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The second Expanded Edition CD Reissue by Warners and Rhino for Archie Bell & The Drells is another reasonably priced well-presented audio winner - the first being November 2004's "Tighten Up/I Can't Stop Dancing", both of those albums from 1968 and also on Atlantic Records (see separate review).
This time remastering their August 1969 third studio album "There's Gonna Be A Showdown" in luverly Stereo - WSM have bolstered up proceedings with a generous eleven 45-single sides and a further Four Previously Unreleased. The other three cuts newly discovered in the Warner Vaults are on the "Tighten Up/I Can't Stop Dancing" twofer reissue along with other non-LP goodies.
There is a lot of talcum powder dancing nirvana available on this rather brill little CD - very tasty indeed. So as Archie Bell, The Drells and their songwriting pals Gamble & Huff used to say, here we go again...
UK released 15 November 2004 - "There's Gonna Be A Showdown" by ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS on Warner Strategic Marketing (WSM)/Rhino 5046-76156-2 (Barcode 5050467615625) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster featuring the 1969 Atlantic Records Album in Stereo plus 15 Bonus Tracks (11 Single Sides and 4 Previously Unreleased) that plays out as follows (71:51 minutes):
1. I Love My Baby [Side 1]
2. Houston Texas
3. (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown
4. Giving Up Dancing
5. Girl You're Too Young
6. Mama Didn't Teach Me That Way
7. Do The Hand Jive [Side 2]
8. My Balloon's Going Up
9. Here I Go Again
10. Go For What You Know
11. Green Power
12. Just A Little Closer
Tracks 1 to 12 are their third studio album "There's Gonna Be A Showdown" - released August 1969 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 8226 in Stereo (didn’t chart R&B but made No. 183 in the Rock LP charts). It received a belated UK release in September 1972 on Atlantic K 40454 with the same 12-tracks but using different artwork.
NON-ALBUM SINGLES (US catalogue numbers)
13. Get It From The Bottom
14. I Wish
Tracks 13 and 14 were the A&B-sides of Atlantic 45-2744, July 1970
15. A World Without Music
Track 15 was the A-side of Atlantic 45-2693, December 1969 - its US B-side was "Here I Go Again" (Track 9)
16. Don't Let The Music Slip Away
Track 16 was the A-side of Atlantic 45-2721, April 1970 - its B-side was the LP cut "Houston Texas" (Track 2)
17. Wrap It Up
18. Deal With Him
Tracks 17 and 18 were the A&B-sides of Atlantic 45-2768, October 1970
19. I Just Want To Fall In Love
20. Love At First Sight
Tracks 19 and 20 were the A&B-sides of Atlantic 45-2793, May 1971
21. Archie's In Love
22. Let The World Know You Got Soul
Tracks 21 and 22 were the A&B-sides of Atlantic 45-2829, August 1971
23. I Can't Face You Baby
Track 23 was the A-side of Atlantic 45-2855, January 1972 - the B-side was the LP cut "Green Power" (Track 11)
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SELECTIONS
24. One Night Affair (Gamble & Huff song, 2:36 minutes)
25. Smile (2:40 minutes)
26. Slow Down Baby (Gamble & Huff song, 2:43 minutes)
27. Patches (General Johnson & Ron Dunbar song, 3:54 minutes)
Compiled by RICK CONRAD - the 16-page booklet is a pleasingly chunky affair with new liner notes from CHARLES WARING, long-time contributor to the Blues & Soul, Mojo and Record Collector magazines as well as the principal penman for Beat Goes On and their vast array of BGO Soul, Funk and Jazz CD reissues. There are two page-sized Atlantic Records promo photos for the smiling toothsome four-piece as well as repros of those American Atlantic 45s. There is even a Note on the large amount of Bonuses and the newly discovered outtakes - two of which are Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff originals - and a further 2004 interview with Archie Bell commenting on his group's place in Soul Music history. And the DAN HERSCH/BILL INGLOT Remasters from real tapes kick ass - so many cool Stereo moments. To the tunes...
As the liner notes explain – Archie Bell & The Drells to the American public seemed to be a great SINGLES band – and no more. The "Showdown..." LP was not a success by any means on release in the summer of 1969. It didn’t make the Top 100 US R&B LP charts at all and scraped No. 163 in the adult LP charts where it lasted a paltry 3 weeks. But re-listening to it now, you have to wonder why? Perhaps a glut of so many great Soul records in 1969 – who knows?
Hindsight, however, has been kinder – especially for those looking to limber up their limbs. Time to talk about the song the album is most famously associated with. Sporting a deadly Motown backbeat and irresistible dancefloor shuffle, "Here I Go Again" had belatedly become a huge hit on the British Northern Soul circuit. Issuing the 1969 cut in Blighty in August 1972, Atlantic K 10210 eventually entered the UK Pop charts in early October 1972 and thereafter rose up to an impressive No.11. A further surprise came when the LP's title song "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown" was smartly paired with the popular Drells 60ts anthem "Tighten Up" on Atlantic K 10263 in January 1973 - only to see that British 45 rise to No. 36.Both A-sides from the album "Showdown..." and their equally tasty flips would become the Houston foursome's British chart debuts.
Recorded at various sessions between October 1968 and May 1969 – a huge eleven of the twelve tracks on the LP made it onto singles – the exception being Archie's own "Mama Didn't Teach Me That Way" (the booklet provides their catalogue numbers beneath each track entry should you want to know what went where). The songwriter shadows of Gamble & Huff as well as Thom Bell loom large on quality tracks like "Do The Hand Jive" and the bopper "I Love My Baby" - while Archie placed a further tasty titbit in the shape of the Side 2 finisher "Just A Little Closer".
The non-LP US 45s appeared quickly after the relative failure of the August LP – starting at December 1969 with the excellent Atlantic 2693 that unwisely put "A World Without Music" on the A-side with the winner that is "Here I Go Again" relegated to the flipside. The singles kept on coming through 1970 and into 1971 – getting funk and sexy on cuts like The Temptations-sounding "Wrap It Up". And even if the no-dancing warning in "A World Without Music" wouldn't be my cup of tea in 2021, "One Night Affair" in the unreleased foursome is a discovery G&H fans will chew up.
"...I been in a daze, gotta find another girl that can be trusted... " Archie warns in the so Northern Soul dancer "My Balloon's Going Up". So many great tunes like that bringing me back to a misspent youth. Think with your heart, this is one you can trust...
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