DEEP # 1/2019 (March)
I kept
postponing the publishing of this short column, because I was waiting for two
packages of new indie soul CDs, but unfortunately they haven’t arrived yet.
Consequently I now concentrate on some of the latest Ace/Kent CD compilations
released earlier this year.
Reissue & compilation CD release reviews:
Tommy Hunt: The Biggest Man
Reggie Young: Session Guitar Star
The Undisputed Truth: Cosmic Truth & Higher
than High
Various Artists: This Is Lowrider Soul 1962-1970

TOMMY HUNT *
The first Tommy
Hunt compilation on Kent Records, The Biggest Man, was released
already 22 years ago, and now we get supplement in the form of The
Complete Man CD (CDKEND 480; 25 tracks, 65 min.;
track listing at
https://acerecords.co.uk/the-complete-man).
In the notes Ady Croasdell writes about Tommy’s musical history starting
from such 50s groups as the Five Echoes and the Flamingos,
continuing to Tommy’s most notable 60s recordings with Luther Dixon on
Scepter Records – Human, I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself, I Am a
Witness etc. – all the way to Tommy’s later success on the U.K.
northern soul scene.
The three opening tracks on this set are
gorgeous uptown big ballads. Van McCoy wrote and Carl Davis produced
I Don’t Want to Lose You and Hold On, which were released on
Atlantic in 1965, but for some strange reason this single flopped. Similarly I’ll
Make You Happy is equally impressive. It was co-written by Jimmy
Radcliffe, arranged by Bert DeCoteaux and released on Capitol a year
later.
On this CD there
are thirteen tracks that were recorded for Scepter, but five of them remained
unissued at the time. The shelved ones are mostly driving dancers, but there’s
one pop & soul number that grabbed my attention, a melodic mover called Who
You Gonna Thrill Tonight. Among the released ones there are dancers but also
those delightful big ballads. Both And I Never knew, and The Door Is
Open came out already in 1961. The former song was produced by Leiber
& Stoller and the latter one was co-written by the young Freddie
Scott. Girls Are Sentimental (by Van McCoy), How Young Is Young and
Son, My Son are more lush sweet ballads.
The rest eight
tracks were cut for Dynamo Records in 1967 and ’68. There were stompers, even
aggressive ones – such as Jerry Williams’ Searchin’ for My Baby –
but also either impassioned ballads (Searchin’ for Love), or standards
like Born Free and I Believe. The highlight for me is the title
tune, The Complete Man, another grandiose big ballad, which was
beautifully arranged by Jimmy “Wiz” Wisner. Today at 85, Tommy is still
active and hits the stage every now and then (
https://tommyhuntofficial.com/index.html).

REGGIE YOUNG
The passing of Reggie
Young in January this year at the age of 82 turned this new CD into a
memorial tribute. Session Guitar Star (CDCHD 1537; 24 tracks, 79
min. 55 sec.!!!; track listing at
https://acerecords.co.uk/reggie-young-session-guitar-star)
is accompanied by a 36-page booklet, where Bob Dunham tells us in detail
about Reggie’s musical path: debut recording in 1954, first big hit with Smokie,
touring, becoming one of the Memphis Boys at American, session guitarist in
Nashville and – as amazing as it may seem – his first-ever solo album called Forever
Young as late as in 2017 (
https://www.soulexpress.net/reggieyoung_foreveryoung.htm).
This CD covers
the years from 1956 till 2010 and various genres from rockabilly and pop to
country, soul/r&b and even “children’s poetry.” Some notable records in
terms of sales here that Reggie played on are A Touch of the Blues by Bobby
Bland, Meet Me in Church by Solomon Burke, Drift Away by
Dobie Gray, Cocaine by J.J. Cale, I Think I’ll Just
Stay Here and Drink by Merle Haggard and Highwayman by Waylon
Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.
Let me still add
some soul sides - Chicken Crazy by Joe Tex, More Love by James
Carr, Morning Glory by James & Bobby Purify and Whenever
You Come Around by Little Milton – and if you remember the guitar
licks on those records you can fully appreciate Reggie’s legacy. Some examples
from pure pop world on this set include music from the Box Tops, Dusty
Springfield and Elvis Presley. Reggie was a multi-faceted musician.

THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH
The
Undisputed Truth’s 5th and 6th albums on Gordy in
1975 are now re-released as such on a 2-CD set, Cosmic Truth & Higher
than High (CDTOP2 483; 9 + 9 tracks, 40 + 41 min.; track listing
at https://acerecords.co.uk/cosmic-truth-higher-than-high).
In his notes Tony Rounce interviews one member of the group at the time,
Virginia McDonald, who describes how the Magictones turned into
the mid-70s Undisputed Truth. The only original member left was Joe “Pep”
Harris.
On the Cosmic
Truth album Norman Whitfield literally takes his sound to outer
space. Musically we’re not even close to traditional soul music and soul
singing. On the contrary, Norman favours long instrumental, rock-based
passages and modern chanting, which at times verges on self-parody. The Temptations
covers – 1990 and (I Know) I’m Losing you – are almost
unrecognizable, and of these mainly funky tracks UFO’s turned into a
small hit. This sound has its fans, but I’m not one of them.
On Higher
than High Norman gets more down-to-earth, although his playful music still tends
to escape to space every now and then. The fast “express train” title tune
became a small hit, and again there’s a Temptations cover, the downtempo Ma.
Poontang is a bouncing pop number, Boogie Bump Boogie closes in on
disco and I Saw you when you met her is a sorrowful, dramatic slow number.
The Undisputed
Truth still exists and Joe Harris and B.J. Evans are members in the
current line-up. They just released a new album called Truth Gon’ Set You
Free.

LOWRIDER SOUL *
As Sean
Hampsey explains in his notes, lowrider car scene is part of the Chicano
culture in Los Angeles and the music that goes with it derives from the 1950s
group harmony. We have a beautiful name here for this lowrider motor car
cruising – pussy rally. This Is Lowrider Soul 1962-1970 (CDKEND
482; 24 tracks, 65 min.; track listing at
https://acerecords.co.uk/this-is-lowrider-soul)
lets us enjoy a number of sophisticated, sweet and mellow slow jams. Closest
to doowop are I Wanna Chance by the Vows (1962), As I Sit Here
by the Whispers (1965) and Shattered Dreams by the
Endeavors (1970).
There are many familiar
names interpreting these “Southern Soul Spinners of California”, e.g. Brenton
Wood, Lee Williams & the Cymbals, Barbara Mason, the Ambassadors, William
Bell and the Esquires doing a slowish Chicago number called No
Doubt about It, arranged by Tom Tom. Debbie Taylor’s richly
orchestrated ballad is titled Never Gonna Let Him Know and she is backed
by the Hesitations.
Other delights
on this atmospheric and laid-back set include the melancholic Second Hand
Happiness by Jimmy Conwell, the melodic One More Chance by the
Four Tees, the smooth Find Me by the Attractions, the soulful
As Long As I’ve Got You by the Charmels (on Volt) and the
memorable Don’t Forget about Me Baby by Jeff Dale. The
Lovelles’ beat ballad named Pretending Dear was cut in Muscle
Shoals. This CD surprised me in a nicest possible way.
© Heikki Suosalo
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