NEWSLETTER #144
Rhythm & Blues,
Soul & Doo-Wop
Johnny Adams ->
Wilson Pickett
| JAMES BROWN |
Eagle Eye 39129 |
Live At Montreux, 1981 |
● DVD $18.98 |
DVD 14 tracks, 70 mins/ CD 10 Tracks, 37 Mins, highly
recommended
Previously released (and reviewed for our catalog) in its
DVD-only format, this is now released in a special "Collectors Edition"
format with the same DVD, but also including a CD that has 10 of the
performances that are featured on the DVD. This is James Brown at his
funky, funky best. The band is tight enough to bounce a quarter off. James
Brown himself is sensational, at a point in his career when he could still
hit all of the notes, make all of the moves, and put in a 110% performance.
If you already have the DVD, I'm not sure how much of an incentive this new
version with the CD is, but if you don't have this in any form, it is
definitely well worth picking up. For James Brown fans, it is a must own. (JM)
|
| IKE & TINA TURNER |
IMC Music 940955 |
Rollin' With Ike & Tina Turner |
● DVD $13.98 |
14 tracks, 45 mins, recommended
Not the best music DVD
collection that I have seen, but despite its somewhat murky video quality
on much of the DVD, there are enough artifacts of great performances here
that I can recommend this. The first half of the DVD is taken from T.V.
appearances in Germany and the U.S.A. in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
There are clips that I have seen a lot, like Proud Mary and other
rock covers, and there are other great Turner-penned tunes like Nutbush
City Limits and Baby Get It On. In the first half you get Tina
solo doing Acid Queen which is O.K. (at least it's not the
performance from the "Tommy" movie.) The second half of the DVD are two
live shows that I would date as about 1970 or 1971. Mostly more renditions
of rock covers, "River Deep, Mountain High" etc. For the most parts, the
performances are all exceptional as to be expected, the overall quality of
this release is a bit disappointing, though. (JM)
|
| JOHNNY ADAMS |
Fuel 2000 61615 |
An Introduction To Johnny Adams |
● CD $13.98 |
16 tracks, 65 mins, highly recommended
New Orleans singer
Adams wraps his soulful, soaring pipes around 16 searing ballads and up
tempo R&B items on these recordings produced by Senator Jones for a number
of different labels in the late 70s and early 80s. Recorded at the
Sea-Saint Studio with top New Orleans musicians like Walter Washington,
Alan Toussaint, Leo Nocentelli and others he does a selection of new
compositions as well as a diverse selection of covers ranging from Bobby
Bland's Share Your Love With Me to Tom Jones's Ill never Fall In
Love Again. Also includes After All The Good Is Gone/ Don't Let The
Green Grass Fool You/ Your Love Is All I Need/ Who Will The Next Fool Be/
I Only Want To Be With You/ Struttin' On Sunday/ Love Letters/ Love Me Now
and the terrific A Shoulder To Cry On featuring stellar guitar
work. About half these tracks were previously available on AIM 1201
($13.98). Now if only someone would make all of Adams' material from this
period available. (FS)
|
| CHUCK BERRY |
Chess (UK) 984 242-8 |
You Came A Long Way From St. Louis - The
Many Sides Of |
● CD $19.98 |
31 tracks, 79 mins, highly recommended
Fine 31 track
collection devoted to some of Chuck's more obscure sides. Apart from the
classics Reelin' And Rockin' and Sweet Little Rock & Roller
this is a mix of lesser known singles, album cuts and originally unissued
performances. Among the high points here are several great blues covers
and originals (Worried Life Blues/ Ain't That Just Like A Woman/ Don't
You Lie To Me, etc), some typically fine original rockers that somehow
got lost in the shuffle (It's My Own Business/ Broken Arrow/ Go Bobby
Soxer/ have Mercy Judge, etc) and the great steel guitar instrumental
Mad Lad. There are also a few duds here like the awful Thirteen
Question Method (possibly his worst song) and his attempt at calypso
Run Joe but most of it is very worthwhile. Includes informative
notes on each song by Peter Doggett. (FS)
CHUCK BERRY: A Deuce/ Ain't That Just Like A Woman/
Anthony Boy/ Big Ben/ Broken Arrow/ Butterscotch/ Club Nitty Gritty/
County Line/ Don't You Lie To Me/ Go Bobby Soxer/ Have Mercy Judge/ How
High The Moon/ I've Changed/ It Wasn't Me/ It's My Own Business/ Laugh And
Cry/ Lonely School Days/ Louis To Frisco/ Mad Lad/ My Mustang Ford/ Reelin'
And Rockin'/ Right Off Rampart Street/ Route 66/ Run Joe/ She Once Was
Mine/ Soul Rockin'/ St. Louis Blues/ Sweet Little Rock & Roller/ Thirteen
Question Method/ Worried Life Blues/ You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
(With The Five Demensions)
|
| EARL BOSTIC |
Proper BOX 112 |
The Earl Bostic Story |
● CD $24.98 |
4 CDs, 106 tracks, 299 mins, highly recommended
Fantastic
collection, 4 CDs jammed full of music, shining the spotlight on one of
the all-time great alto sax players. Earl Bostic is someone a little lost
in history, but someone whose influence on music of the 1940s and 1950s
really doesn't get enough credit. Probably the main root of the mixed
feelings on Bostic stem from his teetering between the world of Jazz and
Rhythm & Blues: the Jazzbos looked down on the wild wailin' sax and the
R&B cats and kittens getting bothered by too much instrumental music. Earl
Bostic's music has indeed aged well and open-minded fans of both genres
should find a lot to love here (I certainly did!) How many bandleaders can
boast to having John Coltrane on some sessions and then Mickey Baker on
the next batch of recordings? This works chronologically through Bostic's
recorded output from late 1945 to may 1955, seemingly without missing a
session. As usual this has Proper's fantastic sound, intricate notes and
candy colored individual CD and box packaging. Well done! (JM)
EARL BOSTIC: 8.45 Stomp/ Ain't Misbehavin'/ All On/
Always/ Apollo Theatre Jump/ Artistry By Bostic/ Away/ Baby, You Don't
Know It All/ Bar Fly Baby/ Beyond The Blue Horizon/ Blip Boogie/ Blue
Skies/ Bostic's Boogie Blues/ Bostic's Jump/ Chains Of Love/ Cherokee/
Choppin' It Down/ Cracked Ice/ Cuttin' Out/ Danube Waves/ Deep Purple/
Disc Jockey's Nightmare/ Don't You Do It/ Earl Blows A Fuse/ Earl's Blues/
Earl's Imagination/ Earl's Rumboogie/ East Of The Sun/ Filibuster/
Flamingo/ For You/ From Midnight Till Dawn/ Here Goes/ Hot Sauce Boss/ How
Could It Have Been You And I/ Hurricane Blues/ I Can't Give You Anything
But Love/ I Got Loaded/ I'm Getting Sentimental Over You/ I'm The Guy Who
Loves You/ Joy Dust/ Jumpin' Jack/ Jungle Drums/ Let's Ball Tonight, Part
1/ Let's Ball Tonight, Part 2/ Liebestraum/ Linger Awhile/ Liza/ Lover
Come Back To Me/ Mambolino/ Mambostic/ Melancholy Serenade/ Memories/
Merry Widow Waltz/ Moonglow/ My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice/ My Special
Dream/ Nay! Nay! Go Away!/ Night And Day/ No Name Blues/ O Sole Mio/ Off
Shore/ Poeme/ Portrait Of A Faded Love/ Rockin' And Reelin'/ Scotch Jam/
September Song/ Serenade/ Serenade To Beauty/ Seven Steps/ Sheik Of Araby/
Sleep/ Slightly Groovy/ Smoke Gets In Your Eyes/ Smoke Rings/ Song Of The
Islands/ Steamwhistle Jump/ Sugar Hill Blues/ Sweet Lorraine/ Swing Low
Sweet Boogie/ Temptation/ That's The Groovy Thing - Part A/ That's The
Groovy Thing - Part B/ That's The Heat You Gotta Beat/ The Barefoot Boy/
The Hour Of Parting/ The Major And The Minor/ The Man I Love/ The Man I
Love/ The Moon Is Low/ The Song Is Ended/ The Very Thought Of You/ These
Foolish Things/ Tiger Rag/ Time On My Hands/ Tippin' In/ Velvet Sunset/
Watch Where You Walk Boy/ Way Down/ What, No Pearls?/ Where Or When/ Who
Snuck The Wine In The Gravy?/ Wild Man/ Wrap It Up/ Wrap Your Troubles In
Dreams/ You Go To My Head
|
| TINY
BRADSHAW & HIS ORCHESTRA |
Rev-Ola CRBAND 3 |
Heavy Juice - The King Recordings,
1950-1955 |
● CD $15.98 |
32 tracks, 78 mins, highly recommended
Rev-Ola has been
putting out these great R&B collections with this CR BAND series and Tiny
Bradshaw is a great addition. Although Bradshaw had been playing and
writing jazz, swing and blues music for a couple of decades before, his
1950's R&B and Jump Blues recordings on King are what so much of his
legacy is based on. This collection is all recordings done for King from
1950 - 1955. Included here are all of his chart hits from the time,
Well Oh Well/ I'm Going To Have Myself A Ball/ Walkin' The Chalk Line/
Soft and Heavy Juice, as well as his most famous song (though
originally a flop for him) Train Kept A Rollin'. His band
throughout this time featured some heavy duty players like Leslie Ayres -
Trumpet, Rufus Gore -- Tenor Sax, Orrington Hall -- Baritone, Jimmy
Robinson-Piano, and Willie Gaddy - guitar, among others. Backing bands
that were so good that even when Tiny took sick they still recorded, doing
some fantastic instrumental work which is also included here, as well as
backing up other greats like Ruth Brown, BB King, Bullmoose Jackson etc.
Also featured here are two fantastic risqu‚ party duets with Jesse "Tiny"
Kennedy Newspaper Boy Blues and Rippin' and Runnin'. Tiny
"means business, so stop your Signifying!" (JM)
|
| JAMES BROWN |
Hip-O Select 07029-02 |
The Singles - The Federal Years, 1956-1960 |
● CD $32.98 |
2 CDs, 41 tracks, 105 mins, highly recommended
I have been
looking forward to getting this CD set in for about a month, then it came
in two days after Christmas, making it a melancholy listen to say the
least. Of course one of the best artist ever to make you lose the Blues is
James Brown, so that helps a lot. This set is a celebration of the 50th
anniversary of James Brown's recording debut on Federal records. These
federal tracks show the genesis of Soul Brother #1, from his early success
with Please, Please, Please backed by the original Famous Flames,
through many, many musician changes and ups and downs until he got
everything right by 1960. There are a few tracks that the casual fan will
know, the aforementioned Please., Try Me (both demo and
single versions,) and possibly the greatest cover version ever in his
rendering of the 5 Royales Think. There are some exciting tracks
here, like I'll Go Crazy/ I Want You So Bad/ There Must be a Reason
and the firsts instrumentals Doodle Bee and Bucket Head
which certainly started a long, successful trend of fantastic
instrumentals by the JB's etc.. By and largely the cuts on here are great,
but like any evolution of a great artist, there are a few clunkers here
and there; DaVinci didn't paint all masterpieces when he was learning his
craft either. This is part of the Hip-O Select limited edition sets, with
a limited pressing of only 5000, so you'll have to act quick on this one.
CD set comes with copious liner notes and recording info all wrapped up in
a stunning packaging job. (JM)
|
| SOLOMON BURKE |
Music Avenue 250105 |
Soul Lucky |
● CD $15.98 |
11 tracks, 45 min., recommended
A compilation (circa the
late 1970s) of rare tracks Burke recorded with
producer/songwriter/singer/genius Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams. It's a
little troubling that most of what's good about these tracks (and there is
considerable good) can be directly attributed to Williams, who wrote much
of the material and whose style Burke apparently adopts for the duration
of their collaboration. Of the three songs Burke wrote, Music To Make
Love By recalls the worst excesses of Barry White and includes the
illuminating observation, "It's so hard to make love to a picture, baby."
The rest of the song is even more embarrassing. His other two are merely
filler. (JC)
|
| CAB CALLOWAY |
RPM 164 |
The Hi-De-Ho Man |
● CD $15.98 |
26 tracks, 77 mins, highly recommended
26 tracks from the
great jiving bandleader and vocalist drawn from recordings made in the
40s. Calloway's earlier sides were influential on the upcoming jump blues
styles and on many of the tracks here he returns the favor with tracks
that have a strong rhythm & blues flavor incuding covers of hits like
The Honeydripper (which itself was a big hit) and Shotgun Boogie.
It includes a hard driving 1942 version of his theme song Minnie The
Moocher along with sides like Everybody eats When they Come To My
House/ Boo Wah! Boo Wah/ Que Pasa Chica?/ The Calloway Boogie/ Come On
With The "Come On"/ Roomin' House Boogie/ I Want To Rock/ A Chicken Ain't
Nothin' But A Bird and others. Excellent sound, informative notes by
Dave Penny, loads of illustrations and cool cover art. (FS)
|
| BOBBY CHARLES |
Fuel 2000 61613 |
An Introduction To Bobby Charles |
● CD $13.98 |
20 tracks, 50 min., highly recommended
With a few possible
exceptions, these sides appear to be culled from the Jewel and Paula
labels, circa 1964-65. Charles, famous for having written Walkin' To
New Orleans, See You Later Alligator and others, had a smooth,
relaxed vocal style that dripped with Crescent City influence. (Leonard
Chess was shocked to find that Charles was white.) While best known for
his compositional acumen, Charles sang his own material as well as, if not
better than, anyone. Most of his catalog remains out of print, making this
release welcome indeed. This album was previously available as an
expensive import on Westside UK, now deleted. (JC)
|
| RAY CHARLES |
Rhino (UK) 73556 |
The Definitive Ray Charles |
● CD $25.98 |
I don't know about "Definitive" but this is certainly a
very nice two CD retrospective of The Genius covering the best of both his
Atlantic and ABC recordings and beyond. 46 tracks starting with 1953's
Mess Around and ending with his 1997 version of John Lennon's
Imagine (originally used on a TV commercial for a French bank). Along
the way are loads of classics - This Little Girl Of Mine/ Leave My
Woman Alone/ (Night Time) Is The Right Time/ What'd I Say/ I'm Movin' On/
Sticks And Stones/ One Mint Julep/ Unchain My Heart/ I Can't Stop Lovin'
You/ You Are My Sunshine/ Busted/ Cincinnati Kid/ In The Heat Of The Night
and much more. Superb sound and informative notes by Peter Doggett.
RAY CHARLES: At The Club/ Baby It's Cold Outside/ Born
To Lose/ Busted/ Cincinnati Kid/ Come Rain Or Come Shine/ Crying Time/
Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying/ Drown In My Own Tears/ Eleanor Rigby/
Fool For/ Georgia On My Mind/ Hallelujah I Love Her So/ Hit The Road Jack/
I Believe To My Soul/ I Can Make It Thru' The Days/ I Can't Stop Loving
You/ I Don't Need No Doctor/ I'll Be Good To You/ I'm Gonna Move To The
Outskirts Of Town/ I'm Movin' On/ I've Got A Woman/ Imagine/ In The Heat
Of The Night/ It Should've Been Me/ Jealous Kind/ Leave My Woman Alone
You/ Let's Go Get Stoned/ Lonely Avenue/ Mess Around/ Night Time Is The
Right Time/ One Mint Julep/ Rainy Night In Georgia/ Ruby/ Sticks And
Stones/ Take These Chains From My Heart/ That Lucky Old Sun/ This Little
Girl Of Mine/ Unchain My Heart/ What I Say (parts 1 & 2)/ Yesterday/ You
Are My Sunshine/ You Don't Know Me/ Your Cheatin' Heart/ Seven Spanish
Angels/ Shake Your Tailfeather
|
| THE CHIFFONS |
Stateside 69278 |
Sweet Talkin' Girls - The Best Of The
Chiffons |
● CD $29.98 |
The ultimate Chiffons collection. A two CD set with 50
tracks covering pretty much their complete recorded output including all
their hits and their cheeky cover of George Harrison's My Sweet Lord
|
| DONNIE & THE DEL
CHORDS |
Raven 7450 |
Donnie & The Del Chords |
● CD $17.98 |
22 tracks by white trio from New York featuring Donnie
Barto in lead joined by his cousins Al and Santo Barbarino. Their first
record When You're Alone was a local hit. This is presumably their
complete output and also includes This Is The Last Time/ I'll Be With
You In Apple Blossom Time/ Transylvania Mist/ I Found Heaven/ I Gotta
Woman/ At The Hop/ My Heart Has A Mind Of Its own, etc.
DONNIE & THE DEL CHORDS: At The Hop/ Be With You/
Guardian Angel/ I Don't Care/ I Found Heaven/ I Gotta Woman/ I'll Be With
You In Apple Blossom Time/ I'm In The Mood For Love/ My Heart Has A Mind
Of It's Own/ Oh What A Nite/ Only You/ Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind/ Pink
Cadillac/ Please Say You Want Me/ So Lonely/ Tell Me Why/ That Old
Feeling/ That'll Be The Day/ That's My Desire/ This Is The Last Time/
Transylvania Mist/ When You're Alone
|
| DYKE & THE BLAZERS |
BGP CDBGP2 180 |
We Got More Soul |
● CD $33.98 |
The complete recordings from 1966-1970 of this important
funk group. The first disc features his recordings cut in Phoenix with the
original hit-making line-up of The Blazers and the second features his
later sessions in Hollywood with members of Watts 103rd Street Rhythm
Band. All tracks are mastered from original master tapes and include
unissued songs and many titles in their full length unedited versionsfor
the first time.
|
| LORRAINE ELLISON |
Rhino Handmade 7717 |
Sister Love - The Warner Brothers
Recordings |
● CD $69.98 |
Limited edition (5000 numbered copies), three CD set
featuring all the recordings made by this superb soul singer for Warner
Brothers between 1966 and 1973. Many of her songs were written by and her
sessions produced by the brilliantly talented Jerry Ragovoy including
her
all time classic Stay With Me - a song covered by many artists. This
set includes all three of her Warner Brothers albums, 9 unissued tracks
from these sessions and a recently discovered 15 track demo sesion from
1972.
|
| GIGI & THE
CHARMAINES |
Ace CDCHD 1135 |
Gigi & The Charmaines |
● CD $18.98 |
28 tracks, 74 mins, recommended
"Bubbling Under," out of
Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1960's, GiGi & The Charmaines were never exactly a
household name, but definitely an outfit well worth the love and attention
that Ace records has given them. GiGi & The Charmaines were three girls
with powerful pipes and a great sense of melody, that made them popular in
the greater Ohio area and even more popular in Canada. This compilation
rounds up all of their group's recordings on the Columbia, Date and
Fraternity labels. Great tunes like Poor Unfortunate Me/ Eternally/
Goodbye Baby, Goodbye and G.I. Joe mix with raucous covers of
Ike Turner's I Idolize You, Huey Smith's Rockin' Pneumonia and
the Boogie Woogie Flu and the like. Topping it all off are 7 cuts with
GiGi & co. providing outstanding back up vocals for Lonnie Mack, Kenny
Smith, Carl Edmonson and Max Falcon. (JM)
|
| BIG JOHN HAMILTON |
Sundazed 11121 |
How Much Can A Man Take |
● CD $16.98 |
18 tracks, 49 mins, highly recommended
Superb Southern
soul by little known but brilliant singer from South Carolina recorded for
the Florida based Minaret and Nashville based SSS labels. 18 tracks - 2
previously unissued - including his deep soul classic How Much Can A
Man Take, the gorgeous I Have No One, the great blues songThe
Train with superb guitar by Leroy Lloyd, the funkified Big Bad John,
a lovely deep soul cover of Freddy Fender's hit before The Next
Teardrop Falls and other delights. Booklet tells the full the full
story of this supern but obscure artist. (FS)
|
| ISAAC HAYES |
Stax 88043 |
Can You Dig It? The Ultimate Isaac Hayes |
● CD $16.98 |
2 CDs, 36 tracks, 158 mins, highly recommended
Isaac Hayes
is certainly one of the most influential and well-loved Soul artists of
the '60s and '70s. This collection really captures the magic of the man
and his music. The 2 music disks here have all the great cuts that you
would want from a collection like this, from his total reworking of pop
tunes, great tracks from the Shaft soundtrack, and all the way up to the
brink of Disco. Isaac Hayes was brilliant at all stages and all of them
are well represented here. Where else could you get I Say A Little
Prayer and Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic on the same
collection? Fantastic. The bonus DVD doesn't offer much, you get three
live tracks from "Wattstax" and the South Park video for Chocolate
Salty Balls, which are cool, but easily available elsewhere. (JM)
|
| BOBBY HEBB |
Hip-O Select 02862-02 |
Sunny |
● CD $19.98 |
Limited edition (5000 numbered copies). Exact repro of
1966 Mercury album by R&B singer BObby Hebb who started his career playing
spoons with Roy Acuff on The Grand Ole Opry when he was 12 years old. In
addition to his crossover hit title song it also includes his hit version
of the country classic A Satsified Mind as well as Got You On My
Mind/ Good Good Lovin'/ You Don't Know What You've Got Until You Lose It/
Crazy Baby/ For You and others. Packaged in a heavy cardboard 5 1/2x 5
1/4" sleeve.
|
| GEORGE JACKSON |
Grapevine 3026 |
What Would Your Mama Say |
● CD $19.98 |
22 tracks, 73 min., essential
Jackson signed with Malaco
in 1982 as the house songwriter for Denise LaSalle, Latimore, Johnnie
Taylor, Bobby Bland, Tyrone Davis, and others. And as luck would have it,
Malaco eventually bought Muscle Shoals Sound, where Jackson used to be the
house pen. So when Grapevine licensed the Malaco material they gained
access to a wealth of demonstration tapes Jackson had recorded to promote
his songs in hopes of their being covered. The earlier CD, George Jackson
In Muscle Shoals, featured 20 songs from that cache, and this disc sports
another 22 of no less quality than their brethren. Mostly, Jackson is
backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (Jimmy Johnson on guitar, Barry
Beckett on Keys, David Hood on bass, Roger Hawkins on drums), perhaps the
best in the business at the time. Jackson's sometimes Sam Cooke-influenced
vocals are pleasing enough, to be sure, but the songs themselves are the
stars here. Great lost soul rediscovered. (JC)
|
| WALTER JACKSON |
Kent CDKEND 266 |
Welcome Home - The Okeh Recordings, Vol. 2 |
● CD $18.98 |
19 tracks, 59 min., very highly recommended
Reissued (with
7 bonus tracks, 3 previously unreleased) on CD for the first time,
Jackson's second Okeh LP (originally OKS 14108 from 1965) finds the
Chicago master of smooth soul tackling tin pan ally standards, soul, and
pop with typically stunning results. His rendering of My Funny
Valentine manages to be so sublime that even the excessive strings
cannot sully its greatness. Jackson's take on Moon River is equally
gorgeous. His covers of Dylan (Blowin' In The Wind) and Pete Seeger
(Where Have All The Flowers Gone) are impressive if not really his
cup of tea. The Van McCoy tunes, however, are among the brightest notes on
an album that already burns at 1000 watts. It's the voice. Jackson could
sing anything. Anything. This is the second of three releases from Kent,
which is reissuing all Jackson's Columbia, Okeh, and Epic material.
Excellent booklet notes. (JC)
|
| ETTA JAMES |
Hip-O 08127-02 |
Gold |
● CD $19.98 |
2 CDs, 36 tracks, 116 mins, highly recommended
There have
certainly been a lot of Etta James collections that have come out over the
years, but this is a particularly nice one. Of the collections that are
currently available, "The Essential Etta James" that came out about 14
years ago can compete with this one. That CD has more tracks, but this CD
has better tracks, starting off with a few numbers from her early period
under the wing of Johnny Otis, including her big hit Dance With Me
Henry (I hate calling it The Wallflower). After that it goes
through the best of her Argo/ Cadet/ Chess greats spanning 1960 - 1974:
All I Could Do Is Cry/ At Last/ Stop The Wedding/ Tell Mama/ Pushover/ I'd
Rather Go Blind, so many great tracks! Then rounded out with a handful
of tracks from the last 30 years. Some of those are great, some not so. I
love her doing Elmore James' The Sky Is Crying, but I can really do
without the Eagles cover. So basically you get 97% essential listening and
about 3% to skip though. Nice pleasing looking with fine notes and lots of
pictures of the cutest Blues singer ever. (JM)
|
| JOHNNIE & JOE |
Ace CDCHD 1138 |
I'll Be Spinning |
● CD $18.98 |
30 Tracks, 75 mins, recommended
Johnnie & Joe were one of
the great '50s duos, right up there with Mickey & Sylvia and Shirley and
Lee (Johnnie was the girl). Lush, sweeping soulful serenades were their
forte. Their big hit Over The Mountain; Across The Sea would set
the template for much of their work. Occasionally J&J could whip up some
fine lively R&B like Feel Alright and Why, Oh Why, but those
type of tracks are few. This collection covers their recordings from the
J&S, Chess, Gone and Omega labels from the mid 1950s up to about 1970.
Many tracks are making their first appearance on CD and two tracks, I
Pray To Keep Our Love Strong and Be Sure, are making their
first appearance anywhere. (JM)
|
| PAUL KELLY |
Water 184 |
Dirt |
● CD $15.98 |
12 tracks, 35 mins, highly recommended
With his Warner
Brothers retrospective out of print this is the only currently available
album by this utterly superb deep soul singer. His first real release, the
incredible Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord (included here),
attacked hypocritical evangelists and proselytizers, and since soul
stations and gospel stations tended to be the same thing, it wound up in
many a DJ's trash can though this didn't prevent it from climbing the R&B
charts. Originally recorded for Happy Tiger, Paul's contract and masters
were purchased by Warner Brothers who issued this and three subsequent
albums. Paul was a powerful singer with a sweet soulful voice and also a
terrific songwriter (he wrote or co-wrote all the songs here) - some of
his other songs have a topical edge. Recordings were produced by Buddy
Killen and recorded in Nashville, Memphis & Muscle Shoals with musicians
like Chips Moman (gtr), Bobby Emmons (kb), Tommy Cogbill (b), and many
others. This CD includes original liner notes by Barry "Dr. Demento"
Hansen along with new notes by David Cole. Hopefully Water will release
the rest of Paul's WB output. (FS)
|
| DENISE LASALLE |
Smith & Co. 1034 |
My Toot Toot |
● CD $15.98 |
Two CD, 36 track retrospective of sides by this fine and
prolific Southern blues and soul singer drawing on sides recorded for
Westbound between 1972 and 1975 and for Malaco between 1983 and 1997. Many
of the tracks here were R&B hits including her version of Rockin' SIdney's
My Toot Toot which became an international hit. Quite a few of the
Malaco sides have a raunchy quality to them. Include Trapped By A Thing
Called Love/ Do Me Right/ I Was Not The Best Woman/ Right Place, Right
Time/ Bump And Grind/ Bring It On Home To Me/ If You Can Do Me Right/
Trapped ... 1990/ Paper Thin/ Love Me Right/ Three People/ Child Of The
Ghetto, etc.
|
| BETTY LAVETTE |
Rhino Handmade 7899 |
Child Of The Seventies |
● CD $22.98 |
22 tracks, 69 min, essential
Limited edition (7,500
copies). Yes, this would be essential if all it had was the 2 singles cut
at the beginning of her career ('62) for Atlantic, including the fine
My Man-He's A Lovin' Man, & her 2 singles done mid-career ('72) for
Atlantic including a surprising cover of Neil Young's Heart Of Gold.
Yeah, they're all here & wonderful, but what makes this release noteworthy
is the 1st release of one of the few "Legndary Lost Albums" in soul music,
her "Child Of The 70s", recorded in Muscle Shoals 11/72. Fine fine 70s
soul - no writers credits, but includes covers of Ron Davies' It Ain't
Easy & Free's The Stealer! Most of this was issued some years
ago on the French Art & Soul label but this release adds two additional
unissued tracks and mono single mixes of Your Turn To Cry and
Soul Tambourine. Includes 12 page booklet with detailed notes by
British soul expert David Nathan. (GM/ FS)
|
| FRANKIE LEE |
Blues Express 6 |
Standing At The Crossroads |
● CD $14.98 |
13 tracks, 61 min., recommended
The Texas-born singer (and
cousin of Johnny "Guitar" Watson) first recorded for the tiny Great Scott
label in 1963 -- songs which were immediately picked up by Peacock's Don
Robey, who added the diminutive in front of Lee's Christian name. As a Bay
Area transplant, Lee cut a "come back" album for HighTone in 1984 that
received some critical acclaim, if limited financial remuneration. Like
that album, this one has its best songs (Where You Been All My Life,
Better Than That) written by Dennis Walker. On his Let's Think
Twice, the Sweet Inspirations add vocal sugar. Lee reaches back to his
gospel roots for a version of the Swan Silvertones' Mary Don't You Weep
and Prayer For Peace, written by Ira Tucker of the Dixie
Hummingbirds. The latter song no doubt holds special significance for Lee
whose daughter was killed in Afghanistan on the same day his son was
killed in Iraq. A strong outing with top notch musicians and arrangements.
(JC)
|
| LAURA LEE |
Chess (UK) 983 229-4 |
The Chess Collection |
● CD $13.98 |
20 tracks, 53 mins essential
After recording gospel with
the Meditation Singers on Gospel, and Checker, and have a moderately
successful soul single on Ric Tic, she was persuaded by Rick Hall to quit
gospel and stick to soul singing. A series of anguish-drenched deep soul
singles ensued on Chess between 1969 including such gems as her signature
tune, the take no prisoners Dirty Man and it's more forgiving
follow up Uptight Good Man along with other superb sides like
Mama's Got A Good Thing/ It Ain't What You Do (But How You Do It)/ It's
All Wrong But It's All Right/ But You Know I Love You/ It's How You Make
It Good/ Are You Doing Me Wrong/ A Man With Some Backbone/ Hang It Up
and more including a great cover of Jerry Butler's He Will Break Your
Heart from a woman's perspective. Most tracks were recorded at Rick
Hall's studio in Muscle Shoals with that fabulous group of studio
musicians. Great songs, great singing, great arrangements - an absolute
must! One minor complaint - the CD lists 21 songs but track 4 She Don't
Love You is missing in action. (FS)
|
| LITTLE EVA |
Pavillion 71241 |
The Singles Collection |
● CD $17.98 |
31 tracks, 80 mins, recommended
Sure, you could write off
Little Eva as a one--possibly 1 1/2 hit wonder and not bother with her
whole oeuvre, but you would be missing out on a lot of fun. There is
currently a Collectables Little Eva collection available (Collectables
5407) that has 15 tracks, of which only 1 track ("Get Him") is not
featured on here. Of the 17 tracks that this collection has over the
other, some of them are of the best of her career, not to mention that
this comp also features the stereo version of The Loco Motion.
Compiling all of her singles with A & B both represented that she released
on the Amy, Bell, Dimension, and Verve labels, it also features tracks
from one of her Spring records releases Mama Said/ Something About You
Boy (her other Spring release features the same B side, but its A side
"Night After Night" is the only song in her entire singles catalog that is
not represented on this compilation, still that's pretty damn close). Some
of the cool rarities that you get on this are both of her cool Christmas
duets with Big Dee Irwin and Eva's single she did with The McCoys backing
her on a cover of Stand By Me and That's My Man -- nice to
hear some tasteful Rick Derringer guitar work that I had never heard
before. I'm not saying there is a wealth of amazing material on this, but
there are definitely a lot of gems to be found. (JM)
|
| BARBARA MASON |
AIM 2019 |
Yes I'm Ready |
● CD $14.98 |
12 sides from the 60s and 70s by fine Philadelphia soul
singer including several of her hits - Yes, I'm Ready/ Give Me Your
Love/ Shackin' Up/ For Your Precious Love/ You Blew Your Chance With Me/
Love & Happiness, etc.
|
| EDNA MCGRIFF |
Black Tulip 38731 |
Heavenly Father |
● CD $17.98 |
30 tracks, 77 mins, recommended
Edna McGriff is best known
for this album's title song - a rather maudlin R&B ballad which was a big
hit in 1952 and was her only hit. Though she continued to record
throughout the 50s she was never able to crack the charts again though
most of her other recordings were more interesting than "Father." She was
a powerful singer who did some solid blues and jumping R&B numbers. Her
earliest sides (including her hit) feature her with the Buddy Lucas band
which including some intriguing steel guitar work. For a while she
recorded for one of the budget labels that specializing in doing copies of
current hits and several of these are featured here. By the end of the 50s
she had disappeared off the scene and I don't know if these are her
complete solo recordings (she also did some duets with Sonny Til not
included here) but it probably comes close. Definitely worth a listen.
(FS)
|
| WILSON MEADOWS |
Shout 32 |
Go ON And Cry - A Soul Selection |
● CD $15.98 |
12 tracks, 49 min., recommended
A solid contemporary soul
outing for a singer whose career stretches back four decades. Meadows
recorded as a member of The Zircons between 1962-64 for the Federal label
and others. He later recorded with brothers Wallace and Eugene as The
Meadows Brothers, and had a single on Kayvette Records (I Cant't
Understand Kayvette 5132), with Wilson on lead, that just made it into
the R&B Top 100 in 1977. He went solo in 1995 and cut at least four albums
for Bob Grady's Georgia-based BGR Records, the source material for this
album, most of which comes from the album Memories. The opener, When
You're Gettin' My Love is an uptempo summons to the dance floor and
stands as the high point for the album, although Where Will This Leave
Me, Just Can't Do Without You, Go On And Cry and
Everybody Needs Help,I Promise all deserve praise. And that's a
better average than most. (JC)
|
| LUCKY MILLINDER |
Rev-Ola CRBAND 7 |
Let It Roll Again, 1949-1955 |
● CD $15.98 |
29 tracks, highly recommended
Wonderful collection of
swinging rhythm & blues featuring recordings of this great and important
big band cut between 1949 and 1955. Includes vocals by Big John Greer,
Annisteen Allen, Wynonie Harris, Melvin Moore and others. Top musicians
like Lamar Wright, John Hardee, Sonny Thompson, Tyree Glenn, Sam "The Man"
Taylor and others help the fun along on tracks like Moanin' The Blues/
In The Middle Of The Night/ Teardrops From My Eyes/ Baby, You've Been
Wrong/ Clap Your Hands/ Backslider's Ball/ No One Else Could Be and
more. Excellent sound and quality notes by Dave Penny but no
discographical. Many of these tracks were issued a couple of years ago on
the 24 track Collectables 2828 but if you don't have that then this is a
better deal. (FS)
LUCKY MILLINDER: Adam, Come And Get Your Rib/ Awful
Natural/ Baby, You've Been Wrong/ Backslider's Ball/ Chew Tobacco Rag/
Clap Your Hands/ D Natural Blues/ Heavy Sugar/ I'll Never Be Free/ In The
Middle Of The Night/ It's A Sad, Sad Feeling/ Let It Be/ Let It Roll
Again/ Little Girl, Don't cry/ Lord Knows I Tried/ Moanin' The Blues/
Night Train/ No One Else Could Be/ Oh Babe!/ Old Spice/ Ow!/ Please Be
Careful/ Ram-Bunk-Shush/ Silent George/ Teardrops From My Eyes/ The Grape
Vine/ The Jumpin' Jack/ The Right Kind Of Lovin'/ Who Said Shorty Wasn't
Coming Back?
|
| DOTTIE PEARSON |
Grapevine 3011 |
A House Made Of LOve |
● CD $19.98 |
12 tracks, 44 min., recommended
Contemporary soul with
horns and strings, and various assistance from pop producer Don Dixon. If
every song were as good as the title track this album would be
indispensable. (But it isn't and it isn't.) Maybe that's why it's here
twice (as is the less interesting Very Strong Affection) in regular
and extended forms. Still, more songs would be better, what with there
only being 10 titles, and England being so far from Nashville. That said,
Ms Pearson has a respectable set of pipes that put one in mind of, say,
Laura Lee, with less attitude and bitterness, and ultimately then, less
personality. (JC)
|
| LITTLE ESTHER PHILLIPS |
Acrobat ACRCD 213 |
Mistrustin' And Deceivin' |
● CD $10.98 |
25 tracks, 70 mins, highly recommended
Esther Phillips
with an influence on the "Little" part; all tracks on this while she was
still a teenager. Originally a prot‚g‚ of Johnny Otis, the first half of
these tracks are recorded with Esther fronting Otis's spectacular
orchestra, performing Otis's material. The first 14 tracks are Otis
compositions recorded for Savoy including the #1 R&B smash Double
Crossing Blues, recorded as a duet with the Robins, especially bass
man Bobby Nunn. Other high points of the Savoy sessions include Misery/
Cupid's Blues, the hilarious Wedding Boogie and just in time
for this catalog, Far Away Christmas Blues. After the usual
royalty/ business disputes, Phillips left Savoy for Federal records, but
for the most part kept Johnny Otis and crew with her working incognito. Of
the 11 Federal tracks here, most didn't do nearly as well as her Savoy
cuts, but there's great tunes aplenty nonetheless. Other Lips, Other
Arms/ The Deacon Moves In/ Aged and Mellow Blues and Turn The Lamps
Down Low to name just a few of the great tracks that round this
collection out. (JM)
|
| WILSON PICKETT |
DBK Works 529 |
Hey Jude |
● CD $15.98 |
Reissue of 1969 album featuring the title song + Save
Me/ Back In Your Arms/ Night Owl/ A Man And A Half/ Search Your Heart/
People Make The World, etc. Production by Rick Hall & Tom Dowd.
|
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