One of the great improvisers.
By Fred.
Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes > The Love I Lost
Teddy Pendergrass was one of the great improvisers of all time. This record was at the height of HM&TBN’s tenure at Philadelphia Intl. with Gamble & Huff and when Teddy was at the height of his powers. And what heights they were. You can hear it about halfway through this track. Teddy starts working over the rhythm section and the repeated vocal choruses like it’s the last time he’s going to sing again. And while he’s doing it he takes us to church (as Dan Meth mentioned to me today) and teaches us things about our lives we didn’t know we didn’t know. Geeeezzz.
I heard this record on satellite radio the other day and for reasons completely unclear to me I felt like it belonged on the NNN blog. Something about the nature of improvising, American musical improvising in particular, but I’m not really sure how to make a parallel to what we’re doing. I know there is one, but… I guess it’s the nature of this new medium. If you’re of a certain young age it doesn’t seem all that new to you, but, being the student of media I am I keep reading every book I can get my hands on about the last 100 years of radio, records, magazines, newspapers, and on and on. And one thing that keeps being clear to be is that in the first 10 or 20 years of anything “new media” nobody knew anything. Nothing! Everyone was making it all up as they went along, and anything someone thought one year was forgotten over the next few. And certainly what ended up as the mainstream conventional wisdom about the “truths” of any media didn’t really resemble what started out.
And truth be told, in our era of interactive media, that’s even more true. NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING. And that’s what makes it great. No matter anyone says –us too, by the way– check back in ten years. It’ll be wild.
Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes > The Love I Lost
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
I also love this song and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. You mentioned satellite radio — I got Sirrius as a gift recently. I like that I can find the station that plays just the kind of music I like, but god they play the top 100 over and over. That said, some songs just don’t lose their emotional punch no matter how often you hear them. The Love I Lost is one.