DESCRIPTION:
"People Get Ready" was a 1965 single by The Impressions, and the title track from the album of the same name. The single is today the group's best-known hit, reaching number-three on the Billboard R&B Chart and number 14 on the Billboard Pop Chart. The gospel-influenced track was a Curtis Mayfield composition, and displayed the growing sense of social and political awareness in his writing.

Rolling Stone magazine named "People Get Ready" the 24th greatest song of all time. The song was included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

"People Get Ready" has also been chosen as one of the Top 10 Best Songs Of All Time by a panel of 20 top industry songwriters and producers, including Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Hal David, and others as reported to Britain's Mojo music magazine, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 .

Mayfield said, "That was taken from my church or from the upbringing of messages from the church. Like there's no hiding place and get on board, and images of that sort. I must have been in a very deep mood of that type of religious inspiration when I wrote that song." The song is the first Impressions hit to feature Mayfield's guitar in the break

Back in 2003, accomplished vocalist and pianist Bill King pared down his dream band, the Saturday Nite Fish Fry, to guitarist Neil Chapman and the rhythm section and allowed it to feast on its own vices.

A steady gig at a local Toronto hotspot helped the four-piece group find their name, attitude, distinct personality and new repertoire. The sound was classic blues married with New Orleans rock. The group went on to garner a Maple Blues award for "Best New Artist" and their debut album Too Much Fun captured a Juno nomination for "Best Blues Album."

Joined by musical heavyweights Lionel Williams on bass and Jim Casson on drums, the band released a second Rockit 88 Band album, Sweet Sugar Cane. The live-off-the-floor recording is a mix of blues, country rock, Appalachian and electric folk, featuring a blend of rockin' piano, heavy slide guitar, thundering bass and pounding drums.

Recorded at the Beaches International Jazz Festival on July 24, 2011.

Buy music @ http://www.reverbnation.com/rockit88band

Bill King - piano/vocal
Neil Chapman - guitar
Stacey Bulmer - vocals
Jim Casson - drums
Steve Zsirai - bass

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http://www.beachesjazz.com

video: Stephen Smith
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