Back In The Dave

1968 was the mark of a significant change in sound in the music industry. Sly and The Family Stone released their first single, "Dance to The music," and music would never be the same again. I was the young age of six that year, and it would be eight years before I'd make a decision to become a musician and begin to play Sly and The Family Stone songs on my bass. I wouldn't fully understand the "deep" impact of Sly and The Family Stone's influence on my bass playing, songwriting, and production until after decades are gone.

I was innocent in my teens. I didn't care who made the music. I loved it and the artists. Over time, I kept hearing the term "blue-eyed soul," I didn't know what it meant, and I didn't care! But it did begin to stir my curiosity the more I heard it. One day in 1978, at an M-U-1 band practice. I asked John, the bandleader, "what does blue-eyed soul mean?" With a chiseled look, he said, "David, it's white folks stealing our music!" I was shocked! I had no idea. A person's skin didn't matter to me.

Let's honor the life and music of the maestro, Barry White! Through his music, we'll celebrate "Black History Month" and Valentine's day.

Sitting in the back seat of my mother's Chevy Nova, a song came on the radio. I thought it was Issac Hayes! I listened more, "no, it's not Issac Hayes, wait, yes it is, no, yes, no, yes,! I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. Finally, I realized it wasn't Hayes. At the end of the song the DJ said, "and that was Barry White!"

"Who the heck is Barry White?" I asked myself. I had no idea. I only knew I loved his music, and I soon found out!

Before Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Barry White was my man!

My dad, boy, oh boy, I could say a ton of things about him! One thing that stands out was his sick sense of humor. When he was in comedy mode, he'd do anything to get a laugh from his children. One day, he took it way, way too far!

In this episode, my take on the Capitol building riot.

Every year Christmas and the holidays bring joy and sadness. It's that one time of year when the two emotions interconnect. We celebrate the holidays, the spirit of Christmas, bringing in a new year, and yet, it's a reminder of the people we've lost, the pains we have suffered, or the struggles we have. I experience these emotions, and at the same time, I think about the music that was played in my home growing up, and as I face my emotions. I allow the music that filled our home to balance me out!

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Is it love that I feel? I've just got to know myself is it real? Those are the opening lyrics to Larry Graham's 1978 song, "Is it Love?"

Love is the experience and desire we all want during our lifetime; love is a want and a need, wrapped up in one!

And yet, there's no guarantee we will truly and fully experience love.

In this episode, Brenda B. shares her "love story" during her teenage years in the early 1970s. A love so strong, life could not break its connection.

There are times in life when we find ourselves doing things we didn't think we'd ever have to do. In the spring of 1988, I was in a situation that terrified me, while two hours out at sea!

Once upon a time, there were melodies without words. Walls of sound, harmonies, and grooves, uplifting melodies, beautiful and equal to their lyrical counterparts, during the passage of the fifty moons, the wordless melodies became hidden behind a mountain of beats "rapped" in rhyming words, and over time the melodies without words became lost to its people, what the melodies without words didn't realize was, their wordless harmonies and grooves had remained in the hearts of the people, for the "beated rap's" could not survive the fifty moon passage! 

When you think of music, what comes to mind, beats, melodies, and lyrics? As a composer and musician, those are the tools I use to create music. They are the vehicles for a musical experience!

To really experience music similar to a musician, you have to look into its core, its life form, its power force, its energy!

Let's connect to the song!