Freddie North – 1974 – Cuss The Wind
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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 [email protected] vinyl rip of the original Mankind Records LP
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 gutbucket 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 downhome philosophy put to a shakin’, earthy groove. Dig the hapsichord 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.
brianbrora
Posted at 18:22h, 22 April 2010A beautiful, rare gem indeed. This is great. Many Thanks.
Baas
Posted at 21:19h, 22 April 2010yup yup a nice lp….no comments.. thanks jean paris
Sergio
Posted at 09:26h, 23 April 2010Fantastico !!!!! Thanks for sharing !
Philly_Soul
Posted at 16:24h, 23 April 2010Marvellous stuff. A new one for me, but what a find. Thanks as ever
Robert
Posted at 19:25h, 23 April 2010awesome,thanks for the discovery!!
Paul
Posted at 19:32h, 23 April 2010Superb Southern Soul!
rich
Posted at 21:44h, 23 April 2010great album thank u nikos
Justin
Posted at 00:38h, 24 April 2010Fantastic selection of R’n’B. Cheers for this. Keep on keepin on with your brilliant blog.
johh
Posted at 02:18h, 24 April 2010This guy can sing! Love it – thanks. Keep on with this wonderful blog. One thing puzzles me though. How do you get to know about these artists and singers in the first place – just by digging through the crates?
jos
Posted at 11:01h, 24 April 2010thanks!!
Spencer
Posted at 11:56h, 24 April 2010thank you nikos for the amazing music my life is all the better for it long live soul music keep it comin soulbrother thankyou thankyou thankyou.
pedro
Posted at 15:35h, 24 April 2010great lp this one love world ended great version thanks pedro
Johnathan
Posted at 16:37h, 24 April 2010Quality posts, quality rips. It’s heaven to me. Thank you very much.
Bobby
Posted at 21:14h, 24 April 2010Thank you!
Fred
Posted at 21:22h, 24 April 2010Brilliant artist. What about “Friends” LP? Can you post it too?
ivoryhammer
Posted at 19:04h, 25 April 2010wow – never heard of this guy and that’s a shame. thanks for your efforts.
Derek
Posted at 09:42h, 26 April 2010amazing stuff indeed.
Reds
Posted at 22:23h, 26 April 2010Thank you for sharing this rarity!
Ryan
Posted at 03:26h, 27 April 2010I just came across your blog and had to congratulate you on it. Some truly amazing albums here, and many I’ve never heard before. I can’t tell you how much your work is appreciated. Thanks again!
Melvyn
Posted at 10:12h, 27 April 2010Right up my alley. Thanks for a fantastic album.
Kelly
Posted at 22:04h, 27 April 2010Thanks so much for all these great music that you post.
Richard
Posted at 00:51h, 28 April 2010thanks you, love soul and never heard of Freddie great post.
Adam
Posted at 04:48h, 28 April 2010This is a fantastic album! I am currently searching for his ‘Friend’ LP and I can’t wait to listen to that album as well. Thanks!
Rui
Posted at 11:09h, 28 April 2010Damn this music is so soothing, i like the album and use me.
Gabriel
Posted at 00:56h, 29 April 2010Still sounds as good today
Steve
Posted at 11:21h, 29 April 2010thank you for posting it
cleffdeadly
Posted at 05:29h, 01 May 2010yet another classic!
Liam
Posted at 20:46h, 01 May 2010the whole album rules!
Sam
Posted at 01:35h, 02 May 2010Superb artist! Excellent review too. Thank you.
Roy
Posted at 15:18h, 22 May 2010Great LP! Freddie was the man.
Marcel
Posted at 10:25h, 09 June 2010Fantastic Post…thank You!!!!!!!!!!!
herbortice
Posted at 22:00h, 13 June 2010Lovely album. Respect!
modernist
Posted at 23:40h, 13 June 2010thanks for this great music
modernist
Posted at 23:40h, 13 June 2010wonderfull again
Patrick
Posted at 12:17h, 20 June 2010I was blown away by this. Righteous! Thank you!
anteas
Posted at 01:11h, 26 June 2010Great stuff. iwas searching for this!
edd
Posted at 06:43h, 09 July 2010Great stuff, thanks. But “Rainy Night in Georgia” was originally by Tony Joe White, who wrote the song.
Can’t wait to hear this album!
eh
Kelly Peter
Posted at 11:23h, 28 September 2010Just listening to this one now, liking so far ! Thx
Schedule
Posted at 01:57h, 30 October 2010Maybe you should edit the page title Freddie North Cuss The Wind | Funk my Soul to something more catching for your blog post you make. I enjoyed the the writing however.
Anonymous
Posted at 23:07h, 23 May 2011what an amazing site and collection you have got!…the youtube clips and info on the records is just gold for collectors and crate diggers alike. thank you so much for your work!
edd
Posted at 06:21h, 30 November 2011"Cuss the Wind" is great. Been listening to this and to the Ann Sexton Sound Stage 7 album you have so graciously put up here. I'd like to request you post a good copy of North's "Friend" album.
Holly
Posted at 23:14h, 28 December 2011This is *awesome* Thank you! I’m always grateful for Swamp Dogg productions.