This little parade of December/January blue-eyed soul artists comes to an end today. There are many that haven't been featured...the obvious History of Rap co-conspirator Justin Timberlake, ivory princess Teena Marie (RIP), Jon B., Average White Band, Joe Cocker, Adele, etc. etc. However, I absolutely can't end this without mentioning 2 final names - Marc Broussard and Michael McDonald.
The first song I heard of Broussard's "Home" was actually performed on Clash of the Choirs by a choir directed by Blake Shelton. A friend of mine called me all excited (as music nerds can be sometimes) and literally yelled into the phone, "you've GOT to listen to this guy!" I did and loved it (good call Christy). Before then, I'd heard Broussard's cover of Al Green's, "Love and Happiness". But for some reason it didn't click with me the 'hugeness' of his talent until that call. I think what impresses me is his ability to go from hard core soul classics like "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" as featured on his S.O.S. Save Our Souls album to the pop sound of "Cruel" from his 2011 project Marc Broussard. Below is "Let Me Do It Over" from that same project.
Michael McDonald always brings a smile to my face; I enjoy his music, his lyrics and imitating his voice. So much soul, so little enunciation. Thank God for cd jackets and websites dedicated entirely to lyrics. I have done many stellar performances of "This Is It", "I Keep Forgettin'"(with that killer bass line as stolen by Warren G and Nate Dogg), and "What A Fool Believes". Of course the words for "Fool" for me kinda went like this: "He came from somewhere back in derr long ago, somethin' somethin' SOOOOMEthin, sunting sunting alriiight...Sheeeeee had a place in his life, heeeeee never made her think twice, as she riiifal to hur apologeee...". LOL. McDonald's recent projects have featured remakes of golden oldies - some tracks are just "eh", but many are well done, keeping true to the era but still in his style. I think what I like about Michael is his likable persona, and he seems to record, write, sing both behind the scenes and on stage because he loves it. No selling out, no unnecessary short cuts, just simply a musician making music.
Below is a video of his performance at Berklee's commencement ceremony, graciously performing with their students. There's 2 things I'd like to do - graduate from Berklee, and perform with Michael McDonald.
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