Stan Butler: New 5-Star Album Review!Daddy B. Nice's #25 ranked Southern Soul Artist |
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"Cowboy Ride" Stan Butler: New 5-Star Album Review! Composed by Stantavio Butler June 1, 2024:
STAN BUTLER: The Truth About The Blues (Stantavio D Butler) Five Stars ***** Can't Miss. Pure Southern Soul Heaven.At less than a thousand residents (about the size of a typical high school class a hundred miles north in Atlanta) Jeffersonville is the largest city and even the county seat of Twiggs County, Georgia. It's as close to the middle of nowhere as you'll find in America, but southern soul insiders know the locale well from Stan Butler's YouTube videos, where residents amble the streets conversating with the drivers in passing cars and grown men ride tricycles across the railroad tracks.Butler grabbed just about every honor in sight in 2016, including Daddy B. Nice’s Best Southern Soul Artist Debut of 2016, placing not just one but two singles on DBN’s Top 25 Songs of 2016: “Bootlegger” and “Third Of The Month”. He was a 2016 nominee for Best Ballad (“Preacher Was A Home Wrecker”), Best Mid-Tempo Song (“Bootlegger”), Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song (“Took My Grandma To The Club”) and two Best Club Songs (“Tootie Boot” and “Third Of The Month”). He was also a 2016 nominee for Best Songwriter and Best Male Vocalist. And yet, with the exception of the novelty song "Took My Grandma To The Club," those musically proficient songs (collected in 2016's "Back To Basics" album and 2017's "The Blues In Me" LP) were not commercially successful. Stan's long-awaited third studio album, The Truth About The Blues, chronicles Butler's gradual ascension over the intervening seven years from overlooked young singer/songwriter to confident---even brazen--- multi-million-viewed master of tales that fly in the face of good taste, decorum and propriety. Landmark tunes like 2019's "Cowboy Ride and 2021's "Down In The Kuntry" (with West Love) are represented, as well as "Blackberry" and "Mighty Good Woman". A double album wouldn't have accommodated all of the songs Butler has written and published since then, yet the fourteen-track The Truth About The Blues finds room for the already published "Preacher Was A Home Wrecker". Perhaps that's because the song was the first to forge the formula---strong voice-over narratives combined with risque material---that led to Butler's breakthrough (four and a half million YouTube views) with "My Deaf Brother" and its well-received successors---"Mighty Good Woman," "Start Eating," "My Down Syndrome Sister" and "Third Leg," all included in this compilation. And irrespective of the lyrics, "Preacher Was A Home Wrecker" remains a stunning musical accomplishment to this day. I championed and publicized Stan Butler's work and especially "Cowboy Ride" from its first appearance, and I was disheartened by the initial lack of attention, which gradually stretched into years. But just now a quick check surprised and reassured me that good songs do win out in the end---almost a million views!---and that's as it should be. "Cowboy Ride" is one of the key southern soul songs of the current era, a modest but entirely likeable, "Mississippi Boy" type of song, and the offhand, frill-less vocal makes it one of Butler's best vocal outings. Of course, the "Cowboy Ride" video never fails to enthrall. Butler hadn't even done videos before that I can recall, but the "Ride" video was soon followed by "Down In The Kuntry," the Best Chitlin' Circuit/Blues Song of 2021 and another amazing video, coincidentally featuring the same charismatic "town character" from the "Cowboy Ride" video whom I once mistook for Stan in costume. You can read more about him in the Stan Butler Artist Guide. Much has been made of the emergence of "country" themes (cowboys, cowgirls, horses, trail rides) in recent southern soul, but who really embodies that country style more than Stan Butler himself? Only listen, for example, to his vocal (specifically his voice-over narration) in "Start Eating," Stan's nod to Marvin Sease's "Candy Licker". It has the authority of a Clarence Carter---corn-cob raw. It's a song the late Billy "Soul" Bonds would have loved. Yet, we tend to forget Stan Butler is a major player in this fan-driven fascination with all things country, which----by the way---is a new "fashion" in southern soul subject matter. It didn't exist thematically in the nineties or aughts up until the teens. And while a new generation is experimenting with a southern soul sound with a country feel, a kind of fusion of the two, Stan Butler has been doing all that and more---with the notable added element of his story-telling monologues. He's the greatest speechifier since the late Bishop Bullwinkle and the obvious male counterpart to Ms. Jody. The Truth About The Blues is his testament, his stone tablets brought down from the mountain top. Stan Butler delivers, and even if you're not especially interested in "that" kind of music, you'll come away knowing you've listened to something substantial. --Daddy B. Nice See the chart. Listen to Stan Butler singing "Cowboy Ride" on YouTube. November 20, 2022: Daddy B. Nice's Profile:Stan Butler, from a small town outside Macon, Georgia, doesn't look or act like an entertainer. He's more self-effacing than most, but his music (aided by his guitarist/collaborator Ron G) packs a punch, and has from the very beginning: a roughhewn mix of propulsive rhythm tracks and Clarence Carter-like subjects and vocals.
--Daddy B. Nice About Stan Butler: New 5-Star Album Review! Re-Posted from Daddy B. Nice's CD Reviews
Tidbits 1.October 14, 2017: Re-Posted from Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews. October 13, 2017: STAN BUTLER: The Blues In Me (Stantavio Butler / Stan Butler / CD Baby ) Four Stars **** Distinguished Effort by a New Southern Soul Artist.I heaped so much praise and excitement on the material Stan Butler released in 2016--a new and novel sound he's now brought together in The Blues In Me--it's hard to recapture the enthusiasm generated last year when the young singer/songwriter from Georgia tore up the southern soul charts with an unprecedented series of singles.Here are the increments by which Stan Butler made your Daddy B. Nice a fan and believer. Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . . -------JUNE 2016--------- …2. "Tootie Boot"------Stan Butler Here's a choice cut from an unknown artist who's never contacted your Daddy B. Nice. Also check out his first official video: "I Took My Grandma To The Club." Listen to Stan Butler singing "Tootie Boot" on YouTube. ************* Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . . -------JULY 2016--------- …5. "Third Of The Month"------Stan Butler A rhythm guitarist's dream. Extraordinary confidence and expertise from such a neophyte singer/songwriter. Kinda weird, though, a young'un taking up the cause of the social-security crowd. Hope it's not patronization--and I don't think it is. Listen to Stan Butler singing "Third Of The Month" on YouTube. ************** Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . . -------SEPTEMBER 2016--------- 2. "Take Me To The Bootlegger"------Stan Butler A true outsider (Georgia) as yet unfamiliar with southern soul's deejay circuit, this young man is the real thing, a writer/performer of great promise, and he's getting better with each new record. This is his third appearance here in four months. "Bootlegger" has the scope and lyricism of a classic. Listen to Stan Butler singing "Take Me To The Bootlegger" on YouTube. ************* Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . . -------NOVEMBER 2016------- 1. ”Preacher Was A Home Wrecker”-----Stan Butler Like the young Bob Dylan, like the young Sir Charles Jones, the young Stan Butler is on an artistic “roll” so pure and unstoppable it’s a joy to behold. I’m not comparing Stan to these greats, just drawing attention to his seemingly inexhaustible creativity, because when I say “on a roll” I mean a song a month, not a song a year. Only a handful of recording artists achieve this kind of sequential inspiration, and only for a brief period. Listen to Stan Butler singing ”Preacher Was A Home Wrecker” on YouTube. *********** The unheralded Butler grabbed just about every honor in sight in 2016. He won Daddy B. Nice’s Best Southern Soul Artist Debut of 2016. He placed not just one but two singles on Daddy B. Nice’s Top 25 Songs of 2016: “Bootlegger” and “Third Of The Month”. He was a 2016 nominee for Best Ballad (“Preacher Was A Home Wrecker”), Best Mid-Tempo Song (“Bootlegger”), Best Out-Of-Left-Field Song (“Took My Grandma To The Club”) and two Best Club Songs (“Tootie Boot” and “Third Of The Month”). He was also a 2016 nominee for Best Songwriter and Best Male Vocalist. So, roughly a year later, the question to ask of The Blues In Me may be this. Do the songs hold up? And does Stan Butler, the artist, abide? Actually, mid-way through 2017, Butler did send out some additional songs from the album-to-be, two of which, "I Let A Woman Take My Woman From Me" and "Whine It Up," charted here. And I'm not so sure those songs do hold up well. But as uncertain as I am of their durability, I'm even more convinced that "Tootie Boot" (from the first album), "Bootlegger," "Third Of The Month" and "Preacher Was A Home Wrecker" are solid, hit-worthy records, and the latter three in particular, all from The Blues In Me, future southern soul classics. And that doesn't even include another classic from the album, a remix of "I Took My Grandma To The Club," which never actually charted here but is without a doubt Butler's signature single and just the kind of crowd-pleasing, novelty hit that has started many an artist's' career. As to the bigger question--does Butler the recording artist abide?--one has to admit there are flaws. The album's production is inconsistent. Even the sound itself fluctuates from track to track, so that if if you're automatically rolling the album through a second time, you'll be startled by the first bars of the opening track, "Third Of The Month," after the relative softness of the last track, "Took My Grandma To The Club (Remix)". From a technical perspective, the vocals are rudimentary--Stan often resorts to talking--and even the songwriting (one of the artist's strengths) is raw, one step above your average, on-the-mall busker-with-a-guitar. But, on another level, that's the point. Getting rid of all the producing artifice. Just a man and his guitar, speaking directly from the gut. You can visualize how each song begins, with Stan strumming some chords and rhythmic tempos. The finished product isn't much more. That's the kind of simplicity that makes the original Floyd Hamberlin/Will T. version of "Mississippi Boy" better than any of its slicker remakes. In fact, in his plainness and rusticism, Butler resembles another humble backwoods fella from the southern soul world--not at all flashy--Nathaniel Kimble. Stan flashes a more panoramic brilliance--a tease of what he's capable of--in the synthesized string section and accomplished lead guitar (with an Isley-inspired solo by Ron G.) of "Bootlegger" and the similarly emotive guitar and background singing in "Preacher Was A Home Breaker". These songs are lush by the standards of the bulk of the set. The Blues In Me is all about elemental rhythms and simple hooks, the bread and butter of popular song. The album's ten songs go by way too fast. And "Third Of The Month," with lyrics about seniors, is the first, best and most representative track. Not because of its subject (although all those things apply), but because of its propulsive rhythm. Listen to Stan Butler singing "Third Of The Month" on YouTube. Right now your Daddy B. Nice is most fascinated by the only three tracks from the album I haven't heard, or hardly heard, before--"Juke Joint Shack," "I Left My Woman" and "Trust Me, Baby." Listen to Stan Butler singing "I Left My Woman" on YouTube. I still haven't bothered to figure out the lyrics to "I Left My Woman (But I Really Didn't Mean To). But no worries. It's the guitar riff and rhythm that has me hooked. Good Ron G. lead & rhythm guitar on this one, too. I'm getting that "new-song" buzz. --Daddy B. Nice ****************** 2.July 29, 2017: New Album Alert!Sample/Buy Stan Butler's new THE BLUES IN ME album at CD Baby. THE BLUES IN ME Track List:1. Third of the Month 2. Who Said The Grass Is Not Greener On The Other Side 3. Juke Joint Shack 4. Whine It Up 5. Preacher Was a Home Wrecker 6. I Left My Woman 7. Take Me to the Bootlegger 8. I Let A Woman Take My Woman 9. Trust Me Baby 10. Took My Grandma to the Club (Remix) 11. Got Me A Country Girl (Bonus Track) Daddy B. Nice notes: Southern Soul's prolific BEST DEBUT ARTIST OF 2016 Stan Butler follows up his enticing first album with a second CD showcasing a number of southern soul singles showered upon his audience since then: Listen to Stan Butler singing "Take Me To The Bootlegger" on YouTube. Listen to Stan Butler singing "I Let A Woman Take My Woman" on YouTube. Listen to Stan Butler singing "Preacher Was A Home Wrecker" on YouTube. ...and more. In addition, two of the best tracks from BACK TO THE BASICS are included: Listen to Stan Butler singing "Third Of The Month" on YouTube. Listen to Stan Butler singing "I Took My Grandma To The Club" on YouTube. Both poke fun at seniors, and the latter ("Grandma") has become a novelty sensation on YouTube. 3.July 29, 2017: Re-posted from BEST OF 2016 DADDY B. NICE'S 10TH ANNUAL SOUTHERN SOUL MUSIC AWARDSBest Debut:Top Contenders:"Make Her Feel It," "Love After Hours"----Tony Tatum "A.P.B. Out On Her"----Hollywood Hayes "Shake It"----Ra'Shad The Blues Kid "Don't Make Me Do It," "Rules To The Game"----Mys. Niki (Nikita) "No Late Night Booty Call"----Rena Ree "Them Country Girls," "Country Girl"----Crystal Thomas "Tootie Boot," "Bootlegger," "Third Of The Month," "Preacher Was A Home Wrecker," "Took My Grandma To The Club"----Stan Butler "The Thrill Is Gone"----Gene "Poo Poo Man" Anderson "Stepping Out"----Donna Renae "You Can Get It," "Shothouse Blues"----Toia Jones "The Best You Ever Had," "Cowgirl (Remix)," "Role Play," "Pour It Up"----Rosalyn Candy "If You Need Some," "That Act Right"----Miss Mini "Catch A Groove (Dancing Shoes)"-----Christopher La'Mont "I'd Better Leave You Alone"----Summer Wolfe "Don't Wonna Lose My Baby"----Coupe Deville "Classy"----Sharnette Hyter Best Debut: Stan ButlerListen to Stan Butler singing "Take Me To The Bootlegger" on YouTube.4.February 28, 2018: Daddy B. Nice Announces THE WINNERS of the 2017 (11th Annual) SOUTHERN SOUL MUSIC AWARDS.
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