Garethx

There's also Eddie & Ernies original version of this, Outcast, for a fraction of the cost. Certainly worth buying in its own right, and pound for pound a better record than Jesse Johnson IMHO.

I'd be amazed if these Fuller Brothers were white: it would make the lyrics of Time's A Wasting a bit odd if they were from a white perspective.

I envy you the thrill of stumbling across a record of this quality knowing nothing about the artists or the track's very long history as a Northern Soul scene classic. It's easy to forget that tracks which we often regard as old hat are the scene's greatest (only?) weapon in finding new converts.

Looks like an original to me. As Roger has stated the moire effect appears when as in this case the scan hasn't been correctly 'de-screened'.

I was really surpised to find out that Joe was a black guy (one of the Jones Brothers on Seel, AVI etc in a later incarnation). His Omen singles are great wall-of-sound efforts on which he sounds like a one man Righteous Bothers. Sorry, no soundfiles.

It's worth mentioning with regard to the Wee Willie Walker that the version released by Ace on the Goldwax CD Volume 2 and on the 6Ts Anniversary 45 is not the same as the Japanese lp. The Ace/6Ts release is a fuller cut with horns and backing vocals: in my humble opinion not quite as good as the original, Japanese release. Interesting to note that you played it at Pitches, Sean. We used to hammer it at George Jackson in London, too. As you state: the Japanese Vivid Sound lp is a pretty scarce vinyl release. A usually pretty crummy record shop in Inverness Street, Camden, had one behind the counter a couple of years ago. I asked them how much they wanted for it, but they told me it had been reserved for another customer at twenty quid. I offered them considerably more than that for it but the original buyer eventually picked it up. Wonder who he was.

In truth all of them are actually worth owning, but over the years the only ones I've ever taken home and kept are the John Edwards/Loleatta Holloway and Carla Thomas discs. Often I've given them away on the night (seem to have a dim memory of Mick Smith waiting on the stairs each year to prise them from the hands of those members "too tired" to realise they are giving away musical history) or passed them on to friends who couldn't attend. Until the Carla Thomas one I had a stubborn insistence on not keeping them because I didn't collect UK labels (I know, what a twat) and I haven't made it down to the last three anniversaries for various reasons. A top five (in no order as all are phenomenal records) would be: Carla Thomas "I'll Never Stop Loving You" Chuck Jackson "What's With This Lonlieness" San Francisco TKOs "Make Up Your Mind" Loleatta Holloway "This Man's Arms" Wee Willie Walker "I Don't Want To Take A Chance"

A very interesting thread, Winnie. I don't think a record will ever again be the next big discovery in the way sounds took off in the scene's seventies heyday. Back then records could be said to be huge in a matter of a weekend: the turnover of genuinely popular sounds on a nationwide basis was on a vastly different level to the situation we now see. Fantastic tunes are still being unearthed, make no mistake about that. The Masqueraders cover up which Chalky and Joan have mentioned is a case in point. The thing is, Butch has been playing this particular record for approaching three years now, and it has still not seeped into the popular consciousness, if such a thing still exists, of today's scene. Over the last five years, ten years, fifteen years and twenty years I have heard records from a handful of deejays which can genuinely be seen in a favourable light when compared to many of the cherished oldies from the Wheel, Torch, Catacombs, Mecca, Casino and Cleethorpes eras. The Mello Souls has been played for practically two decades and has still yet to receive (and probably never will receive) the type of universal acclaim and popularity afforded any of the top sounds from the clubs listed above. Does that mean it's a bad record: of course not, it's a bleeding masterpiece of full-on adrenalin-rush Northern Soul. Trouble is, for the vast majority of people who attend soul nights and allnighters the idea of anything found after 1980 being brilliant is something that they cannot quite bring themselves to countenance. Why, I don't know. But it seems to me that the majority are quite content to wallow in nostalgia alone. This is not in itself a bad thing, but forces of progression are what has always driven the scene forward. When that finally ceases to be the case, it will all come crashing down. When the deejays who look long and hard for something new with that magic start to tire of doing so, the entire thing, oldies all nighters and all, will die. The death throes will be anguished, ugly and will take forever. I genuinely think the vast majority of punters are not listening any more. It must make deejays who have tried to take the rare soul scene forward tear their hair out and ask "what is the f**cking point."

I think the Rolling Stone side of Milton Wright may be more popular now: I seem to remember Keith Money putting it on a CD of otherwise pretty rare stuff and it sounded a million dollars. A great record.

This is album only, it's on ABC/Peacock: Mildred Clark & The Melody-aires, album title is, if memory serves, "2,000 Years". An old Randy Cozens tip, which always seems to get a great reaction from people who've not heard it before. The album should be pretty cheap whenever sighted: mine was kindly donated gratis by Mark Houghton. Cheers Mark. Try gemm.com or musicstack.com, usually at least one on there. gareth. I've just checked ebay and all the copies on there are cassette only: vinyl on this one appears to have dried up.

Fascinating info, Steve. Value? Hard to say really. Not much demand ouside a few ballad collectors, I would suggest. I had credit with John from a copy of Ellusions on Lamon which he auctioned and took the CJ in a straight swap. This was about four years ago. In the meantime I noticed with some interest that Sam had reviewed the 45 in his Manifesto column, but I've never heard him play it out, as I think he has a fair few more instant dancefloor smashes to call on before he has to resort to this! For what it's worth I think it's a really good double sider; the deep side is about as good as it gets. it would be interesting to know if anyone has played the dance side in the intervening years since this was covered up.

I'm sure this is the same record: a yellow label. What was it covered as?

Sorry, can't do soundfiles, Steve. It's a neat mid-to-uptempo number with a choppy beat and great, gritty singing... the other side is one of the great deep rarities: "I've Got To Get Away From You." I played IYNL in Manchester earlier in the summer and it seemed to go down ok. it was a record I thought I'd never own, but out of the blue Mr Manship found one for me. To quote Willie Tee: Thank You John.

Funny that Mel Britt is thought of as a slowie: the percussion and bassline are actually pretty fast. I was kind of brought up on a diet of beat ballads, but many of them make me cringe now, at least in a club context. Must say what an absolutely stunning record the Faye Crawford on RCA Victor is though: absolutely mesmeric and one I've just got to play again and again and again.

"True Love Is A Terrible Thing To Waste" by Townsend Townsend & Rogers from that album is brilliant.

The definitive version of this mammoth deep soul piece? The Jarvis Jackson original on Sims or Woodard's cover version on Chant, often cited as the greatest blue-eyed soul waxing. I'd love to know what other ballad fans think.

Dozens of fantastic records mentioned so far, from right across the entire spectrum of rare soul: heartfelt crooning ballads, blue-eyed stormers, midtempo sixties, rocking R&B, smooth 70s and ghetto funk (has nobody mentioned Ernie & The Topnotes' Dap Walk yet? to me the very best funk record ever made) and everything else in between. All goes to show that it would be more than possible to put on an entire allnighter of music just from NO without it being in any way samey or too generic. Truly a soul city with the credentials to match any and surpass most.

Ray Algere "In My Corner" Tou-Sea Tony Owens "I Need, Need Your Love" Soulin' Curtis Johnson "If You Need Love" Whurley Burley Eugene Gaspard "Holding On" Rosemont Percy Stone & The Explosions "Chained" Ram Wille West & The Jades "Willie Knows How" Rustone Willie Tee "I Peeped Your Hole Card" Gator Aaron Neville "You Can Give, But You Can't Take" Bell Eldridge Holmes "Gone, Gone, Gone" Jet Set George Pepp "The Feeling Is Real" Coleman Wille Wade "When Push Comes To Shove" Nite Life Inell Young "The Next Ball Game" Big 9 Sammy King "Your Old Standby" Marathon Mart Lewis "I Can't Do Without You" Big Deal Zilla Mayes "All I Want Is You" Tou-Sea

hwm.

Pointer Sisters and Nancy Wilson both counterfeited.

Quite a nice record, but one which I cannot see the point in owning: it already gets hammered up and down the country by the few peoplpe who already own it: or are we going to get entire nighters of people spinning Two Plus Two endlessly, perhaps the rare soul scene's 'logical' conclusion.

Ah. I'm thinking about later on in the footage, not necessarily on the clips you've posted up, Pete. I'll post a still when I can. My betting on the UK Stax 45 is that it's a Booker T & The MGs record...

The streets in Horace Ove's film are the Avenues in South Kilburn: pretty much a twee middle class enclave these days, but back then a really tough place. This footage is brilliant: interesting when the camera zooms in on a record the deejay is playing that it's a Uk Stax job on the yellow label, rather than a reggae record: wonder what it was?

One of The Presidents 45s on DeLuxe contains a great harmony ballad as its flipside. The Hal Hardy 45 is an excellent rough-edged southern funk/soul crossover track which will appeal to fans of Lee Brackett on Excello, Joseph Webster etc. Highly recommended. As mentioned above a great label. Can only echo the above comments on the output of Bobby Wade (although some of these tracks came out on local Clevelend labels before national release on DeLuxe), The Manhattans and the great Pat Lundy.

For soul ballad fans out there there is a fantastically deep rendition of Bobby Bland's Lead Me On on Spring by The Internationals. It's akin to a traditional gospel treatment of the classic secularised spiritual which is right up there with the Bland original and Gwen McCrae's fantastic version on Columbia. How this slipped out on a relatively major label like Spring in the mid 70s I'll never know, but I'm very glad it did.