Garethx

Don't think the vocals on "Let Our Love Grow Higher" are horrendous in any sense: naive and gauche maybe, but married to that tune and that rhythm track: perfect; hurried, impassioned, in the moment. For me this is one of the records that define our scene. Eula's other records are okay, but surely no more than that. With the Super Sound 45, however, she genuinely touched immortality.

I find a lot of the southern white soul, and the whole idea of Blue Eyed Soul fascinating. Records by Ben Atkins, George Soul, Dan Penn, Eddie Hinton, Troy Seals, Johnny Daye and so on are very interesting from a sociological point of view. In all cases these singers made records which could be broadly termed blue-eyed soul, but are quite different to that strict definition. Their 45s were conceived wholly as soul records, hoping to appeal to exactly the same record buyers who were digging records recorded at the same studios by the likes of James Carr, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave etc. As far as I understand it "Blue Eyed Soul" refers to pop records with a pronounced soul flavour or influence in both the singing and the musical setting which is distinct from an attempt to make 'real' soul like the artists mentioned above. Prime examples of this are acts like Dean Parrish, The Magnificent Men on Capitol, The Jaggerz on Gamble, and The Righteous Brothers, who came to define the genre. All of these acts definitely crossed over to African-American record buyers and the black club and concert scenes for a time in their career, but all moved on (or tried to move on) after one or two years of R&B scene acceptance, and tried to make more mainstream 'pop' records. It's important to remember that 'soul' as a concept went some way beyond music in the mid-to-late 60s in America: it was a fashion, a feeling and a way of life for black and white metropolitan youth alike for a brief time. This has a modern parrallel in the way hip hop has been absorbed and assimilated into mainstream culture. But while hip hop has taken root in that culture, soul was kind of replaced and supplanted by other fashions like psychedelia throughout much of 'white' America. Think how hideously dated The Righteous Brothers must have sounded in 1967. The Beach scene in the US was and is a fascinating case of the blurring of racial barriers. Most of the artists who created the orginal beach sounds were black, The Coasters, Showmen, Willie Tee and so on all making classic beach sounds which were picked up on by all-white audiences across the South East of the US. The beach fans themselves formed their own bands (Embers, Tyn Tynes, Oxford Nights, Tempests et al, sometimes with African-American vocalists, although this was by no means the norm) which took on all the characteristics of these records and aimed them straight back at the white teenagers who had been raised on the staple diet of black R&B. More problematic to define are one-off single artists who made records which have been picked up by the rare soul scenes of Europe over the years. Lynne Randell, Joanie Sommers, Cajun Hart, Fifth Avenue Band and a cast of thousands of others would probably be amazed that their records are thought of as any kind of 'soul.'

On the "rarest modern soul thread" Christian B is offering a copy of "I'd Like To Get Near You" for trades...

No offence taken, Billy.

Out of Sights should be up around the four-figure mark now. Think Joe Dunlop's auctioning one at the moment...

I haven't got a $200 reserve on Joe Johnson, that would be daft: certain dealers wouldn't accept this in trade for even $100, even thought they've got it for (non) sale @ £300! I agree that "Do Unto Others" is poor, but the other side is respectable enough deep soul. Got this at Gary Dennis's for peanuts a few years ago.

I know Pete objected to people putting up links to ebay, but thought some of these might be of interest... A motley collection, but some good'uns. Link is: https://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmalacogaryQQhtZ-1 Thanks for your time. garethx

Another I must give special mention to is the other side of Elvin Spencer's "Lift This Hurt" on Winner: "Don't Make This Dream Come True," a truly essential deep side that's often overlooked as most people seemingly prefer the Twinight version of of "Lift..."

Great call on Rhonda Davis. "Long Walk" really is a killer.

Some great deep soul on 45s usually listed for the 'other' side... George Jackson "Things Are Getting Better" (Chess) Curtis Johnson "I've Got To Get Away From You" (Whurley Burley) Carl Hall "Who's Gonna Love Me (When You're Gone)" (Columbia) Nelson Sanders "I'm Lonely" (Rambler) Arthur Freeman "I Want To Come Home" (Jumbo) Kenny Hamber "These Arms Of Mine" (Arctic) Junior McCants "Help My Love" (King) Spencer Wiggins "I Can't be Satisfied" (MGM Sounds of Memphis) James Phelps "You Were Made For Love" (Apache) Johnny Dynamite "Everybody's Clown" (Minaret) Claude Baby Huey "Why Did Our Love Go" (Galaxy) The New Yorkers "You Should Have Told Me" (Radio City/Tac-Ful) Jesse James "I Never Meant To Love Her" (20th Century) The Sinceres "Don't Waste My Time" (Pzazz) Marva Whitney "This Is My Quest" (T-Neck) Chuck Henley "Standing In The Need Of Love" (Coach) Sam Williams "Let's Talk It Over" (Tower) In reality, there are probably thousands more. Shame that northern demand means many of the above are often expensive, but you can't really say to dealers "Can I have it for half price, I only want the slow side..."

Sad news. Anyone who's ever collected obscure seventies soul will appreciate what a colossal influence Tyrone Davis had on an entire generation of singers in the states. When he was good he was absolutely brilliant.

You won't get more soul packed into a northern record than Lorraine Rudolph "Keep Coming Back For More" on Jet Stream. What would this be worth if it were in any way scarce? Agree with those who've nominated both Big Maybelle "Oh Lord..." and Eddie Parker's "I'm Gone". A current favourite of mine in the northern soul stakes is Benny Harper's "My Prayer" on Harper Soul: a staggeringly soulful side, where the sheer force and guts of the vocal and the track itself combine to take the breath away.

Lynn Vernado. That's it, O. Cheers!

Read somewhere the other day that one of Snoop Dogg's aunts was a well known soul singer. Can anyone enlighten me as to her identity?

Caerphilly... hmmm.

Agree with the original proposition that "Across 110th Street" is the king of all Blaxploitation songs, but the score from the original Shaft will always take some beating as a coherent movie soundtrack: things from it like "Cafe Reggio" still sound amazing. I've raved here before about the Al Green/Booker T & the MGs version of "A Change Is Gonna Come" from the Will Smith/Michael Mann film "Ali": an incredible live version where AG wrings every last drop of emotion from one of soul's greatest songs; a moment of musical history far, far better than the film in which it was used.

The Paul Newman motor racing flick "Winning" was on ITV last week. Theme tune by Dave Gruisin is, of course, the original version of "California Montage."

Curtis Mayfield: "Short Eyes."

In certain circles (I am reliably informed) these facial accoutrements referred to as "bugger grips."

I read about this in the Daily Mirror this morning and nearly spat my Cornflakes out.

You can still buy records for under £200?

Yes, Richard, the a-side moves towards funk, shakes it's hand, and plants a big wet kiss on Funk's lips. The other side is phenomenal Floyd Smith-inspired doom-laden deep soul: like early Loleatta Holloway or Floyd's own "Getting Nowhere Fast" on Dakar. For me the very best Marva Whitney record.

Hi Jock. Don't think there's any connection to Eugene Blacknell: I think that's from California. The Eugene Gaspard shouldn't be that hard to pick up: Anglo-American used to have loads of them about eight years ago, and used to feature it (heavily) on their sales tapes @ £10 or so; they may still have some. Give it a go: I think it's an awesome record. Talk of labels like West End reminds me of a couple of great records on the logo from the early 80s: Sybil Thomas "Rescue Me" and Julius Brown "Never Too Late." Dug both out recently and have to say they didn't suffer from sounding dated at all. If anything, they both sound as fresh as paint. To me, the 1980s are a much-maligned decade in soul terms. There were still some great records being made by some fantastic singers, like the two mentioned above. I've kept stacks of independents from Soul Bowl, and a proportion still stand up fairly well. A few are, I'm sure, guaranteed future rarities (not that it matters). It only seems like yesterday that The O'Jays "Put Our Heads Together" was the biggest sound in the country. Played that immense record again recently and was stunned by the realisation that it was twenty-two years old!

The Marva Whitney is a top 45. And cheap at the moment, too.

Speaking of Laurence & Jaibi, I've been amazed that their released 45 on RCA, "You're Not Mine" / "Walk Away!" has been sighted on ebay for three figure sums on each of its' last few appearances. Is this in-demand on one scene or another? A good record, but not in the same ballpark as their solo 45s or indeed, the track Ady mentions above. A record I've been playing lots again recently is Eugene Gaspard's "Holding On" on Rosemount from New Orleans. An early 70s mover unlike any other. A record so intense and powerful that I can honestly say it summons visions of an updated (and far more soulful) Cecil Washington. The reverse, "On and On" is a more than reasonable ballad too, so all in all, an ace double sider.