24.9.06

Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities

Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities

Reviewer:Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Kent might actually be underselling itself by titling this collection Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities. That leads listeners to expect yet another anthology of generic mid-tempo mid-'60s American soul singles that have somehow come to be worshiped as choice rarities in England's Northern soul scene. These couple of dozen tracks are from the '60s (and occasionally from the early '70s), they are rare, and they do go for absurdly high prices among Northern soul collectors. Actually, however, these form a more diverse CD than the usual Northern soul anthology, with a good number of decent, lushly produced ballads and harmonized soul-pop efforts along with the expected dancefloor filler. Some of the songs from the early half of the '60s have pleasing traces of doo wop and girl group sounds, too. Listeners are still not going to know who many of these people are unless they're one of those collectors, with some exceptions: there's a 1962 single by Joe Simon, a rarity by the Delfonics, and items by cult soul vocalists Clifford Curry and Bettye Swann. More surprisingly, there are a couple of blue-eyed soul ringers by Charlie Rich (whose "Don't Tear Me Down" is a fine and convincing cut with unexpected chord changes) and Jimmy Seals, the latter the same dude who was half of Seals & Crofts. The singles were done all over America, and although there's an absence of lost classics, it's pleasurable listening. Sometimes it's more than that, as with Karmello Brooks' "Tell Me, Baby," with its jazzy hue and dense but rocking strings; Clifford Curry's "Ain't No Danger," which holds up well when stacked next to the Temptations' tougher, late-'60s cuts; Pat Powdrill's infectious up-tempo "Do It"; and the Joytones' "This Love That I'm Giving You," with its dreamy harmonies and uptown orchestration.





1. Just Your Fool - Eddie Whitehead
2. I've Got To Keep Movin' - Charles Lamonte And The Extremes
3. Strange Neighborhood - The Imaginations
4. Why Would You Blow It - Claude Huey
5. Yes I'm In Love - Unique Blend
6. And The Rains Came - The Millionaires
7. Tell Me, Baby - Karmello Brooks
8. You'll Get Enough - The Delfonics
9. Ain't No Danger - Clifford Curry
10. Do It - Pat Powdrill
11. I Think I'm Falling In Love (Fast Forward) - Bettye Swann
12. Don't Tear Me Down - Charlie Rich
13. I Wouldn't Change A Thing About You - Johnny Wyatt
14. Cards On The Table - The Diplomats
15. The Yesterday Of Our Love - Jimmy Seals
16. Raining Teardrops - The Rockmasters
17. I'll Be All Alone - Barbara Redd
18. I Have Feelings Too - Denita James
19. What Happened To Yesterday - Mr. Soul
20. I See Your Face - Joe Simon
21. My Heart's On Fire - Lil' Bob
22. The Way Of The Crowd - Dan Folger
23. This Love That I'm Giving You - The Joytones
24. I Have No Choice - Audrey Matthews


Mais uma vez, muito obrigado, Bernardo!!


Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities

5 comentários:

Anônimo disse...

Great compilation. I knew some of the artists, but didn't know any of the songs. High quality stuff. Thanks.

JDS disse...

Wow! Carling do not do musicblogs, but if they did they would call it "Mod 64"

Fantastic site, great music!

Anônimo disse...

More great songs! In another comment I said I really liked rare psych stuff but actually I like other material too, like northern soul, soul, hard rock and other genres. Actually, I like the types of music that you have posted here. All of it! Dang what a great assortment and collection of music you are sharing!

Thanks!

Just me

Anônimo disse...

Link is gone. Any chance of re-upping this one?

Thanks in advance!

Great blog!

Anônimo disse...

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