Today's tune on the start of the fifth week of conflict in Ukraine is a Northern Soul classic by Kenny Smith "Lord, What's Happening To Your People" which was a huge 'left-field' funky sound circa 1975/76 broken initially by Colin Curtis at the Blackpool Mecca.
It was released twice, first in 1970/71 as "Lord What's Happened", a shorter, slower more gospel take with an organ intro, on his own Goldspot label (which is very hard to find) and then in 1971/72 on General American Records which is the longer version played on the scene without organ. (NB 45Cat states 1970/71 for both singles and Discogs 1971/72).
The GAR release was bootlegged by the infamous Simon Soussan on a white label promo which is easy to spot as Kenny is spelt as Kenni!
The original 1970/71 version was released on a 2006 Kenny Smith CD compilation "One More Day". It was later reissued on 7" by Fraternity Group using the original Goldspot logo in 2012 but using the title "Lord What's Happened To Your People" to confuse matters further!
Kenny Smith is from Cincinnati, OH, and began his career in the 50s with a group of school friends who called themselves The Enchanters who allegedly filled in for, and recorded for, The Charms on Deluxe. His first solo single appeared on Fraternity in 1963. He released around twenty odd singles, five as Kenny Smith & The Loveliters, one as Kenny Smith & The Fox Fire Band, another as Kenny Smith & The Maximum Feeling and the album above has two sides as Kenny Smith & The Sole Selection which may have been previously unreleased as I can find no trace of a single by them. Another of his singles has had exposure on the Northern Soul scene in more recent years "One More Day" and was reissued on 7" by Soul7 in 2014 with "Go For Yourself".
| Rating: | 8.5 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Northern Soul |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | 7" |
| Label: | General American Records |
| Cat No: | GAR 317 |
| Date: | 1971/72 |
| Key/BPM: | 7B/136 |
| Value: | £1 |
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