Archie Bell & The Drells – Tighten Up!

Well, after over a year of blogging wildly, jumping between genres like a kid with ADD, and building the TWD brand, I think it's finally time I bring some focus to my blogging. We started this site because all of our tastes are eclectic and wide-ranging – a quality that seems to be lost among todays musical landscape of buzzbands and indie trends. While my personal listening habits continue to be crazy, it's just too exhausting to try to give equal opportunity to every genre, era, and style that I love.

As anyone who has read this site since it's inception knows, I love soul. I love funk. I love Motown. I love old R&B. Maybe more than anything else. So that's what I'm going to focus on writing about. Everyone digs this music, and there's a big void (with some exceptions) in the modern music scene uncovering these gems. I'm going to start consistently sharing and giving my views on jivin', dip dappin' jams that I dig up in vinyl crates or happen across through other means. I'll still occasionally introduce you to brilliant new bands, but listen kids, we need a soul injection in this here scene.

My man Archie Bell & The Drells is helping me usher in this new era. "Tighten Up" is a southern funk staple and easily one of my all-time favorite songs. Bell introduces the song with a nod to his Texas hometown since these were the days after the Kennedy assassination and Texas' image was on shaky ground. Then the groove sets in and Bell walks us through the smooth, exaggerated "Tighten Up" dance (that the Drells so deftly illustrate in the video). You can't beat this brand of simple, clean, hip-shaking funk. Thanks for the welcome, Archie.

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Hello readers. I hope you're ready for something new that happens to be old because we're about to try something a little different. Starting tomorrow, we will begin about a month of content devoted to the Velvet Underground. Read on for more details.

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Some sad musical news today in a day filled with madness around the globe. Marshall Grant, bassist and the last surviving member of Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two passed away in Arkansas at the age of 83. As giant Cash fans, especially of his Sun Records days, we hope Cash and the boys are now jamming together again.

(Cheers to The Daily Swarm)

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A couple newsworthy events from the man behind one of our favorite albums of the year. First, Chris Bathgate has had a ridiculously unlucky string of accidents involving his tour vehicles this year. All the break-downs and accidents mean that he and his band have been left without a van to tour with, which means no Chris Bathgate live. This is truly a tragedy, so he started a Kickstarter page to fund the purchase of a van with biodiesel conversion. 

Head on over to his Kickstarter page and throw a little money his way. Even five bucks would help!

Second, Chris and co. were recently on NPR's World Cafe and played some songs live and talked about Salt Year. It's a great listen, so head to the World Cafe page to stream it.

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Put this is the "news that made my day" category. Jeff Bridges, one of my all-time favorite actors and a great musician, is releasing a major label debut album. Jeff Bridges will be released September 5th from Parlophone Records and the music sounds like it will echo the tone of Crazy Heart, which is a great thing. It also features guest vocals from the likes of Rosanne Cash, Ryan Bingham, and Benji Hughes.

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Hey everyone, it's Steve. I have some news about changes coming in my life, and in turn, to the Dig.

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Digster Dave has written a new All Time Top 5 for the Paper Crane Collective. Head on over to dig some ironic cover tunes from the likes of Ted Leo, Yael Naim, and the Bad Plus. 

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Those Who Dig's contribution to the Paper Crane Collective this week come's from Digster Dave. He lays down the law for all you squares who don't like jazz. It's the All Time Top 5: Jazz Records For People Who Don't Like Jazz. Check it out, and feed your brain.

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It's time again for another edition of All Time Top 5, Those Who Dig's bi-weekly column over at the Paper Crane Collective! This week I ranked the greatest Beatles Solo Songs, and it's a solid list if I do say so myself. And I do. Go check it out, along with all of the other amazing articles by the #pcc crew!

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This week's edition of Those Who Dig's bi-weekly series "All Time Top 5" is now up over at the Paper Crane Collective. The theme this week was "Album Closers That Weren't" – or great songs from great albums that would have been perfect album closers. There's some tunes to listen to, pretty pictures to ogle at, and of course brilliant commentary from yours truly so head over and check it out!

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