Soul Deep BBC A Critique By Rob Moss

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Just had a look at the listing for cd its below,

have to say doesn't impress

suppose trick is working out who its aimed at

as show was aimed at mainstream music fans, then suppose the cd was as well

rather like someone who stumbled across a episode on a saturday night flick thru channels enjoyed it and sees name and clicks and buys

cant see it ending up in many soul fans collections myself

Disc One

1. Soul Finger-The Bar Kays

2. Let The Good Times Roll-Louis Jordan

3. Caldonia-Louis Jordan

4. Jesus Give Me Water-Sam Cooke With The Soul Stirrers

5. Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean-Ruth Brown

6. Shake Rattle And Roll-Big Joe Turner

7. Ain't That A Shame-Fats Domino

8. Touch The Hem Of His Garment-Sam Cooke With The Soul Stirrers

9. Blue Monday-Fats Domino

10. Ready Teddy-Little Richard

11. Please Please Please-James Brown & The Famous Flames

12. Sit Down Servant-The Staple Singers

13. Shout-The Isley Brothers

14. Cry To Me-Solomon Burke

15. Shop Around-Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

16. Something's Got A Hold On Me-Etta James

17. Let Me Go The Right Way-The Supremes

18. My Guy-Mary Wells

19. Baby Love-The Supremes

20. Nowhere To Run-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas

21. People Get Ready-The Impressions

Disc Two

1. Where Did Our Love Go-The Supremes

2. Dancing In The Street-Martha & The Vandellas

3. Papa's Got A Brand New Bag-James Brown

4. Reach Out I'll Be There-Four Tops

5. Love Attack-James Carr

6. Rescue Me-Fontella Bass

7. Dark End Of The Street-James Carr

8. Cold Sweat-James Brown

9. I've Never Loved A Man-Aretha Franklin

10. Dance To The Music-Sly & The Family Stone

11. Love Child-The Supremes

12. Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm Proud-James Brown

13. Cloud Nine-The Temptations

14. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)-Sly & The Family Stone

15. Ball Of Confusion-The Temptations

16. What's Gong On-Marvin Gaye

17. Up For The Down Stroke-Parliament

18. My Prerogative-Bobby Brown

May 2005

Soul music has conquered the world in the last 50 years - growing from raw, electric rhythms, to the billion dollar industry it is today with R&B and hip hop dominating the world's charts.

It has been the soundtrack to some of the most extraordinary social, political and cultural shifts. 'Soul Deep' a definitive 2CD set with sleeve notes by soul historian Barney Hoskyns, compliments a new BBC six-part series and makes for a classic overview of one of the greatest music genres of all time.

After watching the first one Iwas hoping for a reasonable insight,but the Beeb in their usual infinite wisdom once again Blew it

No change

could have been the bees knees

Doug

As we all television viewing you have a simple choice and an on off switch!!!

This offering was not to everyones taste or standards so don't watch simple as that.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Hip Hop,dont stop till you get enough!!we have had enough,boring boring boring,not RnB not Soul,last but not least, not Northernsoul ie;not intrested anyway you can keep your Box`s they mean shit here,if its good enough its good enough,this CD aint`

Slightly OT but did anyone else see the programme last night (part of the BBC Out of Africa series) "The many faces of the black icon".

I really enjoyed it, especially when Towana & the Natural Destruction was slipped into the soundtrack.

For what it's worth, my tuppance ha'penny worth. I thought the series was excellent. it couldn't go into the depth we would have liked here but it served to highlight points in the history of Soul that will hopefully spark an interest in those who didn't know much beyond the obvious. I do think the linking together of the old and the new is very important whether anyone like newer stuff or not.

Re- "The Many Faces Of The Black Icon".

I watched this Ali (managed to miss the start though !) and enjoyed it too.

For what it's worth, my tuppance ha'penny worth. I thought the series was excellent. it couldn't go into the depth we would have liked here but it served to highlight points in the history of Soul that will hopefully spark an interest in those who didn't know much beyond the obvious. I do think the linking together of the old and the new is very important whether anyone like newer stuff or not. 

Re- "The Many Faces Of The Black Icon".

I watched this Ali (managed to miss the start though !) and enjoyed it too.

link

I thought it was excellent as well Simon [ and anyone else who's read Rob's article ] , though , as Rob points out in his critique , many important landmarks were missed ,[ " doo - wop " etc ] , which would leave the average viewer in the dark as to the beginnings and roots of the music we love . I'd would have preferred to have had these events addressed , rather than a whole programme on Ray Charles . Didn't see the last programme , but if there was no mention of Gamble and Huff and the Philly Sound throughout the series then it's a crying shame , as their productions dominated the clubs and airwaves throughout the early to mid 70's and beyond . On the funk side of things , I've never understood the attraction of Artists such as Parliament , Funkadelic etc , great fun maybe , but compared to the lyrical and productive brilliance of records like " Heart Trouble " , " Don't Be Sore At Me " etc they have little relevance to real Soul Music . Was suprised to see the CD end with Bobby Brown , what about the new breed of Soul singers like Angie Stone , Jahiem or Joe , who if the average viewer got to hear , would maybe start buying Soul music again . I know the BBC only had 6 hours to play with , and the footage shown was superb [ especially the Otis Redding progaramme ] but it still left me thinking about the many brilliant Artists and producers they missed the boat with . Best Wishes ,Eddie .

Bit slow off the mark replying but thanks Rob for the feedback on the Southern show.

Rob - I think all your points are valid and I must be honest and say that the series was also a disappointment for me. I think the main issue for me was that TV presents a big problem when you want to tell a story - you need footage to go with the story and that was the main problem - either it didn't exist or they did not have access. Then budget comes into it because the more interviews you do the costlier it gets plus the bigger the story - where do you begin and end? I think choosing one artist was an interesting approach but flawed because it ends up miscuing the story. Some of the original ideas got lost - for instance they were planning a Big City Soul show with Chuck Jackson, Freddie Scott, Howard Tate etc centred on New York and the Brill Building.

I did try to get more involved in the series as soon as I knew it was happening which was early last year. However, the Beeb had there own views about what they wanted and I only helped them on the Southern show especially finding the James Carr footage, setting up interviews with the likes of Roosevelt Jamieson, Quinton Claunch etc and they also drew heavily on my Fate and Chance on The Dark End of The Street for the re-enactment of James in a bar etc.

However, I will treasure the original footage and the interviews even if the overall story and concept was flawed.

Best wishes

Colin Dilnot

SOUL DEEP - A critique by Rob Moss.When the news that the BBC were to commission a series on the history and development of Soul music was announced, the sense of anticipation and excitement amongst devotees was palpable. After virtually ignoring t..