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DOROTHY
LOVE COATES
Gospel singer extraordinaire and
civil-rights activist Dorothy Love
Coates was born in 1928 in Birmingham, Alabama. Regarded as a high
priestess of gospel by Little Richard,
Coates was the main engine of the
Alabama-based Original Gospel Harmonettes, serving as vocalist and arranger. Often, during performances,
Coates got so caught up in the spirit
that members of the group would
have to steer her back to the stage.
It’s said that Mr. James Brown fashioned some of his dramatic stage
moves on her style. After her daughter was born with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, Coates virtually retired to
care for her. Her last recording was in
1970; she died in 2002. The postwar title “Trouble,” from the album
The Great Gospel Women, has magnitude and grace.
TAP HERE TO BUY: iTunes.com
GENRE: Gospel
ARTIST: Dorothy Love Coates
SONG: Trouble
ALBUM: The Great Gospel Women
MUSIC
HUFFINGTON
11.03.13
JACKIE WILSON
RED NICHOLS
Soul/R&B crooner Jackie Wilson was
born in Motor City amid the Great
Depression. Young Jackie grew up on
devotionals and started singing as a
child. After tween membership in The
Eveready Gospel Singers, Jackie headed into teenage entanglements with
the law — and time at a correctional
facility — where he picked up boxing,
qualifying for the Golden Gloves at age
16. By the early ’50s, he got back into
music, recording for Dizzy Gillespie’s
Dee Gee label as “Sonny” Wilson. From
there his trajectory was set via The
Thrillers, Royals, The Dominos, and a
solo career that gave way to countless
chart-toppers and dozens of releases.
Collaborations include Count Basie,
Berry Gordy, Billy Ward, and Billy Davis. His personal life was riddled with
misfortune and a heart attack in 1975
(whilst performing at a Dick Clark
concert) that ended the superstar’s
career. Wilson spent the remainder of
his life in continual care, passing away
at the age of 49 in 1984. The Grammy
Hall of Famer was also posthumously
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame (1987) and honored by the R&B
Foundation’s Legacy Tribute Award
(2003). Remember him with “Doggin’ Around,” from his 1960 collection
Jackie Sings the Blues.
Composer/bandleader and master of
the cornet Ernest Loring “Red” Nichols was born in 1905 in Utah, the son
of a music professor. At the age of 4,
Ernest got hooked on the cornet, and
by his teens, he was touring the Midwest with a variety of dance bands.
Red hit New York City to stay in 1923,
started recording (mostly as Red
Nichols and His Five Pennies), and
had his first million-seller by 1927.
During the Depression, Nichols captained Bob Hope’s orchestra on radio.
Collaborations include Miff Mole,
the Dorseys, Benny Goodman, Glenn
Miller, Gene Krupa and Paul Whiteman. Accolades include inductions
into the Big Band and Jazz and the
Culver Military Academies Halls of
Fame and the Arts & Letters Award.
The maestro passed away in 1965
and leaves behind an extensive collection. Remember him with his 1927
“Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider),” from
Quadromania’s release Red Nichols
Featuring Jimmy Dorsey, P.W. Russell.
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GENRE: Soul/R&B
ARTIST: Jackie Wilson
SONG: Doggin’ Around
ALBUM: Jackie Sings the Blues
TAP HERE TO BUY: iTunes.com
GENRE: Jazz
ARTIST: Red Nichols
SONG: Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)
ALBUM: Red Nichols Featuring
Jimmy Dorsey, P.W. Russell