All Together Now

Sharon Jones lived an interesting life. Her career started too late, and her life ended too soon, but during her career she gave us great music, and was a thriving example of strength, determination and pure talent.

“Better Things” by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings was released in 2010 on their album I Learned the Hard Way. Harkening back to the soul and funk music of the 1960’s, the music somehow sounds familiar and comfortable while being edgy, wiry, and completely contemporary.

The entire album was recorded live to 8-track tape, and the atmosphere is warm, inviting and welcoming. We can hear the space, we can feel the room. The music does not use samples or synthesizers, it is just a group of 12 incredibly talented musicians making music together. In his glowing review of the album for Pitchfork Magazine, Joe Tangari wrote “While a lot of music makes aesthetic or stylistic nods to 60s, almost none of it actually captures the sonic character of the era.”

This is the kind music that Sharon Jones came from. It’s what she knew. It’s what the Dap Kings grew up on. It’s the music she sang her entire life, until finally getting a record contract 40 years old, a time when the success and limelight of other musicians careers’ has already passed them by.

Sharon was born in Augusta, GA, and lived there until her family moved north to New York. She lived with her mother, her five siblings, and her four cousins (whose mother had died young). They all loved music. Sharon’s mother knew James Brown from growing up together in Augusta, and the family loved to pretend they were the James Brown Band as they all sang and danced around the house. Sharon sang in the church choir on Sundays, and as she grew up she started to get work singing back-up on other peoples records. But, she still had to pay the bills, so she worked first as a prison guard on Rikers Island, and then as an armored car security guard.

A record producer recognized Sharon’s talent while she sang on one of these back-up gigs, which resulted in her finally getting an opportunity to record her own music. These first recordings, which attracted record collectors because they really did sound like they were from the ’60’s, received immediate attention and accolades. She soon connected with the musicians who would become the Dap Kings, and recorded their first album in 2002.

They released a few albums those first years, and the Dap Kings were the recording and touring band for what would be Amy Winehouse’s last and most popular album, Back to Black.

I Learned the Hard Way was the fourth album for Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and it sold 23,000 copies in the first week alone. The album ended up charting in countries around the world, and Sharon Jones was now the star she had waited so many years to become, and “Better Things” was her perfect showcase.

The song begins with a brooding guitar lick, soon joined by drums and bongos, all deep in the groove. People are talking and clapping along with the music when the trumpet comes in to play the melody, sounding at once lazy and confident. A little bit like “What’s Goin’ On,” by Marvin Gaye, a little like “Barbara Ann,” by The Beach Boys. We feel like we are among friends hearing stories, sharing memories, and spending meaningful time together.

And hearing this tight, experienced band play, we just know they are cool. We just know they are dressed in sharp suits, arranged in a perfect formation on a small stage. We just know they are gently dancing back and forth in perfect unison as they play this amazing music. We just know it.

Then we hear Sharon’s voice. Deep, with a tinge of color and sweet. We are all sitting around together laughing and reminiscing, and our friend Sharon is telling us a story of her pain and her strength.

“I’m a better woman than I have been
‘Cause I don’t think about way back when
It takes two to love but only one to leave
It was you who did that dirty deed”

She is immediately past it. It’s over. Her man has left, but she is not thinking about it, because he was the one who left. She is not wasting one second.

“I got better things to do
Better things to do
Better things to do than remember you
I got better things to do
Better things to do
Better things to do than remember you
Uh-huh, yeah, mmm-mmm”

Nobody is getting in Sharon’s way. She is proud, and she is in charge. The full horn section is now playing a staccato riff behind her, and the piano is locked in rhythm with the drums and bass. Everyone is together, and Sharon is able to see beyond her pain.

“It’s a brighter day than ever before
‘Cause I don’t think about you no more
I got a new life and I’m feeling right on
My head is high and my spirit is strong”

After singing the chorus again, there is an instrumental interlude, and then Sharon takes it to church. The song reaches a point of tension with her definitive statement of peace and dismissal. The bridge brings us back to where we began, back among friends. The back-up singers bring us deeper into the song, and Sharon is showing us that this man is in her past, and just as the song began, we are all there to provide support and love.

“Ooh, I got better things to do (better things to do than remember you)
I got a new walk (better things to do than remember you)
Hold me, yes, I got a new talk (better things to do than remember you)
Light is on (better things to do than remember you)
You see, my spirit is strong (better things to do than remember you)“

Before their next album could be released, Sharon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2013. She underwent successful treatments, but the cancer returned in 2015, and she had to continue with the chemotherapy. While watching presidential election results in 2016, Sharon suffered a stroke, and another stroke the next day. Before dying on November 18, 2016 at the age of 60, Sharon joked that Donald Trump’s victory was the reason for her stroke.

Sharon Jones and her career reminds me of the old saying “Don’t be sad it’s over, just be glad that it happened.” Her career started too late, and it didn’t last nearly long enough. Together with the Dap Kings she recorded 8 albums, and reminded us that it is never too late, and that even through the most difficult times, there can be better things.

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“Better Things”
Written by Homer Steinweiss
Performed by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Released April 6, 2010