Music City Soul:From Nashville's Black Cats Various Artists (States & Regions)

£11.70

Genre:
Northern Soul
Label:
Kent
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDKEND 157

To assess a CD compiled by one of the best reviewers and journalists in the world is a daunting task. Doubly so when he not only contributes his own incisive reviews of each track within the CD booklet, but has also coined the very term, "Deep Soul", that the whole project is about.

A case in point is his inclusion of Eddie Holman's I'm Not Gonna Give Up, a personal favourite, which when I was assessing the tape quality, struck me as unusual in that the vocal back-ups only appear at the crescendo of the song at the end of the record. I was so amazed and impressed that I had to compare the tape to my single to make sure I had the correct version.

With glee I made a mental note to feature this aspect of the song in my review of the CD, only to be thwarted when reading Dave's notes. Inevitably he had highlighted this very point and used it to extol the virtues of the recording.

The Deep Soul Treasures CDs are Dave's personal music history of the genre he loves the most. I know he sometimes feels saddled with having first coined the terms Deep Soul and Northern Soul, especially as those phrases have taken on their own life and have evolved to cover music they were never originally intended for.

However it gives Dave a licence to ignore the pigeon-holes and categories that we collectors and discographers have imposed on some records, and judging them on performance alone he can surprise and delight us by including them on these great projects.

I totally concur with Dave in his inclusion of mid and uptempo records as Deep, if the vocal and lyrical content of the recording are that way. Witness here Eddie Giles' Losin' Boy which goes from a solid dance beat to a pounding climax where his wails of "oh yeah" almost develop into death throes by the end.

Similarily Deep Soul doesn't have to be Southern (though it often helps). The tracks by Ben E King, Lisa Richards, Nat Phillips and Bessie Banks all hail from New York and don't even attempt to ape that great Southern ballad style.

Bessie Banks' exquisite Go Now was of course the original of the song which went on to sell a million copies for the UK pop group The Moody Blues. This version epitomises all that Dave love's in a soul record-.-pleading, heart-broken vocals on an intensely dramatic song. The whole performance feels so improvised and spontaneous that one wonders if they didn't think "Sod the sales figures, let's make a piece of art!"

Those were pretty much Dave and our sentiments in compiling Volume One, only contradicted by you, the customers, actually buying the CD in the thousands and making it Kent's best seller to date.

By Ady Croasdell

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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview When The Boy That You Love (Is Loving You) - Peggy Gaines

  • 02 Preview Hold On (A Little Bit Longer) - Rufus Hunter

  • 03 Preview The Sound Of A Crying Man - Herbert Hunter

  • 04 Preview Candy - The Tempo Rhythms

  • 05 Preview It's A Little Bit Late - Fred Waters

  • 06 Preview I'd Like To Try It One More Time - Larry Birdsong

  • 07 Preview These Are My People - Roscoe Shelton

  • 08 Preview It's Almost Sundown - Gene Allison

  • 09 Preview Foolish Lover - Jimmy Tig And The Rounders

  • 10 Preview Isn't It Wonderful To Dream - Herbert Hunter

  • 11 Preview Some Day - Thomas Henry

  • 12 Preview I Know The Feelin' - The Jades

  • 13 Preview I Want To Give My Heart To You - Leevert Allison

  • 14 Preview I Need A Man - The Precious Three

  • 15 Preview Tell Me Baby (Who Would I Be) - The Avons

  • 16 Preview Just To Satisfy My Baby - Peggy Gaines

  • 17 Preview Love Is A Two Way Thing - Freddie Waters

  • 18 Preview My Loss, Your Gain - The Jades

  • 19 Preview Is It Love (Or Imitation) - Thomas Henry

  • 20 Preview Happy Go Lucky - Herbert Hunter

  • 21 Preview Push Away From The Table - Herbert Hunter

  • 22 Preview You Girl - Wendell Watts

  • 23 Preview Singing A New Song - Freddie Waters

  • 24 Preview Win Or Lose - Rufus Hunter

  • 25 Preview Sugar - Larry Birdsong And Thomas Henry

  • 26 Preview Nobody Knows - Freddie Waters And Eddie Frierson

Delivery & Returns

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We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com ) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

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Crammed with good soul.

Blues & Rhythm

Customer reviews

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