Synonymous with the “soul” genre of music is artist Seal. Since his self-titled debut 1991 he has been taking the scene by force and is now one of the categories foremost performers.
On November 11th, (Ironically a day used to recognize the heroes of our past) Seal released his Soul album, which pays homage to the greatest soul songs ever written, by pioneers of the genre from decades ago.
The songs on this album are some of the best of their kind, that sample true emotions such as pain, loss, romance and love.
The second song on Soul is a 1973 hit by renowned R&B and soul singer/songwriter Anne Peebles, called “I Can’t Stand the Rain”. It is one of her most recognizable songs and quickly came to be her best single. This is a terribly sad song about being without someone you truly care about. The rain beating against her windowpane creates deep imagery and also appeals to the listener’s emotions.
I Can’t Stand The Rain has been covered several times by multiple artists. Most notably, Tina Turner released a version of this song as her 6th single from her 1984 album Private Dancer. Commercially the song did very well for Turner, even peaking at the #2 spot in France in early 1985.
Missy Elliot’s debut single “The Rain” also features an excerpt from “I Can’t Stand The Rain” as the chorus.
The video for Seal’s version of the song is a very moving scene of the band in a seemingly abandoned house. As the music begins the lights start flickering. And the use of light is used several times throughout as the music rises and falls, including light from windows and swinging bulbs.
In Seal’s moving performance throughout the video, he makes it very easy to absorb the emotion and tone the song was meant to be sung with, and there is no doubt that Seal has once again done justice in serving a classic soul song a deserving amount of tribute.
Monday 24 November 2008
Tuesday 4 November 2008
New Soul Records From Seal
Seal’s coming album, Soul features an array of covers of some of the greatest soul songs ever written from the 1960’s and 70’s. Featuring songs written by artists like Otis Redding and James Brown..
The first single, “A Change Is Gonna Come” is most notably considered an anthem for the American Civil Rights Movement after its release in 1964.
Originally the song was written in 1963 by R&B singer/songwriter Sam Cooke. Cooke wrote this song after hearing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind” a song whichdirectly targeted the issue of racial discrimination, which was one of the most prevalent problems in that period of time.
Cooke was incredibly moved by the fact that a white man could produce a song so direct and forward about the rampant problem of racism in the United States. This inspired Cooke to respond some of Dylan’s questions such as “How many times can a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn’t see?” with the answer, “It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come.”
The song was recorded in 1964 and placed on Cooke’s album Ain’t That Good News. Unfortunately it was not used as the single, but was re-released as the single for the B side of his album Shake. Cooke had long wanted to touch on the plaguing issue of racism but was reluctant to do so based on having a primarily white fan base.
“A Change Is Gonna Come” was first performed by Sam Cooke on February 7th, 1964 on The Tonight Show, but received little recognition, being eclipsed just two days later by The Beatles’ performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Since, the song has been performed and recorded by artists including Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and The Allman Brothers. Recently the song was even employed by the Arcade Fire in support of BarackObama’s nomination as President of the United States.
Seal has already released a video for “A Change Is Gonna Come” available on Youtube. It simply features Seal woefully singing into a microphone, which one can see embodies the angst and pain of the original intentions of the song.
Since “A Change Is Gonna Come” is revered as one of the three hundred greatest songs ever written by NPR (National Public Radio,) it is the perfect song to crown Seal’s album tributing other great soul artists, the aptly named, Soul album.
The first single, “A Change Is Gonna Come” is most notably considered an anthem for the American Civil Rights Movement after its release in 1964.
Originally the song was written in 1963 by R&B singer/songwriter Sam Cooke. Cooke wrote this song after hearing Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind” a song whichdirectly targeted the issue of racial discrimination, which was one of the most prevalent problems in that period of time.
Cooke was incredibly moved by the fact that a white man could produce a song so direct and forward about the rampant problem of racism in the United States. This inspired Cooke to respond some of Dylan’s questions such as “How many times can a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn’t see?” with the answer, “It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come.”
The song was recorded in 1964 and placed on Cooke’s album Ain’t That Good News. Unfortunately it was not used as the single, but was re-released as the single for the B side of his album Shake. Cooke had long wanted to touch on the plaguing issue of racism but was reluctant to do so based on having a primarily white fan base.
“A Change Is Gonna Come” was first performed by Sam Cooke on February 7th, 1964 on The Tonight Show, but received little recognition, being eclipsed just two days later by The Beatles’ performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Since, the song has been performed and recorded by artists including Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and The Allman Brothers. Recently the song was even employed by the Arcade Fire in support of BarackObama’s nomination as President of the United States.
Seal has already released a video for “A Change Is Gonna Come” available on Youtube. It simply features Seal woefully singing into a microphone, which one can see embodies the angst and pain of the original intentions of the song.
Since “A Change Is Gonna Come” is revered as one of the three hundred greatest songs ever written by NPR (National Public Radio,) it is the perfect song to crown Seal’s album tributing other great soul artists, the aptly named, Soul album.
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