Hello, if you are reading this you may have noticed there has been a little face-lift around here. We’ll spare you the boring points but basically the site is now faster, more mobile friendly, easier to navigate, and generally more awesome. To honor this new epicenter of the Dig world I thought I’d dig up my all-time top five favorite posts from Dig past. So, without further adieu…
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Little Stevie Wonder – Hallelujah (I Love Her So)
Wow. It has certainly been awhile, hasn't it? I've had a nice little 3 week vacation from Those Who Dig, and in the meantime I've moved to a little town (Kennebunk) in a big state (Maine). I've started at a new trade school, started biking everywhere, rehurt my shins running, ate a lot of tofu, and learned to make Old Fashioneds. It's been an eventful month. I have definitely missed the ol' Dig so hopefully this gets me back in the groove.
What do I have for you today, you ask? How about a little Stevie Wonder. Actually how about Little Stevie Wonder. I picked up 12 year old Stevie's Tribute To Uncle Ray at a record shop and hot damn it's a fun time. People get down on this record for the whole "making a blind, black kid cover a blind, black guy" schtick and because Stevie's voice wasn't yet what it would become, but come on dudes. Get that big pole out of your backside. Kid was picked up by Berry Gordy and sings his heart out to tunes written by (or inspired by) Ray Charles. Did I mention he was 12?
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The Chambers Brothers – I Can't Stand It
"I Can't Stand It" is a stand-out track from The Chambers Brothers' 1967 release, Time Has Come. This is the album where the Brothers' Chamber came alive. They had been moving through the folk scene gaining notoriety (even singing back-up for Dylan on some unreleased tracks), but with Time Has Come, the boys electrified and funkified.
This radio-ready single is usually overlooked since this album also contained the Brothers' biggest hit "Time Has Come Today". The guys were often called the East Coast Sly Stone, and you can hear that in this one. I like the big cavernous drums, harp breakdown, and The Who-sounding high harmonies. Bangin' track, guys.
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Ray Charles – Deed I Do
Ray Charles was really three people. Little known fact. There was Jazz Ray, Blues Ray, and Country Ray. Here's a gem from Jazz Ray during his heroin-fueled Atlantic days. "Deed I Do" is a track from The Genius Of Ray Charles that doesn't get much attention, maybe because it's an oft-covered jazz standard that's been played by everyone from Ella to Les Paul. The band provides plenty of bombast and swing in equal measures and Ray catwalks his way through the vocal delivery going from hushed to yell, low-down to up-high. At it's core it's a loungy rendition that ends in slowed down theatrics.
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