TY KARIM hooked up with LA producer Kent Harris in the ’60s cutting a clutch of rare northern soul singles that today change hands for thousands of pounds among collectors. ‘You Really Made It Good To Me’ and ‘Lighten Up Baby’ are raw pounding stompers but her husky vocals covered all bases on The Complete Ty Karim (Kent). Listen to how she rips into the big beat ballad ‘All At Once’, voice nearly shredding with emotion and wonder, how does she remain so obscure? ‘Wear Your Natural, Baby’ was a black pride anthem, encouraging black Americans to grow their hair naturally and unprocessed. The groove and melodies are as equally liberating as the lyrics. Finally, ‘Keep On Doin’ Whatcha’ Doin’ is a surprisingly cool funky lolloping late night groove from 1980. Along with informative liner notes and a groovy cover with Ty sporting her very own ‘Natural Do’, Kent have unearthed some unreleased gems, making this an essential purchase for any soul fan.
The bulk of The Best Of BOBBY BLUE BLAND (Universal) covers 45s from his Duke 300 series with a few random exceptions. His deep, rich voice resonates throughout, equal parts bluesy and soulful. The band are smoking on mod dancers like ‘Don’t Cry No More’, all hip shaking drums and sock-it-to-me trumpets but you’ll need to do more digging elsewhere for more of this. The slow bluesy vibe would best suit the more mature tastes and there is no room, sadly, for seventies powerhouse ‘Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City’.
DENNIS COFFEY was a session player on many a sixties hit before legendary Motown producer Norman Whitfield added his signature guitar effects onto the Temptations ‘Cloud Nine’. Coffey would go on to be a star in his own right with the heavily sampled ‘Scorpio’ on Sussex. In ’75, Coffey moved to Westbound flirting with the burgeoning disco scene, toning down the blazing heavy funk guitar sound of the early seventies and creating a rhythmic soulful underground club vibe as showcased on Live Wire: The Westbound Years 1975-1978 (BGP). Sensual, meandering tapestries like the sublime, ‘Sweet Taste Of Sin’, ‘Our Love Goes On Forever’ and ‘High On Love’ mix with out-and-out funky flavoured disco. Highlights; ‘Wild Child’ has a similar infectious hip ‘Shack Up’ like beat and ‘Gimme That Funk’ will appease Funkadelic fans. It seems strange to be writing about disco in Shindig but free your mind and your ass will follow, as the song title, ‘If You Can’t Dance To This’ does testify.
Nowadays anyone with a PC can knock up a decent compilation so re-issue labels need to try that bit harder when it comes to packaging. The IKE AND TINA TURNER Archive Series (SPV) is a half-baked, amateurish, ill-fitting tribute. The serious lack of background information behind the alternate versions is annoying and dupes the casual listener, who doesn’t read the small print, into believing they are hearing original versions. The tinny sound makes me dubious about the whole thing. An opportunity missed.
DAN PENN, a self-confessed Southern hillbilly, was bitten by the R&B bug at an early age becoming the unlikely source behind many a soul standard. ‘Dark End Of The Street’, ‘Do Right Woman’, ‘I’m Your Puppet’, to name just a few. Penn could also croon a decent tune himself as showcased on his ’94 solo album, Do Right Man, featuring his own faithful interpretations of his greatest compositions. Now Penn has released Junkyard Junky (Dandy) the second of his more recent demo series featuring brand new recordings including a version of his first hit, ‘Is A Bluebird Blue?’ Fans of down home country soul will discover much to treasure here but the aforementioned solo album best captures this soulful genius at his best.
The enduring scene in the film Jackie Brown when Pam Grier shares a moment with the detective as she pulls out a dusty old LP, sums up the allure of collecting vintage vinyl and captured the seductive sounds of THE DELFONICS onto the big screen. Along with producer Thom Bell, Philly Soul’s finest created seamless pocket symphonies for dim lights and cosy late nights. Their high pitched vocals and intricate harmonies may prove too saccharine for hardened souls but no one can doubt the ingenuity at work here on the bands fourth LP, The Delfonics which is coupled with their follow up, Tell Me This Is A Dream (Kent). The album opens with the inventive ‘(Didn’t I) Blow Your Mind This Time’ with an intro every bit as dramatic as The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’. Such comparisons don’t feel out of place listening to the layered harmonies and arranger Thom Bell’s creativity, acting out the Brian Wilson role, bringing many musical ideas that stretched soul boundaries. By the time, Tell Me This Is A Dream arrived, Randy Cain had left to be replaced by Major Harris, so too had Thom Bell. The upheaval created a void and the mix sounds more claustrophobic and downbeat. Take the funeral paced vocal version of ‘Delfonics Theme (How Could You?)’, the drowsy feel reflects the album’s nocturnal themed title.
Dap-Kings guitarist Thomas Brenneck is the brains behind MENAHAN STREET BAND’s Make The Road By Walking (Dunham). The three Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings albums to date on Daptone Records are bloody essential funk gems (hard to believe they were conceived in the present day). This time the funk is replaced by a more jazzy flavoured set of instrumentals. This at times sounds like incidental music missing that extra ingredient in the shape of a vocal or some oomph to spice things up a little.
Finally, staying on the jazz tip, VARIOUS ARTISTS Ibérico Jazz (Vampisoul) introduces the work of Don Antoliano Toldos, a pioneer of independent jazz in Spain, who produced some groovy, sun-kissed, US influenced jazz singles between ’67 and ’72. Rolling piano riffs, JB-like funky rhythms and subtle trumpet solos create a thoroughly modern dance floor friendly club sound for hip heads in cool threads.
www.acerecords.com
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www.daptonerecords.com/dunham-records.html
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