Funk my Soul

Mr.Moo’s new contribution is just perfect.

Oh my God, Natalie Cole’s debut is just SLAMMIN’. Aretha Franklin, it looks like you have a princess of Soul in your court. Produced by Marvin Yancy (single and pretends he’s married, according to Natalie Cole herself) and Chuck Jackson (Married and pretends to be single, Also according to Natalie Cole), this album features some of her greatest cuts and vocals ever to be waxed. “Needing You” starts it off with a little “Shaft”-like groove then it mellows out into its own thing. the cuts, “This Will Be”, “Inseparable”, “I Can’t Say No” and the powerful “You” are the album’s centrepieces. A beautiful work of art that fully deserved the Grammy in 1976.

This is a @320 vinyl rip (supplied by Mr.Moo) including covers.

Tracks
A1 Needing You 2:45
A2 Joey 2:57
A3 Inseparable 2:26
A4 I Can’t Say No 3:30
A5 This Will Be 2:50
B1 Something For Nothing 2:57
B2 I Love Him So Much 3:24
B3 How Come You Won’t Stay Here 3:03
B4 Your Face Stays In My Mind 2:45
B5 You 3:30

Review by Steven Riggs (SoulTracks)

Natalie Cole has had the type of career and longevity that is the envy of nearly any musical artist.  Cole has been making music for some 30+ years and shows no signs of slowing down.  And one the most critically acclaimed debut of the mid-seventies, the newly re-released Inseparable,  proved to be the beginning of a phenomenal singing career that would encompass the genres of R&B, pop, jazz, and gospel.

Inseparable exploded onto the music scene, garnering Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best R&B Female Vocal Performance.  The excitement of Inseparable came with the fact that the daughter of Nat “King” Cole was thrilling audiences with her overwhelming vocal energy and fire.  Some critics even suggested that Natalie Cole was the new “Queen of Soul,” a comparison with Aretha Franklin that sometimes generated unwanted pressure and public backlash for Cole.  Despite all the attention Inseparable received, one fact remains: Natalie Cole released a debut album that stood the test of time. Inseparable is still full of the same vigor it possessed some 32 years ago.

Most legendary vocalists have their signature hits, and one of Natalie Cole’s is “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” which is among the most remarkable debut singles ever.  From the gospel piano intro to Cole’s soulful hums to the memorable lyrics and instrumental transitions, “This Will Be” was an excellently arranged track that became Cole’s first #1 R&B smash and remains a force on R&B and pop radio (and now serves as the theme song for eHarmony.com).  The title track, a heartfelt love ballad that became her second #1 single, is also an R&B classic largely due to the fine arrangement and Cole’s emotional vocal performance.  Classics like “Joey” and “I Can’t Say No” still receive airplay on R&B adult contemporary and quiet storm formats.   And tracks such as “Something For Nothing” “I Love Him So Much” and “How Come You Won’t Stay Here” showcase Cole’s relentlessly soulful vocals, combining to make Inseparable an astounding debut.  The final cut, “You” begins with Natalie’s sexy dialogue and evolves into a heart wrenching ballad where Cole lets loose vocally and emotionally.  This cut would later be covered by none other than Aretha Franklin. Thanks to the superb writing and production team of Chuck Jackson and the late Marvin Yancy and Cole’s unrestrained performance, Inseparable proved to be the beginning or continuation of a great musical legacy.

After Natalie Cole’s success with Inseparable, she went to record a string of highly successful gold and platinum albums as well as topping the R&B charts four more times and scoring numerous R&B and pop top ten hits.  Most recently, Cole recorded the Grammy nominated Leavin’, which was a return to her soulful roots.  Ironically, a track on that album, “The More You Do It, (The More I Like It Done),” pays homage to her classic hit “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).”  One could say that Natalie Cole’s career has gone a highly successful full circle.  I would say that the circle is no where near complete and we have yet to hear more of the wonder of Natalie Cole.  The best is yet to come.  It is gratifying to listen where Natalie Cole’s musical journey began on Inseparable.  To those who have never heard this album, you are in for a “real” soulful musical experience. Highly recommended.
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Buy Vinyl or CD from Ebay or Amazon.

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The power behind this outfit was Detroit singer/label owner Johnnie Mae Matthews.  Matthews had recorded some solo sides, but by the mid-1960s had shifted her attention to the business side of the house operating a series of small Detroit labels such as Art, Audrey, Big Hit, Jam, Northern, Reel, and Tank.  In 1968 son/drummer Artwell (Art) Matthew and bassist/cousin Mark Patterson started the band Raw Integrated Funk (Ted Nugent was an early member).  Matthews also signed on as their manager and steered them towards a more soul/funk direction as Black Nasty.  The band went through a steady stream of personnel changes an by the early-1970s was largely a family affair with Art and Larry supported by lead guitarist Jackie Cosper  keyboard player  Michael Judkins, sister/singer Audrey Matthews, singer Alice Myers, and keyboardist Larry Thomas.

The group made their recording debut with a 1971 single on Matthew’s Tank label:

- 1971’s ‘You Keep Me Hanging On‘ b/w ‘You Keep Me Hanging On (instrumental)’ (Tank catalog number TY 002)

The single did well in Detroit and with support from Stax songwriter Sir Mack Rice the band sign with Stax’s Enterprise subsidiary which released three singles and an album before dropping them in 1975 shortly before the label collapsed in bankruptcy.

- 1971’s ‘Black Nasty Boogie (Parts 1 and 2) (Enterprise catalog number 9039)
- 1972’s “Rushing Sea‘ b/w ‘Getting Funky Round Here’ (Enterprise catalog number 9054).
- 1974’s ‘Talking To the People‘ b/w ‘I Must be In Love’ (Enterprise catalog number 9098)

1975 saw the band release another one-shot single on Matthew’s optimistically named Big Hit label: - ‘Party On 4th Street (Parts 1 and 2)‘ (Big Hit catalog number TC 0125)

Tracks
A1. Got To Move 2:50
A2. It’s Summertime 2:58
A3. I Need Love 3:20
A4. Look What You’ve Done 3:05
A5. Maybe Your Baby 3:25
B1. Bicentennial Rock & Roll 3:05
B2. Within 5:35
B3. No Deposit, Not Return 2:15
B4. Unlucky Love 2:10
B5. Space Boogie 2:45

Review by RDTEN1

Dropped by the Stax-affiliated Enterprise label after releasing an LP as Black Nasty (1973’s “Talking To the People“), in 1976 the band reappeared as The Nazty.  Signed to the Nashville-based Mankind imprint, they made their label debut with 1976’s “I Got To Move”.  Musically the album featured a largely original collection of material and while there wasn’t a great deal of originality on these ten tracks, the performances were uniformly energetic and enthusiastic. The few online reviews draw a comparison to George Clinton and the Funkadelic/Parliament empire, but to my ears that was a poor comparison since these folks were far more commercial and conventional (plus most of the songs featured Audrey Matthews handling lead vocals).  Regardless, it made for one of those rare albums where the band sounded like they were having fun during the recording sessions.  One of the curiosities on this album stems from the fact they were great when it came to up tempo funk numbers like Got To Move” and ‘Maybe Your Baby, but thoroughly sucked on the ballads like ‘Look What You’ve Done’.

- ‘Got To Move‘ opened the album was a roaring slice of Sly-styled funk.  Kicked along by Audrey’s in-your-face vocal and a great Larry Graham-styled bass line from Mark Patterson, this one was simply fantastic.  Should have been a massive hit for the band.

- A rollicking, breezy, summer-ready track, ‘It’s Summertime‘ had it all going …  great melody, fantastic hook, nice male/female lead vocals, and super cheesy synthesizers.  This was another one that should have been a massive hit for the group.
- Showcasing Audrey on lead vocals, ‘I Need Love‘ was a pretty, but pedestrian ballad.  The problem with this one was Audrey didn’t seem particularly comfortable with the song’s key and her vocals sounded strained and barely in tune.  This one was almost painful to listen to as you weren’t sure she was going to make it through the tune.
- The album’s second ballad, ‘Look What You’ve Done‘ made it clear slower numbers weren’t their creative strength.  There was a song in there somewhere, but the combination of a flat vocal and the absence of a good hook left it as an also-ran composition.
- Turning Stevie Wonder’s ‘Maybe Your Baby‘ into a rollicking slice of funk was actually a great idea resulting in one of the first side’s highlights.
- Side two opened up with the album’s most unusual performance and the standout performance.  Harkening back to their rock roots, ‘Bicentennial Rock & Roll‘ was literally a fantastic rock sound.  The Bus Boys would have killed for a track this good.  Anyone who didn’t think a black band could rock needed to hear this one …
- Following the standout performance, ‘Within‘ found the band trying another ballad.  As you’d expect, the results were lukewarm with the song never really gaining much momentum though Jackie Cosper turned in some nice acoustic guitar work towards the end of the song.
- ‘No Deposit, Not Return‘ was a classic slice of stomping funk with a killer hook in the title track refrain.  Slinky and instantly memorable, these guys could pump certainly crank it up.   The song also had another killer lead guitar performance from Copser.
- Kicked along by some gurgling synthesizers, ‘Unlucky Love‘ was a tasty dance number.  With a great refrain it was one of the more commercial efforts on the album.
- As mentioned earlier, the few brief online reviews you’ll find for this album compare them to George Clinton and the Funkadelic/Parliament family.  The one exception where the comparison held some merit was the closer ‘Space Boogie‘ which actually did sound a little bit like Clinton and company had they had any interest in scoring top-40 exposure.  Propelled by Patterson’s bass, the result was a heavy funk monster that was virtually impossible to resist.  Cosper also happened to turn in his best solo on this one.

The album was also tapped for a pair of singles:

- 1976’s ‘It’s Summertime’ b/w ‘Look What You’ve Done’ (Mankind catalog number 12024)
- 1976’s ‘I Got To Move’ b/w ‘Maybe Your Baby’ (Mankind catalog number 12026)

All in all a nice surprise.  I’ll have to track down a copy of the debut album.

With the album vanishing into thin air, the band subsequently morphed into The ADC Band.

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Buy it from Batcatrecords or Groove Collector

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Extremely RARE and Collectable Jazz Funk !!!!

Absolutely ridiculously hard to find ORIGINAL of this second album by the group Newban on the legendary and desirable tax scam label Guinness Records. The last one sold on Ebay for 365$ here. Check for more prices here.

Their debut was a certified classic,  a monster from beginning to end, encompassing ensemble funk (”Father Time”) to the shades of jazz on the closing track “Home With You.”

For their final release, Newban serves up more of the tight groove established on their debut.  If there is a difference between the two, it is a more pronounced jazz sensibility. Songs like “If I Could” and “Rhythm and Rhyme” feature some lyrical woodwind and horn playing, sort of like a smoother James Mason.

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

Tracks
A1 Greenburgh 3:16
A2 Rhythm & Rhyme 4:14
A3 Find a Place 4:32
A4 If I Could (Make You Mine) 2:37
B1 Fine Woman 6:10
B2 Easin’ Through 4:33
B3 Free Your Mind 3:53

Creators of two extremely rare funk/rare groove LPs, not much was initially known about Newban, but it is now acknowledged that the group was an early incarnation of Atlantic Starr. The members included future Starr members Sharon Bryant, Jonathan Lewis, Porter Carroll and Joseph Phillips alongside Mark Slifstein, Keith Johnson, Albert Jones and Gregory Press.  Newban was produced by mentor Malcolm Addey, and they recorded their two albums for the tiny Guinness label.  Both were released in 1977, and the first Atlantic Starr album came out in 1978, leading one to speculate they recorded these albums quickly to get out of their obligations and rush over to A&M.

This lot were an earlier edition of Atlantic Star, but don’t be too harsh, this is one of the most amazing jazzy soul albums I own.  It contains tracks “If I Could (Make You Mine)” & “Greenburgh” which have beautiful vocal performances.  Plus “Fine Woman” which is 6 a minute glorious flute groove.

Problem is this album is ultra, ultra rare, and there are no plans to reissue it.  If you’re into soul, jazz and groove and you ever see this album, buy it.  It’ll cost you a few bob, but you won’t be disappointed.

Newban’s first album was recently reissued, so there is hope that the same kind people may reissue Newban 2. This album is the far superior of the two Newban albums, and really should be available for all to hear.

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Hi everyone. To those of you who have only recently joined us and to those who have followed us since the move from Lost-in-Tyme.

IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS

Yes folks, that’s how long Nikos and the gang have been collating this glorious homage to the best of funk and soul from the 60s, 70s (and occasionally the 80s) to provide what we would like to consider one of the best of its kind. And without your continued support for what we are trying to do, it would have finished long ago - so an incredibly important thank you to all of you who have taken time to leave a comment. We would also like to give whole-hearted blessings to all the artists and their loved ones who have contacted us over the years and provided invaluable insight into their world. I think it really proves we are doing something right and I know we would all like to show our appreciation to our heros with a huge cyber round of applause.

And to our contributors who have been so instrumental in maintaining the high standard and expectancy of the posts, a humungous warm thank you to Groovy Emmanuel, Mr Moo, Trakbuv, Raphy, MsMerising, and to many others we have omitted here - ta very much for your time and commitment. And of course to the man with the masterplan, give a great big hand to the Greek Soul Daddy, brother Nikos.

So a gracious Happy Second Anniversary to us and long may FunkMySoul continue to promote, educate, satiate, and proliferate. Thank you all and God bless you all.

To celebrate this prestigious occasion, we have a real rarity for you this week, provided over a month ago from one of our dear readers. We are proud to present Ike Noble’s debut LP “Fresh Start” from 1981. Heavily sought after for the crowd pleaser ‘I’m gonna miss you’, but also a wonderful LP in its own right.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Connowil LP

Tracks
A1.Another Star 4.28
A2.Your Love 4.51
A3.Everybody Get Up And Boogie On Down (Y’All) 4.42
A4.I promise you 2.59
B1.Never Get Enough Of Your Love 4.39
B2.Love To Be Loved 5.28
B3.I’m Gonna Miss Your Love 4.36
B4.I’ll Love Only You 4.21

Review by Trakbuv

Mr Ike Noble - I regret to say I could find no personal information about this guy, which surprises me considering how respected a singer he is. The earliest recordings of his voice would appear to be a pair of live takes for the Ohio-based label Alley Records during the sixties, where he was backed by The Uptights. I’m guessing that The Uptights may be the same outfit that later backed Marvin Holmes on the fabulous ‘Ooh ooh the Dragon’ Northern Soul goodie, among others. The smouldering ‘She’s got to be loved’ (a great rendition of the Tyrone Davis classic ‘A woman needs to be loved’) and the spritely ‘That’s what I get’ are both welcome introductions to his slightly gruff, soulful tenor. The latter provided the b-side to his first official recording, ‘It’s bad’, an absolute storming midtempo beauty (1967, Alley Records) - check this one out ! I also managed to cite a single by Noble and the Uptights entitled ‘Don’t worry about it’ on Action Records (written by Izear Noble - the one and same ?).

In the seventies, 1976 to be exact, he released a single out on Smoke Records entitled ‘She’s all I need’ that reminds me of Tyrone Davis around this period. The b-side is also memorable with some intriguing synth injections. So far so good, for sure. Well someone sure thought so at Connowil Records on signing him for his debut long player, “Fresh Start”. For me, this is one of the first great LPs that came out of the dawn of indie soul that went on to dominate the eighties with their limited, economic use of musicians. Having said that, the musical integrity of this LP is top notch with real horns and strings, and a girl chorus still finding a place in the ever downsizing studio. The big hip track that DJ’s were leaping on to be the first to air was “I’m gonna miss your love”, a first rate rare groover that really shows off his undoubted soulfulness over a delightful arrangement. The uptempo tracks are less memorable for me, with respectable versions of Stevie’s “Another Star” and LTD’s “Never get enough of your love”. For me, the LP is wisely biased towards slower material where we really are treated some delicious retrofied delights. “I promise you” is faultless - a meticulously constructed throwback to, say, The Independents - a beautiful blend of Southern and Sweet Soul topped with a creamy girl chorus. His voice has a lovely smoothness on the wonderful “Your love”, this time reminding me of a Leroy Hutson ballad in texture. “Love to be loved” is another goodie, and on “I love only you” there is even a little of Tyrone Davis in his voice accompanied by some great harmonies.

He followed up this mighty fine LP with “Lonely People” in 1982 which combined several of the ballads on here with some more stunners, and with just two straight uptempo numbers, it had an even more mellow flavour. He released a solitary 7in funker in 1985 entitled “It’s a party”. The excellent UK-based outlet Timeless Records re-released “Lonely People” on CD and LP in 1987, but “Fresh Start” has never had a CD release. Or so I thought. There is an obscure CD release from as recent as 2008 released on the Connowil subsidiary Reppiks Records (available here). The title is “Hotter Than Heat” by The d’ Kalendars, featuring a mix of some of the key tracks from “Fresh Start”, a few nice unreleased uptempo tracks and some instrumental fillers. They also followed it up with a CD entitled “Ike Noble and friends” (available here) featuring 6 tracks by the man including the more uptempo numbers from “Fresh Start”. Some wily marketing strategies at work here, methinks.

You must be very lucky to buy this vinyl under 250$, check for the prices of the latest vinyl sold, here.  There are 2 vinyl copies available on Groove Collector from 450$. Imagine that the single “Another Star/Your Love” is on sale now on Ebay for 250$. Since there’s no CD release yet, listen to the wonderful groover “I’m gonna miss your love” and enjoy the whole album.

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On the occasion of today’s post, I would like to thank you for your donations. Without them, I couldn’t share albums like this one.

Rare Beautiful Deep Soul LP by this great singer. Listen to Freddie North and you will realize he has been magnificently blessed.”Love to Hate”,”Sun Comes Up” and the definitive redition of “Rainy Night in Georgia”.

This is a @320 vinyl rip of the original Mankind LP including covers

Tracks
A1 Cuss the Wind 3:26
A2 My Whole World Ended 5:22
A3 Love to Hate 3:39
A4 Sun Comes Up 2:31
B1 Gotta Go Get Your Mommy 3:26
B2 I Loved Another Woman 3:00
B3 Oh Lord What Are You Doing 3:10
B4 Rainy Night in Georgia 4:37

Review by  Soulmakossa

Although known to most for his smash hit “She’s All I Got”, Freddie North is - or should be - a household name for those into authentic Southern Soul.

After the majestic ‘Friend’ LP (1971), North recorded this follow-up in 1975, again with Jerry ‘Swamp Dogg‘ Williams manning the board. And, as with the output of contemporaries such as Z.Z. Hill and Jimmy Lewis, ‘Cuss the Wind’ proved to be another one of those very last true Southern Soul albums, steeped in the gospelfied tradition of gut bucket testifyin’ that, commercially, was rapidly going ‘out of style’ come ‘75.

The greasy, plodding title track opens this now rare and acclaimed album, and as soon as North opens his mouth, hearing his rich baritone is like catching up with a long lost but very dear friend. Freddie then gets right down to business with the album’s centrepiece, the devastating “My Whole World Ended“, a soul staple, but to me, this blazing, horn heavy work out - complete with funk-rock freak out bridge - is the defitinive version. Count your goosebumps when North sinks his teeth into the last chorus…

The menacing, funky vehicle “Love to Hate“, a North original, features some snappy wah wah guitars and soft, shimmering strings. Folksy wisdom set to the traditional Blues pattern, funked up to the extent that it could well have come from a blaxpo-movie.

Sweet, country-tinged soul is up next with the smouldering, teasing “Sun Comes Up“; more down home philosophy put to a shakin’, earthy groove. Dig the harpsichord here!

There’s an excruciating fraility to the beautiful, low-key ballad “Gotta Go Get Your Mommy“, a sparsely arranged soulful lament featuring Freddie as the archetypical deserted, mourning lover. And believe it or not, there’s an actual red beans ‘n’ rice old time Blues shakedown here! The to-the-point “I Loved Another Woman” is dirty, dirty delta wailin’, somewhat reminiscent of B.B. King’s “You Upset Me Baby”.

“Lord, What Are You Doing” is sweetly orchestrated, mid-tempo soul at its finest; a remarkable, dreamy tune that fully demonstrates the range of pain, anguish and passion Freddie put in his vocal delivery.

Finally, there’s “Rainy Night in Georgia“… What’s to say about this one? A forgotten masterpiece… a soothing, harrowingly beautiful rendition of the Brook Benton original. I can’t say which version I like better… I do know that this is one masterful way of ending a splendid, deep, SOUL-ful album.

Freddie North should have been huge… The man was brilliant, and his two records for Swamp Dogg are all the evidence you need of that notion.

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Never released on CD. Buy the vinyl from Ebay or Groove Collector

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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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The one and only album released by this great Chicago vocal group  a sublime harmony outfit who’d recorded some excellent indie 45s before getting the chance to do this one-off set for Curtis Mayfield’s Gemigo label! The style of the set is a bit more polished than some of the group’s earlier work  and has them stepping out strongly with help from Chicago studio talents that include Rich Tufo, Tom Washington, and Richard Evans  all of whom help the group bounce along in a really lively style that’s very much in the spirit of the second wave of Chicago group soul of the 70s.

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

Tracks
A1   It’s All Right (This Feeling) (2:54)
A2   Take It Slow (4:10)
A3   Bills Breakup Homes (2:57)
A4   Make Me Twice The Man (3:41)
A5   There I Go (2:29)
B1  Since You’ve Been Gone (3:24)
B2   It Only Hurts For A Little While (3:52)
B3   I’m Losing (3:20)
B4   Make Believin (3:03)
B5   Think Before You Stop (3:16)

Bonus
1. I’m Still Here (3.59)
2. Superpeople (3.55)
3. The Chopper (2.48)

This album from the legendary Notations was another rare album that had a king’s ransome placed on it by record dealers and collectors alike.

Originally released by Curtom records in 1975, this album has all the hallmarks of a ’70s classic. The Notations album is served up very much in a classic ’70s mould with a lot of ingredients: Leroy Hutson is certainly one flavour.

Check out the collectors’ favourite, Take It Slow, and hear what I mean. These guys have an excellent sweet soul harmony and are supported by some lovely tunes, crisp horns and swirling strings. The mood, in places, is very ‘Philly’ too - a play on Thom Bell and the Mighty Three production is echoed on the timeless Make Me Twice The Man. This is the sort of track that really hits the spot and makes you feel so, so good. There I Go and the foot-tapper, Since You’ve Been Gone are of a similar vein and I feel that they had some influence by the Spinners, surely.

You can buy the vinyl here and listen “Make Me Twice The Man”

Download link

Bonus songs

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