Brenda Holloway - Every Little Bit Hurts

ORIGINATION Tamla Motown: Big Hits & Hard To Find Classics, Vol. 2
RECORDED IN 1964
LAST LISTENED TO Sunday
RATING ★★★★★

It's strange that for a song as well-known as this, I only heard this version of it recently. For many years, I've known both the Small Faces and the Spencer Davis Group recordings of it but as is often the case, there is something in the original version that others just can't quite reach. Maybe it is in Ms. Holloway's smooth voice, the sweet strings or the earthy piano. Whatever it is, that near-inderfinable magic, it is enough to stand this version above all others. Tender and beautiful.

Prince La La - She Put The Hurt On Me

ORIGINATION From Route 66 To The Flamingo (v/a)
RECORDED IN 1961
LAST LISTENED TO November
RATING ★★★★★

Some lovely soul this morning. Up tempo and bright. Really, I've got nothing more to add today. Just listen to that popping brass. Lovely.

Plan B - Writing's On The Wall

ORIGINATION The Defamation Of Strickland Banks CD
RECORDED IN 2010
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
RATING ★★★★★

Sometime in the middle of last year, a song on God's Jukebox had me scrambling about in the dark for my notebook, two write down its name. It turned out to be a single from London soul boy and rapper Plan B. I left that name sitting on my list of things to buy one day for quite some time. In January, I finally bought the album and, expecting to like the single and little else, gve it a cursory listen. I was pretty bowled over. Whilst still sounding modern, the album nonetheless manages to straddle a whole range of soul sounds and it does this whilst also telling a story. It is an impresive feat.

Writing's On The Wall is the latest single, quite astoundingly the sixth, to be culled from the album. It's a bittersweet piece of uptempo northern soul, powered by a strong bassline and some squeaky-clean guitar licks. Sadly, being the second song on a concept album, the song does feel somewhat unresolved at its close.

The Temptations - Since I've Lost You

ORIGINATION Motown Special LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT purdy good
RATING ★★★★★

Awakening from a dream of a love gone, this song seemed like the perfect soundtrack. A beautifully arranged ballad with some very fine harmonies from a period of the Temptations history known more for its psychedelic soul.

Garnet Mimms - A Little Bit Of Soap

ORIGINATION From Route 66 To The Flamingo (v/a)
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not muchuv one
RATING

It appears that Mimms was something of a second league soul star, at least in terms of sales. His music owes a clear influence to Motown, however it is tempered with a stronger gospel flavour than you would usually find there.

A Little Bit Of Soap comes from the happy-sounding, up-tempo, broken-hearted family of soul tunes. It tells the story of a man who has a little bit of soap that can wash the lipstick from his face but it can't wash away his tears. Running over several verses, it contains several variations on this theme. It features a quite open production, with plenty of air in between a jabbing rhythm guitar and a very Motown-esque snare-driven four/four beat. Mimms' assured tenor voice stands out clearly and is well supported by some female gospel backing voices, that at times take the lead and give a different take on the story. Towards the end some high trumpet licks give the song something of a crescendo, before the fade.

In words this almost sounds far too text book soul to be of much interest. But the track has an air to it, especially with its joyful delivery of a sad story that is undeniably uplifting. And it has that certain bounce, in common with Motown, that is always a winner. It's just a shame that he never had a hit with it.

Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO a few months ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty low
RATING

Aretha does funky soul for dancing to. It's very good. I am not good today, so that's all you're getting.

Booker T. & The MG's - Hip-Hug Her

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fair, rising
RATING

The classic line up of one of the most important soul groups ever. As house band for Stax records, they backed up almost everyone on the label, including most notably Otis Redding. As writers, organist Booker T Jones and guitarist Steve Cropper wrote or co-wrote some of the biggest soul hits of the '60s.

On their own records, they were something special too. Admittedly, there were times when they drifted into hammond-a-go-go cover territory, but even here they were cream of the crop. Indeed, a case could even be made for them haven started the whole thing off but that would be a little unfair on them.

Hip-Hug Her was recorded in 1967, at a time that many consider to be them at the height of their powers. It has a huge, bass-driven groove that is liberally sprinkled that starts with some very big hammond chords from Jones, before he takes fills the first half of the tune with a funky solo. In behind, Cropper cranks out the same chords, with a guitar sound that is rougher than his usual. For a short period in the middle, the roles are reversed with Cropper soloing, before the guys head back into the melody. Naturally, just before the end Jones and Cropper take time to squeeze in another short solo each, before it sadly fades.

This is without doubt the biggest, fattest groove that Booker T. & The MG's (bad punctuation and all) ever recorded. So a final mention must be made to the guys who really built it; Al Jackson, Jr. on drums (reputed to be more accurate than a drum machine!) and Donald 'Duck' Dunn on bass (soon to be owner of a ludicrous 'tache).

Ben E King - Supernatural Love

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO a bit last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT ok-ish
RATING

By the middle of the 70s, many a soul star of the previous decade had either stopped recording or adapted to the sounds of funk and disco. Ben E King was no exception to this rule. Other than he did both, but lets not quibble.

After 5 years with no record contract spent in the hell of the oldies circuit, King was re-signed to Atlantic records in '75 and recorded several albums. Straightaway he had a hit single with Supernatural Thing.

It is a smooth piece of '70s soul, much in the style of Al Green (although not quite as smooth). It rolls along at a steady pace, with drumming that sounds very much like Al Jackson, Jr. (drummer for Green and a member of Booker T. & The MGs; also more accurate than a drum machine, apparently). In a similar vein is the guitar and bass, which have something of a Stax sound. The bass rolls along steadily with the drums, whilst two guitar tracks pick and chop their way around this steady rhythm. The rest of the tune is carried by some down-low organ and a some quiet bongos. Finally, on vocals, King is backed with a female group that give some great call and response.

Other than the great, rolling rhythm, the real stand-out feature of the song are the choruses. After the call and response vocals, there are a few short stop and start sections that have a lot of power. Interplanetary! Extraordinary! Beautiful.

Earl Van Dyke & The Soul Brothers - The Flick Part I (again)

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO two months agohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT really small
RATING

This tune featured a few months back, which you can find here. From the hundreds of funk singles in this room that i could have had, it's rather odd that i should get this again. It's not like i even have any special liking for it. Curious.

Willie Mitchell - Woodchopper's Ball

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO december
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT nah
RATING

Willie Mitchell is best known as the man who not only signed Al Green for his first recording contract, but also co-produced him and co-wrote much of his material during his most popular years. However, Mitchell also had a recording career of his own that dated back to the beginning of the '60s.

As a band-leader, trumpeter and arranger, he and his band recorded instrumental soul. Their sound is very similar to what you'd get if you added a funky horn section to Booker T & The MGs. Between them, they share equal prominence in creating what would become known as the Memphis Sound. Hardly a surprise given that Stax (Booker T & The MGs label) and Hi Records (whom Mitchell recorded for and later ran) shared many musicians, most notably drummer Al Jackson, Jr. who was the drummer for both Booker T and Mitchell (and Al Green during his Hi Records years).

Woodchopper's Ball is an organ-driven piece that is one of Willie Mitchell's most Booker T-ish moments. It's got the solid 4/4 beat and all the changes that you'd expect and it's only a fraction over the two minute mark. It is the Memphis Sound. My only wish is that it could have had an organ solo, but then (i've said it before and i'll say it again) i do like a bit of organ.

[repetition]

ORIGINATION Hang On In There Baby
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT stupidly high it seems
RATING

Thanks, subconscious for giving me exactly the same song today as yesterday. And there was me thinking it was meant to be the seat of imagination. Pah!

Johnny Bristol - Hang On In There Baby

ORIGINATION Hang On In There Baby
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT scraping the sky
RATING

Johnny Bristol was part of the Motown family from '61-'73, where he was a song-writer and producer. It was only after he left Motown that he finally recorded his own material. Hang On In There from '74 was his first LP and this, the title track, was his first single. It was also his biggest ever hit, reaching No.8 in the US pop charts. It is a confident, smooth piece of '70s soul, in a similar vein to what Barry White was producing: there is the laid back drums, the funky little wah-wah guitar fills and smooth and sweet, sweet strings. Over this Bristol's voice sits somewhere between the buttery smoothness of Terry Callier and the boulder-shifting rumble of White. The song builds to an enjoyable, impassioned climax, by way of some soloing brass, where supporting female backing vocals add some nice call-and-repsonse dynamics.

Booker T. & The MG's - Outrage

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO a few hours ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT high
RATING

This is one of my least favourite of all the Booker T. & The MG's songs. That's not to say that i dislike it, however. Actually, listening to it is making me like it more. It's quite catchy in a slightly irritating fashion and there is something very insistent about the organ, in a way that is rather unlike other of their recordings. In fact upon close inspection, it doesn't really sound like Booker T's organ playing. This does lead me to suspect that this is one of the tracks that Booker T himself does not appear on.

'Eh?' you may exclaim. 'A Booker T track without him on it? Surely not.' Surely yes, i'm afraid.

What is not very well noted is that other people would often stand in for Booker T during recordings, including Isaac Hayes amongst others. This was because from around the time of their big hit with Green Onions, Booker T was attending university. Inspection of the label would seem to agree with this hypothesis, sporting as it does no writing credit for (Booker T) Jones. Instead there is one Mr. Allen.

And that's about as much thinking as i can be bothered with on a Sunday morning. If you want to figure out who this Mr. Allen is, go look. I feel i should know but, as noted, i'm now done with thinking.

Outrage is not a bad little piece of instrumental soul. It's just not really Booker T. & The MG's.

I'd also note that i have a version of this by Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames which manages to considerably up the irritation factor. Not that that is much of a surprise with Mr. Fame.

The Drifters - Under The Boardwalk

ORIGINATION a battered Atlantic rhythm & blues box set
LAST LISTENED TO i have no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT small
RATING

'Under The Boardwalk' was a hit in 1964. It has since been covered many, many times but none have ever been as good as the original. Some were, in fact, down right terrible (j'accuse Mr. Willis). As a nice song as the original is however, it is one that i don't find it particularly interesting. And i've got too much to do today to waste any more time writing about it.