The Screaming Eagle of Soul, Charles Bradley, lost his battle with cancer a year ago. Now, to celebrate the late singer’s life and mark what would have been his 70th birthday (November 5th), Daptone imprint Dunham Records has announced the release of his final album. Entitled Black Velvet, the posthumous collection is due out November 9th.
The 10-track album pulls together previously unreleased material from sessions for each of Bradley’s three albums, 2011’s No Time for Dreaming, 2013’s Victim of Love, and 2016’s Changes. The songs include a duet with LaRose Jackson called “Luv Jones”, an alternate full band take of “Victim of Love”, and a trio of covers: Nirvana’s “Stay Away”, Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”, and Rodriguez’s “Slip Away”. The title track is an Menahan Street Band instrumental for which Bradley never got the chance to record vocals.
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As a preview of Black Velvet, Dunham has shared the video for the lead single, “I Feel a Change”. The track comes from the Victim of Love sessions, with the organ and horn embellishments added later. Bradley’s close collaborator and friend, Tommy “TNT” Brenneck, said of the song, “The lyrics are 100% Charles. Personal yet abstract. Directly from the heart. He truly loved the expression ‘going through changes’ and this was a few years before we would record our rendition of Sabbath’s ‘Changes’ with the Budos. Sadly Charles never got to hear the finished version of this beautiful song.”
Check out the song via the emotional black-and-white music video, which pieces together clips from throughout Bradley’s performing years, below. The album art and tracklist follow.
Black Velvet Artwork:
Black Velvet Tracklist:
01. Can’t Fight The Feeling
02. Luv Jones
03. I Feel A Change
04. Slip Away
05. Black Velvet
06. Stay Away
07. Heart Of Gold
08. (I Hope You Find) The Good Life
09. Fly Little Girl
10. Victim Of Love (Electric Version)