I come from Norfolk 'cause that's where I'm from.
Rob bastardized the Zeezus' original concept, but I'm gonna take it back to simply this: 20 tunes by people from around my way. My way, as I did it, means Norfolk, VA and the surrounding entities. Hampton Roads, if you will. Tidewater, if you would have 30 years ago. Coastal Virginia. The Norfolk-Virginia Beach area. The Seven Cities. SEVA. The 757.
A quick and obvious asterisking... the finest musician/singer ever to come from these parts is undoubtedly the Queen of Jazz, the First Lady of Song, Her Majesty Ella Fitzgerald. The breadth of her ability can't be encapsulated in just three songs, but you would do yourself a favor to listen to "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Dream a Little Dream of Me," and "Airmail Special (Live At the Newport Jazz Festival" to get a sampling that stretches from gorgeous rendition to heart-warming duet to kick-ass scat talent that seems to forerun hip-hop as if ancestry.
Her work stands apart in style just enough to leave her be and corral the rest of the locals for a 757 playlist.
Here we go:
Track 1. "Happy," Pharrell Williams (Virginia Beach)
Track 2. "Get Ur Freak On," Missy Elliott (Portsmouth), produced by Timbaland (Norfolk)
"THE NORFOLK SOUND"
Track 3. "Quarter to Three," Gary U.S. Bonds (Norfolk)
Track 4. "If You Wanna Be Happy," Jimmy Soul (Norfolk)
Track 5. "Just Ask Me," Lenis Guess (Norfolk)
Track 6. "That Man of Mine," Barbara Stant (Norfolk)
ROCKABILLY, BEACH MUSIC, AND THE BLUES
Track 7. "Be-Bop-A-Lula," Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps (Norfolk)
Track 8. "I've Been Hurt," Bill Deal and The Rhondels (Portsmouth and Virginia Beach)
Track 9. "Savin' Up," Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers (Chesapeake)
Track 10. "Smoking Gun," Robert Cray (Newport News)
INTO THE EIGHTIES
Track 11. "Copperhead Road," Steve Earle and the Dukes (Hampton)
Track 12. "Mandolin Rain," Bruce Hornsby and The Range (Williamsburg)
Track 13. "Queen of Hearts," Juice Newton (Virginia Beach)
Track 14. "This Little Girl," Gary U.S. Bonds (Norfolk)
UNDER YOUR RADAR BUT NOT MINE
Track 15. "My Latest Girl," The States (Norfolk)
Track 16. "Baby Jane," Waxing Poetics (Norfolk)
Track 17. "My My," Seven Mary Three (formed in Williamsburg)
Track 18. "Switzerland," The Last Bison (Chesapeake)
Track 19. "Another Man's Woman," Carbon Leaf (lead singer from Norfolk)
Track 20. "We Are Doing Fine," Super Doppler (Norfolk)
Enjoy, and keep the music flowing.
Whit, have you hear the Old Virginia Soul reissues by Arcania? Some older under the radar 757 acts in there for sure. I have Volume 2 , but not the first one.
ReplyDeletePour one out for Bob Solderitch ('86). O-lineman and longtime O-line coach under Coach With an E. Athletic fundraising, most recently. Leukemia, I'm told. Sucks.
ReplyDeleteRootsy, I heard that set mentioned in an interview with Lenis Guess. I will have to look them up.
ReplyDeletesolderitch was feeling bad last week, went to the hospital after a few days. diagnosed with leukemia and died within 2-3 days. he was only about six years older than the elder gheorghies.
ReplyDeletein much better 757-related news, native son ralph northam signed a bill today decriminalizing marijuana in the commonwealth of virginia, bringing me thismuch closer to making good on my prediction that i’ll be able to legally smoke a joint with my first-born kidlet before she graduates from college.
This is a damn fine playlist. I loved Juice Newton when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how progressive the Old Dominion has become. Murphy couldn't get his decriminalization bill passed here in the Garden State which is deep blue.
Turning back to the last post, yes rootsy, I take great smug satisfaction that I only need to wipe once when I poop, and that's just to dry off the overspray. My Toto is worth every penny. That said, our local water is rich in minerals so I spent a not insignificant amount of time this weekend detailing the nozzle on the Toto with some CLR and a toothpick. Not the most dignified or hygienic work around the house.
Sounds like it's time to put some water treatment in at zhouse, so that process can be avoided.
ReplyDeleteI think our Dem legislature just wanted to shoot some shots while they had a chance. I'd always figured 2032 for earliest it would be legal, but now I think it will be sooner.
definitely don't want a calcified bunghole, z. strongest white to rootsy's water treatment suggestion.
ReplyDeleteRemarkably, I don't need teepee for my bunghole.
ReplyDeleteDid Ralph sign the bill in blackface dressed like Aykroyd in Trading Places? That seems like his style.
ReplyDeleteTrump is turning it up to 11 at the presser. The video propaganda is a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteso i guess trump really had a time yesterday at his press conference.
ReplyDeleteYoodge day here. I have total authority to say that.
ReplyDelete