Dominic's Staff Pick: September 15, 2022

Hello everyone, out there in Sorry State newsletter land. Thanks for clicking on us and reading.

This past week has been a heavy one emotionally, hasn’t it? My country and much of the world are mourning the passing of Queen Elizabeth. Although not much of a monarchist myself, it is still a sad moment for the nation and feels very weird. She’s been a constant in the lives of several generations, and it feels like losing a family member. Not shockingly, like in the death of Princess Diana, but still with a sense of loss. I spoke to my mum over the weekend, and she was quite sad and was reminded of her mother’s (my gran) passing. Whilst we were talking, she told me a story that I hadn’t heard before. She told me that when the Queen was coronated, she had gone to London with my aunt, and they sat outside Buckingham Palace and got to see the newly crowned Queen come out onto the balcony. I thought that was cool to have seen her on that actual day.

Adding to the somber mood of the weekend was another 9/11 anniversary passing. As a New Yorker back then, I will never forget. I don’t need to say anything more, but suffice to say the memories of that day and the aftermath stir up all sorts of emotions. It’s hard to put it into words really, but certainly leaves me in a weird head space. No need to make any political comments here so I won’t other than to say it is truly sad to see how much the Maga crowd has disgraced the memories of all those that died that day.

So, a rough week for me, which was made even more sad when I learned of the passing of another of my musical heroes, Ramsey Lewis. I found out soon after I finished my radio show, Worldy, on Monday. I’m bummed. Some of you may have read my recent entry in the newsletter where I talked about my love for him and his music. I can’t believe that he has gone. Like the Queen, he and his music have been there my whole life. It really makes you think about your own mortality. We all die sometime, of course, but it’s never nice being reminded about it. That is why we must celebrate the time that we are here and make the best of it. Trust me, I know that is easier to say than do when things are bleak, but we must try. I’m quite familiar with the blackness, despair and endless pain of life, so am grateful that I can seek comfort and sanctuary in my records. I will be celebrating not mourning Ramsey Lewis. His music will be there for me and so many others for as long as we are around to listen to it.

I obviously have a good selection of his albums myself and currently here at Sorry State we have several available also, so I have been listening to Ramsey a lot. John Scott has been digging the Sun Goddess LP, and I gave Daniel a copy of Mother Nature’s Son recently to listen to. That’s Ramsey Lewis covering The Beatle’s White album quite superbly. One of my favorite records by anyone. Ramsey Lewis recorded that record just a few weeks after The Beatles released their version due to the insistence of his producer Charles Stepney. Ramsey had covered Beatles songs before, but at first was reluctant to cut a whole album of covers. Stepney, however, was a visionary and great arranger and had respect for The Beatles and their producer George Martin and was convinced that songs from the White album could be arranged in a soul-jazz fashion. He was also an early adopter of the Moog synthesizer and his arrangements using the Moog helped elevate the songs to a new level.

Talk of producer Charles Stepney is timely as just arrived at my doorstep this morning and to us at Sorry State is a new double LP of music created by Stepney in his home basement studio in Chicago that is only now seeing the light of day. Without even listening to it, I know it must be my pick for this week’s newsletter. The collection is titled Step By Step and is released by International Anthem Recording Co. I pre-ordered my copy, but we are also stocking it here at the store. There was a limited gold vinyl pressing, however I elected for the black vinyl version as I find them easier to cue as a DJ. The music gathered is taken from 4-track reels of demos and compositional sketches created by Stepney sometime between the late 1960s and his premature death in 1976. He died of heart failure, leaving behind his wife and three daughters. It is his family that has kept these tapes preserved over the years and is largely behind this release. As you listen to the record, at various points his daughters can be heard narrating his story and giving their thoughts and memories about the recordings and their father. It’s a fascinating and intimate look at Stepney as both artist and family man. He plays vibes and keyboards on the tracks accompanied by drum machine and synth sounds. Some of the songs would later be fleshed out fully by their intended artists and some of them have not been heard before. Even though these recordings are simple and basic, they do not lack charm or substance. Far from it. Hearing them fifty years later is a gift of a musical time capsule.

Perhaps you haven’t heard his name before, but there’s a very big chance that some piece of music you have listened to has a connection with Charles Stepney. A lot of sample based hip-hop producers have used music he either wrote, arranged or produced. Just check A Tribe Called Quest for an example. You can obviously read more about his career if you care to, but all you really need to know is that Stepney was the staff arranger at Chess/Cadet and responsible for so many of the label’s great records from their incredible artist roster. We mentioned Ramsey Lewis already, but in no particular order he worked on records by The Dells, Terry Callier, Muddy Waters, Marlena Shaw, Minnie Riperton and her group Rotary Connection. It was with this last group that the Stepney magic is on full display. Listen to I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun to understand. Orchestral, psychedelic soul par excellence.

As any experienced crate digger will tell you, if you see the Cadet label and Charles Stepney’s name written in the credits, buy with confidence. His touch is as sure and golden as that of any of his contemporaries. He sits alongside Quincy Jones, Norman Whitfield, Thom Bell etc. and all the other great producers in the hall of fame. To those that know he is just as much of a legend.

Whilst living in New York I worked and became friends with a fantastic drummer who was named Ramsey after Ramsey Lewis. My friend Ramsey is the brother of a legendary rapper and one heck of a musician himself. He’s also a huge record nerd, and we bonded over our mutual love of old soul, funk, hip-hop and 60s psych and garage. The music of Charles Stepney was one of our favorites. When either one of us would find another record that he had worked on, we would share it with each other so the other would know and could look for it. I know Ramsey is feeling the loss of his namesake but also know that he’ll be loving this Stepney release a whole bunch just like I am and all the other Stepney fans out there.

Get yourself acquainted with his work if you aren’t already. It’s well worth it. Thanks for reading and see you next time. Cheers - Dom


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