Sweet Soul Music

[lewdd]

Anyone else like some classic soul music from Stax, Motown, etc.? Give me some songs that are your faves

[lewdd]

Sounds like this influenced The Specials

[version sound]

Like classic Jamaican reggae from the ‘70s, I enjoy pretty much all ‘60s to early ‘70s soul. I’m more of a Stax guy than a Motown guy, but there’s plenty of great Motown stuff. There are also endless smaller and regional labels. Numero did a great series of releases spotlighting smaller labels.

[lewdd]

I'm building a playlist working thru some Stax and Motown now and from some 100 greatest R&B and Soul list.

[target]

Lewd/- do you like any of the revival stuff? I’m a Sharon Jones fan and think Daptone gold is a great comp

[lewdd]

Lewd/- do you like any of the revival stuff? I’m a Sharon Jones fan and think Daptone gold is a great comp

I don't know what the revival stuff is. Tell me more or point me somewhere on the web to research.

[target]

I just left you some bread crumbs above. Happy hunting

[SamDBL]

I love it. I also kind of prefer the Stax stuff. Maybe because it’s less known to me, and therefore more exciting, than the motown roster. Although when I go on expeditions, I find the genre to generally be less consistent than blues and jazz. I’m surprised at how often some of the most highly praised stuff is not my cup of tea. I did not like Al Green as much as I thought I would. And I just checked out the first Isaac Hayes album today on a lark. Was not really into it.

[lewdd]

Here is four hours worth of my favorites based on some lists that I looked at and then selected from. Most of the songs I either knew from some other band covering the song, hearing it on commercials, or hearing it on Animal House or Hollywood Knights movies. Oh, and I remember staying up late to watch Shaft when I was about 5 years old. I need to get to Detroit one of these years to learn more about Motown. The Stax Museum was very interesting.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2lkHy ... 9670e6463a

[jaybird]

I guess it falls to me to rep my hometown... I'm a huge Motown fan... my parents loved all that stuff when they were young, and listened to it constantly when I was a kid... I ended up with lots of their old Motown vinyl... Supremes, Temptations/Tops, Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5, Stevie, etc. And I fucking love Jamerson's bass playing. Never really got into the Stax stuff... I like lots of the 70s "city-soul" stuff too, Curtis Mayfield, Sly & The Family Stone, Delfonics, etc. As far as "current" artists go, Raphael Siddiq's Stone Rollin' from about 10 years ago is a great take on that stuff.

George Clinton once asked me if I wanted to get high with him when one of my old bands was recording at a studio he owned... I was in one of my periodic xedgex phases, and I declined like a dipshit.

[JGJR]

I love it. I also kind of prefer the Stax stuff. Maybe because it’s less known to me, and therefore more exciting, than the motown roster. Although when I go on expeditions, I find the genre to generally be less consistent than blues and jazz. I’m surprised at how often some of the most highly praised stuff is not my cup of tea. I did not like Al Green as much as I thought I would. And I just checked out the first Isaac Hayes album today on a lark. Was not really into it.

Hot Buttered Soul (his 2nd album) is the one to get. It's incredible. His 1st album is OK. Some of the stuff afterward HBS is great, too, particularly Black Moses, Shaft, and the 2 albums he made in 1970 (To Be Continued and The Isaac Hayes Movement). That's as much as I've listened to, though.

[patient_ot]

Sure, I like plenty of stuff from the 60s and 70s.

If you want upbeat stuff go buy some Northern Soul compilations - tons of gems on those.

Here's a popular one:

https://youtu.be/LSs5bpcv5TA

[lewdd]

Interesting that Chess put out that song. I didn't realize they had that style of music on their label. Must have been when blues was big in Europe but not in the USA.

[lewdd]

I found a thread on the Hoffman forum that lists a bunch of Northern Soul comps. In process of procuring some of them now.

[patient_ot]

Interesting that Chess put out that song. I didn't realize they had that style of music on their label. Must have been when blues was big in Europe but not in the USA.

Chess put out soul records as well as blues. The blues records are what they are known for here, but the soul records mostly never caught on except as regional hits, or stuff soul nerds and northern soul types collect. For the most part, AFAIK.

Here's a pretty good Chess soul comp:

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Just-Ke ... se/3435798

Chess also had the Argo/Cadet sublabel which put out loads of great jazz. Most of that stuff is long OOP and the old records are hard to find in decent shape.

[patient_ot]

I found a thread on the Hoffman forum that lists a bunch of Northern Soul comps. In process of procuring some of them now.

There are many great comps out there. Just be aware you don't buy this stuff for sound quality. It's not unusual for certain songs or an entire comp to be sourced from needledrops. Also not unusual for a lot of overlap between certain big name comps.

[neutral knieval]

ann peebles - trouble, heartaches and sadness
the mad lads - i forgot to be your lover
skull snaps - my hang up is you
irma thomas - ruler of my heart
leroy hutson - getting it on
al green - i cant get next to you
curtis mayfield - move on up
gil scott heron - we almost lost detroit
brenton wood - the oogum boogum song
james brown and marva whitney - sunny
baby huey - running

[neutral knieval]

also, darondo - im gonna love you

[JGJR]

Chess also had the Argo/Cadet sublabel which put out loads of great jazz. Most of that stuff is long OOP and the old records are hard to find in decent shape.

I admittedly don't know the Cadet catalog very well at all, but after getting into Terry Callier a few years back, I bought reissues of 2 of the 3 albums he put out on Cadet in the early '70s, so at least those aren't impossible to come by (though not cheap) and there have been CD versions, too. And they're GREAT albums, too. His music isn't really jazz (though he was majorly influenced by it, especially John Coltrane), but sort of a hybrid between soul, folk, and jazz. In the '90s, when he returned to performing live and making records after a decade as a computer programmer, he was feted in the UK as a pioneer of the nascent acid jazz movement, so there's that, too.

[patient_ot]

Chess also had the Argo/Cadet sublabel which put out loads of great jazz. Most of that stuff is long OOP and the old records are hard to find in decent shape.

I admittedly don't know the Cadet catalog very well at all, but after getting into Terry Callier a few years back, I bought reissues of 2 of the 3 albums he put out on Cadet in the early '70s, so at least those aren't impossible to come by (though not cheap) and there have been CD versions, too. And they're GREAT albums, too. His music isn't really jazz (though he was majorly influenced by it, especially John Coltrane), but sort of a hybrid between soul, folk, and jazz. In the '90s, when he returned to performing live and making records after a decade as a computer programmer, he was feted in the UK as a pioneer of the nascent acid jazz movement, so there's that, too.

Callier's What Color Is Love is a masterpiece. Occasional Rain is very good too, and he has some other good stuff. I don't know his later era at all.

Re: Argo/Cadet, I was more talking about jazz albums they put out in the late 50s/early 60s. You can find old vinyl in shops, but it will usually be beat to utter shit.

[JGJR]

Chess also had the Argo/Cadet sublabel which put out loads of great jazz. Most of that stuff is long OOP and the old records are hard to find in decent shape.

I admittedly don't know the Cadet catalog very well at all, but after getting into Terry Callier a few years back, I bought reissues of 2 of the 3 albums he put out on Cadet in the early '70s, so at least those aren't impossible to come by (though not cheap) and there have been CD versions, too. And they're GREAT albums, too. His music isn't really jazz (though he was majorly influenced by it, especially John Coltrane), but sort of a hybrid between soul, folk, and jazz. In the '90s, when he returned to performing live and making records after a decade as a computer programmer, he was feted in the UK as a pioneer of the nascent acid jazz movement, so there's that, too.

Callier's What Color Is Love is a masterpiece. Occasional Rain is very good too, and he has some other good stuff. I don't know his later era at all.

Re: Argo/Cadet, I was more talking about jazz albums they put out in the late 50s/early 60s. You can find old vinyl in shops, but it will usually be beat to utter shit.

I couldn't agree more about What Color is Love. It's one of the finest records I've ever heard in any genre. This is the version I have FWIW.

https://www.discogs.com/Terry-Callier-W ... e/12542076

The other album of his that I have is his last one for Cadet and the last one of the 3 produced by Charles Stepney (an utter genius; RIP). It has the best version of "Satin Doll" that IJ've heard and the last track "Bowlin' Green" is his best song IMO and one of the most moving things I've ever heard. Overall, it's not quite as amazing as What Color is Love, but still essential.

https://www.discogs.com/Terry-Callier-I ... se/8234767

I've heard Occasional Rain, but need to spend more time with it. It hasn't quite grabbed me yet. I've never heard his debut or most of his later records besides a live one from the '90s, but I really want to.

[scannest]

I picked up this 5 CD, 100 song Northern Soul comp for about 10 bucks on my last trip to Vintage. Every tune is a banger

https://www.discogs.com/Various-100-Hit ... se/8588073

[lewdd]

I downloaded that 5CD set the other night. Haven't listened to it yet.

[WrEtcH]

I love it all, but I grew up on 70’s R&B. Philadelphia International, Soul Train, East Side Story compilations. Even tho my favorite acts were EW&F and Prince, I love the 70’s slow jams like Blue Magic, the Stylistics, also some Brenton Wood

[patient_ot]

Harlem Shuffle - the original and a cover by the 60s mod group The Action.