#edwin starr

[oldshowbiz]

Kliph Nesteroff: There was a sequel to the blaxploitation movie Black Caesar called Hell Up in Harlem. Both were directed by Larry Cohen for American International Pictures and they came out one after the other. You and James Brown did the soundtrack to the first film, but not the second. Edwin Starr from Motown did music for the second film. How come...?

Fred Wesley: Yeah, yeah. That’s a good story. We finished the movie music. James Brown told me to take it out to California. We were in Augusta when we finished it. We packaged it up. It was on a two-track tape and I took it to Larry Cohen. Larry listened to it and he shook his head. He said, “This ain’t funky. It’s not funky enough.” I said, “What?” It was very funky. He didn’t know funk from stunk. Anyway, I said, “Okay, well, you tell James Brown it's not funky enough. I’m not going to tell him it's not funky enough.” Phoned James Brown up, “I said Larry Cohen says it ain’t funky enough.” And I handed the phone to Larry Cohen. Larry turned about four shades of red and blue. He was saying, “Yeah, but… I mean… yeah, but… I… but I…” He handed the phone back to me. You could hear over the phone, “[screaming][growling].” I picked it up, took it back to Augusta, Georgia, and James Brown put the music out. It turned out to be The Payback – his funkiest album and the only million seller James Brown ever had.

Kliph Nesteroff: You were hired to do the music for Hell Up in Harlem and the music was turned down.

Fred Wesley: Yes. We did it. We did all the music! Larry Cohen said it was not funky enough (laughs).

#soundtrack #fred wesley #blaxploitation #james brown #edwin starr #larry cohen

[musickickztoo]

 Edwin Starr

January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003

#edwin starr #april 2 #january 21

[forever70s]

Edwin Starr - War & Peace LP (1970)

#edwin starr #singer #retro lps #1970

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #21: 1970

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Simon and Garfunkel, The Carpenters, The Guess Who, B.J. Thomas, Edwin Starr, Diana Ross, The Jackson 5, Rare Earth, The Beatles, Frede Payne. End description]

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A major theme in doing these polls is that decades are rarely defined by the exact stretch of time. It's all arbitrary, and any kind of cultural change tends to take a while to kick into gear without waiting for the exact calendar date. The seventies, however, feels like the exception. Keep in mind that this is all coming from the benefit of hindsight, but many accounts I've read and heard describe the shift from the 60's to the 70's as being jarring. First, we need to address the losses. The transition to the 70's came with musical trauma. Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and many others would pass away between 1969 and 1970. The Beatles would permanently break up this year. Whatever 1970 was going to look like, it was going to be a decade without many of the artists that helped to define the previous era.

There is something from the sixties that was brought over into the seventies, however: The Vietnam War. By this point, it was becoming clearer to the general public that the war effort was less about any sense of patriotic duty, and more about President Nixon not wanting to be the first American president to lose a war. The anti-war movement wouldn't just be populated by the anarchists or the hippies. However, the movement won't get as much traction in the top of the mainstream music charts as it did before. War by Edwin Starr, occupies a strange space in the early seventies as well as a strange space in Motown Records. Originally recorded for The Temptations, the track was covered by Edwin Starr out of fear that the original version would damage the group's crossover appeal.

Motown and its divisions will continue to reign supreme (or The Supremes...I'll stop) this decade as the label introduces the nation to a new flock of superstars. In addition to Diana Ross' solo debut, we're also seeing the introduction of The Jackson 5.

It's really hard not to apply a narrative to the songs listed above. As I keep saying, trends are rarely that neatly-defined and we're just looking at the very tip of the most popular/mainstream in doing these polls. But I can't help but notice that most of these songs are about learning to cope with some kind of hardship. Again, that's probably just a coincidence, but I think it's neat.

Also feel free to check out the twenty minute album version of Rare Earth's Get Ready, if you're like me and you're disappointed that Iron Butterfly's 17 minute In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida didn't make any of the sixties lists.

#billboard poll #billboard music #tumblr poll #music poll #1970s music #1970s #1970 #simon and garfunkel #the carpenters #the guess who #bj thomas #edwin starr #diana ross #the jackson 5 #rare earth #the beatles #freda payne

[lisamarie-vee]

#edwin starr #hatshop #soul music #rock and roll hall of fame #1960s

[djevilninja]

You see, he's slick, And he can't be tricked; He ain't never made a mark He could not hit, ow!

Edwin Starr - Easin' In

#edwin starr #music #soul #funk #70s #motown #groove #break beat #easin in #(upload)

[jimmyjampots]

#edwin starr #H.A.P.P.Y Radio #dance

[thevisualvamp]

War what is it good for? Absolutely nothing

#edwin starr #war #Youtube

[randomberlinchick]

Watch "Edwin Starr- War (HQ)" on YouTube

War, huh, yeah / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, uhh / War, huh, yeah / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing / Say it again, y'all / War, huh (good God) / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, listen to me, oh

War, I despise / 'Cause it means destruction of innocent lives / War means tears to thousands of mother's eyes / When their sons go off to fight / And lose their lives

I said, war, huh (good God, y'all) / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, just say it again / War (whoa), huh (oh Lord) / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, listen to me

It ain't nothing but a heart-breaker / (War) Friend only to The Undertaker / Oh, war it's an enemy to all mankind / The thought of war blows my mind / War has caused unrest / Within the younger generation / Induction then destruction / Who wants to die? Oh

War, huh (good God y'all) / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing / Say it, say it, say it / War (uh-huh), huh (yeah, huh) / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, listen to me

It ain't nothing but a heart-breaker / (War) It's got one friend that's The Undertaker / Oh, war, has shattered many a young man's dreams / Made him disabled, bitter and mean / Life is much too short and precious / To spend fighting wars each day / War can't give life / It can only take it away, oh

War, huh (good God y'all) / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, say it again / War (whoa), huh (oh Lord) / What is it good for? /Absolutely nothing, listen to me

It ain't nothing but a heart breaker / (War) Friend only to The Undertaker, woo / Peace, love and understanding, tell me / Is there no place for them today? / They say we must fight to keep our freedom / But Lord knows there's got to be a better way, oh

War, huh (God y'all) / What is it good for? You tell me (nothing) / Say it, say it, say it, say it / War (good God), huh (now, huh) / What is it good for? / Stand up and shout it (nothing)

#edwin starr #war #1970 #ukraine #russia #fuck putin

[myimaginaryradio]

War - Edwin Starr - 1969

#edwin starr #war #classic rock #60s #one word titles #Youtube

[radiophd]

edwin starr -- easin' in

#1970s #funk #soundtrack #edwin starr

[krispyweiss]

“One of the Greatest Songwriters of the Rock and Roll Era” and Motown’s First Hitmaker, Barrett Strong Dead at 81

Barrett Strong, who in 1959 scored Motown’s first hit with “Money (That’s What I Want)” and went on to pen classics for the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and others, died Jan. 29, the Motown Museum said.

Strong was 81; no cause of death was given for the man the museum called “one of Motown’s top lyricists.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and Motown family and fans around the world,” the museum said in a statement.

Though he didn’t write “Money,” later covered by the Beatles, Strong went on to co-write, with Norman Whitfield, a number of indelible tracks including Gaye’s “I Heard it through the Grapevine;” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” for the Temptations; Edwin Starr’s “War;” and many others.

More recently, Los Lobos covered Strong’s “Misery” on their 2021 album Native Sons, because “Barrett moved to L.A. when Motown did,” as David Hidalgo put it in the liner notes.

“We say farewell and thank you to one of the greatest songwriters of the rock and roll era,” George Clinton wrote on social media. “Rest in eternal song, Barrett Strong.”

Strong was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

1/29/23

#barrett strong #motown #george clinton #marvin gaye #the temptations #edwin starr #songwriters hall of fame #norman whitfield #los lobos

[leonardcohenofficial]

#Tunes #edwin starr

[upperswampmonkey]

War - Edwin Star

#youtube #edwin starr

[plus-low-overthrow]

Trini Lopez & Nancy Ames - Twenty-Five Miles (LIVE) (Midi)

wrt. Edwin Starr & Harvey Fuqua, backing band, The Ventures, 1969.

#trini lopez #nancy ames #the ventures #the trini lopez show #television special #Twenty-Five Miles #25 miles #edwin starr #1969 #live performance #harvey fuqua

[lisamarie-vee]

#edwin starr #war #1970s #rock and roll hall of fame