Tuesday, 10 November 2020

R.I.P - Rance Allen (20/11/1948 - 31/10/2020)

Rance Allen R.I.P.

Yet another legend departs this mortal coil!  Bishop Rance Allen died after an operation ('medical procedure') on 31st Oct 2020 aged 71 - which surprised me, as for some reason I thought he was much older, most probably because he seems to have been around for so long!  He formed The Rance Allen Group in 1969 with his two brothers Tom and Steve.

There a good Bio over at Soul Tracks.



If you are not familar with Rance Allen's music then you simply have to watch this 'prophetic' clip from his live show 'The Live Experience' 2004 with an extended version of classic gospel / soul song.



His last recording was released on 18th Oct 2020, a collaboration with Mydason - 'God Has Been So Good'. There is a message from Rance Allen on Mydason's Facebook page recorded on 28th Oct 2020.   There is 'inevitably' speculation that he died from Covid-19 but, if this  was recorded the day it was released, 3 days before his death, then it is unlikely!

Album Discography (with links to full albums where I can find them)

1973 - Brothers
1973 - Wattstax - The Living Word - Lying On The Truth (VA Boxset) [2]
1975 - Sanctified (UK-only Compilation)
1975 - A Soulful Experience (reissued 1981 as Ain't No Need Of Crying)
1977 - Say My Friend (reissued 1979 as The Way It Is)
1978 - Straight From The Heart * (reissued on CD with bonus tracks in 1994)
1979 - Smile *
1983 - Hear My Voice *
1991 - Phenomenon
1995 - Up Above My Head (Compilation)
2000 - Miracle Worker *
2001 - The Soulful Truth Of The Rance Allen Group (UK-only Compilation)
2002 - All the Way * [1]
2004 - The Live Experience
2014 - Celebrate

NB Those marked * are playlist I've created on YouTube - there may be odd tracks missing that aren't uploaded yet.  I haven't created playlists for compilations as most tracks will be on other albums.
1. Several tracks missing from All The Way - I'll have to dig through my collection to see if I can fill any gaps. The following 6 (of 15) tracks i can't find anywhere - any help appreciated.
Honey Out Of The Rocks
Rain On Me
Taking It Easy
The Sweetest Name
The House Of The Lord
Jesus Can Satisfy
[2] Apart from the 2001 compilation The Soulful The Truth Of Rance Allen Group this was only released on the Watsstax live album.

Singles Discography

Reflect
1969 - Let's Get Together And Love / First Day In Heaven [RF 1]
The Gospel Truth
1972 - Just My Imagination (Just My Salvation) / Up Above My Head [GTA-1201]
1972 - There's Gonna Be A Showdown / That Will Be Good Enough For Me [GTA-1204]
1973 - I Got To Be Myself / Gonna Make It Alright [GTA-1208]
1973 - I Know A Man Who / Hotline To Jesus [GTA-1212]
1973 - Be True / We're The Salt Of The Earth [GTA-1216]
Truth
1974 - Ain't No Need Of Crying / If I Could Make The World Better [TRA-3210]
1974 - White Christmas / White Christmas (Inst) [TRA-3216]
1975 - I Give My All To You / What A Day [TRA-3229]
Capitol
1977 - Peace Of Mind / I'm Gonna Make It After All [4512]
1977 - Reason To Survive / Got To Be Ready [4443]
Stax
1977 - There's Gonna Be A Showdown / Just My Imagination (Just My Salvation) [STX-1037]
1977 - Gonna Make It Alright / Hotline To Jesus [STX-1040]
1977 - Ain't No Need Of Crying / I Got To Be Myself [STX-1050]
1978 - I Belong To You / The Wheel Of Life [STX-3217]
1979 - Smile / Security [STX-3221]
1979 - Where Have All Your Friends Gone / My Recipe For Love [STX-3223]
1980 - Some People / I'm Coming Back To You [STX-3226]
Myrrh
1983 - Ceasefire, That Is My Desire / Jesus, Ill Never Forget [M-297]
Bellmark
1991 - Miracle Worker / God Bless America [SPRO 79659]
G.A.M.M.
2009 Jazzy Jens / The Rance Allen Group ‎– Africa / U Got 2 B Ready (DJ Prime Edit) [GAMM049]
This is  a Swedish edit of Got To Be Ready from Say My Friend LP
Brainstorm
2020 - Mydasn Feat. Rance Allen - God Has Been So Good

Below I've put together a summary of his singles discography with links to each track.

First off here's a rare 45 released on Reflect label titled 'Let's Get Together And Love' / 'First Day In Heaven' alleged to be his first release in 1969 on independent label owned by a record shop in Monroe, Michigan (where Allen was born) in 1969.  Discogs has it listed incorrectly linked to the wrong label.

In 1971 The Rance Allen Group won a gospel talent show in Detroit and one of the Judges was record promoter Dave Clark who had them in the studio four hours later to cut an album. Stax bought the masters and as they say the rest is history. 

The first single with Stax was Just My Imagination (Just My Salvation) released in 1972 on their The Gospel Truth imprint. If you ever have to explain to anyone what soul music is then just play them this! The B side is an uptempo gospel song 'Up Above My Head'.

Then there is the follow up, another cover, this time of one of my favourite records by Archie Bell & The Drells - There's Gonna Be A Showdown written by the legendary Gamble & Huff, but the Allen brothers add another dimension to this classic.  The flip side is one of the best deep soul / gospel songs you will ever hear: 'That Will Be Good Enough For Me'!

The 3rd single hit the R&B top 30 'I Got To Be Myself' but personally I don't think it is anywhere as near as good as the previous two releases and the flip 'Gonna Make It Alright' (for me) is a far better side, available on 45 only (was reissued in 1977 on Stax).

The next release on The Gospel Truth in 1973 is regarded as a classic today 'I Know A Man Who'. On the flip is a funky number entitled 'Hotline To Jesus'.

This was followed up with 'Be True / We're The Salt Of The Earth', neither of which 'float my boat', but he was back on form with the next release on the, now abbreviated, Truth label in 1974 with 'Ain't No Need Of Crying' with another funky number on the flip 'If I Could Make The World Better'. This in turn was followed by a gospel version of 'White Christmas'.

In 1975 he released an underrated 'I Give My All To You' a pleasant modern soul stepper with 'What A Day' a gospel/bluesy number.

In 1977 Allen moved to Capitol which perhaps prompted Stax to re-issue Showdown c/w Imagination and Ain't No Need Of Crying c/w Got To Be Myself.

The first release on Capitol was 'Peace Of Mind' a popular gospel / jazz funk tune along with the deep soul/gospel 'I'm Gonna Make It After All'.  Then came his modern soul classic 'Reason To Survive' (I've linked to the 7 min LP version as 3.59 45 version is simply not long enough!) flipped with the funky 'Got To Be Ready'.

His 3rd Capitol release, still in 1977, was a mellower affair with the ballad 'You're My Everything' but flipped with a gospel funky stomper 'Truth Is Marching On'. I'm not sure if this got any plays on the Northern Soul scene at the time (might have been considered too funky back then) but it is ripe for the picking today!

He returned to Stax in 1978 with a deep soul / gospel release on the main label 'I Belong To You' backed with 'The Wheel Of Life' a late 70s modern dancer!

In 1979 he released 'Smile' which is probably as near as he got to disco! ... along with 'Security' which does nothing for this listener I'm afraid to say (at least compared with his other material - the vocals are great but the song is weak).  

The next 1979 release is much better, another deep soul number 'Where Have all Your Friends Gone' (the only sound clip I could find but lo-fi) with a ballad/stepper flip 'My Recipe For Love'.

His final release for Stax was in 1980 with the funky 'Some People' c/w a deep soul ballad 'I'm Coming Back To You' which is a bit ironic! (couldn't find a single clip but it is track 03 (at 08:50) in this clip of whole album).

After his departure from Stax the next single release was in 1983 on the gospel label Myrrh with another deep soul gospel tune 'Ceasefire Is My Desire' backed with 'Jesus Ill Never Forget' which is a pleasant uptempo bouncy gospel dancer.

From 1985 he focused on his ministry work from 1985 and is wasn't until 1991 that his next (and what would be his last) single was released. 'Miracle Worker' is a bit of a non-descript tune typical in the 80s/early 90s c/w 'God Bless America' ..as it sounds a bit of a slushy patriotic tune.

His last recording was released on 18th Oct 2020, a collaboration with Mydason - 'God Has Been So Good'.

That was it as far as original material single releases were concerned.  There were a few reissues and a remix of Got To Be Ready.


If you were previously unaware of Rance Allen's catalogue I hope you will be pleasantly surprised at the sheer quality of most of his material.
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