Blues & Soul #78 18 Feb - 2 Mar 1972 - 50 years ago Today!

I thought it might be an interesting new feature to occasionally summarise the contents of Blues & Soul magazine at various snapshots in time. This issue is from 50 years ago this week #78 from 18 Feb - 2 Mar 1972. 

Blues & Soul ran fortnightly and was the only mainstream magazine featuring soul music at this point in time in the UK. It started life as Home Of The Blues in Oct 1967 which ran for 11 issues before renaming to Blues & Soul. 

A monthly magazine, Black Music, would arrive in 1974 and a weekly newspaper style magazine Black Echoes in Jan 1976. Black Music was eventually merged with Blues & Soul in 1984. Both Blues & Soul and Echoes, as it was later  renamed, are still running today with monthly online and print editions.

This issue contained 24 pages and had a photo of Joe Simon on the front cover. Articles included pieces on the following artists: James Brown, Donnie Elbert, Maceo & The Kings Men, Chuck Berry, The O'Jays, The Dramatics, Maxine Brown, The Last Poets, The Detroit Emeralds and Don Gardner.

Each issue contained the UK and US Singles and Album charts and reviews of the new UK singles and album.

UK Top 60 Singles

Top 10 were:

1 Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Her

2 Al Green - Let's Stay Together

3 Donnie Elbert - Where Did Our Love go

4 The Temptations - Superstar

5 Sly & The Family Stone - Family Affair

6 Stevie Wonder - If You Really Love Me 

7 Stylistics - You Are Everything

8 Cha Ka Chas - Jungle Fever

9 Dennis Coffey - Scorpio

10 Michael Jackson - Got To Be There

There were UK single reviews for (B&S review rating out of 5 stars in brackets):

Joe Simon - Drowning In A Sea Of Love (5)

Donnie Elbert - I Can't Help Myself (5)

Jerry Butler - Moody Woman (5)

Chuck Moore - Shelley's Rubber Band (4)

Fontella Bass - Who You Gonna Blame (4)

Eddie Holman - Hey There Lonely Girl (5)

Millie Jackson - A Child Of God (It's Hard To Believe) (5)

O'Jays -  Working On Your Case (3)

Ben E. King -  Take Me To The Pilot (3)

Bo Diddley -  I Said Shut Up Woman (2)

Melba Moore - Take Up A Course In Happiness (not rated but described as junk!)

Ponderosa Twins Plus One  - You Send Me (3)

Simtec & Wylie - Maggie May (2)

James Brown - I'm A Greedy Man (3)

The M.G.'s - Jamaica This Morning (4)

Billy Preston - I Wrote A Simple Song (3)

Flirtations - Need Your Loving (2)

5th Dimension - Together Let's Find Love (4)

The Enticers - Calling Your Name (4)

Phillip Mitchell - Free For All (5)

Free Movement - The Harder I Try (2).

UK Top 30 Albums 

Top 10 were:

1 Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Going On

2 Isaac Hayes - Shaft

3 Stevie Wonder - Greatest Hits Vol. 2

4 Chi-Lites - Give More Power To The People

5 Santana - Third Album

6 Al Green - Gets Next To You

7 Curtis Mayfield - Roots

8 Four Tops - Greatest Hits Vol. 2

9 Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

10 VA - Motown Memories

Album reviews included (B&S review rating out of 5 stars in brackets):

Detroit Emeralds - Do Me Right (4)

War - All Day Music (4)

Bobby Byrd - I Need Help Live On Stage (3)

Marvin Gaye - The Hits Of Marvin Gaye (5)

Buddy Miles - Live! (3)

James Brown - This Is (not rated)

Isaac Hayes - Black Moses (4),

US Top 100 Singles

The top 10 were:

1 Al Green - Let's Stay Together

2 Bobby Womack - That's The Way I Feel About Cha

3 Wilson Pickett - Fire And Water

4 Betty Wright - Clean Up Woman

5 Gladys Knight & The Pips - Make Me The Woman You Go Home To

6 Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager - Ain't Understanding Mellow

7 Detroit Emeralds - You Want It You Got It

8 Joe Simon - Drowning In A Sea Of Love

9 Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Penguin

10 Cha Ka Chas - Jungle Fever

US Top 50 Albums

The top 10 were:

1 Isaac Hayes - Black Moses

2 Dramatics - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get

3 Stylistics - The Stylistics

4 Jackson 5 - Greatest hits

5 Laura Lee - Women's Love Rights

6 James Brown - Revolution Of The Mind

7 Grover Washington - Inner City Blues

8 Roberta Flack - Quiet Fire

9 Gladys Knight & The Pips - Standing Ovation

10 Luther Ingram - I've Been Here All The Time