25th of August 2012
Lee Fields & The Expressions - Faithful Man (2012)
When Sly Stone and George Clinton didn't make it to fictional surprise party for James Brown's 40th birthday back in '73, "boys (and girls) from the hood" Lee Fields, Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings and Charles Bradley put themselves in charge. The Godfather of soul asked himself "who, the hell, are those?" but when they start playing big smile showed up on his face "they'll bear torch of soul and funk in the future". Of course, this never happened in reality, I just want to display connections and influences between 60's/70's and contemporary soul/funk artists. The link that connects those periods is our hero Lee Fields whose first single was released in 1969 and the last album, Faithful Man, 2012. Most of these 40+ years, he was undercurrent (but well known in funk circuit), but every time he appears on surface it's holiday for soul/funk music. Try to find the last funk classic from the XXth century Let's Get a Groove On (1999) or recent soul classic My World (2009). His new, Faithful Man, reminds me of the best works of Eddie Floyd and Wilson Pickett. Singing is superb, voice is distinctive but still real soul voice, songwriting is good but not good enough to make any of these songs real classic. The only thing never missing from the scene when Lee Fields is around is SOUL. Keep it that way, Lee!
If you want to know more about contemporary Deep Funk go to:
Single from the album:
Video from Sharon Jones & Dap Kings:
Video from Charles Bradley:
Enjoy and share!
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