Eddie Holman [2021] - Ready, Willing, Able / Too Young For Love [Soul Direction #SD002]

An unreleased Virtue acetate by Eddie Holman which was in the possession of Philly producer John Stiles who produced it. It was recorded at Virtue Studios in Philly around the same time as one of my favourite tracks by him 'Stay Mine For Heaven's Sake' in 1966. 

He is probably only known to the non-soul buying public for his sweet soul ballad 'Hey There Lonely Girl' which was a #4 hit for him in the UK in 1974, although it was originally released in 1969 and released at least twice previously in UK in 1970 (Stateside) and 1972 (Probe), so I don't know why it became such a huge hit in 1974?  

As well his 60s material, he released some good records in the 70s on Salsoul. His 1977 album 'This Will Be A Night To Remember' is a great album which is a mixture of sweet soul ballads and 4 good 70s Philly dancers ('Somehow You Make Me Feel', 'Time Will Tell', 'This Will Be A Night To Remember', 'Where Have You Been All My Life').  You can listen to the Full album here.

This is 'proper Northern Soul' and had it been found back in the day, no doubt, would by now be a classic. It has been restored and released on Soul Direction for their second release on the newly established label started in Oct 2020 by Alan Kitchener. The B side is another unreleased Parkway(?) demo.

The first release on the label, in Oct 2020, was Andrea Henry's version of The Holidays' 'I Lost You' flipped with her classic 'I Need You Like A Baby' which is sold out and is already fetching up to £100 on Discogs ... madness!

Ready, Willing, Able

Too Young For Love