"Grits & Gravy: The Best Of The Fame Gang" by THE FAME GANG (March 2015 UK Ace/Beat Goes Public (BGP) 25-Track CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Sax Appeal..."

Motown had its in-house band in The Funk Brothers - Muscle Shoals had The Swampers - and Alabama’s Fame Studios had THE FAME GANG. And that’s where this haul of 25 Groovy Soul nuggets comes in (a whopping 19 of which are Previously Unreleased). Here are the details...

UK released 30 March 2015 (April 2015 in the USA) – "Grits & Gravy: The Best Of The Fame Gang" by THE FAME GANG on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 288 (Barcode 029667528825) pans out as follows (74:15 minutes):

(Except where noted all tracks are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED recordings from 1969-1970):

1. Grits And Gravy (Extended Version of a 1969 USA 7" single on Fame 1458, A)

2. Twangin' My Thang (1970 USA 7" single on Fame 1471, A)

3. Cannonball

4. Stand

5. Snortnin’ Bread

6. Groove Killer

7. Crime Don’t Pay

8. Your Good Thing (from the 1969 USA LP "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200)

9. Soul Feud (1969 USA 7" single on Fame 1458)

10. Shaolin'

11. Turn Your Chicken Loose (1970 USA 7" single on Fame 1471)

12. It’s Your Thing (from the 1969 USA LP "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200)

13. Choice Of Colors from the 1969 USA LP "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200)

14. Hey Joe

15. Soul Stutterin'

16. Sunrise

17. Walk Tall

18. Twenty Five Miles

19. Rang's Thang

20. Smokestack Lightning

21. Sax Appeal

22. Shufflin'

23. Canteloupe Island

24. Muscle Soul

25. Twangin' My Thang (Alternate Version)

THE FAME GANG (Mk III line-up) were:

TRAVIS WAMMACK and JUNIOR LOWE - Guitar

RONNIE EADES - Baritone and Tenor Saxophone

AARON VARNELL - Tenor and Alto Saxophone

HARVEY THOMPSON – Tenor Saxophone and Flute

HARRISON CALLOWAY - Trumpet and Trombone

CLAYTON IVEY - Piano and Organ

JESSE BOYCE - Bass

FREEMAN BROWN - Drums

MICKEY BUCKINS - Percussion

All Fame Sessions Produced by MICKEY BUCKINS and RICK HALL

The 16-page booklet has Compiler and Archive Researcher ALEC PALAO waxing lyrical about the three incarnations of The Fame Gang (Mark III is listed above) – one of three in-house groups Rick Hall had organised for his many US studio projects (The Swampers were under his dutiful eye too). Reminiscences from Guitarist Junior Lowe, Percussionist Mickey Buckins, Keyboard Player Clayton Ivey and others who were there - enliven the story with a sense of the excitement they felt on a daily basis. The band of nine stand proudly outside 603 East Avalon Avenue in Alabama (Fames Studios) in glorious colour on Page 7 looking like well-dressed hipsters. 

Their lone American album from December 1969 called "Solid Gold From Muscle Shoals" on Capitol SKAO-4200 is pictured in Cashbox-Advert form on Page 12 of the booklet with a couple of their rare 45s from the same peppering the hugely affection text.

Long-standing Engineer NICK ROBBINS handled the transfers/remastering from original tapes and the Audio is the usual top-class affair from Ace – funky as a gnat's undercarriage on a charcoal grill. This CD kicks in the sound department – it really does – great Stereo grooves (mostly instrumentals).

It opens with a total Funky winner – the instrumental Saxophone and Organ of “Grits And Gravy” extended from its single playing time of 2:35 minutes to a pleasing 4:01 minutes. It’s like stumbling on the JB’s having a blast with Booker T & The MG’s – I can’t help thinking this should be reissued as a 7” for 2015. Travis Wammack penned the guitar-funky groove of “Twangin’ My Thang” which is broken up with a chorus-line of backing singers chanting the title line throughout. Next up is a wild guitar workout called “Cannonball” where someone (the liner notes suggest it’s probably Wammack) goes Eric Clapton’s Cream on his axe to a funky backdrop.

We’re then hit with one of many 1969 and 1970 cover versions - beginning with an instrumental of Sly Stone's "Stand". Once you hear the unreleased haul you can hear why they included - too good to be left languishing in a box somewhere. They tackle Curtis Mayfield's sublime "Choice Of Colors", The Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing", Hendrix's version of the Billy Roberts tune "Hey Joe", Isaac Hayes and David Porter's "Your Good Thing", Edwin Starr's "Twenty Five Miles", Cannonball Adderley's "Walk Tall" (part-penned by Weather Report's Joe Zawinul) and even Herbie Hancock's classic piano and vibe piece "Cantaloupe Island". Of their own compositions "Shortnin' Bread" and "Sunrise" are provided by Harrison Calloway while Aaron Varnell gives us "Groove Killer" and co-writes with others in the band on "Turn My Chicken Loose" and "Sax Appeal". The Jesse Boyce and Albert Lowe written "Soul Feud" is another instrumental highlight for sure – Harmonica warbling over flick-funky guitar with Saxophones complimenting the utterly wicked groove (yummy).

It’s not all unreleased genius for sure - some of the covers work less well than you would imagine. For instance Edwin Starr's "Twenty Five Miles" is a dead-ringer for a band like this to do a Funk Cover of it – yet their take on the song is a bit weedy really and probably why it was left off the album. Far better is "It's Your Thing" where they take The Isley Brothers strut and cleverly supplement it with “Doo Doo Bop" backing vocals. Another brilliant rearrangement comes in the shape of their version of Hancock's "Canteloupe Island" – cool and funky – the double-whammy. It sounds utterly brilliant too and I'm certain will be filling up homemade CD compilations real soon.

Another winner from Ace  – and if you're a fiend for a Funky Groove like me – you're gonna have to own "Grits & Gravy"... 

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“Kicking Back” by JOE HOUSTON - 1978 US LP on Big Town Records featuring Larry Johnson, Ted Butler, Bo Rhambo and Freddy Clark (May 2015 UK Ace/Beat Goes Public CD Remaster of a 1978 Big Town Records LP) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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-------------------------------------------------------

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"...Trippin' In..."

Texas Saxophonist JOE HOUSTON was 51 in 1978 when he recorded the long-forgotten and overlooked "Kicking Back" LP for Big Town Records - a Los Angeles based label run by Jules Bihari of Fifties Modern Records fame. 

In fact, Joe Houston's younger self formed a band in the late Forties for none other than Atlantic Records legend Big Joe Turner (Turner's first recordings for Freedom). But those glory days were long behind Joe Houston when he came to record this mixture of old Rhythm 'n' Blues married with Saxophone Funk and Blues Guitar.

In some ways Big Town Records felt like the graveyard for old guys trying to get a new break in the post Disco world – so their LPs got ignored at the time and deleted quickly. Decades later DJs in the USA and UK began to plunder these late Seventies recordings for anything that contained Deep Funk Grooves – and on certain cuts like the two-part title track – they found what they were looking for. And that's where this CD reissue comes boppin' in. Here are Tenor Trippin' details...

UK released May 2015 (June 2015 in the USA) – "Kicking Back" by JOE HOUSTON on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPM 292 (Barcode 029667529228) is a straightforward CD reissue (mid-price) of the 1978 LP on Big Town Records BT 1004 – produced by Jules Bihari and Joe Houston. 

All songs are Houston/Bihari originals with Bihari credited under the pseudonym Jules Taub. The 8-page liner notes are by noted writer and genre-expert DEAN RUDLAND - a name that's been on a huge number of quality CD reissues. The CD has been superbly remastered from first generation master tapes by NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering in London and plays out as follows (34:36 minutes):

1. Hawaiian Disco [Side 1]

2. T-Bone Disco

3. Mr. Big "H"

4. Baby What You Want Me To Do

5. Trippin' In [Side 2]

6. Why Don't You Rock Me

7. Kicking Back Part 1

8. Kicking Back Part 2

JOE HOUSTON – Tenor & Soprano saxophone

LARRY JOHNSON – Guitar & Bass

TED BUTLER – Guitar & Bass

BO RHAMBO – Alto & Tenor Saxophone

FREDDY CLARK – Baritone & Tenor Saxophone 

ROSS SOLOMINE – Drums

The Audio is amazing – full of punch and vigour – very well done and DJs will love it. The album opens badly with two very dated tunes sounding like cod Rock 'n' Roll - both with the word "Disco" in them (the pair are best left alone I'm afraid). Track 3 on Side 1 however is different. Had the album opened with "Mr. Big "H"" you might have felt you'd stumbled on a forgotten monster that somehow slipped out of the James Brown school of Funk without anyone noticing. A wicked driving bass and flicky guitar rhythm section back up Houston as he gives it some JBs Saxophone stabs and jabs – blasting away for five minutes duration with a superb BB King type guitar solo half way through (a bit of a winner frankly – man would this be cool on a 12” single). We go straight into old time Rhythm 'n' Blues with the vocals of “Baby What You Want Me To Do” where Houston sounds like 1978 Chuck Berry.

Side 2 opens with another potential discovery – the near six-minute instrumental "Trippin' In" - a chugging Bluesy piece peppered with funky Houston soloing. The three-minute "Why Don't You Rock Me" is more of the same – grooving R&B with tasty fills and a classy George Benson-type guitar solo. The album finishes with the two parts of the title track – and immediately it goes for the dancefloor jugular by upping the tempo into a frantic pace. Both parts of "Kicking Back" feature a funky wah-wah guitar against a driving drum backing that's overlaid by wild Houston soloing – Mr. H going at it like James Brown is going to fine him any minute for missing a beat. Both parts are irresistible DJ bate and you can so hear why these tracks on the album have been sought after...

So there you have it – it's not all Funky Nirvana by any means – but the good stuff is worth seeking out/owning - and in 2026 still only six quid on certain sites. 

With great Audio quality – Joe Houston's "Kicking Back" is yet another clever choice by those fingers-on-the-pulse bods down at Ace Records in Londinium's Steele Road. Way to go boys...

"Hard To Explain: More Shattered Dreams - Funky Blues 1968-1984" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (October 2014 UK Ace/Beat Goes Public (BGP) CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

  
Amazon UK Purchase Link

https://link.amazon/B0526YFq3

-----------------------------------------------------------

This Review Along With A HUGE 356 Others Is Available In My

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Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

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"....Give Me Some Of Yours (I'll Give You Some Of Mine)..."

Back in my pre-Heart Attack and Vine days of 2011 – I excitedly reviewed the first Volume of "Shattered Dreams – Funky Blues 1967-1984" on Ace's Beat Goes Public Label (BGP) and duly raved about its many charms and butt-wobbleing ablutions. Well take me up the back passage with Shergar's love truncheon - but the crafty buggers have only gone and put out Volume 2 (no shame that lot) and it’s another star in a reasonably priced car. Here are the necessary toiletries...

UK released October 2014 (November 2014 in the USA) – "Hard To Explain: More Shattered Dreams – Funky Blues 1968-1984" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 285 (Barcode 029667528528) pans out as follows (63:08 minutes):

1. The Creeper – FREDDY ROBINSON (from the 1979 LP "Blue Monday: The Stax Blues Masters Vol.2" on Stax 3015)
2. Gimme Some Of Yours (I'll Give You Some Of Mine) – ARTIE WHITE (1970 US 7" single on Gamma 11112, A-side)
3. You Upset Me Baby – LARRY DAVIS (1968 US 7" single on Pisces 8114, B-side of "Sweet '16'"))
4. Walk On – FINIS TASBY (1977 LP Big Town 1009)
5. Getting Down With You – OBREY WILSON (2014, Previously Unreleased Bastille Productions Recording)
6. It's Hard To Explain – RAY AGEE (1972 US 7" single on Romark RK-118, A)
7. Don't Down Me People Part 1 – MEMPHIS SOUL (2014 US 7" single Numero 027, A - 70s Recording from Phoenix, Arizona and not Memphis)
8. Lovemaker – LOWELL FULSOM (1978 US LP "Lovemaker" on Big Town 1008)
9. Cold Sweat – ALBERT KING (1969 US 7" single on Stax 0069, A)
10. I Want You – SMOKEY WILSON (2014, Previously Unreleased Modern Recording)
11. I Don't Understand It – ICE WATER SLIM & THE FOURTH FLOOR 9174 USA 7" single on Hawk Sound HS 1001, A)
12. Go Go Train – SMOKEY WILSON (1976 US 7" single on Big Town BT-711, A)
13. He Made You Mine – BIG DADDY RUCKER featured with The Johnny Otis Show (1972 US 7" single on Hawk Sound H-101,B-side)
14. Fine Something Else To Do – FINIS TASBY (1984 UK LP "Blues Mechanic" on Ace Records CH 122)
15. Getting' Down With The Game – ADOLPH JACOBS (1972 US 7" single on Romark RK-117, B-side of "Do It")
16. I Finally Got You – JIMMY McCRACKLIN (1972 US LP "Yesterday Is Gone" on Stax STS 2047)
17. Them Love Blues – EARL WRIGHT (1969 US 7" single on Virgo 101, A)
18. Hey Little Girl – TOMMY YOUNGBLOOD (1970 US 7" single on Kent 4516, A - and on the "The Soul Of Tommy Youngblood" Kent LP)
19. Sister Rose –SHAKEY JAKE HARRIS (1974 US 7" single on Grenade GR 1004, A)
20. It's Real (Part 1) – JIMMY ROBINS (1968 US 7" single on Kent 487, A)
Tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 to 14, 16 and 18 to 20 are STEREO
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 7 10, 15 and 17 are MONO

The 16-page booklet has detailed and (deeply) affectionate liner notes from genre lover and expert DEAN RUDLAND – picturing along the way those rare American 45 labels like Romark, Hawk Sound, Big Town and Grenade. There's colour photos of Lowell Fulsom (looking dapper with his guitar and a white suit), Albert King thrilling the crowds live at WattStax and a black and white snap of Jon Kincaid & Smokey Wilson live at the Pioneer Club in Los Angeles in November 1980. At the end there's a two-page interview with Philippe Rault about songwriter and singer OBREY WILSON and Rault's recordings with him in New Orleans from 1975 through to the early Eighties. It’s the usual classy affair from Ace.

NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering has handled the Transfers and Remasters – and there's loads of Funky oomph and punch in these recordings - even the Mono cuts like "Gimme Some Of Yours (I'll Give You Some Of Mine)" and the wildly brilliant "Don't Down Me People – Part 1" punch way above their weight.

It opens with a belter from a 1979 Stax LP I used to own and treasure called "Blue Monday: The Stax Blues Masters Vol.2" which primarily featured Previously Unreleased Funky Blues cuts from that great label. Ace Records have smartly chosen Freddy Robinson's infectious "The Creeper" to kick off proceedings in all its groovy Stereo glory. We dip aurally to Mono for the excellent "Gimme Some Of Yours" from Artie White but the Larry Davis cover of B.B. King's classic "You Upset Me Baby" is a funk-version that doesn't really work. Sounding stylistically similar to BB – guitarist Finis Tasby gives us a mid-tempo shuffle on "Walk On" - but things get infinitely better and Sly Stone/Millie Jackson biting Funky with Obrey Wilson on the nasty and lyrically loaded "Getting Down With You" where he assures his lady his love is '...doggone hard...' (which is very big of him you have to say).

Organ Blues gets a lovely outing with "It's Hard To Explain" by Roy Agee – a very cool groove similar to Albert King on Stax with strings. One of the compilation highlights is the mysterious group Memphis Soul giving it some Hendrix Guitar/James Brown's JBs backing on the fabulous "Don't Down Me People" – a stunning groove that Funks along in a Bluesy Rock way and just won't quit (I wish they'd included Part 2). It's cleverly followed by the title track to a long forgotten Lowell Fulsom album "Lovemaker". Johnny Otis had a hand in the writing of "He Made You Mine" along with Ervin 'Big Daddy' Rucker – probably the most straight up Blues cut on here. Some tracks like "Them Love Blues" and "It's Real" try hard but don’t really excite while others like the sly hook for "I Finally Got You" from Jimmy McCracklin and the wicked guitar-boogie of "Sister Rose" (is alright with me) by Shakey Jake Harris are growers that will be on one of my home compilations real soon.

A more-than-worthy compliment volume to 2011's "Shattered Dreams" – Volume 2 is making me groove the more I listen to it. And when it comes to Funky Blues I likes that a whole lot...

This Review Along With 230 Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

"SOUL GALORE!" 

60ts Soul, R&B, Northern Soul

Mod, New Breed, Funk, Rare Grooves

Atlantic, Chess, Motown, Stax Labels and many more...

 

Your Guide To The Best CD Reissues and Remasters 

Thousands of E-Pages

All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"Hard To Explain: More Shattered Dreams - Funky Blues 1968-1984" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (2015 Ace/Beat Goes Public CD Compilation (BGP) - Duncan Cowell Remasters)

“...Gimme Some Of Yours...”

Back in my pre-Heart Attack and Vine days of 2011 – I excitedly reviewed the first Volume of “Shattered Dreams – Funky Blues 1967-1984” on Ace’s Beat Goes Public Label (BGP) and duly raved about its many charms and butt-wobbling eblutions. Well take me up the back passage with Shergar’s love truncheon but the crafty buggers have only gone and put out Volume 2 (no shame that lot) and it’s another star in a reasonably priced car. Here are the necessary toiletries...

UK released June 2015 – “Hard To Explain: More Shattered Dreams – Funky Blues 1968-1984” on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 285 (Barcode 029667528528) pans out as follows (63:08 minutes):

1. The Creeper – FREDDY ROBINSON (from the 1979 LP “Blue Monday: The Stax Blues Masters Vol.2” on Stax 3015)

2. Gimme Some Of Yours (I’ll Give You Some Of Mine) – ARTIE WHITE (1970 USA 7” single on Gamma 11112, A)

3. You Upset Me Baby – LARRY DAVIS (1968 USA 7” single on Pisces 8114)

4. Walk On – FINIS TASBY (1977 LP Big Town 1009)

5. Getting Down With You – OBREY WILSON (2014, Previously Unreleased Bastille Productions Recording)

6. It’s Hard To Explain – RAY AGEE (1972 USA 7” single on Romark RK-118, A)

7. Don’t Down Me People Part 1 – MEMPHIS SOUL (2014 USA 7” single Numero 027, A - 70s Recording from Phoenix, Arizona and not Memphis)

8. Lovemaker – LOWELL FULSOM (1978 USA LP “Lovemaker” on Big Town 1008)

9. Cold Sweat – ALBERT KING (1969 USA 7” single on Stax 0069, A)

10. I Want You – SMOKEY WILSON (2014, Previously Unreleased Modern Recording)

11. I Don’t Understand It – ICE WATER SLIM & THE FOURTH FLOOR 9174 USA 7” single on Hawk Sound HS 1001, A)

12. Go Go Train – SMOKEY WILSON (1976 USA 7” single on Big Town BT-711, A)

13. He Made You Mine – BID DADDY RUCKER featured with The Johnny Otis Show (1972 USA 7” single on Hawk Sound H-101,B-side)

14. Fine Something Else To Do – FINIS TASBY (1984 UK LP “Blues Mechanic” on Ace Records CH 122)

15. Getting’ Down With The Game – ADOLH JACOBS (1972 USA 7” single on Romark RK-117, B-side of “Do It”)

16. I Finally Got You – JIMMY McCRACKLIN (1972 USA LP “Yesterday Is Gone” on Stax STS 2047)

17. Them Love Blues – EARL WRIGHT (1969 USA 7” single on Virgo 101, A)

18. Hey Little Girl – TOMMY YOUNGBLOOD (1970 USA 7” single on Kent 4516, A” and on the “The Soul Of Tommy Youngblood” Kent LP)

19. Sister Rose –SHAKEY JAKE HARRIS (1974 USA 7” single on Grenade GR 1004, A)

20. It’s Real (Part 1) – JIMMY ROBINS (1968 USA 7” single on Kent 487, A)

Tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 to 14, 16 and 18 to 20 are STEREO

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 7 10, 15 and 17 are MONO

The 16-page booklet has detailed and (deeply) affectionate liner notes from genre lover and expert DEAN RUDLAND – picturing along the way those rare American 45 labels like Romark, Hawk Sound, Big Town and Grenade. There’s colour photos of Lowell Fulsom (looking dapper with his guitar and a white suit), Albert King thrilling the crowds live at WattStax and a black and white snap of Jon Kincaid & Smokey Wilson live at the Pioneer Club in Los Angeles in November 1980. At the end there’s a two-page interview with Phillippe Rault about songwriter and singer OBREY WILSON and Rault’s recordings with him in New Orleans from 1975 through to the early Eighties. It’s the usual classy affair from Ace.

NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering has handled the Transfers and Remasters – and there’s loads of Funky oomph and punch in these recordings - even the Mono cuts like “Gimme Some Of Yours (I’ll Give You Some Of Mine)” and the wildly brilliant “Don’t Down Me People – Part 1” punch way above their weight.

It opens with a belter from a 1979 Stax LP I used to own and treasure called “Blue Monday: The Stax Blues Masters Vol.2” which primarily featured Previously Unreleased Funky Blues cuts from that great label. Ace Records have smartly chosen Freddy Robinson’s infectious “The Creeper” to kick off proceedings in all its groovy Stereo glory. We dip aurally to Mono for the excellent “Gimme Some Of Yours” from Artie White but the Larry Davis cover of B.B. King’s classic “You Upset Me Baby” is a funk-version that doesn’t really work. Sounding stylistically similar to BB – guitarist Finis Tasby gives us a mid-tempo shuffle on “Walk On” - but things get infinitely better and Sly Stone/Millie Jackson biting Funky with Obrey Wilson on the nasty and lyrically loaded “Getting Down With You” where he assures his lady his love is “doggone hard” (which is very reassuring you have to say).

Organ Blues gets a lovely outing with “It’s Hard To Explain” by Roy Agee – a very cool groove similar to Albert King on Stax with strings. One of the compilation highlights is the mysterious group Memphis Soul giving it some Hendrix Guitar/James Brown’s JBs backing on the fabulous “Don’t Down Me People” – a stunning groove that Funks along in a Bluesy Rock way and just won’t quit (I wish they’d included Part 2). It’s cleverly followed by the title track to a long forgotten Lowell Fulsom album “Lovemaker”. Johnny Otis had a hand in the writing of “He Made You Mine” along with Ervin “Big Daddy” Rucker – probably the most straight up Blues cut on here. Some tracks like “Them Love Blues” and “It’s Real” try hard but don’t really excite while others like the sly hook for “I Finally Got You” from Jimmy McCracklin and the wicked guitar-boogie of “Sister Rose” (is alright with me) by Shakey Jake Harris are growers that will be on one of my home compilations real soon.

A more-than-worthy compliment volume to 2011’s “Shattered Dreams” (pictured above) – Volume 2 is making me groove the more I listen to it. And when it comes to Funky Blues I likes that a whole lot...

"Songs/Hey Love" by ROTARY CONNECTION featuring MINNIE RIPERTON - May 1969 and August 1971 US Albums on Cadet Concept Records - Featuring Sidney Barnes, Kitty Haywood, Shirley Wahls, Dave Scott and Producer Charles Stepney, (October 1998 UK Ace/Beat Goes Public Compilation - 2LPs onto 1CD - Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

Amazon UK Purchase Link for this CD Compilation

https://link.amazon/B05aKDCNk

---------------------------------------------------------------------

This Review Along With A HUGE 356 Others Is Available In My

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R 'n' B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters  

Just Click Below To Purchase for £4.95 (2026 Update)

Thousands of E-Pages - All Details and In-Depth Reviews From Discs 

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...In The Sunshine Of Your Love..."

I've had this October 1998 CD by Ace Records/Beat Goes Public for years now and treasure it like its some sort of Soul Holy Grail. It features 2LPs Remastered on one disc - Rotary Connection's "Songs" (1969) and "Hey, Love" (1971).

The albums are a tale of two worlds - "Songs" is made up entirely of cover versions and features the combined talent of singers SIDNEY BARNES, the mercurial MINNIE RIPERTON and (the mysterious) JERIMIAH – all three being principal vocalists. "Hey, Love" from 1971 saw major line-up changes and for me a huge step up in the songwriting quality. Here are the connecting details...

UK released October 1998 - "Songs/Hey, Love" by THE ROTARY CONNECTION featuring MINNIE RIPERTON on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPD 115 (Barcode 029667511520) features 2LPs (1969 and 1971) Remastered onto 1CD and plays out as follows (75:27 minutes):

1. Respect

2. The Weight

3. Sunshine Of Your Love

4. I Got My Mojo Working

5. The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp

6. Tales Of Brave Ulysses

7. This Town

8. We're Going Wrong

9. The Salt Of The earth

"Songs" was originally US released in May 1969 on Chess/Cadet-Concept LPS-322 and credited to ROTARY CONNECTION. Label boss MARSHALL CHESS and the visionary CHARLES STEPNEY co-produced the record.

JON STRICKLAND played a fuzz guitar as they laid into Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love", "We're Going Wrong" and "Tales Of Brave Ulysses", The Band's "The Weight" and "This Town" by Stevie Wonder. There are also stabs at Otis Redding's "Respect", Jimi Hendrix's "The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", "Salt Of The Earth" by The Stones and "I've Got My Mojo Working" by Muddy Waters. “Songs” is not a slave-the-original album - the covers are tear 'em up re-workings and I love what they did. The fuzz guitar in "Mojo" is amazing. Sidney Barnes also had the most beautifully expressive voice - the velvet of Brook Benton meets the soulfulness of Marvin Gaye circa "What's Going On". But admittedly with its heavily laden string-arrangements and lush vocal backings (Minnie soaring into the octaves) - it may not be everyone's purist idea of Soul - but for me the better moments (the trio of radically re-worked Cream covers) make it so worthwhile. However, things moved on immeasurably and undeniably with the next record.

10. If I Sing My Song [Side 1]

11. The Sea & She

12. I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun

13. Hangin' Round The Bee Tree

14. Hey, Love

15. Love Has Fallen On Me [Side 2]

16. Song For Everyman

17. Love Is

18. Vine Of Happiness

I've always considered "Hey, Love" to be a bit of a masterpiece (see my separate review for the new 2013 remaster out of Japan on the "Chess Best Collection" series). Originally released on vinyl in the States on Chess/Cadet Concept CC 50006 in August 1971 and credited to THE NEW ROTARY CONNECTION (October 1971 in the UK on Chess Records 6310105) - it features the hand of writer/arranger/player maestro CHARLES STEPNEY. Stepney was Chess's answer to Norman Whitfield - a man with a conscience and a way with a funky and soulful tune. The other attractions are MINNIE RIPERTON, KITTY HAYWOOD, SHIRLEY WAHLS and DAVE SCOTT all on Lead Vocals with Stepney playing a huge number of instruments as well as arranging. 

Top session-men include superb guitarists PHIL UPCHURCH (see my review of his stunning 1971 double-album "Darkness Darkness" also on Japanese CD) and the axework of PAT FERRERI. The album also featured RICHARD RUDOLPH (Minnie Riperton's husband of the time) - he solo wrote both "Hanging Round The Bee Tree" and "The Sea & She" and excepting one other - co-wrote the rest of the album with Stepney.

The album's big tune is the magnificent "I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun" which was rescued from obscurity by British/US Funksters NUYORCIAN SOUL featuring JOCELYN BROWN when they sampled and covered it in November 1997 on the Talkin' Loud label. They brought the song and Rotary Connection in general into the charts (to 31). Ace then reissued this CD the following year (Oct 1998) and there's been vinyl repros of the "Hey, Love" LP in the West End of London ever since - meeting the demands of those constantly searching for something cool and Soulful to rediscover.

Besides "Gold" there are 4 other masterpieces on here - the echoed and swirling vocals of "Hanging Round The Bee Tree" (graced many of my Reckless in-store play lists), the gorgeous and sunny upbeat title track "Hey, Love" followed by Kitty Haywood letting it vocally rip on the sublime "Love Has Fallen For Me" (covered by Chaka Khan on her "I'm Every Woman" LP). But the best for me is the lone TERRY CALLIER track (a songwriter Stepney was plugging) called "Song For Everyman" - it is just brilliant and sends me every time I hear it (lyrics from it title this review). 

We should also mention the sublime vocals of SIDNEY BARNES who never seemed to get the credit he so richly deserved. And what can you say about the voice of MINNIE RIPERTON who could make grown men cry by just hitting an octave most couldn't reach…

The DEAN RUDLAND liner notes are superb (I've raved about his writing across so many Ace and Kent Soul reissues) and the remaster by Sound Mastering of London used the original master tapes (probably DUNCAN COWELL). It's lovely - full of presence and vocals swirling around your speakers – properly fab.

So why didn't they make it? I suspect that with all those hippy-dip lyrical references to helping out your brother and bombing others with love - the group was perceived as a poor man's Fifth Dimension - a sort of watered down gathering peddling a lame "Hair" musical. This of course did for them commercially and is just plain wrong as an assessment. Typically it took British Soul fans to reignite interest and a torrent of well-deserved praise has followed ever since.

Charles Stepney is a sort of underground cult figure now amongst aficionados - spoken about in hushed tones. Minnie Riperton went solo and produced a string of gorgeous Soul albums in the mid-Seventies only to sadly succumb to breast cancer at a criminally young age in 1979.Still - they all have this legacy to remind us. A fantastic CD – and one you need to discover...

PS: see also my in-depth review of the singular "Hey, Love" reissue out of Japan in 2013 as part of their "Chess Best Collection" Series - and a separate review for their first album just called "Rotary Connection"...

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