Lydia Persaud [2022] - I Got You [Next Door Records]

Toronto singer Lydia Persaud's last single "Good For Us" (posted on day of release 23 Feb 2022) caused a bit of a stir and the follow up single, another self-written song, "I Got You" was released yesterday (30 Feb 2022).

It won't really surprise you to learn, from her tone,  that she was part of a folk trio The O'Pears who released an album in 2016 before she went solo in 2018 releasing her debut album "Let Me show You" in May 2019.

Both singles are bundled together for her latest release and are from a forthcoming album "Moody31" set for release in April which she says "recombines jazz, R&B, and folk stylings to create soul music in its most literal sense".

Producer Scott McCannell describes her music as "Roberta Flack sitting in with Bill Withers' band at a folk festival which I think is probably an apt description.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Next Door Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	30/03/2022
Key/BPM:	10B/101 / 6A/92
Value:	£1.98

Giants Of Soul UK Tour Sep-Oct 2022

Commencing Sun 4 Sep through to Tue 4 Oct the Giants Of Soul tour will be appearing in 19 venues across the UK.

On the tour are seven artists who mainly peaked in the 70s/80s including from the US Deniece Williams, Gwen Dickey (Rose Royce), Alexander O'Neal and UK artists Jaki Graham, Janet Kaye and Tunde Baiyewu (of Lighthouse Family). Joining them will be current hot property Candace Woodson who is currently topping the UK Soul Chart.

Tickets don't seem to be available to purchase yet but keep checking Giants Of Soul website.

The dates are:

Sep 4 - Ipswich: Regent Theatre

Sep 6 - Bath: The Forum

Sep 7 - Cambridge: Corn Exchange

Sep 8 - Manchester: The Bridgewater Hall

Sep 9 - Liverpool: The Philharmonic (Gwen Dickey not performing)

Sep 10 - York: Barbican

Sep 13 - Halifax: Victoria Theatre (Gwen Dickey not performing)

Sep 14 - Sheffield: City Hall

Sep 15 - Llandudno: Venue Cymru

Sep 16 - Middlesbrough: Town Hall

Sep 17 - Edinburgh: O2 Academy (Jaki Graham not performing)

Sep 18 - Newcastle: O2 City Hall (Gwen Dickey not performing)

Sep 20 - London: Hammersmith Eventim Apollo

Sep 25 - Portsmouth: Guildhall

Sep 27 - Blackpool: Opera House

Sep 28 - Nottingham: Royal Concert Hall

Sep 29 - Scarborough: Spa

Oct 2 - Brighton: Brighton Centre

Oct 4 - Bournemouth: Pavilion

The organisers have put together a 30 track Spotify playlist which I 'assume' may be the songs they will be performing? (although there are no Candace Woodson tracks in the playlist).

click to enlarge

Parkes Stewart [2022] - Blackpearl [Eat Music Group] OUT NOW!

Parkes Stewart is a soulspirational singer from Detroit who has to date released around four albums since 1991 "Parkes" (1991), "Another Chapter" (1996), "Heart & Soul" (2004) and "Extraordinary Christmas" (2020).

He sang background vocals and wrote many songs for the 80s/90s urban contemporary gospel group Commissioned and also wrote songs recorded by Yolanda Adams ("Open Arms" and "More Than Just A Melody" also recorded by Ashanti), Dave Hollister ("Ordinary Just Won’t Do") and 3m selling "Cry On" for 112 on the tribute to Notorious B.I.G.

His new single "Blackpearl" (posted on promo a couple of weeks ago) was released on 29 Mar 2022 which is a song he describes as an anthem that celebrates women of color all over the world.

Parkes Stewart sings and writes a combination of spiritual soul and R&B music that seamlessly blends songs of longing, pain, love, and hope. Parkes explains that his objective to be the ("nexus" meaning connection) linking our humanity and spirituality. His intention is to look for the purity in the love relationship between husband and wife, man and brother, and God and man. Parkes’ music has something for everyone, for people who have experienced divorce, the young person with potential who just needs a helping hand, and for the burdened soul who needs God.

For Parkes, it has always been more than music. It is about keeping it real and dealing with issues that are usually swept under the carpet. The music then becomes not just an expression of what he does, but is something he truly is.

His last single "Clear Your Mind" was released last August  and a video for it is posted below.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Eat Music Group
Cat No:	None
Date:	29/03/2022
Key/BPM:	12A/79
Value:	£1

Joe Leavy [2022] - Love Me 2 My Soul [Self Released] OUT NOW!

Joe Leavy had a #1 hit on the UK soul charts in 2020 with "Inside You" (video and two versions posted below) and released his first single since then "Love Me 2 My Soul" on Friday (25 Mar 2022). Both tracks will be included on his forthcoming album "Soul Fire" due in May.

Joe is from San Diego and worked overseas for over 10 years playing R&B, pop and jazz nightly in clubs throughout east Asia and Japan. He returned to the US for family reasons where he performed in Las Vegas. After a while he got burnt out and moved to California and left music to set up a construction company for a lifestyle more conducive to focusing on his family.

However, he couldn't completely put music aside and he wrote "It's About Time" in 2012 which led to an album "A Guy Named Joe Leavy" which gave him the opportunity to create and sing his own music.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	New Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	25/03/2022
Key/BPM:	6A/98
Value:	£1

The Vanguards [2019] - Lamp Records - It Glowed Like The Sun: The Story Of Naptown's Motown 1969-1972 [Now-Again #NA-5180] (Full Album)

Following up the post for the reissued single by The Vanguards on Soul Direction which was licensed from Now-Again records it seems appropriate to post the compilation from which it came i.e. "It Glowed Like The Sun: The Story Of Naptown's Motown 1969-1972". (Naptown is a nickname for Indianapolis with various theories as to how it got the name but I suspect it's just an abbreviation of IndiaNAPolis).

Please refer to previous post for further info on The Vanguards.

Details

Rating:	8.5
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Sweet Soul / Lowrider
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital
Label:	Now-Again
Cat No:	NA-5180
Date:	01/08/2019
Value:	£7.99

The Vanguards [2022] - Good Times Bad Times / Man Without Knowledge [Soul Direction Origins #SDO-1003]

The Vanguards were a 60s/70s soul group from Indianapolis, IN, led by James Davis and consisting of Paul Irvin, Dickey Pierson, Von Wheeler, Elaine Livingston and Wilbur Winston. They were LAMP (Layden And Miller Productions) Records only top 100 Billboard R&B charting group who hit twice with their debut single, the lowrider classic, "Somebody Please" (#49) in 1969 followed by another lowrider "It's Too Late To Love" (#33) the following year. "Somebody Please" was initially released on L&M (a forerunner to LAMP) records in Jun 1969 which commands a much higher price tag than the second issue on Whiz (a subsidiary of Hollywood's Double Shot) in Aug 1969.

After graduating, Davis enlisted for 3 years duty in the military forces, joining the infantry. It was there he came up with the bands future name 'The Vanguards' from the Vanguard rocket ship programme and formed the group which were to become a big hit performing for the armed forces until his 3-year stint was up. 

The Vanguards released around six singles on Lamp in 1970-71 followed by a couple on Indiana label Shirley in 1975 with their last release billed as Vanguards & The Lady.

"Good Time Bad Times" along with the flip "Man Without Knowledge" is arguably their rarest and most sought after outing for the LAMP label, and with the help of Now & Again (who released a compilation in 2019 "LAMP Records - It Glowed Like The Sun: The Story Of Naptown's Motown 1969-1972") and with the blessing of LAMPS's owner Herb Miller, Alan Kitchener's Soul Direction label has fully licensed both tracks for release on 7" vinyl on 25 Mar 2022.

"Man Without Knowledge" was released earlier as the flip to "Girl Go Away (It's Wrong To Love Two)" (Lamp LA-81) but to acquire an original copy of "Good Time Bad Times" would now require well into four figures with the latest sold listing on Popsike fetching £2,081.

The single is available now from Soul Direction or from your regular vinyl dealer.

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul / Lowrider
Format:	Single / Reissue
Media:	7"
Label:	Soul Direction Origin
Cat No:	SDO-1003
Date:	25/03/2022
Key/BPM:	6A/128 / 9B/79
Value:	£15

Kenny Smith [2006] - One More Day [Shake It Records #SHAKE IT 551] (Full Album)

Following the post for Kenny Smith's Northern Soul single "Lord, What's Happening To Our People", I thought why not post his full compilation from 2006 "One More Day" which contains many of his singles.

It's still available to buy on Amazon either digitally or on CD. (Click on image below).

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul / Funk
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital/CD
Label:	Shake It Records
Cat No:	SHAKE IT 551
Date:	2006
Value:	£7.99 / £16.16

Kenny Smith [1972] - Lord, What's Happening To Your People [General American Records #GAR 317]

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".

Details

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