Friday, November 03, 2017

Sharon Jones wrote “Call on God” in the late 1970s....



This story is freaking cool... via Daptone: "Sharon Jones wrote “Call on God” in the late 1970’s for E.L. Fields' Gospel Wonders, a choir she sang with throughout most of her life at the Universal Church of God in New York City.

This original recording with the Dap-Kings dates to early 2007 during sessions for the album '100 Days, 100 Nights'. Just like on the song "Answer Me" from that album, Sharon played all the piano and sang her parts live with the band, providing very specific direction of exactly how she wanted the music to sound.

Though she always provided input on all her songs, it wasn’t common for Sharon to take full charge of the arrangements like she did on these two gospel tracks. It was so inspiring for the band that they made a pact to record an entire gospel album with her at the helm. “Call on God” was put aside to be included on that eventual gospel album - but sadly, the project was never completed.

On December 18th, 2016, Pastor Margot Fields, E.L.’s widow, presided over Sharon's memorial service in Brooklyn which was attended by several of the original members of the Gospel Wonders who had come in from different parts of the country to help celebrate Sharon’s life. Together again, they performed a moving tribute to Sharon as part of the service.

After the service, Bosco Mann and the Dap-Kings invited the singers, all great friends of Sharon's, back to the Daptone House of Soul studios in Bushwick to finish "Call on God" with them. At the studio, the members of the choir put on headphones and heard Sharon’s voice singing the song she wrote for them three decades earlier.

Sharon always wanted to add background vocals to the song and she would have been happy to know that her old friends had come through to sing with her one final time.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' final studio album, Soul of a Woman is available November 17th, 2017.
Pre-order now

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