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Cellarful Of Soul


Following his short spell on the subs bench, PAUL RITCHIE is back with a vengeance. Not to mention a massive pile of sweet soul sounds.


We kick off this column with five rare CD releases from the Stax back catalogue. ROY LEE JOHNSON was a seasoned player when he arrived at Stax via recordings for Okeh, Columbia, Josie and Philips


including penning ‘Mister Moonlight’ as covered by The Beatles and the floor-filler ‘Boogaloo #3’. Cut in 1973, Roy Lee Johnson & The Villagers (BGP) is a heady funky brew brimming with hard-hitting funk and a gusty confident display from the singer. Pounding opener ‘Patch It Up’ packs a real heavyweight punch and the pace is pretty relentless throughout on this exhilarating album. The storming instrumental ‘Razorback Circus’ is a standout, prime for sampling and dance-floor frolics. To be fair, I can’t recall Stax ever sounding this funky. High praise indeed!


THE SONS OF TRUTH’S A Message From The Ghetto (BGP) kicks off with a foreboding meandering groove recalling the rock excursions of Funkadelic or the Isleys in stark contrast to the


celebratory, soul stew of ‘I Feel Good’ which follows – sounding not unlike an early Sly & The Family Stone. Far from a straight-ahead gospel record, the heartfelt ‘Close To Him’ recalls many a regular secular soul ballad yet the album loses itself a quarter of the way through when the pace slows down to the point of indifference.The albums saving grace comes with the frenetic ‘I Don’t Know Where We’re Heading’ with its familiar ‘I Wanna Testify’ refrain and insistent JB rhythms. More in the same mould would have elevated this group to greater things for sure.


JOHN GARY WILLIAMS’ eponymous album for Stax is given a first time release on CD (BGP) with two bonus tracks. The more mature lover of sweet seductive soul will find much to admire in the thick


southern textures, lush string laden symphonies and Williams’ feather light effeminate falsetto. This type of pillow talk could be corny or cliché but there is a rare beauty and affection on show here free of any unnecessary histrionics people insist on these days to suggest emotion. Straying away from the amorous theme the original album was bookended by message songs; the swirling ‘I See Hope’ and the familiar ‘The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy’. Along with ’75 single ‘Come What May’ they are the most up- tempo and essential items on this collection.


The sublime ‘Electrified Love’ kicks off ERNIE HINES’ Electrified (BGP), as absorbing a slice of laidback soul you could find from the latter Stax period. Yet this album (featuring the cream of Stax session


players – on fine form incidentally) would have languished in obscurity had it not been for the last track on the album, the miraculous ‘Our Generation’, sampled by Pete Rock and covered more recently by John Legend & The Roots. Still sounding fresh ’n’ funky, the peerless original is all you


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need to know and whilst it’s the obvious stand-out there’s plenty in the likeable Ernie Hines canyon to suggest he coulda, shoulda been bigger.


MEL & TIM enjoyed much more success than our previous batch of Stax hopefuls, their second Stax album, Mel & Tim (BGP), arrived in ’73. Featuring the majestic ‘Keep The Faith’, the album perfectly captures


the early ’70s plush Stax sound and the label’s bold sense of ambition. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and with material penned largely by Prince Phillip Mitchell, the album didn’t sell well at the time, which may be due to the label saturating the soul market with similar lavish releases. Time has served this release well and fans of Stax harmony soul will find plenty to indulge.


With an enticing thick


creamy country soul-blues


vocal reminiscent of the ’70s recordings by Bobby “Blue” Bland, Z Z HILL ’S United Artists albums The Best Thing That’s Happened To Me (’72) and ‘Z Z’ (’74) are sure-fire winners. Both long-players are coupled together on Snap Your Fingers With Z Z Hill (Shout). The former features New Orleans musicians including Allen Toussaint and The Meters and as expected is a funkier gospel flavoured affair, whilst the latter recorded at the Fame Studio in Muscle Shoals includes more down home country flavoured blues. Rousing stuff.


For those who like early R&B, look no further than the first ever compilation of early to mid-60s recordings by the multi-talented MELVIN DAVIS, Detroit Soul Ambassador


(Vampisoul). It features gritty, raw and rockin’ R&B numbers popular today with the mod scene. A fairly unsung hero of the Detroit scene, Davis was something of a musical force: songwriter, drummer, producer, label owner and singer in his own right. Every track sounds like a breath of fresh air, plenty of dance floor action too. Highlights are the previously unreleased versions of Northern staples from his purple patch at Groovesville: ‘I’m The One Who Loves You’ eventually released by Darryl Banks and ‘I Need My Baby’ made popular by Jackie Beavers.


Now here’s a thing! Already a leading light in reissues and packaging, the Numero group really excel themselves this time with their latest release Telling The Truth by WILLIE WRIGHT (Numero Group). The CD release comes with a


How Willie Wright must have wished a label like Daptone Records existed when he was courting his wares around the music industry.Already adept at reviving flagging careers such as Lee Fields, Naomi Shelton


and Sharon Jones; this time round it’s the turn of CHARLES BRADLEY who, at 62 years of age, makes his debut album No Time For Dreaming (Daptone). Ably backed by The Menahan Street Band who supply some supple grooves, Bradley belts ’em out like the best of ’em did back in the day, his gravely voice a fine instrument, with the raw power that comes with a lifetime of sometimes painful experiences. Recommended.


www.acerecords.co.uk www.cherryred.co.uk/shout www.vampisoul.com www.numerogroup.com www.daptonerecords.com


Willie Wright, ain’t no lyin’


piece of vinyl that fits neatly into the CD sleeve and actually plays! This 5” single spins at 33 RPM and is the kind of wonderful idea that a flagging music industry should take note of. Telling The Truth is


something of a DIY effort, recorded in ’77 at a custom studio in New York and sold from the trunk of a car.The plaintive musings of a going nowhere soul-folk troubadour seemingly destined to remain a buried treasure forever now thankfully sees the light of day. Simple folksy lilting acoustic guitars and subtle vocals (like an accessible Terry Callier with shades of Gil Scott-Heron) give off a calming aura. Fragile and melancholic in parts the mood is coloured by subtle little funky Island flourishes. Wright settled in Nantucket Island, 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts and named one of his tracks after it.


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