![]() ![]() ![]() I love most of the tracks on this album as U can C from my notes on the back cover at the top! OMG! I am playing “We All Got A Mission” over and over again as I write this : “Change the world around, change the world around, CHANGE IT!” Martin Luther King, Jr., and other legendary human rights leaders. On the album version that I have, you hear clips of the voices of Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Dr. I always love the way Billy’s unique voice compliments the Top 40 songs he chooses to cover he even made a Paul McCartney composition, “Let “Em In”, the title track of an album in 1976 – not to mention the production re-working of it to further politicize it – into a definite chant of needed racial inclusiveness. ![]() It also includes his treatment of Elton John’s “Your Song as does the above compact disc (recorded ‘live” in Paris, France). The featured in-concert version of his “Brown Baby”, was a “catch” for me at the time because it is another cut off of “360 Degrees”. So, now onto the rest of my vinyls, all on the Philadelphia International label, distributed by Epic at the time I acquired them, and the oldest one which is 1974’s “Live In Europe”. A couple of years later, he granted me a live on-air interview via telephone after I moved-on to kick-ass at a tiny R&B AM station in Nashville. I found him truly a gracious and down-to-Earth celebrity and gentleman, and I believe his obviously very loving, protective wife, Blanche was also with him at the time. Like, I was in there talking to one of my co-workers, or getting ready to do some production,turned around and saw this Brother as my mind went something like, “Hey I know him! That’s Billy Paul!!” Holy Cow!” WVLT is not a huge, high-profile radio station, it was out in the woods of Millville, N.J., but not all that far from Philadelphia, the city whose 1970s musical legacy gave Mr. Billy Paul back in the year 2000 while doing my duty at southern New Jersey station WVLT FM. If you are too young to know who he is, or just never were “into” R&B music of the 1970s, just think, “Me & Mrs Jones”, and that should nudge those musical memory cells, as that is Billy’s trademark tune! The first, and one of my personal favorite BP jams I ever heard was the 1971 cautionary song, “This Is Your Life” from the album “Going East” (one I didn’t manage to get hold of, but I have the 45rpm) and of course, as I say often in these posts, heard over the airwaves of WLIB FM, New York City, as it transitioned to WBLS FM, programmed by the legendary Frankie Crocker. It reminds me of the time I was lucky enough to get front row center seats to watch him perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City! Ah, the perks of having record company Promotion Department friends back in the days. The disc affects you with the feel that you are really there at the show, and I love the band that backs him, especially the drummer. Lately I have been playing, not a vinyl, but a “live” CD of his “World Tour 1999”. I remember the opening synthesizer sound as used by many of us in commercials we produced for nightclub parties – I used the piercing lazer over just about any upbeat jam at the time – and still will! ![]() Billy Paul has been on my mind a LOT for the past month or so – probably because is a really cool dude! Therefore, I want to write about this singer while he is still with us in the physical world, because the way time is “flying”, who knows which of us will make it to the “finish line”, which keeps moving anyway, lol! To watch or listen to the news these days, brings to mind one of his best album titles, “War Of The Gods”, or as my Mum recently put it, “in our life time we’re seeing the last days of man – the Bible – Revelations.” And He is The Strong He is The Mighty.Mr. God.Kicked you out of heaven cause you didn't pay your rent. You know, The name is not the same One day the people of the world Will know your Great Name You are the Strong And you are The Mighty I hope I'm with you When they start the fighting The War of the Gods Love, Peace and Eternal Life Is what I want Love, Peace and Eternal Life Is what I want God, God You are The Strong And you are The Mighty I hope I'm with You When they start the fighting Lawd! Lucifer, Satan, the devil your name, Have you had time, to get your army ready? to get your army ready? Lucifer, god of evil Hey, we see you everyday: The father of the light He knows you start to running hot The darkness, Is where, is where, is where, is where, is where Gotta talk 'bout you because thats you find youre the light God! ? God! You make you feel so good this morning God! We gon talk about, Lucifer, lucifer, lucifer, lucifer, God.Kicked you out of heaven cause you didn't pay your rent. ![]()
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