A repost by request: I first heard of Tony Owens in a book on New Orleans R&B by Jeff Hannusch. Hannusch had mentioned that Owens was now a carriage driver over by Jackson Square, but the picture used in the book was so bad it was impossible to tell what he looked like. Eventually, I found the 45 that is in my jukebox post and I took down to the square to see if I could meet him. It took several tries but eventually I did meet him and in the course of chatting he told me about this disc. It was a bitch to find and of course there was no cheap copy anywhere, but eventually I managed to find one within reason. One of these days I'll get Tony to autograph it.
"Tony Owens has been singing professionally for over 35 years. He
started singing as a child in a little Baptist church in an old New
Orleans neighborhood called Zion City.
Tony recorded a smash hit song in the 1970s titled
"Confessing a Feeling" that skyrocketed in the national R&B charts.
He now has a CD on the market on the London-based Grapevine record
label, titled I Got Soul. (
Now out of print) Commenting on his singing style, Tony says,
"If I can touch someone's heart in some way, if I could bring back a
pleasant memory, if I could make someone smile, if I could open
someone's eyes with a song, then I believe God would smile upon me, and
that is how I measure my personal success! I want people to say 'When
you hear Tony sing, you don't just hear him, you feel him.'"
A repost by request: I first heard of Tony Owens in a book on New Orleans R&B by Jeff Hannusch. Hannusch had mentioned that Owens was now a carriage driver over by Jackson Square, but the picture used in the book was so bad it was impossible to tell what he looked like. Eventually, I found the 45 that is in my jukebox post and I took down to the square to see if I could meet him. It took several tries but eventually I did meet him and in the course of chatting he told me about this disc. It was a bitch to find and of course there was no cheap copy anywhere, but eventually I managed to find one within reason. One of these days I'll get Tony to autograph it.
"Tony Owens has been singing professionally for over 35 years. He
started singing as a child in a little Baptist church in an old New
Orleans neighborhood called Zion City.
Tony recorded a smash hit song in the 1970s titled
"Confessing a Feeling" that skyrocketed in the national R&B charts.
He now has a CD on the market on the London-based Grapevine record
label, titled I Got Soul. (Now out of print) Commenting on his singing style, Tony says,
"If I can touch someone's heart in some way, if I could bring back a
pleasant memory, if I could make someone smile, if I could open
someone's eyes with a song, then I believe God would smile upon me, and
that is how I measure my personal success! I want people to say 'When
you hear Tony sing, you don't just hear him, you feel him.'" 
15 comments:
KC - is he still performing? I don't recall seeing his name pop up on any of the local venue listings. Listening tot he album now, and its fantastic.
Great post KC.
I know he did one or two Ponderosa Stomps but that's it. Much like Charles Brimmer in that regard
Thanks KC for all your efforts
Anything from NO soul/funk is a must !
And cheers Tony O for your talent
Cheers with smiles and feeling
Thanks so much for this KC!!!!
Another splendid one from your vaults ! are they inexhaustible ?? Many thanks, KC.
http://www.embedupload.com/?d=3GJNVUVAVA
Many thanks for this!
Rather than relate my own enjoyment of Owens, I'll note that my twenty-three year-old daughter walked into the room to ask me who was singing. When I told her, she responded, "I really like his voice and style." She also considers among her favorite artists B. B. King, Ellington, Armstrong, Ray Charles, and Aretha. Made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside with knowledge that I done raised the girl right, at least, when it comes to music.
Thanks for this Tony Owens - really great. I came across a couple of songs from it a long time ago (probably when it came out) but wasn't able to find the whole album when I went looking for it and then forgot about it. So I was pleasantly surprised to come across it here. I'm really enjoying it.
Thanks again.
This was done shortly after Hanusch had made folks aware of Tony via the book, and a Ponderosa Stomp performance happened somewhere around the same time. When I talked to him, Tony wasn't even sure he had a copy himself, much less any for sale. I lucked into one on discogs for around $20 - it is pretty rare now - I keep meaning to go get Tony to sign it, kind of silly since I see him several times a week.
Beautiful song Confessin a Feelin.. It's a shame that this guy named Sonny Daye is taking credit for your song..
above link is dead,heres a new link for anyone that wants this awesome album!
big thanks to crazylegs for the link!
ENJOY!
http://www40.zippyshare.com/v/dtqjuCSo/file.html
Hi the link is dead any new link to this great CD Thank you
Hi Brune Adams
Link on "embedupload.com" still worked from June 10, 2015 at 12:40 PM
You must going to "Mediafire Download Link" - all must working by "copy" then "paste". Mediafire link still worked VERY FINE! Good Luck! :-)
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