Monday, August 03, 2009

Simply Beautiful

Here's a nice vocaI I picked up years ago - it's a version of Sam Cooke's 'Send Me Some Loving' by the sublime Slim Smith. If this is unfamiliar to anyone, I strongly recommend they go and check out some of the many compilations that highlight Smith's beautiful voice - particularly the ones that feature his work with the Techniques (the original 'Queen Majesty' and 'Travelling Man'!) and the Uniques ('The Beatitude', 'Watch This Sound' and too many others to mention). 

He really was in a league of his own, with a beautiful tenor which could extend to a falsetto, and the talent to give a song a depth of feeling that few reggae artists could match. He seems to have had a turbulent life, and died tragically young (age 25) in London in 1973. Who knows how much more wonderful music he might have blessed us with if he'd lived.

My copy is a bit ropy (that seems to be the theme for this week) but it should give you an idea of how great this tune is, and I hope it inspires you to go and check out some more of his stuff.


There it is, so enjoy.



1 comment:

Douglas said...

Slim Smith is always welcome (although I think he died in Kingston)