When I’m in a slump when it comes to writing, I always
revert to writing about music. I envy people like my friend Aarik who gets to
write about music for his job as an arts reporter for the Columbia Tribune.
Some music thoughts struck me today and I wanted to get them down. It is funny
how much of my original thoughts were lost because I didn’t originally write
them down. But here’s an attempt to give you a picture of my thinking about
music.
Today, I was doing what I do when I’m taking down the
Christmas decorations around the house: I was getting caught up on Fresh Air
podcasts. I was listening to Terry’s interview with record producer Mark
Ronson. They spent a bit of time talking about Amy Winehouse’s album, "Back to
Black", which Mark produced a number of the tracks. I was reflecting on that
album and how many of the tracks I really loved. It had a real 60s, R&B
feel. And I’m a sucker for a retro R&B sound. (That probably stems from my
mom playing Al Green and Motown records when I was a kid). What really makes
the record stand out for me (besides Amy’s voice and lyrics) is the back up
band, The Dap Kings. I enjoyed hearing Ronson give so much credit to them for
shaping the sound. I love the Dap Kings’ sound. I have many tracks by them
backing Sharon Jones. (I regret missing them when they were in Columbia a few
years ago, but I learned she was also on the verge of a cancer diagnosis, and
it wasn’t the best performance, understandably).
I will give anything the Dap Kings play on a listen and,
more often than not, I will enjoy it. There are some cool tracks on the Sharon
Jones and the Dap Kings holiday album. I’ll call it “holiday” because the best
song on the album is a Hanukkah song.
A final thought on Ronson, he produced the song “Uptown
Funk” featuring Bruno Mars. You can hear the R&B/Funk influence. Some may even call it a rip off. I
hear “Jungle Love” by the Time, “Groove Line” by Heatwave, and another song I
can’t remember by The Gap Band. I loved all of those songs, so I will give Ronson
a break, but in the days of “Blurred Lines” lawsuits, I don’t know if the
original artists will give him the same benefit of doubt.
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