Originally released on vinyl and CD in 1998, "Shrine: The Rarest Soul Label" has been reissued digitally by Ace Records on 28 Jul, perhaps for the 25th
anniversary of it's original release? A second volume was released in 2002 (CD only) comprising another 24 tracks, perhaps another for digital release?
You may also recall that in March this year Kent released a 14 track vinyl compilation "Shrine Northern - The 60s Rarest Dance Label".
Kent head honcho Ady Croasdel released two vinyl compilations on his Horace's label in 1990 and 1991, "Shrine - The Rarest Soul Label" (90) and "Capital Soul - The Sound Of D.C. 1965/66" (91).
We did a feature on "Shrine - The World's Rarest Soul Label" in 2020 where we endeavoured to post YouTube clips for as many as we
could find and posted a Discography. We followed it up with "Shrine - The World's Rarest Soul Label - The Unreleased Sides".
This digital compilation contains 25 tracks, one more than the CD release
(Leroy Taylor & The Four Kays "Takin' My Time") therefore must be the
most comprehensive compilation of the label. Whilst most are from original
tapes, nine or ten tracks have been dubbed from vinyl.
Shrine was doomed to fail from the start as it was set up by Berry Gordy's
ex wife Raynoma Mayberry and Eddie Singleton (she later married Singleton). Once Gordy felt the heat of
competition it is alleged that he put pressure on distributors and radio stations to boycott Shrine's records. With records not getting airplay or distribution, Shrine
closed its doors in 1966 and the remaining stock was held in a warehouse in
Washington D.C. which was burnt down during the civil rights riots in 1968 making
the Shrine records very rare and hard to find as only those that sold were
in circulation. A sad irony as the Shrine logo was a flame and the label has become a bit of a shrine to Northern Soul devotees! The label released 19 singles with around another six unreleased.
Consequently, prices for many of these are eye-watering if you manage to
prise them for the owners! Many (most?) sell into four figures The
highest priced currently on Popsike is JD Bryant "I Won't Be coming Back" selling for £8k back in 2008, so we can only imagine what it would fetch in
2023? It is not the rarest record either as, according to Kent's notes, The Cavaliers track (the label's final release) was dubbed from the best of only two known copies.
We've rated this compilation 9 for the time and dedication spent sourcing
these extremely rare records and making them available to listen to for
mere mortals who can't (and won't) afford to pay the extreme prices for
original vinyl. Let's be honest, whilst there are some great records on the
label, from a musical quality perspective, many aren't 'worth' anything near
what their prices dictate.
For more information on the label, Andy Rix (regarded as the Shrine expert who assisted with the compilation) wrote a 'definitive' article on the label on Soul Source in 2001 (updated in 2019).
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
| Rating: | 9 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Northern Soul |
| Format: | Album / Compilation |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Ace/Kent Records |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 28/08/2023 |
| Price: | £7.99 / £9.99 |
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A "must" for any true Soul lover, given its quality and rarity!!!
ReplyDeleteYves