on all things #GodsMusicIsMyLife related!
I had big plans last week—I recorded a podcast with Dara Tucker about Sandra Crouch, but didn’t have time to edit it…and I had recorded a podcast with Milik Kashad of the Black Music Archive & Andrew Martone from 365 Days of Aretha that I’d planned to have up for Aretha Franklin’s birthday this past Monday…and none of that happened. Hopefully, I can catch up this weekend.
Why was so out of time? There are several reasons, but the main one was a GREAT reason to be out of time. I had to prepare for lectures at the University of Virginia and I flew out on Monday to deliver them for two of Dr. Claudrena Harold’s classes. I presented a new lecture, Express Yourself: Why Choirs Matter, which focused on choirs, largely from 1960-1996, and then a second focused on my research on The Voices of East Harlem and the New York Community Choir.
It was a delight to talk with engaged students who have been learning from an incredible professor. If you haven’t read Dr. Harold’s 2020 book, When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras, be sure you order it (you can do so here). You can watch Dr. Harold in conversation with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal and learn more about her work and this important era of gospel music below.
New Projects
I did A LOT of work last year that is finally starting to make its way out into the world.
The first is a 2-disc retrospective of the West End recordings by Taana Gardner that span 1979-2006. The project includes the entirety of Taana’s 1979 debut album (which includes the ORIGINAL Larry Levan album mix of “Work That Body” on CD for the first time) as well as her subsequent singles and special mixes. Two of the special mixes of “When You Touch Me,” a “Special Disco Version” and “Special Disco Radio Version” from 1979, are being made available commercially for the very first time!
I had the privilege of producing this project and writing an almost 5000 word essay for the booklet. Released by SoulMusic Records in conjunction with The Second Disc, via Cherry Red Records, When You Touch Me: The West End Recordings, will be released on May 17th! You can pre-order via Cherry Red Records and soon via Amazon.
SoulTracks.com just published an article about the project which you can read here!
I’m also honored to have written liner notes for a forthcoming compilation, Observations in Time: the Johnny Brantley/Vidalia Productions, which gathers the early recordings of the Ohio Players. If you’ve never heard their blistering take on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” then you have not lived!
The new compilation, produced by Grammy Award winning reissue producer Cheryl Pawelski contains twenty-four tracks and liner notes written by yours truly which tell tell the incredible story of this classic funk group’s beginnings. This project comes out next week, April 5th!!! You can pre-order directly from Omnivore or on Amazon.
The Podcast
While I edit the next round of episodes, I wanted to highlight the most recent episodes in case you’ve missed them! New episodes are on their way!
Twenty-First Century Singers: I’m so proud of this episode which features the surviving members of this important Nashville group: Charles Miller, Frankie Henry, Robin Johnson and Everett Drake! We center the conversation around their 1978 album Sunday Night Fever, but discuss the group’s broader history in depth!
Tori Taff: This is the most listened to episode! Talking with Tori Taff, Russ Taff’s spouse and co-writer, is one of the life’s highlights. We focused on the writing of Russ’ 1985 blockbuster release, Medals, but dig into Tori’s larger body of work and her memories of writing this essential album.
Read the companion feature here.Donna McElroy: One of Nashville’s most sought-after session singers in the 70s and 80s, it seemed that solo success was a sure thing. Having built name recognition on the road with Amy Grant for almost a decade, CCM audiences were well aware of Donna McElroy’s name and massive talent. She signed with Warner Brothers in 1990 and released the ahead-of-its-time, Bigger World. Donna and I discuss this moment in time and what this album taught her.
Leah Payne: Amy Grant is one of the artists who figures prominently in Leah Payne’s essential new book, God Gave Rock and Roll To You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music. We got together last month to discuss Amy’s 1984 album, Straight Ahead, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Read the companion feature here.
A Few Articles You May Have Missed
Sometimes I’m a little surprised by articles that get significantly less-read than others. I wanted to share a few of those in case there were some delivery mishaps that kept them from hitting your mailbox!
Randy Stonehill: Live in Nashville
I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t have an awareness of Randy Stonehill’s music. I’m fairly certain I first heard him on a compilation album called Rock of the Ages: Rock and Roll from the Third Dimension, a Myrrh Records release with a 3D cover (accompanied by 3D glasses)—the coolest thing ever. Rock and roll was strictly …
The Legendary Marion Williams
Before we get to the feature… Thanks to everyone for your incredible response to the God’s Music Is My Life podcast! In addition to the official ‘first’ episode, I’ve also uploaded a ‘bonus’ episode with my 2008 interview with Bishop Carlton Pearson.
Al Green: Balancing the Sacred & The Secular
In my latest for UDiscoverMusic, I took a look at Al Green’s three most popular albums of the eighties, which he recorded for A&M Records between the years of 1985 and 1989. You can read that article here. For this week’s newsletter, I want to share a few of my favorites from Green’s catalog before and after “the A&M years” to give a deeper view into …
Such treasure. Treasuring you, Tim!