Funk my Soul

As a soul legend, Candi Staton hardly needs an introduction by me. However I am heartened by the fact that her elusive FAME recordings are now so freely available and her earthy Southern roots have finally become recognised as essential part of her career. If you are not familiar with the more dynamic side of Candi Staton, grab a sturdy chair and give this, her third and final FAME recording, a listen. And grab her debut right here in the FMS back catalogue. Prepare to have your soul devastated.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original FAME LP (supplied by Raphy) including covers.

Tracks
A1 Do It In The Name Of Love 3:00
A2 Darling You’re All That I Need 3:23
A3 Blackmail 2:58
A4 In The Ghetto 2:52
A5 Wanted : Lover 2:43
B1 The Best Thing You Ever Had 2:25
B2 Lovin’ You Lovin’ Me 3:00
B3 I’ll Drop Everything And Come Running 2:48
B4 You Don’t Love Me No More 2:24
B5 The Thanks For Loving You 2:49

Review by Trakbuv

Canzetta Staton’s roots seed from the fertile farmland of Hanceville, Alabama circa 1943 where her extraordinary vocals were recognised as early as five years old in the church choir, later hooking up with her older sister, Maggie as part of the Four Golden Echoes. Due to her alcoholic gambling father, her mother decided to take control and move herself and 5 children to Cleveland, where her sixth child, and oldest son was already living. Candi and her sister continued to astound local church goers and were asked by a prestigious churchwoman, Bishop Jewel, to be part of a trio. As the Jewel Gospel Trio, Candi, Maggie and Naomi Harrison toured as far away as The Philippines and recorded several singles for Nashboro Records between ‘55 and ‘58. These included the righteous testifying of ‘Jesus is listening’, ‘Too late’ (with Candi belting out the lead on both) and the terrific, cutesy ‘Many angels in the band’. At seventeen, she left the band under a cloud of being taken advantage of to pursue marriage to Lou Rawls (then with the Pilgrim Travellers) that never materialised.

Later, she fell pregnant to a local minister in Alabama whereupon marriage was obligatory. However, his jealousy meant that her career in music and the road was on hold as she settled down to motherhood for the next seven years with four children and, by all accounts, an abusive relationship. She did a couple of recordings during this period, one on Minaret (a duet with Billy Walker) and another on Unity entitled ‘Now you’ve got the upper hand’, a strangely subdued Candi on a Motownesque number. In 1968, her brother dared her to accompany him to an amateur contest in Birmingham, at the 27-28 Club, where she was prompted to take the stage. She did a rendition of Aretha’s ‘Do Right Woman’ that opened the door to a regular spot every week. One night, Clarence Carter strolled in the joint and knew a good thing when he heard it. Initially she turned down his offer of touring with his band due to domestic commitments. Soon thereafter, her husband became violent over a fictitious affair she was having, and enough was enough.

The opportunity to join Clarence proved to be a major turning point. Not only did they marry, but he provided the contact to introduce her to Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals, the then blossoming home for Southern Soul. His label FAME Records had had some critical and commercial success, and as a recording studio, the Muscle Shoals Sound housed some of the best songwriters and musicians around. And Rick’s reaction to first hearing Candi soar ? “It was a blues voice, a gospel voice, and a pop voice. I just rushed her in the studio. Real quick”. They cut four sides that same night and the fruits of those recordings can be heard on her debut LP ‘I’m Just a Prisoner’. Her debut single, ‘I’d Rather Be An Old Man’s Sweetheart’ made #9 R&B and Top 50 Pop - the first of 12 consecutive hits for the label, 16 in total !! Her first two albums were distributed by Capitol Records (her second being ‘Stand By Your Man’), but for the third eponymous LP, they switched to United Artists.

It was pretty much business as usual - why spoil a winning formula. But I think there is a sophistication here that replaces some of the more raw elements of the first two sets. More importantly, vocally she is still on top form - with those notorious breaking vocals that Rick Hall forced out of Candi by making her sing over and over to accentuate the rasp - that’s tortured soul for ya !! We sound off with the utterly scrumptious “Do it in the name of love”, an enthralling, sexy Candi pleading ‘Don’t you know we go together’ before getting down for the chorus. She reminds me a lot of Mavis Staples on this - and that’s meant as a compliment. Fantastic.  The beautifully arranged “Darling you’re all that I need” is another beauty, an urgent ballad with some tender vocal support. “Blackmail” ups the tempo with a well-constructed tuneful number, before the caressing sound of a lonely harmonica unveils “In the ghetto”. An inspired choice to follow up the earlier success of ‘Stand by your man’ and FAME’s strong links with Country Music. I’ve always liked the original version, but this takes it home where it belongs. Absolutely astounding, and no wonder Elvis sent her a letter expressing his love of her update.

“Best thing you ever had” gets down and brassy and the perfect meat for Candi to chew up in style. The more restrained and melodic “Lovin’ you lovin’ me” has Candi caressing the hairs on the back of my neck - I must say I have a soft spot for when she sings in her more natural tones. “I’ll drop everything” is a nod to the Staples ‘Come go with me’ and that ain’t a bad thing. My favourite comes up next, with that Tower Of Power horns-like intro grabbing my lungs on their first flare. “You don’t love me no more” feels like real tears being shed with real memories glistening in their fragile rolling structure. If anyone asks you what soul music means, just play them this and watch their breathing stop dead. We round off in fine fettle with the raspy, rhetorical “Is this the thanks I get” with excellent use of steel guitar.

This is probably my favourite of her FAME recordings, but they are all exceptional visions of trapping heartache, betrayal, love and bitterness down a studio microphone, with Candi easily rivalling all the soul greats. Believe the hype !!

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Check out her debut FAME LP here in our back pages.

Great biography available here and a nice interview here.

You should buy a fantastic CD compilation here,  with 26 songs that bring together her long unavailable and legendary Muscle Shoals sides recorded for Fame Records.

Candi had a new cd release in 2009, buy it here and listen up her amazing performance on “You don’t love me no more” .

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“Without disrespecting ‘The Mighty Three’ from Philadelphia Records - whose emblem was three elephants if I recall correctly - this is a post by Nikos, Raphy and Trakbuv . PS. First 10 people to recall the names of the original Mighty Three win a trip to Soul Heaven.  Next shuttle leaving 2064.”

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Tammi Terrell had a sexy, hypnotic voice and alluring sensibility that not only made her an ideal partner for Marvin Gaye, but could have resulted in substantial impact as a solo singer. This album includes her finest solo single, “I Can’t Believe You Love Me,” and some other great numbers, although Terrell never received any songs for herself that matched what she did with Gaye.

This is a @320 vinyl rip (cleaned by Raphy) of the original Motown LP including covers.

Tracks
A1 I Can’t Believe You Love Me 2:32
A2 That’s What Boys Are Made For 2:58
A3 Come On and See Me 2:20
A4 What a Good Man He Is 2:59
A5 Tears At the End of a Love Affair 2:52
A6 This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) 2:28
B1 He’s the One I Love 2:35
B2 Can’t Stop Now (Love Is Calling) 2:40
B3 Just Too Much To Hope For 2:54
B4 Hold Me Oh My Darling 2:58
B5 I Can’t Go On without You 2:55

Review by  RDTEN1

Almost four decades after her death Tammi Terrell’s chiefly known for her work with the late Marvin Gaye.  That’s not a bad way to go down in history, though to my ears Terrell was easily one of Motown’s most talented performers and certainly one of the label’s sexiest acts.  Anyhow, the three Gaye-Terrell collaborative albums for Tamla stand among the cream of the Motown empire’s catalog.

With Terrell unable to actively participate in recording new material, Motown cobbled together a solo album - 1968’s “Irresistible“.   Co–produced by Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol the set pulled together a mixture of the earlier Motown singles and previously recorded, but shelved numbers.  By all rights the project should have been a complete artistic disaster.  It wasn’t.  Yes, the earlier singles had a somewhat dated sound, but that didn’t make much difference given Terrell’s wonderful voice.  Again, I’m clearly biased, but Motown somehow managed to uncover enough quality material to pull together what was in effect a nice tribute to Terrell.

- It wasn’t as good as the version she cut with Marvin Gaye, but the mid-tempo ‘I Can’t Believe You Love Me‘ served up an instantly recognizable Motown groove providing a nice showcase for Terrell’s sassy and sexy voice. - Virtually every Motown LP seems to have included at least one throwaway MOR tune.  Her cover of the old Spinners tune (with a suitable gender modification) ‘That’s What Boys Are Made For‘ was that song this time out.  Horrible ! - One of the album standouts, ‘Come On and See Me‘ was another classic slice of Motown pop perfection.  Instantly memorable melody with a great hook; great horn and string arrangement, and another fantastic performance from Terrell. - My vote for the standout track, ‘What a Good Man He Is‘ was simply irresistible.  Terrell brought all of her sassy edge to this one.  Makes you wonder if she was thinking about then-boyfriend David Ruffin …  Motown apparently intended to release it as a single, but for some reason elected not to.  Shame they didn’t. - ‘Tears At the End of a Love Affair‘ came close to being great, but ultimately fell short due to the clunky backing vocals (guys singing in falsetto?) and an arrangement that sounded like it was trying to rip off The Supremes. - Covering ‘This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)‘ almost seems to have been an initiation requirement for Motown acts.  As a result you couldn’t be blamed for having low expectations for yet another cover.  Funny thing is that by kicking into hype-drive Terrell came very close to making the song her own.  Her cover is easily one of my favorites and gawd knows there are enough versions out there. - ‘He’s the One I Live‘ was another track with considerable commercial potential and served as a nice showcased for Terrell’s playful side. - If the album sported a song that typified the Motown sound, ‘Can’t Stop Now (Love Is Calling)‘ was it.  Hard to believe that this one wasn’t tapped as an earlier single.  Great backing vocals … - A little on the MOR side, though the bossa nova feel was kind of cool.  Unfortunately Terrell didn’t seem very comfortable on this one. - ‘Hold Me Oh My Darling‘ was a rather bland ballad,.  Kicked along by some goofy male supporting vocals, the track didn’t have a great deal going for it.  The song was originally recorded by Mary Wells, though her slower version wasn’t any better. - ‘I Can’t Go On without You‘ was another song that sounded incomplete.  The song had considerable commercial potential with a nice little hook (though the bells were irritating), but somehow it never all came into focus.

Far from the perfect collection but for folks who only knew her as Marvin Gaye’s foil, the album went a long way to demonstrating Terrell was a capable performer in her own rite.  It also leave you to wonder what Terrell could have done had the powers to be decided to give her a little more time.  Well worth seeking out.

Motown also tapped the album for a pair of singles:

- 1968’s ‘This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)’ b/w ‘Just Too Much To Hope For’ (Motown catalog number M-1138) # 67 pop - 1968’s ‘Come On and See Me’ b/w ‘Baby Dont’cha Worry’ (Motown catalog number M-1095) There are a number of Tammi Terrell related websites.  Though it doesn’t seem to have been updated in some time, one of the better ones is located here.

Biography and discography with Marvin Gaye and solo on Wikipedia

Released on CD in 1991 but it is out of print. Buy the vinyl from Ebay along with one last CD.

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Johnny Nash may not readily prick the thirst buds of many soul aficionados out there. Although very well-known for his reggae-influenced hits such as ‘I can see clearly now’ and ‘Hold me tight’, I propose that he has as much kinship to these pages as the likes of Sam Cooke or Brenton Wood. And here is an LP that I like to assign to his more soulful period, during which the ‘My Merry-go-round’ and ‘Tears on my Pillow’ LPs trod similar experimental turf. He seems to have been vastly underestimated as a soul/soulful singer, and I would like to offer the opportunity to correct that mistake.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original CBS LP (supplied by Trakbuv) including covers.

Tracks
A1 Everybody’s Got An Aura 2:47
A2 You Can’t Go Halfway 2:46
A3  Beautiful Baby 2:46
A4  The Look In Your Eyes 3:07
A5  Fanny Big Horn 3:07
A6  Celebrate Life 4:10
B1  (You Gave Me Such) Good Vibrations 4:00
B2  Take Me Back Baby 3:04
B3  For Your Love 3:54
B4  The Very First Time 4:13
B5  Standing in The Rain 5:17

Review by Trakbuv

A light, airy alto/tenor with crystal clear phrasings may not immediately evoke the makings of a soul singer, but in the same mould as Brenton Wood and Labi Siffre, Johnny Nash has the sweetest of voices. Here is a man that had travelled a long road with mixed success before arriving at the recording studio for this little LP in 1974. Born August 19, 1940 in Houston, Texas, his angelic choir voice at the tender age of 13 earned him a place on a TV show, ‘Matinee’, singing several times a week for 3 years running. The high exposure meant that his first single, a cover of Doris Day’s ‘A very special love’ hit the Top 50 in December ’57. However, success did not match ABC’s expectations, and in the words of Johnny : “They were pitching me at an adult audience - I did some religious music and I did some standards, but mostly I did flops”. Check out ‘I wish I knew’ for some of that dreamy sound. Or any teenagers out there, give ‘The Teen Commandments’ a studious ear, ably assisted by Paul Anka and George Hamilton IV.

Meanwhile, a credible acting career was also blossoming, taking the lead role in ‘Taking the Giant Step’ (released in 1959 and produced by Burt Lancaster no less), and co-starring with Dennis Hopper in ‘Key Witness’ (1960), among others (check out the solid ratings on IMDB !). He moved from ABC to Warner Brothers with limited success (the wonderful ‘Moment of weakness’ was one of the better tracks to emerge). His first hint of soul I guess was under the auspices of Hugo & Luigi at RCA, yielding the phenomenal ‘It’s no good for me’ among a nest of mediocrity. But having Johnny Pate and Chess Records overseeing proceedings really kicked some life into the crooner, with ‘Strange feeling’ and ‘Love ain’t nothin” both portraying a man with fire in his hips.

The year is now 1965 as we enter his ‘entrepreneurial period’. Mr Nash decides to set up his own label (Joda Records). Mr Nash releases several tracks including the pleasant ‘Let’s move and groove’ hitting no. 4 on the R&B Charts. Mr Nash then decides to go out to Jamaica (with business partner Danny Simms) and embrace the local music scene having got the bug earlier during a tour there. Mr Nash cuts four tracks, including ‘Cupid’ and ‘Hold me tight’. Mr Nash introduces the record buying public in the States to Rocksteady on his new label (JAD Records) and scores big time with both tracks (‘Cupid’ went Top 40 and ‘Hold’ to the Top 5). Phew !! His vision of marrying reggae and soul to give a pop-tastic heady brew paid dividends. His label folded in ’71, but the hits continued for CBS, Johnny now basing himself in the UK. ‘Stir it up’ was written by Bob Marley while Johnny had signed The Wailers to his ill-fated JAD label back in ’68 (a collection of those demos has been made available recently), with his biggest hit to date, ‘I can see clearly now’, coming from his own pen (no. 1 for four weeks). And with two critically acclaimed LPs in his pocket (the brilliant ‘Hold Me Tight’ and ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ sets), the world seemed his oyster. However, his love affair with the public did not sustain itself. He retained some popularity in the UK with two of my favourites by the man, ‘There are more questions than answers’, and the utterly splendid ‘Ooh What a feeling’. He also resumed his acting career around this time in Sweden. As a result, “Celebrate Life” came at a lull in his recording career.

Unfortunately, this was not the touch paper to re-ignite his fortunes. It really tests the listener’s breadth of musical taste midst some cracking tracks that require familiarity to get the best out of them. To the good stuff: first the Gordon DeWitty tracks with whom he co-produced the LP. His funky version of Rufus’ ‘Everybody’s got an aura’ is fabulous, retaining that ethereal feel of the original, without ever challenging Chaka’s vocal fire - it is a total success for me. The tuneful, slightly lightweight ‘Celebrate Life’ is sparked to life halfway through with a jazzy/Calypso rhythm. And one of my all-time favourites, and rationale for buying this LP – the humbling ‘Good vibrations’ – his voice simply lifts you to places you never want to leave. This is a very important track for me. Of the remainder, ‘The look in your eyes’ would have made a great little single release with hooks aplenty and finger snap-tastic. Similar claims could be made for ‘Take me back’ and the more pop-flavoured ‘You can’t go halfway’, the latter actually being the lead single, but doing very little. I also very much like the rocky mini-excursion ‘Fanny Big Horn’, and the tender, anthemic ‘Standing in the rain’ – an awesome way to sound off with the crowd still humming and swaying candles in the midnight air.

The LP was an experiment in recording, feeling the country while working out of a mobile studio. And there is a sense of abandon to these tracks, and the formulaic philosophy of a hit record. You can visualise every song warming contemplative orange faces around a campfire. And in the words of one scribe on release of the LP : “Johnny Nash is a man whose versatility condemns him to be mistrusted by those who like to pigeonhole artists”. Please open up your heart and soul to this little joy, an LP that the man himself ranks amongst his best.

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This post is dedicated to Raphy in celebration of the wonderful musical influences of his home country.  Enjoy !!

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Buy a vinyl copy at cheap and cheerful prices from Musicstack or Ebay. Never released on CD.

Since there’s no available video from the album, listen up the joyous “Ooh, What a Feeling” from his 1973 LP “My Merry-Go-Round”.

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I think we all agree that Luther Vandross was one of the greatest singers in the area for the last 30 years with his smooth, versatile tenor voice. He was one of the most successful R&B artists of the 1980s and ’90s. But he was in the business from early 70’s and he gained  recognition as a background singer working for David Bowie, Stephanie Mills, Bette Midler, Judy Collins, Ben E. King, Average White Band, Chic, Carly Simon, Quincy Jones, Cat Stevens, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, The Spinners among many others, before he became an R&B star for the next two decades.

Before his breakthrough, Vandross was part of a singing quintet in the late ’70s, consisting former Shades of Jade members Anthony Hinton and Diane Sumler, Theresa V. Reed, and Christine Wiltshire, also called Luther, signed to Cotillion Records. Although the singles “It’s Good for the Soul”, “Funky Music (Is a Part of Me)”, and “The Second Time Around” were relatively successful, their two albums, the self-titled Luther (1976) and This Close to You (1977), didn’t sell enough to make the charts. Vandross bought back the rights to these albums after the record label dropped the group, preventing their later re-release.

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

Tracks
A1 Funky Music (Is A Part Of Me) 5:29
A2 The 2nd Time Around 6:25
A3 I’ll Get Along Fine 4:07
A4 Everybody Rejoice 3:2
B1 Emotion Eyes 5:58
B2 This Strange Feeling 4:44
B3 It’s Good For The Soul (Parts I And II) 8:42

This is an excellent album. Some of Luther’s best work. It didn’t receive the attention that it should have because of the Funk era being at an all time high and ballads being less listened too. In my opinion three songs on this album should have scored high on the R&B charts.

His first LP was released in June 1976 The eponymously titled LP,  “Luther” featured his first R&B chartings, “It’s Good For The Soul (#28), “Funky Music”/”The Second Time Around” (#34). In fact, David Bowie originally heard Luther working on “Funky Music” a few years prior & with Luther, restructured it into “Fascination”. Carlos Alomar, who had become David Bowie’s guitarist, invited him to attend a Bowie recording session at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. He quickly became more than an observer, singing background vocals, serving as a vocal arranger, and co-writing the song “Fascination” with Bowie. The session resulted in the album Young Americans, released in March 1975, and Vandross also went on tour with Bowie in September 1974 as both backup singer and opening act. For their live shows, they were backed by a group that included Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers, who later became the architects of Chic.

Overall this debut album by the band led by the late soul legend Luther Vandross, is mid seventies style funky soul containing the very funky ‘It’s good for the soul‘, ‘Emotion Eyes‘ and ‘Funky Music is a part of me‘. A very rare chance to hear the roots of the master of smooth soul.

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Everything you have to know about legendary Luther Vandross here, including biography, singles - albums discography and awards.

It is very interesting to read an in person interview here,  conducted by David Nathan in New York City, in June1976, about the group, the album and much more.

Finally listen the killer “Funky Music” and check on Youtube David Bowie’s “Fascination”. You’ll see why..

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