RIP T.P.

At the age of 59 one of the great soul men of all time has died. Teddy Pendegrass, former lead singer for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, was without a doubt one of my 3 or 4 favorite soul singers right up there with Levi Stubbs, Otis Redding, and Sam Cook. And not only was his voice amazing, but egend has it that the man was so full of sex appeal that he'd hold 'Ladies Only' concerts where he'd pack 20,000 strong of riled up women, and he also used that sex appeal to have an affair with Marvin Gaye's wife. *Also of note, he has one of the great beards of all time*

My fondest Teddy P memory came while I was living in Durham. I went down to The Know Bookstore, a cultural landmark in and of its self, but an establishment that is in a stereotypically 'urban' neighborhood. There's literally a Church's Chicken next door, a pawn shop across the street next to a gun store, and bars on all the windows. Well The Know is known not only for it's poetry readings, it's afro-centric books, and it's amazing collection of soul vinyl, but also for it's soul food restaurant that's inside the book store. As I asked the owner Bruce (a fairly prominent figure of the civil rights struggle in Durham back in the 60's) if he had a copy of Teddy's landmark album TP he informed me that he didn't but suggested I go sit down and let him cook me up some chicken and collard greens. Well as I'm sitting in there with three older black gentlemen Bruce pops in an old video tape of Teddy back when he was fronting The Blue Notes and I just sat back, ate some of the best fried chicken I've ever tasted, and watched Teddy entertain. It was on that day that I learned to truly appreciate the great talents of the 'Teddy Bear'.