"Steppin' Stone: The XL and Sounds Of Memphis Story Volume 3" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – 22 Seventies-Tracks That Includes Four US 45-Singles from 1971, 1972 and 1973 and Eighteen Previously Unreleased (May 2010 UK Ace/Kent-Soul CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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One that seems to have slipped through the reissue net – 22 Seventies cuts from the Sounds Of Memphis Studios (18 Previously Unreleased) – most in the tradition of Southern Soul. It's a mixed bag for sure - but there's more winners on here than losers. Here's the nitty gritty on the tape-box discoveries...

UK released May 2010 – "Steppin' Stone: The XL and Sounds Of Memphis Story Volume 3" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 339 (Barcode 029667233927) breaks down as follows (73:59 minutes):

1. If You Never See Me – WILLIE WALKER
2. I Won't Have To Cry No More – WILLIAM BOLINGER
3. Saturday In The Park – THE JACKSONIANS
4. Hook, Line & Sinker – THE MINITS
5. How Can I Get Next To You (Alternate Vocal) – GEORGE JACKSON
6. I'm Your Slave – OTIS WHEAT
7. You're Slipping Away – DAN GREER
8. I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know – THE JACKSONIANS
9. People Are Talking – WILLIAM BOLLINGER
10. Run Around – WILLIE WALKER
11. Love Letters – THE MINITS (1971 USA 7" single on Sounds Of Memphis 703, A)
12. Sparkle Eyes – THE JACKSONIANS (1973 USA 7" single on MGM 14640, A)
13. Always Treat Your Woman – ART JERRY MILLER
14. Chirpin' – LOU ROBERTS
15. Take A Look At Yourself – DAN GREER
16. Love Trying To Come – GEORGE JACKSON
17. Love Is Blind – ERMA SHAW
18. Steppin' Stone – LOUIS WILLIAMS
19. Lover Boy – THE MINITS (1972 USA 7" single on Sounds Of Memphis 706, A)
20. Guessing Game – JIMI HILL (1973 USA 7" single on Sounds Of Memphis 719, A)
21. Because Of You – TEKELIA KELLY
22. The Plumber – THE OVATIONS
NOTES: All tracks are STEREO except 2, 6, 9, 14 and 22 – which are MONO

For a Kent-Soul release – the 12-page booklet feels strangely slight – even with great detail from number one Soul Man DEAN RUDLAND with reminiscences from Linda Lucchesi who ran the Studios in the Eighties. There's a photo of the 3 ladies in The Minits, the 7-strong man-crew of The Jacksonians, an in-studio snap of Producers Bill Lucchesi, Tom James and Nick Paladina and a staged shot of little Jimi Hill smiling as he signs a recording contract (Dan Greer overseeing proceedings). The sound is uniformly brilliant – remastered by long-standing engineer DUNCAN COWELL – especially on the Stereo cuts with Audio Restoartion from ROB SHREAD.

As you can see from the track list above – only 4 of the 22 cuts were officially released as US 45-singles – the others are previously unreleased songs/versions from the vaults and tape boxes of the Sounds Of Memphis studios. And truthfully the quality count is shockingly high – it really is (track after track impresses).

It opens with two goodies "If You Never See Me Again" (Willie Walker giving it some Terence Trent D'Arby guttural vocals) and the softer "I Won't Have To Cry No More" which is a Northern Soul shuffle. It's unfortunately easy to hear why "Saturday In The Park" stayed in the can – the instrumentation is excellent but the vocal is all over the place – flat and almost out of tune. Far better is the wicked Ike Turner guitar-groove of "Hook, Line & Sinker" where The Minits blast out a funky winner. 

Things take a proper Southern Soulful turn with the alternate take of George Jackson's "How Can I Get Next To You?" – as lovely a tune as he ever put his stunningly emotional pipes to (superb Saxophone solo). It's the first of two new cuts from him – the other is the awkwardly titled "Love Trying To Come" - a slow groove with a good if not unconvincing vocal (both titles will be big draws for fans). Otis Wheat is new to me but he had a sweet almost talking-voice and the love song "I'm Your Slave" is very good indeed.

A genuine blast is a cover version of Al Kooper's Blood, Sweat & Tears masterpiece "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" done to pleading Soul heartbreak perfection by The Jacksonians (named after Jackson in Mississippi) where lead vocalist Whitney Jebb, Jr. tears up a storm. As Rudland points out, the vocal bears more than a passing resemblance to Donny Hathaway's version of the song - and
William Bolling hitting those upbeat high notes on "People Are Talking" is akin to Jackie Wilson in his Sixties prime – a wicked inclusion and shocking "People Are Talking" wasn't issued as a single. 

"Chirpin'" by Lou Roberts isn't great – better is the beautifully produced "Take A Look At Yourself" from Dan Greer where he urges his lady to "...clean up her mess..." (what a guy!). We get a bit slap-bass funky on "Love Is Blind" where Erma Shaw seems vocally unsuitable to the tune – better is the sweetly string-laden "Lover Boy" by The Minits. Jimi Hill comes across as a young Michael Jackson circa The Jackson 5 (hardly great) but far better is the smooch of "Because Of You" by Tekelia Kelly (who's pictured in the booklet in the studio with Bill Lucchesi). It ends on the lead singer of The Ovations telling us he's ready to fix any lady's plumbing – which you have to admit – is very generous of him...

So there you have it – May 2010's "Steppin' Stone: The XL and Sounds Of Memphis Story Volume 3" was always going to be a mixed bag of the great and the not-so-great with such a huge number of unreleased. Thankfully the good stuff outweighs the filler. Well done to England's Kent-Soul for getting this rich mine of Soul material out there and tickling us pink...