"…I Don't Want To Play Around…"
Released on vinyl June 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7299 - "Inner
Spectrum" by ACE SPECTRUM is actually a very Gamble & Huff Philly
sounding record. Quite apart from being something of a lost classic - its
smooth string-drenched Soul has always been hard to find on vinyl (particularly
in the UK) and pricey too.
So its 'UK' reissue on this 2007 Expanded CD
Remaster by America's Rhino is very welcome news indeed to soul fans everywhere.
Here are the details...
UK released October 2007 – "Inner Spectrum" by ACE SPECTRUM on
Rhino 8122-76429-2 (Barcode 081227642921) is an 'Expanded & Remastered' CD
Edition with three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows...
1. Don't Send Nobody Else [Side 1]
2. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
3. If You Were There
4. Moving On
5. Pickup [Side 2]
6. Me And My Love
7. Easy
8. I Don't Want To Play Around
Tracks 1 to 8 make up the original June 1974 US debut vinyl album "Inner
Spectrum" (Atlantic SD 7299) - no UK equivalent. BILL INGLOT – one of Rhino's long-standing
Audio Engineers has remastered the original tapes to perfection – this is a
wonderful sounding Soul CD.
BONUS TRACKS:
The last three cuts are bonuses. Track 9 is the 'Mono Single Version' of
the hugely popular 1974 single hit "Don't Send Nobody Else" on Atco
3012 penned by the dynamic songwriting duo of NICHOLAS ASHFORD and VALERIE
SIMPSON. Track 10 is an 'Alternate Take' of "Don't Send Nobody Else"
in Stereo (similar to the album cut) while the CD finishes with "Runnin'
Out Baby" - a completely new song by Johnson and Zant found in the vaults
and aired for the first time anywhere for this compilation.
A four-piece male vocal Soul group - ACE SPECTRUM consisted of RUDY GAY,
AUBREY JOHNSON, ELLIOT ISAAC and ED ZANT with Gay, Zant and Johnson being the
principal songwriters. The album's overall feel is that of the O'JAYS meets
the CHI-LITES meets the SPINNERS meets HAROLD MELVIN and THE BLUENOTES – soft
sensual soul with tasty brass fills puncturing the string arrangements
complimenting the ever cascading falsetto vocals. Each band member was able to
hold their own as a lead vocalist, yet they made an equally impressive sound as
a foursome. This is particularly evidenced in the album's big ballad finisher
"I Don't Want To Play Around" penned by Ed Zant and Aubrey Johnson. "I Don't Want..." saunters along with vocal pyrotechnics for about 4 of its lush 7 minutes
when it suddenly goes into a Salsa finish – funky as James Brown's DNA and so
Philly it's just not true. Lovers of all forms of Seventies Soul will adore
it.
There are a number of covers on the album. Track 2 is first up. James
Taylor's sweetly aching "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" is similar to
"Love The One You're With" by Stephen Stills - a Rock Tune that lends
itself to Soul interpretation and will always come out a winner because the melody is so strong. It was The Isley Brothers who first realized the Soul
feel to "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" when they covered it for their 1973 album "3 +
3" album on Epic/T-Neck Records (the original song is on James Taylor's 1972 Warner Brothers album "One
Man Dog"). The Ace Spectrum version is even slower than The Isleys take
and ooh so sweet - a genuine find on this re-release. Mining that same Isleys Brothers 1973 album (Ace Spectrum were clearly admirers) - "If You
Were There" is a cover from it and a lovely version too.
I would admit that some may find the sound of these tracks just 'too'
syrupy for their liking but if you're willing to take a chance – it's a
purchase you will enjoy so much.
Ace Spectrum released their second US platter "Low Rent
Rendezvous" in 1975 on Atlantic Records SD 18143 and their final studio album "Just Like In The Movies" in 1976 on Atlantic SD 18185 - but neither is in this series – though Wounded Bird of the USA reissued them on Rhino-manufactured CDs in 2009 (Wounded Bird WOU 8143 - Barcode 664140814325 and Wounded Bird WOU 185 - Barcode 664140018525 respectively).
To sum up – a rare Soft Soul album most people thought they would never
actually see on a proper domestically released CD and yet another superb job
done by Rhino. Recommended...
PS: This release is part of Rhino's 'CLASSIC SOUL ALBUM - REMASTERED
& EXPANDED' Series. Most titles are first time onto CD and are rare soul
albums from the Warner/Atlantic/Cotillion/Elektra vaults. Other titles are:
1. BLUE MAGIC – Blue Magic [see REVIEW]
2. DONNY HATHAWAY – Come Back Charleston Blue [see REVIEW]
3. LEROY HUTSON – Paradise [see REVIEW]
4. RONN MATLOCK – Love City [see REVIEW]
5. GWEN McCRAE – Gwen McCrae
6. GWEN McCRAE – On My Way
7. PRINCE PHILIP MITCHELL – Top Of The Line [see REVIEW]
8. PRINCE PHILIP MITCHELL – Make It Good [see REVIEW]
9. THE VOICES OF EAST HARLEM – Right On Be Free [see REVIEW]
PPS: In 2026 - the 2007 CD has been deleted a good few years now and acquired a nasty price tag- so shop around when trying to acquire a copy...
