Inspired By Soul

What is soul?
It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room.
~Ray Charles~






"The music that's in my heart - soul music - is the music of healing.

Music that speaks powerfully to life's pain and somehow makes you feel better all at the same time

Music has given me almost everything that's good in my life.
Mother music I call it."
~Taylor Hicks~

It was Otis Redding who first opened the doors for Taylor Hicks to the world of soul music.

Taylor was just 9 years old when he began singing along to Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness" from "The Best Of Otis Redding' album.

Hearing Otis Redding sing stirred deep emotions for Taylor, the music didn't just touch his soul, he thought that perhaps it had awakened it for the first time.

It was to be twenty years later that the world finally heard Taylor Hicks perform "Try A Little Tenderness" at the Kodiak Theater on May 16th, 2006.

It was a triumphant night for Taylor with 3 perfectly executed deliveries of "Dancing In The Dark, "You Are So Beautiful" and
"Try A Little Tenderness".

Amid thunderous applause and standing ovations, these two comments still continue to stick in my craw almost 2 years later!

Paula Abdul's comment "I waited all season for you to perform this song" ... um hello ... we all know that Taylor wasn't allowed to sing "Try A Little Tenderness" when he originally chose it for Week 7 - Greatest Love Songs Of All Times.

(In a radio interview, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe even admitted Taylor had to change his song choice from Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness", saying it didn't fit the week's genre)

Then there's Simon Cowel's comment "A hideous ending", he just couldn't say great performance and be done with it.
Had Simon never listened or watched Otis's version of "Try A Little Tenderness"?

In 'Heart Full Of Soul', Taylor tells us that as it turned out, he was glad the producers had made him wait for a truly dramatic moment to sing "Try A Little Tenderness" and that yes, to him it was still one classic love song.

"Try A Little Tenderness" is a standard that has been recorded by many artists, including crooners Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Bing Crosby and Michael Buble.

It was Otis Redding though who did a very soulful version that was a completely different take on the song featuring a slow soulful opening that eventually builds into a frenetic R&B conclusion.



I thought this comment at You Tube interesting
"This is by far Otis's best version of this song.
A performer who was better live and in person than restrained by a studio, Otis' music will live on."

Redding did not want to record "Try A Little Tenderness", but Stax Records executives and his friends wore him down with a constant barrage of requests.

When he finally recorded it, he did it in a way that he was "sure" that it would not be released.
The ploy didn't work.
Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness" became his signature song, and the biggest selling of his records released before his death.


Sam Cooke's version of "Try A Little Tenderness" was a big influence on Redding.
It was never released as a single but was one of the high points of his live
"Sam Cooke at the Copa" LP (1964), as part of a medley that started with "Tenderness" (followed by "Sentimental Reasons" and "You Send Me").

Redding idolized the man, particularly after Cooke's death, but he did not want to record "Tenderness".
He caved in after tremendous pressure from his friends and (according to one source) a family member - he didn't want to record it LIKE Cooke (in fact, he considered his version a "joke" to quiet the people who wanted him to record it).
The rest is history.

The Soul Of A Man

"Soul Thing" is my story.

"Music is maybe our highest form of communication -
it permits the telling of stories and sharing of them
with anyone who might want to hear them or even
need to hear them.

"Soul Thing" hits home for me because it's so much
about who I am and what I do."
~Taylor Hicks~

The story of Taylor Hicks' personal anthem, "Soul Thing", is beautifully interpreted in this video tribute which was done by KarinP.
Thank you Karin!



"I'm proud that my name has become so closely
associated with the word soul.
The moniker used to describe people who dig
what I do, the Soul Patrol, seemed to just
take on a life of it's own.
I love that my supporters wound up naming
themselves and did such a fine job."
~Taylor Hicks~



~The Soul Of A Man~
What a gift from Heaven, to bring forth such emotion.
I wonder if he ever knew, he would cause this fan-comotion!?

He stands so true, to himself, in the music that he sings.
I hope that he has realized, the joy, his person brings.

Kind and caring and gentle, are the impressions that he gives.
It's in his music, in his soul, it's in the way he lives.

He's not just, another 'star', but a new one, in his own right.
And high above the musical world, he is shining so very bright.

To love so much, so deeply, what it is, you so well do,
Is testament to strong dedication, and to staying to roots, so true.

He's full of a deep-set passion, which he feels so deep inside.
He's not afraid to show the world, his kindhearted, softer side.

And he's not afraid to just let go, just have a real good time.
He lets himself be taken away, in his musical, movement rhymes.

It all adds to his character, to the personna he projects.
All he is and all he does, so emotionally effects.

Its amazing to have such a talent, which brings so many to tears.
Though he is still younger, he is wise, beyond his years.

He's given us such a gift, which we cannot fully repay.
But we can, support him, in our own, special way.

What a testament of a person, who gives back all he can.
What a joy to be able to know,
This awesome soul of a man!
© Cathy Faist (used with permission) Thank you!
Taylor Hicks My Idol Scrapbook Tribute



From The Montgomery Advisor
Alabama's own American Idol 2006, Taylor Hicks
never expected to see "Soul Patrol" signs when
his plane landed in Jakarta, Indonesia.

"It's amazing the responses I had in Asia,"
said the Birmingham native, who's as famous
for his head of salt and pepper hair as he is
for his soulful singing and harmonica playing.
"I'm blessed to have such a dedicated group of fans."

These days, he's living on the road.
"There are four pieces of luggage that I carry with me at all times, and I call that my apartment," he said.
"I'm letting the music carry me where it needs to go."

He's also doing a lot of writing and making plans for his next project, for which he will have more creative control.
That pleases him a lot.

"It's thrilling to be part of the
Alabama Music Hall of Fame", he said.
On Friday, Taylor Hicks received the 2008 America's Music Award.
"It was thrilling to just be in the same room with all the legends of music.
I'd buy a ticket just to go," he said.



From The Montgomery Advisor, a snippet of Taylor Hicks'
performance of "Soul Thing" from the Awards Banquet.



Where the city street meets the country road,
where the sun is nice and warm,
no matter how long I may roam,
this song still takes us home.

Takes us home!



Sweet Home Alabama, congratulations to our Soul Man!

Dare To Be Different

The German philosopher, Rollo May, quoted modern man as saying,
"I'm just a collection of mirrors, reflecting what everyone else expects of me."

Many people allow other's mediocre expectations of them to become their reality.

Don't be afraid to be different!
Take advantage of your difference and make it work for you.
Make your own way!

An excellant example of making your own way would be Taylor Hicks' strategy for playing the American Idol game.

From 'Heart Full Of Soul' by Taylor Hicks
(An inspirational memoir about finding your voice and finding your way)

"From the beginning my main focus was turning my biggest disadvantage into an advantage.
The undeniable truth is that by nearly every standard, I didn't fit in.
I was older, fatter, and I had gray hair.
So I decided the smart thing to do was embrace my oddness for all it was worth ... like they say, vive la difference."



The soulful music that saved Taylor Hicks as a young man, and gave him the dream of making his own music, soulful music ... also allowed him to stand out from the pack.

"Soul music spoke to me, it is the music of healing, music that brings people together, and I believed I had a voice to share.

As embarrassing as it sounds to say, I felt special, as if I were born for one purpose - to sing and entertain people who were going through their own journeys and troubles."

Bingo ... The answer to why 63.4 million votes were cast, and why Taylor Hicks became the new (2006) American Idol.

"To sing to the whole world, you've really got to do it one person at a time.
Singing from your soul isn't about how many notes you can hit, or how long you can hold them.
It's all about intimacy and honesty.
It's about sharing your story in a song."

Taylor Hicks made his differences work for him.
He capitalized on what he called his oddness, and it gave him the opportunity to realize his dreams.
His voice was finally being heard.

Is your voice being heard?



Each of us are originals, we are not meant to be carbon copies of our parents, our siblings or our peers.
It is up to each of us to find our own special abilities and talents and capitalize on them.
Children often learn through mimicing, and too often continue down the same path through life.



I recently found this question posed on a teen forum ...

Do you think too many people copy off others and don't try to go down their own path.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Yes and no, conforming to social norms helps to gel us together as a society and is also often the easiest option, and when given the choice people often take the easiest path open to them.

On the other hand it does encourage stagnation and a lack of thought ... hopefully there will always be a few people willing to think outside the box and shake things up for the rest of us sheep, then we can follow them and conform to a whole new system of norms.

Simply put, there may not be a single one of us who is not in some way guilty of copying others. (If you work a 9-5 job, that's all it takes to prove my point.)

But I guess we could be a bit more original.

Unfortunately society seems to award copiers.

Why else does the #1 selling song in the country sound merely identical to 5 others songs in the top 10?


Why, indeed.



The choice is yours ...
Do you march to a different drummer?
Have you followed your own star?

Wherever I Lay My Hat

I vividly remember sitting in the parking lot of Walmart last December with my friend

Taylor's just released CD was playing and we were sobbing and hugging!

It was finally here!!

Woo hoo and we had the bonus track!!

I immediately fell in love with Taylor's "Wherever I Lay My Hat",

and it tugs at my heart and moves me every time I listen to it.

I was quite surprised when I learned that it was originally by Marvin Gaye.

I couldn't remember ever hearing it before and then realized

it was recorded before Marvin came to Motown.

I grew up surrounded by the sounds of Motown, listening and dancing to the the songs of Glady's Knight & The Pips, The Supremes, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Marvin Gaye ... just to name a few.

I love Taylor's take on WILMH, and though I like Marvin Gaye ...
can't say I care for his original version.

It's doesn't move me or make my heart go ping.

I'm probably showing my limited exposure to music here ...

but I had never heard of Paul Young either.

I guess by the 80's I had already pretty much stopped listening.

Raising 5 kids I already had enough noise in the house

:-)

"Wherever I Lay My Hat" was written by Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, and first recorded by Marvin Gaye in 1964.

Almost 20 years later

Paul Young's version of the song was a UK number one single for three weeks in July 1983.

23 more years passed

Then Taylor Hicks put his own soulful spin on it and recorded it for his self-titled CD "Taylor Hicks"

When you watch the video below you will see why it's Taylor's soulful version that I love!

video capture by Phantom
video presentation by The Boogie Board
(Thank You)

Marvin Gaye's "Wherever I Lay My Hat" (audio only)

Hope you enjoyed today's trip down memory lane

woo hoo waiting for the release of "Whomp At The Warfield"

Comments welcome!