Mama’s Dead
Bloodfire
Doin’ James, 2008
This will probably be the house-iest song that I’ll ever post (well, never say ever). This is a relatively new compilation from Sweden’s G.A.M.M. Enterprises, a label I’m a big fan and the label that put out “Follow Me” by Red Astaire which I posted a couple years back. I feel like it’s safe to say that they’re the #1 bootleg remix label in the world for this kind of music (I suppose that is a pretty specific thing to be #1 for). This is only the second CD they’ve put out in their 5 or more years of existence (all of the other releases are on vinyl). I guess they are testing the waters to see if anyone comes after them or feeling increasingly confident because no one has yet.
This remix by Bloodfire (a.k.a. Daz-I-Kue of London’s Bugz in the Attic) is a re-working of a song by the same name from the movie Black Caesar (1973). I heard the remix before I heard the original which I suspected was a ballad (it is) and I’m totally impressed that he didn’t overpower the vocal which is so agonizing and personal (”my mama’s dead…no one to talk to when I feel alone…no one to stop me when I go to far…I need her…she tried so hard to make me a respectable man…she worked like a slave…and prayed hard every day…what did I do for her?…I wish I made her proud to call me son”). I assume that this song is related to a scene in the movie but when I first heard it, before I knew what album it came from, I thought, “Damn, when did his mom die? This sounds like straight therapy.” You can hear the original in all of it’s ballad-ic glory using the player in the top right corner of this page. I can’t help but prefer the remix, I’m like the hope it adds.
Songs are available for two weeks.
