Garethx

Strange to think of you in South Wales, Mike. Have you found the only pub in Newport without bouncers yet?

Donald Lee Richardson: "Bring Your Sweet Love To Me" / "The Midnight Ride Of Paul Revere" was supposed to have appeared on Shagg before Soulsville. Has anyone got one or ever seen one? Two brilliant sides of New Orleans soul magic.

Speaking of Flynny, I remember him playing Soul Incorporated "My Proposal" at Chris and Etsu Harvey's wedding. Seeing bride and groom flying around the dancefloor in matching bowling shirts was strange, but oddly very moving. It was at that moment I realised what a great record this actually is. Forget the hype and the daft price tag. It was just made for that moment...

A long shot, but: Anyone out there got a copy of Roy Roberts "I Know What To Do To Satisfy You" on Tina for sale or trade? Please PM me if you can help. Thanks in advance, Gareth.

I honestly don't think all the Shrine records are poor. The Prophets "If I Had One Gold Piece", Ray Pollard "No More Like Me", Shirley Edwards "Dream My Heart", Sidney Hall "I'm A Lover" are all much more than competent soul 45s by, in some cases, exceptional singers. Anti-Shrine comment is understandable given the sometimes excessive prices for many of the releases. But to tar the entire catalogue as "shite" is no more than a knee-jerk reaction.

Think this group is completely unrelated to the George Brown lot form Houston. This is from Virginia. I've only heard this record a couple of times, and was very impressed by it. Is it just my ears, or does it bear more than a passing resemblance to "Raining Teardrops" by The Rockmasters on Romulus, another Virginian group?

Leo Lew Stanley is auctioning one at the moment. Think it will be a four figure job...

Yes. I spotted him as well. Strangely enough, I also know "Number One" in the same line-up: Dave Shaw from Leeds.

Never understood the raving about this one. To my ears it just sounds really pedestrian when compared to Jesse James. The Mighty Pope can't sing. For toffee.

Wow! fantastic stuff. Cheers Dan.

This is desperately sad news. Jimmy Lewis was a soul music legend to me, a total one-off in a music scene where people seem happy to make generic music.

Don't think Scotty Williams and TJ Williams are the same artist...

"Barefoot Gentleman" The Association "Surf's Up" The Beach Boys "These Days" Nico "It'll Never Happen Again" Tim Hardin "One Way Or The Other" The Fifth Avenue Band

Frank Dell, Big Frank Murphy, Big Frank & The Essence are all the same guy. Really underrated soul singer. All his records are pretty good at least.

The identity of the guy who did the surreptitious recording seems to be common knowledge. But who's playing the stolen tunes at do's (sorry, haven't been out for a while)? The people who are doing this need to be named and shamed. They obviously have no moral or ethical dimension to their so-called deejaying or they surely wouldn't part with the cash or spin the 'records' in question at paying functions.

Ruby Stackhouse is Ruby Andrews.

Link below... https://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...&sort=3&rows=50

I think it's fair to say this is one of those records where the British copy seems far more plentiful than the US issue. £15 seems reasonable for a demo. A truly epic record, though. Perhaps GJs finest moment on vinyl as a vocalist.

A lot of Jimmy Lewis records really make me chuckle. His spoken asides are usually hilarious. Just his whole philosophy and the spontaneity and sincerity of his records always make them a joy to listen to. I find that many of the classic 1970s Bobby Womack sides share this feeling too, "Facts Of Life", "Close To You", "Doing It My Way" etc. All masterpieces of direct and very human communication: the essence of Soul really. Bobby Patterson's "I'm In Love With You" always makes me smile, even though if you actually listen to the lyrics it's really rather downbeat: "I know you belong to someone else, but I just can't help myself..." Eddie Floyd's "Bring It On Home To Me" is an amazing feel-good soul record too.

Think that the willingness of the northern scene to embrace "latin soul" was one of its saving factors in the early 1980s. The popularity of Bobby Valentin, Ray Barretto, Joe Bataan, David Coleman etc. bought quite a few young mods on board at the time. A lot of the Big City type sounds popular at the time utilised Latin percussion, so it was refreshing to hear the earthier sounds of genuine Latin Soul records. Also, tunes like Ray Barretto's "El Watusi" had always been popular over here since their release in the mid-1960s on one scene or another. I've always loved "Spanish Maiden" by Tony Middleton, but can't really recall hearing anything else quite like it. Does anyone else know of any other records which approximate the collision of something quite so Latin with anything quite so Soulful?

Think it was £80 in 1973?

It's intriguing that far fewer people are willing to share their tales of paying over the odds for records than share their triumphs in the "What Was Your Best Bargain..." thread. At the 100 Club in the early 1980s I was looking through record boxes and a real dilemma presented itself: The Yum Yums "Gonna Be A Big Thing" for £25. Should I buy it, not be able to buy a drink all night and walk home to the wilds of North London in a virtual hurricane? Or buy Curtis Hairston's "I Want You All Tonight" on a Pretty Pearl WDJ 45 for £8 and spend the rest on ale? No contest! That Curtis Hairston must be worth all of 50p these days... One that fits into this from The Golden Days is Eula Cooper "Let Our Love Grow Higher" on Super Sound. The first copy went for a huge sum, then followed by the proverbial boxload, and the inevitable pressings. I wonder how the current price equates to the original sum, taking inflation into account?

Has anyone got a copy of the above for sale. Ideally in good nick (I've already got one with WOL).

Re: Soul Bros. Inc. "Teardops" on Salem It's been comp'd in the states, apparently, if this is the same record: https://www.dcdrecords.com/arcania_virginia_soul.htm Interesting to note this CD features a few fairly well-known northern records "Front Page Love", "Since You've Been Gone" etc., other tunes by artists who recorded pretty well-known northern records (Sebastian Williams, Lenis Guess, Barbara Stant), and both sides of the now notorious Dream Team. Weird. Anyone got this CD?

I'm going to champion a couple that I've been hammering at George Jackson Lives in London: King Floyd "I'm For Real" from the Chimneyville lp "Well Done". A brilliant midtempo 1970s tune, with lashings of soul, breaks, strings, horns etc. The Masqueraders "How Big Is Big" on Bell. Amazing left-field, building Soul record; which could be the next "Pyramid". I love it. The other side, "Please Take Me Back" is probably the greatest group deep soul record I think I've ever heard. To me it's their finest moment on vinyl, so a great value 45. Grab it while it's cheap.