NEWSLETTER #131
Rhythm & Blues, Soul & Doo Wop
O.B. Bryant -> Charles Walker
| O.B. BRYANT | Good Times 7604 | Blues Party | ● CD $15.98 |
| Fine slection of contemporary Southern blues and soul from
vocalist O.B. Bryant. Produced by Vick Allen and R&B performer Frederick
Knight it features new songs from Bryant, Knight, Ronnie Lovejoy and others.
Soulful vocals and effective arrangements which make tasteful use of strings
and vocal choruses. |
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| SAM COOKE | Abkco DVD 1004 | Legend | ● CD $24.98 |
| DVD 70 mins + 120 mins bonus, color & black & white, highly
recommended Excellent biography of one of the great vocalists of the 50s and
60s. Narrated by actor Jeffrey Wright it traces the history of this
brilliantly talented performers from his early years as a fledgling gospel
singer, his tenure as a lead singer for one of the greatest of all gospel
groups The Soul Stirrers and his move into secular music, first for small
labels and then to RCA, his work as a songwriter and producer and his tragic
and untimely death. It features some great vintage footage of Sam performing
on various TV shows along with interviews with his brothers and sister and
friends and musical associates like Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Lloyd Price,
The Magnificent Montague and others. As bonus the DVD includes an additional
two hours of interviews which help fill out the story. The documentary was
written by acclaimed author Peter Guralnick who is currently working on a
biography of Sam. (FS) |
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| THE CORSAIRS | Tuff 102 | Smokey Places | ● CD $18.98 |
| 16 tracks by group from North Carolina group featuring
brothers Jay, James & Moses Uzzell and George Wooton. They are best known
for their 1962 hit the great Smokey Places which is included here
along with their minor hit I'll Take You Home and other songs like
Thinkin'/ The Change In You/ While/ At The Stroke Of Midnight/ / On The
Spanish Side, etc. |
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| THE DELTA RHYTHM BOYS | Acrobat 174 | I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem | ● CD $10.98 |
| 20 tracks, 47 min., recommended Previously available on the
Collector's Edition label. A splendid and varied set of radio transcription
discs recorded in 1941 by this expert and tightly-controlled jubilee
ensemble that does pop songs, spirituals, jive ditties and more. Program
highlights include Little Lize I Love You, Wait Till I Put on My
Crown, Ezekiel Saw De Wheel, Do You Care, La Cucaracha,
Mighty Day, Gimme Some Skin, Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives
to Me, and I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem. Great music from start to
finish. Sound quality is pretty good given the source of the material. The
complete recordings of this group are available on Dee-Jay Jamboree 55108,
55109 and 55110 ($18.98 each) (DH/ FS) |
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| DONNIE ELBERT | Famous Groove 971053 | Philadelphia's R&B and Soul Legend | ● CD $18.98 |
| 28 track collection of sides recorded between 1961 and 1971
by this distinctive falsetto vocalist. DONNIE ELBERT: A Piece Of Leather/ After All I've Done For You/ Baby Cakes/ Can't Get Over Losing You/ Do What Cha Wanna/ Don't Cry My Love/ Everything To Me/ Help Me/ Hey, Baby/ I Beg Of You/ I Can't Help Myself/ I Got To Get Myself Together/ I've Loved You, Baby/ In Between The Heartaches/ Just A Cotton Pickin' Minute/ Lilly Lou/ Love Stew/ Mommie's Gone/ Never Again/ Nobody Knows/ Sentimental Reasons/ Set My Heart At Ease/ Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)/ Too Far Gone/ Where Did Our Love Go/ Who's Gonna Be/ Will You Ever Be Mine/ Your Red Wagon |
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| AL GREEN | Hi 190 | Precious Lord/ I'll Rise Again | ● CD $13.98 |
| Two albums from 1982 and '83 featuring Green doing all
gospel songs. |
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| THE HARPTONES | Raven 8000 | Sunset | ● CD $18.98 |
| The Harptones were one of the finest vocal groups to emerge
in the early 50s featuring the soulful and smooth leads of Willie Winfield.
Though their early/ mid 50s sides have been reissued frequently their later
recordings from the late 50s and early 60s haven't received as much
attention which is a shame since most of those recordings, featured here,
are very fine indeed with Winfield's soulful pipes well to the fore. In
addition to their issued sides there are three alternate tales and
accompaniments to singers Mabel King and Peggy Farmer. Finally, there are
two live tracks from the 50s with the group doing their most popular songs
Life Is But A Dream and A Sunday Kind Of Love. |
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| WILBERT HARRISON | Acrobat ACRD 103 | Let's Work Together | ● CD $10.98 |
| 10 tracks, 35 mins, highly recommended. Wilbert Harrison was
one of a kind with his distinctive vocal style and approach to songs which
seemed to change from session to session. He recorded quite prolifically and
with so little of his material currently available on CD this reissue of his
10 of his 1969 Sue recordings is most welcome though I wished they'd
included all the Sue sides. For this album Wilbert played guitar, harmonica,
piano and drums with "Thunder Thumb" on bass. The wonderfully catchy title
song which was a reworking of his 1961 recording Let's Stick Together
became something of a hippy anthem after being covered by Canned Heat.
There's a remake of his biggest hit Kansas City, some great R&B
covers like Louie Louie/ Blue Monday and Stand By Me plus some
typical Harrison oddities like Tropical Shakedown and Soul Rattler.
Great stuff but it all ends too soon - I think it's time for Bear Family to
do a complete Wilbert Harrison box set. I don't know if anyone else would
buy it but I certainly would! (FS) |
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| LITTLE RICHARD | Sony Special Products 32073 | Good Golly | ● CD $6.98 |
| At less than 20 minutes this is one of the shortest CDs
ever! It features ten of the tracks Mr. Penniman recorded for OKeh in 1966.
Five of the tracks were recorded live and feature versions of some of his
biggest Specialty hits (Lucille/ Jenny, Jenny/ Long Tall Sally, etc).
The rest is mostly good covers of R&B favorites along with a few new songs (Money/
Land Of A Thousand Dances/ The Commandments Of Love, etc.) Good
performances with a decent band with Johnny "Guitar" Watson on guitar. |
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| THE METERS | Sundazed 6211 | Zony Mash | ● CD $11.98 |
| 13 tracks collection of rarities and 45 rpm sides recorded
for Josie in the late 60s/ early 70s - title tune + The Look Of Love/
Stretch Your Rubber Band/ (The World Isa A Bit Under The Weather) Doodle-Oop/
sasy Lady/ Groovy Lady/ Funky Meters Soul, etc. |
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| JOE MORRIS ORCHESTRA | Acrobat 4008 | Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere | ● CD $12.98 |
| 26 tracks, highly recommended One of the first stars of
Atlantic Records with hot sax instrumentals & having huge hits with his
vocalists, including Laurie Tate with the title tune, which was Atlantic's
1st ever #1 R&B hit! Starting as a full fledged Bebop band with the big
Texas tenor sax of Johnny Griffin (their 1st session, for Manor in '46, is
here), the trumpeter/leader recorded without a contract for Atlantic in '47,
with jazz-based tunes as Jump With Me/ Wow/ Weasel Walk/ Boogie Woogie
March. With Griffin gone & Little Laurie Tate & Billy Mitchell on vocals
the band moved into straight R&B & also to Decca, then back to Atlantic.
Includes Can't Stop My Cryin'/ Midnight Grinder, etc. Classics
recently issued the first volume of their comprehensive chronological
reissue of Morris's recordings (Classics 5057) so there 18 tracks duplicated
among the two discs. This one is probably the one to go with if you don't
need everything. (GM) JOE MORRIS & HIS ORCHESTRA: Anytime,anyplace,anywhere/ Bald Headed Woman/ Beans And Cornbread/ Boogie Woogie March/ Bottle Top/ Broken Hearted Blues/ Can't Stop My Crying/ Chuck-a-boogie/ Fly Mister Fly/ Ghost Train/ I Hope Your Satisfied/ Joe's Boogie/ Jump With Me/ Jump,everybody,jump/ Lowdown Baby/ Lowe Groovin/ Mad Moon/ Midnight Grinder/ Out Of The Night/ Pack Up All Your Bags/ Portia's Boogie/ The Applejack/ The Spider/ Weasle Walk/ Wilma's Idea/ Wow |
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| JOHNNY OTIS | Ace CDCHD 981 | The Johnny Otis Show - Vintage 1950s Broadcasts | ● CD $16.98 |
| Terrific album featuring four radio broadcasts featuring R&B
pioneer Johnny Otis. Two of the shows features excerpts of Johnny playing
R&B records of the time complete with patter, commercials and, in one case a
bizarre conversation between Johnny, Slim Gaillard and Kingfish from Amos &
Andy. There are seven tracks from a live radio broadcast from the 5/4
Ballroom in 1953 by Otis & his band with vocals from Marie Adams and Little
Arthur Matthews and seven tracks from a 1958 live show with vocals from
Otis, The Penguins and Marie Adams. A real time capsule drawn from Otis's
own archives - hopefully there'll be more to come. |
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| WILSON PICKETT | Acrobat 100 | If You Need Me - The early Years | ● CD $10.98 |
| 11 tracks, 27 mins, highly recommended Short but mighty
sweet collection featuring all the sides that the Wicked Mr. Pickett
recorded for Lloyd Price and Harold Logan's Double L in 1963 and 1964 prior
to joining Atlantic and racking up 35 R&B and pop hits. Three of the fine
songs here reached the R&B charts including the great If You Need Me
(covered with greater success by soon to be Atlantic stable mate Solomon
Burke), the yearming I'm Down To My Last Heartbreak and the intense
ballad It's Too Late. Solid deep soul throughout with great singing
from Wilson and tough band accompaniment. (FS) |
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| THE RAVENS | Savoy Jazz 17304 | Their Complete National Recordings | ● CD $28.98 |
| Superb three CD set featuring all the recordings made
between 1947 and 1950 for National by this superb, influential and popular
vocal group whose music bridged the gap between the earlier smooth Ink Spots
stylings and the later, more R&B flavored doo-wop styles. The group the
basement bass of the legendary Jimmy Ricks and the much copied silvery tenor
of Maithe Marshall. 64 tracks including acapella demos and alternate takes.
Newly remastered and including a booklet with notes by compiler Billy Vera.
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| IKE TURNER & THE KINGS OF RHYTHM | Funky Delicacies 047 | A Black Man's Soul | ● CD $16.98 |
| Reissue of 1969 Pompeii album with three bonus cuts. The
original 13 track album was all instrumental featuring Ike, Oliver Sain &
the Kings Of Rhythm on a selection of original tunes and covers blending
R&B, funk and a bit of rock - Thinking Black/ Ghetto Funk/ Black Angel/
Funky Mule/ Scotty Souling/ Nuttin' Up/ Chain Of Fools, etc. The bonus
tracks feature Tina on vocals on fine versions of No More Doggin'/ Knock
On Wood and a particularly fine Drifting Blues |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Ace CDCH2 979 | Hy Weiss Presents Old Town Records | ● CD $23.98 |
| Two CD set with 60 tracks ceelbarting the 50th anniversary
of the founding of Old Town Records by legendary record man Hy Weiss. Old
Town along with its various subsidiaries was one of New York's leading
purveyors of blues, R&B, doo-wop and soul in the 50s and 60s and this
collection spans the whole spectrum of the music and manages to turn up a
few previously unissued gems. Among the many artists featured are The Capris,
Billy Bland, The Five Crowns, The Valentines, The Harptones (including
a
previously unissued alternate take of Mambo Boogie), Ruth McFadden &
The Supremes, Robert & Johnny, The Keytones, The Fiestas, Titus Turner,
Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, Larry Finnegan, Buddy & Ella Johnson, Tarheel
Slim & Little Ann (the previously unissued I Really Don't Want To Know),
The Gypsies and many more. Includes 28 page full color booklet with
extensive notes by compiler John Broven and tributes to Weiss and his labels
from people like Joe Bihari, Phill Chess, Jerry Wexler, Donn Filetti and
others. THE ADAMS BROS: Burnin' In Pain/ EDDIE ALSTON: I Just Can't Help It/ BILLY BLAND: Chicken In The Basket/ Harmony/ Let The Little Girl Dance/ Sweet Thing/ THE BONNEVILLES: Lorraine/ VICKI BURGESS & THE SOLARETTES: I Call To You/ THE CAPRIS: There's A Moon Out Tonight/ THE CLEFTONES: Masquerade Is Over/ THE CO-EDS: Love You Baby All The Time/ THE CROWNS: Possibility/ LARRY DALE: Big Muddy/ Let The Doorbell Ring/ THE EARLS: Remember Then/ THE FAIRFIELD FOUR: Memories (of My Mother)/ THE FIESTAS: Broken Heart/ Last Night I Dreamed/ So Fine/ Try It One More Time/ LARRY FINNEGAN: Dear One/ THE FIVE CROWNS: Good Luck Darling/ You Could Be My Love/ BOB GADDY: Operator/ Woe Woe Is Me/ ROSCO GORDON: Gotta Keep Rolling/ THE GYPSIES: Jerk It/ THE HARPTONES: It All Depends On You/ Life Is But A Dream/ Mambo Boogie/ DONALD HEIGHT: I'll Never Forget You/ ELLA JOHNSON & BUDDY JOHNSON: Like You Do/ THELMA JONES: Never Leave Me/ THE KEYTONES: Seven Wonders Of The World/ RUTH MCFADDEN: Teenage Blues/ Darling Listen To The Words Of This Song/ Dreaming Is No Good/ BROWNIE MCGHEE & SONNY TERRY: She Loves So Easy/ GENE MUMFORD & THE SERENADERS: Please Give Me One More Chance/ THE OVATIONS: Day We Fell In Love/ THE PACKARDS: Ding Dong/ ARTHUR PRYSOCK: Good Rockin' Tonight/ ROBERT & JOHNNY: I Believe In You/ We Belong Together/ You're Mine/ THE ROYAL TONES: Crazy Love/ THE SOLITAIRES: Angles Sang/ Blue Valentine/ Please Remember My Heart/ Walking Along/ Wedding/ THE SUPREMES: Tonight/ Zip Boom/ TARHEEL SLIM & LITTLE ANN: I Really Don't Want To Know/ TITUS TURNER: Taking Care Of Business/ We Told You Not To Marry/ THE VALENTINES: Summer Love/ Tonight Kathleen/ THE VOCALEERS: I Need Your Love So Bad/ One For My Baby (and One For The Road) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Bow & Arrow 1001 | The Bow & Arrow Records Story | ● CD $18.98 |
| Fine collection of 30 doo-wop, R&B and a little blues sides
recorded for the New York based Bow and Arrow labels in the mid/ late 50s -
The Encores, Rabbit & Gino, Otis Banks & Group, Freddie Scott & The Chimes,
Ginny Angels & Group, Bobby Long & Group, Joe Erskine & Group, The Rav-Ons,
Johnny Acey and others. Many of the tracks are making their first appearance
on CD. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Dialtone 009 | Texas Soul Sisters | ● CD $14.98 |
| 13 tracks, 53 min, excellent. Fine collection of blues &
60s-type soul from four little-known Texas singers. A couple have been
around for quite awhile. Lavelle White recorded for Duke in the 50s & early
60s, then after 30 years of being out of the public eye, reemerged in '94 on
the Antone's label. Gloria Edwards recorded for the legendary Huey Meaux for
Crazy Cajun & sang with the likes of Clifton Chenier & Johnny Copland.
Glenda Hargis has been singing with her brother, bluesman Matthew Robinson.
Then there's the mostly unknown Miss Candy AKA Amanda Kannerson. All are
backed with solid lineup of guitar, organ, bass & drums, with Gloria adding
a trumpet & Glenda, besides having Robinson on guitar has trumpet & sax.
Also interesting is that most of the tunes are originals, including I'm
Your Hoochie Mama/ Miss Candy's Groove/ H-Town. and others (GM) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | East West 100 | The Complete East West Records, Volume 1 | ● CD $18.98 |
| First of two volumes featuring all the recordings made for
the New York based East West label which was active from 1957 through 1959.
Mostly doo-wop plus some solo R&B, teen pop and the intriguing
middle-Eastern sounds of Ganim's Asia Minors. Includes Johnny Houston & The
Capitols, Jay Holliday, Harmon "Hump" Jones,
Charles Brown, Tony Castle, The
Ospreys, Freddie Carpenter and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | East West 101 | The Complete East West Records, Volume 2 | ● CD $18.98 |
| Not a whole lot of R&B or doo-wop. There's some fine rock
'n' roll from Al Henderson, David Gates, Bobby Brant and The Kingsmen
(including their classic instrumentals Weekend and Cat Walk.
There's R&B from Mad Man Taylor, The Capitols and TNT Tribble and two
doo-wop tracks from the Del Larks. The rest is lightweight teen pop with a
rock flavor. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Empire 101 | The Best Of Empire Records | ● CD $18.98 |
| 16 tracks, 39 mins, recommended The complete output (16
tracks) of the short lived Empire label which operated out of Hollywood,
California from early 1956 to early 1957. Of the labels eight releases, five
were by the same group under three different names featuring different lead
singers - The Preludes, The Youngsters and The Tempters! Under the name of
The Youngsters the group had a big local hit with the soulful Shattered
Dreams. The remaining tracks are by obscure group The Jacks & Jills, the
fine vocalist Bixie Crawford who had been recording since the late 40s and
Richard Berry under the pseudonym of "Ricky." Sound quality is excellent and
there are interesting notes on the history of the label and the artists.
(FS) BIXIE CRAWFORD: How Big A Fool Can You Be/ Rock And Roll Wedding/ THE JACKS AND JILLS: I Hear Melody/ Roses Never Fade/ THE PRELUDES: Don't Fall In Love Too Soon/ I Want Your Arms Around Me/ RICKY: Baby Please Come Home/ Tender Love/ THE TEMPTERS: I'm Sorry Now/ Ill See You Nest Fall/ THE YOUNGSTERS: Christmas In Jail/ Counterfit Heart/ Dreamy Eyes/ Rock And Roll Cowboy/ Shatterd Dreams/ You're An Angel |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Famous Groove 971003 | Holy Toledo! Ohio Doo Wops, Vol. 1 | ● CD $18.98 |
| 24 tracks, 60 mins, highly recommended. Not a new release but
we haven't reviewed it before. An excellent collection featuring seven
outstanding groups from Ohio and featuring several unissued songs and
alternate takes. There are five tracks by The Hornets featuring a
pre-Drifters Johnny Moore, the fine and bluesy Supremes, The Hepsters, The
Edsels (including a great alternate take of their classic Rama Lama Ding
Dong |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Gold Dust 2004 | The Note Records Story | ● CD $18.98 |
| Fine collection of 31 tracks drawn from the Note label of
Indianapolis, Indiana which was active from 1955 through 1959. Although the
label itself had no hits, a number of its titles were picked up by bigger
independents. There's a varied mixture of material here including doo-wop
(The Treasures, Students, Five Dots, The Counts, Teasers), bluesy R&B (Jimmy
Brinkley), rockabilly and rock 'n' roll (Ronnie Haig, The Five Stars, Rusty
York, The Denhams) and instrumental R&B (Jimmy Brinkley, Jimmy Coe, The Co-Horts,
Jon Thomas, The Three Souls). Apart from some wimpy ballads from the Five
Shorts it's all quality stuff with decent sound and brief notes. JIMMY BRINKLEY COMBO: Blue Moon/ Wine, Wine, Wine/ THE CO-HORTS: Country Blues/ Flippin' And Floppin'/ JIMMY COE: Shuffle Stroll/ THE COUNTS: I Guess I Brought It All On Myself/ THE DENHAMS: Cry, Baby, Cry/ THE FIVE DOTS: I Just Love The Things She Do.../ Well, Little Baby/ THE FIVE STARS: Am I Wasting My Time/ Dreaming/ Friction/ My Paradise/ Pickin' On The Wrong Chicken/ Sweet Names/ RONNIE HAIG: Rockin' With Rhythm And Blues/ Don't You Hear Me Calling/ Send For Me/ Traveler Of Love/ JERRY SEIFERT: Never, Baby, Never/ THE STUDENTS: Every Day Of The Week/ I'm So Young/ My Vow To You/ That's How I Fell/ THE TEASERS WITH JIMMY BRINKLEY COMBO: How Could You Hurt Me So/ I Was A Fool To Letyou Go/ JON THOMAS: Hi-fi/ Rib Tips/ THE THREE SOULS: Night Theme/ THE TREASURES WITH JIMMY BRINKLEY COMBO: Why, Oh Why/ RUSTY YORK: Sugaree |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Kent CDKEND 222 | Masterpieces Of Modern Soul | ● CD $16.98 |
| A collection of 22 tracks of mainly 70s dance tracks that
have proven consistently popular in modern soul rooms. Includes Debra
Johnson, The Houston Outlaws, Ted Taylor (a previously unissued Ronn
recording), The Millionaires, Mary Love Comer, Jaqueline Jones, Vernon
Garrett, Ronnie Walker, The Pretenders, Denise LaSalle, Al Christian, etc.
GIL BILLINGSLEY: I'm Me Just Me/ AL CHRISTIAN: I'm A Lonely Man/ THE FOUR TEES: One More Chance/ VERNON GARRETT: To Be A Part Of You/ GARLAND GREEN: Come Through Me/ THE HOUSTON OUTLAWS: Ain't No Telling/ MILLIE JACKSON: Don't Send Nobody Else/ DEBRA JOHNSON: To Get Love You've Got To Give Love/ JACQUELINE JONES: A Frown On My Face/ DENISE LA SALLE: Here I Am Again/ MARY LOVE COMER: Come Out Of The Sandbox/ THE MAYBERRY MOVEMENT: Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right/ THE MILLIONAIRES: I'm The One Who Loves You/ IDRIS MUHAMMAD: I'm A Believer/ SAM NESBIT: Chase Those Clouds Away/ THE PRETENDERS: I Call It Love/ LOU PRIDE: Bringin' Me Back Home/ JEAN SHY: What Can I Do, I'm So In Love With You/ TED TAYLOR: Fair Warning/ TENDER LOVING CARE: Love Me Baby/ LYNN VARNADO: Second Hand Love/ RONNIE WALKER: You've Got To Try Harder (times Are Bad) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Kent CDKEND 226 | A Soldier's Sad Story | ● CD $16.98 |
| 24 tracks, highly recommended. Powerful and moving collection
of soul songs recorded between 1966 and 1973 showing the anticipation,
action and aftermath of the years of the Vietnam war, as seen through the
eyes of Black America. The mood ranges from resignation and patriotism in
the earlier sides to anger and opposition as the war raged on and the
casualties increased and the realizaton came upon many African-Americans
that they were being asked to fight and die for country that had oppressed
and abused them for hundreds of years. The recordings are arranged
chronologically starting with The Monitors 1966 recording of Greeting
(This Is Uncle Sam) and ending with Swamp Dogg's chilling 1973 rendition
of John Prine's Sam Stone. Other artists featured include William
Bell, Big Amos, Joe Tex, Jimmy Holiday, Zerben R. Hicks & The Dynamics, Tiny
Watkins, Gloria Edwards, The O'Jays, Edwin Starr, Carla Whitney, Bill
Withers (the powerful I Can't Write Left Handed), Curtis Mayfield and
others. The 16 page booklet includes essays by Tony Rounce and James Maycock
discussing the music and the situation of African-Americans in the conflict.
(FS) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Pepto Roma 505 | Dazzling Group Sounds, Vol. 5 | ● CD $17.98 |
| Another fine collection of 26 vocal group rarities from this
fine label - most making their first appearance on CD. Includes tracks by
Herb Johnson & Group, Big Dee Irwin & Group, Paul Kirk & The Pageants, The
Melvettes, Charles Wright & The Wright Singers, The Dynamos, Carlton Beck &
Group, Judy King & Group, The Expressions, The Valdoros, Dorothy Forbes &
The Stylers, The Thunderbirds, The James Quintet and others. TONY ALLEN & THE WONDERS: Be My Love, Be My Love/ CARLTON BECK & GROUP: The Girl I Left Behind/ BUFORD BUSBEE & THE EPITOMES: Nobody But Me/ THE CHARIOTEERS: Thanks For Yesterday/ THE DELONGS: I Want Your Love/ TROY DODDS & GROUP: Count Of Love/ THE DYNAMOS: Darling/ THE EXPRESSIONS: Now That You're Gone/ THE FIVE SATINS: I'll Get Along/ DOROTHY FORBES & THE STYLERS: Where/ RUDY GREEN & THE FOUR BUDDIES: You Mean Everything To Me/ JIM HOLIDAY & FUTURETONES: All I Want Is You/ BIG DEE IRWIN & GROUP: Somdeay You'll Understand Why/ THE JAMES QUINTET: I Could Make You Care/ HERB JOHNSON & GROUP: Help/ JUDY KING & GROUP: Two Shadows/ THE KINGS MEN: Kicking With My Stallion/ PAUL KIRK & THE PAGEANTS: Long Ago/ THE MELVETTES: Take One Step/ THE PHAROAHS: Walking Sad/ FAITH ROBINSON & GROUP: My Birthday Wish/ THE SERENADES: Sinner In Love/ THE THUNDERBIRDS: Pledging My Love/ THE UNIVERSALS: A Love Only You Can Give/ THE VALDOROS: Don't Open The Grave/ CHARLES WRIGHT & THE WRIGHT SINGERS: How Do I Stand With You |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rainbow 7001 | The "Over The Rainbow" Doo-Wop CD | ● CD $18.98 |
| Now here's a doo-wop CD to separate the men from the boys!
Harold Arlen and Yip Hurburg composed the song "Over The Rainbow" for Judy
Garland to sing in the 1939 movie "The Wizard Of Oz." It has since become
one of the most popular and most recorded songs of all time. It has been a
great favorite with vocal groups and this collection features no less than
30 different doo-wop version of this immortal classic, most slow but some
mid-tempo or fast, some versions are acapella but most are with instrumental
accompaniment. Groups featured include The Demensions, Castelles, Marcels,
Hi-Liters, Little Sammy Rozzi & The Guys, The Domnoes, Little Butchie & The
Vels, The Chanters, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, The Vibrations, Uniques,
Remainders, New Concepts, The Youngtones, Little Anthony & The Imperials and
many others seeking "that land that I heard of/ once in a lullaby". |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | RRDP 01 | Rock 'n' Roll Dance Party, Vol. 1 | ● CD $16.98 |
| Fine collection of up-tempo music taking in rhythm & blues,
doo-wop and rockabilly. About half the tracks have been out before but this
is an entertaining collection featuring songs from The Four Tunes, Carl
Mann, The Videos, The Franklin Brothrs, The Fairlanes, Jimmy Witherspoon,
Nappy Brown, Guitar Slim, The Ivies, Norman Fox & The Rob-Roys, Herbie
Smith, Gene Ross, The Velvets and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Savoy Jazz 17198 | Savoy Chart Busters | ● CD $12.98 |
| 18 tracks, 56 min, essential A wonderful combination of
blues, R&B & jazz, the hit singles from National/Savoy. 16 of these tracks
charted 1945-57, 15 in the Top 10 with Paul Williams' The Hucklebuck
& Cupid Boogie by Little Esther, Mel Walker & The Johnny Otis Orch
hitting #1. Hits range from a couple Ravens classics - Write Me A Letter/
Ol' Man River, Billy Eckstine's Lonesome Lover Blues, Warren
Evans' #6 cover of Cecil Gant's I Wonder, Joe Turner & Pete Johnson
(with Don Byas in the band)'s #3 cover of Saunders King's SK Blues,
the almost surrealistic Bad Boy by The Jive Bombers. Then there's the
complete Open The Door Richard (Pts 1&2) by Dusty Fletcher, who
originated the vaudeville routine that was turned into a song by his saxist
Jack McVea - this version more closely replicates the original routine!
Liner notes by Billy Vera. (GM) |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Spectrum 113 085-2 | Chess Divas | ● CD $11.98 |
| 20 track collection of blues, R&B and soul recorded for
Chess and Checker in the mid 60s by women singers. Lots of classic
performances here from Etta James, Irma Thomas, Mitty Collier, Laura Lee,
Big Maybee, Tammy Montgomery, Koko Taylor, Sugar Pie Desanto, Fontella Bass
and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Stateside 537 518-2 | Liberty Belles | ● CD $11.98 |
| 16 tracks, 44 mins, highly recommended. Reissue of 1985 LP.
Excellent collection by five soulstresses from the Liberty/ Imperial/ Minit
labels originally recorded in the 60s. There are three tracks by Clydie King
- one a duet with Jimmy Holiday and four by Tina Turner including the
wonderful It Ain't Right and a hot cover of Ooh Poo Pa Do with
what sounds like James Booker on piano. There are three by Baby Washington,
three by the superb white soul singer Timi Yuro including a radical two part
reworking of Hank Snow's I'm Movin' On and three by the Queen of New
Orleans soul Irma Thomas. Except for the Clydie King cuts all the tracks are
in stereo. Includes booklet with original notes by Roger St. Pierre. (FS)
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Sundazed 11125 | Looking For My Baby | ● CD $23.98 |
| Two CD set with 50 tracks of 60s soul drawn from the vaults
of the New York based Amy/Mala/ Bell labels and it's various distributed
labels. Includes sides by The Emperors (including one previously unissued),
The Emotions, Oscar Mack, Ben & Spence (including one previously unissued),
The Four Sonics, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Don & Juan, Lou Johnson, The
Attractions, Larry Williams & Johnny "Guitar" Watson, The Showmen, Aaron
neville, Bernie Williams, Gino Washinton, Jimmy Jones, Eddi Holman and many
more. THE ATTRACKTIONS: Find Me/ THE ATTRACTIONS: New Girl In The Neighborhood/ BEN & SPENCE: Long Ago (prev. Unissued)/ Woman, Hang Your Head In Shame/ You're The One For Me/ CHUCK BROOKS: Baa Baa Black Sheep/ I've Got To Get Myself Together/ MELVIN DAVIS: Love Bug Got A Bear Hug/ Save It (never Too Late)/ MOSES & JOSHUA DILLARD: Get Out Of My Heart/ My Elusive Dreams/ DON & JUAN: Could This Be Love/ Pledging My Love/ THE EMOTIONS: Brushfire/ Somebody New/ THE EMPERORS: I've Got To Have Her/ Karate/ Looking For My Baby/ My Baby Likes To Boogaloo/ Tic-tac-toe (prev. Unissued)/ THE FOUR SONICS: It Takes Two/ ROOSEVELT GRIER: C'mon Cupid/ LLOYD HENDRICKS: Your Cold Heart/ EDDIE HOLMAN: I'll Cry 1000 Tears/ I'm Not Gonna Give Up/ SAM HUTCHINS: Big D Breakdown/ Dang Me/ I'm The One For You/ LOU JOHNSON: (there's) Always Something There To Remind Me/ Unsatisfied/ JIMMY JONES: Personal Property/ Snap My Fingers/ GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS: Either Way I Lose/ Giving Up/ Love Always Forgive/ TOBI LEGEND: Time Will Pass You By/ LITTLE EVA: That's My Man/ OSCAR MACK: I'm Glad It's Over/ Put Out The Fire (let Me Go)/ AARON NEVILLE: She's On My Mind/ You Can Give But You Can't Take/ JIMMY RADCLIFFE: My Ships Is Comin' In/ THE SHOWMEN: 39-21-40 Shape And Hey Baby/ What Would It Take/ THE SNOWMEN: Action/ GINO WASHINGTON: I'll Be Around (when You Want Me)/ JAY WIGGINS: Sad Girl/ BERNIE WILLIAMS: Ever Again/ LARRY WILLIAMS & JOHNNY WATSON: Can't Find No Substitute For Love/ I Could Love You Baby |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Titanic 44202 | Deep Soul Discoveries, Vol. 2 | ● CD $18.98 |
| Complementing Titanic 44201 this is another collection of
fine and obscure deep soul featuring 25 tracks from the likes of Third
Guitar (Eddie Holloway), Sarah Simpson (a wonderfully intense version of the
pop song All Of A Sudden (My Heart Sings)), Fred Towles, James
Crawford, Magnificent Montague (almost pure gospel), The Flamingos (the
topical Straighten It Up (Get It Together)), The Masters Of Soul, Joe
Wade (a gorgeous cover of That's How Strong My Love Is), Betty Renay,
Melvin Davis, Vernon Herrell, Joe Frazier and others. |
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| VARIOUS ARTISTS | Varese 66334 | The American Roots Of The British Invasion | ● CD $16.98 |
| 20 tracks, 47 min, highly recommended. Yeah, we all know that
the Brit bands just regurgitated what we Yanks had been ignoring & scoring
huge hits. Here's the originals, many of which we re-discovered after
hearing the Beatles' versions, so we're familiar with The Isley Brothers
Twist & Shout (though they use that version & not the original by The
Top Notes), Larry Williams' Slow Down, Buck Owens' Honey Don't,
but there's also some less familiar such as Mr. Moonlight by Dr.
Feelgood & The Interns & The Donay's - Devil In His Heart. Also
originals of tunes covered by The Swingin' Blue Jeans (Hippy Hippy Shake
- Chan Romero), The Dave Clark 5 (Bobby Day - Over & Over, Maurice
Willimas & The Zodiacs - Stay), & The Moody Blues (Bessie Banks'
glorious original Go Now). However there's some I'm hearing for the
1st time here - Gene Pitney's Pretty Flamingo, covered by Manfred
Mann, & the totally obscure original of Millie Small's My Boy Lollipop,
done in '57 by Barbie Gaye, worth the price of admission in itself! (GM) |
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| CHARLES WALKER | Zane 1019 | Number By Heart | ● CD $17.98 |
| 13 tracks, 59 mins, highly recommended Superb new album of
deep soul from veteran Nashville vocalist who has been plying his craft
since the late 50s. There are ten new songs from various writers along with
three carefully chosen covers. Walker's vocals are powerful and expressive
and production by the talented Fred James is outstanding with horn driven
instrumental work and soulful vocal backup. Among the highlights are the
wrenching title song co-written by Walker, the hard driving One Man's
Poison and a beautiful cover of Percy Sledge's It Tears Me Up
written by Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham but it's all truly fine - not a dud in
sight. (FS) |
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