I'll say it right now. I am an absolute sucker for Southern Soul and this one pings all my buttons.
To quote the blurb on the back of the CD it is the first in-depth look ,on CD, at the sumptuous southern soul from Shelby Singleton's important SSS international group of labels. From the music's golden age, 1967-1970. I mean who wouldn't want to listen to music compiled by someone with the name Shelby Singleton?
Here is a more detailed blurb and tracklist from the Ace website which reassuringly tells us that it is not all suicidal stuff. Suicidal or not I could listen to the likes of Bettye LaVette and Doris Allen all day.The cherry on the cake however is Cryin' in the Streets by George Perkins & the Silver Stars which also appears on an album Down and Out - The Sad Soul of the Black South which would almost certainly appear on a similar series featuring the great German label Trikont should I ever get round to it.
The review in AllMusic says that the songs blur the lines between soul and country to the point where such distinctions become irrelevant. and - it's Southern soul through and through, with all the raw emotion the appellation implies. Maybe that's why I like it so much.
Essential stuff
Bettye LaVette -He Made a Woman Out of Me
George Perkins & the Silver Stars - Cryin' in the Streets Part 1
Doris Allen - A Shell of a Woman
Have this in my collection too. Every track's a winner
ReplyDeleteYou’re delivering a vital public service here, CC, keep ‘em coming!
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