The latest compilation from those champions of underground soul 'Kent' is
a set of 22 tracks from Hodges, James, Smith (& Crawford) covering their early career between 1970-73 and contains twelve
previously unissued tracks (1, 6, 10-13, 16-21).
They released four albums between 1973-1978, the first two on 20th Century
and the latter two on London and around a dozen or more singles between
1970-79
Hodges, James, Smith were the brainchild of Motown producer William
(Mickey) Stevenson who he founded to compete with The Supremes in 1970. They
recorded one single in 1970 as Hodges, James, Smith (on People) and another
in 1971 as Luv 'N' Stuff (on Pride) before Motown artist Caroline Crawford joined in 1971 for two singles on Mpingo with the group name Hodges,
James, Smith & Crawford before leaving the group who once again reverted
to Hodges, James & Smith.
Crawford was signed to Motown in 1963 aged only 14 after winning a local
talent contest the prize of which was a Motown recording contract. She
recorded using the name Carolyn Crawford and released three singles
between 1963-64 (with one later becoming a Northern Soul favourite "My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)") and also provided backing vocals on many songs. After
leaving HJ&S she went on to pursue a solo career and released a few
singles on Philadelphia International and then Mercury where she released
two albums and also recorded with Hamilton Bohannon in the 70s. She was
briefly a member of Chapter 8 who replaced her with Anita Baker in 1976
when she left.
Pat Hodges released a solo single on "Playgirl" / "Surprise Party" in
1967 on Keymen, a label owned by Fred Smith which released an early Bobby Womack single in 1966 as it's first (known/listed) release. Another single was released on H.M.E. "My Man, My Man" / "Ain't Watcha Got
(It's Watcha Got And How You Use It)" which is a deep soul cut flipped
with sister funk track, which dates it around late 60s. She released a few
disco singles in 1979 and then several sporadic releases on different
labels in the 90s/00s.
Denita James was Kim Weston's cousin and recorded a solo single in 1966
"I Have Feelings Too" / "Wild Side" on Flip. She was also a member of The
Naturelles in the late 60s who were a female quartet who released two singles on Venture (an MGM soul subsidiary label run by Mickey Stevenson).
Jessica Smith doesn't appear to have released anything prior to HJ&S,
but did release a single with Mickey Stevenson on GSF in 1973 as Jessie
Smith and was a member of The Heyettes in 1976 who released an album and a
couple of singles on London which are hideous novelty tracks at the height
of TV sitcom Happy Days tenure as they relate to 'The Fonz". Take my
advice and don't even go there!
The only video of them performing I can find is a later track not on the
compilation, but one I've always been quite fond of from 1977 on London which is their only Hot 100 entry at the heady heights of #96. Denita James is on lead in centre with Jessie Smith left and Pat Hodges right.
It's a bit of a mystery, and another anomaly of 'our' music, that HJ&S were not far more successful as their harmonies are incredible (and comparable to The Three Degrees who they would have also been 'competing' with at the time, on some tracks). Only three of their singles entered the US R&B chart (sadly one of those was a horrendous disco version of "Dancing In The Street" which appears to have been their last single in 1979) and only one reached the Hot 100.
One of the two releases on Mpingo with Caroline Crawford, 'Lets' Pick Up The Pieces', is a rare groove / modern soul classic and is probably the standout track on the compilation. Of the previously unreleased material, the standout tracks include "(It Was) Never Meant To Be" and "If You Wanna Love Me".
| Rating: | 8.5 |
| Genre/Style: | Modern Soul |
| Format: | Album / Compilation |
| Media: | Digital/CD |
| Label: | Kent |
| Cat No: | CDKEND 503 |
| Year: | 25/06/2021 |
| Value: | £7.99 / £11.50 |
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