AccuRadio Song Of The Day-PJ Morton

Artist:PJ Morton f/Darrel Walls, Gene Moore, Samoht, Tim Rodgers, Zacardi Cortez

Song:The Better Benediction

Album:Watch the Sun

PJ Morton is a second generation gospel artist. But he is also a very successful songwriter and producer for hire. And since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for Maroon 5. And he still has time to record his own music on his own label. The 2022 album Watch the Sun was nominated for a Grammy. He was born Paul Morton Jr. Mar. 29, 1981 in New Orleans. His father is gospel singer and Baptist minister Bishop Paul S. Morton. After graduating from high school, Morton graduated with a major in marketing from Morehouse College in 2003. He started out as a producer and pianist for hire for India.Arie, Men of Standard and Kierra Sheard. In 2010, Morton's friend and Maroon 5 musical director Adam Blackstone asked him if he was interested in joining as a keyboardist. Their current keyboardist Jesse Carmichael was taking a break and they needed a replacement. Morton has been a full time member of Maroon 5 since 2012. Morton has released several albums on his own label since 2005. It looks like he currently has Sony distribution. The Better Benediction is from the 2022 album Watch the Sun. This album was nominated for a Best R&B Album Grammy. Of course Morton writes and produces everything. The singers on The Better Benediction are Darrel Walls of The Walls Group, Gene Moore who has recorded for Motown Gospel, Samoht who has recorded with John P. Kee, Tim Rodgers and Zacardi Cortez. Cortez is a regular with James Fortune. Other guests include Nas, Stevie Wonder, Wale, Alex Isley, Jill Scott and El DeBarge. Morton continues to tour and record with Maroon 5 and produces in his spare time if he has any. Here's the video for The Better Benediction by PJ Morton featuring Darrel Walls, Gene Moore, Samoht, Tim Rodgers and Zacardi Cortez. 

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Cafe Tacuba

Artist:Cafe Tacuba

Song:Esa Noche

Album:Tiempo Transcurrido: The Best of Cafe Tacuba

The Mexican band Cafe Tacuba were at the forefront of the early 90s Spanish Rock movement. They have been very successful in Latin America and Europe. They are from Mexico City. Lead singer Ruben Albarran and guitarist Jose Alfredo Rangel met while studying graphic design at Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City in 1989. Rangel's bassist brother Enrique Rangel joined and they started practicing in a garage. The band is named after a local coffee shop. They are influenced by 80s British punk and New Wave bands like The Cure and The Clash but they wanted to sing in Spanish and represent their own culture. They started playing local clubs and were spotted by Argentinian producer Gustavo Santaolalla. He was already producing Spanish Rock bands and he got Cafe Tacuba a record deal with Warner Music Latina. Santaolalla has produced all of Cafe Tacuba's albums. They had success immediately with the 1992 album Cafe Tacvba. Esa Noche is from the 1994 album Re. This was their second album. By this time they added Emmanuel del Real on keyboards to the band. They all write songs. The Rangel brothers wrote Esa Noche. So now they are getting acclaim from the music press like Rolling Stone. So they are starting to get somewhere. The 1996 album Avalancha de Exitos was all covers. Then they recorded an all instrumental album which was closer to ambient music. When Warners didn't want to release it. they reached a compromise and Cafe Tacuba recorded another album and released the two albums together as Reves/Yo Soy in 1999. Though the album did well and won a Latin Grammy, Cafe Tacuba was unhappy with the compromise and they left Warners for Universal for the 2003 album Cuatros Caminos. That's when this comp was  released. Cafe Tacuba is still around though they last released an album in 2017. I get the impression that the guys are working on individual projects and may or may not get together again. They did tour earlier this year so that's a good sign. Now they need to record new music. Here's Cafe Tacuba performing Esa Noche at the 1996 Festival Vina del Mar in Chile.

 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Nat King Cole

Artist:Nat King Cole

Song:Mona Lisa

Album:The Greatest Hits

Nat King Cole started out as a jazz pianist and became one of the most popular singers of the 50s. The 1950 single Mona Lisa is one of his earliest and biggest hits. He was born Mar. 17, 1919 in Montgomery, AL. All three of his brothers were jazz musicians. His family soon moved to Chicago where his dad became a Baptist minister. Mom was the church organist and she taught the boys to play. Cole took piano lessons and got serious about music in high school. He sneaked out of the house at night to listen to jazz at clubs. Cole dropped out of school at age 15 and formed a band with his brother Eddie called Eddie Cole's Swingsters. They recorded a couple of singles for Decca and toured with a revival of the musical Shuffle Along. When the tour ended Cole and his wife Nadine settled in Los Angeles. When a club owner asked Cole to form a band, he hired bassist Wesley Prince and guitarist Oscar Moore and called it King Cole Trio after the nursery rhyme Old King Cole. Cole started out as a jazz pianist. But when he started to sing, customers liked it so he continued singing. After Cole signed with Capitol Records, he first recorded as an instrumental trio. He became a star when he started singing. The 1948 single Nature Boy and the 1950 single Mona Lisa were his first two number one hits. Mona Lisa was the top song of 1950. The song was written by veteran songwriters Ray Livingston and Jay Evans for the 1949 film Captain Carey, U.S.A. Livingston and Evans wrote many songs for films. Mona Lisa won the Best Original Song Oscar. It was sung in the film by Cuban bolero singer Sergio De Karlo. Cole recorded it with an orchestra led by Les Baxter and a Nelson Riddle arrangement. Capitol released it as a B side. But DJs turned it over and Mona Lisa topped the charts for five weeks. Moon Mullican scored a top five country hit with Mona Lisa. Plenty of singers recorded Mona Lisa. But Cole's version is the most memorable. You can get it on this budget comp that was released in the 90s after Natalie Cole's duet of Unforgettable with her dad was a big hit. Cole continued to have success in the 50s. He even hosted his own TV show in 1956. His success slowed after Nelson Riddle left Capitol for Frank Sinatra's new label Reprise in 1960. Cole was a heavy smoker and he died of lung cancer on Feb. 15, 1965 at age 45. Here's Nat King Cole performing Mona Lisa on The Nat King Cole Show 1956.