"Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring 1963 to 1971 US 45-Singles and Previously Unreleased Material (November 2017 UK Ace/Kent Dance CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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RATING: *****

"...I Only Cry Once A Day Now..."

There was a two-and-half-year lapse between Vol. 5 and Vol. 6 in this exemplary series from Ace Records of the UK (the premier label for oldies of this ilk) – but as always – they made it worth the nerve-shredder wait. And as of March 2024 (as I write this) - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" in Number Six in a Series of Seven (see list below).

You get Twenty-Four more US dancers, shufflers and talcum powder mufflers stretching from 1963 to 1971. Amongst the crying and the wailing and the dying of hearts to a danceable beat – you are plied with Four Unreleased cuts, several originally unissued slices from now deleted rarity compilations as well as the usual plethora of choice 45 A's, B's and LP tracks.

And while names like J.J. Barnes, Maxine Brown, The Detroit Emeralds, Betty Everett and Johnnie Taylor will be well known to Northern Soul afficionados - Kent Dance (Kent Soul and Kent Dance are label imprints Ace Records of the UK employs) present enough obscurity finds and re-discoveries to keep the faithful popping. Volume Five was a great listen – but I think Volume Six is even better. Here are the low-down production details that produced big bucks collectables...

UK released 24 November 2017 – "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 471 (Barcode 029667085922) is a 24-Track CD Compilation that pans out as follows (63:55 minutes):

1. Love Is Gonna Get You – PEGGY WOODS (Originally Unissued 1966 Murco Recording, first released 1988 as a 100-Club Anniversary UK 45-single on Kent 6T 4, then issued in 1992 on CD but with wrong mix, here presented in 2017 as a Full Finished Version)

2. You Won't Saying Nothing – TAMALA LEWIS (June 1965 USA 7" single on Marton 1002, A-side)

3. I Only Cry Once A Day Now – THE FIDELS (Previously Unissued 1966 Doré Records recording)

4. Friday Night – JOHNNIE TAYLOR (August 1970 USA 7" single on Stax Records STAX 0068, B-side of "Steal Away")

5. I Got To Tell Somebody – BETTY EVERETT (October 1970 USA 7" single on Fantasy 652, A-side, Arranged Donny Hathaway)

6. I Can Fly – THE MAGNIFICENTS (Originally Unissued 1973 Just Productions recording (written and produced by Jack Ashford), issued 2017 as a UK 7" single on Kent ST 33, B-side. The A-side is Lorraine Chandler "Ease My Mind" and is part of the Kent Anniversary Special Series of UK 45s)

7. Why You Wanna Treat Me The Way You Do – THE HYPERIONS (March 1965 USA 7" single on Chattahoochee CH 669, A-side)

8. Sunshine Love – DIFOSCO (1971 USA 7" single on Earthquake EQ-2, A-side – Difosco is Dee Ervin aka Big Dee Irwin)

9. I Wanted To Tell You – LITTLE NICKY SOUL (August 1964 USA 7" single on Shee Records SR-101, A-side – co-written and produced by Sidney Barnes of The Rotary Connection)

10. Young Boy Blues – DANIEL A. STONE (Originally Unissued 1965 recording from "Phil Spector's III", a 2007 UK CD Compilation on Ace CDCHD 1149)

11. No Mad Woman – JOCK MITCHELL with THE FABULOUS AGENT'S (1968 USA 7" single on Golden Hit Productions 103, A-side)

12. Sad Tomorrows – NOONEY RICKETT (Previously Unissued 1965 recording – Produced by Jack Nitzsche – the Jack Greenwich and Jerry Marcellino song was originally a 1964 hit for Trini Lopez on Reprise Records)

13. Wait A Minute (You're Getting Careless With My Heart) – THE KITTENS (1963 USA 7" single on Vick 300, B-side to "Somebody New")

14. One In A Million – MAXINE BROWN (Previously Unissued Take of US 45-Single Wand WND 1117 - original was an April 1967 A-side)

15. Naughty Boy – JACKIE DAY (1965 USA 7" single on Phelectron PH-382, B-side of "I Want Your Love")

16. The Winds Kept Laughing – BETTY TURNER and THE CHEVELLES (1964 USA 7" single on Crescent 637, A-side)

17. Lost In The City – THE VOWS (December 1964 USA 7" single on Big 3 Records 400, A-side)

18. Poor – Unfortunate – Me (I Ain't Got Nobody) – J.J. BARNES (November 1964 USA 7" single on Ring Records RING 101, A-side)

19. Cry In The Arms Of Another Love – ANDRE SCOTT with JESSIE, OTIS & SHOTGUN (1968 USA 7" single on Sunflower 101, B-side to "One Girl")

20. Love Live The King – THE DETROIT EMERALDS (from the 1971 US LP "Do Me Right"  on Westbound WB 2006, Janus 6310 204 in the UK)

21. Love Hangover – JEAN CARTER (1968 USA 7" single on Sunflower 102, B-side to "I Bet You")

22. (Marriage Is Only) A State Of Mind – O.C. TOLBERT (Originally Unissued 1972 recording, finally issued 30 June 2017 in the USA on Remined RMND-102)

23. Dream Girl – LON-GENES (1964 USA 7" single on Romark 108, A-side)

24. Little Boy – CARLA THOMAS (Originally Unissued 1961 recording first released 1991 on the UK Carla Thomas CD compilation "Hidden Gems" on Ace Records/Stax CDCHD 039)

NOTES:
Tracks 3, 12, 14 and 23 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (2017)
All tracks in MONO except track 6 which is STEREO

Compiled and Annotated by long-time Soul Nutter ADY CROASDELL – his 20-pages of liner notes are the usual plethora of repro labels (Fantasy, Kent and Chattahoochee on Page 6) with rare publicity photos for Johnnie Taylor, Betty Everett, Carla Thomas and a black and white of The Vows on the back page few will ever have seen. The mighty Sidney Barnes is looking good in a Northern Soul teeshirt on Page 16 with another rarity – a colour snap of O.C. Tolbert on Page 17. NICK ROBBINS has done the remasters/transfers and given that all but one is in homemade Mono – most sound good to great – with the lobe Stereo cut singing. There is joy in these songs and even if they are not audiophile – Robbins has given them the just-enough oomph they need. To the pocket-draining joy unto the rave fantastic…

Volume 6 opens with an unissued by Peggy Woods and I can hear why they chose it, but I am not entirely convinced. Better for me is a very cool run of  Tamala Lewis, The Fidels and old Johnnie Taylor fretting about Friday Night – another Stax cut that I must admit passed me by. The unreleased Fidels song is a great discovery as is the Nooney Rickett cover of a Trini Lopez hit from 1964. 

The Little Nicky Soul seven-inch has ludicrously high market values of over £3000 and Ace have uncovered the story behind the single by Producer and Co-Writer SIDNEY BARNES who would late join Minnie Riperton in The Rotary Connection on Chess’s Cadet Concept Records before she went onto to solo fame in the 70ts on Epic. Barnes tells us that his real name was Nicholas Faircorth, and the name-change was of course to spruce up the showbiz presentation. Not only did Sidney give this young singer a break on Shee Records (he even designed the label) – the session included such luminaries as Bernard Purdie on Drums, Eric Gale on Guitar, Richard Tee on Keyboards with Jean Carter, Himself (Sidney Barnes) and a lady called Gena doing the backing vocals. Although most all these names would have been virtual unknowns at the time (1964) – they later became huge in their own Soul, Funk and Jazz-Fusion way. 

The ultra-desirable US 45 (co-penned with Lucille White of Motown's Jobette Music) apparently got a lot of radio play in New York (maybe not so many sale) and made Nicky a star for a while but then he disappeared. A killer dancer with a great lead vocal and backing vocal wall that dominates as much as the bemoaning lead - it was of course the Northern Soul nuts of the UK that picked up on "I Wanted To Tell You" and Barnes has cited them as the reason for its resurgence and staggering value. What a joy it is to have on here. 

Another staggeringly cost-prohibitive tune (near three and half grand sterling) comes in the shape of the Jackie Day 1966 B-side "Naughty Boy" on the obscure Phelectron Records – an unknown to aficionados until it was spun at an 80ts all-nighter in Stafford. Ace have even managed to uncover a photo of the classy-looking lady stood beside a smiling Big Jay McNeely (Page 11) – winners both. And there is no one who loves Sweet Soul Music can ever get enough of Maxine Brown – Ace having found an alternate and unissued take on "One In A Million" – a Northern Soul scene standard floorfiller for over 40-years – wow – how very cool! The San Diego based Crescent Records is another absolute unknown where the brass on the dancer "The Winds Kept Laughing" (Crescent 637) was supplied by a local school band sometime in 1964. And again, The Vows from Chicago on Big 3 Records score a ballad belter with "Lost In The City" – the kind of scorched-earth soul that sends fans into a froth at the gills (a steal at just under six-hundred and fifty quid to us mere digital mortals).

With a Detroit ensemble J.J. Barnes cut his hugely enjoyable "Poor – Unfortunate – Me (I Ain't Got Nobody)" in Chicago with a Marvin Gaye Motown sound in mind (there is a picture of this Soul Hero on Page 13 showing him on stage in a 1975 London visit). Once again Chess Records genius Sidney Barnes helped a teenage street vocal group Jessie, Otis & Shotgun by bringing in a young singer called Andre Scott and whipping their "Cry In The Arms Of Another Love" into a slice of Temptations-like commerciality. Tall tales surrounded Roosevelt Anderson (the Shotgun in the original trio) because his nickname came from the fact that he carried such a weapon with him to school – sawn-off and hidden under his jacket (nice) – no wonder he had such a high voice and low tolerance. And on it goes…

I didn't love everything on Volume 5 of this "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities …" Series – but here in Volume 6 - the goodies are more abundant and outweigh the unissued-for-a-reason disappointments (of which there are thankfully very few).

Another must-own-or-I-die comp from Ace's Kent Dance and Volume 7 (although I have not heard it yet) that followed in 2021 is apparently just as boss. 

Would we expect anything else from this giant of a reissue label…

Ace's "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities" Series (up to July 2024)

27 August 2001 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 192 (Barcode 029667219228)

30 May 2005 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 2" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 248 (Barcode 029667224826)

26 May 2008 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 3" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 338 (Barcode 029667229524)

28 June 2010 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 4" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 338 (Barcode 029667233828)

30 March 2015 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 432 (Barcode 029667243223)

24 November 2017 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 6" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 471 (Barcode 029667085922)

26 February 2021 - "Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 7" on Ace/Kent Dance CDKEND 498 (Barcode 029667101721)