Welcome Calvin as an artist from another, related genre-urban soul-while not confusing fans by calling him a southern soul artist.ĭecember 25, 2019: NEW ALBUM ALERT!: Buy Calvin Richardson's new GOLD DUST album at Amazon.ĭaddy B. I don't presume to have the last word on any of this, and I'm interested in other fans' feedback, but for now it just seems the right thing to do. That is why I call his status in southern soul a "strange and unique" case. So while I welcome Calvin Richardson's collaborations with southern soul artists (Karen Wolfe is just the latest), and cheer his presence as a headliner on the bigger, multi-act stages along with Pokey, Sir Charles and other southern soul stars, I cannot promote him as a southern soul artist because he isn't and appears to have no intention of ever becoming one. Kelly, Anthony Hamilton, Dave Hollister, etc.-his presence enhances the tour, giving people unsure of southern soul a "bridge" to the genre in the guise of readily-recognizable, northern or urban soul, just as the artists listed above gave initiates to southern soul music (including yours truly) a handle to interpret the genre in the first Top 100 countdown twenty years ago. That doesn't take away from Calvin Richardson's contributions to the southern soul tour circuit. His strongest bonds to southern soul emanate from his southern soul-worthy Bobby Womack album. Calvin Richardson isn't played-or is very rarely played-on bonafide southern soul outlets. Blues Critic offers a soul-blues category in its year-end "best-of" poll, and it seems to incorporate artists who in some way ply soul and in some other ways ply blues: once again, a kind of nether region between what is nationally understood as soul or blues and what is southern soul, with its readily-identifiable style.Ĭalvin Richardson has never recorded a southern soul hit single. No one outside of few radio industry types knows what soul blues is. Everyone in the South knows what southern soul music is. Is Calvin a soul-blues artist? The very term is so ambiguous that it can mean practically anything. Nice artist guides-Calvin resides in that nether region of soul music that, on the one hand, elicits national recognition, but on the other, calls up none of the down-south, partisan fervor that the southern soul audience reserves for its true practitioners. Like Jaheim, like Angie Stone, like Syleena Johnson, like Erykah Badu, like Shemekia Copeland, like Ann Nesby-all of whom, like Calvin, have appeared in previous Daddy B. The answers are already evident in the postings I've made over the years in the Calvin Richardson artist guide, and they can be summed up in one general statement: Calvin Richardson is not a southern soul artist. (If I were going to do so, he would probably have made it before now, given his well-known brand and commercial clout.)
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Nice not honored Calvin Richardson with a top placement on the The New Generation chart? That's "star" territory with the likes of Pokey Bear and Sir Charles Jones.) (Calvin has one song, "Can't Let Go," that has reaped 38 million views. How many views do their songs attract on YouTube? (Calvin has been a headliner on the southern soul circuit for the last two or three years, most notably the old Blues Is Alright Tour venues around the country, where he has mingled with southern soul's major stars.) (Calvin's albums usually make the Billboard R&B charts, signifying success in that field.) One of the biggest factors in determining the relative status of current candidates for the countdown is their commercial appeal.
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Nice's Top 100 Countdown: The New Generation (Chart In Progress)Ĭalvin Richardson (The Strange & Unique Case Of.)Ĭomposed by Bobby Ozuna, Calvin Richardson & Raphael SaadiqĪpril 1, 2021: The Strange & Unique Case Of Calvin Richardson Calvin Richardson has been on my mind lately, as I've continued to post contemporary southern soul's biggest stars on my new countdown chart, The New Generation. Calvin Richardson (The Strange & Unique Case Of.) - Southern Soul Music Artist - Southern Soul RnBĬalvin Richardson (The Strange & Unique Case Of.) Daddy B.