LA TIMES Interviews Raphael Saadiq

[Elano]

Raphael Saadiq has been making sweet soul music since his youth in the 1980s leading the Oakland-based retro-nuevo combo Tony! Toni! Tone! He’s produced many notables, most recently Joss Stone, and made some unjustly overlooked solo albums. But now’s the time for a Saadiq revival.

In mid-September Columbia Records will release his new album, “The Way I See It” — a loving tribute to 1960s soul that’s made with such precision and vitality, it’s guaranteed to make Mark Ronson (whom Saadiq says is a pal) squirm.

Saadiq, who’ll lead his band through a hot set this Sunday at the Roxy, recently answered some questions via phone from his North Hollywood studio.

Take me through the process of making this album, from its germination to its realization.
This idea’s not new to me. Anybody who knows me and my work isn’t surprised that I did it. Classic soul is what I grew up on, and it’s one of my main influences.

Two years ago I did a show at Sweet’s Ballroom in Oakland. I came out onstage and did the Marvin Gaye song “Ain’t That Peculiar.” The album’s cover shot comes from that performance. I was working in Oakland for three months, then I came back to L.A. and did the song “I Found My Everything” with Mary J. Blige. That’s where I first checked the sound that evolved for this project. And it felt like the album was done practically the next day. It just came.

Did you use vintage equipment?
Some, but it’s not about the equipment as much as who’s playing it. It’s about copping a feel. Any musician will understand that. If you listen to the Dap Kings or Amy (Winehouse), it’s not their equipment, it’s their feel. You can’t put on basketball shoes and expect to do a jump shot, just because of the shoes.

Who are the players, besides your famous guests Stevie Wonder and Joss Stone?
play bass guitar and keyboards on most of the album, and do the background vocals. 98 per cent of it I recorded by myself. The girl singing on “Let’s Take a Walk,” that’s Erica Cherry. And when you hear those ridiculous piano lines, that’s a friend of mine named Greg Curtis, from Houston.

Another friend, Rob Bacon, he grew up in Detroit — when he threw a football over the fence, he’d see David Ruffin in the next backyard. So when I was done with the tracks, I sat him in the room with me and asked him to point out anything I had forgotten and add that in.

How did you get Stevie Wonder to play on “Like It”?
I wrote the song with my protege, C.J., and I called Stevie and said, I need you to play harmonica. He said, what do you need? I told him I needed an hour, and he came in that night and did it. At 1 a.m.!

Your duet with Joss Stone sounds like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Working on her record, I got a chance to work out the issues that factor into this release. Bu my main guitarist Spanky passed away last summer, and I had to regroup. Later, Joss heard the project and she thought it sounded incredible. I gave her options, and that’s the song she picked.

What can we expect from your live show Sunday at the Roxy?
We’re gonna be intense. We’re gonna be excited. It’s gonna look like a soul revue.

[D-Stress]

  Proped

Btw: Are You Russian?

[Black Excellence]

props.

[Digital Pimpin']

Good to see Rob Bacon having an input.