"Atlanta: Hotbed Of 70s Soul" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Sixteen Previously Unreleased Tracks from the vaults of GRC, Aware and Hotlanta Records and other Michael Thevis Related Labels - Featuring Songs by Sam Dees, Joe Hinton, Kenneth Wright, Louvain Demps, Dee Ervin, King Hannibal and more (March 2024 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation with Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATINGS:

*** Material

**** Audio Remasters

***** Presentation

"…Grant Me One More Day…"

Ace Records of the UK via their Kent-Soul label imprint have been on a crusade for a decade-plus now to repatriate the city of Atlanta in our hearts as a (as they would put it) criminally unacknowledged hotpot of US Soul. 

None no more so than the labels around entrepreneur Michael Thevis who owned and went to jail for GRC Records (General Recording Company). Giving a platform to quality singers and Southern-Soul songwriters like Sam Dees, Jimmy Lewis, Joe Hinton, Kenneth Wright, Joe Graham, Louvain Demps, Dee Ervin and James Shaw aka King Hannibal (to name but a few) – this 30 March 2024 CD compilation offers up a whopping Sixteen Previously Unreleased - sat comfortably alongside Eight other hard-to-find Soul Rarities. 

I would however counter Ace's claims that this is Primo Material – there's a feeling throughout the listen that these OK-renditions remained in the cans for reasons. Sure there are great discoveries and worthy inclusions (Miss Louistine, Shirlean Fant and Lorraine Johnson) and the Audio is far better than it had any divine right to be - but there are too many of the opposite to justify claims of Holy Grails. To the Love Making and the Love Stopping…here are the Hotlanta details...

UK released Friday, 29 March 2024 - "Atlanta: Hotbed Of 70s Soul" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 518 (Barcode 029667109826) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (79:15 minutes):

1. Con Me – MISS LOUISTINE (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a David Camon and Sam Dees song)

2. Paper Man – ALPACA PHASE III (2023 UK 45-Single, Deep Soul 16, A-side – a 1974 Recording by Sam Dees, Wes Lewis, and Ken Walker)

3. Is There Someone Else – DEEP VELVET (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Mose Davis song)

4. The Soul Of Black Folks – KENNETH WRIGHT (Previously Unreleased, 2024 - a Kenneth Wright song)

5. Grant Me One More Day – JOE HINTON (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Louvain Demps and Joe Hinton song)

6. Keep On Walking – THE STEPPERS (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a JJ Barnes, James Davis and Herbert Ross song)

7. Time Is Winding Up – DOROTHY NORWOOD (from the 2011 UK 2LP set "Superfunk's Mission Impossible: Hard To Find And Unreleased Funk Masters (Volume 7)" on Ace/BGP Records BGP2 234 - CD Version is BGP Records CDBGPD 234 – a Kenneth Mims, Dorothy Norwood and Lois Snead song)

8. Love Making – JEAN BATTLE (April 1972 US 45-single, Red Lite RL 119, A-side – May 1972 UK 45-single, Mojo 2027 010, A-side – a Sam Dees song)

9. Extra-Extra – MISS LOUISTINE (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Sam Dees song)

10. I'm Tired Of Dreaming – DEEP VELVET (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – Joe Hinton and Marlin McNichols song)

11. Depend On Me – JOE HINTON (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Louvain Demps and Joe Hinton)

12. Me And Jen – KENNETH WRIGHT (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Kenneth Wright song)

13. What Am I To Do – JOE GRAHAM (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Joe Graham song)

14. Sure Could Do With Some You – SHIRLEAN FANT (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Brad Baker, Shirlean Fant and Ed Williams song)

15. Someone To Run To – ALPACA PHASE III (Originally an Alternate Version first issued January 2015 on the Sam Dees UK CD Compilation "It's Over: 70s Songwriter Demos & Masters", Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 426)

16. Can I Hold You To It – LORRAINE JOHNSON (May 1973 US 45-single, Atlantic 45-2967, A-side – Sam Dees, Albert Gardner, Jesse Lewis, and Clinton Moon song)

17. When Will I Stop Loving You – LORRAINE JOHNSON (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – an Albert Gardner and Jesse Lewis song)

18. I Need Me Some More Of You – DEE ERVIN (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – Di Fosco Ervin and Dee Dee McNeil song)

19. Shouldn't I Be Given The Right To Be Wrong – JOE HINTON (1974 US 45-single, Hotlanta HL 306, B-side of "Hanna's Love")

20. Fight Fire With Fire – KING HANNIBAL (Originally issued on the July 2022 UK LP "Atlanta Soul Artistry 1965-1975" on Ace/Kent Soul KENT 523 – a James Shaw and Delia Gartell song – Shaw is King Hannibal)

21. Talk's Cheap – THE SURPRISE SISTERS (from the 2011 UK 2LP set "Superfunk's Mission Impossible: Hard To Find And Unreleased Funk Masters (Volume 7)" on Ace/BGP Records BGP2 234 - CD is BGP Records CDBGPD 234 – a Sam Dees song)

22. Loneliness Hurts Just A Little Bit – JOE GRAHAM (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Joe Graham song)

23.There'll Always Be Forever – LOMITA JOHNSON (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Di Fosco Ervin and Dee Dee McNeill song)

24. My Peaceful Forest – DEE CLARK (Previously Unreleased, 2024 – a Herb Ryals song)

NOTES: 
All Tracks STEREO except Tracks 8, 10, 12, 17, 19 and 20 in MONO

ADY CROASDELL does the honours once more for Ace in this latest Kent Soul CD compilation breaking down the liner notes info into Artists sections rather than a strict track-by-track. His vast and enthusiastic knowledge is key – swathes of facts and names and Promo photos for Deep Velvet, Miss Louistine, Joe Hinton, Lorraine Johnson, King Hannibal, and Dee Clark bringing up the rear (the last page of 20). The front cover of the booklet is The Steppers in all their 70ts regalia. The Audio is uniformly great even on some of the Demo-ish sounding Mono cuts (NICK ROBBINS for Ace once again displaying his transfer skills) but I wish I could be more enthusiastic about the actual playlist. It feels like 3-star material with 4-star Audio in a 5-star presentation. To the Soul Music…

"Atlanta: Hotbed Of 70s Soul" opens very strongly with a gorgeous Stylistics type Sitar Soul Ballad in Stereo from Miss Louistine – her "Con Me" promising a feast of similar discoveries. "Paper Man" too from Alpaca Phase III – only just issued in 2023 as a 45-single with a Sam Dees cut on the B-side – you can hear why its 3:37-minute warmth and great vocal would appeal. But then the CD starts to taper off into what feels like tunes that are good without ever having that magic. 

Things pick up with the Jesus-righteous Dorothy Norwood getting funky about the world falling apart in her excellent "Time Is Winding Up" (even the congregation is being attacked) while a genuinely uplifting sexy moment arrives with Jean Battle and her only UK 45-single – the decidedly racy and bedroom-saucy needs of a motivated lady in her "Love Making". Just the right side of Jean Knight and "Mr. Big Stuff" attitude – Jean had a great voice and with its Brass vs. Piano Funky groove and its my-man-is-a-top-man-in-loving lyrics, you can hear why this Red Lite Records US 45-obscurity from 1972 is garnishing interest. Unfortunately it is ruined by the manic Disco vibe of Extra-Extra by Miss Louistine – might have been a hit back in the day had it been released – but here in 2024 it just sounds painful.

Deep Velvet score for a second time with the excellent "I'm Tired Of Dreaming" – written by Joe Hinton and Marlin McNichols – it was mistakenly credited to just Joe Hinton on the July 2022 UK LP "Atlanta Soul Artistry 1965-1975" - but Kent Soul now credit it properly to Deep Velvet. Unfortunately the Kenneth Wright track "Me And Jen" has good ideas going on, but a DIY recording and his over-echoed refrains feel like bad Sly Stone doing a demo he won't make public any time soon. The Country-Soul Drifters-light smooch of "What Am To Do" by Joe Graham might have had a chance in the charts of the day, but his flat delivery on some lines explains why it was canned. And on it goes…

I love Sam Dees songs (his influence is everywhere on this disc) – but I found I was trying too hard to like "Atlanta: Hotbed Of 70s Soul" without getting a return. 

Fans will have to own it, but for the uninitiated, I would suggest a listen first…