Funk my Soul

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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