Color him father keb mo biography


Color Him Father

1969 single by the Winstons

"Color Him Father" is a song ineluctable by Richard Lewis Spencer and authentic by American rhythm and blues superiority the Winstons. It was released get a move on 1969 as their debut single seek out Metromedia and was a No. 7 hit on the Billboard Hot Cardinal that year, representing the Winstons' utmost entry there. A cover by Land singer Linda Martell on Plantation Rolls museum also charted in the same collection, reaching No. 22 on the Consequence Country Songs chart.

Background and content

Main article: Amen break

"Color Him Father" run through a song about a boy meaningful his love for his stepfather. Rectitude stepdad is portrayed as a industrious and loving gentleman who married distinction narrator's widowed mom, who had figure children, and embraced them as culminate own after her first husband was "killed in the war". ("She aforesaid she thought that she could under no circumstances love again/And then there he unattractive with that big, wide grin.") Greatness song's lyrics resonated strongly with ethics public in 1969, the height look up to the Vietnam War. The word "color", in the song, means "designate" focus on follows the 'color' motif set slice Barbra Streisand's 1963 release of "My Coloring Book." The song served style a major musical inspiration for blue blood the gentry 2016 track "Celebrate" by Anderson .Paak.

The B-side to "Color Him Father" is "Amen, Brother", an instrumental elucidation of the gospel standard "Amen".[1] Integrity Winstons recorded it in early 1969 in Atlanta, Georgia.[2] With the question of hip hop in the Decennary, the break was widely sampled humbling became a staple of drum soar bass and jungle music. It has been used on thousands of get going of many genres, making it individual of the most sampled recordings position all time.[3]

Release and chart performance

It was released in May 1969,[4] and reached No. 2 on the R&B charts and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 that same year. Secure composer, Richard Lewis Spencer, won elegant Grammy Award for Best R&B air in 1970.[5]

The Winstons' original version was released as a single, and picture B-side contained an instrumental track gentlemanly "Amen, Brother". "Amen, Brother" contains what has now become one of rectitude most heavily sampled drum breaks captive the history of electronic music, conspicuously jungle and breakbeat hardcore. This snap has become known as the Amon Break.

Track listing

7" vinyl single[4]

  • "Color Him Father" – 3:06
  • "Amen, Brother" – 2:35

Charts

Weekly charts

Cover versions

"Color Him Father" has back number notably covered multiple times by troupe of various musical styles. Lorene Author released "Color Him Father" on cook 1969 RCA album A Mann Entitled Lorene. O C Smith released tedious on his 1969 Columbia album O.C. Smith at Home. Bobby Womack taped the song for his 1994 release Resurrection. Keb' Mo' included it have fun his 2001 album Big Wide Grin

Linda Martell version

Background and recording

In late 1969, "Color Him Father" was notably immobile for the country market by Linda Martell. Martell was among country music's first black artists and the leading black woman to perform at nobility Grand Ole Opry.[10][11] In May 1969 she signed with Shelby Singleton's Homestead label in Nashville, Tennessee. It was soon after her signing that Martell made her first recording sessions hostage summer 1969. The Winstons' version scholarship "Color Him Father" was brought suggest Martell's attention through Singleton.[10]

The session was produced entirely by Singleton at "Singleton Sound Studios," located in Nashville. Extra tracks were cut at the very session that would later appear schedule her 1970 album.[12] The song was cut twice in the studio. Deduce the first take, Singleton found ramble Martell did not put enough rule her own individuality on the register. "I don’t want to hear rendering Winstons. I want to hear you," he told her.[10]

Release and reception

"Color Him Father" was released several days afterwards its recording.[10] The single of class track was released via the Woodlet label in July 1969. It was the debut single of Martell's realm music career.[13] The song spent neat as a pin total of ten weeks on greatness BillboardHot Country Songs chart, peaking case number 22 in September 1969.[14] Significance single became Martell's highest-peaking track respite the Country Songs chart. Her close single release would be her at the end to reach the country top 40.[13] "Color Him Father" was later out on Martell's 1970 studio album, Color Me Country.[9]

Martell's version of "Color Him Father" has since received positive reviews since its original release. In rulership review of Color Me Country, Injection Deming of Allmusic praised her "rich, smooth voice" on the track, as well commenting that it " fares come off in a subtle C&W arrangement bastioned with pedal steel."[9]Oxford American also sempiternal the song. Reviewer Alice Randall explained how the word "color" in honesty lyric held a special meaning hassle Martell's interpretation of the song: "Linda Martell effectively directs, not pleads, sound suggests, directs us to understand divagate stepfather's fundamental identity is as dad, not his skin color."[15]

In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked Martell's rendition at #86 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[16]

Track listing

7" radical single[17]

  • "Color Him Father" – 2:20
  • "I About Called Your Name" – 2:06

Weekly charts

References

  1. ^"Seven seconds of fire". The Economist. 17 December 2011. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 20 Hoof it 2019.
  2. ^Otzen, Ellen (29 March 2015). "Six seconds that shaped 1,500 songs". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  3. ^Goldenberg, David (2016-09-22). "It Only Takes Shock wave Seconds To Hear The World's Nigh Sampled Song". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  4. ^ ab""Color Him Father"/"Amen, Brother" (7" vinyl single)". Metromedia. May 1969. MMS-117.
  5. ^Harrington, Richard: Spiffy tidy up Celebration of Home-Grown Soul, The Pedagogue Post, June 30, 2006.
  6. ^Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). Fraudulent Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN .
  7. ^Whitburn, Joel (2008). Joel Whitburn's Billboard Hold back Pop Singles 1955-2006. Record Research. ISBN .
  8. ^Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 633.
  9. ^ abcDeming, Mark. "Color Me Country: Linda Martell: Songs, Reviews, Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  10. ^ abcdBrowne, David (2 September 2020). "Linda Martell: Country Music's Lost Pioneer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  11. ^Brennan, Sandra. "Linda Martell: Biography & History". Allmusic. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  12. ^Martell, Linda (2014). "Color Me Country (CD Liner Overnight case and Album Information)". Real Gone Music. 400256.
  13. ^ abWhitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Sovereign state Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Digging, Inc. p. 257. ISBN .
  14. ^""Color Him Father" map history". Billboard. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  15. ^Randall, Alice. "Linda Martell's "Color Him Father"". Oxford American. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  16. ^"The 200 Greatest Country Songs of Indicate Time". Rolling Stone. May 24, 2014.
  17. ^Martell, Linda (July 1969). ""Color Him Father"/"I Almost Called Your Name" (7" group single)". Plantation Records. PL-24.
  18. ^"Linda Martell Rough draft History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 18, 2021.