Slackday: Deeper Shade of Soul

This day has left me haggard, and it’s not even half over yet, so this week’s Slackday is going to be full of soothing soul sounds of the ’60s and ’70s.

Well, of course there was going to be a Black Keys tie-in. I was excited when I learned that the Keys would be covering Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, and they didn’t disappoint me. Here’s the original, with Butler in a stylin’ suit.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-PKQHNXPRI]

I will drop whatever I’m doing whenever I’m doing it to listen to “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul. (Stick with this one. Paul starts out a little weak, but he ends strong.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgautjFHHgg]

I couldn’t find a clip of the more recent performance of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” by Mel Carter that I’ve seen, but you can get a very good idea of just how impressive Carter’s voice still is here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45_8zWktVNE]

And I can’t end this post without including the song that gave us today’s subtitle. Please don’t sue me if you get nostalgia whiplash off of this one.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5PNYNQqnvk]