Black American soul dancers and grooves with the 70s sound beloved of the Modern Soul scene – many making their commercial debut.
Our latest volume of Modern Soul sides is a particularly splendid affair. The four-year wait since the previous volume is a reflection of the scarcity of these tracks. The gradual increase in previously unissued tracks, up to a staggering 70%, tells us it’s what’s in the tape box that counts nowadays.
Elaine Armstrong released one great single for King in 1968 but the company left the mid-tempo sadness of ‘Tears Begin To Fall’ in the vaults. Jesse Johnson worked out of Los Angeles where he recorded the upbeat ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ for veteran producer Johnny Otis. The “other” Johnny Adams (the one who cut for Modern and Money) also performed with the group Fox Fire whose unissued LP featured the beautiful ballad ‘You Amaze Me’, sophisticated in the extreme. From Dave Hamilton’s Detroit stable we have the previously unheard ‘Never Felt This Way Before’ by New Experience and Elayne Starr’s ‘Night After Night’ with its hint of disco.
Real records feature in the form of Herman Davis’ laidback ‘Gotta Be Loved’, Billy Cee’s Al Green-inspired Memphis mover ‘Don’t Matter If It’s In The Past’ and Street People’s ‘Baby You Got It All’, a hard to find mid-70s Spring dancer. The Spring tapes also gave up an alternate lead vocal to Millie’s ‘Don’t Send Nobody Else’, credited here to Luv Co.
Quirks and treats abound. We’re featuring the scarce rap version of Garland Green’s ‘Just Loving You’ and the unissued ‘Don’t Lose What You Got’ by Stax Records’ Dramatics, which could well have been the original version.
Greg Perry’s Northern classic ‘It Takes Heart’ finally gets a legitimate release from master tape and the Pretenders’ 1980 version of ‘It’s Everything About You’ makes it onto CD at last. Other highlights include George Soule’s Fame-recorded ‘Midnight Affair’, Darrow Fletcher’s fabulous version of ‘No Limit’ and a great pair of Doré dancers from Toussaint McCall and the Natural Resources.
Ady Croasdell
