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Consistent Soul 45 labels???

holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
edited October 2007 in Strut Central
My girlfriend & I were thinking about this last night. What labels have the most consistent 45 runs? The types of labels that you will buy the 45 without listening? Maybe even just a time period where a label seemingly did no wrong with it's 45 releases. We were listening to some Twinight/Twilight 45s & came to the conclusion that what we have on that label is pretty solid. There are some awful country sides that kill it for Chess. Motown has some clunkers. Brunswick was a bit heavy on the slow ballads with string sections. Maybe Stax was pretty solid? Big labels like Atlantic are probably too broad to be consistent from a soul/funk standpoint. Of course there are a bunch of small labels that were solid because they only had 10 releases, but what about the mid-larger size labels?? Thoughts??
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  • soulmarcosasoulmarcosa 4,296 Posts
    Brunswick was a bit heavy on the slow ballads with string sections



  • wooshiewooshie 490 Posts
    that's remarkable that you sit around with your girlfriend thinking about which label released the most consistent 45's.

    you've got it made, son
  • bass_feverbass_fever 974 Posts
    Arctic
    Blue Rock
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    My girlfriend & I were thinking about this last night. What labels have the most consistent 45 runs? The types of labels that you will buy the 45 without listening? Maybe even just a time period where a label seemingly did no wrong with it's 45 releases. We were listening to some Twinight/Twilight 45s & came to the conclusion that what we have on that label is pretty solid. There are some awful country sides that kill it for Chess. Motown has some clunkers. Brunswick was a bit heavy on the slow ballads with string sections. Maybe Stax was pretty solid? Big labels like Atlantic are probably too broad to be consistent from a soul/funk standpoint. Of course there are a bunch of small labels that were solid because they only had 10 releases, but what about the mid-larger size labels?? Thoughts??

    To be honest with you, expecting any label with a big discography to hit it out of the park every time is plain unrealistic. Especially with soul labels - there's always gonna be the one experiment with pop or country that doesn't quite make it. Hell, there might be even a soul record that is below par. And then there's labels like Philadelphia International or All Platinum, both of which were cool until 1976...but then that's just my "anti-disco" bias talking.

    So every label is gonna have at least one turd. That's a fact of life.

    That said...even with the occasional bad record, I'd choose

    -Invictus/Hot Wax/Music Merchant
    -One-Derful
    -Ric Tic
    -Phil-L.A. of Soul
    -Minit
  • pointmanpointman 1,042 Posts




    Now, as far as much smaller labels
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    [color:red]Brunswick was a bit heavy on the slow ballads with string sections[/color]

    and to be fair, brunswick actually existed long before soul music...buddy holly & the crickets were one of their biggest sellers in the fifties
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts



    yeah, forgot about that company (and its brother label Duke)
  • picoandsepulvedapicoandsepulveda 1,026 Posts
    most of the stuff i have on this label is more along the lines of ska and rocksteady (byron lee stuff as well as others). the 7"s i have have great soul tunes on the flip. this one for instance has an incredible slow ballad almost doo wop tune on the b side. both sides are hot as hell!

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts

    -Invictus/Hot Wax/Music Merchant
    -One-Derful
    -Ric Tic
    -Phil-L.A. of Soul
    -Minit

    Good list, although the "Hot Wax" steez sometimes gets a little cheesy IMO.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts

    -Invictus/Hot Wax/Music Merchant
    -One-Derful
    -Ric Tic
    -Phil-L.A. of Soul
    -Minit

    Good list, although the "Hot Wax" steez sometimes gets a little cheesy IMO.

    What I like about the Hot Wax labels is that the guitar was unusually prominent (without being wanky), which led to acts like the Honey Cone and the Glass House sounding a lot more rockish than they intended to.
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I definitely find Invictus, Hot Wax, Ric Tic, Phil-LA, Minit & Duke to be pretty solid now I think about it. What else does BackBeat have apart from OV Wright, Roy Head & Jeanette & Tommy Williams? Is there much off stuff on there??
  • Dj_Coma_ToastDj_Coma_Toast 874 Posts
    how many records constitute a mid-size label in your mind?

    my picks:

    twinight
    renfro
    aside from the box tops stuff amy/mala/bell are usually winners.
    white label kings have been good to me lately.
    people

    i would vouch for stax, though i always seem to find the common ones over and over.
  • pointmanpointman 1,042 Posts
    I definitely find Invictus, Hot Wax, Ric Tic, Phil-LA, Minit & Duke to be pretty solid now I think about it. What else does BackBeat have apart from OV Wright, Roy Head & Jeanette & Tommy Williams? Is there much off stuff on there??

    Handful of good garage 45s like the Liberty Bell, The Coastliners
    Others like (Little) Carl Carlton, Joe Hinton, "Big Mama" Thornton
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    I definitely find Invictus, Hot Wax, Ric Tic, Phil-LA, Minit & Duke to be pretty solid now I think about it. What else does BackBeat have apart from OV Wright, Roy Head & Jeanette & Tommy Williams? Is there much off stuff on there??

    Handful of good garage 45s like the Liberty Bell, The Coastliners

    And rockabilly like the Casuals (whose one hit was "So Tough") and Ronnie Dawson.

    Others like (Little) Carl Carlton, Joe Hinton, "Big Mama" Thornton

    The Big Mama Thornton LP I have on Back Beat (from 1970 or so) is a compilation of singles she did in the fifties for Peacock (of which Back Beat was a subsidiary).
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
  • TNGTNG 234 Posts

    A (semi)complete Sansu is a need for this world.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    The Shout label (1966-75) released some quality records.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts

    A (semi)complete Sansu is a need for this world.

    Right now I have everything except for Curley Moore'Don't Pity Me'....someday...
  • TNGTNG 234 Posts

    A (semi)complete Sansu is a need for this world.

    Right now I have everything except for Curley Moore'Don't Pity Me'....someday...

    Is Sansu still independently owned? Why do I feel like Charly has the rights?
  • knewjakknewjak 1,231 Posts
    scram
    bo-sound
    seven b
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts

    seven b
    Hell no, there are some country terds in that even with the small amount of releases.
    BTW, have Seven B 45s ever been re-issued or booted? I'm wondering if mine are OG because they are all looking unplayed, could be just old stock though I guess too.
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    I definitely find Invictus, Hot Wax, Ric Tic, Phil-LA, Minit & Duke to be pretty solid now I think about it. What else does BackBeat have apart from OV Wright, Roy Head & Jeanette & Tommy Williams? Is there much off stuff on there??

    Handful of good garage 45s like the Liberty Bell, The Coastliners
    Others like (Little) Carl Carlton, Joe Hinton, "Big Mama" Thornton
    Oh yeah, forgot about Joe Hinton & Carl Carlton, good stuff.
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    how many records constitute a mid-size label in your mind?

    my picks:

    aside from the box tops stuff amy/mala/bell are usually winners.
    white label kings have been good to me lately.


    I even like most of the Box Tops stuff...
    What's a white label King look like? Or do you mean promos? I was upset the other week when I found a mint looking white label promo Leo Parker 45 on King that turned out to have a big crack in it
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    How about these ones? Any badness?



    I think there are a couple that maybe knock these guys back, particularly heading into the "disco" era, but prior to that??
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    Blue Rock

    Blue Rock has some phenomenal sides, but the quality noticably dipped when Andre Williams left the label in 1966. Even so, cats who don't know should buy Lost And Found: The Blue Rock Story immediately - even if it's only for the first of the two discs.

    A big yes on Twilight/Twinight, SAR (even some of the Mel Carter sides), Shout, Zodiac (minus Lovehorn and Ruby Andrews' second single) People, Boola Boola, and early Alston. Additionally, I have yet to hear a bad A-side on Fame (esp. during the Capitol years). I mean, we could list small labels/subs like Savern, Scarab, Saadia, Way Out, and Mutt for days. I mean: how about that Thurmoe-Blast label, huh? Hell, the lion's share of the NOLA labels had one or two releases and were Joe Banashak tax-write-offs. If the criteria is upgraded to "consistent soul labels with more than 20 releases," then we're talking.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
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  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    Bud - stick some hard returns in there.
  • JazzsuckaJazzsucka 720 Posts
    Ovide was SOLID

    CAT was pretty solid too

    Turbo

    Maple

    Gatur, but it released only stuff by Willie Tee
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts

    A (semi)complete Sansu is a need for this world.

    Right now I have everything except for Curley Moore'Don't Pity Me'....someday...

    Is Sansu still independently owned? Why do I feel like Charly has the rights?


    I have no idea who "owns" Sansu. Charly has reissued stuff over the years but the only quality reissue (IMHO) is the one on Sundazed. The impression I'v always gotten is that the NOLA labels (like probably every other 60's independent record label) is a deeply crooked mess as far as ownership/rights (i.e. how else has Tuff City thrived on New Orleans reissues??).
  • buttonbutton 1,475 Posts
    Magic Touch, anything spotted on this label becomes mine shortly thereafter



    also, I still can't believe how little this record goes for.
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