Category Archives: soul

Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud. 2010

Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud. James Brown sang those words to the entire nation. Even the KKK heard, but back in the 1960s not everyone was listening to the singer of PLEASE PLEASE ME, since black music could only be heard on the far ends of the AM radio spectrum. I twisted […]

Forever Flashbacks

Jocko Weyland sent an announcement for the publication of Stephen Aiken’s Artists in Residence: Downtown New York in the 1970s. Great photos reminding anyone that the city was off the tracks as it is today with million dollar apartments overlooking chaos. Back then the city had the feel of Rome after. The Goths burned it […]

SAY IT LOUD, I’M BAD AND I’M PROUD

Martin Luther King Jr. was a great orator. His speech I HAVE A DREAM is recognized as a masterpiece of the spoken word. I know parts of it by heart. Another voice for Civil Rights was the legendary James Brown. His songs united blacks and whites, but the Godfather of Soul sang about pride and […]

EVES IN THE FLESH

In the winter of 1995 I was sitting at my desk in the diamond exchange, when Scottie Taylor phoned from LA. “How you doing?” “Great, I’m opening a Milk Bar in Beverly Hills. How’d you like to be the doorman?” The ex-lightweight mentioned the numbers. The salary was on par with what I earned selling […]

James Brown The Man Who Saved Boston

In the late 1960s after Arnie Ginsberg finished his evening shift on WMEX, I twisted the knob to WILD broadcasting a universe of music unknown to top 40 radio; Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Booker T, Tina Turner, and James Brown. Civil rights meant freedom for soul. Blacks were welcome on TV, but no one was ready […]