"Eternal Journey: The Arrangements And Productions Of Charles Stepney" by CHARLES STEPNEY and Various Artists – 20 Tracks (17 in Stereo, 3 in Mono) Featuring Ramsey Lewis, Minnie Riperton, The Dells, Billy Stewart, The Meditation Singers, The Rotary Connection (with vocalists Minnie Riperton, Sidney Barnes, Kitty Haywood, Shirley Wahl and Dave Scott plus Guitarist Phil Upchurch, Drummer Maurice White with Saxophonist Donald Myrick, both later with Earth, Wind & Fire), Terry Callier, Marlena Shaw, Little Milton, Phil Upchurch (with Donny Hathaway on Piano), Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy (February 2026 UK Ace/Beat Goes Public (BGP) CD and 2LP VINYL 20-Track compilation with Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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Overall: ****

Presentation/Booklet: ****

Audio: *****

"….The Love We Have, Stays On My Mind…"

I'd been looking forward to this release for months. When I worked the Rarities Counter at Reckless Records in Islington and Soho for almost two decades - us Rock laddies who also loved Soul Music had two pet hero worships - Norman Whitfield over at Motown, Tamla and Rare Earth (Temptations, Four Tops, Rare Earth, The Undisputed Truth) alongside the mighty Charles Stepney helming the funkier subsidiaries of Chess Records - Cadet, Cadet Concept and Checker. Soul meets Psych Soul meets Folk Soul - oh yes - yum yum. 

As a veteran of over 4,000 reviews - most to do with CD reissues - I'd petitioned people like Ace and Edsel and BGO to do a Charles Stepney Box Set as a pride of place in their catalogues. Now after ten to fifteen years - we finally get something approximating it - but (and I say this with a heavy heart) - this Single CD (and 2LP Vinyl Set) is not without its track choice problems. It's still four solid stars overall - but I wanted five and more - maybe Volume 2... 

There is much to discuss, so let's get to Love That Stays - here are the technical details...

 

UK released Friday, 27 February 2026 - "Eternal Journey: The Arrangements And Productions Of Charles Stepney" by CHARLES STEPNEY and VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDTOP 320 (Barcode 029667115223) is a 20-Track 1CD and 20-Track 2LP VINYL compilation featuring his Productions at Chess, Cadet, Checker and Cadet Concept Records in the USA between 1967 and 1973. The 2LP VINYL Set of "Eternal Journey: The Arrangements And Productions Of Charles Stepney" is released the same day (also 20-Tracks) on Ace/Beat Goes Public BGPX2 320 (Barcode 029667028714) and is a Limited Edition (priced at £30 from Ace). 

The artists covered on this BGP compilation are Ramsey Lewis, Minnie Riperton, The Dells, Billy Stewart, The Meditation Singers, The Rotary Connection (a seven-piece group specifically created by Charles Stepney with Marshall Chess to feature both Minnie Riperton and the labels version of Psych-Soul – the band featuring vocalists Minnie Riperton, Sidney Barnes, Kitty Haywood, Shirley Wahl and Dave Scott with Guitarists Phil Upchurch and Peter Cosey and founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, Drummer Maurice White with Saxophonist Donald Myrick), Terry Callier, Marlena Shaw, Little Milton, Phil Upchurch (with Donny Hathaway on Piano), Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. The CD plays out as follows (71:03 minutes):

1. Dear Prudence – RAMSEY LEWIS (from the March 1969 US LP "Mother Nature's Son" on Cadet Records LPS 821 in Stereo – May 1969 in the UK on Chess/Cadet CRS 4545 in Stereo – Whole LP is made up of Beatles cover versions from the 2LP set "The Beatles" (aka The White Album) recorded only weeks after that famous double-LP release worldwide in November 1968)

2. Les Fleur – MINNIE RIPERTON (from the September 1970 US Solo Debut LP "Come To My Garden" on GRT Records GRT 30001 in Stereo)

3. It's All Up To You – THE DELLS (from the August 1971 US LP "Freedom Means" on Cadet Records CA 50004 (no UK issue) – see also Track 13 from the same album – both songs written by Terry Callier and Larry Wade)

4. By The Time I Get To Phoenix – BILLY STEWART (January 1970 US 45-Single on Chess 2080, A-side (no UK issue) – a Jimmy Webb song made famous by Glen Campbell – Produced by Charles Stepney)

5. Stand Up And Be Counted – MEDITATION SINGERS (from the August 1968 US Third Studio LP "The Bad Apple" on Checker LPS 10044 in Stereo – song written by Gene Barge, Production by Ralph Bass with Lead Vocals by Secular Singer Laura Lee Newton - MONO)

6. Love Has Fallen On Me – THE NEW ROTARY CONNECTION (from their August 1971 sixth and final studio LP "Hey, Love" on Chess/Cadet Concept CC 50006 (October 1971 in the UK on Chess 6310 105) – track features Minnie Riperton on Lead Vocals)

7. What Color Is Love – TERRY CALLIER (from his December 1972 US third studio LP "What Color Is Love" on Chess/Cadet CA 50019 (no UK release) – track features Charles Stepney on Keyboards and Production, Phil Upchurch on Guitar, Donald Myrick of E, W & F on Saxophone and Flute with Arthur Hoyle of Sun Ra Arkestra on Trumpet)

8. Brother Where Are You – MARLENA SHAW (August 1967 US 45-single on Cadet 5571, Non-LP B-side of "Waiting For Charlie To Come Home" – an Oscar Brown Jr. song)

9. More And More – LITTLE MILTON (October 1967 US 45-single on Checker 1189, A-side – Produced by Billy Davis)

10. Eternal Journey – RAMSEY LEWIS (from the July 1968 US LP "Maiden Voyage" on Chess/Cadet Records LPS 811 in Stereo and September 1968 in the UK on Chess CRLS 4539 in Stereo – a co-write between Stepney and Lewis)

11. California Soul – MARLENA SHAW (from the November 1969 US LP on Cadet Records LPS-833 in Stereo – An Ashford & Simpson song featuring Production and Arrangements by Charles Stepney)

12. Can't Catch The Train – TERRY CALLIER (from his October 1973 US Fourth Studio Album "I Just Can’t Help Myself" on Cadet Records – Featuring Producer, Arranger and Musician Charles Stepney with Phil Upchurch, Richard Evans of The Soulful Strings and Don Myrick of The Pharaohs and Later Earth, Wind & Fire on Alto Sax)

13. The Love We Have (Stays On My Mind) – THE DELLS (from the August 1971 US LP "Freedom Means" on Cadet Records CA 50004 (no UK issue) – see also Track 3 from the same album – both songs written by Terry Callier and Larry Wade)

14. Teach Me How To Fly – ROTARY CONNECTION (from the October 1968 US Second Studio LP "Aladdin" on Cadet Concept Records LPS 317 in Stereo (May 1969 in the UK on Chess CRLS 4547 in Stereo) – a Sidney Barnes song with Sidney Barnes and Minnie Riperton on Lead Vocals)

15. More And More – PHIL UPCHURCH (from the May 1969 US LP "Upchurch" on Cadet LPS 827 in Stereo – features Chess Records session Bassist Louis Satterfield and future Atlantic Records Soul star Donny Hathaway on Piano)

16. I'm High Again – BO DIDDLEY (June 1968 US 45-single on Checker 1200, A-side – written by Sidney Barnes of Rotary Connection with Production sharded by Gene Page and Charles Stepney - MONO)

17. Let's Spend The Night Together – MUDDY WATERS (from his October 1968 US LP "Electric Mud" on Cadet Concept LPS 314 in Stereo, January 1969 UK on Chess Records CRLS 4542 in Stereo – a Rolling Stones cover version done in Psych-Blues style, produced by Stepney)

18. Smokestack Mountain – HOWLIN' WOLF (from his January 1969 US LP "The Howlin' Wolf Album" on Cadet Concept LPS 319 in Stereo – a re-make of his old Chess Records classic in a Psych-Blues vein (like the Muddy Waters LP, see Track 17) features members of Rotary Connection, Guitarists Phil Upchurch and Hubert Sumlin with Gene Barge on Saxophone and Don Myrick on Flute)

19. Girl, You Lit My Fire – JUNIOR WELLS (September 1968 US 45-single on Blue Rock B-4062, A-side – October 1968 UK 45-single on Mercury MF 1056, A-side - Produced by Eugene Daniels with Arrangements by CS - MONO)

20. I'm Gonna Keep It To Myself – BUDDY GUY (September 1967 US 45-single on Chess 2022, B-side of "I Suffer With The Blues" (no UK release) – Produced by Gene Barge and CS)

NOTES:

All Tracks in STEREO except Track 5, 16 and 19 in MONO

DEAN RUDLAND does his usual bang-up job in the liner notes of the 20-Page booklet - artists in alphabetical order rather than track order - photos of notables like The Dells, Rotary Connection, Terry Callier, Muddy in that silly priest's smock while Howlin' Wolf smiles from a house balcony. There is a small history of the artist for each entry and session-players (when known). I'm going to quote details from Rudland's stellar work extensively...

In some respects, Chicago-born Jazzer Charles Stepney was all but forgotten amongst Soul Boys until (typically) The English/Acid Jazz Obsessives started digging into the names surrounding the music they loved as they explored in secondhand record shops and LP crates in dark leery passages. In fact - the offshoot label of Cadet and Cadet Concept (a go-to name for collectors of Psych-Soul) had been on Marshall Chess' mind for some time, when he married it with the Genius that was Charles Stepney (Marshall waxed lyrical about Stepney on the Charlie Gillett Show on Radio London in the 90s - Born in Chicago in March 1931, multi-instrumentalist Stepney would pass far too early at only 45 in May 1976). 

Rudland's superb liner notes paints the picture of a meeting of minds that would move the genre needle forward massively. Marshall Chess and Stepney meet over dinner to discuss what would become Rotary Connection and Stepney arrives with an Entire Symphony in his briefcase. Marshall knew this was the guy. Stepney had already established himself too with the Chess Producers (Gene Barge, Billy Davis and Bobby Miller) for his speed and innovation. His mentoring of the Drummer with the Ramsey Lewis Trio - Maurice White and his Saxophonist Donald Myrick - would lead to Maurice forming the mighty Earth, Wind & Fire and the global success of Kalimba Productions (a name I remember reading in the EWF liner notes back in the Seventies day). Stepney also later pulled Soul Ladies The Emotions from a failing career at Stax and ditto to Deniece Williams' by Producing and Arranging the monster US & Worldwide R&B Soul smoocher "Free" for her - a Number 2 in the USA and No. 1 in the UK in 1976 on Epic Records (Free also featured Sidney Barnes of Rotary Connection on Vocals). Interestingly, Rudland's notes also mention a 4CD Box Set lingering across the decades for CS and that the "Eternal Journey..." compilation I am reviewing was first gathered in 2016 - and only through a 10-year perseverance - is it with us at all! (Radiohead namechecked the great man in 2016 on their "A Moon Shaped Pool" album). 

But the really great news is stunning audio from NICK ROBBINS Remasters - the best I've heard to date of Cadet material. Let's get to the meat and potatoes... 

Norman Whitfield over at Motown and Charles Stepney at Chess were at the very forefront of Progressive Soul between 1968 and 1974 – genres like Psych-Soul and Folk-Soul that have attained near mythical connotations amongst Soul and Rock collectors and music lovers. This compilation isn't perfect – I mean where is there a photo of the main man? We get Howlin Wolf, Terry Callier, The Rotary Connection, The Dells and so on – all the big artist names associated with CS - but none of Stepney himself? The album collage on the front cover is a nice touch too – hip albums amongst those in-the-know like The (New) Rotary Connection's "Hey, Love", Marlena Shaw's "The Spice Of Life" and Muddy Waters' mad Psych-Blues LP "Electric Mud". 

It opens so strongly with Ramsey Lewis and his band getting their grubby paws on "The Beatles" (White Album) only days after its release in November 1968 so they could do an entire album of covers from it which they aptly named "Every Mother's Son". The Audio quality on their Funky-Piano-Driven instrumental of "Dear Prudence" is fantastic - drums, bass, those swirling Stepney string arrangements going ape as the 4:37 minute neck-jerker builds to a fab finish. Door No. 2 and in sails Minnie Riperton with Rotary Connection for the huge Acid Jazz fave "Les Fleur" - and again you're whomped with gorgeous audio as the ladies and gents raise it up to the heavens (love that Trumpet and Glockenspiel break at 1:40). Two album stunners came out of the Cadet Concept camp in 1971 - Rotary's "Hey, Love" and The Dells giving it some 'always be happy' "Freedom Means" (Track 3 is The Dells). Written by Terry Callier and Larry Wade - The Dells tune "It's All Up To You" is more old-skool swirling Soul than Psych-Soul and Rudland quite rightly emphasises this in his superb liner notes. The British vinyl variants of either LP (on Chess) are so hard to find - and as a rarities guy in a busy West End store - I could count on one hand how many times I saw copies. Lovely stuff. 

I could honestly do without the Jimmy Webb cover of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (a song made famous of course by Glen Campbell) coming from Billy Stewart - good rather than great. Righteous preaching by way of that Staple Singers sound comes in the shape of The Meditation Singers – lead vocalist Laura Lee Newton telling us to "Stand Up And Be Counted". Speaking of great lady-lead vocal group ensembles, collectors will wallow in the Piano-Funky feel-so-good vibes in "Love Has Fallen On Me" Minnie Riperton and Kitty Haywood wailing and harmonizing in such a magical almost ethereal way.

More genius song choices come in the shape of the sexy Jazz-Soul-Psych of the compilation title track "Eternal Journey" (written by Stepney with Ramsey Lewis) with Minnie Riperton giving it some glass shattering vocal gymnastics (like a violin note being drawn across a rusty fret) only to later hah like she’s having an orgasm. While all this is signifying, Ramsey Lewis plinks on his Piano like the chugga-chugga Funkmeister he undoubtedly was. It is fantastic stuff – anchored by stunning Bass from Cleveland East with Maurice White on shuffling Drums. That is followed by Marlena Shaw's every popular cover version of Ashford & Simpson's "California Soul" – a huge Acid Jazz tune for over three decades now. The sheer class of Soul Vocal Groups at the top of their game comes screaming through with The Dells doing their gorgeous "The Love We Have (Stays On My Mind)". The final cut by Buddy Guy is a forgotten gem – brilliant Stepney Brass arrangements elevating a standard R&B and Blues Boogie into something better – it may only be three-minutes but it kicks longer butt. 

But there are missteps for me – the manic rhythm, scat vocals and warbling sax of the Terry Callier track "Can't Catch The Train" do my brain in – and nothing on that front has changed when I re-listen to it here. And I know it has been done to death over the last fifteen years especially, but where is the Phil Upchurch and Rotary Connection anthem "I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun" that Nuyorcian Soul made famous again in the Nineties. Or why choose the lesser sub-5th Dimension sounding "Teach Me How To Fly" by The Rotary Connection over Terry Callier’s magnificent songwriting contribution to their "Hey, Love!" album with "Song For Everyone" – an absolute barnstormer and VERY Charles Stepney. Or how about the stunning string arrangements on "Looking Through The Eyes of Love" where Stepney goes all Petula Clark meets Bacharach & David while Minnie soars uncredited in the background hitting those ludicrous octaves. 

I would have placed both Dave Scott lead-vocal barnstormers "Hanging Round The Bee Tree" and the title track on the August 1971 US "Hey, Love" album as stunning examples of Stepney and his arrangement skills not just with strings but vocal charts. And despite being penned by Sidney Barnes of The Rotary Connection with Production Values from heroes like Gene Page and Stepney – the Bo Diddley Checker 45 A-side "I'm High Again" is very average fare. The my-heart-is-not-in-it Muddy Waters cover of The Rolling Stones classic "Let's Spend The Night Together" sounds wildly out-of-place. The Howlin Wolf remake of his own "Smokestack Lightning" just about pulls it off – but again – feels out of place somehow here. However, the last two tracks - the 45s for Junior Wells and Buddy Guy are great entries and very clever choices. And - it must be noted with some strength that these are the Best Remasters I've heard of this material to date - and that is a joy to behold - so five stars on the Audio Remasters.

To sum up - a tad disappointing perhaps in track choices, songs that should have been on here and that omission of a photograph of Stepney is a clumsy goof - but "Eternal Journey..." is still a huge feather in Ace's Reissue cap and for me - a reissue to savour in early 2026...(I've ordered the 2LP set too as a collectable)...