whatcha see is whatcha get

the dramatics - what you see is what you get (1972)

phillycheese steak sound is one that cant be touched. the groups that came from philly & put east coast r&b on the map, were not be reckoned with. they remind me very much of my cousins from gary, indiana. real tough guys with some serious hardships. but you know, real man's men! all of them second cousins from me ma's side, which means that they all served our country and returned vietnam vets. not so much recepted as heroes as expected, but as unknown soldiers. so fucked up what they had to endure, but best believe that it was this sound that helped them get through those times. they have talked about how there is nothing like the soulful sounds of american rhythm and blues. the sounds brought along with it all the other senses; the taste of sweet potato pie, the touch of afroed hair, the smell of the blacktop streets, the mental images of being home sitting on the stoops shuckin and jivin. plain and simple. the music was an escape from the realities of hell and is the reason why 60s & 70s r&b music is so essential cause it wasnt only tunes to groove to, it was soundtrack to our everyday lives and the sentiment of our souls. this my opportunity to say thank you to my family for all their sacrifices, spirit, love, dedication & soul! love-joy

did you hear that? what did he just say?

uh-oh...that didnt sound right. i love listening to tracks with mistakes. remember when songs were done in one take. no layering, no adjusting, no tweaking, no do overs, and all that other fake sounding crap that distracts us from natural recording ablity. one of my favorite mishap is almost every album our godfather jb cuts. and what i mean by that are his lyrics. its seems like he doesnt write anything, just goes in the studio & starts jabbering...im sure there all kinds of verbal mistakes in jb history. i can think of a handful of songs that make sense. otherwise....


but other songs have less obvious mishaps, for example michael jackson saying the word "shoulders" when telling me "look over your shoulders honey" in "i'll be be there", no edits there...or even more subtle, during "for the love money" by the o'jays, there is a mini second where there is a blurb @ 2:23, someone says something about a "trick"..huh? what did you say about my mama? nah just jivin, just jivin...but in reality i have no idea what he says or what he wants to say. i just think its awesome! this recording sounds like it couldve been worked on over & over again, but noooo...one take! and there it goes... my lonely teardrop for todays pop music.ishame! are we even trying? let me know! please prove me wrong!
the o'jays - for the love of money (1973)