BLACK GOLD

ARTIST Stephen Shames (born Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1947)

TITLE Angela Davis speaks at a rally in DeFremery Park for George Jackson and the other Soledad Brothers, who were on trial for the murder of a guard at Soledad Prison. Next to Angela is party member James Burford, Oakland

CREATION DATE 1970

Odetta, 1963.

Marlena Shaw, 1972, from the cover of her album Just A Matter of Time on Blue Note Records, where she was the first woman they’d ever signed! 

You may not know her name or her face, but you definitely know her voice and her first solo hit “California Soul”, a stellar Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson composition from 1968′s The Spice of Life. The lush, psychedelic arrangement is striking enough that the Richard Evans and Charles Stepney are credited on the front cover just below the name of the album. (You know Stepney’s mid-70s work with Earth, Wind & Fire.)

Marlena had an amazing career, starting with a show-stopping appearance at The Apollo when she was only 10, to years touring with Sammy Davis Jr. and The Count Basie Orchestra. Her fame in Japan and Europe kept her constantly on the road there, which may have also contributed to her relative obscurity here. 

It’s insane to me that there’s no footage of her performing her biggest hit until near the end of her career. (She’s still with us as I write this, but retired from performing a few years back.) Missing that, enjoy this, and seriously, TURN IT UP.