2008 January : Al Fingers

Top 20 Tunes Of 2007

January 12, 2008

She’s Royal
TARRUS RILEY
Cannon
August Town
DUANE STEPHENSON
Cannon
Church Heathen
SHAGGY
Big Yard
Umbrella
RIHANNA
Def Jam
Hideaway
TESSANNE CHIN
VP
Say It Right
NELLY FURTADO
Geffen
Sticky
JAH CURE
Danger Zone
Unfaithful
RIHANNA
Def Jam
Dying
MAVADO
Daseca
Tek Weh Yaself
MR VEGAS
Kirkledove
The Days
BUSY SIGNAL
Daseca
Fallen Soldiers
DEMARCO
Star Kutt
Bad From Mi Born
MUNGA
Don Corleon
Love & Affection
PRESSURE
Don Corleon
Lost Without U
ROBIN THICKE
Interscope
No One
ALICIA KEYS
J Records
Africa Prepare
SIZZLA
Maximum Sound
There Goes My Baby
CALVIN RICHARDSON
Universal
Kingston Town
ALBOROSIE
Forward
Always On My Mind
DAVILLE
VP

David Axelrod was born on 17 April 1936 in Los Angeles, California. He grew up listening to jazz and rhythm & blues a couple of blocks from Crenshaw Blvd in South Central LA (later immortalised in the rap music of NWA, DJ Quik, etc), and tried his hand at writing, truck driving, and boxing before becoming involved in the West Coast jazz scene in his early twenties. He soon moved to NYC and began working for Capitol Records, developing his skills as a producer, arranger, and composer, learning music theory, and forming close working relationships with artists such as Cannonball Adderley and Lou Rawls. 1967–69 was a particularly prolific period, during which time he was involved in more than 40 albums for artists including Adderley, Rawls, Clara Ward, the Electric Prunes, and Letta Mbulu, spanning genres including gospel, soul, jazz, funk, and psychedelic rock. “Song(s) Of Innocence”, the first of his many solo albums, was released in 1968, inspired by William Blake’s 1789 book of poetry of the same name. Fourteen solo efforts have been released since, including the acclaimed “Songs Of Experience” (1969) (a reference to another of Blake’s books), “Rock Messiah” (1971) (a rock version of Handel’s Messiah), and albums tackling conscious issues such as the environment (”Earth Rot”, 1970) and slavery (”The Auction”, 1972). His music is deep and soulful – dark, atmospheric funk with melodic strings and horns layered over driving breakbeats, often breaking down into sparse, soundtrackesque grooves that have proved gold dust to a new generation of beat diggers. Dr Dre, DJ Shadow, J Dilla, Lauryn Hill, Diamond D, Showbiz, and The Beatnuts are just some of the artists that have sampled his work.

Despite a quiet patch during the 1980s, when he battled with cocaine addction and tragically lost a son, Axe has enjoyed a resurgence of late, and in 2004 performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London to a sell-out crowd (DVD available here). If you don’t know his work, “An Anthology” is a good place to start (released by EMI in 1999) while detailed information on his full discography can be found on the excellent blog, Axelgrease. You can also check him out at:

www.davidaxelrodmusic.com
www.myspace.com/davidaxelrod

SELECT DISCOGRAPHY
Oh! Freedom
The Human Abstract
Holy Thursday
Warning Talk
The Smile
The Sign
The Fly
A Divine Image