Black Ivory – Don’t Turn Around
Black Ivory – Surrender
Black Ivory – You And I
My Wife and I have been listening to a fair amount of Sweet Soul or Oldies of late. It’s interesting because we have very different relationships with this music. For me, growing up in Atlanta and the South, I always associated this music with the Northeast, since most Southern Soul is grittier and “deeper,” but the really sweet stuff always seemed to come from Philly, New York, Detroit or Chicago. It’s a sound for slow dancing late in the summer for me. My wife however grew up in the LA Area, and this style of music is really strongly connected to Mexican/Mexican-American communities out here to the point where we actually get in arguments over “Who’s Music Is This?” (which is the kind of thing that might just spark a bit of academic inquiry in the future).
What’s not up for debate is how lovely a lot of this music is. Black Ivory’s “Don’t Turn Around” has been something I’ve been on the look out for years and years, after hearing comedian Tommy Davidson request it during a radio appearance at a Bay Area station. Generally if I run into the album out and about it’s all beat up from being overplayed. With Sweet Soul on my mind more and more I made sure to pick up a decent copy off of Ebay and here it is. It’s pretty amazing to note how young all the members of this group were when they released “Don’t Turn Around”, not even in their twenties at that time. While it shares a lot of elements from other Sweet Soul tunes, slow tempo, falsetto lead, etc., it’s THOSE strings that keep bringing me back to this one again and again. It wasn’t until I came across this video of the group’s only Soul Train appearance that I realize that the dude in the center of the LP cover wasn’t singing that falsetto, but instead it was Leroy Burgess, who really was the creative force behind the band. In addition to missing harmonies like these, I really wish bands still choreographed their moves they way they used to:
“You And I” treads similar territory, but cranks up the levels of epic-ness as it builds and builds, ending with some sample-worthy instrumentation (especially after some says, “Don’t Stop Now,” in the background during that last minute). “Surrender” is a bit more upbeat, as are a couple of the other tracks on the album. But really what it all comes down to is that truly sweet soul sound. Hearing that, I don’t know how anyone could resist turning around for another glance. I’m sure you’re like me, once you’ve heard “Don’t Turn Around” you keep coming back for more and more.
Cheers,
Michael