| VA: - Best Of Kayden & Merben Records 24 tracks soul, mod and r&r from the 60s |
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Kayden & Merben Records 2009 | CD | 19.00 € |
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| VA: - Best Of Sue Records 18 biisiä |
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Collectables 1994 | CD | 13.00 € |
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| VA: - Birth Of Soul Vol. 3 This series of CDs is always a pleasure to compile as it covers an era I was not around for, in a record collecting, or even listening, capacity. Much of it is therefore new to me at the 'getting the titles together' stage. There are always plenty of pleasant surprises and the occasional revelation. This was an age where the level of song craftsmanship was truly exceptional. Take Garnet Mimms' A Quiet Place-.-it starts with an unaccompanied (in more senses than one) woman hollering out of the window for one 'Johnny Dollar', which elicits a most tuneful response from Garnet, bemoaning the row while backed by the solitary bass singer from the Enchanters. That's the first ten seconds of the song and already we have a picture of a Harlem tenement, a lovelorn occupant with a straying, good-for-nothing boyfriend, neon lighting and clotheslines strewn across the alleyway. And don't get me started on what happens when the strings, drums and the rest of those enchanting Enchanters come in. New York was definitely the pioneering city for soul music. Undoubtedly Detroit had the biggest individual label but that had already been influenced by Jackie Wilson and other earlier productions. Over half the tracks on this bountiful CD came from NYC and if you want a testament to its quality, look no further than Brooks O'Dell's Watch Your Step. The writers who created this masterpiece were Luther Dixon, Tommy Bell and Kenny Gamble - the aural equivalent of getting Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Canaletto to knock up a picture together. Then you've got Reggie Obrecht putting the ace Big Apple musicians through their paces, to create an eerie, swirling sea of emotion complementing the highs, lows, building tensions and breaks that the song provides. Brooks himself was a fabulous singer and he responds with a vocal that conveys every last emotion of a troubled lover. This recording reminds me of the early 6Ts days, when Randy Cozens was compulsively making tapes to counteract some of Wigan's later playlists and to teach anyone who would listen what real 60s soul could aspire to. He also made the point that music needn't be 100 mph to dance to-.-deeper sounds could be moved to out on the floor, particularly if a partner could be found. We've already mentioned the highly influential city Detroit and this CD is notable for the first Motown licenses on Kent. The reason why it's taken us so long are down to major record company policies, politics and the cost. With Kent's 20th anniversary coming up next year, it's about time we said "Sod, the expense!" The three tracks we've chosen include a rare Jimmy Ruffin offering on one of the smaller subsidiary labels, an in-demand, but neglected, early Miracles' number and a beautiful Carolyn Crawford collector's item, for those who knew what the real 'Sound Of Motown' was. Even further back in the 60s came Richard Berry's Have Love Will Travel, an R&B classic that's been massively popular on the post 1990, UK mod scene. It has even crossed over to Northern Soul fans in the last couple of years. Manic and magical, it sounds better than ever since Ace acquired the master tape. When I booked Ray Pollard to sing at the 100 Club I was surprised to get a call from Bill Fredericks, one of the later Drifters, who was worried it was some sort of a hoax designed to break his heart. "It can't be THE Ray Pollard from New York, the guy who used to sing lead with the Wanderers. He's my greatest singing hero of all time!" When I told him it was indeed the same person, he immediately booked a table for eight and insisted on paying for everyone. He wouldn't dream of having any sort of guest list, that would have cheapened the magic of the event. Ray did indeed sing like a bird, as he does on You Can't Run Away From Me, his last group release before a musically stunning solo career. Another early soul group sound comes from Chicago outfit the Blenders. Their biggest record Daughter was cut in 1963 on Witch and at the session they also recorded the excellent Big Lover that inexplicably remained in the can until now. It really is top notch and a big bonus for any lover of the black vocal group sound. As far as revelations go, just listen to the original take of I Need Your Loving by Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford. You may think you've got the wrong track, but hang on in there and be amazed. For the esoterically inclined we have the male soul duo sound of the Taylor Brothers' People In Love-.-one of those legendary early soul records that we knew so little of at the time and not much more now. The CD has its fair share of R&B hits and obscurities, plus excellent, copious notes from Dave Godin in a lavish booklet. Just seeing the names that produced, arranged and conducted these tracks: Van McCoy, Bobby Robinson, Bert Keyes, Jeff Barry, Garry Sherman, Jerry Ragovoy, Don Costa, Bert Berns, Richard Barrett, Teacho Wiltshire, Ed Townsend, Robert Banks and Berry Gordy remind us why we collected obscure pieces of vinyl in the first place. By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2001 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Black Gold Vol. 1 27 tracks |
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Flight To Oblivion 1998 | CD | 19.00 € |
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| VA: - Blame It On The Dogg - The Swamp Dogg Anthology The Swamp Dogg Anthology 1968-1978 |
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Ace Records 2008 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Bless You California - More Early Songs By Randy Newman Following on from the success of “On Vine Street”, Ace’s first collection of compositions by Randy Newman, comes “Bless You California”. As with the previous volume, the focus is primarily on Newman’s early work for Metric Music, and once again there’s a diverse array of classics, near-misses and obscurities on offer here. Listening to the emerging talent of one of the world’s most gifted songwriters makes for a fascinating 67 minutes. It was during his tenure at Metric in the 1960s that Randy honed his writing skills. There’s clearly a brain ticking away here. Randy was still finding his songwriting niche and testing the musical waters by trying his hand at a wide range of genres. From soul ballads (Irma Thomas’ reading of ‘Anyone Who Knows What Love Is’) to widescreen Americana (‘Illinois’ from the Everly Brothers’ outstanding “Roots” LP), to the charming pre-rock innocence of the Fleetwoods (‘Ask Him If He’s Got A Friend For Me’), to the character sketches for which he would later achieve fame and notoriety (Duffy Power’s ‘(Davy O’Brien) Leave That Baby Alone’), you could never say Newman was stuck in a rut. There’s even a cocktail jazz instrumental in Martin Denny’s ‘Scarlet Mist’ – a new one to me, and a recording which maybe explains Randy’s brief spell writing for the TV Music Library at 20th Century Fox (or maybe it was the influence of his soundtrack-composing uncle Alfred, who penned the immortal Fox fanfare ident). In spite of this almost scattershot approach (“well, that didn’t work, let’s try this”), from the evidence here it’s possible to trace the emergence of one of the most idiosyncratic singer-songwriters of the 1970s. While the style-hopping may imply a certain lack of self-confidence, once Randy had found his lyrical voice (apparently with ‘Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear’, included on “On Vine Street”), he was off and running. The sardonic pops at society wrapped up in ‘The Debutante’s Ball’ (performed here by Liza Minnelli) and ‘Bless You California’ (the Beau Brummels) present a world-view unlike any other songwriter from the era. Still, even at this stage in his career he could turn his hand to a ballad as impossibly tender as ‘Snow’, perfectly suited to the none-more-fragile voice of Claudine Longet. Other highlights include Alan Price’s delightful and chortlesome near-throwaway ‘Tickle Me’ and Harry Nilsson’s breathtaking performance of ‘Cowboy’, culled from his “Nilsson Sings Newman” album and featuring one of the most resigned, world-weary vocals ever committed to tape. From the ridiculous to the sublime and all points between; this terrific collection is not just for Newman scholars, but stands as a perfect introduction to a unique talent. Any chance of a third volume? By Harvey Williams (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Bo Diddley Is A Songwriter In his long and illustrious career, the late Ellas McDaniel portrayed his alter ego Bo Diddley as many things – a lover, a gunslinger, crazy, even a lumberjack would you believe (and as this is Bo we’re talking about, you would…) One thing that Bo seldom if ever proclaimed himself to be is ‘A Songwriter”. But over a period of 10 years, Bo crafted some of the most memorable songs of the rock ‘n’ roll and R & B era, including numerous Hall Of Fame perennials which many will be unaware are his songs. For instance, there can be few on this planet who’ve never heard at least one version of “Love Is Strange” – it was featured in ‘Dirty Dancing’, one of the most popular and biggest grossing films of all time, for goodness sake! How many of the thousands of young people who own that soundtrack album also know that the same man who wrote it also wrote “Mona” a 1990s UK chart topper for Craig McLachlan, and “No No No”, a Top 10 hit in 1993 for reggae artist Dawn Penn (both songs appear here, in other versions, under their real titles ‘I Need You Baby’ and ‘She’s Fine, She’s Mine’ respectively…). Not many, I’ll wager. Bo is so well known and loved as an R & B legend that his songwriting skills tend to get overlooked in comparison with his fabulous recordings. He may be seen by some as a left field entry in Ace’s ongoing ‘Songwriter Series’, but once the CD popped into the player, it won’t take but a few minutes (as his Chess colleague Chuck Berry once wrote) to realise that he’s here on merit, and not just because everyone at Ace loves Bo Diddley. Of course, anyone who lived through the R&B and British Beat boom will be familiar with any number of E. McDaniel copyrights – both those Bo wrote, and those that were written for him by others. And there’s considerably more variety to Bo’s songwriting than some might initially think. OK, so he did put together more numerous variations on the ‘shave-and-a-haircut, six-bits’ rhythm. But Bo’s catalogue of compositions also embraces doo-wop (‘I’m Sorry’), teen pop (‘Love Is Strange’, ‘Mama Can I Go Out’) proto-surf (‘Bo’s Bounce’), humour (‘Pills’) 12 bar blues (‘Before You Accuse Me’) straight ahead R&B (‘I Can Tell’, ‘Diddy Wah Diddy’) and so much more besides. As well as recording his songs, many of our stellar cast of artists were major league Bo fans and, indeed, most of those who are still around continue to be. The fact that the recordings on our CD span a period of 50 years gives a strong indication of the timelessness of his work as a writer – hardly surprising when his own early recordings still sound like they were recorded yesterday. If there’s still any shadow of doubt in your mind that Bo Diddley IS a songwriter, buy this CD immediately and let its contents rid you henceforth of such foolish supposition! By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Boy Meets Girl The Memphis-based Stax label featured male/female duos from the very start, indeed two of their first releases were by the father and daughter duo of Rufus and Carla Thomas. It was not until 1969 though, that the duo idea developed into a full concept. At that time, Al Bell, the Stax executive, was trying to turn the Stax stable from a singles-based label into an all-round record company with strong album material. As part of that thrust, the company commissioned a special project to showcase the best female and male talent in a series of duets and this led to the release of Boy Meets Girl. In the US this was one of Stax's few double albums, but when released later in the UK, only a single-album subset saw the light of day. Given her previous experience, it was not surprising that Carla Thomas was featured amongst the female artists on Boy Meets Girl. Carla has vocal pairings with Johnnie Taylor, William Bell and Eddie Floyd and also with Pervis Staples of the renowned gospel and secular group the Staple Singers. As the Staple Singers were a mixed female/male line-up that sang easily and well together, it made a lot of sense to use the Staples family as the other main source of artists for the concept. Consequently the strong-voiced Mavis Staples also appears singing with William Bell, Eddie Floyd and Johnnie Taylor and her sister Cleotha shares a song with Eddie. All the singers appear on the opening track Soul-A-Lujah. The tracks for Boy Meets Girl were recorded principally at Ardent studios in Memphis and at the Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with the backing musicians which later became known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Additionally, some tracks were worked on at United Sound and at Terra Shirma studios in Detroit. As well as being the architect behind the concept, Al Bell was also the principal producer of the sessions, with help on many tracks from the likes of Isaac Hayes, Don Davis and Steve Cropper of Booker T & The MGs. Drawing on a mixture of specially commissioned songs and some pop/R&B classics such as That's The Way Love Is, Piece Of My Heart and All I Have To Do Is Dream, the double album became a clear artistic success. However, its sales recognition probably suffered from the project being in the midst of a welter of both Stax singles and album releases, not all of which could attract Stax's buying public at the same time. Here it is for the first time re-issued on CD by Peter Gibbon (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2000 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Break-A-Way. The Songs Of Jackie DeShannon 1961-1967 Before her own breaktrough as a recording star, jackie DeShannon was one of the most in-demand songwriters of the 60s, providing material for everyone from Brenda Lee to the Byrds. This bumper collection features solo compositions and songs co-writeen with Jimmy Page, Jack Nitzsche and Sharon Sheeley, plus an exclusive previously unheard demo. |
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Ace Records 2008 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Califia - The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood This is the latest addition to our high profile Songwriter series. Comprising familiar Lee Hazlewood fan favourites and scarcer titles in equal measure, the set spans Sanford Clark’s Top 10 hit of 1956 ‘The Fool’ (built on a memorable contribution from guitar wizard Al Casey) to 1970’s German language interpretation of ‘And I Loved You Then’ by transcontinental pop princess Peggy March (a song familiar to buffs via Lee's recording on his “13” LP). No such compilation would be complete without Nancy Sinatra and axe-meisters Duane Eddy and Al Casey, with each of whom Lee was inextricably linked. They’re all here. Hazlewood mavens should lap up the titles by the Darlenes, the Hondas, Rose & the Heavenly Tones (produced by Sly Stone, no less) and Lee’s frequent collaborator Suzi Jane Hokom (who gets two collectable cuts, including a duet with him), each of which is new to CD. One of pop’s genuine originals, Hazlewood is lionised by luminaries such as Primal Scream, Beck, the Jesus & Mary Chain, Pulp, Lydia Lunch and Sonic Youth. In 1999 he performed at the Nick Cave-curated Meltdown Festival on London’s South Bank backed by members of the High Llamas and Stereolab, while the “Total Lee!” tribute album of 2002 had the indie cognoscenti tripping over each other to record his compositions. Hazlewood was a uniquely versatile songwriter, equally capable of turning his hand to pop, country, psychedelia, R&B, folk, easy listening, burlesque, blues or twangin’ rock’n’roll – dig Don Cole’s wild ‘Snake Eyed Mama’ and Al Casey & the Bats’ reverb-drenched ‘(Got The) Teenage Blues’. His songs are truly beyond categorisation. He was also a pioneer in the mysterious art of record production and taught a thing or two to the teenaged Phil Spector, who hung around paying close attention while Hazlewood crafted magnificently cavernous guitar instrumentals for Duane Eddy. Of the 25 tracks on “Califia”, Lee wrote each one and produced all but four. As a performer, Hazlewood possessed an instantly recognisable bass drawl perfectly suited to his lyrical tales of low-rent heartache, self-deprecating comedy, picturesque nostalgia and mystical cowboy psychedelia. He sings on four cuts on this collection, including the folksy Shacklefords’ recording of ‘The City Never Sleeps At Night’, a song written specifically for Nancy Sinatra. As Dionne Warwick was to Burt Bacharach and Petula Clark to Tony Hatch, Nancy was Lee’s perfect muse. Theirs was a partnership created one velvet morning in pop heaven. The expansively orchestrated opening duet ‘Lady Bird’ – just one of the many masterpieces they made together – was personally selected for this compilation by the lady herself. A companion volume of Lee Hazlewood-penned instrumentals is also in the Ace pipeline, so watch this space. Meanwhile, check out the others in our Songwriter series, which include compilations based on the works of Randy Newman, Jackie DeShannon, Neil Diamond, Goffin & King, Bo Diddley, Burt Bacharach and many more. By Mick Patrick (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Calla Records - Soul Of The 60s Vol. 1 |
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Avi Records 1996 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - CamPark Records Novelty, Instrumental, Rock And Soul Vol. 14 18 tracks all the odds and ends |
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CamPark Records | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Can't Be Satisfied - The xl and Sounds Of Memphis Story 22 tracks |
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Ace Records 2007 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Caputred Live 18 tracks - Mary Wells / Marvelettes / Temptations |
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Motorcity Records 1987 | CD | 19.00 € |
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| VA: - Carnival Northern Soul n the early 60s, through the auspices of Choker Campbell, Joe Evans spent seven months living in one of Berry Gordy’s old houses in Detroit. He was playing with the Funk Brothers on recording dates, performing concerts in local auditoriums and touring the country with the first Motown Revue. This experience showed him how successful black music could become and he took the Hitsville set-up as a blueprint for his own Carnival label. Undoubtedly Joe learnt a lot from his Detroit stay and this CD captures most of his Motown moments. The Manhattans were his “children” whom he nurtured from their inception. When they left Carnival for what they thought was a bigger company (but was merely a revival of the old Deluxe label) it tore the heart out of his dream and his company. Joe Evans’ recent autobiography recalls the tragedy of George “Smitty” Smith’s death from a brain haematoma in 1970; it also reveals that it is Joe playing the flute on the group’s ‘There Goes A Fool’, featured here. It is the lesser acts that get the most tracks on this CD. Newark schoolteacher Phil Terrell only ever recorded three singles and all were on Carnival. ‘Love Has Passed Me By’ was a huge record for me at the 100 Club in the mid-80s and his other two contributions ‘I’ll Erase You (From My Heart)’ and ‘I’m Just A Young Boy’ are so good they will surely have their day soon. The Pretenders also get a trio of tracks and they start with a storming version of the Manhattans’ biggest 60s hit ‘I Wanna Be (Your Everything)’ before morphing into a classic 70s “modern soul” group with ‘I Call It Love’ (also ex-Manhattans) and the Kent exclusive, previously unreleased (until 1995) shuffler ‘A Broken Heart Cries’. Phil Terrell was brought to the label by Manhattan Winfred “Blue” Lovett who also attracted Norma Jenkins and the Lovettes to the stable. The Lovettes regularly backed the Manhattans and other artists and could veer from the shimmering and seductive stomping sound of ‘Little Miss Soul’ to the plaintive and pretty ‘I Need A Guy’. Blue was a heck of a song writer, the most “on the fours” influenced of all the Carnival composers and he delivered a catchy, soulful ‘Me, Myself And I’ for Norma Jenkins that really should have launched her career. More motor city links are revealed on the Pets ‘I Say Yeah’, written by Joe along with the pre-Golden World label Parliaments. They later turned the music world around with their Cosmic funk. Southerner Little Royal later showed his funky side but in 1967 he was all Stax grit and grits, not unlike New Jersey brother Kenneth Ruffin whose ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’ a year later also had that brass-laden Memphis groove. Jimmy Jules was the epitome of the itinerant musician who started out in Louisiana but took in New York, Denver, LA and Colorado Springs, among many other places that offered his cookin’ band some live music action. His self-penned ‘Don’t Let Yourself Go’ was either recorded in NJ or NO or both, depending on whose story you plump for. The main thing is, it’s a fine slab of soul. The small (two releases) Chadwick label is represented by both its great 1966 dancers from the Metrics with ‘Wishes’ and the Topics with ‘Hey Girl (Where Are You Going)’, while Florida’s Turner Brothers turn up with a song by George Kerr’s oppo Gerald Harris whose ‘My Love Is Yours Tonight’ is a really great record. Joe Evans remembers being approached by Ace Records in the 90s with a view to re-releasing his catalogue onto CD. He asked director Trevor Churchill whether he was the same guy who used to write to him in the 60s for record release information, and was answered in the affirmative. Knowing Joe as I do now, I’m pretty sure that would have clinched the deal, and deservedly so. By Ady Croasdell (ACE RECORDS) |
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Ace Records 2009 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Change Is Gonna Come 23 tracks |
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Ace Records 2007 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Chartbusters USA Vol. 2 29 tracks USA hits 1963-1969 |
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Ace Records 2002 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Chinese Checkers A Tribute To Memphis Soul Instrumentals |
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Wildebeest Records 2001 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Chitown Boogaloo |
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Vinyl Only Records 2006 | LP | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Come Together - Black America Sings Lennon & McCartney The unanimous acclaim for and success of Ace’s recent ‘How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan” project pretty much guaranteed a follow-up at some point. Its release immediately instigated a high level of consumer interest in whether or not we were planning any further volumes in the series. Truth to tell, it wasn’t meant to be a series originally, but the suggestion of Black America singing other notable rock icons of the 60s was too good to ignore. So it is that we now present a selection of interpretations by leading black American artists of the compositions of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. John and Paul’s songs perhaps did not carry the same degree of social significance for black Americans as those of Mr Zimmerman, but their superlative knack for words and music inevitably made each new Beatles album a potential source of future hits for others. It’s therefore no surprise to find enough superb examples to fill a few volumes. Here we present two dozen of their best-known songs sung by many of the leading names in soul from the 60s and 70s. As with the Dylan set, you’ll find the obvious (Otis Redding’s reconstruction of ‘Day Tripper’ and Aretha’s from-the-heart essay on ‘Let It Be’) rubbing shoulders with the blindingly obscure (West Coast blues giant Lowell Fulson wondering ‘Why Don’t We Do It In The Road’ and sweet soul quartet the Moments’ totally unexpected take on ‘Rocky Raccoon’). Unlike many pop songwriters, Lennon and McCartney reached out to a broad spectrum of black artists; you won’t find too many compilations where New Orleans’ rockin’ R&B man Fats Domino and his 60s near-namesake Chubby Checker feature alongside Motown’s first lady Mary Wells and king of 70s soul Al Green, and do so in such a seamless way. The common factor among all these covers is that they are never less than interesting. John and Paul are not on record as having expressed an opinion on too many versions of their songs, but we’d be willing to bet that the ones included here would have entertained them more than most. As always, the CD comes to you with a booklet featuring a huge amount of illustrative material and generous song-by-song annotations covering who wrote what (or most of what). We had originally thought that we might include versions of some Harrisongs as well, but in the end there was more than enough Lennon and McCartney material to fill this disc and more besides, so George will have to wait until another day and another CD. By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2011 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Complete Goldwax Singles Vol. 2 1966-1967 This second volume is the label’s golden period, where classic southern soul 45s poured out and James Carr cemented his place in the pantheon of great soul singers with a series of releases that are simply jaw-dropping. However Goldwax’s owners worked hard to diversify, in the hope that it wouldn’t suddenly be caught in the cold by a sudden change in musical fashion. 1966-7 was when James Carr released five singles. The run of the first four A-sides ‘You’ve Got My Mind Messed Up’, ‘Love Attack’, ‘Pouring Water On A Drowning Man’ and ‘Dark End Of The Street’ are peerless, and it is almost unbelievable that they were a consecutive run of singles. The Ovations also released some superb 45s throughout this period as did number two soul man Spencer Wiggins, who served up the sublime ‘Uptight Good Woman’, among others. There are also brilliant slices of southern soul from Percy Milem, Eddie Jefferson, George (Jackson) and (Dan) Greer and Barbara Perry. Part of the fun of a complete singles set are the oddities and one-offs that come up. Here are excursions into garage rock, with the respected local Memphis group the Yo Yos aping the sounds of the British Invasion, who were influenced by the sounds of America in the first place. It also sees the start of an attempt to move into the country market with records by Kathy Davis and Carmol Taylor, which led to the launch of a new label – Timmy – specializing in this type of music. The singles usually included one side of the sort of country ballads that are a close relation to the deepest southern soul. They are a pleasure to hear and are reissued for the very first time. There is also a wider sense of the R&B and soul world beyond the impassioned voices of Carr and Wiggins: OB McClinton released his final, Ernie K Doe-sounding 45; there is a typical Memphis instrumental from Gene “Bowlegs” Miller; and an attempt or two by Ivory Joe Hunter to rekindle his career. The veteran star’s 40s and 50s recordings were very much favourites of Elvis Presley, and Hunter was based in Memphis throughout the 60s. Goldwax’s golden age was when their main star was regularly in the charts and their recordings were hailed as great. These were always strong enough to stand alone. What is fascinating is to hear them in context of what was going on around them. By Dean Rudland (ACE RECORDS) |
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Ace Records 2009 | CD | 25.00 € |
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| VA: - Complete Goldwax Singles Vol. 3 2CD The third volume of the Goldwax singles is the story of music industry decline. If not exactly riches to rags – Goldwax sales were never that good – it is the tale of an independent label slowly losing its way in an increasingly difficult environment. This was not just about a failure to sign talent, but about changes within the business, and that meant that it became more difficult for regional independents to survive and thrive. The company's peak year was probably 1967. Musically James Carr and Spencer Wiggins were at the top of their game, whilst the Ovations continued to record great records. New talent such as Willie Walker entered the fray and label owners Quinton Claunch and Doc Russell were confident enough to start the country music imprint Timmy to showcase talent as good as Carmol Taylor and Jeanne Newman. However distributor Bell had no real clout in the country market and the new label’s outpit fell on deaf ears, or more likely wasn’t even played to them. Other signs of how tough it was was the licensing out of various singles by ‘Ivory’ Joe Hunter and Willie Walker to Veep and Chess respectively – which Quinton now admits was to tide the label over cash flow shortages. In 1968 things were not improving. Although James Carr continued to make records of amazing quality, sales began to decline and, even more worryingly, James became increasingly difficult to entice into the studio and onto the road to promote his records. Inexplicably strong 45s by Wiggins failed to make the charts and it began to look as if the struggle was never going to get easier. Of course all this wasn’t helped by the way that the industry was developing, with a more centralised, major-orientated distribution network taking hold, and the church-based southern soul sounds that had formed the core of Goldwax’s sales beginning to seem old-fashioned, even in the local market. Memphis’ big soul sellers into the 1970s would be the orchestrated masterpieces of Isaac Hayes and the smoother sound of Hi’s Al Green. The label was effectively over by 1969 and completely over by 1970. The artists had moved on, been sold on or simply left without a label. The final side on Goldwax was James Carr’s ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’ a country soul ballad of exceptional quality, and is typical of how high the quality remains throughout volume three of “The Complete Goldwax singles.” There are errors and side-steps, but until the day the doors swung shut for the final time the sounds of the label were almost always a joy to the ears. This is southern music at its’ very best. Dean Rudland (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 23.00 € |
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| VA: - Cookin' With Kent |
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Ace Records 1986 | LP | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Cruisin' 1965 |
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Increase Records 1996 | CD | 15.00 € |
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| VA: - Dave Hamilton's Detroit Dancers Vol. 3 24 tracks |
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Ace Records 2006 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Dave Hamilton's Detroit Soul Dave Hamilton’s Detroit tape cache reveals hitherto unknown soul dimensions to the great producer’s work. Uptown yet edgy Motown soundalikes, blues with a beat, sweet soul harmonies, jazz grooves, drug-influenced funk and uplifting gospel – these are just a few of the categories in store on “Dave Hamilton’s Detroit Soul”. A career of over 50 years in one of the hotbeds of black music meant that Dave could sway with the musical punches and counter as well as any. The sides here span 20 creative years, all of them of interest to soul devotees who are intrigued by how the music flourished and developed. After three volumes of “Detroit Dancers”, we felt “Detroit Soul” to be a more apt title this time, although there are plenty of dancers on here too. Starting with Dave’s first label, Temple, we have early examples of the emerging soul sound from his daughter Charmaine with the plaintive ‘Don’t You Listen’ and the bluesy ‘Won’t You Come On Home’ by Harry Reid. Frenchy & the Chessmen get an organ groove going, but I don’t think it shook up Booker T too much. Moving on to his most famous imprint, Topper, we have the logo’s final two soul recordings to be digitalised, which involve Priscilla Page solo and as half of a duo with Rony Darrell, Dave’s then partner. We then investigate later labels Da Da, Demoristic, TCB and New Day, all of which had gems of soul dotted among them. Three ballads are featured: the churchy, southern style ‘Look Up And Smile’ from Gene Cooper, nightclub jazz in the shape of ‘Missing You’ from Sue Ann Jones and ‘All Because Of You’, high quality male harmony soul from the unknown Moderations. The latter is one of four numbers that have been discovered and mixed from multi-track tape. ‘I Don’t Play Games’ by male vocal quartet Nightchill is commercial enough to have charted if only they’d have pressed it up, and the female led New Experience’s ‘Here I Am (Come And Take Me)’ will also thrill modern soul fans. Romeo & Juliet get it on a la Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway on ‘You Got What It Takes’. Funk is touched on in the form of Billy Garner’s raucous ‘You’re Wasting My Time’. A track that will excite traditional 60s soul fans is Ortheia Barnes’ performance on Dave Hamilton and Joe Hunter’s mid-tempo ‘Never Ever Leave Me’, originally destined for the Mickays label. J.T. Rhythm’s Palmer 45 on CD for the first time and Bobby Dee’s ‘Sweet Thing’ is grabbed from the clutches of BGP to reclaim a real soul dancer for the silver sliders. Any lover of black music will dig Dave Hamilton’s harmonica-led ‘Take Care Of Your Own Business’, while bluesman Chicago Pete’s ‘I’m Begging You’ grooves and grooves and grooves. O.C. Tolbert devotees are treated to ‘Too Late’, which was discovered too late to include on his recent solo CD. Chico & Buddy cover the narcotics side of the business, while the Webb People sound a little as if they’ve been investigating that area themselves. This is wonderful music from a revered musician who attracted great talent and knew his business well enough to leave a major body of work for his followers so many years on. By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2011 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Deep Shadows - The Best Of Kent Ballads We’ve not had an out-and-out ballad CD on Kent for over a year and after 28 years of compiling, we thought that a retrospective look at the very best tracks was due. Many deep, southern or ballad collectors may not have gone for CDs such as “Mirwood Soul Story” or “Dave Hamilton’s Detroit Dancers”. As there were gems of these styles within those and other packages, we knew they would be enjoyed in another CD setting. Similarly, other pieces of beautiful music from the Charmels, L.V. Johnson and Johnny Gilliam were on similar but deleted CDs. Picking a “Best Of” CD felt valid and to strengthen it even more, we are including a handful of recordings that have not been issued on CD before, in some cases never issued at all. These newbies deserve the most attention as they will be fresh to most soul fans. Of the issued tracks, the least rare is the Quotations’ ‘It Can Happen To You’ on DiVenus, which was a good seller in NYC on issue, though the current price tag of £150 (due to its Northern flip) would put the casual buyer off. Rarer is the Austin Taylor offering from Zell Sanders’ J&S subsidiary Sprout Artist. That set-up was never known for production subtleties and the single opens as if in an echoing Harlem Church, with the chorus belting out Hymn #94 before Austin’s tough vocal preaches his message. The master tape contenders are of incredible quality. Bay Area songstress Jeanette Jones was probably only demoing ‘What Have You Got To Gain By Losing Me’ but sang it from the heart, which now means that an excellent Gerry Goffin co-composition was saved for the world, with its first airing here. Down in Nashville, Tennessee ace arranger and producer Bob Holmes cut a Gallatin act called the Paramount Four on a stunning group ballad ‘You Must Leave Her Because You Love Her’. If you invest in this CD, I can guarantee that you will be singing along to this beauty with gusto. From the previously released but now deleted pile we re-present the Charmels’ brilliant ‘I’ve Done It Again’. Featuring on the same deleted Kent CD was L.V. Johnson’s ‘Seeing Is Believing’, which I now realise is right up there with it. Giving the track another lease of life also gives me the chance to correct the assumption that it is the same song the Mad Lads cut (also for the Volt label); it isn’t and we don’t know who penned it. I hadn’t even noticed that it was over four and a half minutes long – it doesn’t drag for a single second. Personal favourites include the tracks by Phillip Mitchell, Loleatta Holloway, Sam Dees, the Modettes, Debbie Taylor and the bittersweet and haunting voice of Little Ann singing her self-written title track to the CD. If you don’t recognise any of the titles, please rest assured that these are the best of Kent – that’s going to be very good indeed. By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Deep Ska 4CD 4CDs with 80 original Ska Classics + a fully illustrated 24 page booklet included. Truly authentic and original, all 80 of the recordings on this set were made in Jamaica between 1962 and 1969. DEEP SKA contains lots of recordings that aren't on other compilations and also includes a 24 page illustrated booklet with a fascinating track by track history of the music. Artists include Stranger Cole, The Skatalites, Eric Morris, Tommy McCook, Justin Hinds, Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Drumbago All Stars, Duke Reid, Baba Brooks, Lester Sterling, Margarita, Clive & Naomi, Derrick & Patsy, The Pyramids, Toots & The Maytals, Byron Lee, Blue Rivers, Laurel Aitken, Pat Kelly, Desmond Dekker, John Holt and many more |
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Proper 2006 | CD-Box | 20.00 € |
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| VA: - Dial Records - Southern Soul Story 2CD 51 biisiä Dial -merkin Soul / R&B |
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Ace Records 2003 | 2-CD | 23.00 € |
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| VA: - Diggin' Gold - A Galaxy Of West Coast Blues 25 tracks Galaxy records R&B + Soul |
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Ace Records 2004 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Discovered Vol. 5 25 tracks from Billboard Top 100 lists 1955-1969 |
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Recollect Music | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - DJ Andy Smith's Jam Up Twist Wind your way down the stairs at The Book Club in Hoxton and the first thing you see is a pool table and the queue to the cloakroom. Beyond that a crowd has formed and the party is off and going. You have entered the world of Andy Smith’s Jam Up Twist. Instead of the area’s blend of the latest dance music trends, Andy is expertly weaving a mix of great music from the distant past. A blend of rockabilly, jump blues, 60s soul and ska is pulling a crowd, and from the moment I heard it I knew that Andy was once more creating a club night that we at BGP would like to celebrate on CD. Andy came to prominence working as a DJ with Portishead when they hit the big time in the mid-90s. His inquisitive style of DJing has seen him pull music from all sorts of genres, creating an eclectic fusion that was celebrated in his seminal mix CD “The Document”. Since then he has hooked up with the BGP team for two compilations, including “Andy Smith’s Northern Soul”, which was based around his club night that attempted to introduce great 60s soul to a whole new crowd, and succeeded. We hope to repeat this success with “Andy Smith’s Jam Up Twist”. Once again Andy creates a seamless mix of tracks from the 50s through to the 70s, but it is his skill as a selector that really catches the ear. In each of the genres covered by the compilation he pulls out gems that are not only great tracks but relevant to a modern dancefloor. The rockabilly and the jump blues are just the sort of sounds that provide the influence for modern acts such as Imelda May and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, and in cuts such as ‘Let’s Go Bopping Tonight’ by Al Ferrier, Jimmy Carroll’s ‘Big Green Car’, Mickey Champion’s ‘Bam-A-Lam’ or the Sonny Bono-penned ‘Touch And Go’ from Wynona Carr, Andy has chosen the very best. He is equally at home in the worlds of ska and Northern Soul. From the Northern pile he’s picked longstanding classics from Mel Williams and Toni & the Showmen and joined them up with some more recent finds such as the San Francisco TKOs and Luther Ingram, whose version of ‘Oh Baby Don’t You Weep’ has been one of the great discoveries of the past few years. To hear the Skatalites on a BGP comp is a real pleasure (and apt, as on ‘Malcolm X’ they are in fact covering Lee Morgan’s jazz dance classic ‘Sidewinder’), as it is to hear the voice of the great Alton Ellis. So let’s hope Andy is as successful in pushing the boundaries here as he has been in the past, because this is as great a blend as we could hope to hear. By Dean Rudland (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2011 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Do The Shing A Ling 20 Northern Soul tracks |
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Vinyl Only Records 2007 | LP | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Does Anybody Know I'm Here ? Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1962-1972 |
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Ace Records 2005 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Double Cookin' - classic northern soul instrumentals The instrumental has always been an integral part of the Northern Soul scene, right back to its very earliest days. Not everyone likes them, but they’re so ingrained into the culture of the scene that it’s hard to imagine life without them. Certainly enough people do like them for us to have been approached by those who have wondered why the Kent catalogue has never opened its arms to embrace a whole CD of Northern instros – especially considering how many of them there actually are. Those who have, need wonder no more. After much thought and planning, we can finally lift the lid on Kent’s first ever overview of nearly a decade’s worth of floorfillers and all-time anthems that, between them, provide a comprehensive overview of what happens in a dance when the singing stops and the music takes over. “Double Cookin’” brings together two dozen wordless wonders, the majority of which have proven their worth time and again as a means of filling a Northern Soul dance floor quickly. The vast majority of the titles on show will need not one word of introduction to the faithful. Indeed the popularity of some, such as the offerings of Hugo Montenegro and Bill Black’s Combo, date back to the very early days of the Northern Scene. For others, memories of the Mecca, Torch or Catacombs will be conjured up as soon as the intros to ‘Cigarette Ashes’, ‘Tracks To Your Mind’ and ‘Hey America’ come blasting through the speakers. Original and born again Wiganites will get their kicks out on the floor to our title track, ‘The Spy’ and the instrumentals to ‘Before It’s Too Late’, ‘The Same Old Thing’, ‘Turn Back The Hands Of Time’ and ‘Lay This Burden Down’ – all four of which were originally stripped of their vocals for play at the Casino. We’ve even thrown in a couple of newly-mixed instrumentals of proven vocal favourites that are exclusive to this CD, and that would have torn any dancefloor up had they been around during the instro’s peak years of popularity. “Double Cookin” does not set itself up as high art. “Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures” it most certainly is not. Wizened commentators will not have a field day sitting around discussing the subtle nuances of ‘The Champion’ or ‘Sliced Tomatoes’ because they don’t really have any. Future archivists of the scene will probably not be writing 2000 word essays on the importance of ‘Danse A La Musique’ or ‘Thumb A Ride’ to the development of Northern Soul. They and the other 22 tracks on this CD are here to enjoy, not to analyse. These records have no power to change anyone’s life. What they do have is the power to propel anyone in the direction of their nearest dance floor in pursuit of maximum pleasuring of the feet, augmented by soul clapping where appropriate… …Now where did I put that talc? By Tony Rounce (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2010 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Double Shot Of Soul 26 biisiä |
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Kent 2004 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Downey Story - Landlocked 24 of the best Downey records, including some unissued treasures, that present a snapshot of this important Californian independent label’s catalogue. Which record label brought us one of the two biggest surf instrumental hits of the early 60s? The same label that issued a couple of future Northern Soul collector’s items. Not to mention a clutch of the best garage rockers, and some New Orleans R&B by the cream of the Crescent City’s ex-pat musicians living in Southern California in the mid-60s. Together with, of course, a plethora of instrumental rock and a fair smattering of Sunshine Pop. All this before I even mention the early work of Barry White and one of his first solo efforts. The huge surf hit was ‘Pipeline’ by the Chantays. The label, Downey. Previous compilations in the five year-old Downey series have concentrated on instrumentals, early 60s pop, R&B, garage rockers and surf. This time out I have gathered tracks that proved hard to pin down to any of those genres, together with some previously unreleased gems and alternate takes, while revisiting a few important sides essential for a label overview such as this. Following ‘Pipeline’ comes that great garage rocker ‘I Don’t Need You No More’, the flipside of ‘Boss’, the first Downey single by the Rumblers. Other, later, garage goodies include Bud & Kathy’s ‘Hang It Out To Dry’ (once the title of a collector’s LP), ‘Edge Of Nowhere’ by the Sunday Group and our old friends the Last Word, of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ fame, with ‘Freeway’, an unreleased 1966 recording. A smattering of doo wop comes in the shape of the Invictas and the Debonaires, while the Invictas’ original lead singer, Sonny Patterson, delivers a bluesy ‘Troubles’ in an alternate take from his single. The great Little Johnny Taylor makes a welcome return, as does New Orleans veteran Jessie Hill with an alternate take of ‘TV Guide’. The Sunshine Pop element is present in Craig & Michael (another Chantays-related side), the Slipped Discs and the enigmatic E.S.P Limited. The Northern Soul sides are ‘Do It’ by Pat Powdrill and ‘Jerk Baby Jerk’ by Carl Burnett. A future contender in that area might be Margaret Williams, whose ‘My Love’ makes its Ace CD debut here. The song was arranged by Barry White, who also appears as Lee Barry with ‘I Don’t Need It’, a solo 45 issued on Downey in 1966. Rockin’ instrumentals are represented by the Rivaires doing ‘The Bug’, a previously unissued version of surf hit ‘Penetration’ by Ed Burkey and the great Revels’ ‘Comanche’. Interestingly, this compilation coincides with the issue on DVD of The Exiles, the Los Angeles cult film of 1961 for which ‘Comanche’ was written. By Brian Nevill (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2011 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - East St. Louis - The Stevens Sessions 23 tracks |
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Sequel records 1997 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Eastern PA '60s Soul 29 tracks. Incl The Traditions, Vic & The Catalinas, The Catalinas, James & The Incredible Showmen, Intentions, Bobby Penn & The Penpals, Furys and Motiques |
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Arf Arf Records 1998 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Ed Sullivan's Rock'n'Roll Classics - Legends Of Rock 19 tracks - 65 min |
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Eagle Vision 2004 | DVD | 10.00 € |
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| VA: - Ed Sullivan's Rock'n'Roll Classics - Motortown Gold 21 tracks - 76 min |
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Eagle Vision 2005 | DVD | 9.00 € |
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| VA: - Ed Sullivan's Rock'n'Roll Classics - Rockin' The 60s 16 tracks- apprx 69 min Beatles / Jefferson Airplane / Doors / Santana / Beach Boys / Janis Joplin / Mamas & The Papas / Steppenwolf etc |
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Rajon 2004 | DVD | 9.00 € |
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| VA: - Ernie's Record Mart Continuing with its in-depth re-examination of the long-neglected Nashville R&B scene, Ace Records presents ERNIE'S RECORD MART-.-a 24-track compilation paying tribute to the famous mail order enterprise of that name and original home of Excello Records. As the sponsor of Ernie's Record Parade, a blues programme broadcast over the powerhouse Nashville station WLAC, Ernie's Record Mart rocked at the centre of an R&B broadcast firestorm begun in the late 1940s in a town better known for country music. Host of Ernie's Record Parade was the illustrious disc jockey John Richbourg (John R). Along with fellow WLAC jocks Gene Nobles, Herman Grizzard, and Bill "Hoss" Allen, Richbourg helped revolutionise American radio by broadcasting gutbucket rhythm & blues at a time when Alan Freed was still spinning longhair music. Transmitted nightly on a 50,000-watt skip channel (meaning the signal literally "skipped" along the atmosphere), WLAC blanketed half the United States and, on a good night, shook the airwaves to points overseas with post-war boogie and blues. While it would be a considerable overstatement to suggest that WLAC broke every hit that Excello Records enjoyed during the 1950s, it's likely that the better known tunes on this CD-such as the Louis Brooks/Earl Gaines collaboration It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day) - owed some of their success to John R's attention. Among the other memorable Excello hits of the 1950s included herein are Larry Birdsong's Pleadin' for Love, Rudy Green's My Mumblin' Baby, Jerry McCain's My Next Door Neighbour, and Lillian Offitt's Miss You So. As for the many Excello non-hits and obscurities, Ernie's Record Mart had those covered, too. For with John R making the irresistible C.O.D. pitch, the store would offer six-for-a-dollar record packs (the price went up over time) that would generally include five solid hits from other labels and one item of Excello ephemera. The latter might consist of records such as Guitar Red's The Hot Potato-.-Sugar and Sweet's I'll Be Good-.-or Ralph Harris's Slim Lizzard-.-all of which appear on this CD, along with little known gems such as Eddie Williams's It's Love Pretty Baby and a trio of rare, early tracks by soul singer Lattimore Brown. As Excello turned the records out, the mail orders poured in - everyone shopping at Ernie's Record Mart, way down in the middle of Dixie, from every Southern hamlet and Northern city that John R's voice could reach. by Dan Cooper (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 1998 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Even Mo' Mod Jazz |
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Ace Records 1999 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Evolution Of Soul Temptations, Sammy Davis Jr, Little Milton, James Brown, Marvin Gaye... |
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Collectables 1999 | CD | 13.00 € |
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| VA: - Fender - The Golden Age 1950-1970 Leo Fender’s contribution to the sound of modern music is immeasurable. The pop music explosion of the 1950s and 60s would not have happened without the electric guitar and, perhaps more importantly, the electric bass.” So begins Martin Kelly’s notes for the CD of his book about Fender guitars. A book about music of course lacks the medium that it describes, so Martin came to Ace with a proposal to produce an accompanying CD that would make his pages even more vibrant. We were more than happy to celebrate the great sounds that Leo Fender helped conceive through his inspirational instruments. As overseer of this CD, I was out of my depth in guitar minutiae, but was able to assist on the technical end and enjoyed a sharp learning curve in great guitar sounds. I thoroughly dug those ringing twangs of Bob Wills and Tennessee Ernie Ford. With Ike Turner and Otis Rush I was in more familiar music territory. The more poppy Crickets’ track ‘I’m Looking For Someone To Love’ was an inspired choice by Martin. It was the flip to the original ‘That’ll Be The Day’ which I’d managed to miss hearing for 55 years. ‘Suzie Q’ and the original ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ are better known numbers; listening to them in this guitar-based context gives them new relevance. Guitar-led instrumentals were a must for the compilation and it is wonderful to relive the splendour of the Ventures’ signature tune and to hear the mighty Shadows at their most melodic. Breakaway Shadow Jet Harris then moves the spotlight to the renowned Fender bass on ‘Besame Mucho’. Booker T’s ‘Green Onions’ and Dick Dale’s ‘Miserlou’ are at the pinnacle of their genres and Jack Nitzche’s ‘Lonely Surfer’ shows how an inspired producer can use the guitar within a bigger production. It is then back to basics with the Kingsmen’s ‘Louie Louie’, followed by Ronnie Hawkins’ ice-cold take on ‘Who Do You Love’. The Beach Boys and Bobby Fuller Four then demonstrate how to play straight down the middle pop: no frills but pure class. Then representing the awakening of British youth to the American dream, we have the Yardbirds’ take on Billy Boy Arnold’s ‘I Ain’t Got You’, a song that failed to score for its creator but became a belated blues classic once Eric Clapton had stamped his seal of approval on it. Speaking of the blues, ‘Rock Me Baby’ by Otis Redding reminds us all that the world lost a brilliant blues singer, as well as the ultimate soul man, when his plane crashed in December 1967. By the time of this recording, Lewis Steinberg had been replaced by Duck Dunn on Fender Precision Bass duties. As reflected by the Nashville-recorded Fender jingles, country music was always dominated by the guitar sounds of Fender. Buck Owens & the Buckaroos’ ‘Buckaroo’ features not only Fender electric and bass but acoustic too. The switch to the soul perfection of King Curtis’ ‘Memphis Soul Stew’ is surprisingly seamless and that city’s home-grown Willie Mitchell sound on ‘Soul Serenade’ shows how long-lived top flight R&B was down there. It is then just a year’s jump, but a small world away, to 1969 and the Velvet Underground’s 12-string Fenders. That is neatly followed by ex-Yardbird Jeff Beck on his Stratocaster and Stone-to-be Ron Wood playing a Telecaster bass; all in the admirable cause of helping Donovan’s ‘Goo Goo Barabajagal’ make musical if not literal sense. I still may not be able to pick a Fender out in a crowd, but I now know how much listening pleasure I have derived from them. Ady Croasdell (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2012 | CD | 17.00 € |
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| VA: - Fillies Of Soul - 24 Girl Group Movers 24 tracks girl groups |
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Titanic Records | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - Finders Keepers - Motown Girls 1961-67 It was Ace Records’ good fortune in 2009 to become the first independent record company in the world to acquire the rights to release previously unissued Motown material from the 1960s. Our tenth and latest Motown project is “Finders Keeper”, a compilation titled for the Marvelettes’ 1964 recording that first surfaced on the British Tamla Motown logo in 1980. Women were a fundamental part of Motown’s early success: Raynoma Gordy was contributing harmonies and arranging skills before the company even got going; Janie Bradford co-wrote what became Motown’s most covered song, ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’; Mable John was Berry Gordy’s chauffeur as well as the first female artist he signed; Mary Wells was the first to take a Motown label record into the charts ... and the list goes on. In this, Ace’s first various artists Motown CD, we focus on the company’s female acts – the well-known ones, the not-so-famous but much loved and a couple about whom we know next to nothing at all. It’s a half-and-half mixture of previously issued and unreleased titles. In the case of the reissued titles, we’ve taken the road less travelled and selected tracks which we feel haven’t had the attention they deserve down the years, amongst them very rare 45s from the Andantes and Saundra Mallett. Collectors will particularly relish the dozen unissued tunes, which include superb offerings from Motown heroines Brenda Holloway, Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight and Kim Weston and gems by the lesser-known Carolyn Crawford, Hattie Littles, LaBrenda Ben, Liz Lands and Linda Griner. We’ve even managed to dig up tracks by a couple of girls who’ve never had a track out before: Thelma Brown and Anita Knorl. To spotlight just one track of special interest, ‘When Somebody Loves You (You’re Never Alone)’ by Gladys Knight and the Pips is so well-known to Motown fans that it’s hard to believe it’s never been released before. One of the first songs completed by the group after they signed to Motown in early 1966, it sat on the shelf for over a year before they returned to it and re-recorded their vocals in the summer of ’67. Then it was put back on the shelf where it’s been ever since – apart from numerous outings on collectors’ cassettes and CDs, sourced from an acetate that found its way into the public domain. We are delighted to be able to offer a legitimate issue of this classic mid-60s Motown track for the very first time, fully re-mastered from the original tape and sounding better than ever. Elsewhere, the set includes some prime Motown stompers (‘Let Love Live’), torchy ballads (‘It’s Too Soon To Know’), R&B (‘My Black Belt’) and jazz (‘I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues’) – something for everyone, we hope. By Keith Hughes and Mick Patrick (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2013 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - For Connoisseurs Only Vol. 3 24 tracksKent & Modern Soul Collectables |
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Ace Records 2007 | CD | 18.00 € |
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| VA: - For Connoisseurs Only: Kent- Modern Soul Collectables Vol. 2 To be fair, I'm not doing it under any duress; orders don't come down to Ace Towers from Ted's Rutland hill-fort that the peasants are demanding another Kent/Mod CD. Neither does Ace have a team of ruthlessly efficient accountants, imploring me to maximise the company's assets and whip up the productivity levels by squeezing the last remotely usable soul side out of the catalogues. The fact is I just keep finding goodies I've not come across before and get the urge to share them with like-minded soul music desperadoes. It's been at least four LPs and six CDs worth of 60s black music issued from this amazing body of work since that day in Ted's Ladbroke Grove record emporium; and still the compilations come. What can you do when there are singles like Leon Peterson's slightly hippy, but totally soulful, uptempo and hip My Bag, lying around on rarely seen chunks of vinyl. Or when you find a weird United 45 by Trini Lopez, of all people, in a record box at a soul do, play it and dig it immediately (if not sooner)? Obviously, you start up another potential CD list and check out what else is around. Well there were those multi-track tapes by the great Jimmy Robins that had a gutsy Bobby Bland-inspired That Someone Don't Know It on them, and when Arthur Wright sent over the original Four Tees master, there was a beautiful ballad by someone called Wayne Boykin on it. I seem to remember the flip of the Johnny Williams single we used on an earlier CD was so good we couldn't quite work out which side to use; let's put Don't Cha Ever Forget It on here then. Unbelievably there was a Mary Love track called Dance Children Dance that we've never used anywhere. I seem to remember it was too raucous for her solo CD, but we're doing raucous here. We've got Willie Hutch's storming I Can't Get Enough and that unissued Terry & The Tyrants' track Say It Baby, which moves like Marvin's Baby Don't You Do It. So they're too manic to dance to! What does that matter: the buyers will be playing them in the privacy of their own homes, and these are liberal times. Strewth, I've never put Jimmy Bee's stomperoonie Wanting You out since the second Kent LP, back in the day; what a klutz! And there can't be one of Jackie Day's six great sides she cut for Modern not on a CD yet; hang on where's What Kind Of Man Are You? Doh! So, slapping myself severely on the wrist and paying for several costly briefings with a Ms Whiplash from a nearby therapy centre, I put together this rather splendid, if somewhat tardy, CD. I also found a terrific Billy Watkins, Jackie Wilson-sounding, song called Love Line in the tape vaults, along with really good unissued gems from Arthur Adams and Joe Haywood. Add to that some great overlooked flips of singles we know and love, and several obscure but top notch releases that have fallen between stylistic stools in the past, and it's one heck of an album. I might even have overdone it and found enough to be halfway on to Vol 3; luckily the therapy centre says I can come back again if the guilt gets too much. By Ady Croasdell (Ace Records) |
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Ace Records 2005 | CD | 17.00 € |
