Jo Armstead [1991] - Won't You Join The Band (On My Caravan) / Got My Taste (Of The Honey) [Preacher Rose #ROSE 1]

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.

Details

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.