This review is part of my "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters Soul, Funk & Jazz Fusion" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:
"…I'm A Bad Go-Getter…And I Want You…"
Sam Moore and Dave Prater fans see the duo's rare 1st and 2nd LPs for the mighty Stax Records reissued again – and for those Superstars of 60t's Soul - it's been done in real style. Here are the finite details…
UK released 26 March 2012, Edsel EDSS 1035 breaks down as follows (73:33 minutes): Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Hold On, I'm Coming" – released April 1966 in the USA on Stax Records ST-708 [Mono] and STS-708 [Stereo]. The STEREO mix is used except on “You Don’t Know Like I Know” which is the MONO single mix (Track 11).
Tracks 14 and 13 are "Goodnight Baby" and "A Place Nobody Can Find" – the A&B-side of a non-album US 45 on Stax S-168 – released March 1965
Track 15 is "Sweet Home" – the non-album 7" single B-side to "I Take What I Want" (Track 3) which was released in the USA on Stax S-175 in June 1965
Tracks 16 to 27 are the album "Double Dynamite" – released January 1967 in the USA on Stax ST-712 [Mono] and STS-712 [Stereo] – the STEREO mix is used.
This 27-track CD will also allow fans to sequence the following Stax 7” singles surrounding the two albums:
1. Goodnight Baby [14] b/w A Place Nobody Can Find [13] – Stax S-168 (March 1965)
2. I Take What I Want [2] b/w Sweet Home [15] – Stax S-175 (June 1965)
3. You Don’t Know Like I Know [11] b/w Blame Me (Don't Blame My Heart) [12] – Stax S-180 (November 1965)
4. Hold On: I'm A Comin' [1] b/w I Got Everything I Need [5] – Stax S-189 (March 1966)
5. Said I Wasn't Going To Tell [17] b/w If You Got The Lovin' (I Got The Time) [2] – Stax S-198 (September 1966)
6. You Got Me Hummin' [16] b/w Sleep Good Tonight [24] – Stax S-204 (November 1966)
7. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby [19] b/w Small Portion Of Your Love [see Note] – Stax S-210 (February 1967)
8. Soothe Me [see Note] b/w I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down [See Note] – Stax S-218 (June 1967)
[Note: the B-side to Stax S-210 is on the 2nd CD in this series "Soul Men + I Thank You" on Edsel EDSD 2131 – also issued 26 March 2012. The UK single for "Soothe Me" on Stax 601 004 used the album cut (Track 20) – but the US single on Stax S-218 used a live cut recorded in Paris – both it and its B-side are also on the 2nd CD mentioned above]
PHIL KINRADE at Alchemy Studios in London has done the mastering and it's a fantastic job – muscular and pounding out of your speakers like those old 45's used to do. Being 60's Soul and recorded with indecent haste in less than audiophile conditions - there's hiss on occasion and some muddiness to the bass every now and then – but mostly this remaster sounds 'so' clear to me – the brass, drum whacks and guitar - much better than the early Nineties Rhino discs I've had for years now. The decision by Edsel to leave out the weaker Stereo mix of "You Don’t Know What I Like" on the 1st LP and replace it with the extra overdubs and punchier MONO mix is a good one. As a sucker for those 45's and their double-shots of brilliance – I also love the fact that this release allows me to line up those songs for play – and in top sound quality too.
The 16-page full-colour booklet featuring a 4000-word essay by noted Soul expect and aficionado TONY ROUNCE is superlative. Rounce has had a long-time association with both Edsel and Ace Records of the UK and their Philadelphia and Chess CD reissues - and his work here is typically indepth, knowledgeable and enthusiastic in a way that only British Soul nuts can be. Pages 10 and 14 have gorgeous full colour plates of each album sleeve and the rest of the text is peppered with insert photos of those rare blue labels that Stax used in the UK. There's a track-by-track Discography at the rear and it even reproduces the original liner notes that graced the back of each American LP sleeve. Edsel could have taken the easy way out with this and put in foldout 3-page filler that would have sufficed – but they haven’t – and they’re to be praised for this.
To the music - both the 45 of "Hold On, I'm Coming" and the LP of the same name broke SAM and DAVE not just nationally – but globally. The 7" and LP reached the coveted Number 1 spot on the American R'n'B charts in June and August 1966 respectively – and made inroads all over the globe late into 1966. The follow-up album "Double Dynamite" (a nickname for the singers who hailed from Florida and Georgia) simply provided more of the same. In fact relistening to both albums – you’re reminded of how extraordinarily productive those halcyon years were – and a lot of it down to ISAAC HAYES and DAVID PORTER - Stax's brilliant inhouse songwriting team. Highlights include the wonderful mid-tempo "If You've Got The Loving (I've Got The Time)" with Steve Cropper putting in great guitar licks and feel - while I will always associate the belting "I Take What I Want" (lyrics above) with Rory Gallagher who did a blistering rock-funk version of it on his 1975 album "Against The Grain" (it was a stable at the famed "Grove" venue in Dublin throughout the Seventies). The anthemic "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" still has the power to move a body and soul alike - and is Southern Soul at its very best. Sam Cooke's "Soothe Me", the Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham classic "I'm Your Puppet" and the Hayes/Porter finisher "Use Me" – it's an embarrassment of riches.
To sum up - presented well, sounding spiffing and cheaper than a wet trout slapped across your kisser – this is a huge amount of top Sixties Stax Soul for peanuts money.
So, so good – and thoroughly recommended.
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