"This Is Fame 1964-1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – featuring Jimmy Hughes, Clarence Carter, Arthur Conley, Otis Clay, The Del-Rays, Art Freeman, James Barnett, Jeanie Greene, Dan Penn (and Spooner Oldham), George Jackson, Billy Young, Ralph Jackson, June Conquest, Herman Moore, Richard Earl & The Corvettes and more (October 2020 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation in Mono – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Almost Persuaded..."

Covering the Southern Soul and Muscle Shoals sound of Rick Hall's famous and much celebrated FAME Studios in Alabama – a sympathetic haven for such Soul and R&B legends as Clarence Carter, Otis Clay, Arthur Conley and the quality writing duo of Dan Pen & Spooner Oldham plus many more - "This Is Fame 1964-1968" was originally issued 7 October 2016 in the UK as a 2LP vinyl-only compilation on Ace/Kent SoulKENT2 504 (Barcode 029667005111). What you have here is an October 2020 UK CD variant with the same track line-up. 

Nine of these twenty-four cuts were initially only on and exclusive to Kent CD-compilations issued between 2011 and 2014 - Tracks 2, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23 and 24 to be exact (see detailed list below). So in October 2016, they made sense being on a 24-track vinyl-only 2LP set. 

But four years later, an October 2020 CD reissue of just over 62-minutes should really have been extended by four or even six more songs because that playing time is now looking a little low. More importantly, a few more choice-choices would have fixed some initial reviews stating that although "This Is Fame 1964-1968" looked good in theory - the actual listen left you feeling somehow slightly short-changed. That would have been improved upon easily had the numbers been bumped up (this 2020 CD smacks of a Covid-19 pandemic schedule filler). 

But for now, let us deal with what we do have; here are the details and the hi-heel sneakers... 

UK released Friday, 30 October 2020 - "This Is Fame 1964-1968" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Kent Soul CDKEND 494 (Barcode 029667100328) is a CD compilation that plays out as follows (62:17 minutes):

1. Steal Away - JIMMY HUGHES (May 1964 US 45-single on Fame 6401, A-Side)
2. It Tears Me up - JAMES BARNETT (from the March 2013 UK CD compilation "Hall Of Fame Volume 2: More Rare & Unissued Gems From Fame Vaults" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 386 - a Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn song)
3. She Ain't Gonna Do Right - CLARENCE CARTER (September 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1016, A-side - a Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn song)
4. I Can't Stop (No, No, No) - ARTHUR CONLEY (August 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1007, A-side)
5. That Kind Of Lovin' - OTIS CLAY (October 1968 US 45-single on Cotillion 44009, B-side of "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man")
6. Fortune Teller - THE DEL-RAYS (1965 US 45-single on R and H Records 1005, A-side)
7. Slippin' Around With You - ART FREEMAN (September 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1008, B-side of "I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" - A-side is a Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham song)
8. Keep On Talking - JAMES BARNETT (January 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1001, A-side - A Dan Pen and Spooner Oldham song - the B-side "Take A Good Look" is track 21 on this CD compilation)
9. Hi-Heel Sneakers - JIMMY HUGHES (August 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1015, A-side)
10. Long Ago - BEN & SPENCE (from the March 2013 UK CD compilation "Hall Of Fame Volume 2: More Rare & Unissued Gems From Fame Vaults" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 386)
11. Don't Make Me Hate Loving You - JEANIE GREENE (from the November 2011 UK 3CD Various Artists Book Set "The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973" on Ace/Kent Soul KENTBOX 12)
12. (Take Me) Just As I Am - DAN PENN (May 1965 US 45-Single on Fame 6409, A - credited to Lonnie Ray)
13. Back In Your Arms - GEORGE JACKSON (from the September 2011 UK George Jackson CD-compilation "Don't Count Me Out: The Fame Recordings Volume 1" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 363)
14. Feed The Flame - BILLY YOUNG (from the November 2011 UK 3CD Various Artists Book Set "The Fame Studios Story 1961-1973" on Ace/Kent Soul KENTBOX 12)
15. You Really Know How To Hurt A Guy - RALPH "Soul" JACKSON (from the May 2012 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame (Rare And Unissued Gems From The FAME Vault)" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 372)
16. Thread The Needle - CLARENCE CARTER (April 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1013, A-side)
17. A Piece Of My Heart - ART FREEMAN (May 1967 US 45-single on Fame 1012, A-side)
18. Wish You Didn't Have To Go - SPOONER & THE SPOONS (January 1965 US 45-single on Fame 6406, A-side - a Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn song) 
19. Almost Persuaded - JUNE CONQUEST (February 1965 US 45-single on Fame 6406, A-side - a Dan Penn and Donnie Fritts song)
20. I'm Gonna Forget About You - ARTHUR CONLEY (October 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1009, A-side)
21. Take A Good Look - JAMES BARNETT (January 1966 US 45-single on Fame 1001, B-side to "Keep On Talking" - Track 8 on this CD compilation)
22. Come On Home - HERMAN MOORE (from the January 2014 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame Volume 3: Previously Unissued Gems From The FAME Vaults" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 410)
23. Blind Can't See - RICHARD EARL & THE CORVETTES (from the May 2012 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame (Rare And Unissued Gems From The FAME Vault)" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 372)
24. I Worship The Ground You Walk On - JIMMY HUGHES (from the May 2012 UK Various Artists CD-compilation "Hall Of Fame (Rare And Unissued Gems From The FAME Vault)" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 372)
All tracks in MONO 

The 12-page booklet features the same DEAN RUDLAND liner notes done for the October 2016 2LP set. Promo photos of June Conquest, George Jackson, a dapper Billy Young and the gold-shirted Ben & Spence sit alongside those tasty Fame Records US 45 labels and even a Pye International UK demo of the fabulous "Steal Away" by Jimmy Hughes - a tune that opens the CD in spectacular form. Long-time Ace Records Audio Engineer NICK ROBBINS remastered all of the Mono tracks in 2016 and the feel is uniformly stunning - song after song (even the outtakes) reflecting an in-house band and production crew – both second-to-none. To the tunes...

"I gotta see you...can't wait..." Jimmy Hughes pleads in the gorgeous Southern Soul classic "Steal Away" that is quickly followed by a James Barnett cover of the Percy Sledge pleader "It Tears Me Up". Clarence Carter worries about a sinful world and the moral integrity of his girl in "She Ain't Gonna Do Right" - songwriters Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham giving the poor chap too much to think about in his Saturday night boozy dotage. 

We enter Blues Brothers territory with Arthur Conley's tremendous dancer "I Can't Stop (No, No, No)" and I doubt the talcum powder on English Northern Soul dancefloor boards will cease either with killers like this in the offing. We slow things down to a lurch with Otis Clay having a tender lurve moment on "That Kind Of Lovin'", but The Del-Rays cover of "Fortune Teller" that ends Side 1 of the LP feels oddly out-of-place and way weaker than the five impresarios that preceded it. 

A sexy keyboard backbeat turns the Art Freeman song "Slippin' Around With You" into another Penn/Oldham winner while the piano-rolling cool dancer "Keep On Talking" by James Barnett is complimented by its equally good B-side "Take A Good Look" further down the track list line (No. 21). Things slip dramatically when Jimmy Hughes fails to come close to the sexy Tommy Tucker original of "Hi-Heel Sneakers" - Hughes' version featuring some nice guitar for sure but still nowhere near as good as the 'put on' version we know and love. 

Ben & Spence save things with "Long Ago" - the kind of humdinger Motown or Stax would have been proud to call their own. And although the recording is defiantly rough around the Production edges, there's no knocking the vocal performance Jeanie Greene puts in for "Don't Make Me Hate Loving You" - a pained plea of the highest Soulful calibre. Dan Penn ends Side 2 by telling us that his old car might run funny, but he's still gonna give his girl his heart - if he can just get his mojo and motor into second gear (we're rooting for you man). 

George Jackson shows just why Soul Music aficionados adore him so as he slaughters the gorgeous "Back In Your Arms" - his woman pawning her best clothes so she can put food on the table for her temporarily broke beau. But Billy Young finds that unless he can "Feed The Flame" for his lady - she might buy back her finest apparel (from the same pawn shop no doubt) and head for the door. An upbeat dancer is needed about now and no man better than Clarence Carter to provide swivel-hip sustenance with his fantastic "Thread The Needle". 

Things slip again with the embarrassing sunshine-pop tweeness of "Wish You Didn't Have To Go" (not Spooner Oldham's finest moment) but the compilation is saved by June Conquest and her movie-sexy conscience-battle song, where she caught a glimpse of her former squeeze's wavy hair and was "Almost Persuaded" (keep it stiff June, that resolve). Arthur Conley doesn't initially know what he's going to do with his broken self either in "I'm Gonna Forget About You" - but then summons up his inner bad boy and decides that he's gonna go out and have a ball anyway (what a melch). 

Make no mistake - there is a lot of quality on the 2020 CD reissue of "This Is Fame 1964-1968". 

But as Clint Eastwood is fond of saying at a Wigan Casino all-nighter - for a few tracks more - it could have been good, bad and just a little less ugly in certain places. 

Still, with enough musical goodness to keep us shuffling on the kitchen lino for less than a fistful of Euros - "This Is Fame 1964-1968" is recommended anyway...