Garethx

Cheers Sebastian. Very interesting.

Covering up has always been a marketing tool, whether for djs or the records themselves. It works.

Jades on Mode: no mention of any common names with the Nite Life 45s.

Interesting Sebastian. That would suggest these Jades are or are related to the groups who had releases on Californian labels.

We have no conclusive evidence but I've always put two and two together (possibly making five) that Willie Wade was in The Jades. To me he sounds black on his Nite Life 45. Others have disagreed with me, but there's no doubt his vocal on "When Push Comes To Shove" is strongly influenced by singers like Little Anthony and Timothy Wilson: a feather-light but still clearly gospel-influenced falsetto.

There is an American original of the second track Barry, by the great Merry Clayton no less. One of the great beat ballads in my humble opinion.

The original pressing exits on black Chess, blue Chess and orange/yellow Chess. Obvious reissue is the blue/white variant below:

Interesting info Pete. Agreed it's a tough one to track down. Following on from my Gasoline Powered Clock comment, what about another record I assume was also a Gary Rushbrooke spin: The Other Ones on Knoll. Vocally and lyrically about as far away as you can get from street level ghetto soul, yet a minor Northern classic. Slim connection to soul music is that it was written by Joey Levine, who wrote and recorded (as Joey Edwards) the original version of "How Big Is Big".

I don't know why "Locke" wasn't bigger than it ever was. It's a hundred times better than "Cochise" for example and it was a genuine TV show theme rather than a hypothetical or made up one. While it's not a soul record it does have black music at its heart (the bass playing, the piano etc. all have their roots in soul-jazz) and would have been played by seasoned jazz session musicians. That's the point of a lot of these instrumental things: they are broadly based on black music and are at least soul-influenced. An instrumental I've always really liked which probably has no links whatsoever to black music is "Forest Fire On Main Street" by Gasoline Powered Clock, which is pretty much a straight ahead Surf meets Texas Garage 45. The bloke behind the record, Norm Miller, had a later album on White Whale which features brilliant songwriting and arrangements.

Locke's Theme rules.

The classic first dance record is The Intruders United:

I'm sure JoAnn Garrett would be surprised to learn that she's a 'non-soul' artist. Her voice may be a bit sweet for some but she was among the finest gospel sopranos of her age. 45s like "One Woman" on Duo are certainly soul to treasure. "Whole New Plan" is a soul record in every concrete sense of the term. I know it doesn't necessarily follow that each record by a black artist is a soul record, but it happens to be true in that case. There should also be a distinction with records by white artists when the intention was to make record for a 'soul' audience. There is often a gulf in meaning between a pop record with the right beat on one hand and blue eyed soul on the other. Bobby Paris' Capitol 45 was a genuine attempt at blue eyed soul, as was Frankie & Johnnie, and whether you love or loathe either record you'd have to say they both did what they set out to do.

Johnny Griffith's version is pretty unrecogniseable from the MJ one, and seems to be based on Betty Bibbs' version of the song.

There is his last record on Austen's, recorded without the involvement of Don Mancha and co. A very different kind of record, maybe closer to folk than to soul, so perhaps he just never saw himself as a straight ahead R&B singer. I like the Austen's 45 a lot even though I can see why others are lukewarm on it but it's a shame he never recorded any more material. His voice was magnificent.

Should have Den. This album was reissued on a number of occasions in both the US and Europe. First in the wake of Richie Havens' appearance at Woodstock, so late '69, early '70; and then in '74. The 1970 reissue has a line of blurb about Woodstock and a slightly different cover layout. The seventies reissue has completely different artwork. All of them feature "I Can't Make It Anymore". Note the 45 is on Verve Folkways. The album is on Verve Forecast, the label's name having been changed between the issue of the single and the album.

There was a 1966 UK issue of Mixed Bag on Verve. One here on musicstack https://www.musicstack.com/item/196411224

The Ripple Blast Singers used a number of vocalists to produce covers of contemporary pop hits on budget labels, to be sold at stores like Woolworths, much like the Top of the Pops albums over here. This particular vocalist may appear on one or more of their albums, but then again might not.

Yup.

Certainly on German Polydor. Not sure that I've ever seen a UK copy of "Mixed Bag". As mentioned above Havens' release predates Spyder Turner's (August 1966 as opposed to March 1967).

I'm with Sebastian on this. Surely the Ripple Blast Singers vocalist on this is a male. One with a naggingly familiar voice too.

But has any of it really changed specifically in the last fifteen years or so? I guess there is now a smattering of slightly funkier records being played again (resurrecting some of the flavour of Cleethorpes circa 1976) but what's really materially different from fifteen or twenty years ago? If you'd made the point that it's very different from thirty five years ago I could accept that, but really the scene moves at glacial speed these days and has done since the early 90s. I'm a forty something and accept that I grew up with the 'no pop stompers' thing being drummed into me, but really there has never been a phase of the scene where these types of record did not play at least some part. Witness the success of Johnny Praye and The Tiaras in the last decade.

The Al Mason version suffers from a backing that sounds like it cost under a hundred dollars (including booking studio time) to record. Corey Blake every time on this. The John Edwards version fails to evoke any of the desolation which the lyrics suggest, which Corey Blake absolutely nails. I'm a certified John Edwards fan but he's simply going through the motions on this one. Of course John Edwards going through the motions is still better than practically 90% of other male vocalists

The Kent Select version blows all the others out of the water. With the extra verse which the original 45 omits and a very powerful mix. You can really appreciate the string arrangement.

Apparently he's really David Nuñez. Freddie Chavez is the writer though.

One of the jewels in the crown of early Detroit soul. Wish I could afford one.