Garethx

Fair play to John. He's very good at his job. If I were selling any big-ticket record at the moment, he would be my first port of call. He manages to drum up levels of interest in his auctions that few people can match.

A recent ebay sale of the Ampex 45 yielded about $150 dollars, but there were quite a few bidders...

I think people have tried to play this record at various times. I'm not wholly convinced it works 100% on the rare soul scene. JL is a master vocalist, but his phrasing is a bit of an acquired taste and his singing generally works best where there is more improvisation than actual lyrical content. To me the closest thing he made to a great record that could be played as 'rare soul' is the brilliant "Would You Believe In Me" on RCA (from the "Rashida" lp, but also on promo 45). His 60s 45 on Columbia "What A Difference Love Makes" has had spins on and off for twenty plus years, but for my ears that's always been on the wrong side of black pop. Maybe his greatest record for the dancefloor is "Listen Love" from "Mind's Eye", but it would have to be a broad-minded soul club that accepted it. On the jazz and funk scenes it's a stone classic.

I suspect this hasn't been talked about much in soul circles because it has precisely nothing to do with soul music. File next to Jim Reeves. Please.

This is one 45 that sure hasn't kept up with inflation. I got mine from Ian Clark in about 1985 for £25.00. It was a straight choice between Bill Wright and a Corey Blake on Capitol for the same sum. I reasoned that a major label 45 would be far easier to buy in the future. How wrong can you be? Still love all Bill Wright 45s, though. In fact, I've started playing another of his Midtown singles, "You Can't Let The Right Hand Know..." again: it sounds pretty good now.

All the records you mention are 100% classic northern soul records, with the crucial ingredient: Soul. I haven't heard the Verve 45s in a club environment for years, but both would sound great now. as Christian says, the International GTOs has recently been flirted with because it's always been a reasonably big collectors' record. There are literally tens of thousands of classic oldies (which haven't necessarily been over-exposed in the past) that could be played, but aren't; mainly because a lot of dejays have little knowlege and even less taste. Seems like it takes a re-activation from Butch to make an oldie "massive" (ie on everyone's wants list) again these days: look at the monetary values of records like Johnny Howard, Carol & Gerri, Roy Robert on Tina, Billy Hambric on Drum and so on, in the last couple of years. The fact is that in looking for different types of sound to play in the post-Stafford era, the thinking about what constitutes a great Northern Soul record has been lost somewhere. Hence we get treated to interminable sets of Trotover, Tumbleweed, Popcorn etc. from deejays who have probably never heard The Ambers' clarion call to the dancefloor. Brilliant and relatively cheap records are staring people in the face on many sales lists on virtually a daily basis in the current climate. My advice to collectors would be to take a chance on something that isn't on what increasingly seems to be a "National Wants List" and give us all a break from the non-soul crap like Bruce Cloud and Kenny Lonas. Bessie Banks would be a good place to start.

Surely these days the big labels are Next, George@Asda and Burton...

What would you say was a realistic price these days, Ted? Not a record you see for sale much, and a good 'un.

The market for the top deep soul rarities seems to have effectively collapsed. Recent ebay prices for records like Jimmy Armstrong on Brothers Three (about $200 rather than four times this figure in the recent past) would seem to suggest this. Are you selling a copy, Chris? If so, I'd say condition is crucial to the price you could expect to get. A mint copy could fetch near the four-five hundred quid mark. If it's significantly less than mint I think it could be tough to shift at any price. The bootleg was aimed at Jamaican collectors of slow soul records in NYC and Toronto, by the way. Whatever the price, this record is cheap because it's simply awesome.

It looks like a genuine one: that's not to say it is, mind.

It's from a compliation CD on EMI America from the late 80s. I've got it at home and will dig it out to confirm the full title. I would guess it's been long deleted and would be pretty hard to turn up now. The take of "Long After..." is not great to be honest: pretty much every version pales compared to Jimmy Radcliffe's reading of the song. There is however another completely brilliant unissued recording on the compilation called "Think Again" which is so good I was going to mention it in the "best previously unissued track" thread: it's as good as anything she ever did have released; right up there with "Starting To Get To Me" and "Gonna Cry Until My Tears Run Dry" etc.

Simon T has kindly sent a copy of the track. Thanks, Simon.

As an addition to the above, we're in the process of putting together the music for Lynn's funeral service. Does anyone out there have a decent quality MP3 of Betty Wilson "I'm Yours" on Dayco? Any help would be greatly appreciated: it was one of Lynn's Desert Island Discs. Please PM me for my email address if you can help in any way. gareth.

There's one on Parkers RC site for $8.00 on King. Here's the link: https://www.parkersrc.com Search for Boyd, Sylvester. It was there on Wednesday, and it's still there now. I can't say fairer than that.

Can be bought for about $8.00 on King.

What an immense record "Precious Memories" is. Absolutely brilliant soul.

Colin Dilnot probably has. I don't know if Colin's on here, but he probably knows more about the Stax story than the people who were there at the time!

Hi anyone out there got a copy of Wand 11208 - George Tindley: Honky Tonk Women / So Help Me Woman for sale? Thanks in advance for any leads. gareth

Some of you may be unaware that there's a much cheaper way of getting this than the rare Middle Earth 45. It was included on the soundtrack album of the unreleased blaxploitation flick "Hit 'Em Hard". A great record, total class.

I love seventies soul, and consider it to be the golden decade, the artistic pinnacle of soul music. I just think this 45 is distinctly average. I realise I'm in the minority, but stand by what I said. My main point is that lots of people who wouldn't normally touch a quality 70s dancer are chasing this 45 simply because it's a big cover-up. Had it been spun uncovered, and everybody had access to the label and artist information, very few of those people would have been bothered to shell out fortunes for it.

I really like the Lou Pride 45 on Albatross.

A slightly unfair poll, to be honest. Be in no doubt that J.J. Barnes is a soul singer of the very highest order (aside from the Ric-Tic material check out stuff like "Lonely No More" on Mickay's and "Got To Get Rid Of You" on Volt). But, for me, Marvin Gaye should stand as one of the icons of 20th century culture alongside Elvis and Frank Sinatra. His talent as a visionary musician places him right up there.

These are made all the dafter by the fact that the 'female' Al Williams still sings "Look at me, a king on a throne..." Stuff like this makes my blood boil. Fine for messing about with at home, but when they go into the public domain, that's a different matter. Representing the tracks as something they're not, and trying to make money off the back of such subterfuge is very questionable. It just makes the 'rare soul scene' look like twats in the eyes of the collecting world.

I've always wondered if this is the same Cal Green who recorded on Mutt & Jeff? He was primarily a jazz guitarist, specialising in covers of soul hits, not unlike the David T Walker records of the time. If there were two Cal Greens they were both making records in LA at the same time. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Aretha has scaled heights of artistry that most mortals can only dream of. Yes, she's made some poor records, from the start of her secular career, right up to her latest album. But when she's good she's amazing. To me she is cruelly underrated by the Northern scene. I dunno why, when you consider tracks of hers' that have been played, from "I Can't Wait..." to "I Needed You" to "Integrity" and a few others in between. The Darryl Nullisch record is ok. Andy Mann played it to me a couple of years ago. He's a white blues musician, if I remember rightly. He's not better than Aretha, and never, ever will be. Get things in perspective! Organ on records: what about Bobby Reed: surely it is the organ hook that makes "The Time Is Right For Love" so special. Also, what about Booker T? Titanic records like "Melting Pot" (my favourite) and "The Best Of You". A great oddball Northern 45 dominated by Hammond organ is "Jimmy's Place" by Jimmy Thompson: I never tire of playing that one, it's a wonderful piece of 'feel-good' music.