November 5, 2018 would have been Charles Bradley’s 70th birthday. The legendary soul singer, dubbed “The Screaming Eagle of Soul,” died on September 23, 2017 after battling stomach cancer. Four days after his would-be birthday, Dunham and Daptone Records released his fourth and final posthumous album Black Velvet. The record features ten studio recordings never before included on any album as well as covers of Nirvana's "Stay Away" and Neil Young's "Heart of Gold.” Our Song of the Day is the LP’s lead single “I Feel a Change,” which was recorded during Bradley’s Victim of Love sessions.
“Horns and organ were recorded later, adding a haunting beauty to the otherwise a cappella intro,” explained longtime producer and co-writer Tommy “TNT” Brenneck in a statement. “The lyrics are 100 percent Charles: Personal and abstract. Directly from the heart. He truly loved the expression of ‘going through changes’ and this was a few years before we would record our rendition of [Black] Sabbath’s ‘Changes’ with the Budos. Sadly, Charles never got to hear the finished version of this beautiful song.”
The song comes with a beautifully shot black and white video by Jeff Broadway and Cory Bailey. Watch it below.
