If any of us have lost sight of what true soul music sounds like with so
much new/neo/R&B music being released, well, sit back, pour a drink,
relax and listen to this masterpiece "Won't You Join The Band (On My Caravan)". It's from one of our 'unsung' legends, the former Ikette and composer,
who wrote many songs with Ashford & Simpson,
Joshie Jo Armstead. Well known on the UK rare soul scene for many songs from the
mid 60s / early 70s, but possibly not for this one which was a limited
edition press circa 1991 on her own Preacher Rose label. Apparently it is reported that 550 copies were pressed in 1991 at Bill Smiths Customs Records Inc, California by Armstead.
This is a genuine desert island disk for me, absolutely stunning soul perfection. It has
already been posted last year but I was reminded of it when Gary Van den
Bussche played another of her deep tunes ("He Moves Me") on his Starpoint radio show this
lunchtime. It's a seven minute epic but, as I haven't listened to it for
quite a while, it's been on repeat and I don't use the term masterpiece
lightly and have never awarded a rating of ten to anything, but this has
got to be, hasn't it? It's flawless, but that's only my opinion.
The official A side "Got My Taste (Of The Honey)" got spins at the more 'educated' modern soul venues and is probably more sought after for that side as sadly deep soul of this quality is an
acquired taste, it's like vintage wine or malt whiskey, and this has been maturing for more than 30 years since it's release (and I'm sure I've read somewhere that it is believed to be a previously unreleased 70s recording) and needs to be heard and appreciated.
She co-wrote the song with William Brown III who was a member of The Mad
Lads (along with John Gary Williams) who wrote many songs for the group as
well as other Stax related artists such as The Temprees and The Bar-Kays
amongst others, The other writer is someone named Joshie Jo Wheaton, which seems a 'curious' name, and on BMI the song is registered as Arris Wheaton with no other entries for that name so the trail goes cold.
Armstead has less than twenty singles (four recorded under the alias
Deena Johnson apparently to 'hide' from Ike Turner after leaving The
Ikettes) and one album to her name as an artist but has over 600 credits
to her name on Discogs for writing, performing and producing. Many of the credits are for artists well know on the rare soul scene from the likes of The Apollas, Garland Green, Ruby Andrews, Big
Maybelle, Marie Knight, Doris Troy, The Yum Yums, Jeanette Williams, Chuck
Bernard, The Kittens, Candy & The Kisses, Maxine Brown, Tina Britt,
Chuck Jackson, Betty Lavette, Bobby Hutton, Rhetta Hughes and Syl Johnson to
just skim the surface. She has even co-written songs for James Brown and
Aretha Franklin.
She has appeared on albums for Ashford & Simpson (obviously) but also Esther Phillips, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones,
Stephanie Mills, Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Frankie Vallie and Burt
Bacharach.
I think in a future post I will select some of the best recordings she has
been involved with but for now please just bask in this gem. Copies are
currently selling for £50-£60 but you can pick it up on a 1996 CD
compilation "A Stone Good Lover - A Golden Classics Edition" for a fraction of that (one currently for sale on Discogs for £6) which
is well worth picking up anyway as it has some other great tunes on
it.
| Rating: | 10 / 8.4 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Deep Soul / Modern soul |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | 7" |
| Label: | Preacher Rose |
| Cat No: | ROSE 1 |
| Date: | 1990 |
| Key/BPM: | N/A |
| Value: | £50-£60 approx. |
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