Thursday, May 31, 2012

Men In Black III - Sylvia Robinson's LOVE IS STRANGE

In 2009 Karla Domenica recorded Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" on her Live at Domenica's CD.  It can be heard here:
SUNNY by Karla Chisholm

LIVE AT DOMENICA'S 
 

Karla Chisholm has a new CD and "Sunny" is mentioned in a recent May 24 press clipping (though it is not on the new 6 song CD).  She played Washington DC last Friday night. We'll watch her upcoming dates and try to get a video of "Sunny" live from Karla!

She is performing in Virginia & Maryland in June 

http://karlachisholm.com/live

 

Blues Alley serves a second helping of Karla Chisholm's jazz vocals

May 24, 2012 -- 8:00 PM
Chisholm's "straight-ahead thing" grew wings with the release of her debut album, "Live at Domenica's" in 2009. In covers such as "Pennies from Heaven" and Bobby Hebb's 1966 hit "Sunny," this petite women in a sultry evening gown could belt out her songs much like Laura Nyro, or slide smoothly and deeply from note to note like one of her idols, Nancy Wilson. You hear it all in her phrasing and in a jazzy blend that she alone owns.


Alex Twist lists "Sunny" as a Top 6
alextwist
29 May 2012 10:54AM
here is a personal playlist of french stuffs i love
60s
Jacques Dutronc - on nous cache tout on nous dit rien
Nino Ferrer - Madame Robert
Michel Polnareff - Une poupée qui fait non
Les 5 Gentlemen - si tu reviens chez moi
France Gall - poupée de cire poupée de son
Eddy Mitchell - sunny (awesome cover in french of Bobby Hebb's classic)




Saxophonist Vladi Strecker on YouTube performing SUNNY



AUS STADT UND KREIS

Robert Giegling ist es auch, der seit diesem Schuljahr den Chor des AAG leitet und mit den Sängerinnen und Sängern mehrstimmige, raffiniert arrangierte Kompositionen wie Elton Johns Welthit "Can you feel the love tonight" oder den im Original von Bobby Hebb gesungenen Evergreen "Sunny" einstudiert hat:




 
MEN IN BLACK III
LOVE IS STRANGE

Bobby's friend SYLVIA ROBINSON is back on the airwaves with a new rap version of the MIB III hit   LOVE IS STRANGE!

I was in the gym on May 29, 2012 and heard the new rap version - Pitbull's "Back In Time" remix heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBrfwJGzUSM

To hear this fantastic song again on the charts is amazing in 2012.  Wikipedia notes the many versions, from Paul McCartney & Wings (Wings WILDLIFE lp) to Peaches & Herb and Bo Diddley.


Keep in mind that Bo Diddley co-wrote the song with Mickey Baker and Sylvia Robinson and that Bobby Hebb performed spoons on a Bo Diddley track, the flip of "Diddley Daddy"

LOVE IS STRANGE  #1 R & B 1956
#11 on the top 40  1956
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Is_Strange
"Love is Strange" was a crossover hit by American rhythm and blues duet Mickey & Sylvia, which was released in late November 1956 by the Groove record label.[1]
The song was based on a guitar riff by Jody Williams. The co-writers of the song are of some dispute. The song has also been recorded by Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley, among others.

Pitbull 'Men In Black 3' Song: 'Back In Time' Revealed As Blockbuster's Theme

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/27/pitbull-men-in-black-3-song-back-in-time_n_1382001.html
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MEN IN BLACK III Review
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2012/34963


And just as Jonathan Frid died on Friday the 13th (April 2012) before he could see the picture, Sylvia Robinson would have probably adored hearing her masterpiece twice in this fun space-age delight. Rapper Pitbull (a.k.a. Armando Christian Pérez) updates the Mickey & Sylvia classic and the original finds its way into MIB III as well. With Andy Warhol playing one of the Men In Black the Factory as a setting for alien shenanigans makes perfect sense…and will help attract the mainstream and cult fans of both Jimi Hendrix and Lou Reed

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Sylvia Robinson, Pioneering Producer of Hip-Hop, Is Dead at 75  (Sept. 29, 2012)

Sylvia Robinson, a singer, songwriter and record producer who formed the pioneering hip-hop group Sugarhill Gang and made the first commercially successful rap recording with them, died on Thursday in Edison, N.J. She was 75.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/arts/music/sylvia-robinson-pioneering-producer-of-hip-hop-dies-at-75.html

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Rare Version of COLD COLD NIGHTS found! Bobby Hebb Live !

New Year's Eve party with BOBBY HEBB
"Cold Cold Nights"
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htZJ6MY7YTY&feature=plcp

The song was written by Bobby and Phil Medley (Phil wrote "Twist & Shout", a hit for both Isley Bros. & The Beatles)

The band included

Bobby Hebb, Guitar/Vocals
John Hyde - keys
Pete Malaquias - drums

Mike Lindberg - bass 

Bassist Mike Lindberg put the camera on a tripod as the group did the New Year's Eve show, probably up in the Gloucester area.  John Hyde, keyboard player, lived upstairs from Bobby in Rockport, Massachusetts.  Mike says "We used to jam all the time. Bobby would tell some great stories...Great Person!"
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More information on this show soon!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

WCAP radio wants to debut the Bobby Hebb Boxed Set

Bobby Hebb Boxed Set Update!

WCAP's Jack Baldwin interviewed boxed set producer Joe Viglione on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 1:07 PM

980 WCAP AM

Jack asked us to debut the boxed set on the air at WCAP radio!
_______________________________________
Yasko Kubota and Joe Viglione talk about their friendship with Bobby Hebb on Visual Radio
May 17, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPiDuulIzyg

Hear Yasko Kubota talk about her tours with THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (she played keyboard with both Bobby Hebb and NKOTB).

Yasko talks about the September 22, 2000 gig that she and her husband, Archie Kubota, played with Bobby Hebb in Bridgewater. A couple of tracks to be included on the boxed set.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

R.I.P. DONNA SUMMER!

Donna Summer.  Rest in Peace.

Sometime in the early 2000's Bobby and Junko saw Donna Summer perform in Nashville.



  • Donna was and is one of the major, major  Boston music scene personalities, someone New Englanders can be proud of. 
    God Bless Donna's spirit and her memory, and God bless Donna's family. Another loss for the music world as she was working on a new CD and was said to be in terrific voice
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/donna-summer-dies--remembering-the-disco-queen-through-the-post-archives/2012/05/17/gIQAYz0GWU_blog.html?wprss=rss_style

Bobby Hebb News May 17, 2012




Hebb Update   May 17, 2012

On April 22, 2012 I was able to get this rare 1966 version of "Sunny" by The Mustangs on RCA Victor!
The Mustangs. Brazil Jovem Guarda Band performing a cover version of Sunny. Sung in english.

Rare single pressed in Brazil in 1966.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Title Side A:  Sunny
Title Side B:  See you in september
Made in: Brazil
Year, Label: 1966  RCA 6290
A review will be forthcoming once Jason, our transfer guy, puts it to CD for the archives.
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 Bobby Hebb in the news!


The Mirror, U.K.  May 16, 2012
.
When I was pregnant, I wanted to call my child Sunny if she was a girl, after the lovely 1966
Bobby Hebb song.

“Thank you for that smile on your face,” I trilled to my husband.
 http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/most-exotic-baby-names-revealed-834454






Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz - May 7, 2012
 
Zu den Höhepunkten gehörten außerdem Nummern wie „Sunny“ (Bobby Hebb), „Moonlight Serenade“ (Glenn Miller), „In the Mood“ (Joe ...


http://www.allgemeine-zeitung.de/region/bad-kreuznach-bad-sobernheim-kirn/stadt-bad-kreuznach/11946344.htm





 Stuttgarter-zeitung.de
 
Cro-Konzert in Stuttgart Heimspiel für den Panda 
 
"for his biggest hit easy he sampled Bobby Hebb's song sunny"
 
Katharina Sorg, 28.04.2012 20:50 Uhr

  Für seinen bisher größten Hit "Easy" sampelte er Bobby Hebb´s Song "Sunny", bei "Rockstar" ist es die Melodie von "Banquet" von Bloc Party und bei "Wir waren hier" schwingen die Fans ihre T-Shirts und Pullis zum Beat von "The Passenger" von Iggy Pop durch die Luft. Stören tut das keinen, die Stimmung ist gut.

http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.cro-konzert-in-stuttgart-heimspiel-fuer-den-panda.41f0e6f3-873e-4566-b2b2-b0b7e62d49c9.html



LINEMUSICA


Marco Mengoni a Genova: Il soul ronciglionese sotto la Lanterna.


E come dargli torto con delle corde vocali del genere!

Durante questa prima ora, Marco Mengoni and band ci deliziano con l’interpretazione di nuove cover, quali “I cant’ help falling in love” di Elvis Presley, “Sunny” di Bobby Hebb e “Innuendo” dei Queen.


http://www.lineamusica.it/2012/04/marco-mengoni-a-genova-il-soul-ronciglionese-sotto-la-lanterna/







Hörerlebnis auf höchstem Niveau in Bad Kreuznach

08.05.2012 - BAD KREUZNACH
Von Beate Vogt-Gladigau
Zu den Höhepunkten gehörten außerdem Nummern wie „Sunny“ (Bobby Hebb), „Moonlight Serenade“ (Glenn Miller), „In the Mood“ (Joe Garland oder die Zugabe „Lady Marmelade“, die alle Dietmar Mensinger speziell für Sound Express arrangiert hatte.


http://www.allgemeine-zeitung.de/region/bad-kreuznach-bad-sobernheim-kirn/stadt-bad-kreuznach/11946344.htm






ONLINE NEWS


Musica/ Al via il “Tour Teatrale” di Marco Mengoni


“I cant’ help falling in love” di Elvis Presley, “Sunny” di Bobby Hebb, “Innuendo” dei Queen, oltre a “Natbush City Limits” di Tina Turner, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” di Stevie Wonder e “Rehab” di Amy Winehouse.


http://www.online-news.it/2012/04/18/musica-al-via-il-tour-teatrale-di-marco-mengoni/







Bobby Hebb Boxed Set
Update  May 14, 2012
Producer Joe Viglione

Our target release date is September 15, 2012, four months away.
We are discussing sponsorship with like-minded companies that understand the beauty and importance of this project.

\Discs 1 and 2 will contain "the best of" Bobby Hebb as well as rarities. We are being very particular about the tracks chosen and once we discuss the process the tracks may change...and change. We would like to have the complete box ready for Christmas 2012.

Our goal is for the audience that has embraced “Sunny” to have a much better understanding of  BobbyHebb's genius; the signature song is the focal point as well as the avenue where musicians, fans, historians and everyday people can discover the life's work of this incredible artist.
The title pages of the two websites BobbyHebb.com and Sunny-the-Song.com – that we are currently composing and updating have elements from this boxed set’s material in them.
The Sunny Box – our nickname for Vol 1 - will be a treasure chest of different versions of “Sunny” by Bobby, along with songs spanning his entire career.  It is a delicious collector’s item that fans of "Sunny" will be able to explore.   And we’re hoping that artists from around the world will record not only “Sunny” in a variety of languages, but other Bobby Hebb songs that strike a chord within them, that speak to them and, in turn, help them communicate that spirit and vibration to the world.

...In a perfect world we'd have 4 audio discs and a DVD (5 discs)...actually, in a perfect world we'd have 10 volumes with all of Bobby's work included ...and maybe Vol.1 will lead to that.  It’s a first step.
Any thoughts on the ideas presented here are most welcome.   Potential sponsors interested in working with us to bring the Sunny Box to libraries in cities, towns and colleges around the world should contact us to discuss the possibilities.

Joe Viglione
Executive Producer
Bobby Hebb Boxed Set
Bobby Hebb.com
P.O. Box 2392
Woburn, MA 01888
http://www.bobbyhebb.com
Hebb_Project [@] yahoo.com
SUNNY - The Bobby Hebb Anthology
Boxed Set
Proposed Release Date: September 15 2012
Label: Hebb Cats Recordings
Copyright © 2010 Hebb Cats recordings


DISC 1
1)Sunny (Original 1966 hit, stereo) 2:45
2)Sunny (Jerry Ross demo)
3)You Want To Change Me
4)Love LoveLove
5)A Natural Man (Bobby Hebb/Sandy Baron) from Bernard Purdie album
6)Proud Soul Heritage (45 RPM)
7)A Satisfied Mind from Uni/original Sunny CD
8)Dreamy (demo)
9)Charms of the Arms of Love (demo)
10)Love Me (from Philips 45)
11)Nancy (with the Laughing Face) from Bobby Hebb Live
12)Got My Mojo Working from Bobby Hebb Live
13)Cut It Out from Bobby Hebb Live
14)Tree Top High (from Portable Publishing Demos)
15)Love You (from Portable Publishing Demos)
16)True I Love You (Laurie Single, b/w Proud Soul Heritage)
17)Proud Soul Heritage (Live, 1971, with Ron Carter on bass)
18)Sunny  (Live, on TV 1971 with Ron Carter on bass)
19)A Natural Man (live, on TV 1971 with Ron Carter on bass)
20)Sunny 1998 re-mastered by Jon Wyner and Joe Viglione 







1)Sunny (Bobby Hebb) 2:45 Philips #40365 45 RPM
One of the most recorded titles in pop music history. Remastered in 2004 by Gavin Lurssen (who has worked on multiple Grammy-winning albums) and Uni’s Heather Whitten for the re-release on HipO Select that Bobby & I were part of in 2004.
In 1997 “Sunny” was included in the 6 cd Beg Scream & Shout box which won the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. In 2005 “Sunny” was included in Night Train To Nashville which won a Grammy for Best Historical Album co-produced by Michael Gray of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Bobby’s Grammy is on his website, BobbyHebb.com


2)Sunny (demo recorded by producer Jerry Ross)


3)You Want To Change Me (Kenny Gamble/Leon Huff) 2:46 Philips #40551
The second of two Northern Soul hits for Bobby, and his final 45 RPM on Philips Records, catalog #40551, is a phenomenal slice of Northern Soul and Space Age Bachelor Pad music. "You Want To Change Me" b/w "Dreamy" borrows heavily from the sounds of Star Trek and The Fifth Dimension's rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Up, Up and Away" (take a ride in my beautiful balloon). Those elements aren't there in the demo of "Dreamy" that Bobby tracked at this point in time, circa 1968.


4)Love LoveLove (Jerry Ross/Joe Renzetti) 3:02 Philips #40400
Launched six years after the Sunny album was released, hitting the Top 40 in the United Kingdom this song was actually the flip side of Bobby’s second American hit, a cover of Porter Wagoner’s big big 1950s hit “A Satisfied Mind”.


5)A Natural Man (Bobby Hebb/Sandy Baron)
From Visual Radio, 1998 with Thomas Hebb on bass. This song was an out-take from Eskimo, a proposed Broadway show being written by actor/comedian Sandy Baron – Bobby’s very close friend, and Bobby.
Lou Rawls recorded it along with “His Song Shall Be Sung”, a tune for Marvin Gaye, both on the MGM label. At the 14th Grammys this won Best R & B Vocal Performance, Male for Lou Rawls, March 15, 1972.



6)Proud Soul Heritage (Bobby Hebb) Laurie Records/EMI LR 3632
One of Bobby’s favorite titles - this is the original version as released on a 45 RPM on Laurie Records.


7)A Satisfied Mind (Hayes/Rhodes)
Live from the Grand Ole Opry this rendition of Philips #40400, a big American hit for
Bobby Hebb, was recorded in the new millennium when Bobby was awarded 6 million
spins of SUNNY from BMI.


8)Dreamy (Bobby Hebb) demo version
We got this publishing demo off of eBay, believe it or not, along with a demo of The Charms of the Arms Of Love.


9)The Charms Of The Arms of Love (Demo)
This song would appear produced by James Fleming Rasmussen (who had a hit, “Echo Park” with Keith Barbour on Epic records) on Bobby’s Epic Records release LOVE GAMES.



10)Love Me Philips 40421 2:06 (Kenny Gamble/Jerry Ross)
Perhaps this song should have been the immediate follow-up to “Sunny”, two of the three songwriters who penned “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”, with exquisite Jerry Ross production, it’s just a great response to “Sunny”. As terrific as “A Satisfied Mind” is – and was – establishing the audience that “Sunny” found was key…of course I’m being a Monday morning quarterback but…


11) Nancy (With the Laughing Face) (Jimmy Van Heusen/Phil Silvers) One of two versions of this song that Bobby recorded with me. This one was recorded with the Kubota Powerjazz Unit in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Co-written by Phil Silvers, the comedian, it was a big Frank Sinatra classic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_%28With_the_Laughing_Face%29



12)Got My Mojo Working
Live from Visual Radio 1998
This was Bobby’s signature tune prior to “Sunny”. That’s why they called him Mojo. This rendition was recorded with Thomas Hebb on bass.


13)Cut It Out (Little Willie Brown)
This is the rendition that Bobby played for me on my third edition of Visual Radio onAugust 26, 1995. We edited the show on August 29, 1995


14)Tree Top High  from the Portable Publishing Demos

15)Love You  from the Portable Publishing Demos

16)True, I Love You   This was the flip of Proud Soul Heritage

17) Proud Soul Heritage (Live, 1971, with Ron Carter on bass)
18)Sunny  (Live, on TV 1971 with Ron Carter on bass)
19)A Natural Man (live, on TV 1971 with Ron Carter on bass)
These three songs were recorded with Ron Carter for a live TV show
20)Sunny Live May 1998   recorded for Visual Radio
Remastered with Jonathan Wyner on November 24, 2010
August 26, 1995. We edited the show on August 29, 1995 and on November 24, 2010, the day before Thanksgiving, Jonathan Wyner and I remastered ; I added some production and here is a very intimate and stunning version of the classic.


FOREWORD



Sunny - The Bobby Hebb Anthology - begins with Bobby’s timeless 1966 classic as originally produced by Jerry Ross for Philips Records, and then takes you through a musical journey that is a textbook of Americana, rhythm and blues, country, soul, gospel and pop. Through this adventure in sound the spirit of Robert “Bobby” Hebb - as heard through his formidable intuition and his musical skills - will entertain, enlighten and teach.


Though “Sunny” is the centerpiece of the collection - including totally different versions performed by Bobby through the decades, it is also the guidepost. In addition to the superb chord changes, soothing vocal and inspiring words found in his signature tune there are other melodies and tales to tell. The world of Northern Soul is graced with the magic of both Jerry Ross and the production team of Gamble & Huff with “Love LoveLove” and “You Want To Change Me”, respectively, finding their way into the hearts of tens of thousands of fans of that musical genre.



Four years after “Sunny” while Sly & the Family Stone were recording There’s A Riot Going On, Bobby was in the larger studio at the same facility recording what I call in the AMG review of the Epic/Sony release “as exquisite an album of adult contemporary R&B as you'll find.” Why this production by James Fleming Rasmussen didn’t change the direction of soul music as we know it when Lou Rawls and Gamble &; Huff were about to saturate the charts is not only a mystery, it is a notable flaw in the way great music is left to its own devices without the marketing that it deserves.



This collection of music will dig very, very deep into the lost mines and bring out treasures that are crying to be heard again. From Bobby’s early days with the honky tonk legend, Poppa John Gordy, playing spoons and wind instruments on Bullet Records when he was about 12 years of age, during the same period of time when he was schooled on the road with the King of the Hillbillies, the legendary Roy Acuff, this anthology will bring to light Bobby Hebb’s special skills as - what his sideman Nat Simpkins noted - are the skills of a man he considers the most musical man in the world.



Part of the idea is to sprinkle a variety of renditions of “Sunny” throughout this boxed set, culminating in a terrific live version on the audio documentary, Disc 3 tapes on the date of August 17, 1966 at the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada with the Epic group Barry And The Remains providing the back-up on the Beatles tour. The audio is from the audience, but the historical importance makes this gem a precious listen for fans of Bobby, The Remains and the Fab 4!



In a perfect world Brian Epstein might’ve signed the entire list of groups from the tour to one label – four years later Epic would sign Bobby Hebb while The Remains had disbanded. In retrospect, how do groups go from opening for the Beatles and then disbanding? That’s the time-old question, how an artist of such extraordinary talent – and success – such as Bobby Hebb – and a group that would develop a huge cult following – the Remains – how they didn't receive a five album deal with the labels they were on?
Bobby’s legacy on Philips Records is a group of terrific 45 RPMS including “You Want To Change Me’, a huge Northern Soul underground smash that has been bootlegged multiple times and found itself going for huge dollars on the internet, over one hundred dollars per copy at times for the promotional 45 RPM.
Ian Levine, a producer who is an expert on Northern Soul, videotaped Bobby performing both “Love LoveLove” and “You Want To Change Me”. Those clips, as well as the Grand Ole Opry performances, are included on Disc 5, the respectful two hour documentary on Bobby’s life.



Joe Viglione
Executive Producer
Bobby Hebb Boxed Set

Bobby Hebb.com
P.O. Box 2392
Woburn, MA 01888 
http://www.bobbyhebb.com  
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