tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13067162064492583762024-02-19T01:16:05.588-08:00Classic and Rare Soul Sisters 50s - 70sNoelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.comBlogger297125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-89592986355081556162019-12-21T06:01:00.001-08:002020-02-02T03:16:53.319-08:00Viaxe a Toyland - My Radio PodcastHello! I am back again. I would like to invite you all to listen to my new Radio Podcast in Ivoox, Viaxe a Toyland. The best music of the 50s and the 60s is waiting right there for you, with some juicy stories, too. I hope you enjoy it!<br />
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<iframe src="https://www.ivoox.com/player_es_podcast_825332_1.html" width="100%" style="border: 1px solid #D7D7D7;" height="440" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="0" scrolling="no" ></iframe>
<iframe id='button_subscribe_ivoox825332' src='https://www.ivoox.com/_p3_825332_1.html?c1=ff6600&c2=ffffff&c3=000000' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen='' scrolling='no' height='95' style='max-size:300px;' width='100%'></iframe>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-86442858509093199732009-12-31T04:10:00.000-08:002010-01-20T02:46:10.219-08:00Vivian Reed: Vivian Reed (1970) ... plus<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNsdHPHDkSwMWZuRwk_5oJmIU5JaBRiZ4pNcwmk1PiNj5bh7n5sOToyOJE62Jx62Ogl1XAB05pt-n4ep4PJxjmbuzUNie182BSFh6iLzraWUfpjfeLwBT3mcyop57slKFEMpA6svKgnQg/s1600-h/Dibujo.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420947704599581122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNsdHPHDkSwMWZuRwk_5oJmIU5JaBRiZ4pNcwmk1PiNj5bh7n5sOToyOJE62Jx62Ogl1XAB05pt-n4ep4PJxjmbuzUNie182BSFh6iLzraWUfpjfeLwBT3mcyop57slKFEMpA6svKgnQg/s200/Dibujo.JPG" border="0" /></a>I would like to say farewell with a final post I am sure you are going to love, since this record is an extremely rare collector's item ...</div><br /><div align="justify">An outstanding vocalist with a rich lower voice, the ravishingly beautiful Vivian Reed, a.k.a. "Ms. Bubblin' Brown Sugar," never made the splash in the record industry that she did as a Broadway actress. The talented New York native is the daughter of Lucille, and the late Clyde Reed. She starred in Bubbling Brown Sugar on Broadway, as Queenie, and with off Broadway productions in Toronto, Paris, and other cities. Her acting acumen, earned the vivacious actress, a Tony nomination, the Drama Desk Award (outstanding feature actress in a musical), Outer Circle Critics Award, the NAACP Award, and many more honors. In the early '90s she won a Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club. She began recording in the '60s and enjoyed her highest charting single with a fantastic rendition of <a href="http://www.supload.com/listen?s=MYz9Hr"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Yours Until Tomorrow,'</span></a> in 1968 on Epic Records. Hot on its heels she released her debut Lp, simply titled Vivian Reed. Produced by Ted Cooper and arranged and conducted by Jimmy Wisner, Tommy Bell and Bobby Martin, this is a killer of an album, mostly comprised of showtunes like 'Somewhere', 'The Shape of Things to Come' and 'I've Gotta Be Me', but all with a solid soul pedigree. It also features a great version of the Barbara Acklin and Eugene Record's song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLRtGRn122U"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Walk on My Side'</span></a>. Another single '(You're My) Soul and Inspiration b/w 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (Medley)'<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420947035289765090" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 199px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AAjHCP3G-ct3lEaDiwkKZ2gSpL7kiI7LXXQORQznLb3GSMcm9QX2TD8hmuiP2URl7lmHrWZi7OGn1yu5w4TgLj3aThrNjxOyBrrDrgWZWlpcbCQOyd-wzlgggtE6hDdPTOkTrJ_M3BY/s200/Dibujo.JPG" border="0" /> made a little noise, climbing to #115 on the Billboard Singles Charts. Her next LP was the soundtrack <a href="http://souldeepmusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/vivian-reed-brown-sugar-1976.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Brown Sugar</span></a>, on H&L Records in 1976, then <a href="http://souldeepmusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/vivian-reed-another-side-1978.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Another Side</span></a>, on United Artists Records in 1979; a second United Artists album <a href="http://souldeepmusic.blogspot.com/2009/07/vivian-reed-ready-waiting-1979.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Ready and Waiting</span></a> dropped in 1980. They all sold poorly, and the single releases didn't shake em' up either. Other than her debut on Epic, and her United Artists' albums, the first produced by Jeff Lane, Vivian's recordings were MOR affairs that had little chance with contemporary audiences. While her recording career stagnated, she kept singing and as recently as 1996 was part of a Rhythm & Blues Revue with Freda Payne & Bunny Sigler. She has appeared in the top night clubs all over the world; an avid church goer, Vivian is attempting to revitalize her dormant recording career in the gospel field. I included here her complete debut album Vivian Reed with <strong>7 bonus tracks</strong>, consisting of some of the sides she recorded for Atco Records in the early-'70s, including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ2M6yl2RZ8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Save Your Love for Me'</span></a> and her rendition of Al Green's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKndw-I2Blg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Tired of Being Alone'</span></a>, her two collaborations on the Original Broadway Cast Recording of 1976's Bubbling Brown Sugar ('Sweet Georgia Brown' and 'God Bless the Child'), one cut from her Faith and Fire album, 'The Biggest Mistake', and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W0bKdNR-Lg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Face to Face'</span></a>, a beautiful song which appears on the OST of the 1983 film L'Africain. (Gracias mil Maxi!!)</div><br /><div align="justify">Vivian's stunning performance of Sweet Georgia Brown:</div><p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5g2QNui7_vw&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5g2QNui7_vw&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p><p><strong>I hope you enjoy it! ;-) </strong></p><p><strong>SO LONG!!! </strong></p>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-59598424100838453022009-12-31T01:44:00.001-08:002009-12-31T01:45:28.563-08:00THIS IS IT ...<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DV5FovlRycfyydgqhXRZzSJv8dHZb1cpFJuIZGoMG6kK736gKxIJYw7cRmr4UmtN0K1lY9op_vm1j5eb4j-93HckGMmnk3VwbOmYPOxe6275TZgAlROZdsg5ZDg7zynIt5HbOgpB7K8/s1600-h/sad-1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 190px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416125926525453890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DV5FovlRycfyydgqhXRZzSJv8dHZb1cpFJuIZGoMG6kK736gKxIJYw7cRmr4UmtN0K1lY9op_vm1j5eb4j-93HckGMmnk3VwbOmYPOxe6275TZgAlROZdsg5ZDg7zynIt5HbOgpB7K8/s200/sad-1.jpg" /></a>After a run of almost one year and 300 posts, it is time for me to say farewell to Supersoulsisters. Yes, I know you don't like this, but unfortunately my collection of Soul Sisters records has its limitations and I am running out of goodies to post. Most of what I got left has been already posted in other blogs, so there is no point in doing it again. Besides, I don't have much time lately, due to some changes in my life, and doing this blog all by myself is starting to be a little bit too much for me. So from now on, everything I post will be on my <a href="http://soulfuldivas.blogspot.com/"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Soulful Divas</span></a> blog, which, as you might already know, is more varied in style and I update weekly.<br /><br />I would like to thank all of this blog's faithful readers for their interest, kind comments and valuable contributions. I must specially thank <strong>Martin, Daniele, Bill, hooch, EliotW, Phil, pedro, Della Reese, troods, scottdavida, justme, Sugar Boom Boom!, laclasedetercero, The Commoner, Chris T, onejazzyman, Gerard, Vincent the Soul Chef, YankeeBoy, Soul Bonanza, Concept, Petit Bonbon, HeavySoulBrutha DaveB., Dee, e-keane, GHoSTFiNGeR, jahcisco, porco rosso, Rohto, NK666, Dreamer456, trakbuv, kareemah, joseph </strong>and<strong> Parry</strong>, for being all so supportive.<br /><br />Well, I have enjoyed a lot sharing my stuff with you, guys! Take care and see you all on Soulful Divas…</div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-19247777682453531582009-12-30T00:31:00.001-08:002009-12-30T08:29:28.264-08:00Martha Reeves: Martha Reeves (1974) ... plus<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaePoptKlayPN5RstSQDG6HrtaUDmPAIQU2eC2KLtjNNhzaD5Lf4qgWTJ4wWBTVOCoNhANapOHMxRTg359RQAZjsRBe7xvlmUiHf8FDiTJ9gOX1QBa_f3qr3lfsnvnlugy0cOjnJZaigU/s1600-h/Cover+%28Large%29.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420731610959569346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaePoptKlayPN5RstSQDG6HrtaUDmPAIQU2eC2KLtjNNhzaD5Lf4qgWTJ4wWBTVOCoNhANapOHMxRTg359RQAZjsRBe7xvlmUiHf8FDiTJ9gOX1QBa_f3qr3lfsnvnlugy0cOjnJZaigU/s200/Cover+%28Large%29.jpg" /></a>After an amazing run fronting the Vandellas at Motown, with 23 pop charting singles including such classics as 'Heat Wave,' 'Dancing in the Street,' and 'Jimmy Mack,' Martha Reeves parted company with both the Vandellas and her former label, Motown. Signing to MCA after a lawsuit to extract her from her previous contract, her 1974 solo debut was highly anticipated. Producer Richard Perry was signed on to oversee the project; it was hoped that he could bring the magic he had formerly employed on behalf of Barbra Streisand and Carly Simon. The album, entitled simply <em>Martha Reeves</em>, was certainly a stylistic departure, as Reeves turned to such unexpected songwriters as Hoyt Axton, Van Morrison, and Jimmy Cliff for material. Certainly Perry's production style was markedly different than any of the masters who inhabited Motown's Snakepit. In any event, the record wasn't the commercial success either Ms. Reeves or the record company had hoped for or expected, and it turned out to be the only one she would record for MCA. That said,<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaBhqz7vrUTGf6ADFHHxjJE2eCfz6JUtirb-dqWjNkiHHCtRSwIg22xoSycazJttXv4_aBgJc7khE-ALaqoB5vU0Sv4lTWiwT4iPBtTSZKE9gM5PsZ0uhWbyYFxsB8CkuXug-DtMlKTE/s1600-h/Dibujo.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420938932573185650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaBhqz7vrUTGf6ADFHHxjJE2eCfz6JUtirb-dqWjNkiHHCtRSwIg22xoSycazJttXv4_aBgJc7khE-ALaqoB5vU0Sv4lTWiwT4iPBtTSZKE9gM5PsZ0uhWbyYFxsB8CkuXug-DtMlKTE/s200/Dibujo.JPG" /></a> the album holds up remarkably, given thirty years' distance. She's in terrific voice throughout, and Perry's production is comparatively restrained. The opening of Jimmy Cliff's <a href="http://www.supload.com/listen?s=bvYuDl"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Many Rivers to Cross,'</span></a> for instance, is simply Ms. Reeves' and the Avalon Community Choir's vocals over an organ with piano accompaniment. Just gorgeous. 'Wild Night', her first solo single, was produced by Richard Perry and written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Joe Simon, though still owed much to the Motown sound. With horns arranged and conducted by James Taylor and strong background vocals by Clydie King, the musicians included Motown genius James Jamerson, Joe Sample, Ralph MacDonald, Dennis Coffey, Jim Keltner and Dean Parks. As a matter of fact, some of the greatest musicians in the business appear on this album, and many of the songs are covers of great songs, including Joe Simons' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu0qvdaSlEk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Power of Love,'</span></a> and 'I Got to Use My Imagination,' also recorded by B. B. King, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. She sounds great on <a href="http://www.supload.com/listen?s=Uz9Qme"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'My Man (You Changed My Tune)'</span></a>, and adds a gospel feel to Hoyt Axton's 'Dixie Highway'. This limited edition reissue of the album also includes three previously-unavailable bonus tracks, including the B-side of her debut single, <a style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbOBtJVjGDo">'Stand by Me'</a>, and a lovely reading of Ruby & The Romantics' 'Our Day Will Come.' This overlooked gem is a natural for all Motown and Vandellas fans. http://www.amazon.com/ </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NAE9adhd54A&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NAE9adhd54A&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-43667338491659122002009-12-29T00:23:00.000-08:002009-12-29T00:36:28.868-08:00VA: Ultimate Girl Groups (2006)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP3uUsZbHORJ3gx82vlGvBJjv4xV6BXBcWRJegT_4fevKTxkVzQ6icrdFoJ9wv3FmvTBbRFcIEbkBjlmyG-sVKw8UvMwskl5EJxEL9iD8lUL2dqCBbgKtlVB3m2o2zpN_BgbGfMg_W00/s1600-h/Dibujo.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420232940913712226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 196px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP3uUsZbHORJ3gx82vlGvBJjv4xV6BXBcWRJegT_4fevKTxkVzQ6icrdFoJ9wv3FmvTBbRFcIEbkBjlmyG-sVKw8UvMwskl5EJxEL9iD8lUL2dqCBbgKtlVB3m2o2zpN_BgbGfMg_W00/s200/Dibujo.JPG" border="0" /></a>One of the best compilations of obscure girl group singles from the mid-'60s. And I am talking obscure; Diane Renay is the only artist on this 26-track compilation who had a hit of any sort. These actually fall much closer to girl group soul than girl group pop/rock, the influence of Motown being particularly prevalent. These aren't meant as criticisms; these are mostly infectious, well-produced tracks, some of which, like Judy Hughes' 'Fine, Fine, Fine,' could have been big hits. You won't know how you ever managed without Theresa Lindsey's 'Gotta Find a Way', or Madeline Wilson's 'Dial "L" for Lonely', or Cheryl Williams' 'Everybody’s Happy But Me', or the Sherrys' 'Put You Arms Around Me' after you've lived with them for even just the shortest time. </div><div align="center"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa<br /></span>1. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSjj7s7R8jg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Judy Hughes - Fine Fine Fine</span></a><br />2. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCu82W6UZJY"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Du-Ettes - Every Beat of My Heart</span></a><br />3. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsExomTecvk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Cheryl Williams - Everybody's Happy But Me</span></a><br />4. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6cUmfuvSwM"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Margie and The Formations - Sad Illusion</span> </a><br />5. The Bonnetes - 'Ya Gotta Take a Chance<br />6. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DDJAnirOkk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Madeline Wilson - Dial L For Lonely</span></a><br />7. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQndPytTxk8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Delicates - Stop Shoving Me Around</span></a><br />8. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGY_rDgIEQE"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Gems - I'll Be There</span> </a><br />9. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBPhPB9dvU"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Lorraine and The Delights - Baby I Need You</span></a><br />10. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adIETdaQT6o"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Deena Johnson - I'm a Sad Girl</span></a><br />11. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIHSQ-y0W6s"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Norma Jenkins - The Airplane Song</span></a><br />12. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asVh-3kySYs"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Dolls - And That Reminds Me</span></a><br />13. Diane Renay - Can't Help Loving That Man<br />14. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfny5Ts9e-c"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Mousie and The Traps - It's All in The Way</span></a><br />15. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frN2Qmvxk8A"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Sherrys - Put Your Arms Around Me</span></a><br />16. Theresa Lindsay - Gotta Find a Way<br />17. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDHEmiOuyX8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Les Femmes - Closer</span></a><br />18. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUsrz3Q08qc"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Beas - Where Do I Go from You</span></a><br />19. Jeannie King - You've Got a Good Thing Going<br />20. The Contessas - I Keep on Keepin' On<br />21. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9l0ZK8KAN4"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Twans - I Can't See Him Again</span></a><br />22. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNIFIvaUQ20"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Lovettes - Little Miss Soul</span> </a><br />23. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmhIzeFhrok"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Peaches - Music to My Ears</span> </a><br />24. Phillis Brown - Oh Baby<br />25. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQE7l0l9YHQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">The Passionetts - My Fault</span></a><br />26. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY4en9VC3hw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Paulette & The Cupids - He'll Wait on Me</span></a></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"></div><p align="justify">One of the groups featured on this compilation, the Dolls, singing 'The Reason Why' and 'And That Reminds Me of You', live in 1964:<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dMaV91r4yIg&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dMaV91r4yIg&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></p><p align="justify">The Contessas on Shivaree, October 30 1965, performing 'I Keep on Keepin' On':<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HTawrf-hRvk&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HTawrf-hRvk&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p><p align="justify">This is a performance by New York girl group The Gems filmed for the documentary The Strange World of Northern Soul. 'I'll Be There', on Riverside Records, was a huge record at Blackpool Mecca:<br /><param value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1PZM0V9SmpU&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" name="movie"><param value="true" name="allowFullScreen"><param value="always" name="allowscriptaccess"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1PZM0V9SmpU&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" fs="1&"></embed></p>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-7801847204210159412009-12-28T01:28:00.001-08:002009-12-28T01:35:15.918-08:00Marie Knight: Hallelujah What a Song! (1946-1951)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBcd0q2CsTPYEeRlUEQwJeUl4dZ0jU4Bc1Td2X_Tmkpu6_pt_tXYpCPen8520L38k28fdnlRzmjXG6mToDE3MsfHDAe2K6aR4b_JYJwJfcMFNnZKeRKOE9qvRXvYvHJNqburyZc2PVgw/s1600-h/Dibujo.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413184205706373250" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBcd0q2CsTPYEeRlUEQwJeUl4dZ0jU4Bc1Td2X_Tmkpu6_pt_tXYpCPen8520L38k28fdnlRzmjXG6mToDE3MsfHDAe2K6aR4b_JYJwJfcMFNnZKeRKOE9qvRXvYvHJNqburyZc2PVgw/s200/Dibujo.JPG" border="0" /></a>Marie Knight belongs to the select group of great soloists in the history of Afro-American gospel. With a voice that one recent reviewer described as <em>"a natural wonder, an unadorned, powerful instrument,"</em> Knight began her career touring the national gospel circuit with evangelist Frances Robinson as a young woman in the mid-'40s, recording a few sides with the quartet The Sunset Four. The guitar-playing Tharpe, a major recording artist on the Decca Records label who brought gospel music to a broad audience, first heard Knight sing at a Mahalia Jackson concert in New York in 1946. Two weeks later, Tharpe showed up at Knight's house in Newark, N.J., to invite her to go on the road with her<em>. "She was a beautiful woman with a beautiful contralto voice, who had a spellbinding effect on audiences,"</em> said Gayle Wald, who interviewed Knight for her 2007 biography "Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe." Tharpe and Knight toured through the late '40s, appearing in clubs, arenas, churches and auditoriums. <em>"Sometimes the one-nighters and the traveling was a little rough,"</em> Knight told the Times Union of Albany, N.Y., in 2005, <em>"but on the stage was beautiful." </em>Tharpe and Knight were best known for their classic gospel duets 'Up Above My Head', 'Beams of Heaven' and 'Didn't It Rain.' <em>"They had a dynamic, exciting sound where they traded off vocal lines,"</em> Wald said. <em>"That was a kind of hallmark with their duet singing, and it was so vocally agile that it approximated the sounds of jazz." </em>After several years of recording together, Tharpe and Knight parted ways except for occasional on-stage reunions during the '50s, including performances at leading jazz clubs in New York City in 1955. In the '60s, Knight pursued a R&B career and toured with Brook Benton, the Drifters and Clyde McPhatter. After a hiatus, she returned to recording gospel music in the mid-'70s. This 22 track compilation features her work from 1946 to 1951, and features her collaborations with the Sam Price Trio/Quartet, the Nightingales, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Sunset Four, the Dependable Boys and others. Highlights include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHHpBxX6O3w"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'In the Shaded Green Pastures'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/e3ae818/Hallelujah-What-a-Song-marie-knight"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Hallelujah What a Song'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s-fsgVUjmw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Thank You Jesus'</span></a>. Although she was a top gospel soloist, Marie was more or less invisible to the gospel world at large during the last two decades, and in the fall of 2001, it was revealed through gospel expert Anthony Heilbut that Marie was still active as a singing pastor in New York. Unfortunatelly, she died in New York City on August 30 due to complications from Pneumonia. http://www.worldsrecords.com/. http://www.marieknight.com/</div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span><br /><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=ff9c4af" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span><br />Marie Knight singing 'You Better Run':</div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tsF6JItEAic&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tsF6JItEAic&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-22228975203395601422009-12-27T01:13:00.000-08:002009-12-27T01:14:30.319-08:00The Sisters Love: Give Me Your Love (1969-1989)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9Y0txqLl5zugjrQ6iIexv5TD00gifcHnACUheIhZdilIwP1G4KbwQI4FQiLzNgMGQxBYNBpiI_rvF_YMa_BkDNtvmjJZcAs45dRd6n2rqao8usScRQsiT7VIBZVl8AlcHfCttfAfjL8/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417710186759798642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9Y0txqLl5zugjrQ6iIexv5TD00gifcHnACUheIhZdilIwP1G4KbwQI4FQiLzNgMGQxBYNBpiI_rvF_YMa_BkDNtvmjJZcAs45dRd6n2rqao8usScRQsiT7VIBZVl8AlcHfCttfAfjL8/s200/Front.jpg" /></a>‘Ahead of their time’ is a much used phrase to describe some of the most creative groups and The Sisters Love were most definitely that. In 1980 New York DJ Danny Krivit released an extended eight-minute cut-up of a track called 'Give Me Your Love' by The Sisters Love. Already an underground disco classic (partly on account of its rarity), this release brought it to a new audience of disco and rare groove fans. 'Give Me Your Love' originally came out in 1973 and subsequently become the property of the New York underground disco cognoscenti of DJs David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Walter Gibbons and Larry Levan et all who made it a regular party anthem. The Sisters Love worked with producers such as Willie Hutch, Leon Ware, Gloria Jones and Richard Evans, toured the world with The Jackson Five, and appear in the Blaxploitation movie <a style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54plnMSIXho">The Mack</a>. Their sound is a great blend of funky rhythms, hard soul vocals, and soaring harmonies on the chorus, in a way that is almost a cross between the work of Lyn Collins at People Records with the best sounds of Sweet Inspirations <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ9yDvUMLDEOnXM6Ot3LAUz2sSyfo9WUGI33Q0ph6m1wWIoa4g38qfOAK1VX5VxK0ffXcwzVBbzyIZeklQyjTuzaNGA8NSXD242Ps-MO-qGgGyVlsxvktUrsaUjhXOJL0Er_G4TDHaFbY/s1600-h/clay_judycl_staxsolor_101b.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 199px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417711921865686466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ9yDvUMLDEOnXM6Ot3LAUz2sSyfo9WUGI33Q0ph6m1wWIoa4g38qfOAK1VX5VxK0ffXcwzVBbzyIZeklQyjTuzaNGA8NSXD242Ps-MO-qGgGyVlsxvktUrsaUjhXOJL0Er_G4TDHaFbY/s200/clay_judycl_staxsolor_101b.jpg" /></a>over at Atlantic, but even more righteous overall. They made some classic music previously only available to the cognescenti and this release makes available many rare tracks as well as bringing the music to a new audience. The set brings together singles recorded for Motown and A&M, all over a period of 6 years, but tremendously unified overall, with a badass soul sound that rivals the legendary album by The Jackson Sisters. Titles include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjjk2vla8k"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'My Love Is Yours'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N4JtzGhgns"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'The Bigger You Love (The Harder You Fall)'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq1BJDKznHk"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'Blackbird'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2mQ5Uv_Q-o"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'Ring Once'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fe4-lQ7DfM"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'You've Got to Make Your Choice'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSxV0YQuHCU"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'Now Is the Time'</span></a>. I added<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"> 9 bonus tracks</span>, including <a style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWeqYwSQnBU">Danny Krivit extended version</a> of 'Give Me Your Love', the vocal and instrumental versions of '(I Could Never Make) A Better Man Than You' and the B-side of their 1969 single <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ3dK7iiHhk"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'Forget It, I've Got It'</span></a>, <a style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw74veYzZJQ">'Are You Lonely'</a>, a remake of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMZZiR_0FRU"><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">'I'm Learning to Trust My Man'</span></a> and 'No More Broken Hearts', from 1989. <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">25 tracks in all</span>. http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/, http://www.dustygroove.com/<br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">aa</span></div>The Sisters Love singing 'A Better Man Than You' on Soul Train:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6tEqsKTqDUs&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6tEqsKTqDUs&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)">aa</span><br />A 1973 lipsync performance of 'Mr. Fix-It Man' by The Sisters at the Dutch television show Toppop:<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q6dYSl7qSPY&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q6dYSl7qSPY&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><object width="425" height="344"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span><br />And last, but not least, their big classic 'Give Me Your Love':<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">aa</span><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aqlq0za7M48&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-30857015224090720302009-12-26T01:16:00.000-08:002009-12-26T01:19:37.066-08:00Alice Clark: Alice Clark ... plus (1966-1972)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguz-35d5kStm-HPUfOBHHIjjaxWseBHWifEo5G8TWo1_FBi2rYQH58sDosUjWMGRFRbJWmUSPipqa29qqAl-zhx6Q99JvTVU-5qoOrT8y9tIMDOw6Aa-EtsFVoHVF8Z8cjNjMHDOhOOKU/s1600-h/Alice-Clark-by-Alice-Clark_8QN1yEFmprsx_full.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415015662705277954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguz-35d5kStm-HPUfOBHHIjjaxWseBHWifEo5G8TWo1_FBi2rYQH58sDosUjWMGRFRbJWmUSPipqa29qqAl-zhx6Q99JvTVU-5qoOrT8y9tIMDOw6Aa-EtsFVoHVF8Z8cjNjMHDOhOOKU/s200/Alice-Clark-by-Alice-Clark_8QN1yEFmprsx_full.jpg" /></a>It was not initially my intention to post the self-titled 1972 album from Alice Clark - fabulous at it is - because it has been posted everywhere, but as I have had some requests, here it is: your wish is my command. Anyway, I added a few bonus to make it more appealing to those of you who already got it. The album is a sublime masterpiece of R&B/pop from the house of Bob Shad, the jazz producer who founded Mainstream Records. Jimmy Webb's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwSRxyWQO2I"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Keep It Hid'</span></a> starts things off, one of the singles released from this original package and a nugget from another soul masterpiece, Supremes Arranged and Produced by Jimmy Webb, when Webb oversaw the post-Diana Ross girl group the same year as this release. A rendition of Fred Ebb and John Kander's tune, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfx0-fU2ORg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Maybe This Time'</span></a> from the motion picture Cabaret, is included along with three compositions from 'Sunny' author Bobby Hebb. These include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmcYSMChw4k"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't You Care'</span></a> and 'Hard, Hard Promises,' two titles Hebb has yet to release on his own. The third is an up-tempo version of 'The Charms of the Arms of Love' which concluded his 1970 album Love Games. Clark rips apart 'It Takes Too Long to Learn to Live Alone' in wonderful fashion with tasteful guitar, chirping horns, and restrained<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9VB7Sc3UoGrDW6jPsAty1fjsW3flrJ3LaYMiQaLde19qxC_d9m0X4o2p5Wg54pf0Gt0qrP3jGAWDVwiI6ODWdVcf0zqeyQl-MlqQyIJ68-GVEQCDL8Pjav6Z6kfj1BM3Y3RwZk8HBcM/s1600-h/back.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416228285891176018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9VB7Sc3UoGrDW6jPsAty1fjsW3flrJ3LaYMiQaLde19qxC_d9m0X4o2p5Wg54pf0Gt0qrP3jGAWDVwiI6ODWdVcf0zqeyQl-MlqQyIJ68-GVEQCDL8Pjav6Z6kfj1BM3Y3RwZk8HBcM/s200/back.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIUYm8WS93UvYS4F50372aABMUXW-P_AwIB4gVFcAGuImNKuccqHDC3YtV4NJaz-IWywqfdMRAcW-iRT1Sp33E1T__JorUQhcL-q3hTCn6JFjv5AOTTK6fjckoiSPtu_b1mlxvbO9isM/s1600-h/back.JPG"></a>vibraphone. Juanita Fleming's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4fMlKrBZQ8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Never Did I Stop Loving You'</span></a> is just brilliant as the vocals take off into different dimensions inside and between the unique melody. The final track, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgKVAh0L1Jo"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Hey Girl,'</span></a> is not the famous Carole King/Freddy Scott hit, it's a true find originally covered by Donny Hathaway and written by Hathaway's percussion player, Earl DeRouen. Here Clark changes it to 'Hey Boy' in a lively, jazz-heavy jaunt which concludes this dynamite set of recordings that should have made Alice Clark a superstar. http://www.answers.com/. I added <strong>4 bonus tracks</strong> here: the George Kerr-produced and wonderfully titled Northern Soul side <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv33KdcvmLs"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'You Hit Me (Right Where It Hurt Me)'</span></a> - a burner of a tune that was released on Warner subsidiary Seven Arts in about 1966 -, the flip to that record, a moving deep soul ballad titled 'Heaven's Will (Must Be Obeyed)', and her 1968 single 'You Got a Deal' b/w <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1o9mhAP7f0"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Say You'll (Never Leave Me)'</span></a>, which was released by a label called Rainy Day Records. </div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=83e05a2" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RahSynm8Zao&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RahSynm8Zao&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-86842530135067863152009-12-24T00:02:00.000-08:002009-12-24T00:04:42.615-08:00Maxine Weldon: Chilly Wind (1971)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO88m-KpwpQzUSRS1Q2HQzdBNb6e6rix-01lbidxdL0nYUI7GEjxexzsXfE9crkAtc5UDTjc7Dre6361PKQ2l9lHPcqqTkbeK8dMX3h7zGnOO5L_ikrAONjz3Al0YYQv1l7mD7y6YMquo/s1600-h/weldon_maxi_chillywin_101b.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417980315216037170" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO88m-KpwpQzUSRS1Q2HQzdBNb6e6rix-01lbidxdL0nYUI7GEjxexzsXfE9crkAtc5UDTjc7Dre6361PKQ2l9lHPcqqTkbeK8dMX3h7zGnOO5L_ikrAONjz3Al0YYQv1l7mD7y6YMquo/s200/weldon_maxi_chillywin_101b.jpg" border="0" /></a>Despite her soul leanings, Maxine Weldon was at home singing blues, jazz, gospel, or an amalgam of all them. Chilly Wind, her second album for Mainstream, which was released in 1971 (the first being <a href="http://supersoulsisters.blogspot.com/2009/04/maxine-weldon-right-on-1970_17.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Right On</span></a>, in 1970), is a good example of that. We find her working here with bigger backings from Ernie Wilkins in a style which is never too polished, and almost has a similar feel to some of Esther Phillips' work on the Kudu label during the early '70s. Soulful vocals at the lead, backed by some hip jazz and electric instrumentation from players who include Blue Mitchell and Bobby Bryant on trumpet, Hadley Caliman and Ernie Watts on tenor and flute, George Bohannon on trombone, Freddy Robinson on guitar and Earl Palmer, who was David Axelrod’s drummer, on drums. Side one is full of heavy soul cuts like <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/b7f66ab/I-Think-Its-Going-to-Rain-Today-maxine-weldon"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,'</span></a> and the funky <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4-gIIfOlno"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Ain’t Got Nobody.'</span></a> Side two changes it up a little with poppy groovers like 'Don’t Make Promises' and the jazzy ballad 'I’ll Remember Today'. There's even a version of 'I (Who Have Nothing)' with only her voice and harmonica that would get Nina Simone shook. Other titles include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01JqR52vTVs"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Chilly Wind'</span></a>, 'Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye', <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/82f42c9/Country-Son-maxine-weldon"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Country Son'</span></a>, 'Fire and Rain' and 'It Don't Matter to Me'. http://www.groundliftmag.com/, http://www.dustygroove.com/</div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object height="132" width="353"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=68def06" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">AA</span></div><div align="justify"><strong>MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE !!!</strong></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-50418715361982815072009-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:002009-12-23T00:02:32.374-08:00Hodges, James & Smith - The HJ&S Story (1963-1979)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTpnT1j6g01u7d9Ar-tifpWY6WrrjqjYTzDjm0XFT4PTGRs3t8nBGQqQZrB-sAH_1bcsK8SrU0AAAHqWO-yBgplQAk0c81NPM2rkjRHMVeQVly-0r1ftphxyIj-pke5DvPNtHTAhCyC8/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416526133433029394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTpnT1j6g01u7d9Ar-tifpWY6WrrjqjYTzDjm0XFT4PTGRs3t8nBGQqQZrB-sAH_1bcsK8SrU0AAAHqWO-yBgplQAk0c81NPM2rkjRHMVeQVly-0r1ftphxyIj-pke5DvPNtHTAhCyC8/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a>Hodges, James & Smith (HJ&S) was the brainstorm of producer/writer William "Mickey" Stevenson, Motown's A&R Director during their glory years. They were originally known as Hodges, James, Smith & Crawford (former Motown artist Carolyn (Caroline) Crawford) and later became a trio: Pat Hodges, Denita James, and Jessica Smith. The girls were handpicked by Stevenson, though they each took different routes to get there. Denita James, who had previously studied ballet and tap dancing, had a solo single (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSmPfo6L0iY"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Have Feelings Too'</span></a> b/w <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBpFaTL3JxQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Wild Side'</span></a>) on Flip in 1963; Pat Hodges played the clarinet in a local band, then attended college, earning a B.A. in music, and had a solo release (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGaFhnQfNQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Playgirl'</span></a> b/w <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9IRGlRpoU8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Surprise Party'</span></a>) on Keymen in 1966. As for Smith, she had a gospel background. Stevenson had a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyANCjrjLxHnc8KVUUiR2_hDCKzr5bU4xjXkieU5SGBD0bVX0letbIM0xGod4QqdG0ei8OOoFq5WErVpAOtbOZ7adjOYl0_iPP5tTny5QHCmrulz1CRzZ_n8Ise6g0CZ_hxPFLVlV_VA/s1600-h/Front.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416526509926945154" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyANCjrjLxHnc8KVUUiR2_hDCKzr5bU4xjXkieU5SGBD0bVX0letbIM0xGod4QqdG0ei8OOoFq5WErVpAOtbOZ7adjOYl0_iPP5tTny5QHCmrulz1CRzZ_n8Ise6g0CZ_hxPFLVlV_VA/s200/Front.JPG" border="0" /></a>great vision for HJ&S and groomed them to play the top, plush clubs. He created a snazzy nightclub act for them that rivaled the Supremes, although HJ&S's sound was more aggressive and a lot more Soul/R&B oriented. Their first single was <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYF5PLwHkw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Nobody'</span></a> b/w <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDLsspXndcg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I'm in Love'</span></a> on the Mpingo Label. 'Nobody' (previously a hit for Kim Weston on MGM) was updated later for the second of their 20th Century albums in the '70s. The group played the sweet gigs throughout Europe and recorded Incredible on 20th Century Fox in 1973, but the only thing incredible about it was the speed it reached cutout bins at discount record stores. Although a solid album, it just didn't get a decent push. Another 20th Century album, 1975's Power in Your Love, disappeared so fast that most people can't recall its title. The lack of recording success though, didn't douse HJ&S' <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrX66Qbghq1sE7BUPcFP4xXHcECCSZ_GqY8l1yGuwvOwTI1uIjOzHAZOo_lRLBNEIvuuUKavTgromb1LXwapwvLEif1fqpR3Y_63d-EIREVRmE26hQp-yHC5FFKpbkUWzDzOuHLdJvds/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416526756275793138" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWrX66Qbghq1sE7BUPcFP4xXHcECCSZ_GqY8l1yGuwvOwTI1uIjOzHAZOo_lRLBNEIvuuUKavTgromb1LXwapwvLEif1fqpR3Y_63d-EIREVRmE26hQp-yHC5FFKpbkUWzDzOuHLdJvds/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a>flame; they continued traveling, doing the plum gigs. In 1976, they signed with London Records. What's on Your Mind received quite a bit of promotion and acclaim that, unfortunately, didn't transform into sales. During 1977, they had a few singles that nested in the nose-bleed section of the charts: the Motownish 'Don't Take Away Your Love' and the six-plus-minute chest-beater <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxnC7yGykAA"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Since I Fell for You'</span></a>, a song that added sax, strings, and rough-and-tumble soul. Combined with 'I'm Falling in Love' in a medley for its single release, it reached number 24 on the R&B charts in July 1977. A second London album, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dUdicRERgQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">What Have You Done for Love?</span></a>, was released in 1978. But even when the girls displayed their best talents on songs like 'Darling I Promise,' 'You Know Who You Are,' Stevie Wonder's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Eow3_GGhE"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Seems So Long,'</span></a> and Earth, Wind & Fire's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX4tVO27fDo"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'You Can't Hide Love'</span></a>, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4fZzyOfNwPLf8IIWMNhlZAcWaQsrYLnhb-V5_JRHccuQ0fzrihBufmdm0eH3za5UXZbE8ornScVFT2TSLAhwHtW1B07KH_XzT3cNlorW-zpGKp4YPgvJ7fvwhcnki66bakErRr5Z1JY/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416527396424673618" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii4fZzyOfNwPLf8IIWMNhlZAcWaQsrYLnhb-V5_JRHccuQ0fzrihBufmdm0eH3za5UXZbE8ornScVFT2TSLAhwHtW1B07KH_XzT3cNlorW-zpGKp4YPgvJ7fvwhcnki66bakErRr5Z1JY/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a>the LP met a similar fate. Other artists including Bobby Womack, and Sylvester used HJ&S on sessions, but after a few more years of the same the trio disbanded, never having achieved the success they and Stevenson tried so hard to obtain. I included here their four complete albums on 20th Century Fox and London Records, Denita James' 1963 single, the A-side of Pat Hodges', the second of the two 45s they released with Carolyn Crawford in 1972 as Hodges, James, Smith & Crawford, plus Sylvester's 1979 two-sider 'Stars' b/w 'Body Strong', which features backing vocals by the girls. <strong>44 songs in all!</strong> http://www.allmusic.com/</div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=c892991" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/c892991/Turn-the-People-On-Hodges,-James-&-Smith"></a></div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mS7yRAAksB8&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mS7yRAAksB8&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-66734274013768849512009-12-22T00:21:00.001-08:002009-12-22T00:23:27.611-08:00Mable John: My Name Is Mable - The Complete Collection (1960-1963)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjLIUWixa2OL2t0EnBSzt7epXOerYxf86eND7L7KKGuRviC-QNApu_ciGIl5apjtYduGgu_I9TdqsbYBGWH6uQU36ENVrfrHNMpCsvfuXMzs3MCH2YuWA_W_GxV-PU0hyphenhyphengsMM5W7k5f4/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417636883504400194" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 197px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjLIUWixa2OL2t0EnBSzt7epXOerYxf86eND7L7KKGuRviC-QNApu_ciGIl5apjtYduGgu_I9TdqsbYBGWH6uQU36ENVrfrHNMpCsvfuXMzs3MCH2YuWA_W_GxV-PU0hyphenhyphengsMM5W7k5f4/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a>Mable John's stint with Motown was sufficiently obscure that even some of the relatively few soul fans who know of her work at all aren't aware that she started her career with the label. She did record a fair amount of material while there, and the accurately titled My Name Is Mable: The Complete Collection has all of it, containing all nine songs that showed up on 1960-1963 singles (including both the stringless and with-strings versions of <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/97f5add/No-Love-mable-john"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'No Love'</span></a> and both the 1960 and 1963 versions of 'Who Wouldn't Love a Man Like That') and ten previously unreleased outtakes. It's fine music, not just as quality early soul by one of the style's more underrated vocalists, but also as a document of Motown when it was at its bluesiest, and still looking to nail down the pop-soul groove that would eventually become its strongest suit. Several of the figures who would be key to Motown's success were involved with these sides, among them (as producers and songwriters) Berry Gordy, Mickey Stevenson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Clarence Paul, Brian Holland, and Lamont Dozier. What, then, was missing, considering that John was a mature, passionately strong gospel-influenced singer?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXS4rK-cyp51-41N3JFxdmzsXSt7fKEhtFZVS-yY0jM4aZJJ15d0tfL2pZ30P6ykdj9yAGlIqcP7Qp0f_SNrgIOIN479t0oGoiPwGtAPoigP5TT63R_Nx0iEzM2eo3AJs05qy5Tt7Jac/s1600-h/Mable+John.jpg"></a> Not much, except perhaps truly great songs that would have been obvious hits. The songs are decent, and though they've been a bit lazily classified as blues by some, you can virtually always hear the classic Motown sound in embryo. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuWajEk2Gx4"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Who Wouldn't Love a Man Like That'</span></a> doesn't sound much different from the early Miracles' material, for instance, and you could certainly hear other songs fitting into the early repertoire of fellow Motowners like Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells without a problem. Check out Joe Hunters <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbm6_sCm6_hQ1j1vcheKrOvailPYUsKMpw62z1yyO9sjMVK0ZH_anAKEaVL1SdvujZ7XKMnZkHXqyjlwuWwayjvMl5Lphu3_RJbrrhWaXD_-bC2lfdwOLr2_bUXQ0bKzJswOxOCgbSLg/s1600-h/Mable+John.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417638484813680018" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCbm6_sCm6_hQ1j1vcheKrOvailPYUsKMpw62z1yyO9sjMVK0ZH_anAKEaVL1SdvujZ7XKMnZkHXqyjlwuWwayjvMl5Lphu3_RJbrrhWaXD_-bC2lfdwOLr2_bUXQ0bKzJswOxOCgbSLg/s200/Mable+John.jpg" border="0" /></a>amazing piano intro on this song. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8lnvcsNNQQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Looking For a Man'</span></a> is the first indication on this disc of the Motown sound we all love and could have been a hit for Mary Wells this chirpy foot tapper is a very strong contender for being one of the best commercially sounding tracks on this set. Mable teams up with Singin' Sammy Ward on the upbeat <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/2af8c7e/Im-Yours,-Youre-Mine-(Duet-With-Sammy-Ward)-mable-john"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I'm Yours, Your Mine'</span></a> a much heavier arrangement than her other songs and a formulae that was to work wonders for Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye in 1964 - of particular note the drum beat was much heavier on this recording and was a sign of things to come. It is well known that Berry Gordy utilised some of the artists on the label to provide backing vocals on songs for other artists you'll find a stellar performance from non other than the Supremes on <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/ebdd059/Im-Finally-Through-With-You-mable-john"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I'm Finally Through With You'</span></a> where on close inspection they have used a similar backing vocal to Marvin Gaye's 'Stubborn Kinda Fellow' to complement what is great song full of commercial promise which sadly failed to materialise into a hit song. Examination of the track <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/7bb8d6b/Say-Youll-Never-Let-Me-Go-mable-john"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Say You'll Never Let Me Go'</span></a> released as a 'B' side finds a gorgeous gospel flavoured ballad featuring the Temptations on backing. The disc closes with the HDH written <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/805cc54/Meet-Me-Halfway-mable-john"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Meet Me Halfway'</span></a> which whilst being unreleased at the time could have been a single release and rates as good as anything else out at that time. Some fans might prefer the funkier stuff that John recorded later in the '60s for Stax (as heard on the <a href="http://supersoulsisters.blogspot.com/2009/02/mable-john-stay-out-of-kitchen-1993.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Stay Out of the Kitchen</span></a> compilation), but this anthology is strong enough to appeal to general fans of early soul music, not just specialist collectors. http://sixtiesmotown.co.uk/, http://www.answers.com/</div><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span><br /><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=35a5034" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-20252621243707740962009-12-21T01:56:00.001-08:002009-12-21T02:06:32.559-08:00VA: Girl Crazy - 20 Northern Soul Tracks by Female Artists (2006)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTCubugepHweDocm96b0uqezn_ku9NvDGcHWvc9KM2m_tvkpx0Qf-QC-SNFCDSf1C3n2IsXUNYlAYx9zCBLNvVDV2Lcb8DNc6hku6jN9Y0rx2-ml1CRQcS__9vC8OyMvqxv09VGYpw74/s1600-h/Front.BMP"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414804886189390418" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTCubugepHweDocm96b0uqezn_ku9NvDGcHWvc9KM2m_tvkpx0Qf-QC-SNFCDSf1C3n2IsXUNYlAYx9zCBLNvVDV2Lcb8DNc6hku6jN9Y0rx2-ml1CRQcS__9vC8OyMvqxv09VGYpw74/s200/Front.BMP" border="0" /></a> The ladies are taking over ... or at least that's the case on this great compilation from the folks at Goldmine! This package pushes away a bit from their usual Northern Soul bag, and explores the world of female soul in the '60s, still in a way that's very much in the rare indie mode we've come to expect from Goldmine, but with a focus on tunes that mix uptempo soul with sweeter girl group numbers. Put aside any fears you may have about this stuff being too pop, or too oldies-focused, because the set's hip soul all the way through, with a good mix of standout names from the indie scene, plus a few others yet to be discovered. 20 tracks in all, with titles that include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri3kROoe6gQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Bad Love'</span></a> by Marlene and the Debanettes, 'Third Time Under' by Third Tuesday, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF6zG3Sl8bM"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Only Cry Once a Day Now'</span></a> by The Puffs, 'What's Wrong with Me Baby' by The Toys, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2vlxfiEtns"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Just As Much'</span></a> by Kris Peterson, 'Stoney Face' by Barbara and The Castles, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71CD4qLXWVw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'In My Life'</span></a> by Linda Carr, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYbCn3woJtA"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'GI Joe We Love You'</span></a> by The Fantasions, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Z9fSptvlw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Head and Shoulders'</span></a> by Marlina Mars, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9kCUv95tak"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Ooh Boy'</span></a> by Adorables, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfHhvO39FzU"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Your Love'</span></a> by Miller Sisters, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIUQS2AcU3c"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Look What I Got'</span></a> by Gerri Thomas, 'Girl Crazy' by Gigi and The Charmaines, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynO91UoNthQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Sweet Talkin' Willie'</span></a> by Teri Nelson Group, 'Give Him Up' by Vicki Hill, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjt7A55vcWE"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'You're Something Else'</span></a> by Chris Calloway and 'It's Good Enough for Me' by The Sensations, among others. http://www.dustygroove.com/<br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object height="132" width="353"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=605f899" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eYpGKqAboM4&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eYpGKqAboM4&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-71730827969560824612009-12-20T02:22:00.000-08:002009-12-20T02:24:35.065-08:00Esther Phillips: From a Whisper to a Scream / Alone Again Naturally (1972) ... plus<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBncC16mEYfCLNWkpE8BWGnZqxHvxzk5utu_gy39ylQmFJOxZjLJ9nq9k0Sn9ED5paCpJ-WA8Sql2mRSbASKXbOHKstrTod0C462dVmCB5iNlxgIA-uTED1jxMkZjXEd3onQciRPjgIs/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 197px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415796769668727538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBncC16mEYfCLNWkpE8BWGnZqxHvxzk5utu_gy39ylQmFJOxZjLJ9nq9k0Sn9ED5paCpJ-WA8Sql2mRSbASKXbOHKstrTod0C462dVmCB5iNlxgIA-uTED1jxMkZjXEd3onQciRPjgIs/s200/Front.jpg" /></a>Two of her best albums ever, From a Whisper to a Scream and Alone Again Naturally (1972) really helped Esther Phillips transform her sound for the '70s. The approach in From a Whisper is a lot more jazzy than before, served up with a good dose of funk, thanks to arrangements from Pee Wee Ellis, fresh from his work with James Brown, but even more electrically-oriented here. The groove is great, and the album is one of the best Kudu sides from the early '70s: a perfect blend of soul, jazz, and funk, all wrapped up with a new level of sophistication that benefits all parties involved. Other players include Richard Tee on keyboards, Eric Gale on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, Airto on percussion, and Hank Crawford on alto sax. Titles include an incredible cover of Gil Scott Heron's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjZy-29vy7c"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Home Is Where the Hatred Is'</span></a>, plus <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_b9NLKzjcs"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'From a Whisper to a Scream'</span></a>, 'Till My Back Ain't Got No Bone', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s6C8jVHFn8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'That's All Right with Me'</span></a>, 'Scarred Knees', and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1z4_XxfRGk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Baby, I'm for Real'</span></a>. Recorded in late 1972, Alone Again Naturally was the follow-up to From a Whisper to a<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXcAlFsO_hnma1_tcZ9ARmaeBAMR7QsaY88ZmSyU-dYYvpfgT4VUlyyO2ZY7JLi6Gc_aAL3IE4H5bGOWO2ebGFYz9EKIYoY6kX9Mf-ZNqY_I-cJTukdppYuA1pL108AndiJTdXYG1n8M/s1600-h/Front2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 199px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415798582022516530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXcAlFsO_hnma1_tcZ9ARmaeBAMR7QsaY88ZmSyU-dYYvpfgT4VUlyyO2ZY7JLi6Gc_aAL3IE4H5bGOWO2ebGFYz9EKIYoY6kX9Mf-ZNqY_I-cJTukdppYuA1pL108AndiJTdXYG1n8M/s200/Front2.jpg" /></a> Scream. Producer Creed Taylor assembled a stellar cast of musicians - some of whom had already played on her previous effort -, including George Benson, Maceo Parker, Eric Gale, Bernard Purdie, Ron Carter, Richard Tee and Billy Cobham. Superb arrangements, again courtesy of Pee Wee Ellis and Don Sebesky, melded perfectly with Esther's smoky vocals to produce one of the finest albums of her career. Both critics and NARAS voters took note, the latter awarding Ms. Phillips a second Grammy nomination for this Kudu classic (the first being for From a Whisper). The album has got a great version of Bill Withers' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdw3kXmlkfo"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Use Me'</span></a> that features a tasty break in the intro, plus the cuts <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1R1T5K-l-g"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Alone Again (Naturally)'</span></a>, 'Let's Move and Groove', 'Cherry Red', <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/b143e1b/Let-Me-in-Your-Life-esther-phillips"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Let Me in Your Life'</span></a>, and 'You and Me Together'. There are also four bonus tracks: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAno_PYjVMk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'A Beautiful Friendship'</span></a>, 'How Blue Can You Get', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF_4KbEGNWk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't Run and Hide'</span></a>, and 'Brother, Brother'. http://www.dustygroove.com/</div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=0b4567f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><div align="justify"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l3SdX_kLxx0&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l3SdX_kLxx0&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-47102569709390932592009-12-18T00:27:00.001-08:002009-12-18T00:29:02.087-08:00Yvonne Carroll: Anthology (1963-1965)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3Pj6lMAMx5uhwgQ8a2RG_7Kf61p8N1PvqtabbjUwECV-cFi01lk97rcNShXTUwWsWsfVosv97cZlewHlh0fyuXhrG4gKFUOBQsxSTy_SFyYHCLXcJPOvq31n-PlksJsnKRUaiE8-Jtc/s1600-h/img_738648_9667744_1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416142701281662786" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3Pj6lMAMx5uhwgQ8a2RG_7Kf61p8N1PvqtabbjUwECV-cFi01lk97rcNShXTUwWsWsfVosv97cZlewHlh0fyuXhrG4gKFUOBQsxSTy_SFyYHCLXcJPOvq31n-PlksJsnKRUaiE8-Jtc/s200/img_738648_9667744_1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yvonne Carroll is a complete mistery to me. Actually, I didn't know about her existence until only a few days ago! I have been trying since to find any useful information about this rare early soul singer, with little success, I must say. All I found out is that she recorded about half-a-dozen 45s for different labels, including Vee-Jay, Domain and Challenge, during the early to mid-'60s. She also issued one single in 1963 as Yvonne Carroll and the Roulettes. But I was not able to find a complete discography list or something of the kind: <span style="color:#3333ff;"><a href="http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/yvonne_carroll"><span style="color:#3333ff;">this</span></a> </span>is the closest I could get (and mostly I did it myself!). Some of these sides are available on different Girl Group / Northern Soul compilations, but otherwise they are quite obscure and hard to get. Anyway, I have gathered here many of her recordings, though I couldn't find the B-side of the Northern Soul tune 'A Little Bit of Soap', 'Stop the Party', the A-side of 'Laugh or Cry', 'Magic Moment', and the 1963 Domain single 'Earth Angel' b/w 'My Sad Love'. Needless to say, a link to any of those would be appreciated! Highlights here include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VomvkLZ_eGE"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Please Don't Go'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utjqwuStV_w"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'There He Goes'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fks24PPd4d8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Stuck on You'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1RtS4DEvNo"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Gee What A Guy'</span></a> and 'How Long Must This Fool Pay' a song which bears more than a passing resemblance to Brenda Holloway's 'Every Little Bit Hurts'. Yvonne has got a really beautiful velvety voice which I am pretty sure you are going to love as much as I do! </div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=6520bd4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ttzil6ft29I&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ttzil6ft29I&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-67865159732385917472009-12-17T00:16:00.000-08:002009-12-17T00:17:58.831-08:00Bettye LaVette: Take Another Little Piece of My Heart (1969-1970) ... plus<div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415758008996108994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8s8DGFD64VqBriNgZPMQ_YnPC8dsJSe5-Y4IlNmf9uN_4rDvLvuMEjWMqYitGEcxfo8Chuk2-OTuakGPs2aF8Ku7_-yNqQnk0WZmOVEjz4hnWy8TGwUIseKBmyovrZMIYaLvVCLE5PHs/s200/Front.JPG" border="0" />Outside of R&B circles, LaVette has been something of an obscurity until recently. Her singles, released on a variety of independent labels, each with varying degrees of distribution competence, often stalled out mid-chart or failed to build on her earlier success. The result is a string of much sought after collector's items that never built the sort of overall legacy these works should have wrought. This compilation goes part of the way to rectifying this, pulling together material from 1969 and 1970 sessions that LaVette recorded with producer Lelan ("Brother of Kenny") Rogers for his Silver Fox label. Waxed in Memphis with a crack set of soul musicians (starring Jim Dickinson on keyboards, Charlie Freeman on guitar, bassist Tommy McLure, drummer Sammy Jackson, and a horn section), the core of whom would soon become The Dixie Flyers, these are hard-soul sides that frame the awesome rawness of LaVette's voice with sizzling horns up-top and funky, deep bass down below. The set includes all of her singles for the label, and her burning version of <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/97572ed/Piece-of-My-Heart-bettye-lavette"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Piece of My Heart,'</span></a> issued on the SSS label after Silver Fox<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgtJm_e-G_K4nVf0oQHq8CdOLuHipWs2yfI0KzfgtUPSUZ3OFKXNIQigY-BsdKFZDcTpVUQOat83X_PGcjXdS5eXQYjSCEe09ZBBNDzM0GCu1-vXdlnuIoJa927QsZ4xhgPoEISTkz_A/s1600-h/Inside.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415758128458329138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgtJm_e-G_K4nVf0oQHq8CdOLuHipWs2yfI0KzfgtUPSUZ3OFKXNIQigY-BsdKFZDcTpVUQOat83X_PGcjXdS5eXQYjSCEe09ZBBNDzM0GCu1-vXdlnuIoJa927QsZ4xhgPoEISTkz_A/s200/Inside.JPG" border="0" /></a> went under. Other highlights include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avQkL_Qky74"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'He Made a Woman Out of Me'</span></a>, a song that cranked its way to #25 R&B despite being banned by many radio stations down South, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me37hzxBjfA"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Do Your Duty'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Dh4mQkL38"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Games People Play'</span></a>. There are also some unreleased cuts, such as 'Hello Sunshine,' one of two duets with Hank Ballard (the other one is <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/d9b4c19/Lets-Go,-Lets-Go,-Lets-Go-hank-ballard-and-bettye-lavette"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go'</span></a>). The collection is stellar, the material is pure, gritty soul rooted in deep blues and R&B. LaVette had no gospel training, making her a pure soul singer. This is tough, rootsy material given an immediate, live-sounding treatment. The grooves are deep and wide — just check <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/cb1cfe5/My-Trains-Comin-In-bettye-lavette"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'My Train's Comin' In,'</span></a> or <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/87fcadf/Nearer-to-You-bettye-lavette"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Nearer to You'</span></a>, written by Allen Toussaint. This compilation is simply wonderful. There isn't a weak cut in the bunch, and it leaves the listener wondering how it came to pass that LaVette didn't become a superstar. I added <strong>two bonus tracks</strong> to the comp, her 1975 Epic B-side, written and produced by Ron Dunbar, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e66nstgBKVw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'You're a Man of Words, I'm a Woman of Action'</span></a>, and the previously unreleased track 'Waiting for Tomorrow'. http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.allmusic.com/</div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=279c0ab" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/279c0ab/Waiting-For-Tomorrow-Bettye-LaVette"></a></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify">Bettye LaVette performing 'He Made a Woman Out of Me' on the Lilac Festival Roch NY:</div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gqm5m87GxoE&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gqm5m87GxoE&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-82740845610634670302009-12-16T00:14:00.000-08:002009-12-16T00:18:10.120-08:00Lea Roberts: Excuse Me, I Want to Talk to You (1973) ... plus<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5JS0LZx0HiQKiaskX4uFHwGZgBacRelibm5bfFW7WV9we8afBs9AzBj0Ju0ZJwgJzuijap5UaBgWPN5BOs1p-4XnN8WZF4tgAozvEWcyCxAR1njQP3skVrwCjAeT5jaM2413nsL_-9k/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415482583586061106" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5JS0LZx0HiQKiaskX4uFHwGZgBacRelibm5bfFW7WV9we8afBs9AzBj0Ju0ZJwgJzuijap5UaBgWPN5BOs1p-4XnN8WZF4tgAozvEWcyCxAR1njQP3skVrwCjAeT5jaM2413nsL_-9k/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a>Unfortunately, it is not easy to find much info about Lea Roberts on the net (or elsewhere), which is quite hard to understand as she is such a gifted vocalist! Lea Roberts was born Leatha Roberta Hicks in Dayton, Ohio on 15 April, 1946 and she began to record in the late '60s-early '70s, when she issued two singles for Minit Records, 'Prove It' b/w 'When Something Is Wrong With My Baby' and <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/bd66a76/Love-on-My-Mind-lea-roberts"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Love on My Mind'</span></a> b/w 'Stay with Me'. She signed to United Artists in 1970, recording eleven singles for the label between 1970 and 1975. She released a couple of albums on UA, too: the first one - and her best - was Excuse Me, I Want to Talk to You (1973) and the second, which I posted months ago, was <a href="http://supersoulsisters.blogspot.com/2009/06/lea-roberts-lady-lea-1975.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">Lady Lea</span></a> (1975). Her debut, arranged by Wade Marcus, is a mixture of smooth and deep soul with some funky tracks. Highlights include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY_6ersM6jM"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'(If You Don't Want My Love) Give It Back'</span></a>, 'I Take My Fire with Me', <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/216db88/Im-Losing-My-Mind-lea-roberts"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I'm Losing My Mind'</span></a>, 'Maybe I Don't Show It', and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiCWmjLJCUo"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Jeremy'</span></a>. Roberts' R&B recording of Neil Sedaka's song <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/8dd6945/Laughter-in-the-Rain-lea-roberts"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Laughter in the Rain'</span></a>, which appears on Lady Lea, went to #20 on the R&B charts. As far as I know she released one final album entitled My Silent Place, on Skies Unlimited Records, in 1982. No need to say it would be more than appreciated if someone could share a copy of that one ... Lea Roberts' unique gospelised vocal stylings are something like a cross between Aretha Franklin, Della Reese and Judy Clay, if such a thing was possible. I am sure you are going to like this great soul singer, in case you din't know her. For those of you who already had this album, I have left a second link in the comments section with <strong>three extra tracks</strong>, consisting of two sides from her Minit years, plus one track of her 1982 album.<br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><object height="132" width="353"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=74d96a6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fvDwCB4Xzmo&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fvDwCB4Xzmo&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-29881366899301202542009-12-15T00:05:00.001-08:002009-12-15T00:05:49.467-08:00Baby Washington & Don Gardner - Lay a Little Lovin' on Me (1973) / Edwin Starr & Blinky - Just We Two (1969) ... plus<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46-tT5JtFEDmN0c4Di5LYrpCmCyMhzcKvK9AqABUXT2Teu4eeGRhjJeOEX92eI49xpjTdLrhsqxEudVG7VzvMJsAXaE90DcVUFLYwYroFLALsB7fJUheC48KMPdFXy2wa9htdMQC_GdU/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414662782090027442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 199px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46-tT5JtFEDmN0c4Di5LYrpCmCyMhzcKvK9AqABUXT2Teu4eeGRhjJeOEX92eI49xpjTdLrhsqxEudVG7VzvMJsAXaE90DcVUFLYwYroFLALsB7fJUheC48KMPdFXy2wa9htdMQC_GdU/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a>Two older '60s soul stars, Baby Washington and Don Gardner, team up in this early '70s album of sweet soul duets titled Lay a Little Lovin' on Me. Don had worked previously with Dee Dee Ford, and he is going for a similar style here with Baby Washington, with both singers trading off vocals, and one usually dominating the song more than the other. The groove is kind of early '70s indie, and the smoother numbers are the best. Arrangements are by Bobby Martin, Burt De Coteaux, and Paul Riser, and cuts include <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/f69ec8a/Were-Gonna-Make-It-Big-baby-washington-&-don-gardner"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'We're Gonna Make It Big'</span></a>, 'I Just Want to Be Near to You', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kURkyk0UqRs"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Baby Let Me Get Close to You'</span></a>, 'Can't Get Over Losing You', and <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/92206f3/Lay-A-Little-Lovin-On-Me-Baby-Washington-&-Don-Gardner"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me'</span></a>. Edwin Starr & Blinky Williams' Just We Two album opens up with a soulful rendition of 'You've Made Me So Very Happy,' a #2 hit for Blood, Sweat and Tears earlier in the year that was itself a cover of a Motown original by Brenda Holloway, and it concludes with the Smokey Robinson classic, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5AgUXANKhg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Ooo Baby Baby.'</span></a> One particular<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4XpveW1zCs0j4Vo3R92o9wxavg1ss4VwTroeZHh7Z-Lfb1LxHRVKP9EXRIad-NSSkxL4LaKJmSpmft4uCBIesawLJR-apjnDOlIhwEbS3qRFmhCpa1VbU92s7ZodFqKGAtZ66Wd_mck/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414663685639724642" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 196px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4XpveW1zCs0j4Vo3R92o9wxavg1ss4VwTroeZHh7Z-Lfb1LxHRVKP9EXRIad-NSSkxL4LaKJmSpmft4uCBIesawLJR-apjnDOlIhwEbS3qRFmhCpa1VbU92s7ZodFqKGAtZ66Wd_mck/s200/Front.jpg" border="0" /></a> standout in between is a new version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt3toviVsg8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Oh How Happy,'</span></a> which was written by Starr under his given name of Charles Hatcher for the group Shades of Blue in 1966. The cute duet grazed the lower reaches of the Hot 100 in the summer of 1969. Starr went on to record his signature hit, 'War,' the following year, so it's not a surprise that the pairing was so short-lived. But the reasoning behind the mass of powerhouse, unissued Blinky recordings remains one of Motown's many mysteries. As bonus tracks I added seven of those elusive Blinky's solo tracks, including 'The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsUj0lutLW0"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Wouldn't Change The Man He Is'</span></a>, 'This Time Last Summer' and 'Money', plus an extra duet with Edwin Starr, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkG8sh5o004"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Never Gonna Give You Up'</span></a>, which was unreleased at the time. http://classic.motown.com/, http://www.dustygroove.com/</div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object height="132" width="353"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=61b7966" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d3J08q1iIXg&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d3J08q1iIXg&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-53864346537299209632009-12-14T01:07:00.001-08:002009-12-14T02:46:22.976-08:00Etta James: The Second Time Around (1961)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmS8frEkmJTVTZ6nXI9mLdDH997H29Zq-copdti6vNmRcmGV8RoIH3tgQNRaiNmBUynwXIdrFU2O2KCtBbuQ9YRGlovq6fU0cBIYbgxYVuV5xwmep5f8Du_BYF81ICzj-OK9sV7AYQLs/s1600-h/back.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415040978204069954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmS8frEkmJTVTZ6nXI9mLdDH997H29Zq-copdti6vNmRcmGV8RoIH3tgQNRaiNmBUynwXIdrFU2O2KCtBbuQ9YRGlovq6fU0cBIYbgxYVuV5xwmep5f8Du_BYF81ICzj-OK9sV7AYQLs/s200/back.JPG" border="0" /></a>Etta James was just 22 when she made the recordings for this album in 1960 and '61, but she had already established herself as a youthful belter of spirited R&B numbers. The Second Time Around was originally released by Argo Records as a 45-inch LP, containing five tracks on each side of the LP (with ten tracks overall). Like her previous album, At Last!, producers, Phil and Leonard Chess added orchestral strings arranged and conducted by Riley Hampton to the background music of James's voice, which garnered her with Pop crossover appeal. Like Aretha Franklin in the same period, James felt pressure from recording executives to go in different directions. Chess was unsure whether to market her as an R&B singer or to press her toward mainstream adult pop and jazz. This album presents both sides of the coin, with James doing rousing R&B numbers such as 'Seven Day Fool' and the protosoul of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiHktoxEmQ4"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't Cry Baby,'</span></a> lounge tunes like <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/c64f040/One-for-My-Baby-etta-james"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'One for My Baby'</span></a>, the jazz-flavored ballad 'Fool That I Am,' Ellington's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc0iofqTts0"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't Get Around Much Anymore'</span></a> and a cover of the Pop standard <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e2XCYreSlQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Dream'</span></a>. It hardly matters, though, for James's emotional immediacy and potent delivery make all the material her own. The album spawned three singles, which all became major hits on the Hot Rhythm Blues Records and Billboard Pop Chart in 1961. Etta would surely do her best with later albums like Tell Mama, but on The Second Time Around one hears the singer at her peak in a swinging and varied program of blues, R&B, and jazz standards. http://en.wikipedia.org/, http://www.amazon.com/<br /></div><div align="justify"><object height="132" width="353"><br /><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=a751db1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/a751db1/Plum-Nuts-Etta-James"></a></div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/coHriGqRAMI&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/coHriGqRAMI&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-45573586457947307252009-12-13T00:55:00.000-08:002009-12-13T00:56:58.069-08:00Della Reese: Black Is Beautiful - The Avco Years (1969-1972)<div align="justify"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 190px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413314588432992242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9achM3LmCjwY-fHKUhPfZcdSbBrpgVQemGbZuqD32WgIIi6nKLoZ0dqK6YycLGW3t9XNtJUxPwDUmQAak4xwhNd8ufnJYBRp7ybAfoTQrZJmHw8-NgU0B6fK4fMEPs2iN8bGQ0FutKDE/s200/Front.jpg" />Della Reese is a renowned gospel singer, working with Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward before becoming lead singer with the Meditation Singers. Her place was taken by Laura Lee when she left to join the Erskine Hawkins orchestra in 1956. Reese began a solo recording career with Jubilee in 1957, releasing the Top 20 hit 'And That Reminds Me' and a version of Cole Porter’s 'In The Still of the Night'. Now established as a gospel-influenced ballad singer, she signed to RCA Records in 1959 where Hugo And Luigi produced 'Don’t You Know', based on an aria from Puccini’s opera La Bohème. It reached number 2 and was followed by the Top 20 single 'Not One Minute More'. Later RCA singles included revivals of 'Someday (You’ll Want Me to Want You)' (1960) from 1946 and the '20s standard 'Bill Bailey' (1961). During the '60s and '70s, she worked frequently in cabaret, recording for Avco and ABC Records, where she had a minor dance hit with the Northern Soul tune <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InkszRYcoBk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'If It Feels Good Do It'</span></a>, in 1972. Black Is Beautiful is<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9MlsU9kftsSV8dFHx05lFY3J529sM26mpZ13mHLDMhLfRZkKQORQyyfdNIWsLnIUnc0ZTC8M1FMKIuieR6KA4QfMgpA23xxy_b17Uccb9pyu_cpXvkdaGb6lvggnMmbKkYGp1JVULWA/s1600-h/reese_right.jpg"></a> one of the two fantastic albums Della released on Avco in the late-'60s to early-'70s. Nice stuff from a period when Della was forging a unique mix of country-soul, blues, gospel, funk and pop vocals into a<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsz4vrJObc0TD28D-0aAIPbOVlioDJo4GSHwo3Q4swcFx9kplZdEywHwaSfRzZ74ZnYUn4pdsIzqpJKMiEwPmV99nNBKZL5RYCJNtRxzYFdqftc_MHe4a_JEWrdpIS3-kap-kk-cOzjcI/s1600-h/avco33017.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413574989564386322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsz4vrJObc0TD28D-0aAIPbOVlioDJo4GSHwo3Q4swcFx9kplZdEywHwaSfRzZ74ZnYUn4pdsIzqpJKMiEwPmV99nNBKZL5RYCJNtRxzYFdqftc_MHe4a_JEWrdpIS3-kap-kk-cOzjcI/s200/avco33017.jpg" /></a> sophisticated blend that transcended all styles. Produced by Hugo & Luigi, the record features some really nice moments, like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhUm2fUT6mw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Games</span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggc1GzrHvCXBlqO0xR9A8B-UhoNdc48YAlol8wIWhVqofRGErZyYcLR5KkNwbzST_3ekNAIP8NDl3tDSkZ78uwe4ulCxpxEluVXYrPgdpiT5gi0xI3SVaRFYdZJBU7qOcUTZ4F7QlSn2w/s1600-h/avco33017.jpg"></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhUm2fUT6mw"><span style="color:#3333ff;"> People Play'</span></a>, a funky take on Eugene McDaniels' protest song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbOye7Ii5Zc"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Compared to What'</span></a>, a truly tip-top<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAznlLs56pMsrTQ7FqFlVJfXw-BhX9UnI7B1KL4mS5X-OF7EqnHNt4i3FanQdEiKl7XbRBIABYvL6B3TzqwUeEV3lSfK3UvaZuvvvakip79VXCchLWyVG0BUQ30dmdA1tXvMapelXbbIE/s1600-h/avco33017.jpg"></a> lick of The Impressions' classic <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_HH55tbZz4"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Choice of Colors'</span></a>, Bobby Goldsboro's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC6C5y-J7p0"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'With Pen In Hand'</span></a>, the beautiful country soul song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNeau_IHXeo"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Comment'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OxuHe4Z8Sg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Cycles'</span></a>. One curious note is that Black Is Beautiful was the only album of the Avco label to ever reach a chart, peaking at #44 R&B, in 1970. I have added <strong>14 bonus tracks</strong> from the same period, including a handful of singles, all but four of the cuts from her other album for the label, Right Now (1971), plus three songs which were not issued at the time. 24 tracks in all! http://www.oldies.com/, http://www.bsnpubs.com/ <em>For obvious reasons this post is dedicated to one of my dearest blog followers, Della! ;-)<br /></em><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=1ecadf6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5x6AOqCsxQc&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5x6AOqCsxQc&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-52649817912902069732009-12-12T00:36:00.000-08:002009-12-12T00:38:02.497-08:00VA: Troubles, Heartaches & Sadness - Hi Records' Deep Soul Sisters (1966-76)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtaJAGair4YAm8306XQ7QiteSW9RMA3mgukHXzyWP7SH2xRL3qPElmvcpKv92j48cV7LlI1lTBA1WImmF_2DyVz8UgZEZ9WVUAanjjW_cwwPWg6MQGhlCUNboJAM1xyVpfUucooTfOLc/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413894045236289554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLtaJAGair4YAm8306XQ7QiteSW9RMA3mgukHXzyWP7SH2xRL3qPElmvcpKv92j48cV7LlI1lTBA1WImmF_2DyVz8UgZEZ9WVUAanjjW_cwwPWg6MQGhlCUNboJAM1xyVpfUucooTfOLc/s200/Front.jpg" /></a> Whenever the classic sound of Memphis is discussed, the holy trinity of Stax, Goldwax and Hi dominate the proceedings. Although the Hi label was a relative latecomer in the soul stakes, it soon equalled, and often surpassed its rivals in both commercial and artistics terms. The company's roster was home to an array of talent, some already established, others fresh-faced and ready to roll, from whose ranks this collection of distaff delights has been assembled. Janet & the Jays' Memphis residence was brief, but the group's legacy, which includes Don Bryant's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-an4PesvLgk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Without a Reason'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR6flfIJpWA"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Love What You're Doing to Me'</span></a>, stands proudly among the finest Hi product of all time. Ann Peebles made her R&B chart debut in 1969 with her very first single, the start of a decade of chartbusters and, finally, the breakthrough into the soul market that had since eluded Hi. Four of Peebles' classic cuts are featured here, including <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQcdFqQ0XeY"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Give Me Some Credit'</span></a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSiXBXNthB8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Troubles, Heartaches & Sadness'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeGSVCSrm_U"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Run Run Run'</span></a>. Memphis' best secret, Toni Green, was the lead vocalist of Imported Moods, a harmony outfit whose 'What Have You Done to My Heart' was released on the label in 1970. Five years before ex-fashion model Veniece joined Hi, released two singles pdq and promptly disappeared from the recording scene for six years. She returned from that hiatus with the driving downhome saga <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/e2105fa/Stepchild-Veniece"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Stepchild'</span></a>, prompting a trip to Europe supporting Wilson Pickett. A revival of Otis Clay's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dtwjYLz7g"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Trying to Live My Life Without You'</span></a> in 1975 proved to be her farewell disc. Signed to Hi Records, Quiet Elegance were produced by Willie Mitchell and Dan Greer, who acting independently, whip up a batch of hot, tough Southern sounds as magnificent as their debut single, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxUHCmseaFY"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I'm Afraid of Losing You'</span></a>. Blue-eyed soul trio Joint Venture worked for several years as in-house back-up singers for Al Green before releasing one of the greatest 45s to find on the label, 'What Have You Done to My Heart', in 1970. One of their members, Donna Rhodes, recorded solo 'Where's Your Love Been' three years later. Erma Coffee's 1973 Hi single coupled her version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gufPh51ZCyI"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Any Way the Wind Blows'</span></a> and 'You Made Me What I Am', both included here. She later recorded as Irma Coffee for Tamtown. Chicagoan soul diva Jean Plum arrived at Hi Records in 1975, where she debuted with the remarkable “soft-deep” double-header 'Look at the Boy' and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40SijYKtJ8Q"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Back to You'</span></a>. Talking to the British publication Blues & Soul the following year, the singer expressed her excitement at the completion of sessions for her first album. The inclusion of treasures like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSw3BxMV_SU"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Loneliness'</span></a> and her supremely soulful interpretations of Aretha Franklin’s <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/36587be/Today-I-Sing-The-Blues-Jean-Plum"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Today I Sing the Blues'</span></a> would surely have ensured a top quality se but, sadly, the LP was never released. The 1976 single <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy15BAc9Zpw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Love Him'</span></a> was Plum’s only other release until her final platter two years later. Meanwhile Hi girl group Known Facts delivered their impressive two-sider 'He's Got It' and 'How Can I Believe You', in 1975; same year that the Duncan Sisters issued <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/e09511d/Its-You-That-I-Need-duncan-sisters"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'It's You That I Need'</span></a>, their only outing on Hi. The fact that Ann Peebles alone amongst this talented asemblage hit the big time, detracts not one jot from the greats sounds laid down by her equally deserving labelmates, whom posterity has, at last, granted a wider and more appreciative audience than they attracted back in the day. <em>Partially Taken from the original liner notes.</em></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=0bfa72b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><div align="justify"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8rMU_qXqQ5w&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8rMU_qXqQ5w&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-61188201159679648762009-12-11T00:03:00.000-08:002009-12-11T00:14:03.771-08:00Deniece Williams: This Is Niecy / Song Bird (1976-1977) ... plus<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRri3trzh6ZSNkfOyzH9ApB_JsXLJHeKL2nLeV7b0VUWypPpq-GfJesC7kB4RaPdrJNNXvUUxn5w269XNj95pDMfS4oK8LomSuA6jToo6S2porH5RKUWZicd2NeGEFEIUhq_Jz6XKlwak/s1600-h/folder.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413193502979422994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 199px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRri3trzh6ZSNkfOyzH9ApB_JsXLJHeKL2nLeV7b0VUWypPpq-GfJesC7kB4RaPdrJNNXvUUxn5w269XNj95pDMfS4oK8LomSuA6jToo6S2porH5RKUWZicd2NeGEFEIUhq_Jz6XKlwak/s200/folder.jpg" border="0" /></a>Deniece Williams spent the first half of the '70s establishing herself as a background vocalist for an impressive line of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Minnie Riperton, Roberta Flack, and Esther Phillips. Though she'd continue to do session work throughout her career, she also became accomplished as a solo artist. Unfortunately, a lot of people think she came out of nowhere for 1984's 'Let's Hear It for the Boy,' a number one pop hit, but she was making excellent albums as early as 1976. The songs that would eventually make up her debut, This Is Niecy, were sent to Earth, Wind & Fire. Williams didn't intend to make her own album and thought these songs would be a good fit for Philip Bailey. Instead, she got to record them with most of EW&F, including Maurice White and Charles Stepney as producers, Verdine White on bass, Freddie White on drums, those glorious horns, and several other associates of the group. Three of the album's seven songs were released as singles, and they're all stunners, each with its own mood and style (fittingly, one peaked on the dance chart, one hit the Top 30 of the pop chart, and one scraped the black singles chart). The best of the lot is 'Free,' a subtle but powerful sparkler that expressed Williams' desire to break from the more traditional lifestyle that ha<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWsAuHY-LTon2MvYHEezd0Foz0q98xGc1QAOzmqFJmn8Disi4W_sue9IqDHdG6_Hfv-LMmX24olbdH6jHX-Qp4ybvzOaTjae5mxIn9IWoVk2hr9ZTRDBH26xEJw8YzxZYsqiCc4qli-c/s1600-h/o73159.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413199170839548626" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWsAuHY-LTon2MvYHEezd0Foz0q98xGc1QAOzmqFJmn8Disi4W_sue9IqDHdG6_Hfv-LMmX24olbdH6jHX-Qp4ybvzOaTjae5mxIn9IWoVk2hr9ZTRDBH26xEJw8YzxZYsqiCc4qli-c/s200/o73159.jpg" border="0" /></a>d been mapped out for her. Out of everything she recorded, this low-key song demonstrates most how her time with Riperton and Syreeta rubbed off on her, showing how a bedroom whisper can be just as affecting as an in-the-red wail. The album also featured <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ4rI2Ltv0M"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Cause You Love Me Baby'</span></a> (which charted separately on the R&B chart as the flip side of 'Free'), 'That's What Friends Are For' and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3OzE1H1meQ"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'How'd I Know That Love Would Slip Away'</span></a>. I included here as well her second LP for Columbia. Titled Song Bird, it was released a year later, in 1977, and was also a Maurice White production with great moments, like the number 13 single <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X6-AwkjGZI"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Baby, Baby My Love's All for You'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9WgU0dS8ws"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'God Is Amazing'</span></a>, but This Is Niecy remains her best effort. As a <strong>bonus track</strong> I added the single version of 'Free'. http://www.allmusic.com/<br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=2122146" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify">Deniece Williams performing her classic 'Free':</div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zu0tt20UJag&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zu0tt20UJag&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-12918125915279517252009-12-10T02:30:00.001-08:002009-12-10T02:33:57.854-08:00Ruby Winters: Songbird - The Anthology (1966-1979)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu39QNSqIYVFFIk3UNYZyPmmPJlRIf3_oj33VWSvJYvAtlO3dqc5Vo2CIf-W0dEnOukHUaNMewgzb3JkyPOGBdUEO8eCFqp7msXvwa2ilSt9EAI3C4pX_kVTDw2QW7Kefg0NLr9nWwvc/s1600-h/59068_300.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412099872559028802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu39QNSqIYVFFIk3UNYZyPmmPJlRIf3_oj33VWSvJYvAtlO3dqc5Vo2CIf-W0dEnOukHUaNMewgzb3JkyPOGBdUEO8eCFqp7msXvwa2ilSt9EAI3C4pX_kVTDw2QW7Kefg0NLr9nWwvc/s200/59068_300.jpg" border="0" /></a>Ruby Winters recorded several energetic soul singles for tiny labels throughout the late '60s and early '70s, but never could break out beyond regional status. She was born in Kentucky, but raised in Cinncinnati, and had her first chart hit in 1967, teaming with Johnny Thunder for a duet remake of Jo Stafford's 1954 single <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/554c3cf/Make-Love-To-Me-ruby-winters"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Make Love to Me,'</span></a> for Diamond Records. Their version peaked at number 13 on the R&B charts. Ruby was one of the mainstays at Diamond for close to four years, between 1966 and 1969. She had another Top 20 hit with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lGDV7WEcVw"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Don't Want to Cry'</span></a> in 1969 for the label, and one Top 20 single in 1969 with 'Guess Who'. But<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Uan4YGzJCVnO-DdJSHIa4XN95cnVhXbunQyI_g9M9v740ZqqynjUO-5OIkx-BhqqhcbgGTmf83Mkhs5zTZpLT094u80XkAP7V6L9b1g2qli2iEDv7_B1CHD1vLBKW9GVN3V-HrRzXcM/s1600-h/Ruby+Winters.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412170465818101538" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Uan4YGzJCVnO-DdJSHIa4XN95cnVhXbunQyI_g9M9v740ZqqynjUO-5OIkx-BhqqhcbgGTmf83Mkhs5zTZpLT094u80XkAP7V6L9b1g2qli2iEDv7_B1CHD1vLBKW9GVN3V-HrRzXcM/s200/Ruby+Winters.jpg" border="0" /></a> she would get caught up in the Diamond Records shutdown and shift over to Certron records for one release in 1970 (allegedly Certron bought the Diamond masters), before scoring a surprise hit in the mid-'70s with her cover of the Dick Glasser standard, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s44OTbqBC3k"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Will'</span></a>. She would release an album with the same title in 1978. Later hit singles for her included the songs 'I Won't Mention It Again', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s44OTbqBC3k"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Come to Me!'</span></a> and 'Baby Lay Down', all of which made it into the UK Singles Chart in the late '70s. The last two appeared on her last album Songbird, released on K-Tel in 1979. I have gathered here 14 of her '60s sides, including her duet with Johnny Thunder, plus her complete 1978 album I Will, and half a dozen tracks <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpPlv-d0x-jWDHzkN6bxO7y7lZNZG3rgBJSOnA7vkiMu4fMlbFEMIzThmRlzwd7k8qdBI35vRcfVWu4nIZkCrUvVj0WuwpLZzqjUK8__cOZpmBneL9KRFAh7xSMgRW3sP_3saRuMI2c4/s1600-h/Ruby+Winters+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412548406268670402" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpPlv-d0x-jWDHzkN6bxO7y7lZNZG3rgBJSOnA7vkiMu4fMlbFEMIzThmRlzwd7k8qdBI35vRcfVWu4nIZkCrUvVj0WuwpLZzqjUK8__cOZpmBneL9KRFAh7xSMgRW3sP_3saRuMI2c4/s200/Ruby+Winters+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>from 1979's Songbird. Highlights include the Northern Soul cuts <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Wwh-45m6g"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Better'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7dRkM9wG5A"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Want Action'</span></a>, 'I Don't Want to Hurt Nobody', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v89mcrExZ4"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Just Like A Yo-Yo'</span></a>, 'The Bells of St. Mary's', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9RTqenFGU8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Always David'</span></a>, Kris Kristofferson's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFbT-IyxJfk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'For The Good Times'</span></a>, her impressive debut single <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1zkLe_rDak"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'In the Middle of a Heartache'</span></a>, and the wonderful deep soul ballad <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilFOrMCZ4xM"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Try Me'</span></a>, <strong>32 songs in all!!</strong> http://en.wikipedia.org/<br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object height="132" width="353"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=4b45613" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/4b45613/The-Bells-of-St.-Marys-ruby-winters"></a></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify">Ruby Winters performing the classic 'I Will':</div><div align="justify"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lkz5hmpUaK0&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lkz5hmpUaK0&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-21334294099646276772009-12-09T00:26:00.001-08:002009-12-09T00:27:58.224-08:00Penny Goodwin: Portrait of a Gemini (1974)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTiL0RePNsXKIGpzPChEwj8EoyAa-vtKBpJ6yn292F44y8MI3A0eW94xqJ-aAB6gTrF8WSvvmJz9qrwBCnft9jYitJPlrBx8Srn5DX3bXu8C2jsawU9t5KiB8o2kFa3a03sCuwQVdi_ME/s1600/961939.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410245354801988386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 194px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTiL0RePNsXKIGpzPChEwj8EoyAa-vtKBpJ6yn292F44y8MI3A0eW94xqJ-aAB6gTrF8WSvvmJz9qrwBCnft9jYitJPlrBx8Srn5DX3bXu8C2jsawU9t5KiB8o2kFa3a03sCuwQVdi_ME/s200/961939.jpg" border="0" /></a>A legendary bit of jazzy soul recorded by Penny Goodwin, an obscure female singer from Milwaukee. Penny has a warm style that is pretty darn nice on its own, but it's made even better by the great arranger Richard Evan, who helped out a lot on the session, along with Phil Upchurch (G), and Morris Jennings (Ds). The feel is very much in the Chicago sophisti-soul mode and, at times, the record sounds a lot like Marlena Shaw's best work in the '70s, particularly her sides for Blue Note in the early part of the decade. Originally released on a Milwaukie Label, only 2000 copies were Pressed. Used vinyl copies of the original Portrait of a Gemini album were going for five hundred dollars in the collectors market at one point. It includes the great original <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SK1EX7P6sI"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Too Soon You're Old'</span></a> - a jazz dance classic for many years - plus a stellar cover of Gil Scott Heron's 'Lady Day & John Coltrane', and the tracks <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/c675269/Hes-Come-Back-penny-goodwin"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'He's Come Back'</span></a>, 'Amazing Grace', <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/3c41dbb/Slow-Hot-Wind-penny-goodwin"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Slow Hot Wind'</span></a>, 'Today Is the First Day' and <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/82b69ab/Rain-Sometimes-penny-goodwin"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Rain Sometimes'</span></a>. It also features a has-to-be-heard-to-be-believed version of Marvin Gaye's <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/5bb96ae/Whats-Going-On-penny-goodwin"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'What's Goin' On'</span></a>. http://www.dustygroove.com/, http://www.amazon.com/</div><div align="justify"><object height="132" width="353"><br /><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=d444078" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-2692450276741611202009-12-08T01:26:00.000-08:002009-12-08T01:38:14.435-08:00Dusty Springfield: Where Am I Going (1967) ... plus<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXFxIfXD03t5KGa6mc-RspODMJWcXwiv58qtmHuFZX9VLFyE7eFOOmdO1JgoDV3ZT-ttXYtui9P-7YFcatFV8Y3xifSp_N5Bt0Zx5VLMwBYHL9K7KIDv8WH27iaDNoA6MQMl9n8EltGU/s1600-h/Front.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412442764553380194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXFxIfXD03t5KGa6mc-RspODMJWcXwiv58qtmHuFZX9VLFyE7eFOOmdO1JgoDV3ZT-ttXYtui9P-7YFcatFV8Y3xifSp_N5Bt0Zx5VLMwBYHL9K7KIDv8WH27iaDNoA6MQMl9n8EltGU/s200/Front.jpg" /></a>Where Am I Going is a phenomenal album by Dusty Springfield, and though it doesn't have any American chart hits made famous by the icon, it would have been a blessing had every single performance here conquered the Top 40. The British version contains 12 tracks, while the U.S. counterpart, entitled The Look of Love, has 11, four of which are not on the vinyl version of this: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyWeWNAr-4Q"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Look of Love,'</span></a> 'Small Town Girl,' <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/3e648fe/WHATS-IT-GONNA-BE-dusty-springfield"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'What's It Gonna Be,'</span></a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VuNVnZOpXg"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Give Me Time'</span></a> (I have added all these as bonus tracks). To further complicate things, this '90s reissue contains three extra cuts, including 'Time After Time,' 'I've Got a Good Thing' and the Goffin/King tune <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRAAg-HuTEM"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't Forget About Me'</span></a>. The LP cover is great — a black and white of a smiling Springfield with wide-brimmed hat, mini skirt, and a comic book quotation in psychedelic off-pink and orange stating Where Am I Going. The music inside with strings and orchestration is a relentless delight. The Pat Williams arrangement of Bobby Hebb's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehy6VjLU8DY"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Sunny'</span></a> with conductor Peter Knight reveals a touch of the James Bond riff, a definite sign of the times. One can hear the wondrous voices of Madeline Bell and Lesley Duncan, the backing voices blending perfectly with the orchestration in songs like 'I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face' and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHYAPXA2iyk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't Let Me Lose This Dream.'</span></a> 'Where Am I Going?' is as perfectly surreal as its title suggests — imagine Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music twirling around in the windmills of Springfield's mind. This is not the driving pop of 'I Only Want to Be With You' or 'Wishin' & Hopin',' this is symphonic adult contemporary. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53zaLpKpxM"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'They Long to Be Close to You'</span></a> is the serious and dramatic blues that the Carpenters aspired to develop. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQuZ-XFxAL8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Welcome Home'</span></a> is out of this world rhythm & blues told with authority. It and other tracks from Where Am I Going? puts Springfield in that elite class reserved for the best of Janis Joplin, Etta James, and Ella Fitzgerald — female vocalists who found notes in niches of songs that were unavailable to lesser mortals. While Springfield was filling the airwaves in America with 'The Son of a Preacher Man' toward the end of 1968, a band called Vanilla Fudge had <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8xFP14YM9Y"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Take Me for a Little While'</span></a> on the U.S. charts, but their disc was issued in July of 1967 and their success in the States was a delayed reaction. Dusty Springfield takes that great composition and turns it into snappy pop with an amazing vocal. Add <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyCVxPEPx5Y"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'If You Go Away'</span></a> and the musicians on these grooves take the listener on a wild ride running the gamut of genres without disrupting Where Am I Going?'s flow. This is a tremendous and often forgotten masterpiece in the repertoire of Dusty Springfield which deserves more attention. It truly is the record which keeps on giving. http://www.allmusic.com/<br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">a</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=4fe04d2" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/4fe04d2/Bring-Him-Back-Dusty-Springfield"></a></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify">Dusty singing live 'Time After Time' on her TV show in 5 September 1967. Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is a REAL singer:</div><div align="justify"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5PK_ZhXkGxs&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5PK_ZhXkGxs&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><div align="justify">The great diva performing her 1967 single 'What's It Gonna Be':</div><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zg3lpGEoJFg&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zg3lpGEoJFg&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1306716206449258376.post-51367592143320145912009-12-07T01:32:00.000-08:002009-12-07T01:33:19.410-08:00Ty Karim: The Complete Ty Karim - Los Angeles' Soul Goddess (1965-1980)<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFAvDqEZU_tNin_9rKm-d9-9oB010IH3AyVgcHdsFhl-e94UBZqSW0K_x58AZ0CZUBQm9Jmt8yAl1LXopKVJ9tlzfdAtm8pRvzRVNCT5Fs2qyb8g15Rj2sf3ZgeiZ8BVzE8T7y1PRym6E/s1600/10446.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409822843414800386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFAvDqEZU_tNin_9rKm-d9-9oB010IH3AyVgcHdsFhl-e94UBZqSW0K_x58AZ0CZUBQm9Jmt8yAl1LXopKVJ9tlzfdAtm8pRvzRVNCT5Fs2qyb8g15Rj2sf3ZgeiZ8BVzE8T7y1PRym6E/s200/10446.jpg" /></a>A tall, elegant and emotionally dynamic singer, Ty Karim was a local legend on the L.A. soul circuit, although she never really received her due on a national level despite having released several powerful dance tracks on various small labels from the mid-'60s through the early '80s. Most of her releases, which included the Northern Soul favourite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0_2EkSZb0o"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Lighten Up Baby,'</span></a> were produced by her second husband Kent Harris, whose own singing career was all but over when the two met. Harris devoted his creative energy to Karim's career, wisely featuring and giving full reign to her husky voice on their productions, many of which originally appeared on Harris' own Romark imprint. A 12" collaboration with George Griffin, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoJs2EPr8k8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Keep on Doin' Whatcha' Doin','</span></a> in the early '80s was a hit in the U.K. and brought Karim a good deal of attention in Europe. Karim died in 1983, and aside from serious fans of soul and R&B, her impressive body of work was all but forgotten. Such a shame, as she was a hell of a great talent, starting out in the '60s with upbeat Northern Soul groovers, then moving into the '70s with material that was even deeper, and a bit more sophisticated laidback numbers that really show a maturation in style, and which are filled with wonderful twists and turns. Ty's vocals have a burning quality that's quite surprising, given her kittenish look on the cover, making the whole package a really wonderful journey in soul. And although most of the tracks here were recorded by tiny indie labels, they often have a very full, spacious approach to production - one that's really trying to hit the heights of Detroit or New York at the time. A good number of these cuts weren't issued at the time, and together with the rare singles, they really go a long way towards filling in the gaps in Ty's too-short career on record. Titles include <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMSl0IqKs5A"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'I Ain't Lying'</span></a>, 'Natural Do', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1v85Vf5haU"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'You Really Made It Good To Me'</span></a>, 'Help Me Get That Feeling Back Again', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD4EzpgZyx8"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'All at Once'</span></a>, 'Only a Fool', <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eds8sLks8bk"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Lightin Up'</span></a> (the the '70s remake of 'Lighten Up Baby'), 'I Ain't Lying', <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/672aeda/YOU-JUST-DONT-KNOW-ty-karim"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'You Just Don't Know'</span></a>, 'I'm Leavin' You', and <a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/982d4a5/Dont-Make-Me-Do-Wrong-ty-karim"><span style="color:#3333ff;">'Don't Make Me Do Wrong.'</span></a> Ty was along with so many other artists such as Sandi Sheldon, Bettye Swann or Dee Dee Warwick, a marvellous artist who never broke through to the mainstream. However the quality of her music is undeniable and this set is essential for fans of '60s and '70s soul music. Thanks to Daniele for this one!! http://www.allmusic.com/, http://www.dustygroove.com/<br /></div><div align="justify"><span style="color:#ffffff;">aa</span></div><div align="justify"><object width="353" height="132"><embed src="http://www.goear.com/files/external.swf?file=a6b19d4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" quality="high" width="353" height="132"></embed></object><a href="http://www.goear.com/listen/a6b19d4/Only-a-Fool-Ty-Karim"></a></div>Noelia Almenarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08343867402675879639noreply@blogger.com10