Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
There's soul and then there's soul. Much of the soul from the 1960s that is familiar to us tends to be mainstream, chart fare by artists who had multiple R&B hits and gained visibility and notoriety. But for every Motown or Stax single, there were dozens of solid recordings by artists on obscure, short-lived labels that lacked the manufacturing, distribution and promotion muscle or resources to leverage their potential. One of the best packages of little-known recordings I've heard in some time is Groove & Grind: Rare Soul—a four-CD box set of singles from 1963 to 1973 that just landed on my desk from RockBeat Records. [Photo above by Bruce Davidson, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York]
What makes this set special is the high quality of the 112 tracks, the box's packaging and the liner notes by soul historian Bill Dahl. Many sets of obscure soul recordings include a few gems and then fill the remaining space with lackluster stuff. This box is all juicy pulled pork, from start to finish. And instead of forcing you to wade through fields of liner notes, Dahl jumps right into track-by-track detail with a nice large color image of the single's label when possible. It's a set produced with jukebox love.
Many of these songs start off with a deep tom-tom downbeat followed by suspenseful buildups by piano and guitar chords and thick bass lines (think I'm Gonna Make You Love Me by the Temptations and Supremes). Then the singer comes in with passion and conviction backed by tasteful horn riffs.
The line-up on this set blew my mind. I had no idea anyone else knew of 45s like the Jelly Beans' I'm Hip to You on the Eskee label or Little Charles & the Sidewinders' Got My Own Thing Going on Drum. Or Billy McGregor's Mr. Shy on Flash. Conversely, I was completely unaware that Candi Staton recorded Now You've Got the Upper Hand, or that Carla Thomas waxed Every Ounce of Strength or that the People's Choice made Savin' My Lovin' for You. I also had never heard Lezli Valentine's original version of Love On a Two Way Street, the lyrics for which she long claimed to have co-written. Her version preceded the Moments' hit version and is just as great.
The set has been smartly divided into four categories. Disc #1 is devoted to releases from R&B's flavor centers, like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Detroit. Disc #2 features harmony groups, while disc #3 sports deep Southern soul, which tends to have more emotional vocal deliveries. Disc #4 is home to funkier dance sides.
There's five hours of music here. None of the singles were hits, and all of them are obscure. Hats off to producer James Austin, who made his collection available, as did Victor Pearlin and Billy Vera. A solid job of mastering and audio restoration by Jerry Peterson and gorgeous art direction by Hugh Brown. You'll also love the package—it's solid, like a hard-back book the size of a 45 sleeve. Thick-stock pages are firmly bound, and the CD sleeves are extra thick and waxy. A great listen and reference source. A wonderful set if you love soul from the 1960s and early '70s, and want more of the stuff you dig most.
JazzWax clips: Here's I'm Hip to Youby the Jelly Beans (1965)...
Here's Lezli Valentine's original version of Love On a Two Way Street (1969), the arrangement of which seems to have been recycled by the Moments...
Used with permission by Marc Myers
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