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70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
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"...Your Time To Cry..."
The truth lies somewhere in-between. A cleverly put together CD compilation on New York's Spring Records and its imprints Event and Posse that takes in a broad-spectrum of dates (1967 to 1983). Problems lie in those titles that veer aware from its 70ts heyday - later syrupy concoctions from 1980 and 1983.
But still, with that huge playing time of nearly 79-minutes as a genuine plus, and enough Northern Soulish late 60ts and early 70ts dancer-orientated B-sides towards the end – we can declare CDKEND 487 yet another winner in Ace's cannon of exemplary Kent Soul reissues. Let's get determined baby...
UK released 31 January 2020 - "Spring NYC Soul" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records/Kent Soul CDKEND 487 (Barcode 029667097529) offers Rarities from New York’s SPRING, EVENT and POSSE labels issued between 1967 and 1983 including Previously Unreleased and plays out as follows (78:58 minutes):
1. Save The Best For Me - THE DETERMINATIONS (2020, Previously Unissued Edited Version, Original opens Side 1 of the 1976 US LP "One Step At A Time" on Event Records EV-7001)
2. Do You Feel It - ACT 1 (November 1974 US 45-single on Spring SPR-152, B-side of "Party Hardy People")
3. I Love You More Than Anything - RAY GODFREY (2020, Previously Unissued 1970 Spring Recording)
4. Since You've Been Gone - GARLAND GREEN (2020, Previously Unissued Unedited Version, Original on the 1990 UK LP "The Spring Sides" by Garland Green on Kent Records KEND 090)
5. Magic's In The Air - RONNIE WALKER (August 1975 US 45-single on Event Records EV 225, A-side)
6. If You Could Turn Into Me - THE FATBACK BAND (from the August 1975 US LP "Yum Yum" on Event Records EV-6904)
7. Your Time To Cry - JOE SIMON (November 1970 US 45-single on Spring SPR 108, A-side)
8. I'm The Other Half Of You - MAXINE WELDON (2020, Previously Unissued 1973 Spring recording)
9. Forever - CLARE BATHE (1980 US 45-Single on Posse POS 5004, A-side)
10. The Storm Is Passing Over - JACKIE VERDELL (from the 1986 US LP "Lay My Burdon Down" on Spring 33-6739)
11. Plenty Of Love - C-BRAND (1982 US 45-single on Spring SP 3029, B-side of "Wired For Games")
12. (Beauty (Is In The Eye Of The Beholder) - THE JONESES (1980 US 45-single on Posse POS 5003, A-side)
13. Hold on - RAY GODFREY (2020, Previously Unissued 1979 Spring recording)
14. Kill The Monster - FLOWER SHOPPE (March 1971 US 45-single on Spring SPR 111, B-side of "You've Come A Long Way Baby")
15. If We Get Caught, I Don't Know You - PHILLIP MITCHELL (1975 US 45-single on Event EV 223, B-side of "There's Another In My Life")
16. If You Say You Love Me - US (2020, Previously Unissued 1975 Spring recording)
17. Falling In Love - VICTOR TAVARES (2020, Previously Unissued 1975 Spring recording)
18. (I Have Fallen Into) The Tender Trap - LEROY RANDOLPH (January 1972 US 45-single on Spring SPR 121, A-side)
19. Boiling Like Water - THE EQUATIONS (August 1971 US 45-single on Spring SPR 117, B-side of "You Make Me Feel So Good")
20. Sugar Plum (Give Me Some) - LITTLE EVA HARRIS (Previously Unreleased 1968 recording first issued on the 2004 CD compilation "Where The Girls Are - Volume Six" on Ace Records CDCHD 1032)
21. Get Right - RICHARD BARBARY (January 1968 US 45-single on Spring SK701, B-side of "When Johnny Comes Marching Again")
22. Daddy's Coming Home - PRINCE HAROLD (January 1968 US 45-single on Spring SK702, B-side of "Ain't It Amazing")
23. Of Your Life - VERNON BROWN (March 1971 US 45-single on Spring SPR 112, B-side of "I'm A Lover")
24. I Ride Alone – THE INTERNATIONALS (August 1972 US 45-single on Spring SPR 129, B-side of "Lead Me On")
Tracks 7, 20, 21, 22 and 23 are MONO - all others STEREO
Prompted by multi-track finds in the Spring Records vaults - Ace have once again dug deep (six Previously Unreleased on top of American vinyl-only rarities). ADY CROASDEL pours on the charm and details in 20-pages of liner notes - giving a song-by-song analysis - itself peppered with those fab repro labels and classy black and white publicity photos of names less seen like Richard Barbary, Clare Bathe and Phil Flowers who is sporting a floral shirt with a collar so big there may indeed be a law against it somewhere. There is a trade advert for Spring Records, an elated Joe Simon being interviewed by an even more-pleased white DJ and a rarely seen Kent LP in the shape of Garland Green's "The Spring Sides" - Kent 90 being only the ninth last vinyl LP in the series before CDs took over completely (as I recall). The details are of course fascinating - The Fatback Band doing a Soulful smoocher when they are of course more associated with booty-waddling Funk - Jackie Verdell and her modern-Gospel LP from 1982 (once a member of The Davis Sisters in the 50ts) and how most copies of the secular 45s put out by The Internationals feature "Lead On Me" on both sides, hence Ace have chosen the rarer and more sought after B-side "I Ride Alone" for inclusion. The usual class act in other words. Audio is care of the vastly experienced DUNCAN COWELL and again – these transfers have oomph and lovely warm vitality - poppermost of the toppermost. To the music...
Things start dancing immediately with the 'everything that glitters may not all be gold' stepper "Save The Best For Me" - a joyful slice from The Determinations that will have Northern Soul fans weeping in the aisles. "Do You Feel It" by Act 1 graces all of the rear of the 20-page booklet, resplendent in its Spring Records label bag - another shimmy-shaker. Next up is the first of six new discoveries - a 1970 brassy upbeat tune called "I Love You More Than Anything" by Ray Godfrey - not quite NS-magical but more than respectable and a pretty damn cool discovery after 50 long years in oblivion (produced and co-written by Joe Simon).
The deep-as-walnut voice of Garland Green lifts up the truly lovely "Since You've Been Gone" - a very smart choice indeed - especially as the LP isn't that easy to find (the edit is small, 3:36 minutes for the original LP cut but 3:17 for this newer version). The unnervingly heavy synth and Stylistics type beat/strings of "Magic's In The Air" may be a skip for many and The Fatback Band sound frankly uncomfortable with the sappy "If You Could Turn Into Me" (a bad vocal too). But things are rescued by the genuinely gorgeous expressiveness of Joe Simon's "Your Time To Cry" - his 1970 voice and ache - a hundred times more real than the two cheese-puffs that preceded it (a highlight for me this).
Another newbee is the 'feeling sad and blue' of Maxine Weldon giving it some hey baby come on over because "I'm The Other Half Of You" - a fabulous ballad find and truly worthy of the moniker 'Bonus'. Clare Bathe is a Jazz singer who had stints with August Darnell's Kid Creole & The Coconuts and actually sang on the Chic debut LP - but her "Forever" has that big 80ts polish that almost threatens to drown the otherwise pretty tune. Better is a Joe Simon co-write with Jackie Verdell - her straight-up 1983 Gospel anthem "The Storm Is Passing Over" just the right side of hallelujah righteous Soul - the 1970's sounding LP famously featuring a young gal called Whitney Houston pre superstardom. The slap-bass chugging Funk of "Plenty Of Love" combined with its 1982 Pop-Soul Heatwave backbeat has made it a sought after 45 - and again - a smart inclusion here - if not a wee bit out of place.
Other highlights for me are "Kill The Monster" by Flower Shoppe featuring the Sly Stone exciting vocals of Phil Flowers - a warning song for kids in the neighbour. It seems that sexpot (Prince) Phillip Mitchell finds that everything is the 'other' girl's fault - his witty and funky B-side "If We Get Caught, I Don't Know You" (I have reviewed his 1978 and 1979 albums for Atlantic Records - "Make It Good" and "Top Of The Line" - they were part of Rhino's "Classic Soul Album - Expanded And Remastered" Series of CD reissues in 2007). The old-stylee Vocal-Group performance of "(I Have Fallen Into) The Tender Trap" benefits greatly from Leroy Randolph's expressive pipes (Don Covay's brother) - while fans of future disco divas Tavares will have to have the Victor Tavares ballad outtake "Falling In Love" (not my cup of Java mind). And it ends on a flurry of Mono single-sides aimed squarely at the hips and not the quivering lips.
For sure the CD stumbles a few times mid-stream (as others have mentioned), but there is still just so much to like and dig on "Spring NYC Soul". And isn't that typical of Ace's Kent Soul releases - the quality far outweighs everything else...
