Black Velvet (Charles Bradley album)

Black Velvet
Studio album by Charles Bradley
Released	November 9, 2018 (2018-11-09)
Genre	Soul
Label	Daptone Records/Dunham Records
Producer	Thomas Brenneck
Charles Bradley chronology
Changes (2016) Black Velvet (2018)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
American Songwriter	[3]
The Austin Chronicle	[4]
Exclaim!	8/10 [5]
MusicOMH	[6]

Black Velvet is the fourth and final studio album by American funk/soul artist Charles Bradley, released on 9 November 2018. ^[7] The album release was preceded by two singles, "Can't Fight the Feeling" and "I Feel a Change". ^[8] The name of the album comes from Bradley's stage name during his time as a James Brown impersonator. ^[8] The album consists of songs originally recorded for Bradley's three previous studio albums, and was compiled by producer Thomas Brenneck after Bradley's death from cancer in September 2017. ^[9] Included are covers of "Stay Away" by Nirvana and "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young. ^[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Can't Fight the Feeling"	2:48
2.	"Luv Jones"	3:51
3.	"I Feel a Change"	4:26
4.	"Slip Away"	3:32
5.	"Black Velvet"	3:29
6.	"Stay Away"	3:13
7.	"Heart of Gold"	3:03
8.	"(I Hope You Find) The Good Life"	5:11
9.	"Fly Little Girl"	3:19
10.	"Victim of Love"	4:39
Total length:		37:31

Personnel

• Charles Bradley – vocals

Menahan Street Band

Main article: Menahan Street Band

• Victor Axelrod – piano/vibraphone
• Thomas Brenneck – guitar/bass guitar/organ/percussion
• Nick Movshon – bass guitar
• Homer Steinweiss – drums
• Michael Deller – organ
• David Guy – trumpet
• Leon Michels – saxophone/organ/flute

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [11]	40
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [12]	154
French Albums (SNEP) [13]	182
Scottish Albums (OCC) [14]	93
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [15]	75
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [16]	7

References

1. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic . Retrieved September 10, 2019.
2. Deming, Mark. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic . Retrieved September 10, 2019.
3. Horowitz, Hal (November 5, 2018). "American Songwriter Review". American Songwriter . Retrieved September 10, 2019.
4. Fawcett, Thomas (December 7, 2018). "The Austin Chronicle Review". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved September 10, 2019.
5. Patrick, Ryan (November 7, 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim! . Retrieved September 10, 2019.
6. Horton, Ross (November 12, 2018). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH . Retrieved September 10, 2019.
7. "Stream Charles Bradley's Final Album 'Black Velvet' in Full". Jam Bands. November 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
8. Warren, Bruce. "First Listen: Charles Bradley, 'Black Velvet'". NPR . Retrieved November 5, 2018.
9. Pedrosa, Marina (September 6, 2018). "Charles Bradley's Posthumous Album 'Black Velvet' Due in November: See the Track List". Billboard. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
10. Colburn, Randall (November 1, 2018). "Charles Bradley's final album, Black Velvet, has arrived: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
11. "Ultratop.be – Charles Bradley – Black Velvet" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Charles Bradley – Black Velvet" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
13. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 46, 2018)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved November 19, 2018.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
15. "Swisscharts.com – Charles Bradley – Black Velvet". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
16. "Charles Bradley Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 10, 2019.