.::theVault::.

.::The Vault::.

I'll let the newer skool setup the old skool, my preference (so I start things off old skool as we know/remember. But regardless.. these are the best of my entire library of love songs! Try to follow my messages throughout this playlist, it's in the titles through the lyrics in the music.

I share with you some of my fondest memories and experiences all summed in some of the greatest songs. I'm sure a lot of ya'll will relate and share the musical experience.

Roll yourself a nice one for this, and let your mind revisit through some of the greatest gems hard to find and sadly forgotten! Ya'll that have some of these same songs... u' feel me! Other than that, these are just handpicked favorites of albums to come I'll be sharing with ya'll if you don't already have it.

What you think.. Here's a list of the tracks:

THESE are some of the greatest records, both new and old that all of you should have in your libraries. If not, stay tuned for the entire albums and more gems from the Vault. lol

You WILL enjoy!

mrMrcs

Jeffrey Daniel - The truth behind Michael Jackson's dance moves

One of the things that has always disappointed me is how and where cats get their information... I mean media-made lies... about where Michael Jackson really got his moves from. Sure MJ's dances were inspired by and included the likes of Bob Fosse, Fred Astaire, Bill Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr. and others. I mean the man had framed photos of them all in his bedroom (if you really paid attention). But one name that was overlooked, even forgotten was the man who not only choreographed a lot of MJ's moves, but even so far as consulted MJ's production company, MJJ Productions. When you do the math, MJ was inspired by all of these dancers closer to his early 20's. At the end of the day, it was Jeffrey Daniel who received the paychecks to choreograph.

Jeffrey Daniel first came into the spotlight as a dancer on the US TV show Soul Train. From Soul Train evolved Shalamar - a band that sold 25 million albums world-wide with hit records such as "A Night to Remember", "Friends" and "There it is". With Shalamar he introduced West Coast Street Dance into Europe and started a huge dance craze - body popping, robotics, locking and whacking with his amazing skills as a dancer. After 7 years, millions of album sales and tours around the world, Shalamar performed at London's Wembley Arena and the original line-up then went their separate ways.

Jeffrey took on the role of 'Electra' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new West End musical 'Starlight Express' and linked up with Michael Jackson to rack up some dance and choreography credits.

JD is the man that taught Michael Jackson the Moonwalk and later went on to choreograph "Bad" and co-choreograph "Smooth Criminal."

As a special added bonus, I've included the same Shalamar record that features a few versions of the hit song, A Night to Remember. Took a minute for me to recognize the tune but, then I remembered hearing this song alot when I was a little kid at family cookouts and roller-skating parks!

click the above title for dwnld. link. enjoy!

Barry White Presents: Danny Pearson

Danny Pearson is a Godsend! When I first heard this record, it really put into perspective what love really meant. often times it's hard to put the love you have for someone into words. Put on a Danny Pearson record, and he'll speak every word for you.

Discovered and produced by the great Barry White, Danny Pearson knows how to pierce straight through the soul and into the heart. His voice is absolutely amazing and the combination with Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra is without a doubt ingenious!

I highly recommend listening to the entire album from start to finish to enjoy the whole experience. But for you musicians out there that can appreciate the musicianship and craft that's demonstrated by Pearson, I highly recommend: Is It Really True Girl, or I'm So Glad I've Got You Baby!

Barry White produced teenager Danny Pearson's Top 20 R&B mid-tempo ballad single "What's Your Sign Girl." The Racine, WI, native was signed to White's Unlimited Gold label distributed through CBS Records. He moved to California in 1974 and was picked by White to be one of the artists to be released on his imprint. An album, Barry White Presents Mr. Danny Pearson, was issued. The first single, "What's Your Sign Girl" b/w "Is It Really True Girl" hit number 16 R&B, number 106 pop on Billboard's charts in late 1978. Though none of Pearson's other singles charted, his album was a good debut and is a favorite of soft soul fans. White utilized the same studio band he used on his own million-selling hits as well as the talents of his friend, arranger Gene Page. Page whose credits list Love Unlimited,Johnny Mathis, the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," various Motown hits, and Jeffree Perry's Jeffree album, among others, imbued Pearson's LP with the same kind of shimmering arrangements he'd used on other artists' releases. Besides the aforementioned tracks, other standouts were a cover of White's previous hit "Honey Please, Can't You See," "Say It Again," andDelfonics/Philly soul-tinged "There's No One for Me, but You." Alex Chilton covered "What's Your Sign Girl" on his 1995 Ardent album, A Man Called Destruction.

click the title above for dwnld link. enjoy!

Grandad says: Bloodstone - Riddle of The Sphinx

Call me selfish and greedy, even childish, for not wanting to share this at all at first! To ME its a gem, to some of ya'll it's just another great record.

Every now and then me and grandad will get together, have some drinks, and just listen to old vinyl and talk great music! This 1975 Bloodstone record, Riddle of The Sphinx, was one of the first records grandad put me on to. Without a doubt this is one of my favorites! Sometimes it aint even about the sampling and the chopping. Sometimes it's liberating to just sit back and enjoy a classic album that speaks right to the soul. Riddle of The Sphinx is THAT exact record!

Formed in 1962 in Kansas City, Missouri, the group was originally a high school doo-wop group named the Sinceres. The members renamed themselves Bloodstone, learned to play instruments, started a funk band, and eventually moved to Los Angeles, California. Their eponymous first album, Bloodstone, introduced the songs, "That's The Way We Make Our Music", and "Natural High" which reached the R&B Top Ten, with "Natural High" reaching number 10 on the Pop chart. Bloodstone became known for their funk/soul tracks that blended Jimi Hendrix-styledrock music with doo-wop and gospel music undertones. The groups other hits include, "Never Let You Go", "Outside Woman" and "My Little Lady". Bloodstone was instrumental in the "black rock" and funk movement of the 1970s, and even had a hand in the brown-eyed soulmovement with some Latin music-tinged hits. Bloodstone performed with Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Elton John, and The Impressions.

They achieved a moderate comeback in the early 1980s with their album We Go a Long Way Back (1982), whose title track reached the R&B chart top five. The follow-up single "Go On and Cry" reached number 18. The group continued to record into the mid 1980s. Bloodstone also starred in and wrote all the music for a film entitled Train Ride To Hollywood (1975). Founding member Willis Draffen died on February 8, 2002at the age of 56.

click the title above for the dwnld link, enjoy!

Johnnie Taylor - Your Love Is Rated X

Johnnie Harrison Taylor (born May 5, 1937, Crawfordsville, Arkansas; died May 31, 2000, Dallas, Texas) was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from gospel, blues and soul to pop, doo-wop and disco.

Taylor had one release, “Somewhere to Lay My Head”, on Chicago’s Chance Records in the 1950s, as part of the doo-wop group Five Echoes.Taylor was also part of the gospel group,The Highway QC’s also,replacing Sam Cooke,who had become the lead singer of the Soul Stirrers in 1951.Then,after Cooke left the Soul Stirrers in 1957,Taylor was hired to take Cooke’s place as lead singer.

A few years later, after Cooke had established his independent SAR Records, Taylor signed on and recorded “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day” in 1962. However, SAR Records quickly became defunct after Cooke’s death in 1964.

In 1966, Taylor moved to Stax Records in Memphis, where he was dubbed “The Philosopher of Soul”. While there he recorded with the label’s house band, Booker T. & the MGs. His hits included “I Had a Dream”, “I’ve Got to Love Somebody’s Baby” (both written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter) and most notably “Who’s Making Love?”, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top 40 and No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1968. During his tenure at Stax, he became an R&B star, with over a dozen chart successes, such as “Cheaper to Keep Her” (Mack Rice) and producer Don Davis’s “I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)”.

After Stax folded in the mid 1970s, Taylor switched to Columbia Records, where he made his best-known hit, “Disco Lady”, in 1976. “Disco Lady” was the first certified platinum single. Columbia pigeonholed Taylor as a disco artist, however, and neglected his wide-ranging talent. Not surprisingly, his record sales slipped.

After a brief stint at Beverly Glen Records, Taylor signed with Malaco Records after the label’s founder Tommy Couch and producing partner Wolf Stephenson heard him sing at blues singer Z.Z. Hill’s funeral in the spring of 1984. Backed by members of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as well as in-house veterans like former Stax keyboardist Carson Whitsett, Malaco gave Taylor the type of recording freedom that Stax had given him in the late 1960s and early 1970s, enabling him to record ten albums for the Malaco label in his sixteen year stint. Taylor’s record sales were good but not enough for the singer to receive the measure of stardom he once had.

In 1996, Taylor’s eighth album for Malaco, Good Love!, made it to Number One on Billboard’s Blues chart (#15 R&B), the biggest record in Malaco’s history.
Malaco recorded a live video of Taylor at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas in the summer of 1997.

Johnnie Taylor’s 1999 album, “Gotta Get the Groove Back”, also reached the # 1 Position on the Billboard Blues Charts. This album which featured veteran songwriter, Lamar Thmas (Woman don’t be Afraid) was also a Grammy Nominated album during the same year that Johnnie passed.

Taylor was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999. He died in Dallas at the age of 63.

In what would turn out to be a sad foreshadowing, Taylor’s final song was “Soul Heaven”, in which he dreamed of being at a concert featuring deceased Soul music icons Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and MGs drummer Al Jackson, among others. In one verse, Taylor sang, “I didn’t want to wake up/I was havin’ such a good time”.

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Definitely one of those voices that just pierce right down to the soul. As soon as the needle drops... ya feel me? get a copy and let me know what you think.

click the above link for dwnld. enjoy!