New 45s - 3 Via Kent - Inc The Exits, Darrow Fletcher, Barbara Long,The Cautions - Out Now

Ace/Kent Records have 3 brand new 45s out this weekend. Details, audio and such follows below

Darrow Fletcher - The Pain Gets A Little Deeper / My Judgement Day - Kent Repro 26

‘The Pain Gets A Little Deeper’ was soul music’s equivalent of Frankie Lymon’s ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ – young, vulnerable, heart-felt vocals that belied the singer’s years. It entered the charts in January 1966 and catapulted the 14 year-old Darrow Fletcher to fame in the R&B world, particularly in his home city of Chicago. Elton John has cited the recording as one of the best soul records he has ever heard.

The ‘My Judgement Day’ flip demonstrated that there was depth to Darrow’s talent and a fruitful career followed.

The Exits - Another Sundown In Watts / I Don’t Want To Hear It - Kent Repro 27

The sparsely-recorded Exits must be considered one of the greatest Los Angeles 60s soul vocal groups. Jimmy Conwell was their driving force, but all four singers contributed. Jimmy and fellow Exit Godoy Colbert, along with label owner Hank Graham co-writing both of these songs. Graham licensed ‘Another Sundown In Watts’ to Kapp records but with the issue being incredibly scarce compared to the demo, it may not have had a proper release. The song is hugely popular among both discerning northern soul fans and harmony lovers and now fetches over £1,000.

Coming up fast on the rails is the catchy dancer ‘I Don’t Want To Hear It’, issued on Cleveland’s Gemini label two years previously. It’s another mid-tempo harmony jam, ideal for today’s ageing dancers.

Barbara Long / The Cautions - Take It From Me / Poor Loser - Soul Harmony SH 04

Barbara Long’s exquisite vocals on ‘Take It From Me’ are backed by a heavenly backing group that was no doubt arranged and maybe featured Raynoma “Miss Ray” Gordy, Berry’s second wife and co-founder of Motown. This song was written by Eddie Singleton, Ray’s new partner who set up Shrine Records with her in Washington DC. The record came out on their sister label Jet Set, but sold poorly and is very sought after now.

Singleton wrote another beautiful harmony ballad, ‘Poor Loser’ for his main group the Cautions - issued on Shrine in 1966. It was their second single and got lost in the company’s implosion with most copies incinerated in record distributor Waxie Maxie’s fire. Its Northern soul flip makes it a £2,000 record on original.

Availability

All three of these brand new 45s are now available via Ace Records website (tap here), and various record stores including our very own revamped Source Store (tap here to visit)