Johnnie Frierson - Have You Been Good To Yourself

“My dad loved people. He was an activist for Black people, but also an activist for human rights. I don’t care what color you are, my dad was kind to you. He wanted the word ‘love’ out there: the self-love message, the world-love message. Anything good he knew, he wanted to let everyone know about it.” – Keesha Frierson Followers of our output might have a pang of recognition on reading the name, Frierson. That was the surname of Wendy Rene, whose work was collected into the 2012 LITA anthology After Laughter Comes Tears, and indeed, Johnnie Frierson is Wendy’s brother – a fellow member of her mid-’60s Stax four-piece The Drapels. But Have You Been Good To Yourself will come as a surprise to anyone expecting more of the beat-driven R&B Johnnie and his sibling produced – including that compilation’s much-sampled title track. A mix of spoken word and gospel songs laid down direct to cassette, these ultra-rare home recordings draw from Johnnie’s religious upbringing and his history in