“Some of the true musical stars of that time got the First Ave crowd moving in a major way, as the Twin Cities Funk and Soul All-Stars delivered a jubilant, upbeat set”
We had such a great time at the Icehouse last week for the debut of Sonny Knight and the Lakers, we’re still kinda recovering. Stay tuned as there are some more gigs coming up with these guys and new music on the way. Like Sonny said, “We got a whole sack of new songs!”
Big up to KFAI for having Sonny Knight on the air this week. He was so happy there’s all this great energy behind the big show at Icehouse this week. We’re big fans of the station so it meant a lot to have so much support. It’s fundraising week for the station so take a minute to click on their logo below and contribute to keep such a great independent radio station on the air as they have been for 35 years now!!
In the meantime you can also take a sneak peak at some of the rehearsals Sonny and our new band, The Lakers have been holding to make things extra funky for Wednesday night..
Things have been moving ahead at full steam around here at Secret Stash. We have so many projects in the works and shows coming up that we are shaking with anticipation to even just tell you about them. Let’s just get started then as this week will in many ways spark the explosion of sweet funkiness that will be bound to tire all y’all out by Summer’s end around here.
This Wednesday we’ll be returning once again to the Icehouse with another new band we’ve recently assembled to kick off the season for Secret Stash Records Presents: Sonny Knight and the Lakers.
Sonny Knight has a long history as a singer in the Twin Cities. Sonny cut his first 45′, “Tears on My Pillow” b/w “My Darling” as Little Sonny Knight and the Cymbals in 1965. His youthful energy and dynamic voice come across wonderously on the swinging track of vintage vocal soul that Sonny recorded when he was just 15 years old. Similarily, the flip side slows things down allowing Sonny to lead his band with a soft soulful ballad that no doubt made the audience swoon. Eventually Sonny would be a part of several other groups in the 60’s and the 70’s Twin Cities cult favorite funk band, Haze.
Last year when it came time to put our Twin Cities Funk & Soul revue band together for the release of that compilation we became good friends and really close to Sonny Knight as he was enlisted to be a part of the reformed Valdons. With his vocal chops stronger than ever he’s been a key part of the group and helped bridge the 60’s soul spirit with 70’s funkiness singing on several other songs from the era including crowd favorites originally done by Prophets of Peace.
We’ve been long wanting to showcase Sonny’s energy and talents on his own and so it was with great inspiration that we’ve put together a band to back him up and allow for him to dominate the stage. Things really came together after the Secret Stash Soul Revue were invited to record a song, “Sorry” for the Beck “Song Reader” project where Sonny applied his signature voice to some new music for the first time.
Eventually it became necessary to assemble a group of budding talents to surround Sonny’s own unique abilities and bridge the past and present generations to resurrect those early songs but to create new grooves and melodies in what has turned out to be an inspiring combination that we can’t be more eager to share.
Thus it is with great pleasure we are able to introduce for the first time to the stage, Sonny Knight and the Lakers This Wednesday night, April 3rd at the Icehouse in Minneapolis.
As rehearsals have indicated it will be an amazing debut and particularly historic night not only for Secret Stash, but in Twin Cities music as well.
Our intern Joe McKenzie checks in with some cool history of the song “I (Who Have Nothing)”.
Recently we received a phone call from a friend saying they heard an American Idol performance that totally reminded them of us. As it turns out, Candice Glover had just performed “I (Who Have Nothing),” a song The Valdons have been performing around town with the Secret Stash Soul Revue. This is one of those songs that has been done a million times. We thought it’d be fun to share a little info about the history of this timeless tune.
“I (Who Have Nothing)” began life as “Uno Dei Tanti,” an Italian saying which means roughly “One of many.” This version was released by the Italian singer Joe Sentieri in 1961. In 1963 the songwriting duo of Leiber & Stoller wrote new lyrics over the original music, which became the song “I (Who Have Nothing)”. This updated version was sung by Ben E. King, which became a top 40 hit in 1963.
Tom Jones scored a top 20 hit with the song in 1970. This version features lush strings, reverb-drenched guitar, and the signature vocal acrobatics of the Welsh wonder himself.
Gladys Knight did her own version in 1979. Knight adds real bite to the delivery, along with the addition of prominent background vocals and a flute that has 70s written all over it.
The song has also been performed twice on American Idol, once by Jordin Sparks in 2007 and again by Candice Glover this year. Sparks stays mostly true to the Ben E. King original, with a few modern R&B updates from Glover.
The song was also heavily sampled by Jedi Mind Tricks, with added drums and new verses.
Hometown heroes The Valdons cut a killer version in ’71. They bring tangible energy to the song, adding a new intro, powerful organ and auxiliary percussion.
Finally, here are the Valdons performing the song with the Secret Stash Soul Revue to a sold out First Avenue at the Current’s 8th Birthday Party, January 2013.
