"My Griffin Is Gone" by HOYT AXTON – January 1969 US LP on Columbia Records in Stereo (CBS in the UK in Mono and Stereo) featuring David Cohen of Country Joe & The Fish & Elephant’s Memory on Guitar, James Burton of Elvis Presley fame on Dobro, Larry Knechtel of Bread on Keyboards (with sessionman Mike Melvoin also on keys), Jimmie Fadden of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Ben Benay of Delaney & Bonnie on Harmonicas with Chuck Berghofer and Gary Coleman of The Wrecking Crew on Bass and Percussion (July 2006 UK Acadia CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - 1969
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
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"...Spent It All On Comfort For His Mind..."

 

For a good few years now I've had an e-Book series on Amazon under the general umbrella of 'Sounds Good Music Books'. And one of those 30-or-so releases is entitled "I SAW THE LIGHT - Forgotten Albums 1955 to 1979" with a whopping 458 entries and nearly 1,900 e-Pages.

 

Well, Hoyt Axton's overlooked and largely forgotten Country-Folk pastoral socially conscious gem "My Griffin Is Gone" will be going in there with an unceremonious bullet come next update (which will be early 2022).

 

"My Griffin Is Gone" is not the five-star masterpiece many claim, but there are at least six or seven of the twelve tracks that I play a 'lot' - and they are good man - Nick Drake and Paul Buckmaster flute and acoustic guitar pastoral plaintive good - with a smidge of Tony Joe White and Fred Neil deep-voiced guttural cool thrown in for good measure. The lyrics too are brilliant – life, friends, religion, drugs, the counter culture, childhood lingering and more. Sometimes they can be twee for sure – all flowers and sunshine (it was 1969 after all). But mostly they're intelligent, street-insightful and in the hands of an artist able to communicate them with an unflinching eye.

 

And audio-wise, this sweet-sounding 2006 CD on England's Acadia (part of the Evangeline Records group) is licensed from Sony/BMG who own the tapes for Columbia Records, so the Remaster is genuinely clear and really good (some tiny traces of hiss but nothing that really detracts). Those strings on "Revelations" are gorgeous as are the Brass Arrangements on the brilliant "Way Before The Time Of Towns". Let's get to the babbling people brook...

 

UK released July 2006 (August 2006 in the USA) - "My Griffin Is Gone" by HOYT AXTON on Acadia ACA 8117 (Barcode 0805772811720) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of his 1969 album (in Stereo) and plays out as follows (35:47 minutes):

 

1. On The Natural [Side 1]

2. Way Before The Time Of Towns

3. Beelzebub's Laughter

4. Sunshine Fields Of Love

5. It's All Right Now

6. Gypsy Will

7. Revelations [Side 2]

8. Snow Blind Friend

9. Childhood's End

10. Sunrise

11. Kingswood Manor

12. Chase Down The Sun

Tracks 1 to 12 are his fifth studio album "My Griffin Is Gone" – released January 1969 in the USA on Columbia CS 9766 (Stereo) and in the UK on CBS Records M 63588 (Mono) and CBS S 63588 (Stereo). The Stereo mix is used for this CD. Produced by ALEX HASSILEV, players included David Cohen of Country Joe & The Fish & Elephant's Memory on Guitar, James Burton of Elvis Presley fame on Dobro, Larry Knechtel of Bread on Keyboards (with sessionman Mike Melvoin also on keys), Jimmie Fadden of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Ben Benay of Delaney & Bonnie on Harmonicas with Chuck Berghofer and Gary Coleman of The Wrecking Crew on Bass and Percussion. All songs written by Axton except "Kingswood Manor" with Peter Steinberg of the US group The Shambles.

 

The six-leaf foldout inlay has in-depth liner notes from ALAN ROBINSON who does a damn good job of explaining Axton and his late 60ts pretty-sounding yet acidic LP – the only real loss being the lyric insert sheet that came with original US LPs – it's not reproduced which is a mistake on an album that relies so heavily on words both hummed and snarled. Still, the Remastered Audio is lovely throughout, so that makes up for the presentation basics. To the music...

 

Axton had been punching out albums since 1964 and his songwriting prowess had not gone unnoticed - Three Dog Night making a No.1 out of "Joy To The World" - while Steppenwolf made a stunner of "The Pusher" - the subject matter of drugs and their destruction being something of a serious bugbear for Axton. In fact, Steppenwolf and their lead vocalist John Kay covered "Snow Blind Friend" off of "My Griffin Is Gone" for their 1970 LP "Steppenwolf 7" - recognizing easily with lyrics like "...did you say you saw your good friend flying low, blinded by the snow, lying on the sidewalk with a misery on his brain...spent it all on comfort for his mind..."

 

Drugs and their devastation were not far from Hoyt's mind at any given moment (as was religion) – take the Simon & Garfunkel quiet prettiness of "Kingswood Manor" which very effectively paints a nightmare picture on an addict interned - "...this jacket is tight, but I feel fine, though they say I've lost my mind...the doctor came, and in his hand, the ticket to the promised land, a trip to paradise, little pills instead of tea, he said he'd come to rescue me from the maddening saddening gloom in the paisley rubber room..."

 

In the lovely "Childhood's End", he sounds so like Fred Neil it's uncanny, while the gorgeous "Way Before The Time Of Towns" was a highlight on the Ace Records compilation "Choctaw Ridge: New Fables Of The American South 1968-1973" that they put out in July of 2021 to mucho praise (see my in-depth review).

 

Will this one eventually rise out of the ashes and be born anew (like its title)?

 

"My Griffin Is Gone" by Hoyt Axton is the kind of album that means a lot to a lot of people who were lucky enough to stumble on it in the racks of record shops in the spring of 1969. A genuine lost gem then and one you need to get mythical figures on...

A Quiet Place Part II - A Review of the Sequel Film by Mark Barry...

"...Stay Calm..."

A Review of "A Quiet Place Part II"

You don't expect much from sequels, maybe do just as good a job as the first outing and not completely embarrass itself or you in the offering.

But "A Quiet Place Part II" is a properly great follow-up film that manages to combine scare-the-crap-out-of-you thrills and a real sense of humanity in the face of all the teeth-nibbling and slash-arm carnage (largely down to the power of the acting ensemble). The creatures are a stunning creation too and genuinely menacing every time they skit onto screen like gangly scissors men. Throw in the use of sound vs. silence to amp up the tension to 11 on a monitor of 10 and you have one skilfully managed night of tears and screeches.

I openly worship at the altar of all things Emily Blunt (I'd drink her bathwater, and in several British real ale minibars, probably have). She is never less that sensational as the beleaguered mother Evelyn Abbott trying to keep her siblings alive and safe in a landscape of terror at every turn. But even her and Krasinski's tight direction are outdone big time by the two kids - Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe playing Regan and Marcus Abbott. They are truly fabulous throughout, having to mine emotional depths in every single scene that few actors twice their age would be capable of.

But the master stroke is the introduction of the blue-eyed heavily bearded Cillian Murphy as the new man in their lives - a traumatized neighbour you see in flashback as the story returns to Day 1 in small-town USA when the monsters arrived without warning. Murphy is another top-quality presence in a story that needs heart as well as grab-my-hand darling jumps. As anyone who loves him in Peaky Blinders will know, Cillian can infuse a real person into every heart-breaking decision for survival. Gladiator-star Djimon Hounsu also has a small but effective part later on.

Some will say the original was better (and it probably was and had the shock factor too and big cinema prior to Covid-19) - but Writer and Director John Krasinski has nailed it big time for "A Quiet Place Part II". My missus actually clapped come the final credits and you don't say that of too many sequels...

"The Autumn Stone" by SMALL FACES – November 1969 UK 2LP Set of Studio And Live Recordings on Immediate Records (April 1997 UK Castle Communications/Essential Records Expanded Edition Reissue – 2LP Set Plus 3 Bonus Tracks Remastered onto 1CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - 1969
Rock, Pop and Genres Thereabouts
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"...Yesterday Is Dead...But Not My Memory..."

 

Even 53 years after the event (1969 to 2022), the history of "The Autumn Stone" double-album remains somewhat murky. Recorded in 1968 after the "Ogdens' Nutgone Flake" sessions – Steve Marriott had teamed up with Peter Frampton of The Herd and were busy building Humble Pie while Ronnie Lane would join hips and lips with the vocals of Rod Stewart and the guitar of Ron Wood and continue as the Faces (their initial album in early 1970).

 

So by March 1969, the Small Faces band of old had effectively broken up leaving behind some finished original songs (the title track is beautiful) and tantalizing fragments of another masterpiece in the likes of the fabulous Brass-Funky instrumental "Collibosher" and the driving Northern Soul feel to "Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall" over on Side 4 (another instrumental).  With their big earner gone and needing to follow up the UK No. 1 "Ogdens'..." album from 1968, Immediate Records cobbled this mishmash of a double together for market release in November 1969, by which time Humble Pie already had 2 albums out on the same label.

 

Amidst the odds and sods were formerly stand-alone singles on both Decca and Immediate, some "Ogdens'" cuts, two Tim Hardin covers (their sheer Soulfulness and inventiveness shines through on the fantastic "Red Balloon"), while three of the others were crudely recorded live songs done in City Hall, Newcastle in full-on screaming Beatles mode that would test the patience of even diehard fans (the second of the Tim Hardin covers "If I Were A Carpenter" is jammed into the centre of that 11-minute live Soul-Rock medley that opens Side 3).

 

Complete with crappy artwork and zilch info inside apart from track titles, "The Autumn Stone" has always been a Raggle-Taggle Gypsy-O, Mess Of The Blues, Urge To Splurge 2LP misfit - but I love it to bits. Unreleased in the USA and uncharted in Blighty, technically 'TAS' is referred to as a compilation set and not an album - but that hasn't stopped fans from worshiping at its bedraggled feet. Which brings us to digital and despite its age, I keep coming back to this Essential Records CD Reissue and Remaster of 1997 because of its fantastic blasting audio. Here are the nice boys...

 

UK released April 1997 - "The Autumn Stone" by SMALL FACES on Castle Communications/Essential Records ESMCD 478 (Barcode 5017615847826) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD Plus Three Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (75:37 minutes):

 

1. Here Comes The Nice [Side 1]

2. The Autumn Stone

3. Collibosher

4. All Or Nothing (Live)

5. Red Balloon

6. Lazy Sunday

7. Call It Something Nice [Side 2]

8. I Can't Make It

9. Afterglow Of Your Love

10. Sha La La La Lee

11. The Universal

12. Rollin' Over (Live) [Side 3]

13. If I Were A Carpenter (Live)

14. Every Little Bit Hurts (Live) - Tracks 12, 13 and 14 are described as a Medley

15. My Mind's Eye

16. Tin Soldier

17. Just Passing

18. Itchycoo Park [Side 4]

19. Hey Girl

20. Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall

21. Watcha Gonna Do About It

22. Wham Bam Thank You Mam

Tracks 1 to 22 are the double-album "The Autumn Stone" - released November 1969 in the UK on Immediate Records IMAL 01 IMAL 02 in Stereo (Tracks 12, 13 and 14 recorded live at City Hall in Newcastle). Released in Holland and Germany (but not in the USA) - many copies on the UK market came from these European imports. It would be eventually be released as a 2LP set in Canada in 1973 on Daffodil Records SBAB 16203 using different artwork (this CD reissue follows the original UK artwork).

 

BONUS TRACKS:

23. Donkey Rides, Penny A Glass

24. All Or Nothing (Live)

25. Tin Soldier (Live)

 

The JOHN REED liner notes from February 1997 pump up the 8-page functional booklet as much as info allowed at that time. Here's a rough breakdown. The Marriott/Lane penned Side 1 opener "Here Come The Nice" had turned up on the American "There Are But Four Small Faces" LP so was new to UK fans on vinyl (that same US LP also bore "Itchycoo Park"). "All Or Nothing" (not credited as being a 'live' version on the Autumn Stone LP) with the 3-track live medley that opened Side 3 had all showed on the "In Memoriam" album issued May 1969 in Germany by Immediate in the wake of the band's breakup. "I Can't Make It" and "Just Passing" had been a stand-alone A&B-side British 45-single - while the Ogdens' track "Afterglow Of My Love" uses the single mix and not the album cut (its non-LP B-side "Wham Bam Thank You Man" ends Side 4.

 

With regard to the audio - the sticker on the jewel case announces these are Remastered Recordings and they do leap out you. But as long-time fans will know - there is incongruous dips in the overall sound as tracks leap from 1968 back to 1967 and 1966. But overall, I love the whack that comes off goodies like "Collibosher" and those other unreleased cuts like "Call It Something Nice". For sure you can literally hear the 'unfinished' nature of the new stuff, but like most SF fans I'll take their doodles over someone else’s finished art come what Piccanniny may.

 

We've been promised the Definitive Version of "The Autumn Stone" by the remaining Small Faces Group - something akin to the "Here Come The Nice" 4CD Box set - but I think that promise has been ongoing some five or six years as I type this in early 2022.

 

Still, I'll bosh their collie any day of the week. And I'd love to know just who was that girl on that wall that inspired "Wide Eyed..." Love it...

"Stop The War: Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1965-1974" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Featuring Michael Lizzmore, Dionne Warwick, William Bell, Joe Medwick, Allen Orange, Jimmy Hughes, The Shirelles, The Emotions, Chairmen Of The Board, Marvin Gaye, Stu Gardner, The Staple Singers, R.B. Greaves and more (May 2021 UK Ace/Kent Soul CD Compilation of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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HIGHER GROUND 
70ts Soul, R'n'B, Funk, Jazz Fusion
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"...Say A Little Prayer..."

 

Another clever and timely compilation from Ace of the UK on their Kent Soul imprint with many tracks appearing on CD for the first time. And as Chairmen Of The Board worry and ache through "Men Are Getting Scarce" - you're reminded of the Hellishness of War and the USA's decade-plus fiasco in Vietnam (300,000 black soldiers went there, 8000 of them didn't come home).

 

Ace have touched on Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America twice before – November 2003 gave us "A Soldier's Sad Story" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 226 covering 1966 -1973, while June 2005 offered "Does Anybody Know I'm Here?" on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 245 covering 1962-1972. The compilation "Stop The War..." is essentially 'Volume 3' in the Series (see list below for full details). There's a lot to decipher here, so let's get down with the lonely soldiers and their dirty duties...

 

UK released Friday, 28 May 2021 (June 2021 in the USA) - "Stop The War: Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1965-1974" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 474 (Barcode 029667087223) is a 23-Track CD Compilation of R&B, Soul and Pop Remasters that plays out as follows (79:46 minutes):

 

1. Promise That You'll Wait - MICHAEL LIZZMORE (November 1972 US 45-single on Capitol 3480, B-side of "Try A Little Tenderness")

 

2. I Say A Little Prayer - DIONNE WARWICK (October 1967 US 45-single in Scepter SCE-12203, A-side)

 

3. Lonely Soldier - WILLIAM BELL (July 1970 US 45-single on Stax STA-0070, A-side)

 

4. Letter To A Buddie - JOE MEDWICK (1966 US 45-single on Boogaloo 1002, A-side)

 

5. V.C. Blues - ALLEN ORANGE (October 1966 US 45-single on Sound Stage 7 45-2573, B-side of "Where The Lonely People Are")

 

6. Fighting For My Baby - DONALD JENKINS (June 1970 US 45-single on Thomas TH 806, B-side of "A New World Beautiful")

 

7. (Mama) My Soldier Is Coming Home - THE SHIRELLES (December 1965 US 45-single on Scepter SCE 12123, B-side of "Soldier Boy")

 

8. Uncle Sam - JIMMY HUGHES (November 1967 US 45-single on Atlantic 45-2454, B-side of "It Ain't What you Got")

 

9. Going On Strike - THE EMOTIONS (from the July 1969 US LP "So I Can Love" on Volt VOS-6008, September 1970 in the UK on Stax SXATS 1030)

 

10. Johnny - KING HANNIBAL (1973 Aware Records recording - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

 

11. My Ship Is Coming In (Tomorrow) - THE PACE SETTERS (1966 US 45-single on Mica 503, A-side)

 

12. (The Two Wars Of) Old Black Joe - Dr. WILLIAM TRULY, Jr. (December 1970 US 45-single on House Of The Fox HOF-2, A-side)

 

13. Hymn No. 5 - THE MIGHTY HANNIBAL (October 1966 US 45-single on Josie 45-964, A-side)

 

14. I'll Be Home - ARTIE GOLDEN (1968 US 45-single on Bunky 7758, A-side)

 

15. Wish You Were Here With Me - THE FAWNS (June 1967 US 45-single on New Frontiers NF 4401, A-side - reissued October 1967 on Capcity 105, A-side)

 

16. Men Are Getting Scarce - CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD (November 1971 US 45-single on Invictus IS 9103, A-side - also on the 1972 US LP "Bittersweet" on Invictus ST-9801)

 

17. I Want To Come Home For Christmas - MARVIN GAYE (unissued 1972 Motown recording withdrawn at the time, finally issued in September 1990 on the 4CD US Box Set "The Marvin Gaye Collection" on Motown MOTD4-6311)

 

18. Stop The War - THE IMPRESSIONS (from the 1972 US LP "Times Have Changed" on Curtom CRS 8012 – 1972 in the UK on Buddah 2318059)

 

19. Leave Him Alone - STU GARDNER (from the 1974 US LP "And The Sanctified Sound" on Volt VOS 9503)

 

20. Glad To Be Home - CHARLES SMITH & JEFF COOPER (1971 US 45-single on Blue Dawn OCS-571, B-side of "My Great Loss (Ashes To Ashes)" - reissued August 1971 US on Seventy 7 Records 106, also as a B-side)

 

21. The War Is Over (My Brother) - THE SENSATIONAL SAINTS (1973 US 45-single on BOS Records B-024, A-side)

 

22. John Brown - THE STAPLE SINGERS (from the 1966 US LP "Pray On" on Epic BN 26237, a Bob Dylan cover)

 

23. Home To Stay - R.B. GREAVES (January 1970 US 45-single on Atco 45-6726, B-side of "Always Something There To Remind Me")

 

NOTES:

Tracks 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20 are in MONO

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 are in STEREO - Track 10 is PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED

 

Longstanding Ace cohort TONY ROUNCE - a name I trust implicitly when it comes to details, annotates the 20-page booklet. Each song gets the usual thorough discussion packed with factoids that collectors love. There are rare US 45-single labels repro'd alongside album covers by The Impressions, Stu Gardner and The Staple Singers - the text peppered with Trade Adverts and cool black and white publicity photos of lesser seen artists like King Hannibal and The Emotions. Audio Mastering for Volume number 3 is by DUNCAN COWELL - a name I look for too - every track leaping out your speakers (12 are in glorious Stereo). To the tunes and the message...

 

First up I would have to say that the listen doesn’t always work (hence four stars instead of five), but many of these track choices are impressive and even cool (check out The Emotions for instance). "Stop The War..." opens with an impassioned 1972 cover version by Michael Lizzmore of "Promise That You'll Wait" - a B-side done by Skip Jackson and The Shantons on Dot-Mar Records in 1969. Lizzmore's vocals are guttural impressive, but it was a B-side, Capitol trying to plug the Otis Redding A-side of "Try A Little Tenderness" - so it got lost in the rush. Between it and Dionne Warwick's sweeter-than-sweet "I Say A Little Prayer" - you could be forgiven for asking 'where's the war' in any of this? More true to the compilation's concept is "Lonely Soldier" - William Bell's vocal capturing that ache and longing for normalcy. The terrible "Letter To A Buddie" by Joe Medwick is a spoken story piece with truly awful lyrics about how lucky the soldier was to be in Vietnam and not back home with Sally and the other cheating wives. Better is the over-here-in-Vietnam "V.C. Blues" where Allen Orange gives it some slow smooching Blues-Soul as he sings of the lady whose always on his mind as the bullets fly too close to the thing that's actually holding his brain in place.

 

"Fighting For My Baby" is a keyboard chugger where Donald Jenkins does the Elephant Walk in the Jungle (good groove) followed by the way-too-saccharin "(Mama) My Soldier Boy Is Coming Home" by The Shirelles - the kind of sappy sitting-home-every-night crooner that didn't ring true then and feels even more clunky now (gorgeous audio though). Way sharper is "Uncle Sam" where Jimmy Hughes uses his fabulous pleading voice to ask his government to look out for his family while he's gone. Coolsville comes in the shape of The Emotions and an album cut tucked away on their 1969 US Volt Records LP "So I Can Love" – a declaration of loyalty and monogamy to the man away on active duty. That's unfortunately followed by the hup-two-three-four plod of "Johnny" – an awkward Soul stab by King Hannibal and easy to see why it was unreleased at the time. Fighting to make a foreign land free – The Pace Setters go Soul marching in with their "My Ship Is Coming In (Tomorrow)" – a pleasant enough tune.

 

Sleeping in a ditch and eating out of a can, "(The Two Wars Of) Old Black Joe" is a funeral-paced dub from a 45 where a Purple Heart vet is shipped home only to find he can't be buried in a white cemetery. Despite its highly charged spoken content by Dr. William Truly, Jr. – for me it's the first occasion that this CD actually gets under the uncomfortable truth about Black People's treatment during that sickening conflict. Equally powerful is "Hymn No. 5" by The Mighty Hannibal - Page 11 of the booklet featuring a trade advert by Josie Records declaring that its slow Gospel preaching is 'the biggest R&B single in the country'. Lyrically it's impassioned and despite the deeply downbeat nature of the music, it leaves a mark. More in a Soul Ballad tradition, Artie Golden does well to get across the longing in "I'll Be Home" - a grunt with only months to go before he's shipped away from imminent death. The Fawns too talk of letters to their loves, temptations at home avoided, wishing their beaus were in their arms instead of a rain-soaked foxhole overseas.

 

No man wants to be seen as a coward, but a man's duty to his country and freedom is being ruthlessly tapped by the crooked men in Washington - and as a result the Chairmen Of The Board inform all women that "Men Are Getting Scarce" – wasted in the foolishness of War (a great Funk tune on Invictus). This is smartly followed by the soaring vocals of Marvin Gaye who wanted "I Want To Come For Christmas" to be a Seasonal 45 call for peace in 1972 – a 'get us home' ballad message, but Motown typically canned its contentious content. It's a gorgeous performance and you can hear his sincerity and a genuine highlight on here. Genius steps up to the plate with The Impressions who get seriously Funky with the CD's title track "Stop The War". Written by Curtis Mayfield and sung with dig-deep-passion by Fred Cash, Sam Gooden and LeRoy Hutson, it's another genuinely smart inclusion - a 6:23 minute Funkathon laced with Guitars, Strings and all manner of disgusts spoken and expressed in its last few minutes of the song. "Leave Him Alone" is a clavinet Funky too, Stu Gardner putting in an impressive vocal behind top musicians. And on it goes...

 

For sure, 'War' is hardly a subject matter that's conducive to a joyful Soul listening experience, but that doesn't stop this compilation from impressing more times than not. As Charles Smith sings on "Glad To Be Home" that some mother's son had died, you get a feel for the loss and especially the stupidity of that protracted conflict.

 

Putting medals on walls and walking tall in the community after their boy returns victorious from 'over there' is promised to Mom and Pop in the Bob Dylan song "John Brown", sung with guitar-jangling menace by an on-the-money Staple Singers in 1967. Well I'm glad Ace have documented that the reality was an unrecognizable face on return from Vietnam – a mind traumatized inside a young man who noticed that the person his country asked him to kill was a human being just like him. Impressive stuff again from Ace Records of the UK and well done to those involved...

 

Compilations in the Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America CD Series

 

1. A Sad Soldier's Story: Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1966-1973 - released November 2003 on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 225 (Barcode 029667222624)

 

2. Does Anybody Know I'm Here? Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1966-1972 - released June 2005 on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 245 (Barcode 029667224529)

 

3. Stop The War: Vietnam Through The Eyes Of Black America 1965-1974 - released May 2021 on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEND 474 (Barcode 029667087223)

"Good Good Feeling! More Motown Girls" by VARIOUS ARTISTS [Motown Girls Series] – Volume 4 in a Series of 4 featuring Martha & The Vandellas, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Velvelettes, Brenda Holloway, Debbie Dean, The Lewis Sisters, Ann Bogan, LaBrenda Ben, Kim Weston, Anita Knorl, Oma Heard and more (August 2021 UK Ace Records CD Compilation of Remasters – Many New To CD with Six Previously Unreleased) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review Along With Nearly 200 Others Is Available in my

SOUNDS GOOD E-Book on all Amazon sites

"SOUL GALORE!" 

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"...This Love I've Got..."

 

A fourth installment in the Motown Girl series from Ace Records of the UK - you get 25-cuts of which many were only available as downloads and a tasty six new Previously Unreleased tracks (the remainder are stragglers from other CD compilations). And all of it is on CD hardcopy at last in one place. Curated by Series Head Honcho KEITH HUGHES - this is the nuts as far as any Detroit fan is concerned and a must own. Much to discuss and bops 'til you drop - so let's have at it...

 

UK released Friday, 27 August 2021 - "Good Good Feeling! More Motown Girls" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1579 (Barcode 029667102520) is a 25-Track CD Compilation of Remasters. All tracks were recorded in Mono between 1962 and 1969 - 12-songs were made available as downloads between 2012 and 2019 and mark their first CD appearance here - six more are previously unreleased (2021) - whilst the remainder are from old and recent CD compilations that featured unreleased material of this nature. 

 

"Good Good Feeling! More Motown Girls" is No. 4 in a Series of 4 as of January 2022 (see full list below) and plays out as follows (69:35 minutes):

 

1. This Love I've Got - MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS (recorded August 1965 for Ivy Jo Hunter but re-assigned to Martha & The Vandellas - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

2. Nothing But A Fool - GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS (recorded April and May 1966, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1966" download set in 2016)

3. I'm In Love (And I Know It) [Alternate Lead] - THE VELVELETTES (recorded September and December 1966 for Stevie Wonder, re-assigned April and May 1967 to The Velvelettes - first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1967" download set in 2017)

4. Good Good Feeling - BRENDA HOLLOWAY (recorded March 1968 - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

5. I'm So Helpless (When I'm With You) - DEBBIE DEAN (recorded November and December 1966, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1966" download set in 2016)

6. Can't Figure It Out - THE LEWIS SISTERS (recorded December 1965, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1965" download set in 2015)

7. A Love So Deep Inside - THE VELVELETTES (recorded December 1965 and January 1966, first issued in 2004 in "The Motown Anthology" on Motown 980 937-2)

8. Show Me The Way - GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS (recorded June and July 1968, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1968" download set in 2018)

9. Hold Me Oh My Darling - ANN BOGAN (recorded July 1963, first issued in 2020 on the CD compilation "A Cellarful Of Motown Volume 5" on Caroline CAROLRR090CD)

10. I Don't Want Your Promises – LaBRENDA BEN (recorded May 1963, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1963" download set in 2013)

11. Drop In The Bucket - KIM WESTON (recorded June 1963, Mary Wells dunned in January 1964, Kim Weston dubbed n September 1964 - first available on the 1994 10CD set "The Complete Motown Anthology" on M.E.I. Digital DPSM 5200)

12. Don't Be Too Long - ANITA KNORL (recorded November 1962, first issued in 2020 on the CD compilation "A Cellarful Of Motown Volume 5" on Caroline CAROLRR090CD)

13. It's Hard To Walk Away - MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS (recorded December 1962, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1962" download of 2012)

14. Stuck Up - OMA HEARD (recorded 1965 in L.A., first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1965" download of 2015)

15. My Daddy Knows Best - LITTLE LISA (recorded July 1965, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1965" download of 2015)

16. In Twenty Words Or Less - LaBRENDA BEN (recorded October 1963, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1963" download of 2013)

17. When I Was In School - HATTIE LITTLES (recorded August 1963 - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

18. Keep Me - BRENDA HOLLOWAY (recorded June 1966, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1966" download of 2016)

19. Never Trust A Man - CHRIS CLARK (recorded March, June and October 1966, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1966" download of 2016)

20. Watching A Plane In The Sky - BARBARA McNAIR (recorded July 1968 - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

21. In The Neighborhood - CONNIE HAINES (recorded January 1965 for Ivy Jo Hunter, overdubbed by Tommy Good, Jimmy Ruffin and Kim Weston in September 1965 and re-assigned to Connie Haines - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

22. My World Is Crumbling – THE LEWIS SISTERS (recorded June and July 1966 – PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED, 2021)

23. Send Him To Me – DEBBIE DEAN (recorded October 1967, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1968" download of 2018)

24. Can't We Be Strangers Again – BLINKY (recorded October 1968, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1968" download of 2018)

25. All I Could Do Was Cry – YVONNE FAIR (recorded 1968 and 1969, first available in the "Motown Unreleased 1969" download of 2019)

NOTES:

All Tracks in MONO

Tracks 1, 4, 17, 20, 21, 22 are PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED

 

The 16-page booklet is a classy affair and just what you'd expect from a Soul-mad British reissue label steeped in such enthusiasm and excellence for over 45 years. The black and white publicity photos of Martha & The Vandellas, The Lewis Sisters, The Velvelettes, Kim Weston, Yvonne Fair, Brenda Holloway and Chris Clark take up whole pages each and are properly gorgeous. Each song is given musical and personnel credits where info is available with the paragraphs beneath from KEITH HUGHES filling in the gaps where he can. It's astonishing to think that in 2021 - Motown is still giving up riches - making Berry Gordy's recent December 2021 Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Honor from President Joe Biden all the more timely (Joni Mitchell and Bette Midler were there too). Mastering is by Ace's long-standing Audio genius NICK ROBBINS - all of the Mono cuts sounding sparkly and cool if not a little rough around the unfinished edges. To the tunes...

 

Martha is taking one look in the mirror and telling herself not to love that boy too strong – her This Love I've Got was probably called Save Yourself in an early incarnation – a great upbeat bopper that would have been a hit had it been aired (what a find). Change of pace for Nothing But A Fool – the fabulous vocals of Gladys Knight (channelling her inner Tina Turner) begging him to let her go if he has no real intentions – a gem that first saw light of day in 2016 as a download.

 

Not to be outdone in the divine stakes, The Velvelettes give it some permanent contentment in the rapid-paced bopper I'm In Love (And I Know It) – another winner that could have hit number six million back in the day. Motown fans will get weak at the knees at the thought of new Brenda Holloway – and the gorgeous Good Good Feeling is surely going to hitting Northern Soul dancefloors with a matter of urgency (easy to hear Ace chose this as their compilation title). Not so sure about the Debbie Dean tune – too busy on the brass blasting front even if her vocals are great. The Lewis Sisters get smooch-like with Can't Figure It Out and for me it’s the first time the muffled audio of an in-complete recording shows up (still good though). And it goes like that to excellent unreleased with Connie Haines (a coffee shop where everybody stops) and the easy-listening-Soul of The Lewis Sisters feels like Dusty Springfield-light.

 

It is truly amazing that a CD like "Good Good Feeling!..." exists in 2021 – Motown – the label that keeps on giving us the Sound of Young America  some 60 years after the event. Top marks and a great reissue from a great label...

 

Motown Girls CD Series from Ace Records of the UK includes 

(4 Volumes as of January 2022)

 

1. Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-67 - released 25 March 2013 on Ace Records CDTOP 1364 (Barcode 029667053921) - 24 Tracks, 64:50 minutes

 

2. Love & Affection: More Motown Girls - released 30 October 2015 on Ace Records CDTOP 1455 (Barcode 029667074025) - 25 Tracks, 69:27 minutes

 

3. Baby I've Got It! More Motown Girls - released 30 March 2018 on Ace Records CDTOP 1524 (Barcode 029667089425) - 24 Tracks, 64:29 minutes

 

4. Good Good Feeling! More Motown Girls - released 27 August 2021 on Ace Records CDTOP 1579 (Barcode 029667102520) - 25 Tracks, 69:35 minutes