Hit the Road Stax

Previously when discussing the Atlantic CD box set I made mention of the NME tape of the early 80s which showcased the Stax / Volt revue. I had every intention of digging out said tape, scanning it in and posting here. Unfortunately I can't put my hands on right now. However I did web trawl and found a site which had done something similar not only for that tape, but also all the other early NME cassettes and had added videos of the tracklisting The Stax / Volt one is here.

At about this time a school friend of mine let me loose on what I think was his older brother's record collection, or at least the 60s part of it. Bearing in mind at that time I'd really only just come across Tamla and Stax this was a veritable treasure trove. Luckily I was able to borrow a few at a time, tape them and play the hell out my faves virtually on a continuous loop. One of those was this beauty, which I really ought to play more:

Those little nuggets of black Atlantic labels opened up a whole new sound to me. Being unsure of my way in all things mod at an early age it took me a while to appreciate soul. Perhaps in my mind "soul" had become synonymous with "disco", and that was a definite no go area! It's thanks in part to these borrowed classics and cassettes like this that my ears were opened up to "a whole new plan" (that gem would come MANY years later!). It's time to play homage to those underplayed, undervalued tracks which I became perhaps just a bit TOO familiar with and which have been left languishing unloved at the back of the collection

Aah, memories. All together now..."1, 2, 3"

PS -  I really would recommend the rest of the blog detailing those cassettes. At the time of getting e.g. the Ace Case I thought some of the tunes sounded a bit too "rockin'". Who knew that in 30 years some of those sort of sounds would epitomise a new found interest in early RnB. Good Rockin' Daddy indeed, and on that note it's time to hit, git n split

Atlantic Soul Legends - 20 CD box set

"Legend" is a over used and often misapplied. There, I've said it. However in this case I believe it's wholly appropriate. Not only to the Atlantic label itself, responsible as it is for a whole raft of jazz, blues, RnB, soul and even later rock, but to the names on this set of CDs themselves. Cast your eyes down some of these:

• Ray Charles
• Booke T & the MGs
• Otis Redding
• Aretha Franklin
• Sam & Dave
• Rufus Thomas

etc., etc. etc. I well recall playing the legendary (that word again) "This Is Soul" reissue in the early 80s as a young Mod wondering what this soul stuff was all about. At a similar time the NME also released a cassette (!!) of the Stax / Volt revue of around 67 / 68 which also blew me away. I was hooked from then on.

So now we have hot of the press a box set containing 20 CDs of single album releases from some of these influential luminaries:



Apparently lovingly remastered in replica sleeves and pseudo-DJ box packaging this looks great. Add in some quality later soul from the likes of Donny Hathaway and raw hammond funk from Clarence Wheeler and the Enforcers (I've been known to drop "Right On" many a time) plus for the first time on CD the seminal early 70s soul LP from Sam Dees "The Show Must Go On" and this has been compiled by people in the know. Chances are you'll have many of these tunes, even the albums, in various guises - but this looks a classy put together selection with collectors in mind. At About £1-50 per CD what's not to like?

Kent Records - 30 years young

I'm probably not the only one of my generation for whom Kent opened up a world of rare 6Ts and Northern Soul (and 70s!), from "For Dancers Only" through to "Mecca Magic" and beyond Kent have given me untold hours of musical pleasure. So the following release on the 30th anniversary of that seminal first release is scheduled for later in October - entitled Kent 30:

As is customary with Kent releases there will be a selection of ultra rare / never released alongside some quality tunes which will probably now be classified as oldies. It includes evergreen faves such as "The Magic Touch" and "It's Torture". Some of my personal faves are Chuck Jackson "Millionaire", Johnny Maestro "Steppin' Out" and O C Tolbert "Shootin High". This looks to be, a bit like the purple vinyl of Kent 50 many moons ago, a quality summary of what's gone before in the annals of Kent Records

Cheers Mr Croasdell (and others) for introducing me to some top notch music over the years, both by way of your releases and when I used to frequent the 100 Club. From those days in the late 80s / early 90s here's another one of my face mid tempo tunes but done by Lou Johnson rather than Roy Hamilton, also on this CD - enjoy:

Connecting with us

Chances are if you're reading this you're already aware of All Our Yesterdays and how to find us. But if by any chance you're not, we've been running 60s mod soul / RnB / beat / hammond type events in Norwich (UK) since November 1994. We're currently based in the "underbelly" (cellar bar) at the Rumsey Wells pub every two months.

Apart from this blog we have a web page (which I hope to overhaul in the not too distant future), a Facebook page and new Google+ page (still being developed). Please drop by to say "hello", whether in person or virtually

So you can run from us, but you can't hide