A Long Soulful Sunday

Ooops, sorry, more like a late soulful Sunday...

I hope this makes up for the later than usual post.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

 

1) Let 'Em In (DJ Reverend P Edit By Patrice Larrar) (Cover of Wings): Billy Paul (2016)

2) When Love Begins Friendship Ends: Bobby Womack (1978)

3) Bridge Over Troubled Water (Live @ Fillmore West Concert Hall, San Francisco) (Cover of Simon & Garfunkel): Aretha Franklin (1971)

4) Living For The City: Stevie Wonder (1973)

5) Let The Drums Speak (mass Thomas Edit): Bah Samba (2023)

6) Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter (Album Version): Nina Simone (1974)

7) It Won't Be Long (Late Show, Live @ Fillmore East, New York): Sly & The Family Stone (1968) 

8) Make Me Say It Again Girl (Part 1 & 2): The Isley Brothers (1975)

9) Keep On Keeping On (Album Version): Curtis Mayfield (1971)

1971: Aretha Live At Fillmore West: 3

1971: Roots: 9

1973:Innervisions: 4

1974: It Is Finished: 6

1975: The Heat Is On: 8

1978: Pieces: 2

2004: Thee Encyclopedia Of Ecstacy: 7

2016: The Legacy Of Soul: 1

2023: Let The Drums Speak EP: 5

A Long Soulful Sunday (1:00:47) (KF) (Mega)

People All Over The World Join Hands, Start A Love Train

Side 1 of a mixtape recorded for Mrs. K on 21st March 2002.

No fancy sleeve for this one, just a generic TDK FE Ferric cassette sleeve with some neat, upper case lettering and a terribly punning but title, Disco? Get The Funk Out Of Here!

It does pretty much what it sets out to do, a mix of soul, funk and disco classics (mostly) from the 1970s and a nod to some of the club nights we used to go to in Bristol at the time.

 

The selection starts and (no spoilers) ends with What It Is from 1977 by Garnet Mimms & Truckin' Company, which seems to be Garnet's one and only single with the truckers, although a version also appears on Mimms' album from the same year, Garnet Mimms Has It All. It's a great song, written and produced by Jeff Lane and Randy Muller from Brass Construction.

 

I've included longer versions of classics by Curtis Mayfield, The O'Jays, Donna Summer and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes because...well, because, so the selection pushes past the original C90 side to come in at just under and hour. 

 

A couple of the songs - Bill Withers and Bobby Womack - were lifted straight from the Jackie Brown soundtrack, Womack's song also serving as the eponymous theme to 1972 film, Across 110th Street. Disco Inferno by Trammps appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the version here edited down from the album's 11 minute behemoth to a more manageable three and a half.

 

Dance Your Pants Off is, as far as I can tell, a rare Sly & The Family Stone circa 1967 that I got with a freebie CD called Hippy Chic, attached to RCD Classic Rock Collection Vol. 11, in a clearance bin in the mid-1990s. The magazine was, well, pants but the CD was worth the 30 or 40p that I paid at the time.

 

The Joe Simon song appeared on the appallingly-titled Those Boogie Knights & Disco Divas (and, looking at my mixtape effort, that's saying something), another freebie CD with the late, lamented Vox magazine in 1998. 

 

If disco makes you sick, come back here tomorrow for the cure (or should that be The Cure?)

1) What It Is (Part I) (Single Version): Garnet Mimms & Truckin' Company (1977)

2) Dance Your Pants Off: Sly & The Family Stone (1967)

3) Freddie's Dead (Full Length Version): Curtis Mayfield (1972)

4) Love Train ("A Tom Moulton Mix"): The O'Jays (1977)

5) Disco Inferno (Edit): Trammps (1976)

6) You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Album Version): Sylvester (1978)

7) Hot Stuff (Album Version): Donna Summer (1979)

8) Feel The Need In Me: Detroit Emeralds (1971)

9) Who Is He (And What Is He To You?) (Album Version): Bill Withers (1972)

10) Get Down, Get Down (Get On The Floor): Joe Simon (1975)

11) Bad Luck (A Tom Moulton Mix): Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes (1977)

12) Across 110th Street (Part 1): Bobby Womack (1972)

Side One (55:42) (Box) (Mega)

I Think The Melody On The Box Will Explain

It's Friday and time to take a trip back to 1973 and (a smidge over) half an hour of pop, rock, funk and soul for all you hell raisers and all you natural born ravers!

 

Many of these I grew up with, others I discovered as a keen record-buying adult, the rest found in the last decade and a half thanks to all you wonderful people out in the blogosphere. 

Only my opinion but all killer, no filler? I think so.

Bring on the weekend!

1) If I Were Only A Child Again: Curtis Mayfield

2) Lend A Hand: Bobby Hutton

3) Hell Raiser (Single Version): The Sweet

4) Angel (Album Version): Aretha Franklin

5) Skin I'm In: Sly & The Family Stone

6) The Love I Lost (Part 1) (Single Version): Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes 

7) I Won't Step On Your Shoes: Barnaby Bye

8) Watch That Man: David Bowie

9) I Want To Be Free: Hot Chocolate

10) Hercules (Single Version): Aaron Neville

Melody On The Box (32:43) (Box) (Mega)

Soul Tight

Side 1 of a mixtape, compiled sometime in February 2000. Time for some sweet Saturday sounds.

 

This is essentially an edited and re-sequenced selection from the 1998 budget price CD Soul Brother, which I would have picked up on CD for a few quid from Woolworths, along with a Northern Soul compilation which I filleted for Side 2.

It's chock full of classics, many of which I grew listening to courtesy of my parents' Ronco and K-Tel chart hits albums. The songs also crept into my collection over the years, having been covered by the likes of Bryan Ferry, Massive Attack, Talking Heads, Sade, The Jam and, er, Wag Ya Tail and New Kids On The Block. Alright, alright, I didn't have the latter, but my friend's sister did and it was bloody annoying hearing that when all we wanted was R.E.M., The Smiths or Julian Cope.

The cheap and cheerful CD section in Woolies was a great way of sampling genres, before investing further in an artist's albums and Soul Brother was one of the better examples, even if it did have a rather crap cover.

 

1) Expansions (Album Version): Lonnie Liston Smith ft. The Cosmic Echoes (1975)

2) Feel The Need In Me: Detroit Emeralds (1971)

3) Move On Up (Single Version): Curtis Mayfield (1971)

4) Have You Seen Her (Album Version): The Chi-Lites (1971)

5) I Need It: Johnny Guitar Watson (1976)

6) Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time): The Delfonics (1970)

7) Be Thankful For What You've Got (Part 1): William DeVaughn (1973)

8) Love T.K.O.: Teddy Pendergrass (1980)

9) Walking In Rhythm: The Blackbyrds (1974)

10) Take Me To The River: Al Green (1974)

11) Why Can't We Live Together (Album Version): Timmy Thomas (1972)

1970: The Delfonics: 6

1971: (For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People: 4

1971: Move On Up EP: 3

1971: You Want It, You Got It: 2 

1972: Why Can't We Live Together: 11

1973: Be Thankful For What You've Got: 7

1974: Explores Your Mind: 10

1974: Flying Start: 9

1975: Expansions: 1

1976: Ain't That A Bitch: 5 

1980: TP: 8

Side One (46:13)

We Got To Have Peace

 

We got to have peace
To keep the world alive
And war to cease

We got to have joy
True in our hearts
With strength we can't destroy

 

People hear us
Through our voice the world knows
There's no choice

 

We're begging to save the children
The little ones
Who just don't understand

Give them a chance
To breed their young
And help purify the land

 

People hear us
Through our voice the world knows
There's no choice

 

And the people in our neighbourhood
They would if they only could
Meet and shake the other's hand
Work together for the good of the land

 

Give us all an equal chance
It could be such a sweet romance
And the soldiers who are dead and gone
If only we could bring back one

 

He'd say, "We got to have peace
To keep the world alive
And war to cease

We got to have joy
True in our hearts
With strength we can't destroy"

 

People hear us
Through our voice the world knows
There's no choice

 

And the people in our neighbourhood
They would if they only could
Meet and shake the other's hand
Work together for the good of the land

 

Give us all an equal chance
It could be such a sweet romance
And the soldiers who are dead and gone
If only we could bring back one

 

He'd say, "We got to have peace
We got to have peace"
Let the world know

 

Peace, peace, peace
We got to have peace

 

People hear us
Through our voice the world knows
There's no choice

 

Save the children
Save the children
Save the children

 

And the people in our neighbourhood
Who would if they only could
Meet and shake the other's hand
Work together for the good of the land

 

Give us all an equal chance
It could be such a sweet romance
And the soldiers who are dead and gone
If only we could bring back one

 

He'd say, "We got to have peace
We got to have peace"

 

Let the people singin'
Peace, peace, peace
We got to have peace

 

I sing peace, peace, peace
We got to have peace
Peace, peace, peace
We got to have peace

 

We Got To Have Peace (Live on Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV, 25th January 1972): Curtis Mayfield (1972)

Remember Your Scheme Is Your Only Dream

What more can I say? It's Curtis Mayfield, mixing up sunshine sounds, social commentary, soul and disco. A random selection, covering 1971 to 1978.

 

Side One 

1) Give Me Your Love (1972)

2) Do It All Night (Edit By Jim Burgess) (1978)

3) Move On Up (Single Edit) (1971)

4) Back To The World (Single Edit) (1973)

5) So In Love (Album Version) (1975)

 

Side Two

1) Party Night (1976)

2) You Are, You Are (1978)

3) Future Shock (Album Version) (1973)

4) Kung Fu (Single Edit) (1974)

5) No Goodbyes (Single Edit By Jim Burgess) (1978)

1971: Move On Up (7" single): A3

1972: Super Fly (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): A1

1973: Back To The World: B3

1973: Back To The World (7" single): A4

1974: Kung Fu (7" single): B4

1975: There's No Place Like America Today: A5

1976: Give, Get, Take And Have: B1

1978: Do It All Night: B2

1978: Do It All Night (USA, 7" single): A2

1978: No Goodbyes (7" single): B5

Side One (20:04)

Side Two (20:42)

50@50, Part One: 1970-1979

Thanks for visiting and welcome!

As I rapidly approach five decades of clinging to this crazy, spinning planet, it seemed like a good time to start a blog. This isn't my first attempt - more on that another time - but here I'll mostly be sharing my love of music, my eclectic and frequently questionable taste and hopefully some treasures along the way.

In the spirit of The Vinyl Villain's Imaginary Compilation Album series, I'm starting off with an imaginary vinyl box set compilation of songs from the last 50 years that have meant something to me. This isn't a personal Top 50: I've ignored and left out many of my favourite artists and songs. The 'albums' are sequenced in chronological order, though I won't pretend that I discovered them in that order, cool though it would be to imagine being inspired by Curtis Mayfield before my 2nd birthday. However, all of the selections here have been important to me in different ways over the years. Enjoy...

Side One (22:19)
1)    Double Barrel: Dave & Ansel Collins (1970)
2)   Move On Up (Full Length Version): Curtis Mayfield (1971)
3)   Satellite Of Love (Album Version): Lou Reed (1972)
4)   Dance With The Devil: Cozy Powell (1973)
5)   Emma: Hot Chocolate (1974)

Side Two (22:50)
6)   Fight The Power (Part 1 & 2) (Album Version): The Isley Brothers (1975)
7)   Disco Inferno (Edit By Khayem): Trammps (1976)
8)   I Feel Love (12" Version): Donna Summer (1977)
9)   Shot By Both Sides (Single Version): Magazine (1978)
10) Twat (Live): John Cooper Clarke (1979)

Side One (22:19)

Side Two (22:50)

My parents' record collection was mostly made up of K-Tel compilations purchased from the local Cash & Carry but on reflection, what an introduction to music they proved to be. The cheap 'n' cheerful, high volume, low quality pressings, cramming 10 songs per side of vinyl proved to be invaluable. The Story Of Pop, 40 Super Greats, Black Explosion, Dynamite, Disco Fever... they - and I - loved them. As a kid, looking at the cover of Dynamite, I always imagined that Kiki Dee and Cozy Powell were happily married. I coveted Keith Moon's purple trousers as displayed on the cover of 40 Super Greats. I marveled at the beauteous illustrations of Elvis Presley and David Bowie on the cover of the Radio One Story Of Pop supplement, whilst wondering why neither of them actually featured on the album of the same name. But my folks weren't K-Tel purists. Amongst the James Last and Music For Pleasure compilations, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack shone brightly, especially the near-11 minute version of Disco Inferno that closed the album. Likewise, I was captivated by the original version of I Feel Love on the radio, but I was forever changed by the 15m 45s remix by Patrick Cowley in 1982. I loved it so much that I bought the 12" as a present for my brother so that I could tape both sides on my parents' hi-tech turntable/cassette deck combo. Magazine came to me slightly belatedly with their posthumous After The Fact compilation in the early 80s, and admittedly John Cooper Clarke most likely made a first impression via his Sugar Puffs ads rather than his poetry, but by this time I was hopelessly addicted to words and music with a capacity to love the camp, the crap, the poetic, the pretentious and the out-and-out pop. It's a love affair that's never ended.