Because it's not on Kent - and because the Kent releases themselves were so strong this month - one of the most important CDs that Ace has released this year may have escaped your attention.
It's not one of my compilations so I don't mind shouting about it from the imaginary rooftops - but it''s one that all lovers of early Chicago soul should be aware of on a 'need-to-own' basis...
'Bandera Doo Wop' is possibly not a title that grabs the attention of your average Soul Sourcer - but it's a must for all fans of the Impressions, as it contains all of their surviving pre-Falcon/Abner/Vee Jay/ABC demos and masters - including their original demos of 'For Your Precious Love', 'Sweet Was The Wine' and 'I've Got A Girl' , Curtis Mayfield's first recorded vocal, and a song that later became Major Lance's first single on Mercury.
A lot of restoration work went into the salvaging of these demos. The fi isn't always as hi as you might wish for, but the music is priceless - and how often do you get the chance to hear one of the greatest groups of all time at their youngest and hungriest, laying down rough demos of their songs in the hope that a record label boss might think that they had something that 'the kids' would like?
It won't be to the tastes of everyone on here (although it ought to be) but I wanted to make sure that everyone knew about it , as it's in Ace's 'Limited Edition' series and there were only 1500 copes manufactured - a good percentage of which are already gone...
Those that are left should be available from your usual Ace/Kent retailer until stocks are exhausted!
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