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News Angel Rissoff
94.9 The Surf Top 40 Beach & Boogie Hall of Fame In an effort to keep the Top 40 current and allow new songs to be eligible for the vote, we have created a special category of our listeners favoritesThe Surf Top 40 Beach & Boogie Hall of Fame! Two criteria exist for a song to be placed in this honorary positionthe song must have been voted #5 (or higher) at least once, AND the song has been on the Top 40 for one year. Congratulations to the following artists who have been placed, according to the criteria, in the Surf Hall of Fame:
A Soul Dog Interview With Angel Rissoff Bronx, New York native Angel Rissoff has been an outstanding performer for years, fronting his own bands as well as playing with such notables as Dion, Matt (Guitar) Murphy, Bobby Byrd, Robbin Ford, Darlene Love, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Jackson, Harvey Fuqua and Paul Schaffer. Angel has made quite a splash of late on the Beach Music scene with several tracks on his recent album getting heavy radio and club play. I had a chance to talk with him about his success as well as his career in music. Soul Dog: Angel, you had a monster release entitled Where Have You Been? It was nominated for Best Solo Album at the Carolina Beach Music Awards and the song I Want A Love I Can See went to number one on the Beach Music charts. Tell us more about that project and how was it received nationally? Angel: It was the first record I did that was under my own name. I had records out over the years with groups such as Diamond, Angel and Crooks, Little Isadore and the Inquisitors, Spellbound, Little Leopold etc. So when I had the chance to pick all the material I picked songs that I’ve always loved and wanted to cover. The response to the album has been very favorable all around the world. It’s gotten great reviews in England, Spain, Poland and the U.S. It received a three and a half star review in Downbeat, and good reviews from All music.com, Blues Review Magazine, Elmore Magazine as well as In the Basement Magazine in the UK so to say the least I’m very happy with the critical response. Soul Dog: Two songs that became my personal favorites from that album were Break Out The Tears and Why Me? Both will fill up the dance floor. Are these original tunes that you wrote? Angel: Yes, they are. I am very happy with the way they came out. They are songs I had for a while and Johnny Gale helped me realize the vision I had for them with his great arrangements. Soul Dog: Many fans of Beach Music may not realize that you are not new to this genre. You had stints with Little Isadore & The Inquisitors and as Little Leopold, both of whom had beach music hits. What were your roles in those songs? Angel: I was Little Leopold and sang the lead on Harlem Hit Parade by Little Isadore and the Inquisitors. According to legend I was his 6 months older brother. How is that possible?? It’s a miracle…LOL… After the success of Harlem Hit Parade we recorded the Little Leopold Bring It On album that featured the songs Jitterbop, Bring It On, May I etc. Soul Dog: You seem to love old R&B and soul music. Is this what you grew up listening to or are these styles more recent influences on your career? Angel: I have always been into R&B, Soul, Blues, Jump music, Doo wop…. .. I started singing with vocal groups when I was 12 and got into my first band that was called the Soul Masters. It just went on from there. I was always playing Beach Music and didn’t know it! Soul Dog: I read where you are currently a member of a group called Kenny Vance & The Planotones. Kenny was an original member of Jay & The Americans and has been in the music business for going on fifty years. How did you hook up with Kenny? How much traveling is involved with this group? Angel: I am a member of the Planotones and have been since 1999. I joined the group just about the time that the Inquisitors disbanded. I had known the guys in the group for awhile and when there was an opening they asked me to join. We perform extensively in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania areas. We also occasionally do gigs in Florida, California and Las Vegas as well as being booked on entertainment cruises. It keeps us pretty busy! Soul Dog: Your latest effort is a compilation album entitled Angel’s Nu Soul Explosion, which is a cool eclectic mix of old and new sounds. Who are these artists involved and what was the inspiration behind this project? Angel: There is Danny Draher from Chicago who is one of the best blues guitarists in the country in my opinion. Ratso is also one of my favorite guitar players who has been putting out great records for a long time. Bobby Harden is one of the best pure soul singers in New York. Murray Weinstock is one of my favorite writers/producers and his album Tails Of The City knocks me out. Dr. John needs no introduction and neither do the Soul Survivors. I feel very lucky that they went into the studio and re-recorded Mamma Soul especially for this album. Gary "gotta gotta" Lovett was in The Inquisitors as was Jr. Mintz so they are not unknown in the Beach Music scene. Fonda is a great writer/arranger and has a voice that I have loved for years. The only problem I had with her was deciding which song to use off her album - there was just too many good ones to choose from. Rosalinde Block is an incredible singer/songwriter that has been kept a secret for too long. All artists on this CD are people that I have known and worked with over the years. They all play the kind of music I like and thought it would be a great thing for the Beach Music/Shag fans to get a chance to hear them. Some of them are names that I’m sure many people are not familiar with but they should be, and hopefully this CD will give them the exposure they deserve. Soul Dog: You’ve been traveling pretty regularly to North Myrtle Beach for events such as SOS. Can we continue to expect to see you there? Angel: I have been coming down much more frequently then in the past. Everyone has made me feel welcome and I want to thank them for that! I will continue to come down for as long as people want me to. I hope that sometime in the near future I can come down to play all over the Beach Music community. Soul Dog: Angel, thanks for your time, we wish you much continued success and look forward to your visits to the Grand Strand.
Various Artists My long time friend Angel Rissoff has put together a collection of sixteen songs that run the gamut from Southern Soul to Northern Soul with some extras tossed in the mix to make this a true "Compilation CD". There are several original tunes here, like Angel's "Soothe You", "More Where That Came From"; Danny Draher's "Big Fun Tonight", the talented Ratso's "The Spark"; "Never Known Love" from Rosalinde Block Party, "Dixie Dog" brought to us by Murray Weinstock and the legendary Dr. John; Bobby Harden's "You're Gonna Be Just Fine" and a song that I've been playing for months - Fonda Feingold's "Love You Should Have Stayed". As an added bonus, you also get Gary "Gotta Gota" Lovett's version of "You're So Fine" and The Soul Survivors' "Mama Soul". Being a big Sam Cooke fan, I am often wary of people covering one of Sam's songs. Angel's rendition of "I'm Gonna Forget About You" is right on the money. Now, there's one song on here that defies categorization. "Mighty Cootie Fiyo" from The Junior Mintz Blues Machine with help from Rissoff is a song that definitely grabs your attention. It's reminiscent of Lou Bega's "Mambo Number 5" and I can see a dance floor full of line dancers have a good time with this song. OK, I can hear a few of you saying, "I have never heard of some of these artists!" Well, there's a first time for everything, my music loving friends. Like Mr. T could say, "I pity the fool who don't find something on this CD they like or want to dance to." This CD should be available in the usual well known sources for Beach Music. If you have trouble finding it, email me and I'll tell you how to obtain a copy.
Carolina Sounds Beach Show
In The Basement (From the UK) Summer 2006
ANGEL Where You At; I Want A Love I Can See; Where Have You Been?; Why Me?; It's Better To Have And Don't Need; Your Promise To Be Mine; Break Out The Tears; Back In Love Again; I Wanna Be (Your Everything); Oh Rockin' Daddy Angel is Angel Rissoff, whose biography states he started singing rhythm and blues on street corners when he was twelve, subsequently having worked with such artists John Lee Hooker, Chuck Jackson, Darlene Love, Harvey Fuqua and Bobby Byrd. For this album, already nominated for ‘Best Solo Album’ in the Carolina Beach Music Awards, he is joined by an array of real musicians as he offers up a mixture of his own songs and covers of such as Smokey Robinson’s ‘I Want A Love I Can See’ – very nice to – and rockers like Huey ‘Piano’ Smith’s ‘Where You At’ and Harvey Fuqua’s ‘Oh Rockin' Daddy,’ Not sure of the original of ‘Your Promise To Be Mine’ but the nature of the song and the sax support from John Hagen, suggest a doo-wop group, 'I Wanna Be (Your Everything)’ hails from the Manhattans’ repertoire and ‘It's Better To Have And Don't Need’ stays faithful to Don Covay. Of his own material, the brass-supported ‘Where Have You Been?’ title track manages to be both moody and slow-funky and ‘Break Out The Tears’ is a mid-paced toe-tapper. Despite a minute touch of rock-slanted guitar, ‘Back In Love Again’ is a smoldering femme-supported, soul-dripping ballad and is only just eased off the ‘toe-of-the-heap’ stakes by ‘Why Me?’ constructed like a perfect slice of late-sixties West Coast harmony soul-group balladry. Forget any reverse prejudices and Angel’s skin color, this guy has S-O-U-L!
Angel Rissoff – October update & Downbeat Magazine Review 11/2005 Acclaimed by DJs across the country as a “stone soul monster” and heralded by Downbeat Magazine** as a “soul story teller” who recirculates the spirit of R&B from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, Angel Rissoff’s 2005 debut CD “Angel Where Have You Been” is being called one of the best R&B albums of the year by renowned DJ Bob Porter (WBGO/Beal Street Caravan.) Rissoff continues to capture fans with a collage of provocative songs bred from the Rock&Rhythm of Huey “Piano” Smith and Don Covay. Angel Rissoff’s on stage performances of “I Want A Love I Can See” and his own “Break Out The Tears” have electrified the Carolina Beach music scene, creating a the momentum that has earned him the Carolina Beach Music Award 2005 nomination for “Solo Album of the Year”, as well as the 16th highest ranked artist by the National Association of R&B DJs. Angel’s versatile style on “I Want A Love I Can See” (ranked 13 out of 954 songs) resonates the Temptations while “Break Out The Tears” shows his writing and singing abilities.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Angel: Where Have You Been” 3 and a half stars. Angel Rissoff recirculates the spirit of R&B from the 1950’s, 60s and 70s, following a strong current that run’s back from the soul story teller Don Covay (“Better To Have And Not Need” all the way to Huey “Piano” Smith (Where You At) and the Moonglows (Oh Rockin Daddy). Though a sentimentalist at heart, the Bronx-based singer makes his strong and attractive voice swoop, dip and vault every which way without an inordinate amount of bittersweet longing for a time past. Producer Johnny Gale shows he has a good ear for sonic seasoning, using blues guitar, saxophones, and vocal harmonies. Ordering info: www.angelmusicinc.com Frank-John Hadley- Downbeat
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