Darondo

August 9, 2010 12:23 PM

They said he could have been the next Sly Stone or Al Green. But after recording only six tracks in the 70s (and, as legend has it, after opening for James Brown), William "Darondo" Pulliam decided to throw in the towel on his burgeoning music career. As he said about his talents and success: "It was mostly me, just having a good time with a real good hobby." He bought a Rolls-Royce with a license plate stamped DARONDO and became somewhat well-known in his hometown of Oakland (most have assumed that Darondo made his living as a pimp, though he has denied this). For the most part he lived his own life, not surfacing in the public eye again until the mid-1980s, when he hosted an Oakland-based cable access comedy/talk show called "Darondo's Penthouse" (clip 1 // clip 2 // clip 3). Record collectors and music enthusiasts generated renewed interest in him in the last few years, and someone even tracked down Darondo and got him to feature in a music video of one his old songs. More songs below the fold.

Darondo likes Legs.

Didn't I is Darondo's best known song.

Such a Night is a sexy song.

Darondo performing his song How I Got Over live at SXSW in 2008. Dude's still got it.

posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates (19 comments total)

"Didn't I" mysteriously showed up on my hard drive one day, not sure where from. Most welcome "random shuffle" surprise in a while.
posted by Kirk Grim at 12:32 PM on August 9, 2010

I love the pictures of this cat and his attitude. This is a dude with a 'tude! He sings great too.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:57 PM on August 9, 2010

Kirk, I think I put it on my last MeFi mix but I'm not certain. Don't recall if you were one of my traders.

I love the version of How I Got Over on his last album.

There's some wonderful soul music being released these days:

Mayer Hawthorne
James Hunter
Lee Fields
Sharon Jones
Naomi Shelton
Nicole Willis
Eli Reed
Charles Bradley

Of course there's a lot of dreadful soul being released these days as well. I think they call it Contemporary R&B.
posted by dobbs at 1:22 PM on August 9, 2010 [7 favorites]

What a time it would be for him to make a comeback. Soul hasn't been this popular in quite a while...
posted by rollbiz at 1:24 PM on August 9, 2010

Fugi seems to have faded into complete obscurity

Damned shame, too. I got a reissue CD of his called "Mary Don't Take Me On No Bad Trip", and it is AWESOME. "Red Moon", "Revelations" and the title track are all knock-your-socks-off good.
posted by Kirk Grim at 1:27 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Studio 360 did a segment about Darondo in their May 16, 2008 show.
posted by reenum at 1:54 PM on August 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, Didn't I is beautiful, I'll be checking out the rest of Darondo's stuff in a big way.

And Dobbs! You just dropped some killer tunes on me. If you've got more, don't hold out! Link me up baby, link me up!
posted by SNACKeR at 2:39 PM on August 9, 2010

Dobbs - let's not forget Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
posted by stenseng at 2:43 PM on August 9, 2010 [3 favorites]

Wow, that cable-access show with the "Parlez-vous Français?" nonsense is giving me Petey Greene flashbacks.

if you lived in the DC-area during the late '70's, Petey might ring a few bells.
posted by vhsiv at 3:01 PM on August 9, 2010

wow. everyone's got a story, don't they? wonder what this guy's is, that made him leave music to become a physical therapist & do cable t.v. that obviously had a limited audience? it sounds like he's really lived life his way, and what a rare gift that is.
posted by msconduct at 3:05 PM on August 9, 2010

oh. and can i give a plug for andre williams? that man has been through rags & riches but he's still got it.
posted by msconduct at 3:12 PM on August 9, 2010 [2 favorites]

Artists like Janelle Monae, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Chrisette Michele are doing interesting work within contemporary r&b.
posted by box at 4:31 PM on August 9, 2010 [2 favorites]

i have no idea how "Didn't I" ended up on my ipod either, but it convinced me to download the rest of the album. at the time i read that he had disappeared into obscurity, but a few days later i heard him interviewed live on KUT.
posted by camdan at 5:40 PM on August 9, 2010

I can hear the genius of Al and Sly here. This is all funk. George Clinton probably listens to him.
posted by Flex1970 at 9:18 PM on August 9, 2010

Guy has masses of feel, which is really what separates the men from the boys. The greats have feel, it's not about technicality.

But it is let down by poor musicianship on the guit, and sometimes he goes out of pitch vocally. Flawed masterpieces.

With a good producer, this guy could be a giant. There's just these tiny flaws which just sound amateurish, but which could be corrected easily with a bit of extra time in the studio and a guitar that is tuned properly!
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 12:20 AM on August 10, 2010

Thanks, I'd never heard of this guy. Definitely has the full kit.
posted by Wolof at 12:30 AM on August 10, 2010

@Henry C. Mabuse: I have to disagree with you - this is real talent with real flaws, which makes it so much more personal for me, than a polished studio effort would. I enjoy the flaws the same way I do with the Delta blues - it brings me right into the room with him.
posted by SNACKeR at 5:28 AM on August 10, 2010 [1 favorite]

Me too, SNACKeR. Nothing kills that feeling and vitality for me quicker than producers looking for "perfection"--it leaves it feeling so clean and boring to me. There's certain kinds of music where the flaws actually improve the finished product; I like when recordings sometimes go into "the red" or someone hits the wrong note while rocking out hard. It's almost like you can actually feel the passion of the musicians despite a lack of technical prowess or state of the art recording equipment.
posted by Kirk Grim at 11:03 AM on August 10, 2010

As Ubiquity Records puts it (second link in the OP), they (the label) re-released the original six tracks from the 3 singles, and added three unreleased demos from his demo reel, which got some tweaks and new vocal additions from Darondo himself, who said he had fun, and might think of making music again.

Ubiquity's tumblr blog has more Darondo tidbits, like the fact Darondo's tracks will get a wider audience in Night Catches Us (if the film ever makes it beyond the film circuit press), and another soundtrack appearance, plus Darondo at a Ubiquity art show. Well, three tidbits. And there are more appearances of Darondo on Ubiquity's YT page. When the Ubiquity sub-label Luv N' Haight, where you might find more rare groove reissues to your liking, if you dig Darondo.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:51 PM on August 10, 2010