Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of The Morning Show on KEXP, is "Inner City Blues" by the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, a 2020 single on Colemine Records.
Back in June, Colemine Records launched the Brighter Days Ahead singles series, a response to the stay-at-home orders and the subsequent loss of income from canceling tours, postponing release dates, and ceasing the manufacturing for LPs and 45s. "We wanted to come up with some way to give our fans and our artist's fans something to look forward to," explained label owner Terry Cole. Starting on May 22nd and running through the summer, Colemine will release a new track every Friday on their Bandcamp page with 100% of any revenues generated going directly to the artist. "Our goals are simple: put a little bit of money in our artist's pockets and get our fans some new tunes," Cole summarized.
The series kicked off with Seattle's own Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio covering Marvin Gaye's 1971 track "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" off his landmark album What's Going On. The lyrics convey the despair of the bleak economic situation of the times, the lack of support from the government, and police brutality. (That sounds depressingly familiar.) But, in the hands of maestro Delvon Lamarr, the song sounds almost joyous as an instrumental. Guitarist Jimmy James adds a funky groove to the track, and drummer Dan Weiss picks up the pace from Gaye's original composition. Listening to it makes you believe, there might really be brighter days ahead.
