I am a lover of a well used sample.
And I would argue that Common's use of Bobby Caldwell's "Open Your Eyes" chours is one of the all time best. Bobby Caldwell, or better known as the "blue eye of soul", is beloved in the soul and r&b genre. You can hear his songs playing at the neighborhood cookouts and car shows. I grew up listening to Bobby Caldwell, and it wasn't until my teens that I discovered that he was a white man. I remember my jaw dropping just like when I found out the "The Bee Gees" were a group of white boys as well. Something about their silky voices and cool demeanor had me believing I was listening to black musicians. Furthermore R&b, especially in the 70s and 80s, when Bobby Caldwell emerged, was a genre dominated by black musicians. But, Bobby Caldwell broke into the genre and was not denied his rightful place as a voice in the scene. His lyrical poetry and jazzy melodies are well loved in the R&B genre, so much so that so many artists have sampled his work to pay him homage. One of my favorite songs from Bobby Caldwell (as there are many) is "Open Your Eyes". It starts out with just a soft melody and Bobby's unique voice singing slowly yet passionately. You can hear the yearning in his voice as he says, "I can see you, in a lonely place/ How can you be so blind./ You're still regretting the love you left behind/". He tries to convince his lover to "open your eyes” and asks her, "Are you expecting to find a love that is mine?". He wants to show her "the light". He is screaming for her surrender and love...trying to remind her that he is the place where her heart should land. It's an ache we all know. And the message is conveyed beautifully through a soft melody and Bobby's poetic wording. He then eases into a light-hearted rhythm that picks up in pace so as to mimic the racing of his heart as he anticipates her answer. It’s a love song, but it is also a song of desperation and uncertainty as we never know his lover’s choice. We just know that he has asked. This is one of Bobby's lesser known songs, but it has been forever immortalized by Common's now famous sample in his song "The Light". Common's rhymes lying on top of Bobby's smooth melody is musical love-making and is one of the best fusions of rap and r&b. Both songs hold a special place in my heart and a definite place in my song rotation, but Bobby Caldwell's original will always be king. I'm a sucker for a sample, but I am a sucker for that blue-eyed boy of soul. RIP Bobby Caldwell, you are well loved. P.S. Other songs I love from Bobby Caldwell include: 1. "My Flame" - This is a song I deeply love. Means a lot to me. And, I can only play it when I'm prepared to cry. 2. "What You Wont Do For Love" - His most famous song 3. "Heart of Mine" - A heartbreak song with some 80s synthesizer and saxophone
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I am a West Denver girl, through and through. I love the lowriders cruising on Federal Boulevard, a steak from Columbine Steakhouse, my Denver Broncos, and the National Western Stock Show.
This annual event is a ceremonial call-back to Denver’s roots as a “cow town” as 700,000 people gather to watch rodeos, attend stock shows, wear their best Western wear, and eat funnel cake. The National Western Stock Show has been held in the same location in Denver since 1906, and I have been lucky to attend it for all of my life. My first attendance at the stock show was with my “Popeye”, my paternal grandfather. He would make a point to attend each year as this event was held in own neighborhood of Swansea (this is the same neighborhood where I spent my summers riding bikes under the I-70 underpasses and tunnels). We would gather at his house, all nine of us varying from ages thirteen to four years old, and we’d begin our yearly pilgrimage to the event. At that time, we wouldn’t pay for rodeos, but instead spent most of our time wandering around and looking at all the animals. It was always a highlight of our year, and we only lost a couple cousins a couple of times.
This year, I attended the Stock Show during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend which highlighted the African-American riders and focused on the history of the American Cowboy.
The rodeo hosted the traditional events, but between rides and challenges the announcers taught about the history of the American Cowboy. They spoke of the diversity that the field has always had even though, cinematically and thematically, the American Cowboy has been portrayed as a blue-eyed man, John Wayne. When in reality, the cowboys of the west consisted of Mexicans from original Mexican land of the southern United States, the African-Americans from the newly emancipated South, and the Native Americans who have always tended to the land. It is stated that, “Latinos, Native Americans, and African Americans consisted of about a third of all cowboys during the “golden age” of the American cowboy [between 1866 and 1895] (Roberts).
I personally love all the educational elements of the National Western Stock Show as they highlight the history of the West, the agricultural trades and practices, and the livestock; however, another element that I love about the Stock Show is the Western Fashion.
As you walk the Western Complex grounds you’ll see working men in carhartt overalls while they groom the cows, riders in bedazzled and fringed chaps signing autographs, women dawning their furs while they haggle for turquoise, and almost everyone in either their cowboy hats or cowboy boots. I love the mingling of aesthetics: working-men with showmen. While walking between the horse stalls you will see someone who looks like they could be walking a runway and on the next pass you’ll see a life-long rancher wearing coveralls for practicality over beauty. I personally chose to dress for the runway in one of my newest vintage purchases from one of my favorite antique stores on Broadway, “The Odditorium”. It is a 1960s leather jacket with fox fur accents. She is a dream come true and I chose the stock show as her first outing. And, she was a hit. I easily received fifteen compliments on the coat alone and I attribute her beauty to our free “gator ride” from the parking lot to the venue (which was much needed since it was zero degrees and it was snowing).
Western wear fashion is currently experiencing a renaissance and we can see this via Louis Vuitton’s latest release at this past week’s fashion week. It was a gorgeous collection and captured the American spirit intertwining together the practicality of the working man with the flamboyant flare of the showman.
Now, I am not saying that Louis Vuitton is the end all be all in fashion (because it's not and I am actually not a fan of the logo-game), but it goes to show that Western wear is receiving a lot of love and I am so hopeful that this niche will explode and bleed into the wear of everyday life. I would love to see more bolo ties, leather, denim, fringe, and turquoise around me instead of Kirkland specials and athleisure laziness. I’d love to hear the click of a cowboy boot instead of the squeak of the borderline geriatric cushioned sneaker. I would love to see men dressing for the day and I feel like "Western Wear" is a authentic avenue that a lot of men can adopt seamlessly and without feeling as if they are being disingenuous to themselves; because lets face it...what man (or woman) hasn't grown up wanting to be a cowboy?
So, this concludes my love letter to “The National Western Stock Show”. She is a Denver gem and if you’ve never been, I hope this blog post encourages you to go. Today is the last day and it is worth every penny and every minute of your time, especially if you were born and raised here. I think this annual event captures the charism of Denver and calls us back to our "cow-town" roots and serves as a reminder of the diversity that this city was built on. It calls us back to nature and reunites us with the cowboy or cowgirl that lives in all of us. It is an opportunity to remember that we were not always domesticated humans running the rat race, but instead we were united with the land and filled with a sense of adventure.
I hope that all of you readers go and get reacquainted with your inner wildness by wandering through cow stalls while dodging “cow-piles”, eat a turkey leg straight off the bone, and then appreciate the sway of some well-laid chaps. Giddy up. P.S. Featured below is music playlist for your listening pleasure. And, a video of my "stock show" experience. P.S.S. DId you know, that the "most beautiful cow" gets to grace the halls of the historical Brown Palace after he/she hs been crowned the "Grand Champion Steer"? Please google it if you haven't seen it. They are so gorgeous and deserving of gracing those halls. I love those fluffy cows.
The thin chapters of my childhood are littered with the dialogues of family and strangers complimenting me with the confusing phrase, "You're an old soul". The phrase would slip from their lips as I questioned divinity, humanity, purpose, and free will. I'd often shrug my shoulders at the phrase, not knowing whether it was a compliment or some sort of curse. All I knew was that it felt true as I found myself pondering philosophy while dribbling my basketball in the back alley and worrying for the state of my soul while I played in the creeks of the Evergreen mountains. I was pensive yet playful; I was heavy in thought yet light with a sense of impending freedom...I guess that is what makes an "old soul". One of the first times I recall being called an "old soul" came at the age of six. I was belting out Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" in my Grandpa Danny's cigarette smoke filled apartment. You would have thought I was in the local bar at the Thursday evening karaoke night with the performance I was putting on. I was crooning, swaying, closing eyes, holding my heart while singing with little assistance from the words that danced across the karaoke screen. That song was mine and my aunts and uncles would gather around and cheer me on as I sang that song of ache and abandonment. Even to this day, my Uncle Chris says he always thinks of me when he hears the song or its cover by "The Fugees" on the radio. My status as an "old soul" gained more and more footing as I found myself gravitating toward vintage design and styling, classic literature, and the now dead practice of burning CD mixtapes that were filled with 60s, 70s, and 80s music. I was ten years old dancing to 70s r&b in my bedroom, fifteen years old falling in love with Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter'' and seventeen years old driving my 1984 Toyota 4Runner through the Harvey Park neighborhood in order to admire the "California-Style" homes from the 70s. I have seemed to always ache for a time that was never mine, but I loved passionately anyways. When I reflect on all these loves in my life that have contributed to my “old soul” signature, I see a vein of similarity that permeates throughout…creativity, vibrancy, and novelty. When I look at the things that are considered "vintage", I see a break from the cookie cutter templates that we are currently functioning in our times. Architecture was creative and unpractical and I am sure it wasn't cost-effective as it wasn't concerned with protecting the "profit margins". Clothing was bright and colorful while being well-made in contrast to the blah functionality of the "Kirkland" specials that literally everyone is wearing. Our current design and styling is too much focused on "blending-in" and protecting the "practicality" and "comfortability" of everyday life that we have lost the fun and appeal of life. Instead, we are left with overly square homes that are called “modern” in place of the historical home in the new gentrified neighborhood. Instead we are left with chain restaurants and stores which create clones of society in every suburb of America. Everything is too blah, too streamlined, too sensible, too predictable. Personally, I would rather live in a world where people are impractical, fun, and expressive than one where we are minimalistic yet so obsessed with an image that has been developed via consumerism rather than by creativity and/or self expression. And, if that makes me an “old soul”, then I’ll take it.
I see the wisdom in expression, in color, art, and a well written novel that is free of SMUT (if you don't know what that is...google it...I just learned about it from a man I met in the sauna). I love a 70s playlist playing while I play a game of pool in my bellbottoms. I have no desire to “blend in” by assimilating into the trends of today in order to maintain some semblance of social status (which is just consumerism and “keeping up with the Joneses”).
I, instead, desire to move under the influence of self-expression and passion. I love what I love even if it crosses genres, eras, and niches. And by embracing the messiness of our own passions, desires, and loves…we find individuality…and the wisdom in expressing your own soul is what being an “old soul” is. It is the ability to unapologetically embrace yourself as you are, in all its mess and glory…no neat lines or boxes necessary. So, put the cookie cutters down and embrace the paintbrush. Bring color into the gray Kirkland ruled world. Decorate a space with thrifted treasures in lue of the Pottery Barn “latest”. Play the funk song that encourages movement in a calcified room. Stop watching “trend reports” and curate your own style. And please, for the love of god, express your soul in a world that seems to be losing its own. P.S. Read "Why Culture Has Come to A Standstill" at the New York Times if you'd like to further dive into the ponderings of why it seems culture has become so bland. I loved his point about how in the past we seemed to be pushing forward with creativity, but now we seem to only be pushing forward with technology and consumerism. |
AuthorBrianna is a proud native of West Denver and she is an avid admirer of the arts. Her admiration of the arts is centered around her draw toward the beautiful and good of everyday life. Brianna finds beauty in a well-worn book, in the eclectic colors and textures of a thrift store find, and in the sound of a killer guitar solo whether it be live or through a well thought out Spotify playlist. Her passions are varied and many, but they all center on appreciating the fullness of life. Archives
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