Detroit Soul Podcast - Episode 1

I've been meaning to put together a few podcasts for some time as it is a fairly easy thing to do with the right tools. So after spending yesterday tiring myself out with some emergency plumbing, I thought I'd have a rest today and play some records.

The result is the first episode in what will become a series of Detroit Northern Soul podcasts. It will become a series because I can only fit around a dozen tunes in each and ended up sitting surrounded by records when putting this one together as there are so many Detroit soul records to choose from.

In this podcast I've deliberately not included any Motown tracks as I feel Motown hogs the limelight a bit (for obvious reasons) and a lot of the other records are just as good, if not better, but didn't get the same exposure. I'll put a couple of Motown tracks in the next one though.

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Tracklist:

• Jimmy Soul Clark - I’ll Be Your Winner - Soulhawk 003
• The Arabians - (Please) Take A Chance On Me - Le Mans 002
• Johnny Bartel & The Soul Masters - If This Isn’t Love - Solid State 2514
• Rufus Wonder & The Additions - Under The Moon - Lando 181
• Falcons - Love Look In Her Eyes - Big Wheel 1971
• The Fabulous Peps - My Love Looks Good On You - D-Town 219
• The Falcons - Good Good Feeling - Big Wheel 1972
• Jock Mitchell - Not A Chance In A Million - Impact 1023
• Joe Matthews - She’s My Beauty Queen - Thelma 104
• Brothers Of Soul - I’d Be Grateful - Boo 1006
• Cody Black - Mr Blue - D-Town 1057
• Tony Hestor - Just Can’t Leave You - Karate 523

Patti Austin - He's Good Enough For Me - Coral 62455

Just back after a refreshing holiday touring the churchyards of Cornwall researching my family tree and to my wife's dismay there is a sizeable pile of 7" square brown parcels behind the door (plus a couple of cards from the post office) welcoming us on our return.

One of the cards produces a box which is 7" x 6" x 3" and contains across the diagonal (ask Mr Pythagorus) this beautiful record wrapped in newspaper with no other packing! Quite how it has survived a transatlantic crossing in this flimsy packaging eludes me but thankfully it has.

As beautiful a mid-tempo female voice dancer as you could ask for, Patti's as ever gorgeous voice describes how despite him treating her rough and everyone telling her how wrong for her he is; he's good enough for her. Aww! hold that thought!

Click here to listen

Though it won't appeal to the stomper crowd it certainly has dance floor appeal and is really professionally arranged and produced. This is not one for my sales box but one to add to my small but perfectly formed collection.

So what's it gonna cost you? Another tricky one this as this is a good record that is quite hard to turn up but isn't really an "in demander". John Manship's 3rd edition guide rates a mint copy at £125; this one cost me just short of £50 and I would grade it Ex although it does have "Good record" written across it as you can see from the scan. As it is a promo I like to think that this has been done by a radio station DJ in the 60's to remind him which side to play, thus giving it some history, but it is just as likely to be some bozo who thinks it is a good thing to write on record labels.

Incidentally the track has also been covered by Mary Wells and this is just as good if at a slightly slower pace. It is an LP only track from a self titled LP, with a great picture of Mary on the cover, on the 20th Century label and is packed with good tracks. When I find my camera again I'll put a scan of it up here (I might even sell my copy now I've got Patti's single!)

Click here to listen to Mary Wells

The In Crowd

The In Crowd - The Story Of Northern Soul

I got an email recently from someone who had visited my web site asking me to recommend some CDs to someone who knew very little about Northern Soul but wanted to know more.

That's a pretty tall order really as there are so many Northern Soul CDs on the market and a lot of them are truly awful or only have 10 tracks for ten quid!

So after rummaging through my CD collection I decided that the first one I would recommend without reservation is this one. It is a double CD containing 50 tracks compiled by those lovely people at BeeCool publishing; Mike Ritson & Stuart Russell.

The thing I really like about this CD is that it is what it isn't that determines what it is; if you get my drift. It isn't a lazy compilation of Northern Soul classics, it isn't a compilation of tracks from Wigan Casino, it doesn't have the words Wigan Casino on the cover, it hasn't been thrown together in 5 minutes just to make some money and it isn't just a compilation of obvious rarities.

It was originally released to accompany a book of the same name (now quite hard to find) which charts the the story of Northern Soul from the early 60's club scene through Wigan Casino and The Blackpool Mecca to what was then considered "the end" in about 1980. The tracks on the CDs reflect this and so there is a wide range of genres and styles here from "Little Johnny Taylor - Zig Zag Lightening" to "The Carstairs - Really Does Hurt Me Girl", from "Bobby Bland - These Hands (Small But Mighty)" to "Cody Black - Mr Blue".

This compilation is not just for those new to the scene, it is also a great record of the tracks that were played "back in the day" so if you just want to hear your favourites again; a good selection will be here. The connoisseurs and cogniscenti should also take note of this compilation set because the sleeve notes are excellent.

So; great value, great music, great sleeve notes. What more could you ask for!

Cam Cameron - They Say - Capri 101

This is one of those records that is quite difficult to find any information on. I don't know who Cam Cameron is or where the label is from; googling Cam Cameron brings up loads of references to the offensive coach of the Baltimore Ravens!

I first heard it when rummaging through John Weston's play box after he DJ'd at "These Old Shoes" soul club in London and stayed at my house afterwards. His copy was on the red label variant of the Capri label.

It actually took me another 3 years to find one, but it was worth the wait. Starting with a neat bit of drumming and horns coming in after, Cam's really quite good vocal kicks in. A mid to up-tempo, highly danceable tune it's got it all; good arrangement and backing, great vocal and group harmonies as an added bonus.

Click here to listen

Price wise this is one of those records that varies massively in price depending on whether it is getting played as it isn't that well known. I've seen it at anything from £20 right up to £100. It isn't too easy to find but I reckon a decent copy should be about £40 to £50.

R&B Podcast - Part 2

The second part of this podcast

If your idea of the best in Northern Soul music is "Al Wilson - The Snake" then look away now! No disrespect to "The Snake" really, it's a good tune in its own right but if I never hear it again it will be too soon.

This podcast is the second part of a longer podcast I put together from the sort of music I am collecting and listening to at the moment. You may not agree that it constitutes Northern Soul in the strictest sense but it does make for good listening on your ipod.

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Tracklist:

• Chuck Wright – The Palm of Your Hand
• The Mighty Cravers – Choo Choo Special
• Bobby Angelle – Too Much For You
• Peppermint Harris – Wait Until It Happens To You
• The Invitations – Watch Out Little Girl
• Jimmy Seals – The Yesterday of Our Love
• Jackie Shane – Comin’ Down
• Baby Washington – I’ve Got A Feeling
• Ruth Brown – Sweet Baby Of Mine
• Jimmy Ricks & The Raves – Daddy Rollin’ Stone
• Rosco Gordon – You Got My Bait
• Curtis Knight – Voodoo Woman
• The Del Vikings – Too Many Miles

Kent Records Do It Again!

Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities 3

Buying a Kent Records Northern Soul CD always gives you a good feeling that you have spent your money wisely. As well as a great selection of tracks and excellent sound quality, there is the bonus of Ady Croasdell's knowledgeable sleeve notes to give you the background to every track.

This is the third in this series (obviously!) and carries on with the same level of quality that the first two brought; in-demand tracks mixed in with classics, lesser known rarities and of course something new to tempt you with.

Recent in-demanders include "The Quotations - I Don't Have to Worry", "Darrow Fletcher - What Have I Got Now" together with the awesome "I'll Run - Paul Smith" the last two both on the Jacklyn label.

My particular favourites are the fantastic "Don & Ron - I'm So So Sorry" which you don't hear much due to its rarity (despite Dave greenhill repeatedly telling me he got it for £10); "The Servicemen - Connie" which is the equally good b-side to "Sweet Magic" and "Charles Drain - Stop and Think About It" which was new to me.

There are a couple of classics from Ty Karim and Larry Atkins on the Romark label and of course 2 unissued mid-tempo tracks from Brooks O'Dell and Eddie & Ernie. The latter being a mid-tempo almost ballad version of uptempo "Indication" which was issued only on UK Jay-Boy

The full track list can be seen at Amazon here: Classiest Rarities V3

All in all a really good CD, I've now got Vols 1 & 3 but somehow I have missed the second, I think I'll remedy that very soon indeed.

Barbara Acklin - Raindrops - Capitol 3892

Barbara Acklin - Raindrops - Capitol 3892

Uplifting 70's soul from the woman that gave us "Love Makes A Woman" in the 60's; Barbara Acklin.

Right from the intro it gets your fingers snapping and you know its a good tune. Credit to Jo Wallace for playing this to me last time she visited.

It isn't an expensive one either, you should be able to pick one up for between £10 and £20 quite easily.

Click here to listen

Converting your tunes to mp3

If you subscribe to internet forums, sell records on ebay or have an mp3 player you need to know how to produce sound files from your records.

The most obvious method of getting music from vinyl to mp3 is to plug a turntable into your PC and play records!

It really is that easy, there is a bit of (free) software to use and the odd lead to plug in but nothing too difficult. You can record tunes onto your PC and save them as .wav files (for making into CD's) or mp3 files (for ebay, internet forums, ipods, other players and mp3 CDs)

The USB turntable I use is the ION iTTUSB model, it comes with just 3 leads; a mains lead (plug this into the wall socket then); a USB lead - which plugs into a USB port on your PC; and a twin audio lead that you can plug into the auxiliary socket on your hi-fi to use the turntable as a normal deck. The software comes with it and is simple to install and use, you can get quite expert at recording from vinyl with just a little practice. I've no idea what it cost as it was a prezzie from my wife (aww!)

You can even get these turntables with an ipod docking station now so you don't need to record on to your PC first! Costs vary according to features, I've seen them advertised at £60 but worry whether this is a scam. I'd expect to pay around £100 for a basic model.

Click the picture above or here to visit Firebox.com and see the full range with in depth instructions.

Little Esther Philips - Wild Child - Warwick

Right, so now my blog is visible from my website, time to move stuff over here.

I've been highlighting some of the records I own and am buying at the moment so I'll start with one of them:

Little Esther - Wild Child - Warwick 610

An early outing for Esther Philips of "Just Say Goodbye" and
"What A difference A Day Makes" fame.

Mid-tempo R&B that sounds just right for today's dance floor.
Esther sings about the effect her new man has on her then the chorus
breaks in accompanied by driving saxaphone. "Wild, Wild Child!"

Dunno what the going rate for this is as I haven't seen it before and
it isn't in the guides. Probably paid too much.

Click here to listen

Stumbling On

Not had a lot of time to do anything much with this blog, its still sitting aimlessly in cyberspace not linked to anything.

I think I'll try and integrate it into my website so that I can ramble on here and highlight records, tunes, review CDs and that sort of thing and it will be viewable from my web site http://www.paulsrecords.com/.

That should keep me busy for today.

Meanwhile here's a podcast of some popcorn/R&B?Northern for you to listen to:

Track list:

• Jocko – Blast Off To Love
• Diplomats – Honest to Goodness
• Charles Farren – You’ve Changed My Whole Life Around
• Donald Height – Girl Do You Love Me
• Judy Clay – Do You Think That’s Right
• Prince Conley – I’m Going Home
• Candy Reed – Give Me love
• Charles Lamont – I’ve Got To Keep Movin’
• Nat Wright – Ron, Sonny Run
• Marie Knight – Come On Baby
• Fabulous Playboys – Honky Tonk Woman
• Tommy Neal – Goin’ To A Happening
• The Turnpikes – Cast A Spell
• Johnny De’Vigne – I Smell Trouble

The First Post

Here we are as a blog virgin, first post and somewhat embarrased.

I hope to ramble on at some length about my penchant for collecting, buying selling and playing soul records (rare soul, northern soul - whatever they are labelled). I like most genres of soul music and also stray into 50's and 60's R&B as well as Belgian popcorn, I'm getting a liking for ska too!

I've spent some of this week playing soul and other music at The National Railway Museum in York (England) for their exhibition "68 and all that" as a guest of YKsoul (http://www.freewebs.com/yksoul). Soul music and steam trains - an uneasy alliance!

Anyway, that's all for now, hopefully this will become more sophisticated as I explore the possibilities.