I'm a little late to this one, but I'd be remiss if I didn't touch on my favorite person on TV this week, soul singer Millie Jackson. Her life story took up an hour of TV One's Unsung (basically my favorite show on TV now – did you see last week's Full Force episode?!?). And what a story it was! She got her break by shit-talking some woman that was onstage at a concert she attended. She described her marriage to a bass player like this: "He was a decent cat, but he thought we were going to be Ike and Tina, and the record company didn't sign Ike, it only signed Tina." She gave Roxanne Shanté these words of advice: "You'll be successful a lot longer for the nasty things that come out of your mouth than the nasty things you put in it." She made fun of her own music, lamented her inability to pawn gold records and showed that at age 67, she's still quite flexible (you can see that in the video above).
My favorite thing about her crazy-old-lady-ness is that she's in complete control of it – she knows exactly how funny she is. There's no guilt or irony involved in appreciating this woman. A brilliant singer and storyteller (her Caught Up album, which contains her signature song, "If Lovin' You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)" splits its time between the point of view of a woman cheating with a married man and the point of view of his wife – Millie plays both roles), she is the definition of unsung and I really hope that her series-stealing appearance boosts her visibility. I would love to see more of Millie. This senior citizen would be a breath of fresh air to pop culture. Reality show, please.
Some gifs of her wild stage shows and a few still shots are below the jump:
How did I not even know the program Unsung existed until now? And they devoted an episode to Millie! She has long been a favorite of mine, and she deserves bonus points for having one of the greatest/tackiest album covers of all time:
http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/63de88f83d8cfd62ada777034cd87f9b/72720.jpg
Posted by: Nicolarz | February 11, 2012 at 01:09 PM
o g this is the greatest gift ever. Thank you, Rich, for introduing me to this fabulous Goddess!! That reality show needs to happen STAT!
Posted by: Jay | February 11, 2012 at 05:32 PM
I wish I got TVOne.
Posted by: bondfool | February 11, 2012 at 07:11 PM
Pleeeease tell me you know about her Phuck U Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGJgyuAu6eo
Posted by: oktavian | February 11, 2012 at 07:14 PM
Rich, thanks so much for sharing this! I grew up listening to Millie Jackson - my Mom (!) had all her albums and even played the F*ck You Symphony around me and my sister. We would act horrified but were secretly thrilled that our otherwise conservative mom got such a kick out of this. I found the show online and watched the whole thing - Millie does not disappoint in continuing to be awesome.
Posted by: Kim | February 11, 2012 at 10:11 PM
Nicolarz, don't forget: http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/3a7abd45a0918ef6ae84eaa566bd4e23/101024.jpg
Posted by: oktavian | February 11, 2012 at 10:16 PM
Nice! I have several of Millie's records. Her album Feelin Bitchy is pretty great -- she does a version of If You're Not Back In Love By Monday that is sublime.
Posted by: revengeofpompom | February 12, 2012 at 02:12 AM
bondfool, you should be able to see the Unsung eps on the web.
Posted by: bevskid1 | February 12, 2012 at 09:07 PM
I watched this and the FullForce, The Sylvers, and Atlantic Starr episodes on the TVOne website. The Sylvers' story had me in tears. Riveting, candid, and too the point. Way better than VHI's Behind the Music.
I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Millie's Daughter and Jennifer Hudson. That made me think that not only would Millie Jackson's life story would be an exciting movie or miniseries, but Jennifer Hudson probably has the perfect pipes and attitude the play the lead.
My mother had a couple Millie Jackson LP's stuck in the back with the Redd Foxx albums. Lol
Posted by: Libressa | February 12, 2012 at 11:53 PM
Her album "Back to the S**t" is a must-have. The cover: dayenu. And inside, fart jokes and "Private Dancer" in succession.
Posted by: Peter | February 12, 2012 at 11:56 PM
That second GIF from the top looks like Manila Luzon lip synching for her life!
Posted by: KyKy Vanderpump | February 13, 2012 at 04:18 PM
Unsung is awesome programming. Another good job by TVOne. Loved what they did on the one for Vesta. The Full Force one was surprisingly moving. I missed Millie the first time, but my twitter timeline blew up as others watched it and loved it.
Posted by: CJ | February 17, 2012 at 03:58 PM
Thankyou Rich. That was fantastic. Almost too much to take in. She is revolutionary.
I sent her Symphony to Governor Christie.
Posted by: Singh_michael | February 19, 2012 at 01:55 AM
She has an album with her on a toilet titled "Back to the Sh*t!" One of the tracks on that album? "Muffle that Fart".
Only Millie.
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I want to buy some of Milie jacksons music CD's. Can she revolutanize the music world?
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