A true Funk and Soul man, Charles Bradley started out as a James Brown impersonator under the moniker of ‘Black Velvet’. Spending his life travelling through America, working as a cook as well as many other odd jobs, he passed through New York, Seattle, Canada and Alaska before finally settling in California.
It wasn’t until the late nineties when Bradley began to acquire the attention he very much deserved. Discovered by Gabriel Roth, the co-founder of Daptone Records, Bradley was put into contact with the musicians he would need to release his dynamite debut No Time For Dreaming in 2011.
The release of documentary Soul Of America in 2012 introduced a whole new world to the amazing story of Bradley, garnering him fans the world over. His new album Victim Of Love was released last April to amazing reviews with one claiming his voice “echoes the evocative delivery of Otis Redding”.
By Zach Buggy
