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More than 30 years ago, an Italian music fan with few contacts in the world of black American music decided he wanted to bring his beloved southern soul music to the area of Northern Italy where he lived by promoting a show headlined by one of his favourites, Solomon Burke. From that modest beginning in 1987 has emerged the world’s most prestigious soul music event. For the 31^st time, the Porretta Soul Festival has again recently brought artists and music lovers from all over the world to the small, sleepy spa town in Northern Italy where it is held annually.

The jazz side of things was also catered for when a deal was brokered through Fantasy Records in 1985 to licence the hugely influential Contemporary label out of California. A couple of years later, Ace recruited jazz DJs Gilles Peterson and Baz Fe Jazz to launch their own jazz reissue outlet, BGP. A name was needed to christen the funky, Hammond B3-powered jazz funk and soul jazz that was proving popular in the clubs and, taking a nod from the then all-pervading acid house scene, the extremely popular Acid Jazz series was born. Twenty years on, things have gone from strength to strength on a label that, in the able hands of Dean Rudland, encompasses everything from Art Blakey to Sugar Pie De Santo from jazz to funk.

Charlie would have hated all this fuss and bother over him. He was the most self effacing man I have ever met, and in the last year or more I confirmed that view, working with him on the ‘Honky Tonk’ CD. It was entirely about the music and the people who made it and the people who helped them produce it and get it out there and promote it. That’s what excited Charlie.

2007

A year of deaths, celebration and buying catalogues.

In March, Hy Weiss of Old Town / Barry Records died in Florida. The idea of deaths as ‘burning libraries’ certainly applied to Hy, a fount of insider knowledge about the music business from the mid-50s onwards. He was frank about it being full of scams and dodges. Most of his artists we met had no illusions about him, but also real affection. Plus, he could tell you a thing or two about them, too. He featured in many books, some more discreetly than others and it is a shame he never did tell his own tale. What tales he had to tell: tall, frighteningly honest and often very funny.

Back in the day no black American ever said, “Let’s make a record for all those upcoming teens in the north of England who in a few years will like dancing to uptempo soul while bombed on speed”. Admittedly a few “tailor-mades” did happen but these were a mere footnote to a scene that spent its life scouring record lists, oldies shops, auctions, warehouses and lofts for the next big sound.

Northern Soul is any record that has been played at a Northern Soul dance. That is a ridiculously large number of recordings that stretch from the late 50s to the present day and can vary between Charles Sheffield’s 1961 R&B mover ‘It’s Your Voodoo Working’ to some recent housey thing by Bob Sinclair called ‘Tribute’. The epitome of Northern Soul is 1965-66 uptempo Motown such as ‘It’s The Same Old Song’ by the Four Tops. It has the tempo, the production and Levi Stubbs’ emotion-drenched voice telling us how his girl has legged it; misery often features in the happiest sounding songs. Motown was the benchmark of this music but it was the following crowd that aped their sound and came up with myriad variations that are the essence of Northern.

Take ‘That Beatin’ Rhythm’ by Richard Temple on Mirwood, for many the first Northern label. It wasn’t released in theUKin the 60s and did not reach these shores until the early 70s. Some keen English youth would have found a copy on a US sales list, or in a UK junk shop that a few imports had sidled into, played it at his local club and created a stir. When the big-time DJs got to hear about it, the sharpest and richest charmed it into his own DJ box and regaled the eager dancers at the biggest club of the day, thereby creating a monster sound. It got bootlegged and even legally reissued, sold in the tens of thousands and can still be heard at venues every weekend around the now global Northern Soul world. The sound later embraced 70s shufflers, big-beat ballads, some Latin boogaloo and R&B stompers but it’s that mid-60s sophisticated soul with the on-the-fours beat that is the bedrock.