September is half over and life is starting to get back to "normal". Classes started this week and since we've been talking about going back to school, we decided to make a playlist of old school music. Yes, the joke is weak, but the music is not. Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and B. B. King are the names we're going to talk you about. So different and, at the same time, so renowned in their fields.
We will start with the oldest of them all. B.B. King was born in Las Vegas in September 1925. His parents named him Riley Bem King, but the artist adopted the stage name Blues Boy King, hence B.B. king. He was a blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, with his journey as a guitarist leading him to be regarded as one of the greatest guitarists ever by the Rolling Stones magazine, along with other names like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.
Live in Cook County Jail was recorded during a live performance at Cook County Jail in Chicago. The concert took place in September 1970, after the prison warden asked King to perform there. In all, 2,117 prisoners saw the performance. The singer and his band performed a set of slow blues songs, mainly hits from King's early career, such as 'Darlin' You Know I Love You' and 'Every Day I Have the Blues'. On this album you'll find strong emotions like separation and loneliness.
From B.B. King we go to Elvis Presley. If one was king of the blues, the other was king of rock n'roll. Elvis Aaron Presley was born in 1935. He was an accomplished performer, with an extensive background in the world of music and film. Presley is without any doubt a popular icon of the 20th century, having impacted the lives of many fans.
Elvis' music was a blend of country and R&B. Despite his success, Elvis, like all men of the time, had to do time on the exercise and it was during this period that 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong came out. The album is a collection of the singer's greatest hits released in the late 1950s. This was one of the three albums then released.
Featuring the classic 'Doncha 'Think It's Time', this album was a breath of fresh air at a time when the world had to survive without Presley. Although not the singer's best work, a true Elvis Presley fan must listen this compilation.
If we've talked about two memorable men so far, now let's talk about a woman who made history. The Aretha Franklin album we bring you today was recorded when the singer was just 14 years old. Surprising? We think so too.
Aretha's father was a famous pastor of a Baptist church and it was precisely at his masses that the young singer started performing. She was nine years old. It didn't take long to draw people's attention for her vocal gift. In 1956, the record company J-V-B Records decided to record one of the masses and that is how Songs of Faith was created.
On this record you can hear the voice of the queen of soul at a very early stage, where surprisingly you can already clearly notice some traits of the singer she was to become. It is a young voice, but powerful and respected. It is interesting to see how the artist manages to convey so much emotion, feeling and colour through notes on the piano and the use of her voice.
To finish this playlist, we went for Bob Marley, thus going from a little girl singing in a church to a man who democratized the Rastafari religious movement. Bob Marley was born in 1945 in a rural area of Jamaica. The son of a British soldier and a young Jamaican woman, Bob Marley became known for bringing reggae to the world.
The artist's path in music began alongside his friend O'Riley Livington, better known as Bunny, and Peter Mcintosh. Together they formed the band Wailing Waillers, which played mainly ska. Considered at the time as the country's main rhythm, ska was the basis for reggae years later when mixed with R&B.
The Wailers' success began in the 1970s when the group teamed up with producer Lee Perry. In '73, they recorded their first hit album, Catch a Fire. The social and political nature of the songs attracted public opinion and the album was eventually considered, by Rolling Stone, as one of the best 500 albums of all time. The cover you can see below is not the original 1973 cover. After 20,000 copies were made, Catch a Fire changed the main image to a smoking Bob Marley and the credits to Bob Marley and The Wailers.
Within 20 years four legends were born. They ended up changing the way we see the world. More than old school, this playlist is inspiring and different. Ever wondered how music and the history of artists can make us better versions of ourselves? Stop by our website and discover all our vinyl records. Let yourself be captivated...
