Funk, dial, sweet soul, blues ... and more All in latest ACE releases
New Releases for JULY 2003 from Ace Records
FUNK SOUL SISTERS - CDBGPD 154 (Also on vinyl BGP2 154)
There is sometimes an element of giggling and laughing involved in putting together an Ace compilation. Not condescending or rude laughter, but more the sort that you get when you are young and Santa Claus has been with a large pile of presents. Its an uncontrollable urge forced onto you by the sheer joy of being given so much good music to play with.
CLASS&RENDEZVOUS VOCAL GROUPS - CDCHD 892
Aces tour de force of vocal group compilations from West Coast labels continues and now the spotlight is turned on the Class&Rendevous marques. The Class label was started by Leon RenÃÆ’© in 1951 and ran for some fifteen years, with its associated Rendezvous logo appearing in 1958. Leons son Rafael-Leon (nicknamed Googie) was a major force at the labels, doing both A&R work and appearing as an artist.
DION / Inside Job + Its Only Jesus - CDCHD 895
Theres a picture in his autobiography The Wanderer of a young Dion hanging out in shades on the corner of Crotona and 183rd Street. It is captioned "Here I am looking cool..." and it serves as a reminder of the Bronx neighbourhood that formed the backdrop to his early success in 1958. It was an area of gangs and posing where image mattered, and it was hardly surprising that the sudden huge hit I Wonder Why took Dion&the Belmonts to fame and fortune way beyond what the hood could offer
JIMMY WITHERSPOON / Sings The Blues Sessions - CDCHD 896
In case you hadnt noticed, Ace has been getting thoroughly stuck into its owned repertoire of late. Our extensive-bordering-on-exhaustive campaign to digitise every important RPM/Kent recording by B.B. King is well under way, the still-relatively new 10 inch series is coming on nicely and the long-awaited Modern Downhome series has been garnering all the critical plaudits it obviously merits. Next month will see the first volume proper in our "Central Avenue Scene" series, which will initially draw its repertoire from Jake Porters Combo imprint and eventually spread out to incorporate Modern and Recorded In Hollywood/Cash/Money recordings. And as well as all this, were also about to give the Ace treatment to the Modern and Kent recordings of another acclaimed blues legend who fully deserves it, the great Jimmy Witherspoon.
THE DIAL RECORDS SOUTHERN SOUL STORY - CDKEN2 223
There were two entirely different US indie record companies named Dial, both most often remembered for one major artist apiece. The first, owned by Ross Russell, operated from 1945 to the early 50s, initially out of Los Angeles, latterly New York City, and is renowned for its recordings of the colossus of bebop sax artistry, Charlie Parker, who Russell managed for a while. The second, owned by William "Buddy" Killen, operated between 1961 to the early 80s from Nashville and is most famous for its recordings of one of the most original and successful southern soul singers of the era, Joe Tex. Killen was Texs mentor from the early chitlin circuit days and on to international stardom. The subject of this 51-track double CD, authoritatively annotated and compiled by John Broven and John Ridley is Buddy Killens Dial Records.
IN PERFECT HARMONY / Sweet Soul Groups 1968-77 - CDKEND 219
Group soul harmony has been dear to the hearts of soul fans and collectors for more than three decades now and, for almost as long as there has been such a thing, has been a prominent feature of the Ace catalogue. Down the years we have featured - and continue to feature - wonderful single-CD sets devoted to the Manhattans, Mad Lads, Impressions, Chi-Lites, Detroit Emeralds, Delfonics and many others who, for those of us who are aficionados, are pretty much the be-all and end-all of sweet soul harmony.
FATBACK / Remixed - CDSEWD 139 (Also on vinyl SEW2 139)
Its not often that Tony Rounce and myself are taken back to our younger days, just over a decade ago, when DJ chart returns, what was played on KISS, or Choice, or, God forbid in Ibiza, was a central part of our lives. Banging tunes have these days taken a back seat in our lives as we discuss for days on end whether Cropper or Young is the better guitarist (an honourable draw), or if the window in the office should be left open or closed (that one might yet come to blows). But, suddenly, we are back in that world thanks to the wonderful, influential and often sampled music of Fatback.
THE COUNT FIVE / Psychotic Revelation - CDWIKD 230
San Jose, California, 1964. Local rocknroll band the Squires has the good fortune of hooking up with Irish native John "Sean" Byrne, fresh from playing with Dublin beat group, the Scorpions. Though Byrne has written a song that the group, now renamed Count Five, completely believes in, it is to be rejected over the course of the next couple of years by several record labels, including Capitol and Fantasy.
