"This Is Lowrider Soul 1962-1970" by VARIOUS ARTISTS - Featuring Brenton Wood, Barbara Mason, The Webs, The Charmels, The Ambassadors, The Whispers, Bobbi Row & The Englishmen, The Esquires, The Lovelles, Lee Williams & The Cymbals, William Bell, Aesop's Fables, Bobby Burn and more (February 2019 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Oh How It Hurts..."

Sometimes terminology goes against you and I would argue that the description Lowrider is something of a case in point here. 

Fifties Vocal Groups and their falsetto crooning Doo Wop morphed into Sixties Soul and R&B – or Harmony Soul as it often called - one of the genre's many branches by the time that eventful decade itself morphed into the Seventies and all that came with it (Philly, Jazz Fusion, Rare Grooves, Disco etc). 

And that's what you essentially get here - only its entitled 'Lowrider Soul' – named after American cars and their hipster drivers cruising around Southern California in their cools-mobiles looking for a Night Club or Radio Station that championed the musical playlist they liked – heavy on the smooch – smooth on the Soul. In fact if I were to rename this compilation I'd call it 'Slide On By: Harmony Vocal Groups That Put The Smooth In Soulful 6ts Ballads' - or some such convoluted sets of words! 

What you have here is Slow Soul and a lot of it - swooning and swaying ballads sung by perplexed-looking blue-eyed guys and mascara-bleeding gals fronting Harmony Vocal Groups, both laying the blame at the other's door as they give us tale after tale of hurting, heartache, misery and woe (and that's just the break-up - the aftermath is a whole different level). I know some listeners find this kind of 24-cut Sixties-playlist boring after only Track 10 (the same pace after the same pace), but I am so down with it. These mini melodramas are authentically beautiful – the very definition of Deep Soul to me. 

Throw in careful selection of actual warmth vs. rarities in the songs - quality liner notes that genuinely illuminate - and crisp Audio that is so sweet throughout – and you get one of the loveliest listens I’ve had the pleasure of shuffling through in a long time (not something the Lowrider artwork screams out at you). Time for details - to the shattered dreams, secondhand happiness and kerbside crawlers of Californian Soul...

UK released Friday, 8 February 2019 - "This Is Lowrider Soul: 1962-1970" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 482 (Barcode 029777092920) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (65:31 minutes):

1. Take A Step - AESOP'S FABLES (October 1967, US 45-single on Atco 45-6523, A-side)

2. Why'd You Put Me On - BOBBI ROW & THE ENGLISHMEN (August 1965, US 45-single on Money 116, B-side of "Facts Of Life")

3. I Wanna Chance - THE VOWS (June 1962, US 45-single on Markay 103, B-side to "Have You Heard")

4. Where Were You - BRENTON WOOD (February 1969, US 45-single on Double Shot 137, B-side of "A Change Is Gonna Come")

5. Second Hand Happiness - JIMMY CONWELL (December 1966, Mirwood 5530, A-side)

6. 'Til You Come Back To Me - LEE WILLIAMS & THE CYMBALS (December 1968, US 45-single on Carnival CAR-540, A-side)

7. Oh How It Hurts - BARBARA MASON (October 1967, US 45-single on Arctic 137, A-side) 

8. I Really Love You - THE AMBASSDORS (December 1968, US 45-single Arctic 147, A-side)

9. As I Sit Here - THE WHISPERS (July 1965, US 45-single on Dore 740, A-side)

10. One More Chance - THE FOUR TEES (August 1970, US 45-single on Kent K 4530, A-side)

11. No Doubt About it - THE ESQUIRES (October 1968, US 45-single on Wand 1193, B-side of "You've Got The Power")

12. It's Not That Easy - REUBEN BELL with THE CASANOVAS (December 1967, US 45-single on Murco 1035, A-side)

13. It's So Hard To Break A Habit - THE WEBS (January 1968, US 45-single on Popside 4595, B-side of "Give In")

14. Pretending Dear - THE LOVELLES (April 1969, Atco 45-6670, B-side of "I'm Comin' Today")

15. Find Me - THE ATTRACTIONS (1966, US 45-single on Renfro 117, A-side) 

16. Shattered Dreams - THE ENDEAVORS (May 1970, US 45-single on Stop ST 372, B-side of "I Know You Don't Want Me") 

17. Be Kind To Love - THE INTERPRETERS (June 1967, US 45-single on A-Bet 9425, A-side)

18. When You're Poor (2019, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Golden State Recorders 1966/1967 recording)

19. Never Gonna Let Him Know - DEBBIE TAYLOR (March 1969, US 45-single on GWP Records GWP 501, A-side)

20. As Long As I've Got You - THE CHARMELS (December 1967, US 45-single on Volt 45-155, A-side)

21. Don't Forget About Me Baby - JEFF DALE (January 1965, US 45-single on Atco 45-6332, A-side)

22. I'm A Lonely Man - BOBBY BURN (1968/1971, US 45-single on Chant CH-522, A-side)

23. Crying All My Myself - WILLIAM BELL (July 1965, US 45-single on Stax S-174, A-side)

24. I'm Just Passing Time - MELVIN HICKS & THE VERSATILES (2019, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 1972 Brass Parrot recording)

All Tracks in MONO except 7 and 8 which are STEREO

Tracks 18 and 24 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Compiled and Annotated by SEAN HAMPSEY (with some further notes on 'The Southern Soul Spinners' Group, Southern California and the Chicano music scene by Ruben Molina) - the 24-page booklet is the usual feast of rare 45-labels, trade adverts, local newspaper reviews, publicity photos, acetates and white labels (a typically classy Kent Soul reissue). There are full-page adverts given over to the lovely Barbara Mason and her "Oh How It Hurts" on Arctic distributed by Jamie/Guyden, The Whispers advertise for a band member (yes that Whispers who had huge hits in the 80s on Solar) and The Charmels look happy in colour in a garden on the rear page (lovely stuff and full of track-by-track info). 

Long-standing Audio-Engineer for Ace and Kent Soul NICK ROBBINS does the predominately Mono Remasters (two are in Stereo) and these things sound really lovely. Take The Webs much sought-after B-side "It's So Hard To Break A Habit" - amazing Production values that have been sampled before, but I bet those lifts haven't sounded as good as they do here. These are chest hugging hip-swishing smoochers and the clear audio really adds to that – swirling around your living room like vocal honey. To the playlist...

It's noticeable from the list above how many of these gems are B-sides - probably because the dancer was on the Plug Side with the Smooch on the flip. "Lowrider Soul..." opens well with a bunch of white boys getting blue-eyed Soulful with their superb "Take A Step" - the obscure Aesop's Fables being an Atco Records act you don't hear about every day of the week. A sort of 'hold you tight' cross between The Rascals and The Association - their "Take A Step" sets the scene nicely. It's followed by another sought-after shuffler from the Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race named Bobbi Row & The Englishmen - "Why'd You Put Me On" making me want to pull those emotional oars like a goodun. The first of a few audio wows comes with the 1962 recording of "I Wanna Chance" by The Vows - the almost operatic voice of Helen Simpson soaring on this lovely song (James Moore involved too). 

Forever associated (and rightly so) with the brilliant "Gimme Little Sign" - Brenton Wood gets to show he's so much more than that bopper by going all Smokey Robinson cool on "Where Were You" - the B-side of a Sam Cooke cover he did in 1969 on Double Shot Records - a 45 that bubbled under the R&B charts at No. 131. Jimmy Conwell and Lee Williams more than justify the huge amounts people are prepared to pay for their "Second Hand Happiness" and "'Til You Come Back To Me" - but for me Barbara Mason just exudes class on her "Oh How It Hurts" - hoping that tomorrow she'll have the strength to find someone new.

Jimmy Bishop and Kenny Gamble gave the original "I Really Love You" to Dee Dee Sharp in 1965 on Cameo – but the lowrider club community digs the medium-slow ballad version by The Ambassadors. You could imagine its stop-start melodrama beats slaughtering an audience in a live environment – here it just make you want to sway with your gal on the kitchen-diner floor. The Otis Taylor cover of "One More Chance" by The Four Tees is lovely too – our heroes pleading that you don’t come around here no more and really this heartless moll should give our truly repentant malfeasant a second go-round. And on it goes – sweetheart after sweetheart – tunes that have been sampled – or The Lovelles single that actually feature Duane Allman on guitar – or the strings and vocals majesty of The Attractions on an impossibly lusted after 45 on Renfro, a label few have ever seen let alone heard.

Lowrider Soul, Harmony Vocal Soul, Smooth Ballads – even Deep Soul. Call it what you want, but call it. 

Another CD winner from Kent Soul – a heartbeat spinner and wallet muleskinner – way to go guys...

"Precious: The Anthology 1963-1972" by LINDA JONES – Single and Album Tracks on Cub, Loma, Atco, Blue Cat, Warner Brothers, Neptune, Turbo and Stang Records - featuring The Whatnauts (November 2016 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation of Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Do I Love You...I Do..."

Here's the odd thing. I know that of all the 24-cuts assembled on this comely CD compilation covering Linda Jones' criminally cut-short career (she died early 1972, aged only 27) - I'll probably only play maybe 10 of these songs. Yet despite that, I would still award this CD Anthology a full five-stars in a heartbeat, when it should really be three or four. Why? Because the goodies contained within are the absolute business in my Soul book – they really are. 

Stuff like her debut seven-inch single – a cover of Jackie Wilson's Brunswick hit "Lonely Teardrops" issued May 1963 on the obscure Cub is a starting point (she was only 19) - ok rather than ever rising above that. But once Linda Jones got into her stride - especially between 1967 and 1972 when she was handled by Loma, Neptune, Turbo and Warner Brothers Records and given better material - she was staggering. 

"I Do" from the obscure September 1972 US LP "Let It Be Me" on Turbo Records is a primo example - she wails, she pleads, she moans - it's like Etta James on some serious substances. I just love that abandon-passion, as I suspect many others do too. And don't get me started on the ball-busting "Hypnotized" from 1967 – we could be here for decades. 

Let's waste no more tears and get to one of the most beloved lady singers in the Soul genre and a typically classy homage to her musical legacy by England's Ace Records on their label imprint Kent Soul...

UK released 25 November 2016 (December 2016 in the USA) - "Precious: The Anthology 1963-1972" by LINDA JONES on Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 458 (Barcode 029667078122) is a 24-Track CD Compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (71:34 minutes):

1. Hypnotized (May 1967 US 45-single on Loma 2070, A-side)

2. Lonely Teardrops (May 1963 US Debut 45-single on Cub 9124, A-side, as Linda Lane – a Jackie Wilson cover)

3. I'm Taking Back My Love 

4. Take The Boy Out Of The Country (Tracks 4 and 3 [note playing order] are the A&B-sides of a May 1965 US 45-single on Atco 45-6344)

5. Fugitive From Love 

6. You Hit Me Like T.N.T. (Tracks 5 and 6 are the A&B-sides of a July 1966 US 45-single on Blue Cat BC 128)

7. Give My Love A Try (December 1967 US 45-single on Loma 2085, A-side)

8. A Last Minute Miracle (from the August 1967 US LP "Hypnotized" on Loma LS 5907 in Stereo)

9. What I've Done (To Make You Mad) (September 1967 US 45-single on Loma 2077, A-side)

10. My Heart Needs A Break (February 1968 US 45-single on Loma 2091, A-side)

11. That's When I'll Stop Loving You (October 1969 US 45-single on Neptune N-17, B-side to "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow" - see Track 13 for A-side)

12. I Just Can't Live My Life (Without You Baby) (April 1969 US 45-single on Warner Brothers 7278, B-side of "My Heart (Will Understand)"

13. I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow  (October 1969 US 45-single on Neptune N-17, A-side - see Track 11 for B-side)

14. Can You Blame Me? 

15. Ooh Baby You Move Me (Tracks 15 and 14 [note order] are the A&B-sides of a May 1970 US 45-single on Neptune N26)

16. I Do 

17. If Only We Had Met Sooner (Tracks 16 and 17 from the September 1972 US LP "Let It Be Me" on Turbo Records TU-7008)

18. I Can't Make It All Alone (November 1971 US 45-single on Turbo TU 017, A-side)

19. Stay With Me Forever (May 1971 US 45-single on Turbo TU 012, A-side - for B-side see Track 23) 

20. Behold (from the May 1972 US LP "Your Precious Love" on Turbo TU-7007)

21. Not On The Outside (May 1972 US 45-single on Turbo TU 024, A-side)

22. I'm So Glad I Found You (Linda Jones & The Whatnauts) (June 1972 US 45-single on Stang 5039, A-side)

23. I've Given You The Best Years Of My Life (May 1971 US 45-single n Turbo TU 012, B-side to "Stay With Me Forever" - for A-side see Track 19)

24. Your Precious Love (February 1972 US 45-single on Turbo TU 021, A-side)

Tracks 1, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 24 in STEREO

Tracks 2 to 6, 10 to 15, 18 and 23 in MONO   

Outside of three deep LP cuts from 1972, the remaining 23 entries are single sides, Ace cleverly choosing the lesser-trodden path of B-sides that to my knowledge have never been on CD before. You could argue that someone somewhere should really do a full-on Anthology for Linda Jones because again as far as I know in 2021, neither of the albums featured here on Turbo have ever been on CD anywhere in the world. So what do you get? 

The 16-page booklet is headed-up with TONY ROUNCE liner notes that acknowledges how her legend has grown amongst Deep Soul collectors in the last five decades – a sort female version of Chuck Jackson or Tommy Tate. All of those rare US 45-single labels for Loma, Warner Bros, Stang, Turbo, Atco, Blue Cat, Neptune and so on are pictured amongst the text and facts. The two Turbo LPs are here too as is the Loma "Hypnotized" album that actually charted in October 1967 eventually achieving an impressive No. 26 on the US R&B LP charts. "Your Precious Love" would hit the US LP charts in June 1972 (shortly after its release in May) and achieve a peak placing of No. 35. There are trade adverts for Loma Records and a French picture sleeve for the magical Northern Soul-ish "Hypnotized" graces the rear sleeve (tasty all around, as usual). Long-standing Audio Engineer for Ace Records DUNCAN COWELL has done the Remasters and they are lovely – pleasing for me to hear more Stereo than Mono – though both have punch and clarity. To the music...

"Precious: The Anthology..." opens on a barnstormer - the gorgeous melodrama of "Hypnotized". It hit the US R&B singles chart weeks after release in late June 1967 whereupon Loma 2070 rose to a deserved No. 4 position. Her first album by the same name would follow into the R&B LP charts. With its bells and brass and slow lurch - the all-it-took was just-one-little-look pleader sailed its way into Northern Soul hearts with a speeding bullet. 

Linda Jones has always been a fave of NS fans - in fact when WEA were assaulting the British marketplace in 2002, 2003, 2004 with volume after volume of single CD/2LP sets like "Funky Drops" and so on - their "After Hours...Northern Soul Masters" Series showcased Linda with "My Heart Needs A Break" on Volume 1, "Just Can't Live My Life" on Volume 2 and "A Last Minute Miracle" on Volume 3. Loma played it smart by following the breakthrough of "Hypnotized" with the equally beautiful "What've I Done (To Make You Mad)" - the ballad rewarding the Warner Brothers distributed label with a No. 8 hit single in October 1967 (Loma 2077). 

This set also features her other four US R&B chart entries - "Give My Love A Try" (Loma 2085, entered January 1968, peaked at No. 34), "That's When I'll Stop Loving You" (Neptune N-17, entered January 1970, peaked at No. 40), "Your Precious Love" (Turbo 021, entered February 1972, peaked at No. 15) and "Not On The Outside" (Turbo 024, entered June 1972 and peaked at No. 32). Another Northern Soul fave is "I Just Can't Live My Life (Without You Baby)" - the much-sought B-side of her only single on the Warner Brothers label "My Heart (Will Understand)". I also like her cover of The O'Jays "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today)" - an early song for them in October 1967 on Bell 691. And on it goes...

Rounce quite rightly argues that had she lived to fulfil her potential, Linda Jones would be up there with more revered/famous names like Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Etta James - and he's right. But you have to say that once again Ace's Kent Soul have pulled off a CD winner to honour her tantalising and indeed hypnotising legacy. RIP you sweet lady...

"Big New York Soul: Wand Records 1961-1966" by CHUCK JACKSON – Previously Unreleased Material (including a duet with Dionne Warwick), Alternate Versions, Rare Wand 45s, LP Cuts and Originally Unissued 60ts Wand and Scepter Recordings Previously Only Available On Vinyl and CD Compilations from the 1980s and 1990s (September 2017 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation – Duncan Cowell Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...All About You..."

A heady if not entirely unsuccessful stew of eight previously unreleased 60ts tracks, alternate variants of popular back catalogue hits, two deep LP cuts and ten lesser-heard Wand Records 45s into the bargain. Top that lot off with four vinyl-only compilation tracks from long deleted 80ts LPs/90s CDs and an unheard duet with Dionne Warwick from 1963 and you're set. 

Although I will confess to not loving obvious filler like his (not surprisingly) unreleased cover of the spy theme "The Silencer" (originally done by Vikki Carr) - this is still a typically classy Kent Soul release for the Mod-beloved Chuck Jackson from England's Ace Records. Let's not waste a second and have at the Manhattan Soul from "Big New York..." 

UK released 29 September 2017 - "Big New York Soul: Wand Records 1961-1966" by CHUCK JACKSON on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 465 (Barcode 029667083027) is a 24-Track CD compilation of Remasters that plays out as follows (64:05 minutes): 

1. Things Just Ain't Right (2017, Previously Unissued 28 March 1965 Wand recording)

2. Little By Little (Originally Unissued 28 October 1965 Wand recording, first appeared on the September 1987 UK CJ compilation LP "A Powerful Soul" on Kent KENT 073 - see also Track 16)

3. Hand It Over (February 1964 US 45-single on Wand 149, A-side)

4. Big New York (September 1963 US 45-single on Wand 141, A-side - Ed Townsend song)

5. King Of The Mountain (from the 1963 "Encore!" LP on Wand LP 655 in Mono)

6. Another Day (from the 1963 "Encore!" LP on Wand LP 655 in Mono)

7. Need To Belong (2017, Previously Unissued 28 October 1965 Wand recording)

8. For All Time (May 1964 US 45-single on Wand 154, Second Issue B-side of "Beg Me" - see also Track 15)

9. If I Didn't Love You (July 1965 US 45-single on Wand 188, A-side)

10. The Same Old Story (March 1961 US 45-single on Wand 108, B-side of "(It Never Happens) In Real Life"

11. Why Some People Don't Like Me (2017, Previously Unissued 21 May 1964 Wand recording)

12. What You Gonna' Say (January 1962 US 45-single on Wand 119, A-side)

13. I've Got To Be Strong (October 1966 US 45-single on Wand WN-1142, A-side)

14. The Silencer (Originally unissued 1965-6 recording, first issued May 1992 on the Various Artists US 3CD Compilation "Capricorn Records Presents The Scepter Records Story" on Capricorn 9 42003 2 - a Vikki Carr cover version)

15.  This Broken Heart (That You Gave Me) (May 1964 US 45-single on Wand 154, First Issue B-side of "Beg Me" - see also Track 10 for second issue B-side)

16. Forget About Me (Originally Unissued 28 October 1965 Wand recording, first appeared on the September 1987 UK CJ compilation LP "A Powerful Soul" on Kent KENT 073 - see also Track 2)

17. Meet Me Half Way (2017, Previously Unissued 1962 recording)

18. And That's Saying A Lot (April 1966 US 45-single on Wand WN-1119, B-side of "All In My Mind")

19. Through My Tears (2017, Previously Unissued 1962 recording)

20. Getting Ready For The Heartbreak (October 1962 US 45-single on Wand 128, A-side)

21. In Between Tears (2017, Previous Unissued version of Wand 128 B-side (A-side is Track 20). First appeared on the August 1986 UK compilation LP "The Magic Touch" on Kent KENT 057)

22. All About You (2017, Previously Unissued 1962-3 recording)

23. Anymore [Duet with DIONNE WARWICK] (2017, Previously Unissued 1963-4 recording)

24. Why, Why, Why (2017, Previously Unissued 28 October 1965 Wand recording)

All Tracks in MONO except Track 1 in STEREO

Tracks 1, 7, 11, 17, 19, 22, 23 and 24 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Ace/Kent Soul really does the biz-schnizz by these jam-packed booklets, and this 20-page info/pic-fest is no different. ADY CROASDELL has compiled and done the comprehensive liner notes - his text peppered with Wand Records trade adverts and period promotional material, concert posters in colour, Cash Box magazine issues repro'd, photos of Chuck with his Scepter Records ladies in crime The Shirelles and an ultra-rare acetate of the "Little By Little" track. They have even given a page over to a gorgeous 1966 Japanese picture sleeve for the "I've Got To Be Strong" 45 – something I've never seen in all my years in rarities. 

Long-standing Audio Engineer DUNCAN COWELL has done the deed by the tapes and transfers - most all of it in punchy Mono - sounding fresh and alive. To the tunes...

Over the top strings and brass greet you for the common-man tune "King Of The Mountain" and strangulated Egyptian shakers on "Another Day" - but while his vocals are great - I could personally live without these sub-Coasters tunes. Closing up all of his windows so no one can see, Chuck sobs as he informs of his totally innocent behaviour. Why, 'cause he's "Getting Ready For The Heartbreak" (gorgeous audio on those girly vocals, guitars and organ). 

Mod lovers go for his "Beg Me" big time - a sought-after stop-start-rhythm dancer with a fantastic wild chorus - Ace featured it on their May 2016 CD compilation "Modernism". Say you need my arms, he pleads in the frantic "Hand It Over" and I'd forgotten the sheer melodrama of "Forget About Me" - certainly the version hidden on KENT 073 all these decades. A man of very few words, you have to love the full-on I'm-gonna-die melodrama in "And That's Saying A Lot" – a forgotten 45 side presented here with great audio. 

The unreleased stuff is a very mixed bag of good and just plain crap. Although the vocals are a little too far back in the mix, "Need To Belong" is a lovely find – a slow sexy melody. You can so hear though why "In Broken Tears" and "Why Some People Don't Like Me" remained in the can – starting out slow and then going into a beat that is just plain awkward and confused – both would have died on radio. "Things Just Ain't Right" opens the CD in startling Stereo while the thought-you-loved-me-too of "Little By Little" is an excellent boohoo moaner, presented here in top-class audio. The big disappointment is the Dionne Warwick duet "Anymore" where her lead vocal (followed by him a few verses later) is somehow lost way back in the mix. It makes for a pleasant Bacharach/David Pop-Soul moment, but also feels like unfinished business few wanted to actually complete. At least the CD ends on "Why, Why, Why" – a nice slice on Northern Soul-ish melodrama. 

There are other Chuck Jackson CDs (loads in fact) that cover the eight or so albums he put out on Wand, never mind his stint with Motown and that Bacharach/David monster "Any Day Now". But "Big New York Soul" goes deeper than most into the singles and rarities (there are B-sides here I'm quite sure you can't find anywhere else) and I for one like this off-the-beaten track compilation for just that. 

Chuck Jackson's "Big New York Soul: Wand Records 1961-1966" is not all genius by any stretch, but there is enough to keep devotees faithful. And when you hear that voice, you know why they loved him in the first place...

TOMMY HUNT - "The Complete Man: 60s NYC Soul Songs" – Single, Album and Previously Unreleased Recordings from 1962 to 1986 on Scepter, Dynamo, Atlantic and Capitol Records (February 2019 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation of Remasters – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Lonely For You..."

Amongst the 25 goodies contained within "The Complete Man" by Tommy Hunt are his classy 1962 to 1968 Soul recordings for the Scepter and Dynamo labels, nestled alongside a duo of stand-alone 45s on Atlantic and Capitol Records respectively (1965 and 1966), two exclusives on a 1968 'Greatest Hits' set and Five Previously Unreleased newbees recently unearthed in the Scepter vaults in 2018 and 2019. 

It's a typically tasty little listen from Ace and their beloved Kent Soul imprint. To the details and the Big Apple Soul...

UK released 26 February 2019 - "The Complete Man: 60s NYC Soul Songs" by TOMMY HUNT on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 480 (Barcode 029667094221) offers 25 Remastered Tracks from 1962 to 1969 (including five unreleased) and plays out as follows (65:10 minutes):

1. I Don't Want To Lose You

2. Hold On (Tracks 1 and 2 are the A&B-sides of a February 1965 US 45-single on Atlantic 45-2278)

3. I'll Make You Happy 

4. The Clown (Tracks 3 and 4 are the A&B-sides of an April 1966 US 45-single on Capitol 5621)

5. Lonely For You (2018, originally unissued 1964 Scepter recording)

6. The Pretty Part Of You (1965 Scepter recording first issued on the June 1987 UK compilation LP "No, No, No, No, No Not My Girl - And 15 Other Northern Soul Dancers" on Kent KENT 069) 

7. Never Love A Robin (January 1967 US 45-single on Dynamo D-101, B-side of "The Biggest Man")

8. The Work Song (May 1962 US 45-single on Scepter 1231, A-side)

9. What's The Matter Baby (2019, Previously Unissued 1962 Scepter recording)

10. One Of These Days (2019, Previously Unissued 1963 Scepter recording)

11. Who You Gonna Thrill Tonight (2019, Previously Unissued 1962 recording)

12. And I Never Knew (August 1962 US 45-single on Scepter 1236, B-side of "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself")

13. Human (from the 1968 US LP "Tommy Hunt's Greatest Hits" on Dynamo DS 8001 in Stereo)

14. Searchin' For Love

15. The Complete Man (Tracks 14 and 15 are the B&A-sides of a July 1967 US 45-single on Dynamo D-100, Note that "The Complete Man" is the A-side)

16.  Searchin' For My Baby (Lookin' Everywhere) 

17. I Need A Woman Of My Own (Tracks 16 and 17 are the B&A-sides of a December 1967 US 45-single on Dynamo D-113, Note that "I Need A Woman Of My Own" is the A-side)

18. You're So Fine (from the 1962 US LP "I Don't Know What To Do With Myself" on Scepter SLP 506 in Mono)

19. I'm With You (October 1963 US 45-single on Scepter 1261, B-side to "I Am A Witness")

20. The Door Is Open (November 1961 US 45-single on Scepter 1226, A-side)

21. How Young Is Young (May 1964 US (2nd issue) 45-single on Scepter 1275, B-side of "You Made A Man Out Of Me")

22. Girls Are Sentimental (2019, Previously Unissued 1962 Scepter recording)

23. Son, My Son (May 1963 US 45-single on Scepter 1252, A-side)

24. Born Free (September 1968 US 45-single on Dynamo D-124, B-side of "Just A Little Taste (Of Your Sweet Lovin')")

25. I Believe (from the 1968 US LP "Tommy Hunt's Greatest Hits" on Dynamo DS 8001 in Stereo)  

All Tracks are MONO except 8, 10, 12 and 13

Tracks 5, 9, 10, 11 and 22 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The 20-page booklet features new liner notes from Soul aficionado ADY CROASDELL and classy black and white photos and publicity shots that go right back to his stint with one of the most beloved Vocal Groups of all time - The Flamingos. There are trade adverts for Dynamo's "The Biggest Man", a rare UK Demo 45 for "The Door Is Open" on Top Rank JAR-605, those Atlantic and Capitol Records labels and even Pittsburgh’s finest giving it some Northern Soul at the Wigan Casino - Tommy dressed to impress - microphone stand in hand like he's channelling wicked Wilson Pickett dance moves. 

Hunt had his autobiography published in 2008, so Croasdell puts together a potted history of his extraordinary life with alarming amounts of detail including early poverty and trouble with the law up to his triumphs and lows with British and European Soul fans, run down venues and touring without family. At 87 years of age in 2021, the great singer is still with us, suited and booted and ready to go...

But it keeps coming back to the music and once again, long-standing and uber-experienced Audio Engineer for Ace Records NICK ROBBINS has done the master tapes a solid. Both Mono and Stereo mixes swooning and bopping with equal gusto. And those songwriting-names entice too - Luther Dixon (whose wedding to singer Inez Foxx is pictured in a January 1966 Cash Box article on Page 10), Van McCoy, Jimmy Radcliffe, Ed Townsend, Thomas Bell - names that tingle Deep Soul lovers from the toes up. To the music...

In a very smart move, the compilation opens with the kind of smooch-fest Northern Soul fans would shoot Granny for – the A-side of his lone 1965 Atlantic Records single "I Don't Want To Lose You". A gorgeous slow deep Soul gem, everything about it is right – his voice, the subtle brass accompaniment that slinks in just when needed and of course, a genuinely lovely song from the pen of Van McCoy. Other hidden torch-ballads include two LP cuts on the Greatest Hits set from 1968 – a the best girl in the world but I am only a man tune in "Human" and the Lord hear my words "I Believe" – Hunt lifting up both with his husky Richie Havens vocals despite some heavy on the seaside town organ threatening to derail everything. 

The sub-Jackie Wilson brass bopper "You're So Fine" wouldn't be my fave nor the worthy cover of John Barry's lion-theme soundtrack song "Born Free", but tasty B-sides include "I'm With You" and "Searchin' For Love" make up for it. And although the inclusions are great, I think the compilation missed a trick in not placing the gorgeous almost Bacharach/David soft Soul of "Lover” – a Scepter out-take that appeared on the Ace/Kent Soul CD compilation "Manhattan Soul 3" in January 2017. I dug that track big time and it would have fit right in here. 

Still, a lovely CD release that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike and one that leaves me sentimental for Manhattan Soul...

"Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5" by VARIOUS ARTISTS - Featuring Tracks from 1958 to 1972 by James Carr, Z.Z. Hill, The Soul City, Lattimore Brown, Jerry Washington, Ronnie Taylor, Big Maybelle, Esther Phillips, The Masqueraders, Zilla Mayes, The Chantels, Linda Jones, Kenny Carter, The Emotions, Barbara Lynn, Helena Ferguson, Mark IV, Betty Harris, Dee Dee Warwick and George Jackson with Songwriting from Van McCoy, Gil Scott-Heron, Eddie Hinton, Marlin Greene and more (October 2019 UK Ace Records/Kent Soul CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Nothing Can Change The Love I Have For You..."

There's a black and white photo on page 30 of the rammed booklet in this exemplary CD reissue. Two earnest white Englishmen - Dave Godin and Norman Jopling - stand with beer and wine glasses in hand talking enthusiastically to a slightly stunned Berry Gordy Jr. (Motown's main man) during a Press Conference in London for the then fledgling American Soul label's first UK tour. The up-close and personal snap is dated September 1964. And in February 2021 – a paltry 57 years later - I frankly sit in awe at such smarts in these unlikely hipsters - and so early on too. 

Dapper and tall Dave Godin – originally a London, Lambeth boy - had discovered Atlantic Records R&B via an American Air Force Base Jukebox that had been recently placed in the 'Silver Lounge' Ice Cream Parlour in Bexleyheath - home of the luscious calorie-inducing Knickerbocker Glory, that then washed down with some decent coffee whilst checking out tunes your mommy warned you about emanating every 2:39 minutes from the carnal carousel by the wall. Full of import 45s on exotic labels, these were not cream-puff Pat Boone types nicking Black Music and winking through their trilbies pretending it was their own. These centerless 7" singles contained the raunchy real deal – deep-vocal men and women singing about lust and shifty lovers and daughters being treated mean whilst dancing their asses off in saucy Chitlin Circuit dives every Saturday Night with a Sour Mash in one hand and a revolver in the other. 

Norman Jopling had championed the American R&B chart when he joined the British 'Record Mirror' music newspaper as an article-writer in 1961 - likewise tapping into an underground love affair with music The Beatles and Stones were soaking up big time before they’d ever got an actual record out. Godin and Jopling were clued-in tuned-in British young men - pioneers - both of them – the lads of Northern Soul and Mod New Breed and have been genre heroes to besotted collectors ever since. Baring in mind the prejudice and racial crap he and his performers must have had to put up with back home (and all too often) - is it any wonder that Berry Gordy Jr. looked ever so slightly taken aback. As I say, on the money dudes who opened eyes, ears and hearts...

And that's where Volume 5 of this extraordinary series comes roaring in - not so much a tribute to a pioneer, but a belated homage and celebration of their love affair with American Soul and R&B (it's been 15 years since Volume 4 – see full list below). Covering 1958 to 1972 with many 60ts stopovers inbetween, there's a lot to celebrate and catalogue, so let's get deep into these British Soul Brother's sanctified craves...

UK released 25 October 2019 (1 November 2019 in the USA) - "Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records/Kent Soul CDKEND 485 (Barcode 029667096126) is a 25-Track CD compilation of Remasters covering 1958 to 1972 that plays out as follows (76:08 minutes):

1. Who Knows - THE SOUL CITY (November 1966, Goodtime Records GT-801, B-side of "Everybody Dance Now" – "Who Knows" is a Gladys Knight & The Pips cover)

2. Without Love - BONNIE TAYLOR (August 1967, Nassau N-101, A-side)

3. Don't Pass Me By - BIG MAYBELLE (September 1966, RoJac 1969, A-side)

4. Where Is The Party - HELENA FERGUSON (August 1967, Compass CO-7009, A-side)

5. Dead! - CAROLYN SULLIVAN (January 1968, Philips 40507, A-side)

6. Home Is Where The Hatred Is - ESTHER PHILLIPS (March 1972, Kudu KU-904, A-side - Gil Scott-Heron cover)

7. I Ain't Got To Love Nobody Else - THE MASQUERADERS (August 1968, Bell B-733, A-side)

8. I'll Be Right There (To Make Love To You) - MARK IV (December 1972, Mercury 73353, B-side of "My Everything You Are")

9. I'm Not The One - KENNY CARTER (2019, Previously Unissued 1966 Recording)

10. Somebody New - THE EMOTIONS (March 1968, Twin Stacks 126, A-side)

11. (Until Then) I'll Suffer - BARBARA LYNN (from the July 1968 US LP "Here Is Barbara Lynn" on Atlantic SD 8171 in Stereo)

12. Foolish Fool - DEE DEE WARWICK (January 1969, Mercury 72880, A-side)

13. My Desires Are Getting The Best Of Me - GEORGE JACKSON (July 1969, Fame 1457, B-side of "Find 'Em, Fool 'Em and Forget 'Em")

14. These Ain't Raindrops - JAMES CARR (March 1969, Goldwax 340, B-side of "To Love Somebody")

15. Standing At The Crossroads - EDDIE & ERNIE (August 1971, Buddah 250, B-side of "Hiding In Shadows")

16. Can't Last Much Longer - BETTY HARRIS (September 1967, Sansu 471, A-side)

17. Lovers Always Forgive - GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS (August 1964, Maxx 329, A-side - Van McCoy song)

18. Every Night (I Pray) - THE CHANTELS (February 1958, End E-1015, A-side) 

19. Satisfaction Guaranteed - JUDY WHITE (December 1968, Buddah BDA 79, A-side - Eddie Hinton and Marlin Greene song)

20. Right Here Is Where You Belong - JERRY WASHINGTON (December 1972, Excello EX-2327, A-side)

21. I Will - LATTIMORE BROWN (September 1970, Renegade 1201, B-side of "Sweet Desiree")

22. It's Too Late (For Tears) - RENE BAILEY (August 1968, Carnival CAR-539, A-side)

23. All I Want Is You - ZILLA MAYES (February 1968, Tou-Sea 132, B-side of "I Love You Still")

24. What Can I Do (Without You) - LINDA JONES (June 1968, Loma 2099, A-side)

25. Nothing Can Change This Love I Have For You - Z.Z. HILL (January 1968, Kent 45X481, A-side - Sam Cooke cover)

Tracks 6, 7, 9, 12 and 20 are STEREO - All Others MONO

Track 10 is PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED

The booklet is a pleasingly chunky 30-page affair and a masterstroke is to reprint long forgotten interviews with Godin (done in the 90ts) about his beginnings in the scene - the text peppered with mouth-watering fan-pleasing memorabilia. There's a telegram to Godin at his old Church Road home in Bexleyheath about an impending fan reception for Marvin Gaye and Harvey Fuqua in November 1964 - a July 1965 letter from Charlotte the secretary in The Miracles Fan Club thanking him for plugging Motown that is way more personal than someone Stateside keeping in with him because it was necessary - trade adverts and photos of 'Soul City' Record Shop in Monmouth Street to which he was associated - publicity photos for lesser-seen artists like Helena Ferguson, Mark IV, Lattimore Brown and Judy White (Daughter of the great US Folk legend Josh White), and so on. 

There are UK and American label repros - British demos of "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" on Kudu KUS 4000 (June 1972) and one I've never seen, "I Ain't Got To Love Nobody Else" on Bell BLL 1022 (October 1968). But the real meat is actually the sheer amount of space given to each entry by long-standing compiler and annotator for Ace Records - ADY CROASDELL. 

Many had thought Volume 5 would never show (Godin sadly passed in 2004 as Volume 4 went to press) - so it's clear that both Croasdell and Ace felt they had big shoes to feel and the quality count to keep high, and I think they've achieved both with aplomb (can't imagine the nightmare of chasing licensing on some of these). DUNCAN COWELL has done the transfers and Remasters and they sing like the proverbial lark arising (gettin' up off of that thing to make himself feel better). To the tunes...

The lovely "Who Knows" by The Soul City was issued Stateside in November 1966 as the B-side of "Everybody Dance Now" on Goodtime Records, but had the sides reversed in the UK for its 45-single debut in February 1967 on Cameo Parkway C 103. "Everybody Dance Now" was more of a Frat House Garage Rocker than a Soul side, but "Who Knows" had actually been a Gladys Knight & The Pips tune before The Soul City got their grubby paws on it and give an intensity edge. Following that is a Guitarist and Singer called Ronnie Taylor who had been with King Pharoah & The Egyptians for their April 1961 single "Shimmy Shammy" on Federal 12413. The obscure 'Nassau' label put out his scorch-earth ballad "Without Love" and you can so hear why Godin loved it. 

Hurting way down inside continues with a get down your knees Big Maybelle giving it some pleading in her "Don't Pass Me By" – the kind of eerie echoed vocal that a drugged-up Etta James might have given that somehow actually feels like pain rather than a voyeur just singing about it. More concerned in her tune with where the in-crowd goes, the lovely Helena Ferguson is said to have shifted less than 250 copies of her "Where Is The Party" 45 when London UK issued it in November 1967 (there is a trade advert for it on Page 14 of the booklet). From there we go to proper heartbreak as Carolyn Sullivan sings in absolute earnest "...leave me alone...I ain't got nothing to live for... " – literally a slow-suicide plead that organ/tambourines its way to a shuffling finish. I must say I can see why it's here, but it wouldn't be a go-to winner in my book. Sticking with domestic horrors, Esther Phillips gets all 1972 wah-wah guitar with her Gil Scott-Heron cover of "Home Is Where The Hatred Is”. Sounding like some Blaxploitation track that's taking no prisoners lyrically - the former Atlantic Records chanteuse sings of needles and neighbourhood's destroyed and all your essence being lost. As good as it is with that extraordinary mixture of Funk and Soul - it's perhaps just a little too much reality for me (how very GSH) where its inclusion here feels slightly out of kilter. 

Other highlights include the strings vs. girls "Somebody New" by The Emotions, clearly distraught as they wail "...I don't want to go if I can't be with you..." (I know how you feel darling). Just one kiss would do so much for James Carr in his fantastic croak-Soul weepy "These Ain't Raindrops" – great audio as the great man struggles all the way to the bar. That other famous Southern Soul Man George Jackson is instead trying to dampen his ardour in his "My Desires Are Getting The Better Of Me" – paired in August 1969 on Capitol CL 15605 with the equally brilliant "Find 'Em, Fool 'Em and Forget 'Em" – a Fame Records double-whammy of great Soul. And on it goes to a cover of a Sam Cooke classic that sums up his abiding adoration to a tee.

I would admit that not everything on here lights up my dimly lit noggin, but I know that so many others will have the lights explode in their heads at the sheer class and presentation that is going on in CDKEND 485. A great set for a great pioneer. I own the other four volumes and love seeing their spines sat on my shelf. Job done, respect shown...

Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures CD Series – A List

1. Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures: Taken From The Vaults... (Volume 1) – April 1997 UK CD on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 143 (Barcode 029667214322) 

2. Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures: Taken From The Vaults... Volume 2 – January 1999 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 158 (Barcode 029667215824)

3. Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures: Taken From The Vaults... Volume 3 – November 2000 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 200 (Barcode 029667220026)

4. Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures: Taken From The Vaults... Volume 4 – August 2004 UK Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 230 (Barcode 029667223027)

5. Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5 – October 2019 UK Ace Records/Kent Soul CDKEND 485 (Barcode 029667096126)