Daptones Records Releases Its 100th 45 Record Featuring Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones, Naomi Shelton

The House of Soul themselves, Daptone Records, recently announced that they will be releasing a special album in celebration of releasing one hundred 45s since their inception in 2001. The album is going to be featuring tracks from House of Soul’s legendary roster of talented artists and is set to be available on June 28th as a 45, a CD and as a digital single, as reported via a press release sent to mxdwn.

Daptone Records was founded eighteen years ago when Neal Sugarman and Gabriel Roth wanted to create a company to release their respective new releases after Desco Records disbanded. The record label sees this 45 as “a token of their gratitude to their dedicated fans, and as a keepsake of their departed loved ones,” according to the press release sent to mxdwn.

One of the departed loved ones being memorialized by this 45 is Sharon Jones, who sadly lost her life at 60 due to a stroke after a long battle with cancer in 2016, as we reported previously and Charles Bradley, who passed in 2017 at the age of 68, after losing his battle with stomach cancer, as we previously reported.

The A-Side of the 45 features “Hey Brother,” which is a song written by The Frightnrs and originally featured as a track on their album Nothing More to Say which was written in the middle of losing their vocalist Dan Klien to ALS. Daptone Records saw this as a fitting A-side and reimagined it as “a soulful collaboration between the dynamic vocalists on the label,” according to the press release. The track features Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley, Naomi Shelton, Saun & Starr and Amayo (Antibalas).

The B-Side of the 45 is “Soul Fuege.” Which is by the 100 Knights Orchestra, consisting of every horn player Daptone Records has ever worked with, and arranged by Roth. It is described as an “epic battle between two massive orchestral armies.” The track is binaural with the left speaker featuring “a battalion made up of all of Daptone’s many brass players,” and from the right speaker “all of their woodwind players charge into battle.”

Pre-order the record here and expect your copy on June 28th.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna