Garethx

Did anyone see the recent ebay listing of the deejay copy of Roosevelt Matthews on King? The seller talks about the condition of the record in great detail and mentions that the b-side (You Got Me Diggin' You) suffers from what he refers to as a cosmetic haziness in the vinyl, despite being unplayed storestock and playing like a virtually mint record. My copy is exactly like this too, but for years I had always assumed that someone had tried to 'polish' this side of the record with something they shouldn't have. I would be interested to know if anyone elses' copy of this 45 is the same, and whether this visual fault is repeated on the blue issues of the record. As an addendum to the above I must state that the record in question plays so much better than any compiled version of either side: both the funk cut on King Funk or the ballad on both King Northern Soul or Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures 4 seem to suffer from efforts to remove extraneous noise from their source recording, whether it be from the mastertapes or dubs from disc.

My favourite Irma Thomas too (out of so many goodies). Does anyone know the unreleased Irma Thomas track Think Again? It was on an EMI America best of in the early 90s. Another fabulous midtempo blockbuster from around the same time as It's Starting To Get To Me (mybe from he same sessions).

Trippin on Your Love was recorded in the early 70s but shelved. Stax (through Fantasy) released the entire album with re-recorded 80s backing: hence the synths on Tripping. Would love to hear the original takes, even if no versions exist with any backing. Maybe Ace have these sessions in their possession? Over to Tony Rounce or Ady Croasdell...

Lucky was from LA. He was working well in to the 80s as a vocal arranger for Zane Grey and some of the Orpheus producers. INWYS shouldn't be too hard to turn up: it was once around in massive quantity as a relatively new release. I agree it sounds pretty good now and would be relatively unknown to a whole generation of soul fans who have not necessarily been into modern soul for twenty years. I believe Sam is playing an unreleased track form the same kind of time frame as Love Is Better and Vacate... I haven't heard it but those who have claim it's good. BTW, Candy Bowman released a passable version of LIBTE produced by Grey & Hanks, retitled Since I Found You on RCA in about '82. Contrary to popular belief, it was issued on 7" vinyl in the US.

Bought this on the first label with "I'll Never Understand" on the reverse from Terry Stokes and 'Mad' Keiron's short lived shop off Carnaby Street in 1984 for seven quid. It was still being played covered up as "Frank Dell" at the time. Happy days. To me one of the best ever midtempo soul records played in the name of Northern Soul. Whoever was responsible should feel very proud of themselves. Would never sell it.

Probably closer to three hundred quid these days. Good record.

I've seen more copies of "I Am Nothing" than this in the last few years. The strange world of Northern Soul, eh...

Jarvis Jackson on Sims ain't necessarily so cheap! Another absolutely brilliant deep record on Brown Dog which is dirt cheap is Count Willie with LRL and The Dukes "I've Got To Tell You" (also a bit more expensive on Minaret issue with the funk flip).

Tony Do you have the alternate version of Lift This Hurt on Winner already? If not, you severely need that one too, with its amazing deep soul flip, Don't Let This Dream Come True.

xcv.

But which version was played at Wigan, the vocal or instrumental? The vocal is very poppy, double-tracked and lightweight, but as an instrumental this track is a real belter.

Come back Pete.

Here are some New Sounds: the old Darrell Banks cover up And the groups version of Robert Tanner's Sweet Memories:

Sir Henry Ivy is a seriously great dance soul record. Funnily enough it was one of the tracks mentioned in the Stafford thread that I think really stands the test of time: if anything it was years ahead of its time in the early 80s when first spun. I don't know if there are enough copies around to take it into the Pat & The Blenders league, though. It's not terribly expensive at the moment but I reckon there's a small queue of people waiting for a copy right now. In a similar vein in that it's a tough, Southern funky tune with really committed singing, I've been advocating "Ruby" by Lee Brackett on Excello (the other side is the really good, more traditionally Northern, "Save A Foolish Man"). I know some of the more enlightened parts of the funk scene rate this 45, and a few of the more broadminded crossover collectors have raved over it too, but it's probably far too idiosyncratic to make it to National Soul Anthem status. Records which attain that lofty perch tend to be fairly 'inoffensive' musically: they tend to have linear rhythms, catchy melodies and nothing untoward lurking in the production to deter the casual listener. On the last point I don't know if I'd feel comfortable with spinning a record that went on to take on the characteristics of a 'hammered up and down the country' anthem: just a personal point of view.

John Hendley of Jon & The Weirdest and John Bowie are completely different people and should not be confused.

The cat seems to be out of the bag as regards the Chuck Armstrong on Black Rock, an absolutely brilliant record. It would be great if Binsy could recount the tale of obtaining his copy of this record back in the day.

The other Sam Dees single on LoLo, a version of "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" is pretty good too, but maybe not quite as strong as "Easier..." BTW, what's a fair price for Bobby Hill's "Tell Me You Love Me" nowadays?

This Bobby Bennett is a former Famous Flame, apparently. He had a mighty voice and made a handful of singles in Philadelphia in the sixties and early seventies with releases on V-Tone, Junior, Phil LA of Soul and Philadelphia International among others. All of these are really good soul records.

Steve It seems to me that the market for the top-end deep soul tunes has effectively collapsed in recent times. Benny Latimore on Blade sold for about £100 on ebay last week: ten years ago that figure would have been more like £5-600. I bought a mint George Hughley on Fairlane for $25 last week: in 1990 I paid over £100 for a pretty beaten up copy of this 45. Even the very cream, top end material like a mint Jimmy Armstrong on Brothers Three only went for a couple of hundred quid last year, when in the past a tune like that would have nudged the four-figure point. My advice would be to simply take priced wants as you're doing: the few hardcore deep collectors still left out there worldwide will simply not pay top dollar on ebay because they don't have to: there isn't the competition to push prices up to artificial levels any more. The Japanese scene used to number in the hundreds but would appear to be down to a few dozen collectors; the Dutch scene seems to have virtually disappeared (there always seem to be a few deep soul records sold out of Holland on ebay as the last few remnants of the scene are selling up). All a pretty sad reminder of the fact that entire scenes can and do disappear.

I may be the lone voice of dissent on this topic but I have always loathed this particular record. A dull, insipid and uninspired mess with a harmonic structure more suited to light entertainment shows than to soul music. An instrumental cut would make a great theme tune for the "Wonky Dog" cartoon character.

Funnily enough Annn Peebles is one of the live performers who's touched me the most. Her rendition of Billy Always' Didn't We Do It on the Waylo review in the late 80s still remains one of the most moving and thrilling vocal performances I've ever witnessed (perhaps because of the vulnerability you hint at Tony), and is a real contender for my greatest ever musical experience. She is a legend in our house.

The Willie Tee "I'm Only A Man" album on Capitol is an object of great beauty. I'm currently interested in soul albums from the late 60s early 70s which reference the moon landings in their design and artwork. A favourite at the moment is The Dynamics "First Landing" lp on Cotillion. An alltime classic which strongly evokes all that is contained within the great sleeve is the Darrell Banks Is Here! album on Atco: it just looks dynamic and exciting. Similarly evocative, but in a completely different way, is Terry Calier's monumental "What Colour Is Love" on Cadet.

I think few people outside the world of rare soul would seriously consider Sam Fletcher as a defining example of early soul: it's from about 1964 and far too idiosyncratic in its approach to be considered alongside such definitive gems as The Falcons or The Impressions as mentioned above. A great record, but isn't it just very dramatic and very well-sung pop music by an artist who just happened to be black? Has anyone got a soundfile of The Falcons "Long Lonely Nights" on Lupine (the reverse of "Has It Happened To You Yet") To me this record is a milestone: a group ballad which has roots in doo-wop but is unashamedly and dynamically a SOUL record, and a breathtaking example of one at that.

Stop The World... is by The Whispering Shadow.

I suppose we'll never be able to pin this down to a specific record, but James Brown & The Famous Flames first ever audition for King Records had King A&R director Gene Redd scratching his head wondering what this strange form of R&B the Flames were playing was all about (initially he was reported as saying "that's not even music"). The song was Please Please Please and the year was 1956. Little Willie John's Need Your Love So Bad (1955 or 56?) was a similarly incendiary case of a blues ballad being sung with 100% gospel sincerity. A personal favourite of mine in the early soul stakes is Bertha Tillman's "Oh My Angel" on Brent.