Various Artists: Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Vol 5

Reviewed by Heikki Suosalo

November 3, 2019

Rating: 9/ 10

(CDKEND 485, www.acerecords.com; 25 tracks, 76 min.)

1) Who Knows - The Soul City
2) Without Love - Ronnie Taylor
3) Don't Pass Me By - Big Maybelle
4) Where Is the Party - Helena Ferguson
5) Dead! - Carolyn Sullivan
6) Home Is Where the Hatred Is - Esther Phillips
7) I Ain't Got to Love Nobody Else - The Masqueraders
8) I'll Be Right There (To Make Love to You) - Mark IV
9) I'm Not the One - Kenny Carter
10) Somebody New - the Emotions
11) (Until Then) I'll Suffer - Barbara Lynn
12) Foolish Fool - Dee Dee Warwick
13) My Desires Are Getting the Best of Me - George Jackson
14) These Ain't Raindrops - James Carr
15) Standing at the Crossroads - Eddie & Ernie
16) Can't Last Much Longer - Betty Harris
17) Lovers Always Forgive - Gladys Knight
18) Every Night (I Pray) - the Chantels
19) Satisfaction Guaranteed - Judy White
20) Right Here Is Where You Belong- Jerry Washington
21) I Will - Lattimore Brown
22) It's Too Late (For Tears) - Renee Bailey
23) All I Want Is You - Zilla Mayes
24) What Can I Do (Without You) - Linda Jones
25) Nothing Can Change This Love I Have for You - Z.Z. Hill

This CD is compiled in honour of Dave Godin, who passed away fifteen years ago, and it’s compiled respectfully based on his lists of songs for possible future Deep Soul Treasures sets. Not only the music, but also the 32-page booklet resonate festive character. You can read John Savage’s interviews with Dave from the 1990s and among the writers of notes and annotations – alongside Ady Croasdell – you can spot many other Dave’s friends and long-time journalists and persons of influence in soul music, such as David Nathan, Clive Richardson, Richard Searling, Sharon Davis, Dave Rimmer, Tony Rounce, among others. Also Dave’s own comments on many of these tracks have been unearthed.

First few opening tracks are not too familiar, but nevertheless they make quite an impact. The Soul City’s remake of Gladys Knight’s Who Knows finds a new and more pleading angle to the song and both Big Maybelle’s and Helena Ferguson’s interpretations of their anguished ballads are almost overflowing with pain.

From track # 6 onwards more familiar artists and songs pop up, like Mark IV, Barbara Lynn, Dee Dee Warwick, James Carr, Betty Harris, Linda Jones, Z.Z. Hill... well, just have a look at the track listing. There’s also the first hit for the Masqueraders in 1968, I Ain’t Got to Love Nobody Else. Robert Wrightsil, a member of the group, reminisces that “we did a lot of work on that particular song. It was a song that took us to the Apollo. We worked many venues in New York, Washington, Detroit, Philadelphia and other places.”

I’d still like to point out Kenny Carter’s plaintive ballad I’m Not the One, which keeps on growing towards the end, and Judy White’s intense reading of Satisfaction Guaranteed. Most of the tracks on this set derive from the 1960s, but there are five from the 1970s and one from the 1950s - the Chantels’ Every Night (I Pray), a 1958 follow-up to Maybe. The biggest praise goes to the personal favourite, Eddie & Ernie’s Standing at the Crossroads, which originally was cut as a demo but was later sweetened with rich orchestration in 1971. Duo’s vocals are as impressive as ever.

Deep Soul aficionados will no doubt get hold of this immediately, and I strongly recommend all you rest soul music fans at least to give it a good listen. (9)

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