Garethx

An interesting topic. I'd stick my neck out by saying that, to my jaded palate, most live performances are inherently disappointing. I tend to stay clear of most live performances by any artist in any genre these days. At its very best live performance is probably the true medium of soul music, but the collision of time and place which can ignite this spark can be extremely fleeting and elusive. I concur with Binsy and Karen about the Sam Dees fiasco in Camden Town. That was probably the most bitterly disappointing as like a lot of people I had bought friends along who were unfamiliar with his material but not his reputation. It resulted in having a lot of explaining to do! Terry Callier in a patently wrong setting (the Union Chapel in Islington without his usual full touring band) is also a painful memory i'd desperately like to erase.

I think it's Pantone 5477 myself. If you break that colour down as RGB it comes out as Red=33, Green=83, Blue=82. On the RGB spectrum these values range from 0 to 255. A value of R=0, G=0, B=0 is equivalent to black, and R=255, G=255, B=255 is white. It is therefore more "green" than "blue", but it's extremely close.

You shouldn't have too much trouble shifting this in a perfect world Mark. I'd say the issue is twenty times rarer than the single sided DJ copy and the b-side is Carl's best ever performance: a simply phenomenal soul record from the classic era. Good luck.

Definitely all black guys, some of whom appeared on many good soul records: Freddie Waters' soul career is pretty well documented and he had several pretty big R&B hits, such as his Curtom and October singles. I wonder if Eddie Frierson is the brother of James Frierson (James Fry on Hi) and Wendy Rene on Stax. It does seem as though YDEKMN was made with at least one ear on the pop chart as opposed to the R&B one.

From that list Buddy Ace sticks out as a comparative bargain. This 45 has never been particularly over-exposed or easy to locate (as opposed to many of the other titles).

If Jeff Lemlich is still to see a copy of Cat 322 (the release with I Believe) I wonder if it does actually exist. BTW, the band name is a hastily concocted studio name for Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid, who are the vocalists on Stop Hurting Me... The later issue's flipside, Man From The Sky would seem to be a recording featuring vocalists (Milton and Carlos Wright amongst them) who do not feature on SHMB. SHMB is one of the greatest things to have ever been played in the name of Northern Soul if you ask me.

I Can't Understand It is a beautiful harmony ballad and to my ears a better record than the Man From The Sky flip. I've never personally seen a copy of Cat 322 and wonder if it actually exists. Would love to see a copy and hear the other flip if it does.

The record Ian's asking for is pretty special too.

You are, as ever, correct Chalky. Should have said it was hammered uncovered at venues like Hyde, but would have to say that PB had bigger cover-ups than this at Stafford, Junior McCants, Brilliant Korners, Danny Moore etc. spring to mind.

I think Warren is correct with his estimate of the price in the real world. Tony: rather than a shed-load turning up I think this is more a case of it being a Soul Bowl list 45 in the late 70s and 80s. They definitely had quantity of this title and it would have been priced accordingly: probably never more than a fiver during that time. I first heard it being played out regularly at Hyde in the late 80s. Maybe it had been tried briefly at Stafford and other venues a few years before this, because by the time it was being played concertedly Soul Bowl had definitely been divested of all their copies and the price for one at that time was already nudging £100. A brilliant 45 which was quite mould-breaking. I think it was really instrumental in opening the doors for more Rhythm & Soul to be played up north (as opposed to just at the 100 Club). For that I'm not sure I thank it, but I can't get away from the fact that it's a great record with a strong identity and an enduring following.

Has anyone mentioned Cat Power in these discussions of soul-influenced female pop singers? Her last album The Greatest was produced at Ardent in Memphis with the full Hi rhythm section and was as close as this kind of thing gets (prepares to open huge can of worms) to the textures of classic soul music. Her new album is a set of covers which apparently features a stab at George Jackson's immortal Aretha, Sing One For Me, James Brown's Lost Someone and Penn & Oldham's A Woman Left Lonely, again featuring the Hodges brothers and Spooner Oldham. I haven't heard that yet, but I'm sure she'll approach it with a lot of craft and empathy. The aspect of these records I like is that she doesn't try to sound like something she isn't: her vocals are more Joni Mitchell than Etta James, and overall that approach works very well and produces some very fine pop music with a soul influence in the playing and musical settings.

Think she's also credited as Lorraine Randolph on her Gemini Star 45, a great version of Eddie Jones Let's Stop Fooling Ourselves. A tremendous singer.

You would be fortunate to get a Kapp copy of Another Sundown In Watts for 100 quid: the recent price is more like three times that amount. Another good record, but nowhere near as good as Streetlamp in my opinion. But then I've always been slightly bemused by the reaction which You Got To Have Money gets. A good, albeit generic group dance record, where UTSL really is a complete masterpiece in all departments: the lead vocal, the harmonies, the production and the spine-tingling lyrics.

Yes Bob, that's the one I mentioned above with the more condensed typeface and the Gateway, Pittsburgh distribution credit. I would guess this is far harder to find than the Taurus distributed west coast copies - by how much I can only guess. As stated above this record sold in relatively huge quantities (for an indie soul release) and the switch from green to yellow labels during the pressing run can most likely be explained by the pressing plant simply running out of green label 'blanks'. I imagine the yellow label copies were manufactured within days or weeks of the greens rather than at anything like enough distance to be considered a re-issue.

Streetlamp was more than just a local hit: it got into the R&B Hot Hundred and must have sold many tens of thousands of copies in many locales throughout the US. There are at least two green issues, with the one with the credits in a more compressed typeface being far less plentiful. I think it's debatable whether that particular green issue is worth any more money than the more common green issues, or where it comes in the chronological sequence of pressings of the release. UTSL is a really special record and one which blows many of the ultra-rarities away in terms of power and quality. Out of all soul records I've played to 'non-soul' friends over the years this always gets by far the best reaction.

Is the Marsha Gee a real one, Mikey? I suspect a lot of people own the boot of this thinking they've got an original, which is actually quite a tough title.

It's a pretty big Jamaican soul tune and has been since it was initially released. There are at least two Jamaican issues of it. Certainly more popular (proportionately) in Jamaica than in either the US or UK.

To be honest I don't think this is that rare on Italian 45 (and I'm pretty convinced that there is no US 45). I'd value it at no more than £25.

Anyone got a Faye Crawford issue for sale? TIA gareth

Be aware that Betty released radically different versions of OTDTYH on two late 70s albums. Her first cut of it is on the Explosion! lp. She followed it a few years later with a stab on Travelling In Wrighht Circles. I agree that the latter version is pretty tame disco, but the first version is an absolutely blinding piece of driving uptempo southern soul music which fits in well with the likes of Jerry Washington on Glades. Very few things in recorded soul music will ever touch Darrell Banks's original, but Betty's is certainly my second favourite reading. I think she succeeds pretty well in moulding the song to her own very individual musical vision. In contrast many other versions of the song, no matter how well played, arranged or sung, are merely pale imitations of Banks' masterpiece.

I've been looking for this on USA Musicor for years but always seem to miss it. I'm pretty sure the scan above is of a Jamaican release. Not sure about its legality: can anyone confirm for sure? Plus if anyone has a Musicor release to spare I'd love to buy it.

Nothing wrong with being careful Mark.

Hi anyone out there got a copy of the above in above VG+ condition for sale? I know there are a couple on ebay at the moment, but Moerer's will probably go for more than I'm willing to pay as it's in mint condition, and the other one is too battered. TIA gareth

Here's a link to a soundfile on the site:

I've added a scan of the offending article.