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RATING: Content *** to *****
Audio *** to ****
"…Hit And Miss…"
Born in a prison and raised in three different foster homes – the legendary Philly Groove Drummer Earl Jones lined phonebooks up on chairs as a child to practice his beats (didn't want to play no bugle in a local Marching Band). And man oh break-free man – did it pay off.
To have your musician-name on sessions that produced the iconic sounds of tunes like "Backstabbers" by O'Jays, "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn is a Soul Music accolade many would throttle a close relative for. But a look down through this list of twenty-three R 'n' B singles and album tracks covering 1965 to 1977 on a variety of labels (with a major lean on Seventies Philly Grooves - Gamble & Huff material etc) and you see there is so much more (it has a near eighty-minute total-playing-time).
I'll readily admit that I don't like all of it and as summit of a die-hard Philadelphia International fan/collector – I already have way too many of these entries. But as a one-stop – as a helluva tester to one man's relentlessly sexy backbeat - "Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions" gets my Thom Bell going any day of the week. More hit than miss – to the details…
UK released Friday, 23 February 2024 - "Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul CDTOP 1629 (Barcode 029667109925) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of Remasters covering 1965 to 1977 that plays out as follows (79:15 minutes):
1. Penguin At The Big Apple/Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart (Medley) – THE TRAMMPS (from the August 1975 US LP "The Legendary Zing Album" on Buddah Records BDS 5641, credited as The Fabulous Trammps)
2. Storm Warning – THE VOLCANOS (May 1965 US 45-Single, Arctic 106, A-side)
3. Do The Hand Jive – ARCHIE BELL & THE DELLS (May 1969 US 45-Single, Atlantic 2644, B-side of "Girl You're Too Young")
4. Ain't Got The Love Of One Girl (On My Mind) – THE AMBASSADORS (March 1969 US 45-Single, Arctic 150, A-side)
5. Silly, Silly Fool – DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (January 1970 US 45-Single, Atlantic 45-2705, A-side)
6. Trying To Make A Fool Of Me – THE DELFONICS (May 1970 US 45-Single, Philly Groove PG 162, A-side)
7. Please Give Me One More Chance – CLYDE McPHATTER (from the August 1970 US LP "Welcome Home" on Decca DL 75231)
8. Backstabbers – O'JAYS (May 1972 US 45-Single, Philadelphia International ZS7 3517, A-side)
9. Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind - THE SPINNERS (from the April 1973 US LP "Spinners" on Atlantic SD 7256)
10. I Like To Live The Love – B.B. KING (November 1973 US 45-Single, ABC Records ABC-11406, A-side)
11. The Love I Lost (Part 1) - HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES (August 1973 US 45-Single, Philadelphia International Z7S 3533, A-side)
12. Do It Again – CHARLES MANN (from the 1973 US LP "Say You Love Me Too" on ABC Records ABCX-786)
13. TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) – THE THREE DEGREES (from the June 1975 US LP "International" on Philadelphia International KZ 33162, credited as "Take Good Care Of Yourself" in the UK, released April 1975 on Philadelphia International PIR 69137)
14. Be Truthful To Me – BILLY PAUL (September 1974 US 45-Single, Philadelphia International ZS8 3551, A-side)
15. I'm Doin' Fine Now – NEW YORK CITY (from the March 1973 US LP "I'm Doin' Fine Now" on Chelsea Records BCL1-0198)
16. I Just Can't Say Goodbye – PHILLY DEVOTIONS (December 1974 US 45-Single, Columbia 3-10076, A-side – February 1975 UK 45-Single on CBS Records CBS 3042, A-side)
17. A Mother For My Children – THE WHISPERS (December 1973 US 45-Single, Janus J-231, A-side)
18. Be Thankful For What You Got – WILLIAM DeVAUGHN (March 1974 US 45-Single, Roxbury BRBO-0236, A-side)
19. I Can't Fight Your Love – THE MODULATIONS (1974 US 45-Single, Buddah BDA 418, A-side, September 1974 UK 45 on Buddah BDS 406 – also on the 1975 US LP "It's Rough Out Here" on Buddah BDS 5638)
20. Touch And Go (12" Single) – ECSTASY, PASSION & PAIN featuring BARBARA ROY (April 1976 US-Only Promo-Only 12" Single, Roulette R-7182DJ, A-side)
21. My Love Is Free – DOUBLE EXPOSURE (January 1977 US 45-Single, Salsoul SZ 2012, B-side of "Just Can't Say Hello")
22. Hit And Run – LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY (March 1977 US 45-Single, Gold Mind GM-4001, April 1978 UK 45-Single on Salsoul SSOL 108, A-side)
23. Time Will Tell – EDDIE HOLMAN (April 1977 US and UK 45-Single on Salsoul SZ 2026 (same catalogue number for both countries), the B-side of "This Will Be A Night To Remember" in both countries)
NOTES:
Tracks 2, 15 and 19 are MONO; all others STEREO
Every booklet Ace has produced for compilations like this always shows real effort – loads of definitive details and period-appropriate photos. But here in February 2024, we not only get treated to all that song-by-song analysis by the hugely knowledgeable TONY ROUNCE - but also a fantastic recently conducted interview by Record Collector's IAN SHIRLEY with an 83-year-old Earl Young complete with photos of the great man behind his kit wearing a Philadelphia International Records tee-shirt! Starting at Page 20 and working its way across a Q&A until it finishes on Page 30 – Young gets down and dirty about first breaks – sessions with Stevie Wonder and other legendary performers – how he got his signature sound at Sigma Studios and so on.
At 32-pages - this is a substantial effort put in by Kent-Soul on the booklet honouring the man's legacy – something Sony Music/EMI are never going to do on any Now Yearbook comp. The labels are all pictured – Salsoul, Arctic (from the early years), Buddah and Atlantic and Probe Records out of the UK that carried much of the ABC stuff. There are rare picture sleeves, demo labels, sheet music, record label black and white promo photos, trade adverts – the usual thorough plethora of lesser-seen period goodies. And long-time Ace Records accomplice in all things Audio-Excellence NICK ROBBINS has done the Remasters that I swear give a more prominent edge to the Drums on tunes you have heard hundreds of times. It sounds fab. To the listen…
With its flange guitar working across your speakers and his tight-in-the-pocket drums keeping a groove with the strings – the classic mid Seventies TSOP soundscape is set up by The Trammps. I will admit I am not a fan of the two-part medley per say – feels a tad cheesy to me. Better is the dancer Northern Soul boys love, The Volcanos suffering black clouds over their heads with "Storm Warning" from 1965 on a seriously sought-after Arctic Records 45 – so cool. The ping-pinging vibes pick up pace with Archie Bell telling us that one of The Drells can't dance because of his two left feet, but luckily, he can "Do The Hand Jive". The audio takes a bit of a dive with the homemade Vocal-Soul of The Ambassadors – another find-em-fool-em sought-after rough and ready Soul-shuffler on Arctic.
Two familiars show in the shape of Dusty Springfield and The Delfonics - The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) and Philly Groove starting to dominate the listen. In fact, some collectors might baulk because they will have much of these famous tunes already. The Gamble & Huff song "Silly, Silly Fool" was issued as a US 45 for Dusty Springfield 30 January 1970 – a short but poppy Soul Dancer cut off the album "A Brand New Me" (Atlantic SD 8249) released a couple of weeks prior to the single. Her light-as-air vocals work for it too. Lovely surprise comes in a late-in-his-career Clyde McPhatter dancer in "Please Give Me One More Chance" – great Bass and Earl keeping it tight as the former Drifters Lead Vocalist gets down on his knees and makes what you would imagine is one more in a long line of pleas.
The rumbling piano and then Earl Jones just nailing it with that rhythm intro – then the strings and brass as we launch into the fantastic "Backstabbers" – the O'Jays changing the Soul template forever. I may be 66 this year, but I can remember 1972 when this socially smart piece of musical joy hammered charts everywhere. Suddenly it seemed that everyone was noticing this emerging Seventies Soul Sound. Smiling faces sometimes – low down and dirty indeed. As if to endorse the changes, The Spinners (known as The Detroit Spinners in the UK) come in with their smooth "Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" – a lovely inclusion and a smart choice. Onto a lesser trodden path with B.B. King proving himself still in touch with his ABC Records 45 "I Like To Live The Love" – his positivity and the tune's groove reminding me of The Staple Singers over on Stax.
Another huge moment and recognizable Philly smash opens with electric piano and then Earl laying into the high-hats and pedal-drums thump (a US R&B No.1). Teddy Pendergrass gives his vocal a lived-it urgency as "The Love I Lost…" put Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes on the map. The CD then throws up its first clunker although I know there are some who like this cover version of Steely Dan's "Do It Again" by Charles Mann. In 1973 (only a year after their debut album "Can't Buy A Thrill" was released) Mann was at least first out of the gate at covering a Donald Fagen and Walter Becker-penned classic – I just find it too busy and his vocal not that convincing. But as I say, there are others who love this little wild one (all the time she's smiling - you know you'll be on your knees tomorrow).
TSOP by The Three Degrees is overplayed for me – and the Pop Soul of Billy Paul doesn't cut it either. Better is the very-Philly-vibe in "I'm Doin' Fine Now" by New York City. Production values leap for The Philly Devotions – a so Seventies high-vocal strings-dancer with Earl laying it down over on the left. And on it goes to genius like William DeVaughn (digging the scene with a gangster lean) and the rare Promo-only twelve-inch of "Touch And Go" where Disco is beginning to muddy the Philly waters.
"Groove Machine…" makes it point very nicely indeed. Could have been five stars, but it isn't all genius - so not quite the full enchilada.
But "…The Earl Young Drum Sessions" is a timely reminder of background heroes who deserve the spotlight after all these keepin' it uptight decades…
