(Soul, Funk) Charlie Whitehead - Songs to Sing Anthology 1970-1976 - 2006, FLAC (tracks), lossless

An obscure but fascinating figure in American soul music, Charlie Whitehead was a protégé of songwriter, producer, and professional eccentric Jerry Williams, Jr. (aka Swamp Dogg). Whitehead cut a handful of powerful sides that dealt with political and social topics in no uncertain terms, and while the strength of his message prevented him from reaching the upper reaches of the sales charts, he left behind a striking body of work during his short recording career. Born in 1942 in Virginia, Whitehead made his first inroads into a career in music in the early '60s as a member of a Norfolk, VA, vocal group called the Rocking Charmers. In 1968, Whitehead relocated to New York City and caught the attention of R&B singer Charlie Foxx, who helped Whitehead land a deal with Dynamo Records. Dynamo hired Williams to produce Whitehead's sessions, and while Dynamo dropped him after only one single, Williams took the singer to Canyon Records (who had recently released Swamp Dogg's epochal Total Destruction to Your Mind) and cut an LP with Whitehead under the name Raw Spitt. The Raw Spitt album featured such uncompromising songs as "Call Me Nigger," "The Freedom Under Certain Konditions Marching Band," and "I Dig Black Girls," and failed to chart despite the strength of the music. After Canyon Records folded, Williams started his own label, the short-lived Stone Dogg imprint, which released three singles on Whitehead, this time recording under his own name. Whitehead cut an album under the rubric Charlie Whitehead & the Swamp Dogg Band for still another label run by Williams, the memorably named Fungus Records, but it also failed to attract significant sales or radio play. In 1975, Whitehead finally hit the R&B singles charts with "Love Being Your Fool," but his next album, 1977's Williams-produced Whitehead at Yellowstone, proved to be his last. In 2006, a collection of Whitehead's work with Jerry Williams, Jr., Songs to Sing: The Charlie Whitehead Anthology, 1970-1976, was released by the respected British R&B archivists at Ace/Kent Records.

Even though Charlie Whitehead was a journeyman soul singer, his work will appeal to soul collectors if only because Swamp Dogg, one of the more interesting soul eccentrics of any era, was so closely involved with Whitehead's recordings as a producer, arranger, and songwriter. None of Whitehead's releases were particularly exciting, but Songs to Sing: The Charlie Whitehead Anthology 1969-1973 is an exemplary compilation of not just his best work, but most of his work. In addition to the entirety of the 1970 album he did under the pseudonym Raw Spitt (itself titled Raw Spitt), it also has his 1973 album Charlie Whitehead & the Swamp Dogg Band, as well as a few non-LP sides he did under either the Raw Spitt or Charlie Whitehead monikers. The Raw Spitt material is the best stuff here, featuring as it does characteristic Swamp Dogg songs putting quixotic observations about African-American identity, social injustice, and sex to an almost-but-not-quite-normal period-soul-funk backdrop. Charlie Whitehead & the Swamp Dogg Band is more disappointing, as it's given over to too-long tossed-off-sounding dance-funk tunes, though it does contain flashes of his wit and social conscience in "Shaft's Mama" and "Let's Do It Again Parts 3 & 4" respectively. The early-'70s, non-LP sides are okay, adding up to a compilation of respectable, non-formulaic period soul. But it doesn't match the heights of the best material Swamp Dogg issued under his own name, which had more vocal personality and was often more adventurous.

AUDIOCHECKER v2.0 beta (build 457) - by Dester - opdester@freemail.hu
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Started at: вторник, 13. 07. 2010. - 12:45.38
21 files found
01 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\01 Songs To Sing.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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02 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\02 Put a Little Love in Your Heart.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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03 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\03 Raw Spitt.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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04 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\04 Call Me Nigger.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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05 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\05 The Freedom Under Certain Konditi.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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06 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\06 Midnight Rider.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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07 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\07 Who Do They Think They Are.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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08 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\08 I Dig Black Girls.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 99%
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09 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\09 This Old Town.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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10 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\10 Sweet Bird of Success.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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11 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\11 Excuses.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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12 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\12 Between the Lines.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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13 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\13 Predicament #3.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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14 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\14 That Ain't My Wife.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 99%
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15 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\15 I Finally Found Myself Something.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 99%
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16 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\16 Shaft's Mama.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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17 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\17 The B.B. King.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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18 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\18 Help (God Help America).flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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19 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\19 Gazelle.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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20 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\20 She's All I Got.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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21 -===- D:\MUZON\Funk\Charlie Whitehead\Songs to Sing - The Charlie Whitehead Anthology (1969-1973)\21 Let's Do It Again Parts 3 & 4.flac
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Conclusion: this track is CDDA with probability 100%
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Finished at: вторник, 13. 07. 2010. - 12:52.12 (operation time: 0:06.33)