Soul Strutter: 12/23/22

Friday, 23 December 2022

The Whispers [2022] - The Doré Singles [MTI] (Full Album)

A new compilation today "The Doré Singles" from The Whispers with a selection of their Doré singles A and B sides. Despite the title, it is not their whole Doré catalogue as many of the B sides were instrumentals with the only vocal song which is not included is "Needle In A Haystack" which is one of their best.

However, whilst checking the listing the track "Shake It, Shake It" is not "Shake It, Shake It" as it should be a vocal and the track included is an instrumental. I think all the others are correct.

Track Listing:

01 - As I Sit Here [Doré #740] 1965-07 A side

~~02 - Shake It, Shake It [Doré #740] 1965-07 B side~~

02 - ?

03 - I Was Born When You Kissed Me [Doré #758] 1966-02 A side

04 - You Can't Fight What's Right [Doré #792] 1967-07 B side

05 - You Got a Man on Your Hands [Doré #792] 1967-07 A side

06 - It Only Hurts for a Little While [Doré #724] 1964-11 A side

07 - Dr. Love [Doré #751] 1965-11 A side

Written by group member Nicholas Caldwell and covered by Bobby Sheen on Capitol in 1966 which was huge in NS circles at The Twisted Wheel.

08 - The Dip [Doré #735] 1965-06 A side

09 - Never Again [Doré #729] 1965-01 A side

10 - Take a Lesson from the Teacher [Doré #768] 1966-02 A side

By my reckoning they released nine singles on the label between 1964-67, so there are eight tracks missing, all but one though are instrumentals:

The Happy One [Doré #724] B side inst.

(previously. released as by Billy Joe & The Checkmates titled as "Bossville")

Slow Jerk [Doré #729] B side inst.

Weirdo [Doré #735] B side inst.

Lonely Avenue [Doré #751] B side inst.

Walkin' The Fat Man [Doré #758] B side inst.

Claire DeLooney [Doré #768] B side inst.

Needle In A Haystack [Doré #972] A side

Shake It, Shake It [Doré #740] 1965-07 B side

Waltz For Young Lovers [Doré #994] B side inst.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	60s Soul
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital
Label:	MTI
Cat No:	None
Date:	23/12/2022
Price:	£5.49

VA [2022] - Mountain of Soul Episode 5 [Charly] (Full Album)

The latest instalment of Kev Roberts podcast and accompanying compilation "Mountain of Soul Episode 5" is out today (23 Dec '22).

It consists of three or four pretty well known sounds Gladys Knight, Ohio Players, Razzy and The Winstons along with some semi (DeVons) and lesser knows.

Track Listing:

01 - Gladys Knight & The Pips [2965] - Stop & Get a Hold Of Myself [Maxx #334]

(A Van McCoy song covered by Carole Waller on USA in 1967)

02 - Tiny Tim Harris [1969] - Don't Say [Bobby Robinson Records #BR-100]

03 - Tommy Duncan [1967] - Let Me Take you Out [Smash #S-2073]

04 - Ohio Players [1976] - Love Slipped Through My Fingers [Trip #TOP-16-23]

(Mistitled as it first appeared on a 1976 album "16 Greatest His" as "Love Slips Thru My Fingers" and the singer is Towanda Barnes. It is, of course, a cover of Sam Williams which is hen's teeth rare on Capitol's Tower offshoot as it was promo only.

05 - The Devons [1969] - Groovin' With My Thing [Mr. G. #G825]

06 - Razzy & the Neighborhood Kids [1974] - I Hate Hate [Aquarian #AQ 601]

07 - Sonny Fisher [1967] - Oh, Love, This Is Sonny [Tou-Sea #130]

08 - Ruby Winters [1999] - I Can't Help But Let You [Pegasus #PEG CD 256]

Unreleased 60s Diamond recording until it appeared on a 1999 UK only CD compilation "The Best Of Ruby Winters". But got a 7" release this tear on Cliff Steele & Tats Taylor's Creative Soul. The song title on this release is mistyped/mistitled and should be "I Can't Help But Love You".

09 - The Profiles [1969] - I Still Love You [Bamboo #BMB 108]

10 - The Winstons - Colour Him Father [Metromedia #MMS-117]

Another typo as this is the UK spelling and should be Color!

11- Artie Fullilove [1966] - Santa Claus Please Listen To Me [Marlu #MA-1001]

A bonus track on podcast only. One of very few Northern Soul Christmas records played (I'm scratching my head trying to think of any others). Artie Fullilove was a member of Johnnny Johson & The Bandwagon. He released another single on Marlu which was an uptown/uptempo (NS) version of "Strangers In The Night" made famous by Frank Sinatra the same year, which isn't as bad as you would imagine!

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital
Label:	Charly
Cat No:	None
Date:	23/12/2022
Price:	£7.89

Baby Bash & The Bashtones [2022] - Souldies Nation [Bashtown Music Group] (Full Album)

Baby Bash has only featured here once before and that was almost exactly a year ago on 17 Dec '21 with a single "Roll It Up" featuring COTA who is one of the new breed of sweet soul singers out of the L.A. Silent Giant stable. It should come as no big surprise then that this latest album "Souldies Nation" (a clue in the title also) is contemporary sweet soul with a retro feel.

It's a very good album which should have an across the board appeal. Each track features a different guest artist. There is a video for one of the best tracks "Before I Met You" which I can't help but draw comparisons with some of Silk Sonic's material. Another great track is "Only You" which features Bobby Ross Avila.

Baby Bash is the alter ego for Raymond Brytant from Vallejo, CA, who started out as a rapper in 1995 and went by the name Baby Beesh named after a Mitsubishi car he drove. He's been quite prolific with no fewer than 27 albums listed for him on Spotify since 2001.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

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

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Sweet Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Bashtown Music Group / Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	23/12/2022
Price:	£6.49

Pale Jay & OkoNski [2022] - By The Lake [Karma Chief Records]

Pale Jay is a new artist from L.A. and released his debut five track EP "The Celestial Suite" on 22 Nov 2021. Since then it would appear that he has been signed by Colemine Records as his latest single "By The Lake", which features OkoNski, has been released on Karma Chief offshoot on 6 Dec '22.

Like his debut EP, the new single is contemporary but also has a retro feel. The song was written by the pair along with Michael Montgomery and Aaron Frazer of Durand Jones & The Indications.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

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

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Karma Chief Records
Cat No:	None
Date:	06/12/2022
Key/BPM:	10B/80
Price:	£1

Shamba [2022] - BILL$ [Self Released]

Shamba Hadiah is an Atlanta, GA, based artist originally from New Jersey. Her mother was a Def Jam recording artist and father a DJ, so music is in her blood. She debuted in 2018 and has two albums and around twenty singles to her name already.

In July she released "Green Light" and in Aug a remix of it featuring Luke Bar$. Her latest single "BILL$" was released yesterday (21 Dec) which has more a of an R&B slant.

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

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

Details

Rating:	7.8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	21/12/2022
Key/BPM:	12A/64
Price:	£1

Fetty Wap, Charlie Wilson & Ronald Isley [2022] - Sweet Yamz (Remix) [300 Entertainment]

You may be familiar with this song as it was originally released by Masego & Devin Morrison as "Yamz" in Nov 2021. We did miss several other versions titled "Sweet Yamz" released by Fetty Wap since mid Nov '22 (included below), which has culminated in the latest remix featuring Charlie Wilson and Ronald Isley released last week (16 Dec).

Fetty Wap is rapper Willie Maxwell II from Paterson, NJ, who had a breakout hit in 2015 with "Trap Queen". He was born with glaucoma in both eyes with doctors unable to save his left eye which was replaced with a glass eye. He's a 'bit of a lad' with six children with five mothers!

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	300 Entertainment
Cat No:	None
Date:	16/12/2022
Key/BPM:	2B/77
Price:	£1

Esther Phillips - A Profile

Esther Phillips (Esther Mae Jones) (23 Dec. 1935 - 7 Aug. 1984) would have celebrated her 87th birthday today. She won a talent show in 1949 aged 14 in a club in Watts, L.A. owned by Johnny Otis (father of Shuggie Otis who wrote and recorded Strawberry Letter 23 which was a later hot for Brothers Johnson) which resulted in her recording her first single with the Johnny Otis Quintette With The Robins And Little Esther "Double Crossing Blues" in 1950 which got to #1 on R&B chart. She died at a relatively young age of 48 in 1984 due to liver and kidney failure resulting from long-term drug use.

She has recorded far too much material to go into an in depth discography (around 100 singles and 20 albums), and let's be honest, most of us aren't interested in much before 1964! So instead, I've cherry picked 50 of her best recordings, singles and album tracks, from 1964 onwards into a playlist. At least half a dozen or so of these (bold below) have been played on rare soul dancefloors in the UK, some since the 70s.

I've tagged seven tracks from a 2020 compilation by David Nathan's Soul Music label which is a very comprehensive 5 CD box set compilation of her output from 1962-70 (Brand New Day (The Lenox/Atlantic & Roulette Recordings 1962-1970) covering most, if not all, of her recordings from those labels. Our man Roger 'Soulsorts' Williams did the artwork.

Playlist of selected tracks

1964 - Mo Jo Hannah [Atlantic #45-2229]

1964 - Some Things You Never Get Used To [Atlantic #45-2265]

1965 - Just Say Goodbye [Atlantic #45-2324]

1965 - And I Love Him [Atlantic #45-2281]

1966 - Fever [Atlantic #45-2370]

1969 - Nobody But You [Roulette #R-7059]

1970 - Don't Let Me Lose This Dream (Live) (Burnin' (Live At Freddie Jett's Pied Piper, L.A.) LP) [Atlantic #SD 1565]

1971 - Catch Me I'm Falling [Atlantic#45-2783]

1971 - Sweet Touch Of Love (From A Whisper To A Scream) [Kudu #KU 05]

1972 - Home Is Where The Hatred Is [Kudu #KU-904]

1972 - Baby, I'm For Real [Kudu #KU-906]

1972 - I've Never Found A Man (To Love Me Like You Do) [Kudu #KU 910]

1972 - I Don't Want To Do Wrong (Alone Again, Naturally LP) [Atlantic #SD 1565]

1973 - Let Me In Your Life [Kudu #KU-915]

1975 - What A Diff'rence A Day Makes [Kudu #KU-925 F]

1975 - Mister Magic (What A Diff'rence A Day Makes LP) [Kud #KU-23]

1975 - One Night Affair (What A Diff'rence A Day Makes LP) [Kudu #KU-23]

1976 - (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher & Higher [Kudu #KU-938]

1976 - I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do (Capricorn Princess LP) [Kudu #KU-31]

1976 - Candy (Capricorn Princess LP) [Kudu #KU-31]

1976 - For All We Know [Kudu #KU-929]

1976 - Going Out Of My Head (For All We Know LP) [Kudu #KU-28]

1977 - In A Soft And Subtle Way (You've Come A Long Way, Baby LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-1187]

1977 - Into The Mystic (You've Come A Long Way, Baby LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-1187]

1977 - I've Never Been A Woman Before [Mercury #73967]

1978 - The Man Ain't Ready [Mercury #74030]

1978 - Native New Yorker (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - You Think Of Him (You Think Of Her) (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - Pie In The Sky (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - S.O.S. (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - Ms. (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1979 - Our Day Will Come [Mercury #74077]

1979 - Bedtime Stories [Mercury (UK) #6167 822]

1979 - Mr. Melody [Mercury #74077]

1981 - Cry To Me [Mercury #76103]

1981 - Crazy [Mercury #76103]

1979 - I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me (Here's Esther...Are You Ready) [Mercury #SRM-1-3769]

1979 - Philadelphia Freedom (Here's Esther...Are You Ready) [Mercury #SRM-1-3769]

1979 - Love Makes A Woman (Here's Esther...Are You Ready) [Mercury #SRM-1-3769]

1981 - Changin' (Good Black Is Hard To Crack LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-4005]

1981 - We've Got A Good Thing Going (Good Black Is Hard To Crack LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-4005]

1986 - Goin' In Circles (A Way To Say Goodbye LP ) [Muse #MR 5302]

Additional earlier tracks to round up to 50

1963 - You Never Miss Your Water (Till The Well Runs Dry) [Lennox #NX-5565]

1963 - While It Lasted [Lennox #NX-5570]

1966 - When A Woman Loves A Man [Atlantic #45-2335]

1967 - Cheater Man [Atlantic #45-2417]

2020 - Watch Dog (Previously Unreleased Atlantic 1966/67) (Brand New Day (The Lenox/Atlantic & Roulette Recordings 1962-1970)) [SoulMusic #QSMCR-5194BX]

1969 - I'm In The Mood For Love (Moody's Mood For Love) [Roulette #R-7031]

1969 - Too Much Of A Man (To Be Tied Down) [Roulette #R-7059]

Eugene Record - A Profile

Eugene Booker Record (23 Dec.1940 - 22 Jul. 2005) would have been 82 today. He was the lead vocalist for The Chi-Lites between 1959-76 and then again between 1980-88. In the interim he recorded three solo albums for Warner Brothers, "The Eugene Record" (1977), "Trying To Get To You" (1978) and "Welcome To My Fantasy" (1979). When he re-joined The Chi-Lites in 1980 all releases on 20th Century were billed as The Ch-Lites featuring Eugene Record.

He was the main song-writer for the group who had released several singles in the mid 60s which failed to chart until they were signed to Brunswick in 1968 by Carl Davis where they had their first chart entry with "Give It Away" in 1969. They achieved eleven top 10 R&B hits between 1969-74 and two top 10 Hot 100 hits with "Have You Seen Her" (#3 1971) and "Oh Girl" (#1 1972) which was Brunswick's only #1 pop hit in the R&B era.

Brunswick were in legal and financial trouble in 1976 and their records weren't being promoted so Eugene Record left in frustration and joined Warner Brothers and The Chi-Lites signed to Mercury where they released two albums in 1976-77 and had three minor hits with "Vanishing Love" (a song written by Sam Dees and previously recorded by John Edwards of The Spinners in 1974) and two Phil Hurtt penned songs "My First Mistake" and "If I Had A Girl".

Record released three albums and eight singles on Warner Brothers between 1977-79 with only the first single "Laying Beside You" making any impact on the R&B chart reaching #24. A lot of the material was disco oriented which, sadly, hasn't stood the test of time.

His next single "Overdose Of Joy" though was a gem picked up on by the UK modern soul scene which now commands three figures. There are only two currently for sale on Discogs with $250 being asked for a near mint copy.

There is no playlist as the only tracks available on Spotify are on his first album and a link to the album is provided below. I've found links to all of his singles, however, "Take Everything" and "I Don't Mind" is the medley on the flip to the 12" version of "Magnetism" (which doesn't appear on any of his albums) rather than the two individual sides released earlier.

Albums

1977 - The Eugene Record [Warner Bros. #BS 3018]

Full Album HERE

Laying Beside You (4:38)

Danger! Love Under Pressure (3:46)

Here Comes The Sun (4:11)

Overdose Of Joy (4:16)

Trying To Watch The Wind (5:54)

Mother Of Love (4:12)

Love Don't Live By Sex Alone (5:34)

Putting It Down (To The Way I Feel About You) (5:41)

When We Pull The Shades (6:22)

1978 - Trying To Get To You [Warner Bros. #BSK 3097]

Trying To Get To You (3:55)

Come To My Party (3:27)

Time (3:22)

We Belong Together (3:20)

I Want To Be With You (4:55)

Love And Fun (3:57)

You Are The Star Of My Show (4:03)

I'm So Glad (4:47)

Share My Life (5:27)

1979 - Welcome To My Fantasy [Warner Bros. #BSK 3284]

Where Are You (7:35)

Dreams Come In Colors (3:57)

Pain For Pleasure (3:39)

Welcome To My Fantasy (6:00)

Fan The Fire (6:58)

Sweet Insanity (3:53)

Help Yourself To Love (5:01)

Your Love (Ain't Nothing Like It) (4:52)

Singes

1977/02 - Laying Beside You / Love Don't Live By Sex Alone [Warner Bros. #WBS 8322]

1977/06 - Overdose Of Joy / Mother Of Love [Warner Bros. #WBS 8386]

1978/01 - *I Want To Be With You (Edit) / When We Pull The Shades [Warner Bros. #WBS 8517]

1978/04 - *Trying To Get To You / *You Are The Star Of My Show [Warner Bros. #WBS 8570]

1979/05 - *Take Everything / I Don't Mind [Warner Bros. #WBS 8836]

1979/09 - *Where Are You / *Sweet Insanity [Warner Bros. #WBS 49060]

1979/11 - *Fan The Fire / *Help Yourself To Love [Warner Bros. #WBS 49126]

1979 - *Magnetism // *I Don't Mind / Take Everything [Warner Bros. #WBSD 8774] 12"

1979/04 - *Magnetism / *I Don't Mind [Warner Bros. (UK) #K 17384]

The following video is a later live recording of their #1 hit "Oh Girl" with three of the original members Eugene Record, Robert 'Squirrel' Lester and Marshall Thompson who is still a performing member of the group.