Soul Strutter: 08/22/23

Tuesday, 22 August 2023

Baltic Jazz Recordings [2023] - Re:Visioned [Baltic Jazz Recordings] (Full Album)

You may recall earlier in the year a couple of singles from the newly established Baltic Jazz Recordings. The first was an 'unlikely' jazz cover of The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" (1982) by Lois Levin in Feb. It was followed in April by Ni Maxine covering a Culture Club album track "Changing Every Day" ("Colour By Numbers" 1983).

They have subsequently released anther cover in June of Chic's "São Paulo" from their 1977 debut, self-titled, album (also released as the single B side to "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)".

All three singles now feature on an eight track album "Re:Visioned" which also includes reimagined versions of:

"Super Strut" (Deodato "Deodato 2" 1973)

"Luv Pact" written by Jussi Halme and Mika Kurvinen (aka Misha) who recorded it in Dec 2019 and it appeared on "Midnight Sun" in March 2020.

"P.C.M. Interpolation" written by Ian Ritchie and Steve Levine and released as a single credited as "Produced By Steve Levine" in 1984.

"Spiral" (The Crusaders "Those Southern Knights" 1976)

"Never Be The Same" (Ronnie Laws & Pressure "Pressure Sensitive" 1975)

The album has been produced by Steve Levine who selected all the songs. Steve produced many of Culture Club's 80s hits and there three platinum selling albums. He also worked with many UK punk bands in the late 70s/80s such as The Clash (hence the inclusion of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?". He has won many awards including a Grammy for his work with Deniece Williams.

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Soul Jazz
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital
Label:	Baltic Jazz Recordings
Cat No:	None
Date:	07/08/2023
Price:	£5.52

VA [2023] - Shrine: The Rarest Soul Label [Kent] (Full Album)

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.

Details

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

Keith Barrow [2023] - Philadelphia Re-edit Sessions [Simphouse Productions] (Full Album)

The next in Paul Simpson Philadelphia Re-edit Sessions is Keith Barrow. It follows his Roy Ayers Mixes earlier this month.

All tracks are from taken from Keith Barrow's 1977 self-titled album on Columbia produced by the recently departed Bobby Eli with Larry Washington on percussion/congas and Ron Kersey on keys.

Tracks 3, 4 & 5 were written by Bobby Eli, (3 & 5 with Len Barry and 1 with Bruce Fisher).

Track List

01 - A world of lonely people (Paul Simpson Re-edit) 8:45

02 - You don't know how hard it is ( Paul Simpson Re-edit) 6:54

03 - We've got a right to be wrong (Paul Simpson Re-edit) 3:27

04 - Mr. Magic man (Paul Simpson Re-edit) 4:27

05 - I put a twinkle in your eye (Paul Simpson Re-edit) 6:21

Only two of the tracks were released on 45, "Mr. Magic Man" (a #16 R&B hit for Wilson Pickett in 1973) c/w "We've Got A Right To Be Wrong", which preceded his big two-stepper "You Know You Wanna Be Loved" from his next album "Physical Attraction" in 1978.

We did a Keith Barrow Profile last Sep for what would have been his 68th birthday. He sadly died at a very young age of 29 in 1983 from complication from AIDS. Four of the five tracks above were included in a tribute playlist. He recorded four albums and only around eight singles before his death.

Full tracks are available to listen to on Paul's dedicated website available for a two weeks only.

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Neo Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital
Label:	Simphouse Productions
Cat No:	None
Date:	21/08/2023
Price:	$9.99