- I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Nina Simone - the tune was perhaps well known as the theme tune for Barry Norman's "Film xx" series on the BBC many moons ago by Billy Taylor on Blue Note
- Take Five - Carmen McRae - the vocal version of the Dave Brubeck classic
- Baby Help Me - Percy Sledge - seen this for 15 quid on the web - just above mid tempo mid-sixties chugger
- That's A Good Idea - Otis Redding - another suggestion I picked up on in "On The Scene" magazine
- This Is Northern Soul Vol 1 and 2 - some great Motown Northern-related tunes on this LP - including Brenda Holloway "Think It Over", Marvin Gaye "This Love Starved Heart", Eddie Holland "Just Ain't Enough Love" and the sublime Virgil Henry "You Ain't Sayin' Nothin'" - sheer class of a mid tempo shuffler
- High Numbers - Leaving Here - the 'orrible 'Oo in their early incarnation doing the great Eddie Holland (and Birds) track
- Aretha Franklin - Walk On By - great tune done by a great artist...
- Money - John Lee Hooker - so far THE version I've come across - Mr Hooker in his prime with a rough and ready version (also on the same "Serve You Right To Suffer" LP comes "Shake It Baby"
Norwich's Modernist Night Out
Some general ramblings and musings when the fancy takes - well, it's easier than writing new web pages everytime! Plus it's a quicker way to add updates
Friday, June 30, 2006
Napster Downloads
For those of you wanting legal and virus-free downloads then Napster has a lot going for it. I've been able to find some nice stuff on there of late and throw the following in as a few of the tunes I've not only downloaded, but also purchased:
RnB Meets Northern Soul...
RnB Meets Northern Soul…
A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to three CDs on the Goldmine label, namely “RnB Meets Northern Soul” volumes 1 and 2 plus ChiTown Boogaloo. I spent a day travelling to and from Leicester, during which time I managed to work my way through each CD at least twice. Now they’re all pretty good in their own way, but Volume 1 of “RnB Meets Northern Soul” really hits the spot.
It kicks off with a tale of hard luck and being down on your uppers – Willie Jones’ “Where’s My Money”. This has a fairly typical blues storyline with some soulful vocals over a solid RnB based track. A few tracks in and there’s a Billy Preston track I’d not heard of before “Volcano”. I got this a couple of days after reading of his death so this was topical. Based around a “Fever-esque” beat the production sounds like it’s been recorded in someone’s bathroom – sparse and a bit messy. Tambourine, sax, drums – they all compete for attention.
Other standout tracks include the classic Willie Mabon “Got To Have Some”, Jimmy Ricks “Oh What A Feeling” (this could be classic Big City Soul – with a voice sucking on hot gravel – deep and then some to coin a phrase), Little Sonny vocal and harp workout “We Got A Groove”, Pearl Woods’ classic “Sipping Sorrow” and Buddy Ace on the soulful side “True Love Money Can’t Buy”.
I’d recommend this for anyone who likes the bluesy side of soul and, arguably, the type of tune which bridged the gap between blues / RnB and soul. This isn’t Northern Soul in it’s usually understood manner. It’s too slow in parts, in some ways too soulful compared to the more uptempo dance-oriented tracks and maybe a bit too early. However if you like RnB and early soul this is a goodie.
From volume 2 I’d recommend “Honey Child” by Johnny Williams. I’d only heard the great Bobby Bland version and this is not dissimilar – a great dance tune with a staccato off beat. The next track on the CD is a nice version of the jazz standard “Summertime” by Cornerstone Trio. Before hearing this, my favourite version was the Billy Stewart vocal performance – this has jumped ahead of that. Forget any version you’ve probably heard before. This sounds very different. “Don’t Let Him In” by George Lee is reminiscent of various “Do The Hully Gully” type of tunes and tells the tale of keeping a dancer out of the room to stop the stealing the show at a dance…Finally “Hanky Panky” by the Captions feels a bit like Hestor / Wylie Detroit tunes – probably because of the title! Slowed down and rhythmic.
Off these three CDs if I had to choose one it would be Volume of “RnB Meets Northern Soul” – but there are tunes on there for many tastes who like their bluesy soul
A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to three CDs on the Goldmine label, namely “RnB Meets Northern Soul” volumes 1 and 2 plus ChiTown Boogaloo. I spent a day travelling to and from Leicester, during which time I managed to work my way through each CD at least twice. Now they’re all pretty good in their own way, but Volume 1 of “RnB Meets Northern Soul” really hits the spot.
It kicks off with a tale of hard luck and being down on your uppers – Willie Jones’ “Where’s My Money”. This has a fairly typical blues storyline with some soulful vocals over a solid RnB based track. A few tracks in and there’s a Billy Preston track I’d not heard of before “Volcano”. I got this a couple of days after reading of his death so this was topical. Based around a “Fever-esque” beat the production sounds like it’s been recorded in someone’s bathroom – sparse and a bit messy. Tambourine, sax, drums – they all compete for attention.
Other standout tracks include the classic Willie Mabon “Got To Have Some”, Jimmy Ricks “Oh What A Feeling” (this could be classic Big City Soul – with a voice sucking on hot gravel – deep and then some to coin a phrase), Little Sonny vocal and harp workout “We Got A Groove”, Pearl Woods’ classic “Sipping Sorrow” and Buddy Ace on the soulful side “True Love Money Can’t Buy”.
I’d recommend this for anyone who likes the bluesy side of soul and, arguably, the type of tune which bridged the gap between blues / RnB and soul. This isn’t Northern Soul in it’s usually understood manner. It’s too slow in parts, in some ways too soulful compared to the more uptempo dance-oriented tracks and maybe a bit too early. However if you like RnB and early soul this is a goodie.
From volume 2 I’d recommend “Honey Child” by Johnny Williams. I’d only heard the great Bobby Bland version and this is not dissimilar – a great dance tune with a staccato off beat. The next track on the CD is a nice version of the jazz standard “Summertime” by Cornerstone Trio. Before hearing this, my favourite version was the Billy Stewart vocal performance – this has jumped ahead of that. Forget any version you’ve probably heard before. This sounds very different. “Don’t Let Him In” by George Lee is reminiscent of various “Do The Hully Gully” type of tunes and tells the tale of keeping a dancer out of the room to stop the stealing the show at a dance…Finally “Hanky Panky” by the Captions feels a bit like Hestor / Wylie Detroit tunes – probably because of the title! Slowed down and rhythmic.
Off these three CDs if I had to choose one it would be Volume of “RnB Meets Northern Soul” – but there are tunes on there for many tastes who like their bluesy soul
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