Sweet Soul Music: 50-1 (Now counting down 100-51)

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Sep 23, 2007
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Finally went through the songs from beginning to end, very cool countdown. This music brought back a lot of memories. I would have some D'Angelo, Sonia Dada or Neneh Cherry in my top 50 for modern soul, but there's a lot of classics here really.
 
May 24, 2006
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Have finally got around to ordering the best of the rest - songs 51-100 that missed out on the top 50. This half might be a bit more interesting as the first half contained lots of well known musicians. A few more obscurities in this half.

The first installment of the soul music countdown didn't quite break the internet but did strike a chord with a small band of BigFooty Soul Men (and women?).

Spoiler alert: I still couldn't sneak Arthur Conley's Sweet Soul Music into the countdown. Sorry, Arthur. Thanks for the title though.
 
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100. Archie Bell & The Drells - Tighten Up

We kick off with southern soul with this funky single from 1968. Archie Bell actually got drafted into the army when this song was released.

"We don't only sing, but we dance just as good as we want."

 
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98. Bobby Jones - Welcome Back A Foolish Man

Fairly obscure gospel/soul singer who was a bit of a journeyman. This single came out in 1971.

"When I moved up to Chicago, I got involved in the blues and rhythm & blues. There I started working at Republic Steel, a steel mill, and I was always singing at work. Everybody was consistently saying that ‘you sound so good, you need to go sing professionally’. Then one day I walked upon a blues club. I was looking for a shoe shop to get my shoes fixed there on 43rd and Drexel, the south side of Chicago. The name of the club was Freighter’s Juke Box Lounge. I heard the music coming out the door. Babyface Villette was playing. The owner was standing outside and I told him I can sing. ‘Sure you can’. Finally he said ‘come on in the club’ and he put me up there. I told them to play a Ray Charles tune. When I came down, he said ‘listen, let me tell you, you got a bright future ahead of you. We have talent shows down here every Monday night, and if you win the talent show then you get to work on weekends, and get paid’. That’s how I kicked off there in Chicago. I won every talent show for three months. They would give whisky for the winner, but I didn’t drink, so I would sell the whisky back to the owner.

 
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97. The Precisions - If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)

This 1967 single was the Detroit R&B vocal group's break-through hit.



Another song of theirs that I like is You're The Best (That Ever Did It)

 
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96. The Vel-Vets - I Got To Find Me Somebody

A bouncy northern soul obscurity up next. This trio hailed from Los Angeles and this single is from 1967. It was re-released in 1974 as the original was almost impossible to find.

 
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95. Rufus Thomas - The Breakdown Pt 1 and 2

A Stax performer from the 60s and 70s, known as 'the world's oldest teenager' and (self dubbed?) 'the funkiest man alive.' He's best known for a few novelty dance singles but I love this slice of funk from 1971 which appeared on his album Did You Hear Me?

 
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94. Tyrone Davis - Can I Change My Mind

Born in Mississippi but settled in Chicago, Davis' early singles were raw blues, and none were hits. In 1968, he signed with the Dakar label; in the hands of producer-arranger Willie Henderson, his first single was a gruff, bluesy ballad that went nowhere. Then a Houston DJ, Wild Child, flipped the disc and played the B-side, Can I Change My Mind, a silky dance tune with Davis moaning confessionally over Bernard Reed's busy bass lines. The record soared to No 1 R&B, No 5 Pop.

Davis scored for 14 years; among his greats were Is It Something You've Got (also a great tune) and Turn Back The Hands Of Time. He put together a dynamic band and toured the "chitlin' circuit" with great effect. He loved success, playing up his image as a ladies' man and living the high life. He was a consistent R&B hitmaker, but was marginalised from pop stations when US radio began to practise apartheid in programming. His huge 1975 R&B No 1 hit, Turning Point, did not even register on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop songs because Top 40 radio refused to play it; Davis sounded too black. This signalled the end of soul music's golden age.

 
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93. Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can

Next artist is Lee Dorsey whose output went hand-in-hand with legendary songwriter/producer Allen Toussaint and funky backing band, The Meters.

At the dawn of the seventies, Dorsey and Toussaint collaborated on a full fledged album. Yes We Can was one of those records where all the players involved were feeling it: the Meters funky backing band, Lee Dorsey’s soulful, even-tempered vocals and Toussaint’s production and songwriting. It was all done with subtle sophistication and just the right amount of grit. This was where the sixties funk became the seventies funk.

I found it difficult to choose which Dorsey song I like best. Swapped between Give It Up and Get Out Of My Life Woman before settling on his 1970 release Yes We Can (later a hit for The Pointer Sisters).

 
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92. The Emotions - Blind Alley

A vocal group from Chicago, this song is from their 1971 album Untouched. Was never released as a single. Sampled many times by hip hop artists including Big Daddy Kane on Ain't No Half Steppin'

 
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91. Maceo Parker - The Soul Of A Black Man

A saxophonist who played with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic. He also released a string of solo albums. This track is from his 1974 album, Us.

 
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90. Sam Dees - Lonely For You Baby

At six foot four and two-hundred-plus pounds, Sam Dees is a soul giant in more ways than one. Probably best known as a song writer for the stars (Gladys Knight, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, the Temptations) than a performer, Dees also released some highly regarded though obscure works of his own.

Dees recorded what a consensus of soul collectors rate as one of the best LPs of the '70s, The Show Must Go On, for the Atlantic label in 1975. A remarkable amalgam of Southern and Chicago soul styles, and anchored by Dees always remarkable songwriting, The Show Must Go On spawned no less than four charting singles; yet, for some reason, the album has never been widely available.

Lonely For You Baby was a B Side from 1968.

 
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88. Willie Hutch - Brothers Gonna Work It Out

A song writer and performer for Motown, Hutch wrote songs for Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and many others.

Hutch's most enduring work may be the soundtracks he created for two films from the "blaxploitation" era. The Mack (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974) were violent, amoral, low-budget films that catered to black Americans' enthusiasm for ghetto heroes getting one over corrupt white cops and crime syndicates. The Mack's lyrical brutality has ensured its status as the hip-hop generation's favourite film: Hutch's soundtrack was sampled by Biggie Smalls, Lil' Kim, Moby and the Chemical Brothers, who sampled Brother's Gonna Work It Out - so creating a UK rave party anthem - and included the original track on their DJ mix album Brothers Gonna Work It Out.

This song appeared on his soundtrack album, The Mack, a movie starring Richard Pryor.



Another song from his catalogue that I like was from his pre-Motown 1969 release, Soul Portrait:

 
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87. Aaron Neville - Hercules

Hailing from New Orleans, Neville is still going strong at 76 years of age.
This was released as a single in 1972 and, like the Lee Dorsey tune at #92, is another song produced by Allen Toussaint and backed by The Meters.

Take for instance the hero of Allen Toussaint’s “Hercules” (1973). As embodied by Aaron Neville on the Toussaint-produced single, the character is a street-wise kid doing his best to steer clear of trouble. ‘Jungle rule, can’t be no fool/might get caught by the hook of a crook no time for cool.’ Neville’s sweet voice marks the character out as easy prey, vulnerable to his surroundings. He may sing, ‘I must be Hercules,’ but it sounds as if he’s trying to reassure nobody more than himself. The Meters back him up, keeping things tight and claustrophobic, everything held under the weight of the bass figure’s demonic grunt. There is room for little else, here, but fear and trembling (reflected in the icy organ and synth). In Neville’s rendering, the following lines come out a plea: ‘I can feel the pressure, from every side/If you not gonna help, don’t hurt, just pass me by.’

 
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86. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - California Soul

Terrell was a star of Motown Records in the 60s and is best remembered for her duets with Marvin Gaye.

Terrell's career was interrupted when she collapsed into Gaye's arms as the two performed at a concert on October 14, 1967, with Terrell later being diagnosed with a brain tumour. She had eight unsuccessful surgeries before succumbing to the illness on March 16, 1970 at the age of 24.

The pair had several huge tunes (Ain't No Mountain, All I Need to Get By) but I've gone with this lesser known gem, recorded in 1967 during Tammi's decline. There were rumours that the vocals were actually another singer but this has been denied by all parties.

 
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85. OV Wright - Ace Of Spades

Southern soul up next with Overton Vertis (no wonder he went with O.V.) Wright from Memphis. Had some hits in the 60s and 70s and has been sampled plenty of times by hip hop artists. The Rolling Stones covered his song That's How Strong My Love Is. Vastly under-rated soul artist, perhaps because he wasn't part of the Motown or Stax movements.

This single is from 1971.

 
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84. Labi Siffre - I Got The...

A British singer-song writer this time.

The openly gay singer built a small cult following with works that dealt squarely with homophobia and racism. Musically, Siffre is known for his soulful, high-pitched voice and thought-provoking lyrics. His single "I Got The..." from his 1975 album Remember My Song received a modicum of fame decades after its release when its funky piano hook was sampled in Eminem's 1999 debut smash single "My Name Is."

Almost fell off the couch the first time I heard the breakdown in the middle of this song (around 2:10). I had no idea. Also I never knew the origins of the song 'It Must Be Love.'

 
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83. O.C. Tolbert - You Got Me Turned Around

A forgotten and overlooked Detroit soul performer from the late 60s/70s, there was very little recorded output of Tolbert's available. Then in the 1990s the Ace/Kent label began issuing material from Detroit soul producer Dave Hamilton's vaults. The deeper they dug the more unknown gems they uncovered, including Tolbert. There is now an album of O.C. Tobert's material floating around.

Powerful singer and has some cracking tunes. This is my favourite but I also love one called Give It To Glory.

 
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82. Edwin Starr - Agent Double O Soul

Motown artist with several big hits in the 70s and became a huge figure within England's northern soul movement.

I found it exceptionally hard to split my favourites; 25 Miles is great as is his signature song, War ("War - hghhh! - good God y'all... What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, listen to me") which was originally recorded by the Temptations but went with Agent Double O Soul which was a single from 1965.

 
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