Soul voices don't come more authentic than the passionate intensity of Syl Johnson. Another truly great souls singer whose best work is the equal of any of his better-known contemporaries, he started off as a teenager playing blues before recording some classic soul cuts for Twilight and Hi Records. He is also one of the most sampled artists of all time, most notably Different Strokes which has been sampled almost 150 times, most famously by Jay Z and Kanye West who sampled it without permission and then had to stump up some cash for Syl after he took them to court.
Today's track is one of his best from the late 60's, whose central question sadly still resonates today.
Is It Because I'm Black ?
I take a vicarious degree of pleasure in Jay Z and Kayne West having to fork out money to someone infinitely more talented than they are
ReplyDeleteYou and me both CC, just hope he got a decent amount from them. From what I recall it was an out of court settlement.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great photo, Scott, and a terrific song, absolutely superb
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