“Kicking Back” by JOE HOUSTON (May 2015 Ace/Beat Goes Public CD Remaster of a 1978 Big Town Records LP) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...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 Houston’s younger talents 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 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) – Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGPM 292 (Barcode 029667529228) is a straightforward CD reissue (mid-price) of the 1978 LP “Kicking Back” by Joe Houston 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

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 this 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 (2014 Ace/BGP CD Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

  

Amazon UK Link Above - USA Link Below

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 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 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 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...

"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 and SIDNEY BARNES (October 1998 UK 'Ace/Beat Goes Public' Compilation - 2LPs onto 1CD - Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With 333 Others Is Available In My

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

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"...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 0296675111520) features 2LPs 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 the summer of 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

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

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 - 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"...

"Seed Of Memory" by TERRY REID. A Review Of His 4th Album From 1976 Now Remastered Onto CD In 2004 (Reissued 2013) by Beat Goes On.

This review is part of my Series "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters 1970s Rock And Pop" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:

                       http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00LQKMC6I

Originally released on CD in May 2004 - this September 2013 reissue (again on the excellent Beat Goes On label) gives me a damn good excuse to review this cool and overlooked nugget of an album.

The vinyl LP was originally released June 1976 in the UK on ABC Records ABCL 5162 (ABCD-935 in the USA) and was his 4th label outing. His 1968 US debut LP on Epic "Bang Bang You're Terry Reid" and the UK follow up on Columbia "Terry Reid" from 1969 marked his more rocking side - while the mellow and slinky "River" from 1973 on Atlantic is more akin to what you get here.

Living in the USA at the time - his buddy GRAHAM NASH produced and brought on board an array of West Coast top players for "Seed Of Memory". Names like DAVID LINDLEY, AL PERKINS and TIM WEISBERG give the proceedings a very Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young feel with a little Boz Scaggs "Silk Degrees" and Neil Young's "On The Beach" thrown in for good measure (if that makes sense).

Reid famously turned down the lead vocalist spot in both Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple - and why they wanted him is in evidence here - his raspy pipes in full-on Eddie Hinton/Frankie Miller mode. All tracks are self-penned and it's mellow one moment, sexy the next and so on. The languid acoustic strumming of "Brave Awakening" feels like a mid-Seventies CSYN or Graham Nash song while "The Way You Walk" is the lone rocker - feeling like Neil Young let loose in the studio (great stuff). And his ability to pen a moving and plaintive ballad goes all the way back to his first US 45 "Mayday" (off "Terry Reid") on Epic 10498 which is fabulous stuff - that skill reappears on one of the album's undoubted highlights "To Be Treated Rite". Silly spelling of 'right' notwithstanding - it feels huge even now - acoustics and strings swirling around with a lonesome Bob Dylan harmonica refrain too (lyrics from it title this review).

ABC tried a 7" single by issuing the wonderfully funky Rock/Soul/Reggae vibe of "Ooh Baby (Make Me Feel So Young)" backed with "Brave Awakening" on the B in August 1976 on ABC 4137 - but it tanked despite being such a good track and as commercial as anything around at the time. "The Frame" is slinky Steely Dan/Boz Scaggs territory with lovely brass fills. At first the 7:21 minutes of the album finisher "Fooling You" feels overly long and slightly schmoozy but it works it ways into you - especially the gorgeous harmony vocals with Nash and James Brown's main man Fred Wesley floating in on some lovely horn. So why don't you know about this record? ABC ran into financial difficulties soon after the album was released and "Seed" never received the due plug it deserved (the terrible cover artwork didn't help either). And its been kind of underground ever since..

It doesn't say who remastered this Beat Goes On CD on BGOCD619 (43:15 minutes) - but the sound is really great - so well done - full of power and never compressed. It was superbly produced in 1976 anyway - but the remaster has brought that out big time.

Reid made another album for Capitol in 1979 called "Rogue Waves" (also re-issued in 2004 by BGO) and then a WEA album in 1991 called "The Driver" (which features a storming cover of the old Sixties fave "Gimme Some Loving"). Since then its been occasional live appearances to adoring audiences.

A cracking good album that you will return to again and again and make you want to track down everything he's ever done.
This is a good place to start that journey...

"The Gospel Truth: The Gospel Soul And Funk Of Stax Records" by VARIOUS ARTISTS (August 2010 UK Ace Records/Beat Goes Public (BGP) CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Over 289 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  

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This cleverly put together set of 20 tracks is a tribute to one man – Alvertis Isbell – or Al Bell to you and I. Bell joined Stax Records in 1965 straight from two successful Radio shows in Washington and Memphis and would eventually own the label several years later. He had a passion for Gospel and its message of love and racial integration and saw the fusion of Soul and Gospel Music as an obvious and natural progression. 

After a few years of aborted attempts with 'Chalice' Records, he struck pop and message gold by signing The Staple Singers in the late Sixties. With them in tow and more label successes following, he formed the Stax offshoot label 'Gospel Truth' for the Seventies – which is where this CD compilation comes in…

Most tracks are culled from that label's rare and lesser-seen album catalogue issued between 1971 and 1976 (later edited down to just 'Truth' Records). There’s a lot of here that’s new to CD, so let’s get to the details first…

UK released 30 August 2010 - "The Gospel Truth: The Gospel And Funk Of Stax Records" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGP 222 (Barcode 029667522229) is a CD Compilation of Remasters that breaks down as follows (78:01 minutes):

1. Son Of The Deacon – THE SONS OF TRUTH (from the 1973 USA LP "A Message From The Ghetto" on Gospel Truth GTS-2714)

2. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child – CLARENCE SMITH (from the 1973 USA LP "Whatever Happened To Love" on Gospel Truth GTS-2716)

3. Do Your Thing – THE MARION GAINES SINGERS (from the 1972 USA LP "This Too Is Gospel" on Gospel Truth GTS-2713)

4. We're Gonna Have A Good Time – JACQUI VERDELL (1972 USA 7" single on Gospel Truth GTA-1211, A-side)

5. Brand New Day (Theme From The United Artists Motion Picture "The Landlord") – THE STAPLE SINGERS (1970 USA 7" single on Stax STA-0074, A-Side)

6.  Talk That Talk (Part 1) – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (from the 1975 USA LP "A Soulful Experience" on Truth TRS-4207)

7. I Got The Vibes – JOSHIE JO ARMSTEAD (1973 USA 7" single on Gospel Truth GTA-1207, B-side of "Ride Out The Storm")

8. You Need A Friend Like Mine – ANNETTE THOMAS (1974 USA 7" single on Truth TRA-3208, B-side of "What Good Is A Song")

9. (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown – THE RANCE ALLEN GROUP (1972 USA 7” single on Gospel truth GTA-2014, A-Side)

10. Let Me Come Home – THE HOWARD LEMON SINGERS (from the 1973 album catalogued as "I Am Determined" on GTS-2724)

11.  It Will Soon Be Over – THE MARION GAINES SINGERS (from the 1972 USA LP "This Too Is Gospel" on Gospel Truth GTS-2713)

12. I Don't Know Where We’re Headed – THE SONS OF TRUTH (from the 1973 USA LP "A Message From The Ghetto" on Gospel Truth GTS-2714)

13. Better Get A Move On – LOUISE McCORD (from the 1972 USA LP "A Tribute To Mahalia Jackson" on Gospel Truth GTS-2711 – also issued as a USA 7" single on Gospel Truth GTA-1206)

14. When Will We Be Paid For The Work We Did – THE STAPLE SINGERS (1969 USA 7" single on Stax STA-0052, A-Side)

15. If The Shoe Fits, Wear It – THE 21st CENTURY (1973 USA 7" single on Gospel Truth GTA-1209)

16. Keep My Baby Warm – CHARLES MAY & ANNETTE MAY THOMAS (1973 USA 7" single on Gospel Truth GTA-1206, A-Side)

17. I'll Keep On Trying – CLARENCE SMITH from the 1973 USA LP "Whatever Happened To Love" on Gospel Truth GTS-2716)

18. Stumblin' Blocks, Steppin' Stones (What Took Me So Long) – JOSHIE JO ARMSTEAD (1973 USA 7" single on Gospel Truth GTA-1214, A-Side)

19. You Can't Stop Me Now – THE MARION GAINES SINGERS (from the 1972 USA LP "This Too Is Gospel" on Gospel Truth GTS-2713)

20. Name The Missing Word – THE STAPLE SINGERS (from the 1972 USA LP "Be Altitude: Respect Yourself" on Stax STS-3002)

Compiled and annotated by Soul lover and expert DEAN RUDLAND, the 12-page booklet features full-colour plates of rarely seen album sleeves by Clarence White, The Marion Gaines Singers, The Rance Allen Group, The Howard Lemon Singers and Louise McLoud. There’s a couple of USA 45s pictured, a trade advert and a Bible on the cover with the BGP and Stax logos on it – nice! Excepting The Staple Singers, very few of these artists are household names, so Rudland’s researched and informative liner notes make for an enlightening read. NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering in London has once again done the remastering and a typically great job it is too – full of life and presence. He always seems to get a better sound than I have on other Stax CDs.

The material as you can imagine is as funky as it is righteous – great grooves, positive vibes and all of it imbibed with a feeling of black pride finally breaking through - what heady times they were. Highlights include the fuzzed-up guitar rhythms of the opener "Son Of The Deacon" which is cleverly followed by "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" a Traditional given a radical funky reworking. You’ll also notice from the total playing time that 20 tracks take up 78 minutes – this is because quite a few are over 5 minutes long – feeling like extended workouts (something a lot of listeners love).

A truly fantastic inclusion is the Isaac Hayes cover of "Do Your Thing" by The Marion Gaines Singers – a perfect marriage of soul, funk and gospel (..."better pray on"...). As writers - Gamble & Huff provide a typically Philly sound to Rance Allen’s high-vocal acrobatics on "(There’s Gonna Be A) Showdown". There’s almost a pre-disco feel to Joshie Jo Armstead’s lovely "I Got The Vibes" (she was a member of The Ikettes), while "You Need A Friend Like Mine" is written by another Stax label stalwart – Frederick Knight. Soul-songwriting heroine Bettye Crutcher (provided hits for William Bell, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and The Staple Singers among others) penned my favourite on here - "Better Get A Move On" by Louise McCord. It features irresistible funky guitar licks while her great vocals rap lyrical about a woman ditching a mistreating man in a very Marlena Shaw kind of a way – superlative stuff.

Charles May penned both his own "Keep My Baby Warm" and "If The Shoe Fits, Wear It" for The 21st Century – both are more soul than gospel – and are lovely additions. Not surprisingly The Staples Singers are featured three times – their excellent cover of Al Kooper's theme to "The Landlord" movie – “Brand New Day” (lyrics above). But as much as I adore the ground any of The Staple Singers walk on – “When Will We Be Paid…” has never been a rave of mine. Still - the set's closer is a very clever choice – a gem tucked away on their “Be Altitude: Respect Yourself” album from 1972 called "Name The Missing Word" which is lyrically relevant to the comp's theme.

To sum up – it’s an embarrassment of riches if you dig this sort of thing – and even if you don’t – there’s so much on here worth taking a chance on.

Ace Records deliver again folks – another job well done. On to Volume 2 please…

“Shattered Dreams – Funky Blues 1967-1978” by VARIOUS ARTISTS. A Review Of The Ace/Beat Goes Public (BGP) CD Compilation.

This review is part of my "SOUNDS GOOD: Exceptional CD Remasters Soul, Funk & Jazz Fusion" Download Book available to buy on Amazon to either your PC or Mac (it will download the Kindle software to read the book for free to your toolbar). Click on the link below to go my Author's Page for this and other related publications:

                       http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00LQKMC6I

"…They’re Socking It To Me…Everywhere I Go…"

"Shattered Dreams – Funky Blues 1967-1978" is the latest release on Ace Records label imprint Beat Goes Public (also known as BGP) and typically it’s an absolute belter. I had a feeling it would be good, and it is. Here’s the details first…

Released 28 March 2011, Ace/Beat Goes Public CDBGP 229 breaks down as follows (73:26 minutes):

1. Shake ‘Em Up – SLIM GREEN (from the 1971 USA LP “Stone Down Blues” on Kent KST 549)
2. It Took A Long Time – FINIS TASBY (1977 Big Town label recording, exclusive to this compilation)
3. Bad Understanding – AL KING (Previously Unreleased until the 2010 CD compilation “Together: The Complete Kent And Modern Recordings” by Al King and Arthur K Adams on Ace CDCHD 1292)
4. Mellow Together - LOWELL FULSON (USA 7” single on Kent 489, B-side of “Blues Pain”, 1968)
5. Country Girl – THE JOHNNY OTIS SHOW (USA 7” single on Kent 506, A-side, 1969)
6. That’s What Love Will Make You Do – LITTLE MILTON (USA 7” single on Stax STA-0111, 1971)
7. Your Love Is Good Enough For Me – ICEWATER SLIM (USA LP on Hawk Sound 1002, 1974)
8. Playing On Me – ALBERT KING (USA 7” single on Stax 0166, 1973)
9. You Shattered My Dreams – SMOKEY WILSON (USA 7” single on Big Town 725, Non-Album Track, 1978)
10. The Whole World’s Down On You – LARRY DAVIS [Previously Unreleased]
11. Cloudy Day – FINIS TASBY 1977 (Big Town label recording, exclusive to this compilation)
12. I’m Not The Best – BUDDY GUY (USA 7” single on Vanguard 35080, B-side of “Fever”, 1968)
13. Comin’ At Ya Baby Part 2 – THE JOHNNY OTIS SHOW [Previously Unreleased]
14. Eli’s Pork Chop – LITTLE SONNY (From the 1972 USA LP “New King Of The Blues Harmonica” on Enterprise ENS 1005)
15. Gimme Some Of Your Lovin’ – ARTHUR K ADAMS (USA 7” single on Modern 1034, 1967)
16. Welcome Home – LOWELL FULSON (Previously Unreleased until the 2001 CD compilation “Black Nights: The Early Kent Sessions” on Ace CDCHD 831)
17. No Matter What The Cost May Be – ALBERT WASHINGTON (from the 1973 USA LP “Sad And Lonely” on Eastbound EB 9007)
18. High Time – SMOKEY WILSON [Previously Unreleased Big Town Recording]
19. You Got Me Movin’ – BIG DADDY RUCKER [Previously Unreleased]
20. Good Feeling – FREDDY ROBINSON (Previously Unreleased until the 1999 CD compilation “Bluesology” on Ace CDCHD 728)
21. Tough Competition – RAY AGEE [Previously Unreleased]

It’s been mastered by NICK ROBBINS at Sound Mastering in London and each track is superbly rendered especially the Seventies stuff which has a full and ballsy sound. The 12-page booklet has knowledgeable and informative liner notes by DEAN RUDLAND with 7” singles and colour photos of some artists featured.

Proceedings open very nicely with “Shake ‘Em Up” – a Guitar Slim 'chugger' boasting an incessant backbeat overlaid with spoken lyrics – it makes you want to boogie and it’s not surprising that it’s a huge hit on the dancefloors of UK clubs. It’s followed by a rediscovery - the unlikely sounding FINIS TASBY - a Texan Bluesman who comes over as a funky Albert King on a Meters tip. “It Took A Long Time” is a fantastically good cut (the second on here is an equally cool harmonica funker called “Cloudy Day”). His self-titled album was supposed to come out on Big Town Records in 1977 (even has a catalogue number) but I’ve never seen one (the company apparently went bust before it was issued). Both tracks are exclusive on CD to this comp – and what finds they are…

There follows two brassy Blues numbers by Al King and Lowell Fulson, which are very good, but even better is “Country Girl” by Johnny Otis. It sounds like a Blues reworking of “Tramp” by Otis Redding and features the 19-year genius Shuggie Otis providing the tasty guitar solo on his father’s cut. The double-whammy of Little Milton’s 1971 track “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” on Stax and Icewater Slim’s “Your Love Is Good Enough For Me” from 1974 sum up this great compilation – funky Blues tunes that are practically irresistible – top Seventies production values too.

The six-minute slow blues of “You Shattered My Dreams” by Smokey Wilson sounds a little like Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” from 1976 on Capricorn but with more brass and piano. The bass and guitar on the Previously Unreleased “High Time” by Smokey Wilson has production chops so good, you’d swear it was a Niles Rodgers and Bernard Edwards session – very funky and very cool.
Page 6 of the booklet pictures a nattily dressed Freddy Robinson whose “Good Feeling” is a standout track on here – and again previously unreleased until Ace put it out in 1999 on their “Bluesology” compilation. It all ends on a genuine high – the hard-grooving “Tough Competition” by another lesser-known name - Ray Agee. It sounds not unlike a Shuggie Otis outtake and is just brilliant - how has this gem remained in the can until now (lyrics above)?

Niggles - although the booklet’s good, I would have liked more of it – and the detailed track list I provided above, I had to dig out myself. The back inlay gives an original vinyl catalogue number and year, but not what ‘album’ the track is from. The 7” is the same – is it an A or a B? I also think the front artwork doesn’t do this release any favours because in a crowded marketplace, it would be a real shame to see this cool little reissue go unnoticed.

To sum up – “Shattered Dreams” does exactly what it says on the tin – it gives you Funky Blues from 1967 to 1978 - and I’ve been playing it to death since I got my grubby hands on it a few days ago.

Lustier than a Knickerbocker Glory in Wimpy and tighter than a nun’s knickers in the Vatican (both endangered species) - you need this Funky Blues nutrition in your life.

I’m off now to buy a Banana Boat - while I still can…