11.7.07: BMA's AND NYC!
Believe it or not, your World's Greatest Sinners have been nominated for a Boston Music Award in the category of Outstanding Blues/Soul Act. Crazy right? So we need your help to get voted in...its easy, just go to the BMAs website and vote to your heart's content. Thanks for the support.
And in other news, we actually won't be able to go to the actual BMA ceremony on December 1 (all the more reason to vote for us, I promise to come up with some kinda shenanigans to take place in the highly unlikely event we win). That's because we'll be rocking out at the Magnetic Field in Brooklyn that night, along with the illustrious King's County Soul Club! WOO! The club is really awesome, a bunch of us checked it out this weekend while we were in town seeing the Sonics, and we can't wait.
9.19.07: VOTE SINNERS!
Hey gang, we're in the WFNX Rock Star Rising competition, and we need your vote!! There's some cool prizes and stuff, and well, who doesn't like winning things. To vote, check out our profile page at sinners.musicnation.com or click the "BEFRIEND" link on this fancy lookin thang here:
9.14.07: BIG NEWS, DJing, AND A MIX MP3 FOR Y'ALL...
Hey there! Well, its only been a week and I already have big Sinners news to share...
As it turns out, the grand opening of Church (formerly the Linwood), is now Friday, October 5. And despite what you may've heard, its now open to the public!! Your Sinners will be doing two big, big sets and will be happy to have old-time Sinners Andrew Hickman and Paul Ahlstrand sitting in for the horn section... could this be any better?
Then, despite the break we're takin', you can still see me (Jordan Valentine) DJing and spinning a lot of the soul sides that the WGS perform live. I'm callin it MizValentine's Soul Hangover! and it hits this Monday, Sept 17 at the Plough and Stars in Cambridge. Its free and I spin from 10pm on... come down and say hiya!
As a special preview, I've done up a lil' 30 minute DJ set on MP3 for ya. You can download it here (27MB MP3 file)...enjoy!
MizValentine's Soul Hangover Volume 1
See you Monday! Cheers, Jordan Valentine
9.7.07: AN UPDATE! AND SOUL SISTERS DO THE STONES...
OK, I'll admit it. I totally fumbled in the update department here last month. I'm afraid the dog-days of August sapped my blogging abilities (and nearly my will to live...good God, I hate summer). However, we did play some great shows despite the heat (Johnny Ds, the Lizard) and I'm very pleased to be greeting the cool relief of fall with...well, a break. A short one though. Truth is, our fearless drummer is off the Europe with his other band, young Kevin is about to tour with his other band, Tony plays in every band anyway, I'm doing a bunch of DJing, and the rest of the gang are all doing their thing. Which gives me plenty of time to catch up on things like planning our next record (more on that soon!!) and blogging about records.
All that said, we do have two HUGE fall shows coming up: First will be the big, splashy opening party for the hottest new club in Boston, Church (www.churchofboston.com). Its going in where the Linwood was (for you locals) and we can't be more excited to play the kickoff party..its private and invite-only (sorry!), but I'm sure we'll be back there on a regular night real soon. This town needs more cool clubs, so bring it on!
The other biggie is that we'll be headlining the October 19th St. Dimick's Day Party at the Abbey Lounge!! Now of course, there is no St. Dimick...but there is a Dimick Street, on which there is a house, and in that house I used to live with my pal Nate from the band Scamper. Every year he'd throw a huge birthday party which has become the stuff of legend. Last year, unfortunately, our own popularity got the better of us and well...the fine, reasonable folks at the Somerville PD tend to frown on 250 people crammed in a 3 bedroom apartment. Soooo, this year we're bringing St. Dimick (patron saint of rock n' roll debauchery) to the Abbey Lounge (3 Beacon Street in Somerville). Expect craziness in great measure.
OK, enough band stuff. Let's talk records. I've been gettin' in tons lately!!
Probably the most common non-soul comparison the Sinners get these days is to the Rolling Stones, so lemme lay two new (to me) Stones covers on ya for today, both sung by tremendous soul mamas who are huge influences of mine: Merry Clayton's Gimme Shelter, and Thelma Houston's Jumpin Jack Flash. Give a listen, then we'll talk:
Gimme Shelter - Merry Clayton, Ode, 1970:
Jumpin' Jack Flash - Thelma Houston, Dunhill, 1969:
OK, dig it? So let me just start this by saying, Robert Christgau is a friggen idiot.
Yeah, yeah, Dean of American Rock Critics...my ass. You listened to that Merry Clayton song above, right? Now read what Christgau had to say:
Second-rate material stupidly overproduced and unreflectively emoted. Even the title song, which retains a lot of power, sounded better when she was duetting it with Mick Jagger--that is, she sounded better. Maybe that's what it means to be a great backup singer. C+
Now, okay, I realize this kinda thing is Christgau's schtick. And he brushed off Straight Outta Compton too, so I do think he's a couple Iron Cities short of a sixer. But man. Are we even listening to the same tune?
Enough about Xgau though, let's talk about Clayton, and about this version. Pull out your copy of Let it Bleed and give the original a spin; its a helluva song to begin with of course, dripping with apocalyptic passion, and of course that's Merry singing right alongside Mick after Keef's solo, briging it all to a nasty, churning, crazed apex. And while Mick has said in interviews that having Clayton on the record was the producer's idea, there's something so inherently Stones about it... after all, everybody knows what a hardon the lads had for the likes of Tina Turner and other black American soul stars, so having a former Raelette and grande-dame of soul backup singers alongside Mick is really a natural. To my ear, there's an awful lot of Tina in Mick's singing style, and there's an awful lot of Tina in Merry too, so the Clayton-Jagger combo on the Stones version is like listening to Mick singing alongside the voice he probably hears in his head. For my money, that's also what makes this cover great; the Stones' original, while perfect in its own right, is perfectly about British white males reflecting back American black music. In Clayton's version, the mirror is removed and its just pure, raw soul. The roots are there, particularly in the guitar sound and lines, but the unleashed rhythm section is funky as hell, the horns are positively southern-soul, and the organ and choir are straight out of church on Sunday. And of course, there's Merry herself; her performance is totally possessed, intense, like she's going to blow apart at any moment, or else bring down the end of days herself with just one more chorus. Born on Christmas day in New Orleans and raised up in the church, I believe it could happen. The record was never a hit that I know of, but for my money, it should've been.
The second track, Thelma Houston's Jumpin' Jack Flash, is of course from her monster of a debut album, Sunshower. You can't really ask for a stronger debut than this LP, produced, written and arranged by the phenomenal Jimmy Webb, probably one of the most idiosyncratic guys in pop music. I, like most girls my age, knew him first as the guy behind the Last Unicorn movie, which of course I tortured my parents with by making them take me to the Cinema 10 to see it no fewer than 50 times (thank God for DVD players!). But Webb was a hit machine, Brill Building-style, and Sunshower was his pet project and Thelma Houston a vessel for his immense talent. Which is not to say that Houston wasn't a monster in her own right; her range is stunning, and she's a total chameleon, moving between songs and styles like she's ten singers. Webb knew the level of talent he was dealing with, too. He described Houston as "the most prodigious talent I have ever encountered" and said that she "manifested everything great about the black female voice." That's gotta rank up there in "Rock Guys Giving Soul Singers Effusive Compliments" right alongside George Harrison calling River Deep Mountain High the finest record ever recorded. Webb had a flair for conceptualization as well as instrumentation, and the overarching theme of Sunshower seems to be a song for every side of Thelma Houston; it might be disjointed, if it wasn't all so beautiful, and seamlessly united by her graceful, athletic interpretation and performance. Compared to the rest of the album, Jumpin' Jack Flash is positively bombastic, but it works--Houston can be a sweet songbird or a soulful crooner, but she can also belt it like nobody's business, and that's made abundantly clear on this track. I read somewhere that there's a Stravinsky line in the string break, which I wouldn't know enough to hear, but Webb's arrangement of the Stones is certainly effectively cheeky in addition to rocking hard. Unlike Gimme Shelter, it makes little reference to the original, but Webb and Houston are so good...well, who gives a damn.
That's all for now... but there's a box of new picks coming my way soon and I'll be back with the story on a NOLA rarity that you won't even believe.
Cheers, Jordan Valentine
7.23.07: JOHNNY D'S, NEW PRESS, NEW HORN!
I know I owe a record blog here (check back later this week), but there's too much other stuff going on around here. First of all, this Friday, July 27 we're really thrilled to be playing two big sets (9:30-close) at Johnny D's in Davis Square. JD's is pretty much the home of roots music in Boston, so we're psyched and a little nervous...kinda like when you finally land that date with the really hot chick in high school. Here's a poster:
Also, we just played a most excellent show at the Rippenest Town Rally (the yearly Boston scooter rally) at Great Scott--what a killer time! The Raging Teens, Alrighters and Curses all kicked serious ass. And, I was very pleased to walk in the place and find that the guy on the turntables was none other than DJ from Pittsburgh, an old associate of mine. I was really glad I didn't give in to my desire to steal his (awesome) 45 box when he wasn't looking. Check out his site at SteelCitySoul.org.
We also just got a really nice review of our Garage Weekender performance in June in this month's Now Wave online zine. You can see the full review in the press section, but among the nice things they said was that "It's an instant party when the Sinners hit the stage - they're undoubtedly just as good as most of the '60s soul groups they emulate." My head is getting bigger than my hairdo.
And last but not least, we're happy to be welcoming trumpet player Chris Leir to the Sinners fold, at least until we scare him off (hasn't happened yet though!). He's a very talented fellah and also plays in the fabulous Self Righteous Brothers with our sax man Kevin Corzett, so its all in the family. Johnny D's will be Chris' first show with us, so come on down and check'm out!
6.19.07: WE HAVE A RADIO STATION
I set up a Last.fm radio station today. You can listen to it while you surf our site if you click the little radio button down on the lower left over there (under the upcoming shows). I added a bunch of stuff to it, including a lot of tunes we do and a few of the ones I've mentioned in the blog. Have fun!
6.18.07: SHOW ME THE WAY TO GET TO SOULVILLE
So, a few weeks ago, I went down to visit a friend's record shop on the south shore. While there, I picked up a whole crapload of soul, garage, jazz and rock 45s; I knew some of what I was getting, but a lot of stuff I just bought because it was dirt cheap and interesting. Then, of course, I got busy, put them in a pile on the shelf, and pretty much forgot about them.
Last night, in a fit of Mexican food (and a little margarita action), I decided to pull down the pile and see what I actually got. I have to say, most of it was pretty great, except maybe for one really terrible Spanky & Our Gang 45 that I should've really known would be that bad. But the one real winner of the whole thing was this beauty: Soulville, by Dinah Washington, on Roulette.
Now, Dinah Washington is my kind of girl. To call her "troubled" is as much of an abject understatement as calling her "talented"; she was the Queen of the Blues and the Empress of Hard Living, married seven times, known for being generous with gifts but also for throwing wine glasses at the audience if they talked during her set. She won a Grammy in 1959 (What A Difference A Day Makes) and was dead by 1963, at just 39, of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills and diet aids. Glamourous, swathed in fur at all times, she wanted to be a showgirl but was much more than that, with an ability to use her voice with a surgeon's precision, taking surprising and unusual turns of phrase with apparent effortlessness, and bouncing easily between brassy big-mama-ism and sweet songbird sounds.
Soulville is her last single to chart (#92, pop) and, as far as I can find, her last single ever. It came out in June of 1963, and she was dead by December. Ms. D. had come to Roulette in 1962 after parting ways with Mercury, and had eight songs hit the bottom end of the charts during her stint with the label. Soulville really shows her brassy, boisterous side; it screams party, from the clarion horn section to chugga-chugga rhythm track to her badass vocal delivery. She's pretty much daring you to come hang with her, if you can keep up, of course. Titus Turner wrote the song (originally recording it with his own band on the Enjoy label, though the writing credit for the Roulette release lists Washington as a co-writer--I'd like to get the original and try to suss out what she changed) and it wears his jump blues stamp proudly. Turner's lyrical cleverness--which I first fell in love with on Little Milton's Grits Ain't Groceries (All Around the World), also his piece--is a bit missing on this one, but then again, the track doesn't really need it. Soul food, soul folks, and soul music...what the hell else is there? Its a simple song that lets the groove do the talking.
Unfortunately, as I look around the interwebs, I notice that most of the Dinah Washington comps skip this track, which to me is a real shame. (Though, this one right here looks to be pretty mindblowingly awesome, dunnit?) Sure, What A Difference A Day Makes is a great tune and all, but to me its way more interesting to listen to something like Soulville up against some of her sweeter and jazzier work and really hear her impeccable versatility as a singer. My disappointment with a lot of modern pop and R&B singers these days, particularly female ones, is that they've been shoehorned into a single role, never to deviate from it. I guess that's a formula for hits, but just once it'd be nice to hear a singer with true versatility and depth. Of course, they don't make them like Dinah anymore, and they didn't before she came along either; she was a singular talent, regrettably underrated and gone too soon but truly one of the finest American singers of all time. -- Cheers, Jordan Valentine
6.15.07: BUCKET OF BLOOD, YOU SAY?
I had some time today so I typed Ted Drodzowski's article about us from last week's Phoenix into our Press page. Check it out...I added a whole lot of slightly older press too. People say funny things about us some times. Oh yeah, and we just added dates in July and August at Johnny D's and The Lizard Lounge. Details forthcoming on the Shows Page.
6.14.07: ITS NICE TO BE LOVED...
Greg just called and told me we got a nice (if not brief) hit in the Phoenix this week. Regarding our set at the WFNX Music Poll thing, Will Spitz said, "At Bill’s Bar, another local band, World’s Greatest Sinners, were bringing the soul — hard — with singers Jordan Valentine and Georgia Young wailing in harmony as if their lives depended on it." Ted Drozdowski wrote a pretty cool piece on us in last week's Phoenix, too... I haven't seen it posted online though. If I get a minute, I'll retype it in the press section.
6.13.07: OH GOD, ITS A BLOG...GOODBYE, AND THE GRUNT
So, if you are a regular visitor to this site...well, I have to say, I'm surprised. Because although I'm fairly good about updating our Myspace, as you may have noticed, I'm something less than stellar about updating this here webpage (except for shows, which I suppose is the important part). Show listings notwithstanding, that's still silly, for two reasons: one, Myspace kinda sucks, and two, I designed this page so I could blog on it about the band and specifically about the records we handle, and then never got off my ass to do it. That's gonna change right now though, I promise.
Of course, there's a million blogs on the interwebs about records, and especially about soul records... I read a lot of them myself, most notably the fantastic Funky 16 Corners, which never fails to fill me with both information, soul gratification, and abject, gut wrenching record jealousy. In fact, I'm going to go ahead and admit right now that that particular blog is what is getting me off my ass to do this, and I'm going to use it as a reference throughout my posts, because really, that dude has forgotten more soul knowledge than I ever had. That said, I know a lot of folks who come to our shows are record nerds, but a lot of you ain't, so I figure it can't hurt to go through the stacks every few days and throw some info your way about the songs we do and the songs that inspire us to do what we do. Some of this will be old hat to you rekkid-pickin' types, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway...
OK, enough blab. This is what I've got on today:
I've got this track on my mind because we're sadly saying goodbye this week to one of our long-time saxmen (three years with me is like ten in a foxhole!), Andrew Hickman, who happens to be one of my favorite dudes I've ever played in a band with, not to mention totally out of his everloving mind--in the good way, of course. Its a parting on good terms, with the possible exception of the part where I grabbed on to his ankle and wouldn't let go, but still and all I'll miss his particular way of making an alto squeal like something out of this world. And if there's one soul record out there for sax screamers, its The Grunt. I'm also posting this bad boy because I brought it up at practice the other night, and one of my guys (who shall remain nameless, but I'll say he's owned and sold a lot more records than I've ever even daydreamed about) had never heard it. I think that's a shame, because this has got to be one of the greatest hip-hop breakbeat records; pick up a copy of Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and its on at least 3 tunes that I can hear. Other tracks that sample the Grunt can be found here. Beyond that, its just a killer tune; the horn parts in particular are absolutely unhinged, from the first manic squeal (sounds a bit like a teakettle to me) to the section/soloist trade-offs that sound almost like a 5-on-1 knife fight in a Detroit alleyway.
In case you're not familiar with the JBs, they are (naturally) James Brown's band, from roughly 1970-1975. Just prior to that, most of Mr. Brown's Famous Flames had walked on him over pay--and by "most", I mean pretty much the whole band except for Bobby Byrd and I think the conga player. Undaunted, as befit his character, Mr. B. stacked the JBs' bench with most of of a Cincinnatti band called The Pacesetters, which featured a very young Bootsy and Catfish Collins (bass and guitar, respectively, though you know that). What the group really became known for, though, was its horn section, which was soon thereafter lead by Fred Wesley, who came back to Brown after a reconciliation in late 1970 (and probably a big check too), and took over the musical direction of the group from there on out. Former and new James Brown players continued to flow in and out of the band--the Collins' lasted only a short while; Maceo Parker did a stint in 1973-4--and the group recorded singles under a slew of other names (Maceo and the Macks, Fred Wesley and the JBs, etc).
The Grunt however, the JBs first single recorded in May of 1970, is more of a Pacesetters-captained-by-James-Brown record, as it predates Wesley's return to the fold and his later, formidable influence. Its a horn player's record, no doubt about it; when a horn section, especially one so young and inexperienced, can stand up to the Collins brothers' rhythm section (even in their youth), you know you've got some serious brass. Larry Grogan says this track is like an acid trip or a criminally insane drumline, but I tend to think--having worked with them as long as I have--that this is just what happens when you let the horns take over. The result is a thick, bacony rhythm track (they were 17 or something! Its mind-boggling!) beset with an absolute rage of horns. To me, the brass arrangements, though they've certainly got the regimented, staccato sass that's James Brown's signature, have something more of furious southern vibe to them, a certain crazed quality that's only just reigned in. Frankie "Kash" Waddy, the Pacesetters' drummer, says in an interview that one of the first things Mr. Brown told the group was to 'cool down'--they were so young, so intense, and so tight from living and working and growing up together for years, that they were getting ahead of The Man Himself. That brash inferno of sound no doubt comes through here, and while he might've told them to cool down, they certainly weren't cold yet. For my money, the intensity of this tune and its singular bellyful of fire make it possibly the craziest thing James Brown ever laid hands on.
Hope you enjoyed my prattling on. I'll try to do this weekly, maybe more often, and of course you can email me at wgsinners@gmail.com if you've got anything to say about anything. Just be nice. I'm sensitive.
Cheers, Jordan Valentine
6.6.07: BOSTON'S BEST AGAIN! AND LIVE TRACKS AVAILABLE...
Hey gang! Well, thank you...we did it again. We think. Apparently we've won Best R&B Act in the annual WFNX/Phoenix Best Music Poll again, thanks to you (I can't find a copy of the supplement, so I can't verify that, but I'm gonna assume we didn't win for Best Hip-Hop Act or anything). We'll be celebrating tonight at the big BMP Block Party on Landsdowne St, with the Bon Savs and Snowden at Bill's (Sinners at 9:30). Also, I've just cobbled together a set of live tunes from us from the past couple years...we're calling it Still Not Saved: World's Greatest Sinners 2005-2007 and you can download a zip with the Mp3s and album artwork here for FREE (NOTE: 30MB FILE!). If you want a CD copy, you can have one for free: just email me at wgsinners@gmail.com. Cheers!
8.8.06: SINNERS ON WAAF THIS SUNDAY...
Hey gang! In late breaking news, Carmelita has asked us to join her on Bay State Rock this Sunday night for an acoustic set. We've never played acoustic before, so it oughtta be interesting! We'll also be giving lots of records and stuff away, so tune in at 107.3 in the Boston area, or listen online at WAAF.com.
8.1.06: SO WE ACTUALLY CAN BE CAPTURED ON FILM...
Perusing YouTube like everyone else (and trying to avoid working at all costs), I came across this clip from our CD release party in June. Mucho danke to LexiKahn for posting it! Ladies and gents, the Mess Around...
5.23.06: NEW MP3s IN OUR MP3 SECTION!
Who loves ya baby?? Three brandy-spankin-new MP3s are now up in our MP3 section, so you can preview the new rekkid before you buy it! And you can buy it now too, along with shirts, vinyl, stickers and more, right online on our merch page. Yee ha!
5.18.06: SINNERS VOTED BEST R&B/BLUES ACT--THANK YOU!
We're very happy to announce that thanks to your votes, we have been chosen as Best R&B/Blues Act in the annual Boston Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll! We were up against some great competition so thank you so much for choosing us. You can read a nice little blurb here, or by picking up a copy of the Phoenix this week. And we hope you'll come out and celebrate with us as we get ready for our "Never Souled Out!" weekend, June 9 & 10!! Like it says over to the left there, we'll be partying for the release of the new full-length, Ten Before Eight, two nights in a row.
First, join us at Great Scott in Allston for a Listening Party at the Pill's Soul Night IV, with cocktails, a fresh spin of the new record, and the legendary DJ Jen spinning the very best soul all night long. Then, join us for the RILLY BIG SHOW the following night, June 10, at the Abbey Lounge (3 Beacon Street on the Cambridge Somerville line). When I say big, I mean BIG... at 7pm, the amazing Silver Lining will perform on the Pub Stage for a reception (with hors d'oeurves!) of Jordan Valentine's second showing of rock poster art in the Abbey's main bar area. They'll bring the psychy-California-goodness til 9pm, when DJ PJ Gray will start spinning his so-good deep soul sounds... THEN, at 10pm The Alrighters kick it by channeling Screamin' Jay Hawkins on the main stage. And at 11pm comes the NEVER SOULED OUT REVUE...The 'Sinners will play songs from the new record, as well as be joined by an INCREDIBLE cast of Boston's best vocalists, including: John Powhida & Andrea Gillis (Rudds), Shaun Wolf Wortis (Slide), Ad Frank, Evan Shore (Muck & the Mires), Rod von Stoli (Drags/Noble Rot), Anna Price (Silver Lining), Betsy Nichols (Alto Reform School) AND MORE.. The first 25 folks to get there before 8pm and buy a ticket for the show will get a FREE copy of Ten Before Eight!!!
Keep the Faith and talc the floor,
4.11.06: WE NEED YOUR VOTE!
We're very happy to announce that your 'Sinners
have been nominated for Best R&B/Blues Act by the Boston Phoenix!
Online voting is now open for a limited time, so we'd be much
obliged if you'd go to http://www.bestmusicpoll.com/ and click Boston
to cast your vote for us. Anyone can vote, whether you're in Boston
or anywhere in the world...the site's a little on the slow side, but
we much appreciate your perserverance!
2.15.06: Welcome to the newly revamped worldsgreatestsinners.com.
Its just one trick in the bag we've got for you in advance of the release of
our first full-length record, tentatively titled "Ten Before Eight". In addition to the CD,
we'll be coming out with a very cool, very limited vinyl 7" release, for all you who still know what a
turntable is! Both will be available here and in select other locations beginning June 10.
And speaking of June 10...I'm pleased to announce that we'll be celebrating the release of our
new record on that date at our old homestead, The Abbey Lounge. Its gonna be one helluva party,
as we'll be joined by a whole slew of guest vocalists in a big ol' fashioned Soul Revue. Check this space as
we'll be announcing all kinds of cool details very soon!
And finally, don't forget that you can still purchase tickets to join us at Soul Trip 2006, in
New Jersey April 29. In addition to performing some classic 'Sinners hits, we'll be serving as
the house band in support of some amazing original soul artists, including The Spellbinders and more!
Drop us a line if you want the skinny on how to purchase tickets, or go directly to the Soul Trip
website at www.goldsoul.co.uk.
Always your Valentine,
Today's record of choice: Betty Harris, There's a Break In the Road. Mr. Grodin has a great lil' bit on it over here...its the only NOLA funk song I can think of with a guitar feedback hook. If you know of another track like it, email me. Further proof that there are no rules in this sorta thing...
The JB's - The Grunt Pts 1&2 (King, 1970) (Sample available here) (Buy It)
Jordan and your 'Sinners.
Jordan