Tag Archives: R&B

Various Artists: Afterschool Special – The 123s of Kid Soul

various_afterschoolspecialthe123sofkidsoulInfectious collection of 1970s kid soul

In the same way that “A Hard Day’s Night” launched a thousand rock bands, the Jackson Five launched a wave of family and kid bands that rolled on for decades. A few – including the Osmonds, DeFrancos and New Edition – found fame, but many more issued obscure records that have become crate diggers’ rarest finds. The archival Numero Group label has pulled together a collection of this delicious bubblegum soul, packed tightly around the seminal kid soul year of 1973. The track list reaches back to 1970 for the Folkways-released “James Brown” (CD/LP only) and the topical “I’m Free, No Dope For Me,” hits its choreographed stride with Magical Connection’s 1972 “Girl Why Do You Want to Take My Heart,” and is fully consumed by 1973.

Jimi HillIronically, just as the Jackson Five’s chart results were fading, their influence was blooming in charming, adolescent lead vocals and propulsive soul backings on obscure indie labels. Among the jewels are the Scott Three’s “Runnin’ Wild (Ain’t Gonna Help You)” and Next Movement’s “Every Where You Go,” but you can also hear the Jacksons’ impact in Jimi Hill’s Memphis-tinged “Guessing Games” and Leonard (Lil’ Man) Kaigler’s frantic “You Got Me Believing.” The sounds of the Dells and Dramatics and some harder funk backings are also here, but the kid vocals always bring your ears back to Michael Jackson in his early prime. By the mid-70s you can hear the beat of disco in “I Love You Still” and jazz-funk in “Love Got a Piece of Your Mind,” but it’s still sweet as candy.

Greer BrothersThere are a few actual hitmakers here. Chicago’s Brighter Side of Darkness reached the Top 20 with “Love Jones,” appeared on Soul Train and released a full album on the 20th Century Fox label (coincidentally, also the home of the DeFranco Family). But their follow-up indie single “Because I Love You” failed to click and the group quickly faded. The Next Movement never hit the top of the charts, but after a scattering of singles in the ‘70s and ‘80s they landed in Las Vegas where they continue to perform to this day. Numero Group has put together a brilliant collection (including a terrifically potent cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and the original protest song “We Don’t Dig No Busing”) and magnified it with detailed liner notes, rare photos and label reproductions. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

The Blind Boys of Alabama: Higher Ground

blindboysofalabama_highergroundExpanded reissue of 2002 follow-up to gospel-soul breakthrough

On the follow-up to their groundbreaking Spirit of the Century, the Blind Boys of Alabama reached even wider for material, and picked up Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Ben Harper as backing musicians. Working again with producers John Chelew and Chris Goldsmith, this isn’t as surprising as the preceding volume, but affirms the direction to be a solid artistic statement, rather than just a commercial diversion. The group explores both traditional gospel material and the soul music that it inspired, the latter stretching from titles by Curtis Mayfield and Aretha Franklin to Prince, Jimmy Cliff and Funkadelic. The electric band creates busier backings than were heard on Spirit of the Century, and they’re not nearly as sympathetic to the vocals. Omnivore’s 2016 reissue augments the original twelve tracks with seven contemporaneous live performances recorded at KCRW’s Los Angeles studio; there’s also an eight-page booklet with new liner notes by Davin Seay. This is a nice upgrade to an adventurous follow-on, but you’ll want to start with Spirit of the Century. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Home Page

Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels: All-Time Greatest Hits

MitchRyderDetroitWheels_AllTimeGreatestHitsMitch Ryder’s chart singles, with a splash of mono

As a recent documentary on the Grande Ballroom notes, 1960s Detroit was both a hard rocking city and the home of Motown, America’s most commercially successful purveyor of R&B. Few exemplified these dual influences better than Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Though deeply steeped in soul music, Ryder’s biggest hits – “Jenny Take a Ride!” “Devil With a Blue Dress On” and “Sock It to Me-Baby!” – had a propulsive energy akin to Britain’s take on America’s early rock. Varese’s 16-track collection brings together all seven of the Detroit Wheels’ charting singles and four of Mitch Ryder’s solo outings. All tracks are stereo except for 5, 6, 8 and 15; the mono single of “Sock it to Me Baby” is especially welcome for its unique vocal track.

The stereo sides are crisp, but at times the extra wide soundstage is disconcerting. The opening “Jenny Take Ride” feels spread out with the handclaps panned hard-right, and lacks the punch of the mono single mixed for AM radio. On the other hand, many of these mixes provide the broad instrumental and vocal separation that plays like a revue band spread across a stage. The inclusion of Ryder’s solo singles makes this an interesting alternative to Rhino’s Rev Up set, and the stereo mixes provide an alternative to (but not a replacement for) Sundazed’s All Hits. An 8-page booklet with retro cover art and detailed liner notes by Jerry McCulley rounds out a great package. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

Mitch Ryder’s Home Page

Robert Rex Waller, Jr.: Fancy Free

RobertRexWallerJr_FancyFreeStellar covers album from I See Hawks in L.A. frontman

After seven albums with I See Hawks in L.A., singer-songwriter Robert Rex Waller, Jr. decided it was time to step out for a solo album. But unlike singer-songwriters who want to work a cache of songs that weren’t right for the band, Waller endeavored to escape his own writing by waxing an album full of cover songs. The album rambles through well known hits and deep album cuts, drawing a picture of Waller’s personal musical tapestry. Among the best known titles are a lovely piano arrangement of the Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset,” a Casio-based take on the Oak Ridge Boys’ “Fancy Free,” a synth backed version of the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe,” and a Waylon-esque vocal on Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me.”

Cover songs are a unique opportunity for an artist to both pay tribute to and fuse with their influences. In the best case, the cover neither replaces nor leads inextricably to the original, but illuminates new dimensions of the song, its writer and its covering artist. And that’s exactly what we get as Waller takes us for a ride through the formation of his musical consciousness and into his present day imagination. He samples from the songbooks of Utah Phillips, Neil Young, Daniel Johnston and Mike Stinson, filling out a mythical jukebox that would keep you at the bar for a few more rounds. This is a deeply personal collection that will resound strongly with Waller’s fans. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

Robert Rex Waller Jr.’s Home Page

The Zombies: The BBC Radio Sessions

Zombies_TheBBCRadioSessionsExpanded re-reissue of the Zombies live on the BBC 1965-68

Varese’s 43-track, 2-CD set expands on their earlier double-LP with five previously unreleased tracks. This augments material that’s been reissued in numerous configurations, including Rhino’s landmark Live on the BBC, and Big Beat’s Zombie Heaven and Live at the BBC. This is now a one-stop shop for the biggest helping yet of the recordings the Zombies made for the BBC. Included are live versions of the group’s three early hits, “She’s Not There,” “Tell Her No” and “She’s Coming Home,” along with other much beloved originals, “Whenever You’re Ready,” “If It Don’t Work Out” and “Friends of Mine,” and a slew of covers. Notably missing is a full take of “Time of the Season” (though it’s heard as background to the last interview segment), as its success postdates these BBC sessions.

The origin of these recordings (and similar catalogs for other British Invasion bands) lays in limits placed on the BBC’s use of commercially released records. To supplement their programming, musical artists were recorded in the BBC’s own studios, the recordings pressed to transcription discs, and the discs circulated to affiliates for broadcast. With the BBC failing to archive these works, it’s transcriptions of found copies that form the core of this set, supplemented by off-air recordings of material for which transcriptions haven’t yet surfaced. The quality varies, and while none match the productions of the group’s formal releases, they’re all quite listenable. The live energy and deep reach of the cover selections are essential additions to the group’s small catalog of commercially released work.

What’s immediately noticeable is how unique the Zombies sounded, even among the British Invasion’s explosion of creativity. Colin Blunstone’s voice gave the group an easily recognized front, Rod Argent’s keyboards added distinctive flair, and the group’s melodic sense was like nothing else on the radio. The tracks include several cover songs the group never released commercially, and multiple versions of “Tell Her No,” “Just a Little Bit,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “You Must Believe Me” and “This Old Heart of Mine.” Variations from the commonly circulated commercial masters – such as an acoustic piano on the February 1965 version of “Tell Her No” – are especially interesting in how they influence the tone of the performances.

Announcer introductions and interview clips give a feel for how the musical tracks played in context, and reveal interesting personal details about the band, their travels and their unrealized plans for the future. Even more revealing are Andrew Sandoval’s liner and track notes, which provide detailed information about the sessions, the radio shows on which the tracks were featured, and the sources of the often obscure cover songs. Matching the session notes to the discs is a bit tricky, as the notes run chronologically, and the tracks do not. The addition of six previously unreleased recordings (disc 1, 23-25 and disc 2, 7-9; five songs and an expanded interview with Colin Blunstone) make this the most complete set of the group’s BBC recordings yet. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

The Zombies’ Homepage

The Bo-Keys: Heartaches by the Number

BoKeys_HeartachesByTheNumberSouled-out country bridges Memphis and Nashville

Imagine if the two hundred miles separating Nashville and Memphis hadn’t birthed two entirely separate musical cultures. As if the country songwriters of the former had more freely shopped their material among the blues and soul musicians of the latter. That’s the premise of the Bo-Keys third album, as they give songs by Harlan Howard, Curly Putnam, Hank Williams and Freddy Fender a spin down Beale Street and on a road trip to Muscle Shoals. Traveling beyond Nashville, the soul transformation roams West for Merle Haggard’s early album track “The Longer You Wait,” and East (albeit, via Nashville Skyline) for Bob Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away.”

The Bo-Keys aren’t the first to put a soulful spin on these song; Swamp Dogg’s “Don’t Take Her (She’s All I Got)” started as a soul side before turning country, as did Curly Putnam’s “Set Me Free,” which had been given soulful treatments by Charlie Rich, Joe Tex, Van & Grace and Esther Phillips before Ferlin Husky took it to the Nashville mainstream. Even closer, Little Richard gave “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die” the full Stax treatment on 1971’s King of Rock and Roll. None of which takes away from the Bo-Keys creativity, but helps show that great songs can stand apart from the genre in which they were birthed. Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date,” for example, is equally compelling when shifted here from piano and strings to guitar and horns.

The opening “Heartaches By the Number” hangs on to its Ray Price beat, and though Johnny Tillotson added horns in an earlier cover, guest vocalist Don Bryant makes the song’s heartbreak darker. The band’s regular vocalist, Percy Wiggins, sings soulfully throughout, but really nails the spoken sections of “Set Me Free” with an edginess that reveals the song’s desperation. Eric Lewis’ pedal steel adds country notes to “The Longer You Wait,” but Wiggins’ vocal and the horn chart keep the song rooted in Memphis. The album’s two originals, “Learned My Lesson in Love” and “I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For,” fit musically and thematically with the covers, and fill out a great album full of jukebox heartbreak. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

The Bo-Keys’ Home Page

The Impressions: The Curtom Years

Impressions_BestOfCurtomYearsThe Impressions’ Hot 100 singles, 1968-76

The Impressions have a long history, rooted in their late-50s Tennessee origins as The Roosters, growing through their 1960s reformation in Chicago as the Impressions, and continuing to the present day as a live act. Their earliest hits featured Jerry Butler as lead singer, their fertile middle period was voiced by Curtis Mayfield, and their post-Mayfield years were fronted variously by LeRoy Hutson, Ralph Johnson, Reggie Torian and Nate Evans. Many of the group’s iconic sides were waxed for ABC-Paramount in the mid-60s, but this 1968-76 run on Mayfield’s Curtom label is highlighted by both hits (“This Is My Country,” “Choice of Colors,” “Check Out Your Mind” and “Finally Got Myself Together (I’m A Changed Man)”) and Mayfield’s growing sophistication as a composer and social critic.

These eighteen tracks include all of the Curtom singles that cracked the Top 100, plus “Loving Power,” which bubbled under at #103, and “This Time,” which was released by Cotillion. Following Mayfield’s departure (his last lead vocal here is 1971’s “Ain’t Got Time”), the lead slot was passed between Leroy Hutson (“Love Me”, a Mayfield song), Fred Cash (on the Preacher Man album, not sampled here), Ralph Johnson (“If It’s in You to Do Wrong” and “Finally Got Myself Together (I’m A Changed Man)”) and Nate Evans (“This Time”). The group’s gospel foundation, sophisticated soul style and trademark harmonies continued to flourish, though only “Finally Got Myself Together” brought them back to widespread commercial success.

The set’s 12-page booklet includes detailed liner notes by A. Scott Galloway, and the track list’s sampling of late-60s-to-early-70s sides provides a good introduction to the group’s Curtom era. There’s nearly a dozen more Curtom singles to be heard, some non-charting and some that charted only R&B, as well as a full catalog of albums. For a deeper look, check out the many original album reissues, including This is My Country, The Young Mods’ Forgotten Story, Check Out Your Mind!, and Times Have Changed. For a listen to their earlier years, check out The Complete A & B Sides 1961-1968. But for an introduction to Mayfield’s last years with the group, and their post-Mayfield singles, this is a great place to start. [©2016 Hyperbolium] 

The Impressions’ Home Page

Juke Box Rhythm

DVD_JukeBoxRhythmRemake of Roman Holiday w/Johnny Otis, Earl Grant & The Treniers

This music-rich 1959 film comes from the incredibly prolific producer Sam Katzman, and though billed as a “jukebox musical,” its wide palette of artists and entertainment is more of a variety show. The plot is basically an American rewrite of Roman Holiday, but it’s the music and entertainment sequences that are the film’s draw. Earl Grant plays organ, sings and backs up Jack Jones on a fun throwaway called “The Freeze.” George Jessel, Toastmaster General of the United States, sings and tells jokes, the Treniers perform “Get Out of the Car,” Johnny Otis does “Willie and the Hand Jive,” and Les Nitwits provide comedy relief with vaudeville-styled Dixieland. There’s hot jive dancing, and the film culminates in a Jukebox Jamboree. Worth catching for the music and comedy set pieces. [©2016 Hyperbolium]