The Shades Of Black Lightning – Yesterday’s Dream
The Shades Of Black Lightning – Mama Jo’s Place
The Shades Of Black Lightning – Any Old Way
Today would have been Matthew Africa’s 49th birthday. As is always the case since his passing 2012, I pay tribute to him and the legacy of music he left on this day his light first shined. This record is one of the ones that found it’s way to me from Matthew’s own collection. Before writing this post, I honestly didn’t know anything about the Shades Of Black Lightning. I heard the opening of “Yesterday’s Dream,” and that song was so blindingly good, I honestly didn’t care what the rest of the album sounded like. But the album itself is solid apparent “Blue-eyed Soul,” made novel by having a horn section that appears to only feature two trombones. I say ‘apparent’ solely because the shading on the front cover makes it impossible to see any of the members of the band, none of which are listed in the notes, aside from songwriter Billy Ford, who I’m guessing is the lead vocalist. The notes on the band from Freddie Piro didn’t lead me to much more about the band, but did confirm a few things about Piro and where it was recorded.
The ”Mama Jo’s” in the title for the instrumental “Mama Jo’s Place,” on the album was a reference to Piro’s mother, which Piro would also take as the name of recording studio, which according to Discogs was one of the first truly independent studios in the Hollywood area. That leads me to believe that Shades Of Black Lightning were likely an LA-area band. Later in 1971, Piro produced a straight soul album by a group called Body & Soul that featured a very different version of “Yesterday’s Dream,” but this one is definitely superior, something the producer Frequency flipped for Wordsworth’s 2004 song “One Day.”
It’s a shame that the powers that be chose “Soul Love In” and “Got Myself Together” as the lone single from this record. A 45 pairing “Yesterday’s Dream” with “Any Old Way” would have been the better choice to my post-Hip Hop ears, especially with that drum break on “Any Old Way.” But alas, how could they know back in 1968 that these kind of sounds would be the kind of thing that so many people would lust after in the future. One things for sure…Matthew Africa always had a knack for tracking down obscure records with deep sounds and fantastic breaks. I would have loved to have known what he thought of this record, and how it came to be in his collection, but those stories are now lost to time. All that remains is the music, and the memories of time shared, and for that, I am eternally thankful that I knew Matthew and called him a friend, and as long as we keep the music going and keep sharing the stories…Matthew Africa Lives Forever
