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ArTPeat
At 60, Nancy Wilson enjoys
doingthingsinherownway
Like everything else she does,
Nancy Wilson is celebrating her
60th birthday year in style: the
Columbia Records artist is releas
ing her 60th recording, If I Had My
Way. “I have always looked for
songs like “If I Had My Way,” says
Wilson. “It’s nice to reac’ my age
and say it ... because it works for
me.”
Working with a variety of top
writers and producers in a series of
recording facilities gives If I Had
My Way afresh and expansive vibe.
“Inmy history, wealways went into
the studio with one producer and
maybe two arrangers,” says Miss
Wilson. Isl Had My Way took a bit
more time because each writer and
each producer were from different
parts of the country ... so on this
one, we brought the music home to
them. This album encompasses a
lot ofthe kinds of songs I've doneall
these years, but have never been
able to do in one package.”
“Hello Like Before” was the first
song Wilson picked for her album.
“I’d been doing it on stage for some
time,” she says. “We did it in a
studio in Detroit with live musi
cians—nottoatrack—and we had
agreat time.” When she first heard
“Loving You, Loving Me,” she im
mediately knew the tune was “clas
sic Nancy Wilson, what I’vedone all
my life: bigbad heavy drums! Ilove
songs like this!” Another one of
Nancy’s personal favorites on if I
Had My Wayis “AFoolin Love.” “I
just loved what I heard,” she re
calls. “The background and the
attitude are definitely what I grew
up on.”
Born in Chillicothe, Ohioin 1937,
Wilson grew up listening to the
sounds of Nat “King” Cole, Louis
Jordan, Billy Eckstine, LaVern
Baker, Dinah Washington, Ruth
Brown and her self-proclaimed
greatest influence “Little” Jimmy
Scott. She won a talent contest at
the age of 15; the prize was her own
localtelevision series,Skyline Melo
dies. She joined Rusty Bryant’s
Carolyn Club Band in 1956 and cut
her first, now extremely rare, sides
for Dot Records.
Vintage Isley on new CD package
From the first family of funk — four groundbreaking albums by the Isley Brothers available for
13he first time on CD: The Brothers:lsley, Get into Something, Givin’ It Back and Brother, Brother,
Brother document their fruitful funk years
Recorded from 1969-1972 for
their own T-Neck label, these clas
sic albums chronicle the roots of
modern funk.
These four albums, never before
available on CD, contain a total of
15 R&B and pop crossover singles
between them — including top 20
R&B hits “I Turned You On,”
“Keep on Doin’,” “Freedom,”
“Lovethe One You're With,” “Spill
the Wine,” “Lay-Away,” “Pop That
Thang” and “Work to Do.” The
reissues, released July Bth, ben
efit from newly-commissioned
liner notes for each title and digi
tal remastering at Sony Music Stu
dios, utilizing the 20-bit process
for superb sound quality in the 90s
and original artwork.
In a musical era that was ablaze
with the groundbreaking sounds
of Jimi Hendrix, Sly and the Fam
ily Stone, Santana, and the elec
tric Miles Davis, the Isley Broth
ers “quickly recognized the value
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Wilson grew up listening to the sounds of Nat “King” Cole,
Billy Eckstine, LaVern Baker, Dinah Washington and others.
While performing in Columbus,
Ohio, Nancy sat in with Cannon
ball Adderley, who immediately
sensed Miss Wilson’s enormous
potential. The association led to
Nancy’s moving to New York City
and signing with Capitol Records,
well-known for its outstanding ros
ter of singers excelling in the stan
dard ballad repertoire. Finding
herself in the company of such su
perstarsas Frank Sinatraand Peggy
Lee, Nancy’s first recording for the
label was “Guess Who I Saw To
day” and her first hit, 1962’s “Save
Your Love For Me,” was a collabo
ration with Adderley. By the mid
-19605, Nancy Wilson was second
only to the Beatles on Capitol’s
roster, surpassing such established
acts as Nat “King” Cole, Peggy Lee
of the new music, adjusting to it
with a chameleon-like ease that
had been their trademark since
they switched from gospel to doo
wop to soul in the late 19505,”
writes Geoffrey Himes of The
Washington Post in his liner notes
to Get Into Something. “The Isley
Brothers weren’t cutting-edge in
novators, but they were great ab
sorbers and popularizers.”
Background
Following the success of “Shout”
in 1959, the Isley Brothers de
cided to move their family east
from the Lincoln Heights ghetto
of Cincinnati to suburban
Teaneck, N.J. In 1964, after a
string of short-lived record deals
on such labels as Teenage, Gone,
RCA, Atlantic, Wand and UA, the
Isleys established T-Neck, but it
was quickly shuttered after one
single. Five years later, capitaliz
ing on a decade of success with
and the Beach Boys. In 1964, she
won the Best Rhythm & Blues
Grammy for “How Glad I Am.”
Her 1967-68 NBC television series,
The Nancy Wilson Show, captured
an Emmy.
Throughout the 60s and 70s,
Wilson headlined shows in Las Ve
gas, played the nation’s most so
phisticated supper clubs, and ap
peared on a host of top-rated televi
sion series while cutting a seamless
string of hit records and capturing
top honors in both the Billboard
and Playboy music polls.
In demand internationally as a
performer, Nancy Wilson is the
winner of the 1983 Tokyo Song
Festival award and has cut five
highly-successful albums for Japa
nese labels. She signed with Co
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art e music ¢ literature o theatre
lumbia Records in 1984, goingon to
collaborate with such artists as
Ramsey Lewis, and, in 1991, re
cording With My Lover Beside Me,
a landmark album of previously
unpublished Johnny Mercer lyrics
set to music by co-producer Barry
Manilow. The same year, Nancy
Wilson received her own star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994,
she branched out to record three
songs, including the title track forl¢
Don’t Mean a Thing If it Ain’t Got
That Swing, a tribute to the Big
Band era by John Williams and the
Boston Pops Orchestra (Sony Clas
sical). During the 19905, she fur
ther expanded her career as an ac
tress appearing on The Sinbad
Show, The Cosby Show and in films
including Robert Townsend’s Me
teor Man.
“I first heard Nancy while I was
in the Navy, stationed in Guam,”
remembers Bill Withers, whose
“Hello Like Before” is one of the
centerpiece tracks on If I Had My
Way. “What hit me was how totally
original she was. Nancy resembles
no one. Nancy cares about the
song, she listens to what the song
hastosay, then presentsit with the
loving care that it was written to
convey ... One thing that stands out
in my memory is the night Nancy
cameto seeme ‘in person’...l knew
I had arrived.”
“I think this is very much a ‘la
dies’ album,”” says Nancy about
her new record. “There are some
wonderful things here for the la
dies, but I really want this album to
be shared by all audiences ... as
opposed to one specific audience. I
think anyone who hears it through
will love it.”
The lady knows what she’s talking
about. With the arrival oflf] Had My
Way, music lovers — of all ages and
both genders — across the country
will have their own special reason to
celebratethespectacularsongstylings
of Miss Nancy Wilson, one of our
greatest musical treasures.
Nancy Wilson online: http:/
www.missnancywilson.com. Co
lumbia Records online: http:/
www.columbiarecords.com.
Laney Museum sponsors
storytelling, exhibits and
workshops during August
Lucy Craft Laney Museum of
Black History and Art will spon
sor storytelling by Mr. Francois,
educator and storytelling on Sat
urday, August 2, from 10 a.m. -
noon. The event will be held in the
conference center of the museum,
at 1116 Phillips Street in Augusta.
Red Book and Cotton, an ex
hibit by John Solomon Sandridge
will be on display through August
5. Other exhibits, such as perma
nent exhibits by Alice Davis and
theEbony Legacy Exhibit are cur
rently on display as well.
During the week of August 4 -8,
the museum will be sponsoring a
children’s summer art workshop.
Morris Museum hosts
concert and lunch break
The Morris Museum of Art con
tinues its free Sunday programs
with “A Concert of Dixieland Mu
sic” by the Fort Gordon Crooked
River Dixieland Band on Sunday,
August 17, at 2 p.m. All are wel
come to come and enjoy this de
lightful concert presentation. Ad
mission is free.
On August 12, the museum will
host an Art Break. Make your
next lunch break an Art Break.
Fromnoon-1:30 p.m.,spend lunch
Angela Robinson exhibits new art
Surrealist painter Angela
Robinson will exhibit her new
works at the Savannah College of
Art and Design, in Savannah
Georgia, from Thursday, August
21, 1997 through Monday, Sep
tember 8, 1997.
Angela Robinson’s art has been
the pride of private collectors (in
cluding actress Sharon Stone, mu
sician Bobbie McFerrin and
former Spelman College president
Johnetta B. Cole) for many years.
Her medium is diverse and con
sists mainly of oils that are
painted on large canvases (includ
ing debris from the 1994
Northridge earthquake in Los
Angeles).
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The Roots Of Funk Chronicled
(Left) The Isley Brothers, 1971.
(Above-top) The Isley Broth
ers: Get Into Something, 1969.
(Above-bottom) The Brothers:
ISLEY, 1969. (Top-Right)
Brother, Brother, Brother: The
Isleys, 1972.
AUGUSTA FOCUS JULY 31,1997
Artist Tara Graham, graduate of
Augusta State University and
Lander College, and Melinda
Moore Lampkin will conduct an
art workshop sponsored by Delta
House, Inc. and the Junior League
of Augusta, Inc. Children will be
exposed to watercolor, collage and
pencil art. There are only 15
spaces available, so it is impor
tant to make reservations early.
For more information on any of
these events, call Ms. Betts at
(706) 724-3576 between the hours
of 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. To reserve space
for the workshop, call Ms. Davis
between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1
p.m., at (706) 724-3576.
at the museum. Bring a baglunch
and take advantage of our indoor
case where beverages and des
serts will be provided. At 12:30
p.m., enjoy a 20-minute gallery
talk on Talking Pictures: Telling
Tales in Southern Art. Cost is $2
for non-members, free formuseum
members.
For more information on either
of these events, call Patricia
Moore, curator of education at
(706) 724-7501.
Angela Robinson’s career be
gan in Washington D.C. where,
after graduating from the Pratt
Institute with a B.A. in graphic
design in 1974, she created the
design and logo for the
Smithsonian Institute’s newslet
ter that was distributed to schools
nationwide. The design concept,
“Let’s Go to the Smithsonian,” is
still being used today.
Today, Angela Robinson derives
great personal satisfaction from
volunteering as an art docent to
Los Angeles first-graders. “I love
teaching six-year-olds about the
lives and techniques of Matisse,
Gaughuin and Van Gogh,” she
says.
CROTHER. BRUTHER DROYHER THE ISLEYS
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such solid pop/R&B staples as
“Shout,” “Twist & Shout,”
“Twistin’ with Linda,” “This Old
Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You),”
and “Take Mein Your Arms (Rock
Me a Little While)” — and three
tough years at Tamla/Motown —
the Isley Brothers revived the T-
Neck label. They scored out-of
the box with one of the biggest hits
of their career, the #1 R&B/#2
pop “It’s Your Thing,” and T-Neck
would be their home for the next
15 years.
These four albums —The Broth
ers: Isley, Get into Something,
Givin’ It Back and Brother,
Brother, Brother — originally dis
tributed by Buddah Records, were
the final four independent T-Neck
releases before the label joined CBS
Records and the Epic Associated
labels in 1983.
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