Billie Ray Martin describes herself as “a kid from Hamburg’s red-light
district, who wanted
to be a soul singer, but ended up playing repetitive machine music, while still
trying to be a
soul singer". Billie has never been easy to categorise. Clearly a soul singer,
her career however has seen her mostly as a pioneer of house and electronic
music, most notably her
groundbreaking work with Electribe 101 and her seminal hit “Your
Loving Arms”.
Martin's 2001 album ‘18 Carat Garbage’ had found her in Memphis, recording with Al Green's and Aretha Franklin’s musicians, then adding cutting edge electronic sounds and textures to the production once back in Hamburg.
‘The Soul Tapes’ is the natural conclusion and a ‘first’ for Billie:
no electronic music this
time. Billie realised her long-held dream of recording an album that is equally
influenced
by Hi-Records (Al Green, Ann Peebles, Willie Mitchell) as it is by ’60s garage
records. It is
also not devoid of a certain country twang, and even Bo Diddley peeks through
the door
on one song.
Booked into New York’s 900 Broadway Studio, Billie and producer/writer
Jon Tiven were
thrilled to work with world famous drummer Simon Kirke amongst others.
Jon’s credits
include albums produced for Wilson Pickett, Bobby Womack and Willie Nelson as
well as
numerous awards and Grammy nominations.