One that has been leaked for airplay in the last couple of weeks (but Soul4Real maestro Alex Subinas has kept under wraps as to who the artist was) has been
announced today. It consists of three previously unreleased 70s songs
by Annette Snell: "I Think I'm Falling In Love", "Make You Feel Love Again" and "This Time We're Really Through"
Annetta Snell (22 Mar 1945 - 4 Apr 1977) was born Sandersville,
GA, but moved to Orlando, FL, where she joined a girl quartet, The
Mar-Vells who released two singles in 1964. Both singles got multiple
releases i.e. the first on Angie and then Butane and their second on
Reo and Yorey. They also worked, uncredited, on backing sessions for
other artists in Miami. In 1965 they renamed themselves The Fabulettes
releasing their first single under the name on Monument in Oct 1965,
the flip side of which, "The Bigger They Are (The Harder They Fall)",
became a big tune on the Northern Soul scene many years later. They
released a further four singles, two for Sound Stage 7, one each on
Access and Kangis (which was reissued a year later in 1971 on
Phil-L.A. of Soul). However, Snell left the group in 1968, before the
last two singles were released, to pursue a solo career.
Paul Kelly, a Miami native who she had met years earlier with The
Mar-Vels, took her with him to New York in 1968 to demo some songs he
had written. This resulted in her first solo recording as Annetta on
Love Hill in 1970 ("Since There's No More Of You"/ "Get A Kelly Way
Boy") which was later also released by Sue label owner Juggy Murray
Jones on Juggy.
Kelly later introduced her to Nashville based record producer and
music publisher Buddy Killen who founded Dial Records in 1961,
primarily as a vehicle to release material by Joe Tex, the label Kelly
was also signed to at the time. Killen is also credited as discovering
one Dolly Parton. Snell released four singles on Dial between 1973-74
all written by Kelly (two co-written with Killen) and produced by
Killen. The first, "I'll Be Your Fool Once More", failed to register,
but the last three ("You Oughta Be Here With Me" (#19, 1973), "Get
Your Thing Together" (#44, 1974) and "Just as Hooked As I've Been"
(#71, 1974)) all entered the R&B chart but didn't crossover.
Killen brokered a deal with his distributor Epic to release some
material. Snell was to record an album at Muscle Shoals and cut one
single "It's All Over Now" / "Promises Should Never be Broken". She
returned for another session produced by Jimmy Johnson and Roger
Hawkins which produced another five tracks. When returning home on a flight to Atlanta, GA, the
Southern Airways Flight 242
went down in New Hope, GA, during a severe thunderstorm on 4 Apr 1977
killing both pilots and 61 passengers which included Ms Snell.
I have read reports that it was claimed that Snell took the master
tapes with her on the flight and that they were destroyed forever,
however, that report must have been false as three tracks, co-written
by pre-eminent songwriters including George Jackson and Philip
Mitchell, have been languishing in the vaults for over forty years,
until now as they are being released for the first time. I wonder if the
other two are in the pipeline for a future release, as listening to
these three along with the two released on Epic, it sounds like it
could have potentially been a hit album!
It has also been stated that "Promises Should Never Be Broken" is
unreleased which is also false as I have a copy, originally bought for
the A side "It's All Over Now" (perhaps released later?). Of interest
to some is that the song was co-written by Mary Gresham ("Voice From
The Shadows" CD and sought after single " I'll Never Let You Walk
Alone") and her brother Jimmy.
The single is available to pre-order via Paypal for release on 14
Apr '23
€15 + postage (1-5 copies) €3 Spain, €6.90 UK & Europe €10.45
USA & rest of the world
soul4realrecordlabel@gmail.com
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
| Rating: | 8.6 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Southern Soul |
| Format: | Single / Previously Unreleased |
| Media: | 7" Vinyl |
| Label: | Soul4Real |
| Cat No: | S4R27 |
| Date: | 14/04/2023 |
| Key/BPM: | N/A |
| Price: | €15 |
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One word: remarkable!!! What a great discovery.
ReplyDeleteYves