Soul Music News

This is a story of perseverance. This is a story of how a bandleader and aspiring singer from Philadelphia discovered a young group from Camden NJ, wrote and produced their first single, and then  watched the group’s career take off in someone else's stable. There were many lessons learned the hard way; the most poignant was finding out the record business in Philly during the 1960’s and 70's was a hard nut to crack, especially when you're an unknown in the R&B world. Post Barbara Mason

Granada Reports ITV carried an interesting news story last Friday all about US Soul singer Jimmy Hamilton celebrating his 80th birthday in Chorley Lancashire.   The background to this clip starts back in the 1970s, when Granada Tv made a documentary in their series 'This England'. This episode was titled 'The Realistics In Belfast' and was first broadcast on 21st June 1976 (a brief clip of this documentary was featured on Outta Sites Records facebook page and was also featured in our

Grayson Perry’s The Full English Channel 4  Thursday 9th February  9-10pm Quirky artist and TV presenter Grayson Perry concludes his three part examination of what it means to be English’ these days . This sees him  journey North where he supposedly chats to a pair of Northern Soul enthusiasts in Wigan before visiting an All Niter in Blackpool. (There is also an interview with Paul Heaton :Ex  Beautiful South ) He’s not everyones taste but he doesn’t take himself too serious

Stax Records website showing news about the upcoming 4 part HBO documentary,  uk details hopefully to follow? Los Angeles, CA (May 2, 2024) — THE MEMPHIS SOUL SOUND THAT ELECTRIFIED THE WORLD TO BE CELEBRATED IN NEW STAX: SOULSVILLE U.S.A. DOCUSERIES The HBO Original four-part documentary series STAX: SOULSVILLE U.S.A., an official selection of the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival and winner of the TV Premiere Audience Award, is produced and directed by filmmaker Jamila Wignot. Th

Another quick highlight/reminder post for all those who like to be organised! We do have a dynamic look forward planning list of the next 100 top soul related Weekender events taken direct and in real time from our very active Source Event Guide. Basically what you get is a simple dynamic list of the next 100 Weekenders posted by you (the members) in our Event Guide,  all on one page The link to the page is below and can also now be found on our Weekender Index page https://w

Unfinished Unissued Until…now! Epsilon Record Co. proudly presents its latest release EPS029 1969 Milwaukee / City in Wisconsin HARVEY SCALES & THE SEVEN SOUNDS A: LOVE THAT ONE (2:38) (previously unissued from Cuca records stable) WRITERS / COMPOSERS T. Brown   B: DON'T YOU EVER LET IT END (2:47) WRITERS / COMPOSERS Lennie Lacour     Available to pre-order today! Limited edition 300 copies (release d

Mark B from Big Man Records has passed on news all about an upcoming book from Sharon McMahan Going by the title it could be an interesting one, due out on Feb 12th,  details and link below   The Last Note: A Northern Soul Classic... the Stories Behind the Songs! by Sharon McMahan   About the Author SHARON MCMAHAN SONGWRITER / ARTIST / PUBLISHER / PRODUCER Sharon was born in Sevierville, Tennessee but raised and musically disciplined in Detroit, Michigan. Sha

The first two releases from a series of EPs containing some of the best originally unissued Motown tracks, now available on vinyl / 7" for the first time.    Order now for 20th June: https://soul4real.es/   FROM DETROIT WITH LOVE (S4R38) A1 - KIM WESTON - FANCY MEETING YOU A2 - THE MIRACLES - SHOW ME YOU CAN DANCE B1 - J.J. BARNES - I´M HERE NOW THAT YOU NEED ME B2 - THE TEMPTATIONS - I´D RATHER FORGET      

A msm view of the 'mod' revival back in 1979 from the BBC Archive     James Hogg reports on the mod revival currently taking place in London. He interviews Ian Page - the vocalist with the new mod group Secret Affair - and John Entwistle of mod's elder statesmen The Who. Is the mod rebirth just a flash-in-the-pan, motivated by money, or is there more to it than that? The whole affair is regarded with some amusement in Yorkshire, where the mod scene never really went away

A quick heads up on a couple of recent improvements to our Soul Event Guide - Local Soul Events feature Firstly we do now have a local text based search - just  enter town/city/district for a 'ranged' (50 mile default) list of events which carries onto other weeks Members can now also choose to use their profile location when logged in Once a location is chosen it should then be your 'default' location  in the 'local events' section for 14 days Get over to see it all in actio

Events - The Next 100 Soul Weekenders March 2024 A start of the month Event Guide shout Direct from our Source Event Guide a dynamic grab of the next upcoming 100 Soul Weekender Events   Links Event Guide Main Page (tap) Event Guide Weekender Section (tap)    

The Intrigues: Lost Philly Soul Recording Discovered.  Press Release: The Intrigues   “If The Shoe Fits”   SJLP 5013 & SJCD 5013  Release Date: Monday September 18th 2017 This product is available in both CD and Vinyl formats.     In 1969 a local Philly group, The Intrigues, hit pay dirt with their self penned song “In A Moment”, initially released on their own Bullet label. This Thom Bell and Bobby Martin song was later picked up by the NYC Yew

Details of an upcoming book due out Aug 2024 from author Benjamin Myers. Bloomsbury has acquired Rare Singles, a "full-throated hymn to the sorrows and triumphs of soul music" from author Benjamin Myers. "Over in Chicago, Bucky Bronco is down on his luck – and has been since the loss of his beloved wife. The best he can hope for is to make ends meet, and try and stay high. But then an unexpected invitation arrives, from someone he’s never met, to come to somewhere he’s never heard of."

WE ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE OUR NEXT BIG MAN RELEASE BMR 1019 - ANTHONY AND THE AQUA LADS - I REMEMBER B/W THE TWILIGHTS - YOU'RE THE ONE, BLUE EYED CAROLINA SOUL OF THE HIGHEST ORDER, UNDER LICENCE FROM ANTHONY MANER OF THE AQUA LADS AND WITH THE BLESSING OF GARY LOWDER (WRITER AND LEAD SINGER OF THE TWILIGHTS) BOTH RECORDS ON THEIR ORIGINAL LABELS GOLD BEE AND AQUA HAVE BEEN FINE COLLECTABLES FOR MANY YEARS SO A PERFECT PAIRING FOR THIS BIG MAN RELEASE FOLLOWING ON FROM BMR 1017 AND BMR 1018 E

A four part series from BBC and PBS  starts on the 21st January 2023 Details below The BBC has announced that it will air a brand new four-part music documentary boxset featuring and executive produced by Hip Hop legend, Chuck D, called Fight The Power: How Hip Hop Changed The World. Developed by Chuck D and his producing partner, Lorrie Boula, the series will air on BBC Two and drop as a box-set on BBC iPlayer on January 21st. It has been co-produced by BBC Studios and PBS. Fight

Three new 'Repro' 45s from Kent are released today, featuring Little Ann, Ty Karmin, Melvin Davis, the details and Kent release notes follow below...   Little Ann - Who Are You Trying To Fool - Kent Repro 15 Little Ann’s ‘Who Are You Trying To Fool’ was unknown until the late 90s when Ace acquired Dave Hamilton’s tapes and this glorious soul dancer was discovered. It has since sold out two Kent 45 releases and due to demand we have resurrected it. This time it is on a TCB re

Rare Singles - Benjamin Myers  'A tale of soul music and second chances' First posted in our soul music news section back in January (tap to view) the book 'Rare Singles' by Benjamin Myers (described as  'a love letter to Northern Soul') is officially published today (1st August 2024) The book has had many 'positive' reviews from the 'Mainstream' since then, however some of our members have already expressed 'concerns' about the 'validity' of the book and some have stated that per

"The Rosetta Stone of Rock'n'Roll"? A Review of Mind Over Matter: The Myths and Mysteries of Detroit's Fortune Records by Billy Miller and Michael Hurtt from Joel E Turner Intro It’s been two Xmas’s since I was gifted this tome which has rarely left the office reading table. Mind Over Matter: The Myths and Mysteries of Detroit’s Fortune Records by Billy Miller and Michael Hurtt is a sprawling 500+ page, hardbound, well-illustrated history of legendary Fortune Records. I’

Funky Way - Venture Records 1967-1969 - Calvin Arnold CDKENM 528 A new album release from Kent Records, just released and the release notes follow below Release Notes This is the first album of Mickey Stevenson’s Venture material. ‘Funky Way’ was the label’s first release and a hit in 1967, despite limited airplay due to having the word “funky” in the title. It went on to become an early funk classic, covered by Rufus Thomas for Stax, Tommy Strand for Fame, Jimmy Bee for Kent, Ray

Just a quick highlight/reminder post for all those who like to be organised! We do have a dynamic look forward planning list of the next 100 top soul related Allnighter events taken direct and in real time from our active Source Event Guide. ( Note our Allnighter section does cover both full Allnighters and also mini-niters. ) Basically on offer is a simple dynamic list of the next 100 Allnighters posted by you in our Event Guide,  all on one page The link to the page is belo

German article & video interviewing some of the people who go to non OvO clubs like Deptford Northern Soul Club, Bristol and so on... See below:  https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten-sendungen/heute-journal/northern-soul-revival-100.html

RSD 2024 saw a limited edition comp Lp released, blurb and video trailer follows below... Harlem Shuffle Records presents ANDY SMITH’S NORTHERN SOUL ESSENTIALS L.P. 14 Fast Spinning Soul Stomper by DJ Andy Smith - for dancers mostly! With stunning Northern Soul photographs by Richard Oughton GREEN VINYL ALBUM COMPILATION OF 14 TRACKS 750 COPIES LIMITED EDITION L.P. Exclusive to RECORD STORE DAY - on sale April 20th 2024 in stores participating in Record Store Day. A

Kent has a new addition to its Select Imprint Carolyn Crawford - Get Up And Move / Sugar Boy - Kent Select 094 Release notes, video and such follow below Release notes from Kent/Ace Website This Kent single has been eagerly awaited for some time. Plays at the 100 Club and other venues of ill-repute, has made it a must-play, dancefloor-filling track. Carolyn Crawford had a brief sojourn at Mickey Stevenson’s Mpingo label, in the early 70s, as a temporary member of Hodges,

Soul Directions next upcoming release goes like this... Release Notes Soul Direction Records are pleased to announce the next release in the catalogue. Wee – “Trying To Tell You How I Feel” / “We Could Get It Together” SD022 Pre-Order from Friday 26th January for release date 5th February 2024. Both tracks “We Could Get It Together” & “Trying to Tell You How I Feel” featured in this latest Soul Direction outing were part of a master tape of unreleased tracks that nev

Soul Junction SJ544 Cam Cameron 'They Say I'm A Lonely Man' Press Release:   Cam Cameron   They Say/I’m A Lonely man   SJ554 Release Date: Monday 29th January 2024 Cam Cameron appears to be another one of those performers from an infinite list of Black American artists that cut a solitary 45 single and then disappear into obscurity never to be seen or heard from again. Couple this with the passing of any of the relevant protagonists from the time along with any of the surviving on

New Northern soul comp Lp release from Charly Records Release notes and links below... RARE SOUL UNCOVERED 40TH ANNIVERSARY Various Artists Format: LP-Black Release notes Northern Soul’s most loved and hardest working DJ DAVE EVISON looks back at his pioneering Rare Soul Uncovered album series that shook the scene in 1984. Compiled and researched by Dave shortly after Wigan Casino had closed its doors where he was a main-stage DJ for eight years. At the time Dave ho

A new addition to Kent records long running 'Songwriter Series', billed as 'a long-overdue addition', details and more follow below... A Different World - The Holland Dozier Holland Songbook - Various Artists (Songwriter Series) - CDTOP 520 'The Sound Of Young America- an extensive salute to the classic songs of Motown and Detroit's flagship tunesmiths of the 60s and 70s.' Release notes Holland-Dozier-Holland songs have been revisited many times by all sorts of artists, and “

Just released... Shrine Records - Rare Soul Sides: Washington DC 1965-1967 'Seven new Shrine 45s, complete with an attractively packaged box containing rarely seen photos; soul heaven!' A 7 x 45 box set from Kent Records A 7 x 45 Box Set from Kent Records containing 14 sides billed as 'worthy of single releases'   Track Listing and Audio Side 1 01   We Called It Love - Barbara Long   02   Take It From Me - Traci     Side 2 01   Mind In A

Press Release:  Shirley Diamond & Jesse James “You Don’t Know Who You Sleeping With” SJ1021 Release Date:  Monday February 26th 2024 Diamond & James are none other than our old friend, the evergreen Jesse James in tandem with Southern soulstress Shirley Diamond.  Jesse has known and worked with Shirley for some time following their introduction by Shirley’s former manager/producer the late Harvey Scales. Shirley a native of Atlanta, Georgia and is not only a performing artist a

TAMLA MOTOWN WORLDWIDE II (An Anthology of Original Singles & EP Releases 1959- 1971) Details of a new book. titled Tamla Motown Worldwide II An Anthology of Original Singles & EP Releases 1959- 1971, this appears to be a follow on to the previous 2020 book Tamla Motown Worldwide which concerned itself with lps. Scheduled for a 01 September 2024 release, the release notes follow below Release Notes MAUS OF MUSIC proudly presents the book TAMLA MOTOWN WORLDWIDE II (An

Word all about a new double lp from Numero group, Eccentric Soul THE CUCA LABEL (2XLP)   Release Notes Late night '60s R&B caught on tape at Jim Kirchstein's jack-of-all genres Cuca studio. Released on minuscule pressings into the Wisconsin wilderness, these 26 sasquatch-rare tracks uncover the soulful paths between the Chicago, Milwaukee and Rockford scenes. Featuring Harvey Scales, Step By Step, Betty Moorer, Seven Sounds, Twilighters, Birdlegs & Pauline, Esqui

New Big Man Records 45 The Embers - First Time / I Wanna Be (Your Everything)  BMR 1018 Just been released and now available  Label Release notes  This JCP northern soul monster first championed on the scene by the likes of Guy Hennigan, an Embers original song written by Jackie Gore has become a big collectable on it's USA original,  with their fabulous cover of the Manhattans Carnival classic 'I Wanna Be (Your Everything)' which The Embers very much make their own certainly

Our popular 'Featured Events' feature has undergone some work, improvements and updates Source Event Guide Featured Events Intro The 'Featured Events' feature now allows promoters/organisers/members  to 'upgrade' any Event's exposure/awareness via the event listings in our Soul Source Event Guide.  For a small cost members can now 'upgrade' their own or indeed other members Event Guide Entry in minutes Prices have been upgraded The trial 'opening' offer is now over,

The weekends knocking on the door and so here's a quick helpful shout about this weekends upcoming soul events Just tap the below link for both a dynamic map view of all the 90+ Soul events taking place this weekend along with a fully featured list view below the map view. And of course feel free to let us all know how your soul weekend went via our Event Guide 'Review' feature... just dive in and drill down...    

After a break of 3 months with no Soul4Real releases I´m excited to announce two new 7"s by Tommy Tate and The Staples. Liner notes by Finland's finest Heikki Suosalo and our very own Iu Adell. As usually, great remastering courtesy of Jorge Muñoz-Cobo (Circo Perrotti) and fantastic job by Jordi Duró on design/artwork duties. Order now for 1st March: https://soul4real.es   𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗬 𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 (S4R33) I Can´t Do Enough For You Baby / Hold On (To What We´ve Got) Tommy was born in 1

News on Dean Chalkley's new short film 'Good For The Soul' which is now available to watch online via Nowness Information GOOD FOR THE SOUL sets a blistering pace! The film is a joyous celebration of dancing to Northern Soul. This modern, vibrant and fast paced short taps right into the emotional and cathartic nature of the music, a high powered firecracker of a film that’ll turn your heartbeat up.  Originally created and exclusively screened in the ’50 Years On The Soul Stays Str

This months releases from Ace includes a brand new cd from Kent, details and more below... New Kent Cd - Atlanta - Hotbed Of 70s Soul - Various Artists (Hotlanta/ GMG) - CDKEND 518 Release Notes Clip   The GRC Records set-up in Atlanta produced a wealth of great soul music. Because of the sudden curtailment of the company, due to owner Michael Thevis’ incarceration, so much of it never saw a release. The tapes were preserved though and with many tracks being issued. This

Events - The Next 100 Soul Allnighters as at March 2024 A heads up Event Guide shout Direct from our Source Event Guide a dynamic grab of the next upcoming 100 Soul Allnighter Events   Links Event Guide Main Page (tap) Event Guide Allnighter Section (tap)

Details of an upcoming Album release have just landed,  from Soul Direction we have... The Decisions - “Color Me Blue” (The York & Sussex Sessions) - Soul Direction SDLP1001 Release Notes Soul Direction Records are proud to present the latest release in the Decisions music legacy. The Decisions – “Color Me Blue” (The York & Sussex Sessions) Soul Direction SDLP1001 Released in 12” Vinyl album format + limited CD edition. RELEASE DATE: 25th OCTOBER 2024 (PRE-ORD

The Duke Of Chicago:   The Duke Turner Story. Willie Roy Turner was born on the 21st of February 1939 in Louisville, Mississippi, the fourth of eight children born to parents Florence and Herman Turner. It was Herman who gave his son Willie Roy the pet/nickname of ‘Duke’, which Willie used as his stage and professional name in later life. Duke is a rarity in himself, being one of only 0.2% of African-Americans to be born with blue eyes. The Turner family migrated north to Chicago

Happy to announce pre-order for volumes 3 & 4 of "From Detroit With Love", a series of EPs containing some of the best originally unissued Motown tracks, now available on vinyl / 7" for the first time. Order now for 20th July: https://soul4real.es/   FROM DETROIT WITH LOVE III (S4R40) A1 - KIM WESTON - AFTER THE RAIN A2 - FOUR TOPS - JUST A LITTLE LOVE (BEFORE MY LIFE IS GONE) B1 - CAROLYN CRAWFORD - THINK OF THE TIMES B2 - THE VANDELLAS - YOU TAUGHT ME HOW

The Guardian is running an interview and feature on Ewan Spencer, details and link folow below ‘We’ve always been very good at enjoying ourselves’: Ewen Spencer’s photographs of a lost clubbing generation In the late 1990s, the photographer shot images of dancers at niche London club nights. He reflects on how smartphones have changed the scene, and how his pictures became a book     These pictures aren’t   about Teds, Skinheads, Northern Soul, Acid House or Jungle

Soultownie Records Boston Mass USA Proudly Present Their Forthcoming Vinyl Release By Minneapolis Based Jay Avion , Titled " Celebrate BW Sunshine " A Limited Run Of 300 Worldwide With NO REPRESS  All Hand Numbered. Date Of Release Scheduled For End Of June 2024. Jay Avion has been honing his style for the past two decades. A staple of the city’s live music scene, he fronted the popular band Soulacious after independently releasing his first solo CD, Every Part of Me, in the early 2000

Events - The Next 100 Soul Weekenders as at May 2024 Another heads up on upcoming weekenders directly from our Source Event Guide a dynamic grab of the next upcoming 100 Soul Weekender Events...   Links Event Guide Main Page (tap) Event Guide Weekender Section (tap)    

The just gone Easter Weekend saw 5 new releases from Kent/Ace records, 2 on the Select imprint, 2 on the Repro and one on their Measured Mile one. Details, audio and Kents release notes follow below...   Sylvia & The Blue Jays / The Soul Children -Put Me In The Mood / Standing In The Safety Zone - Kent Select 092 The unknown Sylvia & The Blue Jays cut two tracks for Stax, a southern ballad and this atmospheric, laid-back funky dancer. We first put a version out by Mem

Groove Machine - The Earl Young Drum Sessions Various Artists CDTOP 1629 A new Cd release from Kent Records honouring the musical achievements of Earl Young... Clips of Release Notes  Earl turned 83 in June 2023 (and a very active 83 at that!). To honour his lifetime of musical achievement, Kent presents “Groove Machine – The Earl Young Drum Sessions” a representative but also all-encompassing selection of Earl’s studio work as a drummer and singer from the mid-60s to the late 70s

A quick highlight news post of a recently added feature to our active and vibrant Source Event Guide.. Source Event Guide Featured Events Intro The 'Featured Events' feature now allows promoters/organisers/members  to 'upgrade' any Event's exposure/awareness via the event listings in our Soul Source Event Guide.  For a small cost members can now 'upgrade' their own or indeed others Event Guide Entry in minutes How To take advantage of this feature, it's just a simpl

Keele Soul All-Nighter Located on the famous Keele university campus, this has been named one of the best all-nighters around. With an amazing line up and the finest sound system around. You are sure to leave this night with sore feet but an ear-to-ear smile.  Keele university's campus, rich in architectural phenomena and detail, provides an incredible setting for an all-nighter. The rich history of the buildings on campus and surroundings can provoke a sense of nostalgia, which i

Details of an upcoming film that may be of interest... Luther: Never Too Much Release Notes: Luther Vandross’ story is being told. “Luther: Never Too Much,” the documentary film from award-winning director Dawn Porter, chronicles the story of a vocal virtuoso. Using a wealth of rarely seen archives, Luther tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and musical collaborators including Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack. The film r

A recent update of this Soul Source feature leads us to an excuse for a site shout/reminder Using this feature viewers can view both... 1. Members Locations  https://www.soul-source.co.uk/communitymap/ 2. Upcoming Soul Events Locations (from the event guide) https://www.soul-source.co.uk/communitymap/?group=events For future use can find the link under the 'extras' menu on our navbars.   You can quickly drill right down to street level via +/- icons or mou