November 5, 2018 would have been Charles Bradley’s 70th birthday. In celebration of his extraordinary life, Daptone imprint Dunham Records will release his fourth and final album on November 9th. Black Velvet will feature ten studio recordings never before included on any album including lead single “I Feel A Change.” The video for the track, was directed by Living On Soul’s Jeff Broadway & Cory Bailey.
Black Velvet is a celebration of Charles Bradley, lovingly assembled by his friends and family at Dunham/Daptone Records. Though chronologically the material spans Charles’ entire career, this is no anthology, greatest hits or other shallow rehashing of the songs that already made him famous. Rather, this album is a profound exploration through the less-travelled corners of the soulful universe that Charles and his longtime producer, co-writer and friend Tommy “TNT” Brenneck created in the studio together over their decade-long partnership.
The album features new songs recorded during the sessions from each of his three albums, heard here for the very first time in all their scorching glory: “Can’t Fight the Feeling,” “Fly Little Girl” and the heart-wrenching single “I Feel a Change”; hard core rarities like his funk-bomb duet with LaRose Jackson, “Luv Jones,” the psychedelic groover, “(I Hope You Find) The Good Life” and the ever-illusive alternate full band electric version of “Victim of Love”; sought-after covers of Nirvana’s “Stay Away,” Neal Young’s “Heart of Gold” and Rodriguez’s “Slip Away”; and the title track “Black Velvet,” a stirring Menahan Street Band instrumental to which Charles was never able to cut a vocal.
‘BLACK VELVET’ TRACK LISTING
01 – Can’t Fight The Feeling
02 – Luv Jones
03 – I Feel A Change
04 – Slip Away
05 – Black Velvet
06 – Stay Away
07 – Heart Of Gold
08 – (I Hope You Find) The Good Life
09 – Fly Little Girl
10 – Victim Of Love (Electric Version)
Charles Bradley: Black Velvet [Album Review]
Charles Bradley Black Velvet Dunham/Daptone Records [2018] Who: Charles Bradley’s life is celebrated with this posthumous release. Sound: Bradley’s records were consistent with Daptone records revivalist approach, which offered plenty of funk and soul from the heart. TFN Final Take: It is always hard to say goodbye and when Charles Bradley passed away on September … Read more