Lee Tracy & Issac Manning [2024] - Is It What You Want? / Saving All My Love For You [Athens Of The North]

An obscurity from 1989 by Lee Tracy (Johnson) & Isaac Manning has been reissued digitally and on vinyl by Athens Of The North. The songs were originally released on Nashville label One Chance Records in 1989 and again in 1991 as promos only and are pretty hard to come by. The last one listed on Popsike sold for almost £900 in Dec '22 and was only VG/VG-. 

Athens Of The North issued a full album by the pair in 2022 digitally and on vinyl which included both songs.

The sides have been flipped leading with the original B side "Is It What You Want?" with an unrecognisable rendition of Whitney Houston's hit, "Saving All My Love For You" (written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser) on the flip.

A very lo-fi production which seems to add charm to these sort of obscurities which is an acquired taste. (Posted more out of curiosity and interest rather than any musical merit!)

It's also available digitally on Amazon for only £1.38 but we've posted it from Bandcamp as the vinyl is available from there.

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

Details

Rating:	N/A
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Rare Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital / 7" Vinyl
Label:	Athens Of The North
Cat No:	None
Date:	26/04/2024
Key/BPM:	8A/100 / 11B/102
Price:	£2 / £9.99

Copyright © 2009-2024 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

The Summits / Phillips [2024] - Window Shopping / People Clap Your Hands [Sou Direction Origins #SDO1010]

The Summits were a quartet from Washington D.C. formed while students at high school. They acquired their name from a bus they travelled on frequently which displayed Summit Hill as the last stop.

They used to hone their singing around school corridors which got them noticed and were soon taken under the wing of Joe Tate who worked with D.C. groups The Blendels, Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers as well as The Fuzz, and Choice Four.

Tate wrote and produced the group's first single, "I Can't Get Over Losing You", as The Summitts, released on his Dontee label in 1970 which was flipped with the instrumental of it credited to Dontee Studio Band. It didn't sell well but is now an in-demander which commands high prices. There is a current seller on Discogs (who may be 'chancing it') with an asking price of $1,000, but they they do seem to sell for around half that.

Owing to Tate's other commitments, their next single didn't materialise until 1973 when he teamed them up with writer/producer Joe Phillips. Phillips wrote six songs for them with four gaining release on D.C. International in 1973-74. 

Having already previously released one of the previously unreleased songs, "P's And Q's" in 2021, Soul Direction now releases the other, "Window Shopping" Both were previously only available digitally on a seven track album "It Takes Two" released by Numero Group in 2020.

The flip side to the release, "People Clap Your Hands" is a track by Phillips taken from a Numero Group six track EP "Just Another Day" from 2020.

Nothing is know of the group but there's speculation that Joe Phillips was behind them owing to their name. Numero Group found the tape on a shelf attributed to producer Robert Hosea Williams (R. Hosea Williams, Father's Children) with hundreds of other tapes that had been languishing in the annals of time.

Released today and available from Soul Direction website.

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

Details

Rating:	8.3
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Rare Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Soul Direction Origins
Cat No:	SDO1010
Date:	29/03/2024
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£15

Copyright © 2009-2024 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Tommy McGee [2024] Come On / To Make You Happy [Soul Direction Origins #SDO1009]

Soul Direction is releasing Tommy McGee's first two singles, "Come On" (Tosted Corp 1971) and "To Make You Happy" (Golden Voice #GV 1631 1973). Both tracks were also featured on his only album, "Positive-Negative", originally released on his own label MTMG Records in 1976 and reissued by Numero Group in 2016.

In 2021 Soul4Real also reissued two songs from his album, "We Ought To Be Together" / "Make Sure", on it's Jai Alai imprint

Tosted corp was owned by Palmer James and Curtis Rogers who were friends of Al Green and were members of Al Greene & The Creations, a group formed whilst they were at high school together. James and Curtis set up Tosted Corp and convinced McGee to go solo and released "Come On" flipped with a song called "Guilty" (written by Robert Williams) which was also recorded by Al Green(e) on his debut album "Back Up Train" (at a faster pace) which was initially released on Hot Line Music also founded by Palmer and Curtis, later distributed by Bell.

Greene's album didn't sell well but attracted the attention of Willie Mitchell and, having received little royalties from the album, Greene left to sign for Hi Records and we all know what happened next.

McGee was born in Grand Rapids, MI, in 1951. He formed a group called The TMGs who appear to have released just two singles, "What Can I Do" / "The Hatch", on Soul Shake (1967) and "Agravation" / "Takes A Little Time" on TMGF Production (1972). Jazzman Records took a track from each single ("The Hatch" and "Agravation") and reissued them on their Funk45 imprint in 2004.

As well as the two singles being reissued by Soul Direction, McGee released around another five solo singles between 1975-82 and a 12" single in 1991 which contained a reissue of "Come On". His 1981 single "Now That I Found You" / "Stay With Me" (we have coincidentally featured previously) was also reissued by Numero Group in 2016. McGee was paid by Jeff Lane (founder of  B.T. Express and member of Brass Construction) to do a remix of the A side but it also didn't sell well owing to poor promotion.

McGee found funds to release his album which he had been working on since 1971, in 1976 on his own label. Apparently only 500 were pressed and, although it didn't sell in quantity, has now become a collectors piece.

Released today and available from Soul Direction website.

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

Details

Rating:	8.2
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Rare Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	Digital
Label:	Soul Direction Origins
Cat No:	SDO1009
Date:	29/03/2024
Key/BPM:	N/A
Price:	£15

Copyright © 2009-2024 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

VA [2024] - Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels [Numero Group] (Full Album)

Numero Group has reissued a 15th anniversary edition of "Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels" digitally and on vinyl. They have already reissued the Capsoul compilation and will be reissuing further compilations in their Eccentric series released over the last 20 years.

It's a slightly cut down version from the 2009 CD version with 34 of the original 50 tracks (presumably to fit them on a double vinyl album), but worth the price for The Four Tracks "Charade" alone (along with plenty of other rarities) which sells for approaching £500 on original vinyl. If we're not mistaken this may the the first vinyl reissue of it.

Other highlights also include a few from Eula Cooper such as "Try", "I Need You More"  and one of her NS favs "Standing By Love", a couple from Young Divines and Sonia Ross.

Tragar and Note, along with Super Sound, were Atlanta, GA, based labels run by Jesse Jones and released material from 1968-76. Many are now in-demand items on the rare soul scene.

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

Details

Rating:	8
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Rare Soul
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital / Vinyl
Label:	Numero Group
Cat No:	None
Date:	01/03/2024
Price:	£19.98 / £35.97

Copyright © 2009-2024 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

VA [2023] - With Love: Volume 2 (Compiled by Miche) [Mr Bongo Records #MRBCDLP280] (Full Album)

We posted a teaser to this compilation a few weeks ago with details of each track where we estimated the vinyl value of each and estimated that it would cost around £9k to buy each one individually on vinyl.

It's the second eclectic Miche compilation, "With Love: Volume 2", from Mr Bongo Records containing some really obscure Latin music from South America and a few known modern soul tunes amongst the 15 tracks and as a bonus the CD edition contains a 16th track.

The follow up volume to "With Love Volume 1" is more focused on the dancefloor. One of Miche's highlights is an anthemic gospel version of Stevie Wonder's 'As' by The Family Tree (a project produced by Julius Brockington which, according to Discogs (which isn't always 100% reliable) lists Sharon "I Specialize In Love" Brown as a member. 

For the modern soulies, Cecil Lyde, Freedom and The Eleventh Commandment are well worth the 'admission charge' alone as that's over two grand's worth of original wax right here!

The compilation was released on 6 Oct digitally, on CD, Cassette and on limited edition 2 x Pink Vinyl LP or 2 x Black Vinyl LP. The prices for physical media on Bandcamp are cheaper than on Amazon (see below Amazon prices in brackets).

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Rare Soul
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital / CD / Cassette / Vinyl
Label:	Mr Bongo Records
Cat No:	MRBCDLP280
Date:	06/10/2023
Price:	£10 (£9.99) / £10 (£14.99) /  £8 (£N/A) / £22 (£23.99)

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

VA [2023] - With Love: Volume 2 (Compiled by Miche) [Mr Bongo Records #MRBCDLP280]

To our estimation, at current Discogs values, there is approx. £9k worth of tunes on this second eclectic Miche compilation, "With Love: Volume 2", from Mr Bongo Records.  

There's some really obscure Latin music from South America and a few known modern soul tunes amongst the 15 tracks and as a bonus we received a 16th track which is only available on the CD release.

The follow up volume to "With Love Volume 1" is more focused on the dancefloor. One of Miche's highlights is an anthemic gospel version of Stevie Wonder's 'As' by The Family Tree (a project produced by Julius Brockington which, according to Discogs (which isn't always 100% reliable) lists Sharon "I Specialize In Love" Brown as a member. 

For the modern soulies, Cecil Lyde, Freedom and The Eleventh Commandment are well worth the 'admission charge' alone as that's over two grand's worth of original wax right here!

The compilation is set for release on 6 Oct. It will be available digitally, on CD, Cassette and on limited edition 2 x Pink Vinyl LP or 2 x Black Vinyl LP. 

The lowdown

01 - Billy Boomer [1982] - I Like What She's Doing [Blast #BR-336] £175

02 - P.J. City [1986] - Straight Forward (Non-Stop) [Rise #2-61254] £1,230

03 - Maxwell [1981] - Realize [Maxwell #PM 101] £1,500

04 - Cecil Lyde [1981] - I'll Make It On My Own [Alwest #HB 92049 S] £450

05 - Mixed Generation Enterprize [1979] - Feel So Good Inside [Blastoff #CSS 175] £340

06 - Mark Meadows [1983] - You And Me [Conark #CON-1001] £530

07 - Alice Cohen & Fun City [1979] - Save The Best 'Til Last [WMMR 93.3  #None]

08 - Banda 22 [1983] - A Luz Que Brilha Meu Viver [Coomusa #CDC-006] £430

09 - Zé Da Lata [1983] - Mistério Brilhante [None #992 051-7] £83

10 - Rogers Mitchell [1970] - Dame Solamente Amor [Arena Producciones #SD 0304] £40

11 - The Eleventh Commandment [1975] - Then I Reach Satisfaction [Fast Track #FT 2505] £120

12 - Billy Boomer - You Can't Hide [Blast #BR-336] £175

13 - Freedom - High On You [Freedom #7032-12A] £3,000

14 - The Lost Family [1974] - Blow My Mind [Innovation II #IV 9160 / International Music Bag #CP-11231] £75-£90

15 - The Family Tree [1979] - As [ALA #ALA G-902] £270

16 - Rogers Mitchell [1970] - Te Amare Mas Asi [Arena Producciones [LDP-082-XX] £530

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

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Rare Soul
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital / CD/ Cassette / Vinyl
Label:	Mr Bongo Records
Cat No:	MRBCDLP280
Date:	06/10/2023
Price:	£10, £10, £8 / £22

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

VA [2022] - It Hurts So Good [Soul4Real #S4RLP01] (Full Album)

Literally just arrived in the inbox this morning is the first ever album from Soul4Real which has been titled "It Hurts So Good". To date the label has released 31 singles.

The album consists of eleven tracks, mainly from 60s/70s, and includes six originally unissued tracks, but some later appeared on compilations or reissues with bonus tracks. Label owner Alex Subinas has kindly uploaded them all to YouTube for your listening pleasure.

The album was compiled by Alex and well known UK rare soul DJ Andy 'Tats' Taylor with sleeve notes written by Ace Records' Tony Rounce.

It's available to pre-order now (on vinyl only) for release on 9 Dec '22 from Soul4Real. Payment by PAYPAL as friends & family: soul4realrecordlabel@gmail.com

The full track listing (those marked with *** are the unissued tracks) with links to Discogs listings: 

A1 - James & Bobby Purify - She Ain't Gonna Do Right *** 

A2 - Esther Phillips - Brother, Brother *** 

A3 - Aretha Franklin - Cry Like A Baby

A4 - Walter Jackson - That's When I Come To You  ***

A5 - Willie Hutch - Let's Try It Over Again

A6 - Insiders - I'm Better Off Without You

B1 - Soul Children - I Want A Woman This Time

B2 - Lou Courtney - The Common Broken Heart

B3 - Dionne Warwick - Last One To Be Loved ***

B4 - Gladys Knight & The Pips - Rainbow Ride ***

B5 - Marvin Gaye - Baby, Baby, Baby ***

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Classic Soul / Rare Soul
Format:	Album
Media:	Vinyl LP
Label:	Soul4Real
Cat No:	S4RLP01
Date:	09/12/2022
Price:	€24 + P&P

Copyright © 2009-2022 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved