Garethx

Essentially a tailor-made I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always been led to believe that this was specifically recorded and released to try and capture sales once the Curtis Anderson version proved difficult to buy in the late 80s. An OK record but lacking any of the magic of the CA version. Anyone paying over $100 would need their head examining.

Chris It's the same 45. Released with both variants of the title. I've no idea which was first or if indeed there was any timelapse between the respective label variations. For what it's worth in an interview with Billy Ball on the Funky 16 Corners website he categorically states that the Tighten Up rhythm was invented by his band, was a staple of their live shows and that his was the first recording of it. The TSU Toronadoes/Archie Bell version on Ovide then Atlantic was obviously the hit (and in my opinion the definitive version) but Ball says that he was most put out to have to put the Bell/Buttlier writing credit on the label of his 45, released only in the wake of Archie Bell and The Drells success. My copy is simply entitled "Tighten Up". I don't have a copy of the "Tighten Up Tighter" variation but wonder if it's possible that has a different writer credit, i.e. including Billy Ball.

When was it ever exclusively a 'sixties soul scene'? Fifties R&B played something of a part at the trailblazing venues of the 60s. The Wheel djs would have played soul and R&B records because of the sound in the grooves, not the date on the label. The Torch, Cats and other influential venues were playing things like The Fuller Brothers as practically new releases in the early 70s. The window of '60s only' soul was a very short one, and didn't exist in all probability out of preference, just happenstance.

I think it was me who had a gripe about the 'crap record' thread. I stand by what I said then. It's very easy to produce a list of shockingly bad records played in the name of Northern Soul. This thread is a bit different as it seeks to de-bunk the 'sacred cows' of the soul world: a different and potentially worthwhile endeavour. In answer to the question I'll go with any version of "What Does It Take" from the ho-hum Junior Walker to the execrable, unforgiveable Bay Brothers take and all versions in-between (The Electrifying Cashmeres has a scorching vocal which makes it more than listenable, but this one-chord doggerel is a sorry excuse for a song). keep 'em peeled the soul cop.

Or Chuck Berry for that matter.

More than John Lennon and Paul McCartney?

You had to be there. At the time this was first played as the Mel Britt cover-up by Dave Thorley it had a mystique about it that only a few records possess. In the first few years after Wigan it was the first record to really grab the imagination of the entire scene since the likes of Cecil Washington in the latter days of the Casino. Pyramid was a very unusual-sounding record into the bargain. It still sounds fairly idiosyncratic I suppose, but really it was a classic case of the collision of time and place. It's fair to say that it still has the appeal of having a 'once heard never forgotten' identity. If Stafford had a manifesto it was that Northern didn't die with the closure of Wigan; that there were still great records to be found, bought, sold, traded, covered-up, played in dance halls, danced to and mythologised. This 45, alongside Sam Dees on SSS, Johnny Gilliam on Cancer and a few others were in the vanguard: proof positive that a vibrant and dynamic, determinedly underground scene still existed. More than merely still existing, it was a scene that was forward-thinking and one where different types of soul record could be accepted and indeed championed. For what it's worth I still love it. It has a magic for me that can instantly summon evocative memories of youth and good times.

Agree with pretty much all of Sean's choices; all exceptional soul records (in fact I dug out the Irma Thomas to listen to today when reflecting on this topic; an exquisite and grown-up recording full of quiet dread rather than overblown wailing.) Pretty much anything Otis Clay ever recorded has just that bit more emotional resonance than practically any secular singer who's had a relatively long career. For me he is the master of getting inside a lyric and wringing every last nuance of meaning from it without resorting to vocal pyrotechnics and histrionics. His "That's How It Is" was one of the first real soul records I ever bought and it's still a side which pretty much all others have to measure up to. I could pick out any one of his slower records on One-Derful really, but special mention at the moment must go to "Must I Keep On Waiting" which seems less exposed than many of his other releases. The use of melisma at the end is a textbook example of bringing classic gospel styling to a secular record. O.V. Wright could do this effortlessly as well and the comments about Otis Clay could apply fully to him as well. Candi Staton and Bettye Swann could truly emote at will and have both made a host of wonderfully emotive sides. Denise LaSalle is often overlooked in these discussions and I can think of a trio of mid-70s Westbound things by her which pack as hard an emotional a punch as any one could mention: "Trying To Forget About You", Married, But Not To Each Other" and "I'm Over You" all really have the power to bring a lump to my throat most times I play them, particularly the knee-freezing final minute of the LP version of "Trying..." A couple of things which wouldn't be immediately obvious in this topic but which really move me at the moment are Bessie Banks's "Aint No Easy Way" on Volt, the often-overlooked reverse of "Try To Leave Me If You Can": a very subtle and rounded soul record which hints at a whole world of emotional experience behind it. The other record is Lee Fields tremendous "Mighty, Mighty Love" on Angle 3. The 'other' use of the "Take Me Back" / "Tyra's Song" backing track and for me the real winner of the trio: a simple, direct and magnificently uplifting piece of writing which Lee really takes to the limit vocally.

Curtis Mayfield. Don Covay. Hayes/Porter. Penn/Oldham.

So many classics: maybe too many to list exhaustively. I'll nail my colours to the mast and re-iterate a point I've made ad-nauseum on here that The O'Jays "I Love Music" is simply one of the greatest and most influential pieces of commercial black music ever made. Last year I was fortunate enough to acquire Tom Moulton's remix from 1979 and can't recommend it highly enough. Mention elsewhere of the Anthony White album prompted me to dig out my copy and play the organ-drenched slowie "Love Grows Strong". It made me think that he didn't record enough out-and-out ballads in his career as on this he gives Teddy P, Eddie Levert (or Marvin Junior for that matter) a run for their money. The quasi-gospel breakdown and ad-libbing on the fadeout are truly beautiful.

Rose Brooks of "I'm Moaning" fame.

Andy keep in mind that there are two distinct issues of Second Resurrection. The "Stanson Record Company" variant seems to be far, far rarer than the "Stanson" one, which was sold in small quantities by a few British dealers as a relatively new release. It will be interesting to see if the rarer one (presumably the original, local press of the 45) is prised from Californian homes and collections by high figures achieved in ebay sales.

Kitch's 'Sounds For Today' tape of the early 90s was certainly "all killer, no filler". Binsy did me a marvellous collection of largely Japanese-only soul in the 80s.

Sean & Dave: I respect both of you enormously as men of great taste but we'll just have to disagree on this one, I'm afraid. Nice to have it on Canadian, though, as the styrene on the Tower copies is pretty low grade. As to whether it exists on a Tower issue I have a pretty strong recollection of Pat Brady offering one for sale some years ago. Must be pretty rare.

Indeed Dylan. Much like the Soul Brothers Six on Lyndell I'd only really want the other Jimmie Braswell on Gene for completist purposes and refuse to break the bank for either: that's probably why they always elude me. I very much think that the market for records like these is fairly small, and once a few key players have sorted themselves out with copies there are then bargains to be had. The one deep rarity that never seems to turn up on ebay or anywhere else for that matter is Eugene Evans "Too Much Pain" on Hollywood. I'd love to be proved wrong but I think it's one of the very rarest of all soul records on a known label.

My feeling about all the versions is that it's such a wonderful song that it's very difficult to actually ruin it; much like "Open The Door To Your Heart" in that respect. But like the Darrell Banks classic I think it's actually impossible to top the Barbara Lewis original, which was a very influential record in its day (think of all the seemingly countless imitations from the likes of Dee Dee Sharp, the Sapphires, Mary Wells and others). I never tire of the Barbara Lewis 45 and consider that it hasn't dated in the slightest since the day it was released. Surely the sign of a truly classic recording.

Mulf: Jimmie Braswell on Gene is the same record. The King release is dubbed from it and given a James Brown credit, despite him having very little to do with it I suspect. The Gene copy is still very rare. Dylan: I've listened to "Something Wonderful" again and can see where you're coming from. Must get a Don Varner one of these days.

Great reminders of a very vibrant time. Many thanks. What it is to be young, eh?

White DJ surely the way to go on Bobby Byrd?

Can't do soundfiles but just played it again and think it has zero potential as a Northern record. Uptempo but not great: a bit like a watered-down version of "Tear Stained Face" without the breaks, menace and attack which made that record a classic. "Rainbow Road" on the other hand is still one of the most essential of all deep records and the greatest of all Quin Ivy productions. A true masterpiece. On a related note a lot of the classic deep rarities have been de-rarified by ebay over the years. Thomas Bailey on Federal, Jimmy Braswell on King and a host of others all seem to appear regularly now whereas a decade ago they were rarely offered for sale: prices are still relatively high but I would guess they don't necessarily need to be.

I'd say The Oxford Nights was a textbook example Dave.

edit.

Guitar Ray on Shagg was never a rarity in the first place: quantity at Soul Bowl > into collections worldwide > drawn out by ebay perhaps.

Fits in nicely to the fabled 'Weimar' genre.

Dwight Franklin?