digitalcitrus.com

Sam Cooke
“Bring it on home to me”

For the next few days we’re going to be featuring some Classic R&B+Soul songs. It has to be done, trust me.

Sam Cooke was the son of a Mississippi preacher, and he spent his youth in church choirs and gospel groups. Tragically, Sam was shot and killed in 1964 in circumstances that were never fully explained.

It’s too bad – he was at the height of his career.

Otis Redding
“These Arms of Mine”

I love this song. It’s a perfect song for today. Soul/R&B like this is sorely missed (at least by me).

I feel his passing left a void in music that has yet to be filled. Eat your heart out Justin Timberlake — You probably don’t have enough soul to make music like this.

Etta James
“A Sunday Kind of Love”

Well, it is Sunday after all. I thought Etta James would be a nice closer for the Soul/R&B music. She has such a big voice. Her music has aged like a fine wine, and I can’t imagine a world without this song or “At Last”.

Yes, she also got her start in the Baptist Church – at the age of 5.

Colbie Caillat
“Bubbly”

This song makes me happy. Today is Monday. It’s spring.

I don’t know too much about Colbie, but I do know I like this song. I’m not sure if she has a CD, but she needs one.
Check her out on her myspace page. She’s apparently pretty popular around here.

Update: She’s so popular, I got a DMCA notice and an email from the RIAA. For this reason, I am removing the track, until the copyright holder grants me explicit right to post this song:

Dear Mr. Gulledge:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (RIAA). The RIAA is a trade association whose member companies create, manufacture and distribute approximately ninety (90) percent of all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States.

It has come to our attention that your website, http://www.digitalcitrus.com/, is offering a sound recording by the artist known as Colbie Caillat, which has not yet been commercially released. This recording is owned by one of our member companies and has not been authorized for this kind of use. We request that you immediately stop offering this unlicensed sound recording.

You should understand that this letter constitutes notice to you that you may be liable for the infringement of our member’s recordings. This letter does not constitute a waiver of any right to recover damages incurred by virtue of any such unauthorized activities, and such rights as well as claims for other relief are expressly retained.

We await your immediate confirmation that you have removed the infringing sound recording from your site. We may be contacted at RIAA, 1025 F Street N.W., 10th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20004, Tel. (202) 775-0101, or e-mail antipiracy@riaa.com.

Sincerely,

Traci Crippen

Online Anti-Piracy

RIAA

Fear not, You can still hear this song on her myspace (linked above) or download it from here (at a higher bitrate, even): http://www.purevolume.com/colbiecaillat.

I believe she posted it herself, so I don’t think this song will be going anywhere =)
Download it while you can!!

UPDATE!: 08/08/2007 Colbie’s online marketing agency sent me mp3s and CD’s and other promotional material and said I could post this online again!

Joe Cocker
“You Are so Beautiful”

Until today, I had no idea this was a cover. Hopefully this will be a surprise for you too. Billy Preston actually wrote this song. I think Joe’s version is way better.

Enjoy.

David Ryan Harris
“For You”

I recently went to the John Mayer concert in Dallas. It was pretty amazing. Aside from seeing Mayer play, I also got to watch/listen to David Ryan Harris perform before the concert. He was on a stage just inside the Smirnoff center, and he was pretty amazing. He tours with Mayer quite a bit, apparently. This song, “For You” is off his CD he’s currently selling at John Mayer concerts. If you go to a Mayer concert try to go early, listen to David and pick up his CD, “The Bittersweet”. This song “For You” is track #1 on that CD. He’ll also sign it for you, if you buy it there. Support this guy’s music – buy his CD. I’d like to see him with his own tour one day.

Ernie Halter
“When the Lights Go Down”

This one’s feels like a soulful gospel song. I know very little about this guy. I ran across him through a suggestion from a friend and I’ve been very impressed with a few songs on this CD. You should give it a listen. He apparently tours with Andy Davis, Will Hoge, and others.

The Velvet Hearts
“History is Repeating”

Sometimes music finds me. I posted a video on youtube, and one of the members of the band Velvet Hearts requested to be added to my friends list. I listened to their music expecting to hear mediocrity, but I was very delightfully surprised. This band is excellent, and plays music from many genres.

Check our their myspace page, or some of their videos on youtube.

It looks as if they’re currently touring the UK. I hope they make it stateside soon.

James Morrison
“You make it real”

I stumbled onto James Morrison tonight while browsing around Spotify. After listening to the CD version, I dug around on the interwebs and found an acoustic version that I liked better. I usually like acoustic takes better. I was listening to his raspy voice, and the ease with which the music flows from him, and knew he was perfect for the blog here. There’s just so much soul emanating from this guy. He’s everything I wish I could be as a guitar player and singer. He’s so much more than just this song, though. Listen to some of his other stuff too.