Is anyone else bothered that this is being released by some random label?
Damn, really?! Is Daptone involved at all?
I haven’t preordered yet cause of that for whatever reason. I can’t explain it.
He didn't record it with Daptone.
I actually wrote about this and looked into it myself, when it was first announced. It's a lengthy post, so I'll try to cut the main chunk out of it.
A year-and-a-half after his untimely death from stomach cancer, the screaming eagle of soul’s heart wrenching final recordings see the light of day.
www.monsterfresh.com
Posthumous recordings are a tricky thing, but
Black Velvet was about as reverent of a process as I’ve ever seen employed. When I saw that
Bradley had yet even more new recordings being release, however, I had mixed emotions. Part of me was excited to see another addition to his legacy, but who approved this thing, and why wasn’t it being handled by
Dunham Sound or
Daptone, like everything else he’d ever produced? Is
Charles the new
2Pac? Can anyone say for sure that this is something that he would have wanted? Well, it turns out that this is a much more cut and dry situation than I would have imagined, wherein
Charles made those wishes incredibly clear, before his death. This also addresses the question of whether or not he’s like the new
Don Killuminati, with a resounding “
kinda.” Not unlike
Pac, he actually recorded this material with an urgency and full awareness that his time was limited. He also did so with the express purpose of having something on deck for the world after he was gone.
Charles at Treefort Music Fest 2016
This brand new cut, “
Lonely As You Are,” is as direct and heartfelt of a message that he’s ever delivered. One of the most remarkable aspects of
Bradley‘s live shows was that it always felt as if he was trying to speak directly to you, rather than just belting out song lyrics. With “
Lonely As You Are,” the same is true. He made this song as a message for all of his fans and, during one particular segment, he even ventures slightly of course to speak directly to his mother, asking one request. “
One day when god says well done, please be at the gate waiting for me.” At the very end of the song, he concludes with, “
I love you. And this is Charles Bradley. I hope this one day gets out to the world.”
Bradley’s former co-manager and executive producer of the track,
Morton Lorge, offers the following insight…
“Charles knew “Lonely as You Are” could comfort people and help them find a way to deal with their own loneliness. He was always looking for ways to make people feel better, even when he was confronting his own pain and suffering. He asked that “Lonely” be played at his funeral; he wanted to share it with the world.”
“
Lonely As You Are” was a recording that came about by chance when “
NYC recording artist, songwriter and producer”
James Levy showed the chorus and music to
Bradley, while working on other projects. The story goes that
Charles connected with it immediately and wrote the verses on the spot. After being weakened by months of chemotherapy, it’s to be expected that his mortality would be at the forefront of his mind, and it’s a subject that is definitely represented in the final product. According to the press release, the late soul singer sat in the booth of
Levy‘s home studio in
Queens with his eyes closed and listening to the track on loop until it all poured out. From there, multi-instrumentalist,
Paul Defiglia, was recruited to co-produce, as well as to supply the bass, piano, and organ to the tune.
Defiglia then brought in his former
Avett Brothers bandmates,
Seth Avett and
Mike Marsh to handle acoustic guitar and drums, respectively. The session would also yield a second song titled, “
Lucifer,” with the same lineup. Arriving courtesy of Innit Recordings, these songs are said to be the very last of
Charles Bradley‘s studio work.
www.discogs.com
