Al Green
Love And Happiness
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I’m Still In Love With You (1972)

Monty Alexander
Love And Happiness
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Rass (1974)

Jurassic 5
Baby Please
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Feedback (2006)

Al Green’s “Love And Happiness” is one of those tunes that’s loved by all. Enjoy the original, and consider adding a couple of clever reinterpretations to your MP3 collection.

Al owned the R&B charts in 1972, releasing two terrific LPs: I’m Still In Love With You and Let’s Stay Together. Al had so many hits in the early 70s that “Love And Happiness” wasn’t even released as a single. Bonkers.

Jamaican jazz organist Monty Alexander covered “Love And Happiness” a couple of years after its release. Ernest Ranglin’s rhythm guitar provides a subtle reggae backdrop for epic solos from Monty and guitarist “Trini” Clarence Wears.

“Love And Happiness” must have been massive in Jamaica; check out Al Brown’s full-on reggae version, also from 1974:

Jurassic 5 chopped up Al Green’s original “Love And Happiness” and reassembled it into an entirely different thing. The double-time rapping from MCs Akil, Zaakir, Mark 7even, and Chali 2na complement Exile’s bouncy production and DJ Nu-Mark’s razor-sharp scratching.

“Love And Happiness” has been covered by everyone from pop-jazz sax player David Sanborn to disco queens First Choice to this pretty awful house version. There seems to be a version of “Love And Happiness” to satisfy any musical taste.

Lady Day And John Coltrane
Pieces Of A Man (1971)
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Did You Hear What They Said?
Free Will (1972)
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Winter In America (Solo Version)
Recorded in 1978
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Back Home (w/Brian Jackson)
Winter In America (1974)
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I’ve been listening to Gil Scott-Heron’s music consistently for decades. I own about eight of his LPs, and have been on the hunt for at least two others. His recent passing merits a proper tribute.

Gil’s music was a gumbo of jazz, blues, R&B, and spoken word — Gil called it “bluesology, the science of how things feel.” He had a gift for melody and was among the most evocative lyricists that emerged from the civil rights movement. I don’t consider Gil to be a great album artist — there are many intolerable tracks in his repertoire  — but when the music, lyrics, and personnel clicked (usually when Brian Jackson was involved), the impact was super powerful.

I remember going to see Gil at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland circa 1998. I am almost sure Brian Jackson performed with him that night (which rarely happened post-1980), but the Internet has not been forthcoming with corroboration. Gil wasn’t all there but it didn’t take more than a few songs for him to find his equilibrium. His voice had become hoarse, yet was no less emotive. I had hoped to see him perform again, but he seldom performed in his later years due to substance abuse and related incarcerations.

Rather than replicate a greatest hits collection, I tried to pick tracks that capture some of the emotions that have coursed through me as I contemplate Gil’s life and career.

“Lady Day And John Coltrane” was one of Gil’s early singles, and speaks to the transcendent power of music. It’s fitting that Gil selected Billie Holiday and John Coltrane as the song’s symbols; all three pushed the boundaries of jazz by combining the personal with the radical. All three also struggled with substance abuse, and Gil’s lyrics could apply to both music or to getting high: “They’ll wash your troubles, your troubles away…”

“Did You Hear What They Said?” was written in reaction to the Vietnam War, but is a timeless dirge about losing a child on a faraway battlefield. Gil’s use of melisma highlights the agony, and creates an emotional analogue with the song’s key phrase: “This can’t be real.”

“Winter In America” is one of Gil’s most lyrically ambitious songs. Originally released in 1974, it grieves the loss of forceful, idealistic civil right leaders and hippie optimism. This elegiac solo version was recorded in 1978 — America still hadn’t thawed out in the four years since the original was released.

Despite purchasing the Winter In America LP sometime in the 1990s, I only clued into the near-perfect “Back Home” a few months ago. It has a catchy, singalong melody that belies its yearning for a simpler time. It’s poetic that “Back Home” would be the Gil track I’d be grooving on at the time of his death: “I gotta get back to see my people, someday and someway.”

Pony (Extended Version)
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Released in 1996

Timbaland is among the all-time great hip hop/R&B’s producers, and Ginuwine’s “Pony” was one of his first big hits. Like many Timbaland tracks, it’s held up flawlessly over the years.

Timbaland takes pride in fusing together unlikely elements in service of a slamming, unique beat. The most dominating sound on “Pony” is a deceptively simple three-note froglike bassline. But it’s the weirdness that takes the track to another level — the loopy slide whistle, the way he lets the beat breathe during the verses, the chugging percussive sound that lurks underneath.

The lyrics are ridiculous, but you have to admire the complete lack of shame:

If you’re horny, let’s do it
Ride it, my pony

Unbelievably, the lyrics go even further downhill from there, but I’ll refrain from calling attention to the specifics here; regardless, it’s impossible not to sing along.

Recently, Dancing Alone to Pony became a meme. Dozens of brave boogiers uploaded lo-fi video to show their genuine love for Ginuwine’s classic. This one is my current favorite:

The extended version doesn’t overextend itself. There’s an additional instrumental passage which introduces some vaguely ominous keyboard elements into the mix, but otherwise leaves the original intact.

Stevie Wonder
Creepin’
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Released in 1974

TLC
Creep
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Released in 1994

Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Creep
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Released in 2010

This time on Musical Cousins: three totally different songs with three totally different takes on the word “creep.”

First up, Stevie Wonder’s haunting “Creepin’,” featuring backup vocals from Minnie Riperton. In this song, creep refers to the stealth way a lover invades the dream world. The melody is typical Stevie perfection, but the moody, off-kilter synth floating underneath hints at something less rosy.

In TLC’s 1994 single, “Creep,” the Atlanta trio and producer Dallas Austin made a buoyant R&B/pop classic dedicated to cheating on the one you love.

The last take on the word “creep” comes from an early Radiohead composition where the creep in question is the song’s self-hating narrator. I prefer Scala & Kolacny Brothers’s cover, used to great effect in the trailer for The Social Network. Dozens of post-pubescent Belgian girls singing in unison truly is creepy.

Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)
Snoop Doggy Dogg w/Nate Dogg, Kurupt, Warren G
Released in 1993
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Oh No
Pharoahe Monch w/Nate Dogg, Mos Def
Released in 2000
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The Set Up (Remix)
Obie Trice w/Nate Dogg, Redman, Lloyd Banks, Jadakiss
Released in 2004
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Sad to hear of Nate Dogg’s recent passing. Nate wasn’t the first singer to provide R&B-style hooks on rap records (TJ Swan, perhaps?), but I can’t remember any R&B/hip hop hybrid prior to Nate’s 1992 appearances on Dr. Dre’s The Chronic that didn’t inflict collateral damage to anyone’s street cred.

Nate Dogg’s lyrics could be offensive to some, and his music isn’t for everybody. But even feminists like to get down to Snoop Dogg’s raunchy yet irresistible “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None).” Dr. Dre’s thumping, feel-good production provides a sneaky contrast to a bunch of really dirty verses from Kurupt, Snoop, and Warren G. But it’s Nate’s lengthy, sing-along vocal intro that lifts “Ain’t No Fun” to 5-star classic status.

Nate was clearly a product of Los Angeles’s G-funk scene, but he garnered respect from coast to coast. His chorus in the Rockwilder-produced “Oh No” (featuring fiery verses from Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch) says it all:

Look at who they let in the back door
From Long Beach to Brooklyn they know

Until I started working on this post, I didn’t realize Dr. Dre (along with Mike Elizondo) produced Obie Trice’s “The Set Up.” Not a surprise, though, considering how much this beat kills. Lyrically, there’s plenty of misogyny to go around from Obie Trice, Redman, Lloyd Banks, and Jadakiss, and though Nate is by no means soft, the fact that he’s singing takes some of the edge off.

Though his output dropped as he battled through multiple strokes, Nate contributed to dozens of hits through the 90s and into the aughts. Hope he’s ready for the next episode…