Jazz and R&B vocalist Marlena Shaw, whose song “California Soul” has become a staple of hip-hop songs and advertisements, has died. She was 81 years old.
Shaw's daughter, Marla Bradshaw, announced the legendary singer's death in a Facebook video posted Friday.
“It is with great sadness for me and my family that I announce that our beloved mother, beloved icon and artist, Marlena Shaw, passed away today at 12:03. She was peaceful; we were at peace,” Bradshaw said in the video.
“I know you just saw posts from [a] birthday celebration as soon as yesterday. And my twin sister and I were so grateful, as was our family, that she was here to celebrate. Obviously I'm not going to go into too many details, but [to] her fans…she is at peace. She is in Heaven. I do know it”.
Shaw's “California Soul” from 1969 will be immediately recognizable to many today for its use in television advertisements (such as those for Dockers, KFC and Dodge Ram trucks) and its samples in hip-hop songs. WhoSampled.com lists 35 songs featuring it, including Gang Starr's “Check the Technique”, Stereo MC's “Sophisticated” and Diplo's remix of the song.
Although “California Soul” is probably Shaw's best-known song, her “Woman of the Ghetto” has been sampled even more frequently, with 54 songs borrowing elements from her live version and another 15 from her studio version, according to WhoSampled.
Shaw’s highest-charting album in the United States was 1977’s “Sweet Beginnings,” which memorably included her elegant cover of Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s “Go Away Little Girl” on the song “Yu-Ma/Go Away Little Boy”, which achieved some success on the R&B charts. The album peaked at number 62.
She was born Marlina Burgess (Shaw, as well as “Marlene Bradshaw,” were stage names) in New Rochelle, New York, on September 22, 1942. Her uncle, Jimmy Burgess, was a jazz trumpeter whom she credits with introducing her to to “good music”: people like Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.
Shaw eventually recorded for the Chess Cadet Records label and jazz giant Blue Note Records, as well as for Verve, Concord Jazz and Columbia (despite having failed an audition for Columbia's legendary John Hammond many years earlier).
Verve Records said in a Facebook post: “We are saddened by the passing of Marlena Shaw, a wonderful singer whose 'California Soul' is as popular today as ever and whose album 'It Is Love: Recorded Live At Vine St.' She helped relaunch the Verve label in 1987.”
“He left very quietly and listened to some of his favorite songs,” Bradshaw said in his video message. “Thank you for being part of her life, especially these last three years, which made her very happy, having the Facebook page and interacting with all of you.
“Until the end, she was Marlena.”
Shaw had five children.
