Recommend Me Some Old Soul LPs
knewjak
1,231 Posts
This thread isnt to be interpreted as a dis to Guzzo's. I am interested in hearing about some solid soul LPs from the 60s ONLY. Doesnt have to be rare or obscure, just good.I'll start it off...
Comments
I'll cross-reference the FAME thread and add Jimmy Hughes' WHY NOT TONIGHT lp.
also Irma Thomas WISH SOMEONE WOULD CARE on Imperial.
so many.
...but it's pretty similar to Sun Fortune's
I like Eddie Floyd's "Soul Street" too, but that's more 70s soul.
these too
I know I'll get seriously hatted on for this, but I can't get with some of the production/arrangement on some of those records...
Consider yerself hatted on.
I'll second that.
no hatt - i can understand that.
i found some of it a little too saccharine/fluffy for my liking at first, too. but the more i listened and within the rest of it, the more i loved it.
Cosign. That's that patented Chi-town soul sound. Shweeet.
Well, there are several cash-in (no pun intended) LPs they did in the sixties which I don't rate at all. Maybe Pickwick33 can expand on this but it seems that after the beautiful records like Riding High, Keep On Pushing, etc. they cut several records of standards that are just totally flacid.
All popular R&B artists in the 1960s did this from the Temptations to James Brown.
THIRDED. If you hate The Impressions, you hate yourself. (so kidding, but so funny)
we already had this conversation. It's a 45s game, son. Most soul LPs are a couple of singles and the rest filler. Soul sounds better on 45 anyway.
please rate:
The Impressions
Keep on Pushing
Never Ending Impressions
One by One
People Get Ready
Ridin' High
The Fabulous Impressions
This Is My Country
We're a Winner
The Young Mods' Forgotten Story
The Fabulous Impressions is my least favourite.
I love the Impressions like a hawg loves slop, but when it comes to the ABC years, I'd sooner stick with singles and compilations, 'cause there are some fowl songs on the original albums. I'm sorry, but "Lemon Tree" and "Romancing To The Folk Song" (a Curtis original) do NOT stand tall with "Keep On Pushing" or "We're A Winner."
THANK YOU
This is exactly what I was talking about... I have plenty comps & singles of that era...
I would never eva, EVA eva, EVA EVA EVA EVA hate on the Impressions in general...
yes, so knewjak - The Impressions' 60's discography is well worth checking out.
Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews - Curtis & Impressions
I celebrate the impressions entire discography.
I guess I'm not amazed by this whole album, but "I Know Love" on here was my favorite song for a couple weeks a while back. Cool lyrics about how his mom has passed away but would be so proud to know that he got together with such a special lady. when the strings come crashing down in the chorus
Worth whatever you pay for it just for this one song!
Although I agree 45's are
I'm curious to know what this "filler" is on most soul LP's.
I'm not sure what you are saying here. Most soul LP's from the 60's I
own are pretty damn solid.
I had a whole rant a few weeks ago about how my favorite thing
is finding complete LP's by artists you thought were "45-only."
At the time, I had just found out that Freddie Hughes had a full LP
on Wand - this was exciting news to me, as was finding the Freddie North LP on Abet (although I admit that record does have some "filler" but Abet LP's always have tracks directed towards the straight Country crowd), and
that Jean Wells has an LP on Calla, etc.
really?????
side 2 of "people get ready" is one of my favorite sides of a record EVER... actually that whole record is pretty unreal all the way thru... i got that record when i was like 17 and it changed my life completely.
yeah, the Impressions have a few misses in their catalogue, but it's only b/c they have so many records. they have quite a few LP's that are awesome all the way thru...
oh and for soul LP's, lately i've been digging:
the version of "16 tons" on there is nasty...
Lemme run the voodoo down, here:
(1) Soul singers doing lounge standards. (Several Motown acts fall in this category, although it also afflicted the Artistics, Barbara Acklin, Fontella Bass, the aforementioned Impressions, several others.)
(2) Soul singers doing other people's hits (which wouldn't be a bad thing, except a lot of those records sound hastily recorded, with no thought behind them...I hate to keep picking on Motown, but here's another example: the Elgins' Darling Baby).
(3) Boring instrumentals. (Cliff Nobles & Co.'s album on Phil-L.A. of Soul falls in this category.)
(4) Songs that just don't measure up, period. (Jesse James' album on 20th Century Fox plays like one long B-side.)
So, when we say that 60's soul LP's have a mess of filler, this is what we're thinking of. And when I want to hear Marvin Gaye, I want SOUL MUSIC. I do not want to hear him trying to be Johnny Mathis!
Nothing wrong with that, except that a few of those Freddie North songs crossed the border from "country" into Straight-Up Middle-Of-The-Road Elevator Music. (I liked the rest of it well enough...)
Don't get me wrong, there are good 1960's soul albums that aren't best-ofs or live (Howard Tate's Get It While You Can comes to mind, as does Bobby Womack's Fly Me To The Moon), but sometimes it does sound like these artists were saving their best things for the A-sides of the singles.
I'd be curious to hear this one...
Yes, I agree with some of that - I guess it is personal taste, too...I like some of the soul versions of pop standards, and I definitely like soul versions of rock/beat stuff that you find on LP's as well.
In fact, I especially like the Motown versions cited - I think the Brenda Holloway & Elgins records are good from start to finish, and I own both of them.
But I am more frustrated by the typical SS blanket staements, like saying that 45's are the only way to go, and dismissing just about all soul LP's as a waste of time - I mean, Otis Redding has like 7 LP's, and I am hard pressed to find any junk on them...on most Stax/Volt LP's, for that matter...Motown stuff tends to keep the schlock on specific LP's geared towards that audience, while other LP's are "all killer." Marvin Gaye has some showtune stuff in the 60's, but his late-60's LP's are outstanding all the way through...I mean, look at the Temps LP's...find me a bad one, please!
cool dude. all I'm saying, and I really dont think you can argue with this, is that thee format for 60s soul was the 45 rpm. Shiiiit, most of my fav soul artists didnt even get an LP. It wasn't till the late 60s that you started to see the cohesive soul album. I guess it's a matter of taste, if you like hastily arranged versions of 'can't take my eyes off you' then by all means keep jammin!