100 Soul Classics
Atlantic/Rhino Records
Catalogue # WMTV 100
UK Release date: 27th April 2009
My first reaction upon receiving this new 4 Cd set from
Atlantic/Rhino records was that it would be full of all the tunes found
on every other Atlantic soul compilation before it. How wrong I was to
be. OK there are a substantial number of such songs that are found
elsewhere but the further you investigate, the more gems turn up from
out of the woodwork fitting in nicely alongside the likes of the hits
and million sellers making this new release a real contender for the
best soul and rhythm and blues set so far this year. 2009 has hardly
seen many good releases but this one surpasses all that. I won't bore
you with the finer details of the history of the Atlantic record label
as that is well documented elsewhere, but its what's in the groove that
counts and the music is the most important thing here. Alongside
Motown, Stax and Chess, Atlantic records were perhaps the longest
running record label to feature soul and r'n'b to the masses. It's
where the likes of Ray Charles, the Coasters, Ben E King, Joe Tex,
Solomon Burke and the legendary Drifters cut their teeth and got their
recordings onto the famous red label where hip radio stations and club
DJ's would play this great music to the mass public.
Here in the UK it was perhaps the mod scene and the all-nighter's that
first introduced the more dance orientated cuts from the label and I
remember only too well the likes of Tony Blackburn and Emperor Rosko
playing Atlantic songs on the now defunct pirate radio ship Caroline
reaching millions of young record buyers in the UK during the 1960's
resulting in this 'specialised' music getting a good exposure and to a
certain degree, a number of radio and TV slots and the rest as they say
is history.
No Atlantic compilation would be complete without the inclusion of the
many hits of the swinging sixties, so yes this set does contain some of
the more well known songs from that era from the likes of the Drifters,
Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin, The Coasters, Otis Redding,
Don Covay, Booker T & the MG's, Eddie Floyd, Sam & Dave, Arthur
Conley, Percy Sledge and Clarence Carter but to name just a few. The
reason these songs are here is because these very artists were the core
of Atlantic's soul output during this period and laid the foundation
for the many recordings that graced the 1970's where we fell in love
with the likes of sweet soul favourites from Major Harris, The Detroit
Spinners, Blue Magic, Marjie Joseph and Bettye Swann. How many times do
you still hear on the radio 'Saturday Night At The Movies', 'Soul Man',
'Dock of the Bay' or 'Soul Man' 'Midnight Hour' or 'Green Onions' and
still say 'they don't make songs like that anymore'. How many of us
remember dancing to Joe Tex's fantastic 'Show Me' at the local youth
club alongside Pickett's 'Land of a 1000 Dances' (surely the greatest
piece of rock and roll ever!!) or flipping over Mary Wells' black
Atlantic single 'Dear Lover' in favour of her more danceable 'Can't You
See Your Losing Me'. Even after we left our teens and moved into a new
decade Atlantic were with us all the way through the seventies and
eighties carrying the torch for quality soul music.
Whilst
Philly International ruled supreme at the start of the 1970's seasoned
soul collectors were only too aware of other quality Philly based
recordings that found themselves on the label such as the sweet soul
ballads of the Detroit Spinners, Major Harris and Blue Magic for
example. A lot of Stax recordings found themselves issued in the UK via
Atlantic and classics from Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Bar-Kays, and
The Astors whose output in the USA came via Volt/Stax. What I like
about this set is the inclusion of cracking songs not always seen on
other compilations that are just as good as the aforementioned and when
you see artists such as Barbara Lewis, Darrell Banks, Esther Phillips,
and Patti Labelle then you know your in for some good listening. Just
listening to Deon Jackson's uplifting 'Ooh Baby' or maybe Mel Torme
with his 'Comin' Home Baby' makes you realise what a hot CD set this
is. CD 4 is of particular interest to me as it opens with the elongated
version of 'The Ghetto' by the late Donny Hathaway a single I remember
buying on the newly introduced UK Atco label in the early seventies,
and Tyrone Davis with his 'Turn Back The Hands of Time' (sadly no
inclusion of 'One Way Ticket') and Dee Dee Warwick's wicked version of
'Suspicious Minds' leaves you wanting more and more. Bettye Swann's UK
modern crossover track 'Kiss My Love Goodbye' has been around forever
but still sounds as good in 2009 as it ever did, as does the Thom Bell
produced Philly classic for the Detroit Spinners 'I'll Be Around' which
is still a massive sound on the northern/modern soul scene here in the
UK.
A massive CD set that will go down well with many a collector and is a
showpiece for anyone discovering our kind of music for the first time.
What's the highlight's of the set - well there's loads and my personal
favourites are as follows;
Disc 1 - the hits of the Drifters including Spanish Harlem/Up On The
Roof. Mel Torme's northern classic 'Comin' Home Baby'. Carla Thomas
with 'B-A-B-Y' and Don Covay with 'See-Saw'
Disc 2 - The Capitols with 'Cool Jerk' (funk brothers) 'Green Onions'
from Booker T, but Angel Baby from Darrell Banks is the star cut on
this disc along with Deon Jackson.
Disc 3 - 'Funky Nassau' the Calypso/West Indies flavoured dance cut
from the Beginning of the End, and the Soul Clan with 'That's How It
Feels' a flip side to Soul Meeting featuring Joe Tex/Solomon
Burke/Arthur Conley. Northern soul favourite 'Some Kind of Wonderful'
by the Soul Brothers Six evokes great youth club days in Manchester.
Disc 4 - just about everything here is fantastic from 'I'll be Around'
from the Spinners to Aretha's gorgeous rendition of Stevie Wonders'
'Until You Come Back To Me' and Brook Benton's classic ballad 'Rainy
Night In Georgia'
Something for everyone here and a most important release that's not to
be missed.
Rating 10/10
photo's from left to right - Aretha Franklin/Solomon Burke/Percy
Sledge/Sam & Dave/Wilson Pickett/Ray Charles
