Soul Express CD Review

This is an extensive collection of Atlantic’s choicest R&B gems spanning a period of a quarter of a century, and is contained in 8 discs. Atlantic was formed in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson in New York City. From the beginning, Atlantic was different from other independent record companies in that there was freedom to make decisions based on good musical judgement alone. How things are different today! LOL. Anyway, as we all know the cornerstone of the company was Rhythm and Blues. During the late 1950s with the succes of the Drifters, Clyde McPhatter, Joe Turner, LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles and the Coasters, the company consolidated their success in the so-called crossover market, selling to both black and white record buyers.

As we know, in 1961 an alliance with the legendary Stax Records was formed, and paved the way for the nascent style that later to become known as … soul. Here we had such luminaries as Booker T & The M.G.s, Carla Thomas, the Mar-Keys, Eddie Floyd, William Bell and Otis Redding. How popular were these artists?! A&R guru, Jerry Wexler then signed the mighty Sam & Dave to Atlantic, and took them to record at Stax. He went on to sign the late, great Wilson Pickett in 1964 and resulted in the all-time classic "In The Midnight Hour".

Wexler also went to the famous Muscle Shoals in Alabama and hooked up with Rick Hall and his Fame Studios. One of the first artiss he took here was Aretha Franklin who recorded "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect", "A Natural Woman", "Chain Of Fools" and many others.

The label dipped more than a toe into the blossoming Philadelphia sounds, too and producers like Bobby Eli heralded in a more smoother style of soul. It is an important release, and for my money people who considers themselves a fan of black music should own a set of these CDs. This is the stuff of legend; its musical history and charts an enviable roster of artists, styles and trends.

Disc one is a fantastic listen. It is sheer happiness, no-nonsense original R&B and says as much about the culture and social history of the time as it does about music. The relief of the post-war era can be plainly heard in the uptempo big band era style jams of Joe Morris and "Lowe Groovin’" and "Drinkin’ Wine Spoo-Dee-O-Dee" by Stick McGhee. Nearly 60 years after being recorded these still sound great and the remastering is second to none. Its no real surprise that this genre is still alive and well here in the UK, with the likes of Georgie Fame and George Melly carrying the torch, and ex-Manfred Mann member, Paul Jones, having a dedicated show on the excellent Radio 2.

Ruth Brown’s slinky jazzy, yet warm bluesy output offers a marked contrast to the type of material you would find at the local hop. Her "Teardrops From My Eyes" nicely pair with Ray Charles’ later efforts on Volume two which covers 1952 to 1954. His frenetic "Mess Around" is as fun today as ever, as is the joyful "I Got A Woman". Early doo-wop harmony period is covered, naturally, with the Diamonds and The Clovers. We can already hear an evolution in style and these sweet sounds continued on until transformed by the smoother sounds of Motown in Detroit and the grittier, Southern output of Stax in Memphis. The Cardinals sounds echo those of Motown’s early waxings, especially those of Mable John and with hindsight we can easily see where the direction was heading. The mid 50s still had space for the likes of the skippish Joe Turner styled material, but the big band element is transformed into the 50s; the genesis of Rock N’ Roll. Step aside, Bill Haley. Let us get some perspective. This is why these artists and this compilation is important. It's history and it's important. Without knowing where the music came from, do we know where it is going. This is why R&B today is in a real sorry mess as the kids recording it don’t even have any idea that people made music before this week, let alone 60 years ago.

This evolution is carried off perfectly by groups like the Coasters with their enormously fun "Yakety Yak" and "Charlie Brown", both recorded in 1958. One of my favourite Ray Charles tunes is "What’d I Say" and this sounds fantastic on this set. A group I feel has not been given enough recognition, especially in recent years are the Drifters. Many of their hits are here, and all are great. Ben E. King also makes an appearance as you would expect, and also proves that the serenading strings and rhythmic beat was a winning formula. Still popular today – and with a new album soon to be released on True Life Jazz Records – "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me" are modern-day classics. A nice inclusion is the 1961 recording "I’m Blue" by the Ikettes. The fantastic Solomon Burke pops in with "Cry To Me" which garnered more interest in 1987 with its place in the hit film, "Dirty Dancing". Timeless.

I would have loved to see more of Booker T & The M.G.’s on here, and their massive "Green Onions" was a marked difference from all that came before it. We are definitely in the 1960s now, and the style changes along with the shift in social consciousness and the heat rises with many hits by those artists I liken to preachers – Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. This gutsy, gritty pulpit delivery type of soul was a world away from the smooth harmonies, or the catharsis of the Ruth Brown type singer. This is more of my familiar territory, but it is invaluable to go on a musical journey to see how we arrived at this point from the end of WW2.

I mentioned Detroit earlier, and one group who unbelievably missed the attention of Berry Gordy was The Capitols. Their 1966 hit, "Cool Jerk", was every bit a Motown record. This was the group’s only top 10 hit, and was distributed on the Karen label. In fact, someone once told me that the Funk Brothers who were moonlighting from Hitsville provided the backing music at this period. I still love Otis and Carla’s "Tramp". This has to be one of the grooviest sides to come out of Atlantic / Stax at this time, and has been subsequently used by various rappers since the 1980s for their own tracks. Nice, also, to see inclusions by the evergreen Bar-Kays (If you failed to pick up their latest CD, then shame on you!) and Tyrone Davis with "Can I Change My Mind" which was released on Brunswick subsidiary, Dakar in 1968, and was distributed by Atlantic subsidiary, Cotillion. This was a #1 R&B / #5 pop hit in the US, and very good it was too! Check out those southern horns! Simply sublime. No Atlantic compilation would be complete without the sorely missed Donny Hathaway. "The Ghetto" is a classic by anyone’s standards.

The jazzy offering by Les McCann and Eddie Harris is welcome, too – that being their "Compared To What" song which is almost 9 minutes long! I think that Chairman Of The Board did the definitive (and original) version of "Patches", but this version by Clarence Carter was released less than a year later, and was an international hit for the Fame label. "Patches" should have been released as an Invictus A-Side, chaps! History may have been different. I recently raved about the return of The Persuaders. Their classic "Thin Line Between Love And Hate" still stands the test of time, and should not only prompt you to lay hands on this compilation, but also to hit CD Baby and bask in their new sounds for 2006. Also, if you haven’t heard it, H-Town did a FANTASTIC cover of this for the film of the same name.

The final disc, disc 8 ushers in the fantastic Philly Soul era, an era I am still in love with today, and more so as the days, moths and years pass. The Spinners arrive in 1971 with the help of the legendary Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt; Bobby Eli and Vinnie Garrett ably assist the superb Blue Magic (who have a number of titles re-released on Collectables in the US) as well as the hugely talented Major Harris with his seminal "Love Won’t Let Me Wait". His "My Way" album has been re-released in Japan, by the way on the Vivid Sound imprint and both looks and sounds fantastic.

OK, many reading this will have lots of tracks on their mind that are missing or have been overlooked, and I can certainly name some. For some this will not contain the rare, the scarce and the collectable. True, but Ady Croasdell and the chaps at Kent have done a great job with Atlantic’s back catalogue. This 8 CD set is a tribute to one man, his vision and his impeccable taste. It is social, musical and cultural history. It is well packaged, well designed and superbly remastered. The set retails at a low price, too, so should not be prohibitive. A mandatory purchase.
- Barry Towler