I love cultural collisions. I love when genres get bent, when unlikely artistic couplings produce gorgeous offspring that don’t look like either parent.
For example, “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts is the very model of beige 70s AM Gold, and the Isley Brothers discography is a virtual roadmap of the journey from Gospel to R&B. When you smash them together, you get more than just a soulful rendition of the original. Ernie Isley’s psychedelic rock chops (he was an early mentor of Jimi Hendrix) add some welcome tension to the song, turning it into a bit of an unexpected banger. What do you think? I’m posting a live version because I really dig Ernie’s solo in that one.