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"...Where Did You Get So Much Soul..."
Following on from March
2015's "Modernists: A Decade Of Rhythm & Soul Dedication" - those
dedicated men-with-beards over at Ace Records in London's Steele Road have once
again dug deep into their 60ts shimmy-shaker archives and come up with 24 more
dancers to keep that waistline of yours in trim (trimming anything around my
rotund waistline is always a good idea).
Having said that names like
Chet "Poison" Ivey & His Fabulous Avengers, The Turnarounds or
Ralph Ventsha & The Red Julian Quintet are not exactly conversation openers
at a Soul Club (who are these guys?). But that's not to say that the quality
has dropped in favour of obscurity. Thankfully it hasn't. Just two songs in and
you’ll be bopping. Put simply - "Modernisms" is another cracker from
Kent-Soul and with the emphasis firmly on the upbeat.
Once again you get 24 cool
tunes (2 previously unreleased) compiled by uber-fan and lifelong Mod ADY
CROASDELL (14 years of age when he bopped with the In-Crowd at The Twisted
Wheel) with knowledgeable and informative liner notes from DEAN RUDLAND - a
name long synonymous with literally hundreds of quality Soul reissues. Here are
the Peep Show details...
UK released Friday 27 May
2016 (10 June 2016 in the USA) – "Modernism" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on
Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 452 (Barcode 029667245227) plays out as follows (61:10
minutes):
1. Ain't That Soul – TEDDY
REYNOLDS (2016 Previously Unreleased Early Version of Specialty 695, USA
7" single from 1969)
2. I’m On The Move – JOE
MAYFIELD (1964 USA 7" single on Excello 45-2256, A)
3. Tee Na Na Na Na Nay -
EDDIE BO (1963 USA 7" single on At Last 1005, A)
4. Everybody's Feelin' Good
- KING CARL (1965 USA 7" single on La Louisianne LL-8080, B-side of
"Blues For Men")
5. Beg Me - CHUCK JACKSON
[with uncredited Doris Troy on Second Lead/Backing Vocals]
(1964 USA 7" single on
Wand 154, A and 1964 UK 7" single on Pye International 7N.25247, A)
6. Dancing Everywhere - BOB
& EARL [Bob Relf and Earl Nelson]
(1969 USA 7" single on
Crestview 9011, A and 1969 UK 7" single on B&C Records CB 102, A)
7. Soul Is My Game - CHET
"POISIN" IVEY and HIS FABULOUS AVENGERS (1968 USA 7" single on
Bee & Cee 315, B-side)
8. Clap Your Hands - THE
AMBERTONES (1965 USA 7" single on Rayjack 1001, A)
9. Crossroads In Your Heart
- THE SHIRELLES (first appeared on the February 1987 UK LP "Lost And
Found" on Ace/Impact ACT 010)
10. Do It - PAT POWDRILL
(1966 USA 7" single on Downey D-139, A)
11. The Life Of The Party -
JOAN MOODY (1965 USA 7" single on Sylvia 5007, B-side of "We Must Be
Doing Something Right")
12. The Phillie - THE M-M
and THE PEANUTS (1965 USA 7" single on Money 107, A)
13. Magic Potion - LOU
JOHNSON (1963 USA 7" single on Big Top 3153, A and UK "The Magic
Potion Of" EP on London RE-X 1438)
14. Night Beat - KENNY SMITH
& THE LOVELITERS (1967 USA 7"
single Fraternity F-993, A)
15. I'm Gonna Get You -
LEROY HARRIS (1966 USA 7" single on Swan S-4254, B-side of "Crow Baby
Crow")
16. I Know What I Want-
TOMMY G & THE CHARMS
(1967 USA 7" single on
Hurricane 6974, A - and Hollywood 1109, A - and UK 7" single on London HLB
10107, A)
17. Go - LITTLE JOHNNY
HAMILTON & THE CREATORS (1965 USA 7" single on Dore 754, B-side of
"Oh How I Love You")
18. We Gonna Rub Pt. 1 - JOE
JOHNSON (Excelleo recording first appeared in 1998 on the UK CD "Genuine
Excello R&B" on Ace CDCHD 678)
19. Cinderella Jones - SAMMY
JONES (1967 USA 7" single on Mascot 711, A)
20. When One Of Them Won't -
THE TURNAROUNDS (1966 Atlanta, Georgia recording - 2016 Previously Unreleased)
21. The Duck Pt. 2 - JACKIE
LEE (1965 USA LP "The Duck" on Mirwood MW 7000)
22. I've Gotta Know Why -
DARROW FLETCHER (1966 USA 7" single on Groovy 3004, A)
23. Private Eye - WALLACE
JOHNSON (first appeared on the 1993 UK CD compilation "Gumbo Stew:
Original A.F.O. New Orleans R&B" on Ace CDCHD 450)
24. Listen To Me (Baby) -
RALPH VENTSHA & RED JULIAN QUINTET (1958 USA 7" single on Vistone
2019, A)
NOTES: All Tracks are Mono -
Tracks 1 and 20 are Previously Unreleased
From the creators of the MOD
JAZZ Series (see list below) - genre experts ADY CROASDELL and DEAN RUDLAND
have compiled the CD and annotated the 16-page booklet. It’s the usual
fact-filled fest by Ace - complete with those gorgeous and (often) obscure
American-45 label repros that compliment the indepth song factoids (Excello, La
Louisianne, Pye International, Crestview, Bee Cee, Downey, Sylvia, Money,
Fraternity, Hollywood, Groovy, Contempo, Vistone and Dore). There are rare
black and white publicity photos of Eddie Bo, Pat Powdrill and The Turnarounds
with trade adverts for Chuck Jackson, Joe Mayfield and Jackie Lee on Mirwood.
There’s even a reproduction of the ultra-rare Lou Johnson “Magic Potion” EP on
London RE-X 1438 – a £150+ British rarity that I’ve never seen in forty years
of collecting. And as ever NICK ROBBINS has done a totally stellar job with the
Remastering – each track full of punch, vim and vigour.
Like its 2015 predecessor
"Modernists" (Volume 1 if you like) – “Modernism” is chock-full of
'upbeat dancers'. It opens with a one-two sucker-punch of floor-filling winners
– "Ain't That Soul" by Teddy Reynolds and "I'm On The Move"
by Joe Mayfield. Similar in vocal style to Otis Redding and once a member of
Bobby Bland's touring group - Teddy Reynolds gives it some fantastic 'sock it
to me' gravel-larynx in a great brass driver. As good as it is - it's solidly
trumped by an amazing find in Joe Mayfield's "I'm On The Move" - a
kind of Them-like Soul number that's so hooky it's been bootlegged. "I'm
On The Move" is one of only two 45s he made and is likely to send 60ts
groovers into a bidding-war frenzy should a copy surface for sale. Eddie Bo's
"Tee Na Na Na Na Nay" has a very similar beat and style and you can
see why Soul fans have been digging into his catalogue. "...Everyone's
downtown...that's where the action's at..." the ladies sing on the fab
"Dancing Everywhere" by Bob & Earl - a groover that combines a
Motorcity backbeat with a "Downtown" Pop single feel - and along with
Chuck Jackson's very cool "Beg Me" (with an uncredited Doris Troy on
Lead Backing Vocals) is yet another set of highlights.
Chet "Poison"
Ivey's "Soul Is My Game" is a Boogaloo rhythm with echoes of Robert
Parker's "Barefootin'" and I'm certain is going to become huge on the
circuit if it isn't already. The raw and rough "Clap Your Hands" by
The Ambertones feels like Little Richard on Soul speed - a mad hand-clapping
echoed dancer that gets all Frat Rock frenzied (including a guitar wigout) and
is too busy for my liking. The Shirelles ditch their cutesy image with the
equally frantic "Crossroads In Your Heart" - but more genuinely
Soulful and thrilling is the gorgeous Pat Powdrill and her organ-driving dancer
"Do It" - a winner that should have been huge. Nice change of pace
with "The Life Of The Party" by Joan Moody - a fantastic B-side
written by Freddie Dobbs and Scott Douglas - and you can so hear why even
bootlegs of this exchange hands for money. Other winners on here I'm going to
'shake a tail feather' to are "Night Beat" by Kenny Smith (a guitar
groover with Wilson Picket type vocals) and "I Know What I Want" by
Tommy G & The Charms which feels like a garage-band version of Sam &
Dave (it received a UK release on London HLB 10107). A manic giggle opens
"Go" - a single that sounds like Ike & Tina Turners' backing band
let loose on a foot-stomping shouter where they chant "Go! Go!" all
the way through its 3-minutes of Blues Brothers mayhem.
And genius choice goes to
the rarely seen or heard 'Part 2' of Jackie Lee's "The Duck" - an
album I have on Ace's 'Hip Pocket' CD series (see separate review). Classy Soul
- Clarence Armstrong wrote the classy Soul of "The Phillie" sung by
Willie Malone in the delightfully named M-M and The Peanuts while Lou Johnson
does Bacharach and David's "Magic Potion" - a gorgeous singer with a
set of pipes similar to Ben E. King's. It ends on the Bluesy piano of
"Listen To Me (Baby)" by Ralph Ventsha - a song that sounds as tired
as the club would be come three in the morning and buckets of sweat...
One again those smooth boys
over at Steele Road do the business by fans. Well done to all involved...and
'we're gonna rub it' baby all night long (in the privacy of your own home you
understand)...
Mod Music Various Artists CD compilations by Ace/Kent
CD
Titles:
1.
Modernists: A Decade Of Rhythm & Soul Dedication – released June 2015 on
Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 431 (Barcode 029667243124)
2.
Modernism – released May 2016 on Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 452 (Barcode
029667245227)
3.
Modernity – released May 2021 on Ace/Kent-Soul CDKEND 500 (Barcode
029667102223)
VINYL
Title:
1.
Modernists (Modernism's Sharpest Cuts) – released 30 June 2017 as a 14-Track LP
on Ace/Kent Dance KENT 505 (Barcode 029667005418)
Other
Mod Music CD Compilations by Ace/Kent that compliment the above
CD Titles:
1.
Mod Jazz (Kent-Soul CDKEND 139)
2.
Mo' Mod Jazz (Kent-Soul CDKEND 150)
3.
Even Mo' Mod Jazz (Kent-Soul CDKEND 171)
4.
Yet Mo Mod Jazz (Kent-Soul CDKEND 184)
5.
The Return Of Mod Jazz (Kent-Soul CDKEND 250)
6.
Further Adventures of Mod Jazz (Kent-Soul CDKEND 300)
7.
Mod Jazz Forever (Kent-Soul CDKEND 368)
8.
Mod Jazz And Then Some! (Kent-Soul CDKEND 416)
9.
Mod Jazz Rides Again (Kent-Soul CDKEND 479)
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