Funk my Soul

Ultra-rare soul masterpiece…

Here’s another wall record for all you private soul collectors. This one speaks for itself if you are an avid digger. I really don’t have to say much about this one. A near impossible Lp to find. Check here how much it costs.

By posting this album, I would like to give my sincere and warm thanks to all of you who have donated to this blog. With your help, we are in a course of obtaining several rare lp’s, that it would be very hard to obtain otherwise. I would also like to assure you that every USD you donate is used exclusively for purchasing such great albums, that will be posted here as soon as I will get them.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original J. Bridge Records LP including covers.

Tracks
A1. I Can Feel Your Love 3.17
A2. I’m So Glad You Came Along 2.55
A3. Rainy Night 3.13
A4. Cream Of The Crop 2.23
A5. I’m So Lonely 8.21
B1. Have I Really Love You 2.51
B2. Now You’re Gone 2.23
B3. You Will Always Be A Part Of Me 3.14
B4. Don’t Take Your Love 4.23
B5. Make Believe 3.49

Album Review by Trakbuv

“Move over O’J’s, Spinners and Temps. The fire may be comin’, but ‘Smoke’ is here” boasts the sleeve notes. This heralds the male quartet’s first and only album, ‘Risin’. The ensemble consisted of Ernest and Arthur Malone, Melvin Manning and Larry Brown, all hailing from Kansas City, and all very capable of taking centre stage. If only for this reason, the opening claim holds some water. Personally, the band come across as a blend of many premium soul groups of the day, with the Ebonys and Impressions coming to mind.

The material is a nice cross-section of mid-70’s soul, all composed (with the exception of the final track) by Elmer Overton, who also co-produced the sessions with Les Matthews. I am unfamiliar with either personnel, but the arranger, one Benjamin F Wright, Jr, is renowned for his sympathetic support of many top acts, including the Chi-Lites, Dells, and the Temps. Backed by prominent Chicago session musicians (Burgess Gardner, Don Myrick, John Bishop, Vince Willis, etc), the recording has a very competent, not overly-polished sheen. Very very nice indeed.
The strength for me in the recording is the diversity of sounds on offer. There is ‘I’m so glad’ with a captivating two-step arrangement and vocal reminiscent of Leroy Hutson, the lead also giving the more bouncy ‘You will always’ a commercial edge. Then we have a glorious falsetto with incredible clarity exhibited on ‘Now you’re gone’ and ‘Don’t take your love’. And we also have a tenor with a gruff edge that the Ebonys would have enjoyed. He drains every strand of his vocal chords with his expressive charge in the sombre, organ-lead ‘I’m so lonely’, an 8 minute opus, and the similarly toned ‘Make believe’, with some mighty fine harmonies. Also special mention to ‘Have I really lost you’ as possibly the best vocal showcase for the group.

Curiously, my favourite track, the lilting ‘Rainy Night’, boasting a warm, engaging falsetto, is apparently on a Smooth Jazz CD by Donald Harrison entitled ‘3D vol.1’. Completely misplaced, it has accredited the artist to Elmer Overton, its composer and producer.

Gratitude should be forthcoming to Nikos for sharing his recent acquisition with the rest of us, one I’m confident you will get a lot of enjoyment from.”

You can buy the vinyl here or here and a japanese cd release here.

Listen up the wonderful “Rainy Night”

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A great sweet soul album.

The first album by John Edwards a richly talented vocalist who would go onto become the lead singer of the Spinners in later years, singing on some of their last big hits. This album’s a very different effort and features John singing in a deep Southern Soul style, mixed with the smoother production of the Hotlanta scene. The real strength of the record, though, is the songs as John sings a great set of tracks by writers like Sam Dees (”I’ll Be Your Puppet”, “Claim Jumpin”, “Stop This Merry Go Round”), Jimmy Lewis (”Careful Man”), Floyd Smith (”You Were Made For Love”, and Bobby & Linda Womack (”It’s A Groove”). Nice stuff, and the production and arranging’s as strong as the writing!

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Aware Records LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 Stop This Merry-Go-Round (2:58)
A2 Spread The News (2:29)
A3 Careful Man (2:33)
A4 Claim Jumpin (2:25)
A5 I’ll Be Your Puppet (3:25)
B1 You Were Made For Love (3:14)
B2 Messing Up A Good Thing (2:56)
B3 It’s A Groove (3:00)
B4 Exercise My Love (5:05)

Arranged By - Skip Lane
Producer - Floyd Smith

Once an extremely popular regional attraction, John Edwards moved from the chitin circuit to the big time when he joined the Spinners. Born in St. Louis, Edwards began singing in men’s clubs while stationed in Germany during his Army days. When he was discharged, Edwards came to Columbus, GA. He appeared once with Wilson Pickett and then did several dates in Chicago, where he met Curtis Mayfield in 1968. Mayfield got Edwards a session at Weis Records and Jo Armstead produced “If I Don’t Lose My Head” in 1969. Armstead produced other singles for Weis and Twin Stacks before Edwards moved to Bell in 1972. Floyd Smith co-wrote and produced “The Look on Your Face,” after which Edwards moved again to Aware, in 1973. Smith produced his LP John Edwards, and “Messing up a Good Thing” generated some attention. But it was “Careful Man” in 1974 that got Edwards his first and only hit as a single act; it reached number eight. When Aware folded, Edwards did a few dates with The Spinners in 1973, but continued his solo career with Cotillion. His 1976 LP Life Love and Living contained some excellent deep soul tunes, particularly “Baby, Hold on to Me,” but didn’t get much attention. Edwards joined The Spinners full-time in 1977 and remains with them currently. “Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl” and “Cupid/I’ve Loved You for a Long Time” in 1980 are the biggest Spinners hits featuring Edwards to date.

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John Edwards - 1976 - Life Love and Living

Kind of a key transitional point for Edwards slicker than his southern soul material for the Aware label, but not as polished as his work with The Spinners later in the 70s. The album was produced by David Porter, and has an odd Carribean groove on many cuts not really reggae, but with kind of a light tropical flourish over the top. The real strength, though, is Edwards’ voice which on the best cuts has a strong vibe that runs the gamut of southern soul influences (Al Green, Sam Dees, and others) from the time. Titles include “You, Trouble, & Me”, “That’s That”, “The Key To My Life”, and “Baby, Hold On To Me”.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Cotillion Records LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 I (Who Have Nothing) (3:29)
A2 Honey, I Don’t Mind (3:11)
A3 Forced To Fight (This Losing Battle) (3:07)
A4 The Key To My Life (4:02)
A5 Thats, That (3:24)
A6 Sister Rose (3:00)
B1 You, Trouble And Me (6:19)
B2 (You’ve Got) My Mind Working Overtime (4:44)
B3 Baby, Hold On To Me (4:53)
B4 Nobody, But You (4:07)

You can buy John Edwards’ vinyl here or here and listen his first hit “If I Don’t Use My Head”

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The Four Tops - 1972 - Keepers Of The Castle

This is another excellent contribution from my dear friend Trakbuv who has a deep Knowledge of Soul and Funk and loves the Four Tops :

“Hi Folks – Here are 2 of my favourite Four Tops LPs from my favourite period of theirs at ABC records. After leaving the security of the fame they enjoyed at Motown, they elected for an untested tenancy with Dunhill Records, a label more synonymous with pop, folk and country-based material. Fortunately, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter were able to woo the mighty Four with their demos, and the rest was, for me, a marriage made in vinyl heaven.

Tracks
A1 Keeper Of The Castle (3:00)
A2 Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got) (3:04)
A3 Put A Little Love Away (3:03)
A4 Turn On The Light Of Your Love (3:36)
A5 When Tonight Meets Tomorrow (3:41)
A6 Love Music (3:35)
B1 Remember What I Told You To Forget (3:50)
B2 (I Think I Must Be) Dreaming (2:55)
B3 The Good Lord Knows (4:04)
B4 Jubilee With Soul (3:20)
B5 Love Makes You Human (4:42)
B6 Keeper Of The Castle (Reprise) (1:25)

‘Keeper’ was the first result of this union, a glorious 12 tracker loaded with hooks, charm and assured production and was met with critical acclaim and due success (reaching 33 in the US Pop Charts). Both the title track and ‘Ain’t no woman’ went gold (attaining no. 10 and 4 spots, respectively, in the US Pop Charts), whereupon Levi and the gang must have released a huge sigh of relief that there definitely was life after Gordy.

There is a effervescence in Levi’s voice that fits so effortlessly into the tuneful material. Also, Lawrence Payton’s vocals enjoys some sympathetic arrangements, most notably with the awesome ‘Love makes you human’, a massively ignored track.

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The Four Tops - 1974 - Meeting Of The Minds

This was followed up the equally devastating ‘Main Street People’ LP in 1973, before what I consider to be their pinnacle, the ‘Meeting Of The Minds’ long player.

The songs are among Lambert and Potter’s finest moments, ‘ with the righteous delivery of ‘One Chain’, ‘Right on Brother’, and the exceptional title track all cracking with fire in the message. Add to that some breezy pop-orientated soul in ‘Midnight Flower’, ‘Love ain’t easy’ and ‘All my love’, a nod to Motown in ‘The Well Is Dry’, and arguably Lawrence’s finest moment, ‘Tell Me You Love Me’. He co-wrote the track featuring a sexy groove that Leon Ware would envy (with female vocals by Sylvia Smith, by the way).

Tracks
A1 One Chain Don’t Make No Prison 4.03
A2 Midnight Flower 4.06
A3 The Well Is Dry 3.43
A4 Love Ain’t Easy To Come By 3.33
A5 No Sad Songs 5.11
B1 Right On Brother 4.04
B2 Tell Me You Love Me 3.27
B3 All My Love 4.26
B4 I Found The Spirit 3.53
B5 Meeting Of The Minds 4.19

Maybe this chapter in the Four Tops story could be seen to convey an absence of soul, be too pop-orientated, and be lacking in gutsy ballads. Apparently, the Tops themselves have distanced themselves from this period. I think I love these 2 LP’s because there is so much unbridled joy in the over-worn grooves.

For me, Levi Stubbs had a voice that can crackle on the verge of tears or laughter with equal ease. This timbre is then carried over to the listener with a wave of emotion that cannot be ignored or denied. My heart is simply at his mercy. The purest of gifts from one of the purest of geniuses.

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Listen up “ Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)”

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In Memory of Levi Stubbs

The Four Tops - 1965 - Second Album

The Four Tops‘ second album and quite possibly the most hitbound of all their early Motown work! Thethe perennial favorites “I Can’t Help Myself” and “It’s The Same Old Song” as well as a totally winning batch of other tunes, all produced to perfection by the Holland/Dozier team! The sound is classic Motown all the way through still some nice rough edges on the group’s vocals and killer lead work from Levi Stubbs.

Tracks
A1 I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) 2.43
A2 Love Feels Like Fire 2.03
A3 Is There Anything That I Can Do 3.02
A4 Something About You 3.00
A5 It’s The Same Old Song 2.44
A6 Helpless 2.39
B1 Just As Long As You Need Me 3.07
B2 Darling, I Hum Our Song 2.18
B3 I Like Everything About You 2.16
B4 Since You’ve Been Gone 2.38
B5 Stay In My Lonely Arms 2.16
B6 I’m Grateful 2.42

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The Four Tops - 1967 - Reach Out

Tracks
A1 Reach Out I’ll Be There 3.01
A2 Walk Away Renee 2.45
A3 7 Rooms Of Gloom 2.35
A4 If I Were A Carpenter 2.50
A5 Last Train To Clarksville 2.41
A6 I’ll Turn To Stone 2.29
B1 I’m A Believer 2.38
B2 Standing In The Shadows Of Love 2.39
B3 Bernadette 3.03
B4 Cherish 3.13
B5 Wonderful Baby 2.35
B6 What Else Is There To Do (But Think About You) 2.31

Though it’s one of the best Four Tops records of the ’60s, Reach Out still feels weighted down by a few vain attempts at adult pop crossover. It certainly starts out right, with the glorious “Reach out, I’ll Be There,” the group’s second pop/R&B chart-topper. After a faithful cover of the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee,” though, listeners are forced to sit through trite versions of “If I Were a Carpenter,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” and “I’m a Believer” to get to real highlights like the dramatic, impassioned “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and “Bernadette.” There is room for a great lesser single (”I’ll Turn to Stone”), but the flip side finds the Four Tops taking on “Cherish,” which could’ve worked well but didn’t. Reach Out still did better than any other original LP by the group, almost breaking the Top Ten.

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The Four Tops - 1970 - Still Waters Run Deep

By the time the album were released, The Four Tops weren’t very high on Motown’s priority list. That’s really a shame because this album contained some of their strongest material. Frank Wilson was the appointed producer the production is top notch, using many of Motown’s highly talented musicians. Some of the recordings truly stand out. Although skimpy in the lyric department, “Still Water (Love)” is a true R&B classic. The Tops rendition of “Reflections” is better and tighter than the Supremes original version, in my opinion. “Love Is The Answer” brings back memories from when I was a child. (I owned a copy of the single.) It’s a fun song with some really swinging horns.

Tracks
A1 Still Water (Love) 3.10
A2 Reflections 3.26
A3 It’s All In The Game 2.46
A4 Everybody’s Talking 2.55
A5 Love Is The Answer 2.27
B1 I Wish I Were Your Mirror 3.11
B2 Elusive Butterfly 3.09
B3 Bring Me Together 3.00
B4 L.A. (My Town) 3.09
B5 Still Water (Peace) 2.44

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The Four Tops - 1972 - Nature Planned It

Positive proof that Motown was capable of putting out a good Four Tops LP without the aid of Holland, Dozier and Holland. Levi Stubbs’ warm, emotive baritone takes Ashford and Simpson’s “I Am Your Man” to the river and back. “It’s the Way Nature Planned It” is one of the group’s top songs, with an engaging lead and Abdul Fakir, Lawrence Payton and Renaldo Benson’s smooth harmonies. The medley “Hey Man - We Got to Get You a Woman” garnered quite a few spins when released, the song has a happy optimistic feel that went over well. “I’ll Never Change” and “I Can’t Quit Your Love” are both sung by Stubbs near the top of his register, adding even more fuel to the already dynamic arrangement. The public liked this one as it rose to #50 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart, a decent showing for an LP that didn’t have a Top Ten single. (Andrew Hamilton, AMG)

Tracks
A1 I Am Your Man 3.12
A2 (It’s the Way) Nature Planned It 3.38
A3 I’ll Never Change 2.42
A4 She’s an Understanding Woman 2.56
A5 I Can’t Quit Your Love 2.59
A6 Walk With Me Talk With Me Darling 2.39
B1 Medley : 4.57
i. Hey Man
ii. We Got To Get You a Woman
B2 You Got To Forget Him Darling 2.43
B3 If You Let Me 2.48
B4 Happy (Is a Bumpy Road) 2.54
B5 How Will I Forget You 2.45

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One of Motown’s most consistent hitmakers and its longest lived lineup (40 years), the Four Tops were the most stable and consistent vocal groups to emerge from Motown Records in the ’60s, charting with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs’ rough hewn lead vocals.The Four Tops were products of Detroit’s North End. Levi Stubbs and Abdul “Duke” Fakir sang together in a group while attending Pershing High School. Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton were boyhood friends and attended Northern High together in Detroit who. It was while singing at a friends birthday party in 1954 they found they were good at it. They began practicing the next day and soon began calling themselves the Four Aims.

Roquel “Billy” Davis who was Larry Payton’s cousin, sometimes sang with the group as the fifth Aim and was later to be Berry Gordy’s songwriting partner sent a demo tape to Chess Records in Chicago. They were sent a bus ticket and invited to Chicago to audition. It seems that Chess was more interested in Davis’ writing skill than the group. However Davis’ persistence ended up with their being signed to Chess Records in 1956. They then changed their name to the Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers. They only recorded one single with Chess “Kiss Me Baby’ which flopped. They then went to Red Top and Riverside before they were signed by John Hammond to Columbia in 1960 where they recorded “Ain’t That Love.” This was the first of a string of supper club style flops that lasted for seven years on a number of labels. All the while, they were performing in top clubs. The Four Tops toured with the Billy Eckstine revue in the early ’60s.

By 1964, they had signed with old friend Berry Gordy’s Motown Records. Gordy had them record “Breaking Through” for his experimental Workshop Jazz subsidiary. Later that year they were finally directed toward contemporary soul. Under the wing of Motown’s top production and recording team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Four Tops were launched with “Baby I Need Your Loving,” which went to #11 in 1964. Over the next eight years The Four Tops appeared on the charts almost thirty times, and Levi Stubbs became an international star and became an influence on singers from the Sixties to the present time.

The Four Top’s 1965 hits included “Ask the Lonely” (#24), “Same Old Song” (#5), and “I Can’t Help Myself” (#1). “Reach Out and I’ll Be There” hit #1 in October, 1966, followed by “Standing in the Shadows of Love” (#6) in 1967.

Like other Motown acts, the Four Tops became popular in major nightclubs around the world. Like virtually all of Motown’s top acts, The Four Tops sought longevity and stability of a career built equally on live appearances and records. In 1967 they had hits with “Bernadette” (#4) and “Seven Rooms of Gloom” (#14); but when Holland-Dozier-Holland left in 1967, their charting hits declined. In fact two of their bigger charting hits of 1968 were covers: the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” (#14) and Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” (#20). However, the Tops did record a number of adventurous and successful records with other Motown producers, including “River Deep, Mountain High,” with the Jean Terrell led Supremes (#14 pop, #7 R&B, 1970) and “Still Water” (#11 pop, #4 R&B, 1970. In addition Obie Benson cowrote Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”

In 1972, the Four Tops moved to ABC/Dunhill records where they recorded a couple of million sellers “Keeper of the Castle (#10) and in 1973 “There Ain’t No Woman” (#4). It was only a brief pop chart resurgence, but the Tops continued to have Top 20 R&B hits.

In 1981 they moved to Casablanca Records and had a hit with “When She Was My Girl” (#11 pop, #1 R&B). Two years later they were back at Motown and after performing in a “battle of bands” with the Temptations on the Motown 25th anniversary television special, they began the first of several coheadlining tours with the Temptations, billed as T ‘n’ T. The first tour ran nearly three years, went around the world, and include sold out stint on Broadway.

In 1986 Stubbs provided the voice for the man-eating plant in the film Little Shop of Horrors. In 1985 the Tops had its last Motown hit “Sexy Ways” (#21 R&B). In 1988 they signed with Arista and recorded “Indestructible” (#35 pop, #66 R&B).

In 1989 the Four Tops appeared on Arethea Franklin’s Through the Storm, and in 1990 Steve Wonder inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Listen up “Reach Out I’ll Be There”

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This is one out of some very rare and expensive records I purchased lately. Check for yourselves here for the amount of dollars spent for some original copies.

A great northern soul LP i was after, since when i first heard the version of “Light My Fire”, originally covered by The Doors. Thanks God the whole album is really great!

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Tetragrammaton Records including covers.

Tracks
A1 Light My Fire (2:53)
A2 Baby, I Need Your Loving (3:25)
A3 Hip Old Lady On A Honda (2:08)
A4 Walk On By (2:53)
A5 His Happiness (2:35)
A6 Cry Myself To Sleep (2:06)
B1 Sooky (2:22)
B2 Giving Up My Heartaches (2:24)
B3 Gimme Some Of Yours (2:19)
B4 You’re Doing It With Her (2:45)
B5 I Can’t Stand Under This Pressure (2:23)

Sweet funky soul by this sometime Chicago soul diva, with arrangements by Mike Terry, and lots of tasty original tracks written by Jo Armstead. The album includes Rhetta’s funky cover of “Light My Fire”, but there’s lots of other nice ones, like “Gimme Some Of Yours (I’ll Give You Some Of Mine)”, “Giving Up My Heartaches”, “Sooky”, “I Can’t Stand Under This Pressure”, and “Cry Myself To Sleep”. Hard to find, too! (Dusty Groove).

A decent, if derivative, soul vocalist, Rhetta Hughes seemed about ready to move into the spotlight in 1969, when her remake of the Doors’ “Light My Fire” made the R&B Top 40. But she never sustained any momentum, with the next song “Angel Man” flopping for Aria, and Hughes was soon back on the supper club circuit, opening for such comedians as Bill Cosby.

You can buy your vinyl copy from Dusty Groove for 49,99 dollars, from Vinylrecords for 48,95 or from Calisoulbrother for 65.

Listen the wonderful “Light My Fire”

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This Sweet is hell as Classic.

A landmark album one of the greatest harmony soul albums of the early 70s! The title cut is one you’ll know instantly as “Thin Line Between Love & Hate” is one of those soul classics that never gets old and the rest of the album’s equally great, with a sublime mix of rough and sweet that the group was never able to duplicate again. The sound is incredible with arrangements by Richard Poindexter, and backings by the group Young Gifted & Bad, who often use a bit of vibes behind the vocals, which makes for a really cool sound! (Dusty Groove).

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Win Or Lose Records LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 Thin Line Between Love And Hate (3:16)
A2 Let’s Get Down Together (3:48)
A3 Blood Brothers (3:27)
A4 You Musta Put Something In Your Love (2:42)
A5 Thanks For Loving Me (3:50)
B1 Love Gonna Pack Up (And Walk Out) (3:20)
B2 If This Is What You Call Love (I Don’t Want No Part Of It) (3:44)
B3 Mr. Sunshine (3:39)
B4 Thigh Spy (2:45)
B5 Can’t Go No Further And Do No Better (3:35)

Arranged By - Richard Poindexter Arranged By [Strings] - Arif Mardin
Producer – The Poindexter Brothers

Thin Line Between Love And Hate was released on the Atlantic subsidiary Win Or Lose Records. The title track was a huge hit for the group and can still be heard on oldies stations today. The song starts off with a distinctive piano line before the group vocals come in on the chorus. Lead singer Douglas Scott then warns men not to abuse their women’s love before they turn nasty. It’s a classic. The rest of the album is surprisingly good for this New York City group. With the rhythm section called Young, Gifted And Bad how could they go wrong anyway? Blood Brothers is another catchy slow Soul tune. In comparison, You Musta Put Something In Your Love is fast paced and hard driving with a bit of Funk in the mix. Love Gonna Pack Up (And Walk Out) was the follow-up single to Thin Line and was another big hit for the group.

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The Persuaders - 1973 - The Persuaders

The second album by the great vocal group who gave the world “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”. This album’s got the same feel as the first, and most of the tracks are written by bandmember Bobby Poindexter but the vocals are a bit warmer overall not as fragile or broken around the edges, as if the group was emerging with a bit more mature confidence. The whole thing’s still pretty great, though and has a really personal, up-close feel that some of the group’s later work didn’t have (Dusty Groove).

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Atco Records LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 Peace In The Valley Of Love (3:51)
A2 Please Stay (3:40)
A3 If You Feel Like I Do (6:05)
A4 Trying Girls Out (4:07)
A5 Is It Too Heavy For You? (2:44)
B1 Bad Bold And Beautiful Girl (4:10)
B2 What Is The Definition Of Love? (2:47)
B3 Love Goes Good When Things Go Bad (2:41)
B4 I Want To Make It With You (4:35)
B5 You Still Love Me (After All You’ve Been Through) (5:25)

While the Persuaders second LP doesn’t contain any thing as cold-blooded as “Thin Line Between Love And Hate,” or the magnitude of the syncopated “Loves Gonna Pack Up,” it’s a more even affair than their debut. “Peace In The Valley Of Love” gets under your skin, you appreciate it, the more you hear the soothing, floater. “Bad, Bold And Beautiful Girl,” is the complete opposite, it’s boisterous, with a noisy sounding track, and some of the hokiest bass singing since the 50’s. The dreamy “What Is The Definition Of Love,” understated beauty is a quiet storm, Smokey Douglas, shows he can handle the subtle leads, as well as the in your face sagas. “You Still Love Me (After All You’ve Been Through)” packs a New York wallop, the theatrical drama comes complete with a man to woman rap, and as-if-somebody-died backing vocals by the Persuaders. Smokey recites a laundry list of ordeals that he’s put his woman through and sounds surprise when he sings You Still Love Me, You Still Love Me, After All, You’ve Been Through. (Andrew Hamilton, AMG)

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The Persuaders - 1973 - Best Thing Ever Ever Happened To Me

This excellent contribution sent by our friend Raphy from Jamaica who explains :

“There were other hits from this Album that major big in the Caribbean especially Jamaica, for example, “All Strung Out On You.” Up to this date this song is a main staple on radio & in the Dance Halls. There Cover of the Gladys Knight’s Monster Hit “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” is probably the most heart felt version to date…Actually, this is the Original version folks, Gladys Knight & The Pips Did the Cover…….Now That’s some revelation!!!

In Summary, this is a Master Blaster of an Album, a great addition to your collection; simply, A MUST HAVE!“

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Their third album, and a bit more Philly than the first two, but still with some great east coast harmony soul. Recorded at Sigma Sound, with arrangements by Tony (not Thom) Bell, and the cuts “Some Guys Have All The Luck”, “Hold On (Just A Little Bit Longer)”, “All Strung Out On You”, “Stay With Me”, “That’s The Way She Is”, and “We’re Just Trying To Make It”. Phil Hurtt wrote a number of the tracks, too and the album has a nice indie harmony sound (Dusty Groove).

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Now, go buy Persuaders’ cd’s here and a few vinyl copies here.

Listen up the amazing “Thin Line Between Love and Hate”

Enjoy this wonderful group and tell us your opinion about the albums, the post or anything you like on the comments section. Peace!

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Deep-voiced Latimore’s sultry mid-’70s output for Miami’s Glades label was a steamy marriage of soul and blues.

Mixing Lou Rawls and Swamp Dogg in a soul-stud groove that climaxes on the fast side with his sympathetic impression of “a redneck in a soul band” and is softened on the slow side by a spirited but thoughtful rendition of “Ladies’ Man,” a song about not getting it up that’s probably the best thing Oscar Brown Jr. ever wrote.

While the deep-soul and Southern soul-flavored ballads and mid-tempo numbers are all superb, as a result, it is worth a spin for hardcore ’70s soul fans.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original T.K. Records’ Subsidiary Glades LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 - Keep The Home Fire Burnin 3.35
A2 - Qualified Man 4.36
A3 - Are You Where You Wanna Be 4.15
A4 - There’s A Red Neck In The Band 4.45
B1 - Ladies Man 7.20
B2 - Leave Me Alone 3.45
B3 - Just One Step 2.45
B4 - She Don’t Ever Lose Her Groove 3.40

Great stuff from Latimore possibly the king of the Miami soul scene of the 70s! The record’s got him moving away from the blusier sound of his earlier days in keeping with the direction he started on his second album and it’s got a lot of great electric piano riffing, plus guitar by Little Beaver. Features the nice cut “Keep the Home Fires Burnin” a message cut about how if you run around town using your “log” to start other fires, you won’t have anything left to burn when you get home! Other titles include “Qualified Man”, “Are You Where You Wanna Be”, and “She Don’t Ever Lose Her Groove”. (Dusty Groove)

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Born Benjamin Latimore, 7 September 1939, Charleston, Tennessee, USA. This singer, who performed under his surname only, brought a blues feeling to 70s soul music. His passionate vocal delivery and keyboard-dominated style was particularly popular with his female audience. Latimore sang gospel music as a child in his family’s Baptist church but did not sing professionally until his first year of college, where he worked with a group called the Hi-Toppers. The group had already recorded for Excello Records when Latimore took over the piano position; he never recorded with the group but remained with them until 1962. At that time he joined Joe Henderson’s revue as pianist, and with that group backed artists such as Ben E. King, Slim Harpo and Jimmy Reed in concert. Latimore left Henderson in 1964 and worked as an opening act for teen-idol Steve Alaimo. He also recorded some unsuccessful singles for the Dade label at this time, but finally achieved a hit in 1973 for the related Glades label, with a remake of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday”. The following year Latimore reached his commercial height with a number 1 R&B single, “Let’s Straighten It Out”. He charted with 13 singles in total for Glades during the 70s, reaching the R&B Top 10 twice more. In 1982, he switched to Malaco Records, for whom he continues to record, although quite infrequently.

Wiki about Benny Latimore

Never released on CD. You can buy a vinyl copy here or here. Latimore still on tour, so check his Tour Schedule here.

Listen one of his greatest hits “Let’s Straighen It Out”

Download link

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Latimore - 1978 - Dig A Little Deeper

Since you ask for more Latimore’s albums, here’s one of his best in the 70’s. From 1978 with the yearning ballad “Long distance love”, the smooth groove “Too hot to handle”, and the soul vocal funky groove “Out To Get Cha”. This one was recorded at Muscle Shoals, have some very nice moments, and the classic modern/southern sound that made Latimore so huge.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Glades Records LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 Long Distance Love (3:48)
A2 Out To Get ‘Cha (5:38)
A3 We Got To Hit It Off (4:00)
A4 Ain’t Nothing Like A Sweet Woman’s Love (4:37)
B1 Too Hot To Handle (5:40)
B2 Dig A Little Deeper (5:40)
B3 Tonight’s The Night (6:16)

Dig a Little Deeper (Glades) In seven solid, funk-rooted tunes this obdurate soul holdout portrays, in order, a long-suffering on-the-road monogamist, a stud on the prowl, a reluctant lay (”We got to hit if off before we get it on,” he tells a “liberated woman”), a sentimental monogamist, a sex slave, a good lover (title tune), and a seducer of virgins (courtesy Rod Stewart). And convinces in all seven roles. Very impressive. But I don’t believe I’ll introduce him to my wife.

Buy your vinyl copy here or here.

Full biography - discography and chart positions here.

Download link

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Latimore - 1973 - Latimore

Latimore’s first album and a classic bit of Miami soul! The record’s something of a groundbreaker as it mixes older southern soul with some bluesy inflections using small combo instrumentation and a warm sweet sound on production to create a new groove that pushed soul music a few steps farther into the future for the 70s, and which forever guaranteed a place for older blues artists who were willing to update their sound! The album includes Latimore’s classic version of “Stormy Monday”, done in a modern stepping groove that’s quite different than earlier versions - plus the tracks “(Be Yourself) Be Real”, “So Much Love”, “If You Were My Woman”, and a version of “For What It’s Worth” that begins with a very cool melodica groove!

This is a @240 vinyl rip of the original Glades records Lp including covers.

Download link

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Latimore - 1974 - More, More and More

Classic seventies material from Latimore, and still a very popular album in Chicago! Includes the massive long version of “Let’s Straighten it Out”, with the righteous extended Fender Rhodes solo really opens up the track, taking it way past a simple southern style, into a righteous trippy groove. Other tracks are great, too and titles include “Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Do”, “Put Pride Aside”, and “That’s How It Is”.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Glades Records Lp including covers

Both Latimore - More, more and more covers taken from http://www.calisoulbrother.com/ where you can find plenty of great vinyl.

Download link

Now you can enjoy the most important albums of the great soul man! and please leave a comment on the album or the post!

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