NORTHERN SOUL ON THE GRAPEVINE

Artist: THE HAPPY CATS; Title: THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN'; 

Label: GRAPEVINE; Format: 7'; Cat.: GRP 110; Year: 1978; Country: UK

Looking today at a couple of Northern Soul released issued on Richard Searling's Grapevine label - distributed via RCA here in the UK.  One you'll know and one you may not (depending how much a talcum spin devotee you are!).

The first up is the more obscure of the two - 1978's offering from The Happy Cats.  The A Side gives you their take on the Lee Hazelwood penned "These Boots Are Made For Walkin' ".  First issued on Omack it's one of those instrumental Northern tracks that were popular in the latter half of the 70's - especially at Wigan Casino. And as in a lot of these things it's a question of whether you're a fan of the happy-clappy type/instrumental type Northern tunes - personally I'm not generally but I do like this one. Mainly in part due it being a Lee Hazelwood song who I'm a fan of, and that it's got a bit of Mod/Ramsey Lewis vibe to it.  Taste has a lot to do with I suppose.

The flip side is the rather good "Destroy That Boy" and unreleased until it's appearance here on Grapevine.  A good uptempo track that nods in the direction of Ray Charles and Margie Hendrix - especially on that intro and horn riff that almost sounds like The Genius' 'Don't Set Me Free'.  Valuewise  - this seems to worth around the £8 mark.  And thanks also to Soul Forum post on the Soul Source website for some the info here.

Artist: JUDY STREET; Title: WHAT; Label: GRAPEVINE; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: GRP 106;

Year: 1977; Country: UK

Next up is a Northern track that you should know!  Judy Street's classic "What".  Recorded and originally released in the State in 1968, the song's written and produced by H.B. Barnum.  Again it's one of the tunes that found favour at Wigan Casino - and it's also the only Northern track I know that's got a cello solo on it!  First came across the song via the Soft Cell hit version of the early 80's which then put me on to this one - and finally tracking down a copy at a stall at the first All-Nighter I went to at Stoke Town Hall.

The flip side is a cover of Melinda Marx's "You Turn Me On" - which has intended as the A Side - but getting flipped in favour of 'What' when it arrived in the UK.  Tunewise it's the slower tempo of the two sides on offer - okayish but nowhere in the same league as the A Side.

As is in a lot of these cases Judy Street was unaware of the popularity of "What" until around 2005 - as she'd never toured in the UK. The song's been ranked as being the 23rd most popular Northern Soul tune out of the 500 listed in a poll.  Thanks on this occasion to Judy Street's Wikipedia page for some of the info used here.

HANGING ON TO THAT DREAM

Artist: Tim Hardin; Title: HANG ON TO A DREAM; Label: VERVE-FOLKWAYS;  

Format: 7"; Cat. No.: VS 1504; Year; 1966; Country: UK

Looking today at this 1966 debut from one Rock's lost souls - Tim Hardin. Released on Verve's Folkways imprint this features two achingly beautiful but ultimately hopeless songs, that in a way typify this singer's tragic life and the seemingly constant battle with drugs - in particular the big H.

The A Side gives you "Hang On To A Dream" - opening with a simple bit electric piano before developing into a waltz tempo.  A really great song - and one that caught the ear of Francoise Hardy who cover it on her 'En Anglais' set released in 1968.

The flip side gives you the song that Tim Hardin's probably best know for "Reason to Beleive".  Like a lot of people I came to this via the Rod Stewart from the mid 70's, and it's always interesting to hear these songs done by the original artist.  One thing that's immediately apparent is how short it is (like the A Side) and the other is the Country tempo.  One other I remember hearing was that Rod tried to help out being a fan of his music- and had him as support for one of the Faces tours. However by that time (I'm guessing this the early to mid 70's) the heroin addiction had really taken hold - with the inevitable results.

A sad end.

SOUL TANGO - PART 2

Artist: THE ISLEY BROTHERS; Title: TANGO; Label: UNITED ARTISTS; Format:7";

Cat. No.: UP-1034; Year: 1963; COUNTRY:UK

Continuing the Soul tango theme from the last post, the only place you can really go next is this 1963 offering from The Isley Brothers issued on United Artists.

The A Side is the aforementioned "Tango" - but a tango done in that distinctly Isley Brothers style.  Topped off with a  great lead vocal from Ronnie Isley the production comes courtesy of Bert Berns, and it's one of those tunes that doesn't disappoint in the slightest.  Although the image that thrown up is a bit of an interesting one to say the least!

The B Side's pretty good too!  Which in this case is another Isley's penned tune in the shape of "She's Gone".  A great bit of dramatic Soul in the style of Jackie Wilson (and don't forget that 'Shout' was developed from a improvised vamp on another Jackie Wilson tune) and again well worth a listen.  Like the A Side it's one that I first came across on the compilation that Stateside put out in the late 80's 'Let's Go' which pulled together most of the sides the Isley's did for United Artists - with the exception of the one that came out on Veep just before they signed to Motown (and alleged to feature Hendrix on guitar).

SOUL TANGO

Artist: Bettye Lavette; Title: LET ME DOWN EASY; Label: MOJO; Format: 7"; 

Cat. No.: 2092-030; Year: 1972; Country: UK

Today I'm featuring this 1972 3 track single from Bettye Lavette issued on Polydor's Mojo imprint.  The A Side is the searing bit of Soul that is "Let Me Down Easy".  Originally released on Calla (102) in the US in 1965 and co-written by Dee Dee Ford, the best way to drescribe the tune - a Soul-Tango.  There's a slightly longer take of this which surfaced on the rather excellent Bettye Lavette/Carol Fran set that came out on EMI's Stateside label in 2005.  There's a later version that Bettye cut for Karen in 1969 - but the version here (as far as I'm aware and playing the 7" against an LP version AND the CD version assures me that the Mojo issued version IS the original!

 

The flip side gives you two tracks.  First up is "I Feel Good (All Over)" Again originally released on Calla (104) - and a cracking bit of a Northern Soul foot-stomper that doesn't disappoint in the least.  And well worth checking for few talcum spins! The proceedings are rounded off with "What I Don't Know (Won't Hurt Me)" - another good Hammond-driven dancer, originally from the flip side of Calla 102, that like the other two tracks are well worth checking out (if you're not already familiar with them that is !).

Thanks in part to the great discography on the Soulful Kinda Music website (a must for Soul fans!) and the official Bettye Lavette website for confirming what I've got down is as right as possible.  Otherwise I'm not doing my job on this blog!

OBSCURE BRITISH PYSCHE CLASSIC!

Artist: THE GLASS MENAGERIE; Titles: I SAID GOODBYE TO ME/

FREDERICK JORDAN; Label: PYE; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: 7N 17615; Year: 1968; 

Country: UK

Obscure vinyl of the week is this British Pysche classic issued on Pye in 1968 from The Glass Menagerie.  They're one of those bands is pretty hard to find any info on but this is what I did managed to find on AllMusic (thanks to the original poster):-

After moving from their native Lancashire to seek commercial success in London, England, this psych pop quartet released a series of singles for Pye Records and Polydor Records without ever completing an album. Comprising Bill Atkinson (drums), John Medley (bass), Alan Kendall (guitar) and Lou Stonebridge (vocals/harmonica), the group made their debut in 1968 with the typically floral ‘She’s A Rainbow’. Two further singles followed for Pye in the same year, ‘You Don’t Have To Be So Nice’ and ‘Frederick Jordan’, but neither reached the charts. Transferring to Polydor in 1969, ‘Have You Forgotten Who You Are’ and ‘Do My Thing Myself’ failed to rectify their commercial misfortune. By now the group had adopted a heavier, progressive rock styled sound, which might have been better sampled on a full album release. However, despite the existence of an album acetate, Polydor declined to release it officially and the group broke up. Kendall subsequently joined Toe Fat, while Stonebridge worked with Paladin and McGuinness Flint.

The A Side gives you "I Said Goodbye To Me" - which is a decent-enough bit of Pop-Pysche penned by Harry Nilsson. Coming complete with false fadeouts, sound effects and Barry Ryan stylings which you'd expect from this period in time.  And if it was just that then you'd be looking at £40-£50 value - that's until you hear what's on the flip side!

What you get on the flip side is the full-on Hammond-driven Pysche-mod that is "Frederick Jordan", It's got more than a whiff of what the type of stuff Deep Purple were doing around this period especially when the guitars kick in. Currently available on a couple of Pysche compliations it's well worth checking out. And once you've heard it you'll understand why it's currently valued around the £150-£200 mark.

On this occasion I'm looking to sell my copy which is the demo - date stamped 7th October 1968, and am willing to consider all reasonable offers, and more than happy to ship-worldwide (unlike some on-line sellers who won't ship outside their home country!).

SOME MORE KIWI SOUL

Artist: THE AD LIBS; Title: THE BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY; Label: PYE; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: BC-102; Year: 1965; Country: NEW ZEALAND

Carrying on the with Soul stuff issued in New Zealand - today's post features The Ad Libs wonderful debut from 1964, released on Leiber & Stoller's Blue Cat label - and via Pye in the UK, as well as in New Zealand where this copy originated.  And from the record library of New Zealand's equivalent of the BBC!

The A Side is the downright brilliant "Boy From New York City" with a suberb lead vocal by Mary Ann Thomas. What I really love it is the way it weaves in elements of Doo-Wop into the background the belting souful lead vocal. And it's one of those tracks that typifies the emerging Girl Group sound of the mid 60's. See The Shirelles output for further fine examples of the genre!

The flip side gives you "Kicked Around" - another good tune, this time with a more jazzy vibe to it. It's one of those tracks that's indebted to the Shirelles, and Mary Ann Thomas does sound a lot like Shirley Owens on this.  But given that Lieber & Stoller were also writing & producing stuff for the Shirelles around this time maybe that should come as that much of a surprise!

KIWI SOUL

Artist: SAM COOKE & BUMPS BLACKWELL ORCHESTRA; Title: YOU SEND ME; Label: LONDON; Format: 7"; Cat. No.: 45-NZ.281; Year: 1958; Country: NEW ZEALAND

Looking today at this New Zealand issued classic from Sam Cooke - so we're back onto the international pressings again vinyl fans!

The A Side is the classic and sublime early Soul that is "You Send Me" - and interesting it's co-credited to Bumps Blackwell's Orchestra, which as far as I remember isn't the case on the UK issued singles from the same period.  I seem to remember that I can across this one Brighton, and bought at the same time as a couple of singles by The Drifters.

The B Side is another good one - this rather good version of "Summertime" - and like the A Side well worth checking out! It's interesting to see how Sam Cooke took what started out as almost classical piece in Gershwin's black opera 'Porgy & Bess', and transformed it into this piece of Soul music. It's one of Sam Cooke's tunes that doesn't get heard too often these day, which is a bit of a shame.

The other thing I noticed with this is it's on Decca's London imprint (which was their main outlet of blues R'n'B, and what we'd later regard as Soul) but here pressed up their behalf by HMV in New Zealand - one of those quirky things that being a record collector is about to a level.