Over the past few days since her passing, I have emersed myself in the music of #ClydieKing (who is in this video). I feel extremely fortunate to have a radio show that allows me to bid a formal farewell to artists when they embark on their journey "way over yonder". However, there's never enough airtime to be able to convey all that I want to share. That's why I'm also grateful for social media, something that didn't exist when I was doing my first radio show in the 90s and early 00s. . While I knew Clydie and the other women I featured last night did a ton of backup work, it wasn't until I actually made the list of their contributions that I fully understood the degree to which mainstream popular music of the 1960s & 1970s was not only elevated by the talents of these artists, but it could be argued, it was built on top of their foundation. . I suppose that could be said about all session musicians from that era. (if you haven't seen the docs about the Wrecking Crew and the Funk Brothers be sure to check them out). In some ways, it feels like the public were sold lies. But at the same time, I understand that the art of record production is similar to the art of filmmaking. Hundreds of people may work on a film, but the director and the lead actors tend to get all the adoration and credit for the end product. I suppose it's the same way with record production. And yet, it still feels disingenuous to label a record as being by, for example, The Supremes, when in fact the Andantes were filling in the gaps, smoothing out the sound, and decorating the vocals. Or "Gimme Shelter" is labeled a Rolling Stones record and "Way Over Yonder" is a Carol King recording when in fact both of these recordings were basically duets with Merry Clayton. . So, after my research over the past few days, I've realized that because the recording industry became so incredibly homogenous during the 1970s as corporate interests pushed out independent labels, what you find is that this small group of women are ALL OVER popular music recordings of the era. So, I would argue that Clydie King, Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields, Cissy Houston, Claudia Lennear, Gloria Jones are the voices that A https://www.instagram.com/p/BsgWWU4hF2n/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19zs3xnhsjvwr
