manus

Wonderful song really haunting one of those you can play over and over again and still get that Soul thrill.

Really like this song saw them live in Torquay summer of 1974 when working down there ( think the venue was called the Castle). Lots of Soul folks there. Pretty sure I saw the Real Thing down there that summer too maybe on the same bill but memory a bit blurred now

No she wandered off thinking her job here was done and my life would now be properly fulfilled due to her Clapping instructions. I'll be forever grateful to her

Hope this is in the spirit of the first post in terms of being approached by someone new to the scene , I remember being at an alldayer maybe 10 years ago on the South Coast. I’ve never been a “communal clapper “ when dancing but occasionally do that clap ( noiseless) behind the back that Soul folks used to do back in the day , picked up from groups like the Temps. And I dress in a normal contemporary style so probably don’t fit the profile of what younger people think is a Soul fan. Anyway a young woman came up to me and very seriously explained that I wasn’t clapping properly and then proceeded to show me how clapping should be done , I asked her to show me again , and then again. Priceless and the best laugh I’d had on the scene for quite some time , god bless her.

Ollie Jackson , Lou Pride , Tamiko Jones , Mel Britt , Mikki Farrow all great records in my opinion. Sharonettes , Chantelles real cringe records and low points at the time but there’s been plenty of those over the years.

An old friend of mine who's not a Soul fan lives in Los Angeles and he got in touch after many years and remembering I was into Soul asked if I might have heard of his next door neighbour Gene Woodbury.

I was at the Palm Tree allnighter I remember Sue ( Henderson) taking the money on the door and a few old faces being there.

I remember a lot of those places as I was living in London at the time I remember upstairs in the White Lion , Putney and likewise the Alexandria in Clapham. Was the place on the Edgeware Road downstairs and they played a bit of deep early on ? There seemed to be a lot of one off nights around the EC run by the same crowd of Ian Clark etc. I remember Alex Lowes ( Up North , Southport ) coming down to do a spot at one over in the EC area. I thought it was a great time for Soul music in terms of opening up boundaries as to what could be played.

Two great sides on this one too

Both sides of this fantastic hard Soul sounds.

Yes I agree it's all Soul music and that's what counts

My idea of deep with a beat would be the Eddie Finley record that Dylan posted and my idea of a beat ballad would be something like Tommy Hunt I'll make you happy. I think vocal phrasing and production might be a key to definition but it's all good music.

I work in an academic library and about 12 years or so back I was taking around a group of new post graduate students explaining how the Library functions. We used to have a large spoken word collection on vinyl mainly poetry and plays and a record player for those who wanted to listen to them. At the end of the tour a Japanese guy came up and politely asked would it be possible for him to bring in his own records and we got talking and he was a big Soul fan and mainly into 70s and we did quite a few CD swops over the period he was here and had some great conversations. He was one the polite people I have ever met and would wait very quietly while I was dealing with students whenever he wanted to ask me something.

I always feel a mix of sadness & happiness hearing these two Darrell Banks Beautiful feeling Cissy Houston He/ I Believe

Bernie for me the vocal a little bit more mature and the one I heard first and memories associated. An old non Soul friend who I hadn't seen for about 35 years friended me on Facebook a year or so back. He was living in Los Angeles and remembering that I was into Soul asked me if I knew of the records of his next door neighbour - Gene Woodbury.

Jerry Cook for me still a brilliant record

I remember one of the alldayers at CW but sure it was earlier than 1979 ( maybe 77 or 78) and it was just before xmas and one of the fellas in our company the late Terry Sprott was getting anxious about not having bought family xmas presents. So he decided to head off and do some shopping and came back a few hours later with a couple of bags filled with presents but he made the mistake of leaving them by the bar as he headed off for a dance and of course the bags were gone when he got back.

I remember one sat on John Manships site about 5 years back for about £40/£50 I had kept meaning to pick it up but by the time I got around to it , it was gone. There was one for sale on here maybe two or three years back for about £60/£70 , it's not that easy to get so I think maybe 60 or 70 quid is fairly reasonable. Cheers Manus

Great playlists Kev , sounds like a brilliant time all round , well done All the best Manus

Sad news rest in peace Soul Brother Manus

And written by Gene McDaniels

Very sad news Rip Tommy Tate Adrian Corbin and Greg Burgess did a fantastic tribute to Tommy on last nights Radio Uckfield Soul Show What a voice Tommy had. Manus

I think if you listen to Walk on the Wild Side and then to Forgive Me Darrell Banks you can hear how it influenced Reeds record. More so on the Darrell Banks version than the earlier JJ Barnes take I'm sure this must have been commented on before as it's a fairly obvious influence I think.

Thought Spinnin Around by John Lias was a great read and essential for reference purposes. Half way through Steve Guarnori's Scepter Wand book and it's fascinating stuff , jeez you need your wits about you in the record business , another essential buy. Enjoyed both Gethro Jones and Stuart Cosgroves coming of age on the allnighter scene books and will certainly reread them soon. Must pick up a copy of Keith Rylatt's book.

Very sorry to hear this my condolences to Steve's family Gateshead has had many losses on the Soul scene these last few months sad times RIP