LOS ANGELES SOUL, Volume 2 – Kent-Modern’s Black Music Legacy 1963-1972Reviewed by Heikki SuosaloRating: 6/ 10
LOS ANGELES SOUL, Volume 2 – Kent-Modern’s Black Music Legacy 1963-1972(CDKEND 486) 1) I'll Be Standing By - Chuck Walker & The VIP's2) At Last - Jimmy Bee 3) Hungry Children - Rudy Love & The Love Family 4) Mighty Clouds of Joy - B.P.S. Revolution 5) Honey - Felice Taylor 6) Slow and Easy - Vernon Garrett 7) Where She At - Z.Z. Hill 8) Don't Believe Him - Stacy Johnson 9) Nobody But Me - The Other Brothers 10) Like I Do - Bobby John 11) Whole World Down On You - Larry Davis 12) It's Getting Late - Al King 13) Jodine - Earl Foster 14) Then I Found You - Rudy Love & The Love Family 15) The Good Side of My Girl - Clay Hammond 16) The Thought of You - Jeanette Jones 17) You're Still My Baby - Venetta Fields 18) Rock Me Baby - Millie Foster 19) What Is This World Coming To - Charles Taylor 20) What the Heck - Lowell Fulson 21) Funky Duck - Four Tees 22) I Need You (2nd Version) - Arthur K Adams 23) Ghetto Child - Johnny Copeland 24) Peace of Mind - Chuck Walker & The VIP's I’ve experienced many magic moments when listening to the music released on Jules Bihari’s Kent Records and its subsidiaries. The label was formed in 1958, it existed for about fifteen years and released material on B.B. King, Etta James, Ike & Tina Turner, Elmore James and Big Mama Thornton, to name just a few. Although blues and rhythm & blues were their main genres, the focus on soul music started growing in the mid-60s with the signing of such artists as Z.Z. Hill and Clay Hammond. After U.K.’s Ace/Kent purchased their U.S. namesake’s catalogue, the U.K. Kent has released numerous compilations – e.g. three volumes of For Connoisseurs only – so it’s only natural that we’re now scraping almost the bottom of the barrel and consequently the music on this compilation doesn’t resemble the material that brought so much joy to my listening evenings in the 60s and early 70s. Los Angeles Soul, Volume 2 (24 tracks - 5 originally unissued - 70 min., notes by Ady Croasdell; opens with I’ll Be Standing By by Chuck Walker & the Vips with Bobby McVay and although the song is credited to Chuck Walker, we know this song best by the Soul Stirrers/Johnnie Taylor under the name of God Is Standing By. Jimmy Bee’s vocal interpretation of At Last is mediocre and the same goes to Rudy Love’s social comment on Hungry Children. B P S Revolution’ pop-gospel remake of B.J. Thomas’ small hit in 1971 called Mighty Clouds of Joy lacks the essential inspirational spark. The stomper/dancer section starts from the track # 5, and to these ears the only two performances that are not too undistinguished and have enough drive are by Z.Z. Hill (Where She Att) and Stacy Johnson (Don’t Believe Him). They pull it through, whereas Felice Taylor, Vernon Garrett and the Other Brothers come up with more forgettable, routine stuff. Kent’s blues history prevails at least on five tracks by Larry Davis, Al King, Millie Foster, Lowell Fulson (of course) and Arthur K Adams. Personal delights on this set are a mid-tempo toe-tapper called The Good Side of My Girl by Clay Hammond and two thoroughly soulful ballads, The Thought of You by Jeanette Jones and You’re Still My Baby by Venetta Fields. Also one of the best raw soul singers those days, Johnny Copeland, uses his gruff voice to deliver you the emotional Ghetto Child. (6) © Heikki Suosalo |
