Getting to know singer-songwriter Masaki Ueda（上田正樹）for the first time through his 80s material such as his "Osaka Bay Blues", I had only seen him as a smooth City Pop balladeer with that characteristic raspy and bluesy voice. But because of our work on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I've been finding out more of his early times in the 1970s.
Case in point: he got a band together which made its debut at the One Step Festival in Fukushima Prefecture in August 1974, according to J-Wiki. Known as Masaki Ueda & South To South, they released an album in December 1975 titled "Kono Atsui Tamashii wo Tsutaetain'ya"（この熱い魂を伝えたいんや...Lemme Tell Ya About My Passionate Soul）. It's quite the appearance of Ueda in the shaggy long hair and denim outfit after getting used to his cool 80s history teacher look.
Anyways, one of the tracks on "Kono Atsui Tamashii wo Tsutaetain'ya" is "Mukade no Kinzo" (Kinzo the Centipede) in which Ueda sings about himself as the titular Kinzo, a strutting Kansai gangster who's living the life that he wants without any problems with the world as his oyster. He was responsible for words and music behind this bluesy funk fest which sounds as if it had received some inspiration from some of Stevie Wonder's works back in the day. That very recognizable raspy voice of Ueda is right there as well.
Ueda's early 70s output is pretty interesting, very much rooted in ragtime, Delta blues, and roots rock. This song in particular takes inspiration from a old African-American spiritual song, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". In particular the rendition by Billy Preston. I wouldn't put it past Stevie to play this song either though lol.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rocket.
DeleteAs we discussed earlier, although Japan isn't really known for geographically-based music genres as in the United States, the Kansai area, Ueda's home, has got that folk-rock vibe among the musical artists there. Fukuoka might be another hub.