Mike

Soul Masters 2008 Long time members may recall how a few years ago an ground breaking series of rare soul video dvds were out and about. These dvds entitled Soul Masters Vol 1-3 featured a wide range of little seen or even known about video clips from the 60s and 70s. Featuring a wide range of soul artists and both familar and rare soul tracks, these dvds caused quite a stir at the time. In those far off days before youtube most of such archive footage was in the hands of dedicated soul and pop music video collectors and was not really widely available or even known about out of these circles. Thanks to one Uk collectors input on the 3 Soul Masters dvds this changed rather quickly. Unfortunately as it sometimers happens, after having the insight and spending time and effort to push these dvds out, some old school "soul names" decided rather than applaud such insight/efforts, they rather do what they used to be good at, rip someone else's ideas/efforts off, and so yep it wasnt long before dvds featuring the same tracks were being pushed out and sold to main street outlets by the usual suspects. Disillusioned by such going ons that was that , no more Soul Masters dvds. Of course it was no great suprise that there were no more "other ones" either. Anyway though the door was shut, the clips were still around and time has moved on. While no more dvds are planned as far as aware , the collector guy involved has ok'd and passed on a 15 minute montage of just a few of the tracks that are still out there in collector land. There's a few screenshots below Starting off with one that will just say could send your jaw downwards when hera it. Also some classic stuff from the 60s, Dobie Gray - Out On The floor, Bobby Freeman - I'll never fall in love again, a version of "What" by Groucho Marxs daughter Melinda, The Larks, a fair few familar faces, some jaw droppers and so on Basically a wide varied 15 min grab bag of video soul clips!. The link is below non members must use that, members can view normal ways Its opened to all to view for a short while and then it go back to the same as all other clips members only now out of date

In a nutshell, I making a series called Wish You Were There? for Radio 2 taking musicians back to a gig in history they would have loved to have been at. With stories from fans, journalists, producers and house staff who were present on that night we'll build a picture of what it would have been like to have witnessed a concert that was groundbreaking for its musical style, the success it brought Stax, the catapult of Otis Redding on the international stage, and for contributing to the breaking of social and racial boundaries. If you were at the Astoria and have strong memories of that evening and remember the buzz surrounding the Stax-Volt tour then I would love to hear from you. If you can help please email me at gemma.newby@allout.co.uk Thanks Gemma

Out in The US next month, from the trailer it looks like being a bit of a laugh Superstars Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac are "Soul Men" - the hilarious story of Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) and Floyd (Bernie Mac), a popular singing duo back in the day, who went their separate ways and never spoke again. When the death of their former group leader (John Legend) reunites them and sends them driving cross country for a tribute concert at the legendary Apollo Theatre, they will have only five days to bury the hatchet on a twenty-year-old grudge. Both Jackson and Mac will do their own musical and dance performing in the film.

The Fame label relaunches with a Best of Jimmy Hughes cd Oct 28th is the date of the first release "The Best of Jimmy Hughes" cd from the just re-launched Fame label. The CD details and press release information on both the cd and the re-launch follow on. ‘The Best of Jimmy Hughes’ features all seven of his charting singles, and sixteen of the eighteen tracks on the collection are being made available for the first time in the digital age. Extras include an essay by renowned record producer Rick Hall, and a roundtable discussion with Hughes and Hall, and several legendary Muscle Shoals musicians - Norbert Putnam, Spooner Oldham, Jerry Carrigan, Peanut Montgomery and David Briggs - which fans can access as a bonus mp3 when they purchase the album. Can listen to the Digitally Remastered Jimmy Hughes classic tracks on FAME's Myspace Profile (links at end) There is also a sample of the roundtable discussion that was held with Hughes, Rick Hall, Norbert Putnam, David Briggs, Peanut Montgomery and Jerry Carrigan... The full interview will be available on the CD.. due out October 28th, 2008.... 'The Best Of Jimmy Hughes' Out Oct 28 On Newly Re-Launched Fame Records, Illuminates One Of Soul Music's Great Untold Stories Five Hundred 45s + Two Cases of Vodka + One Borrowed Station Wagon = Birth of the Muscle Shoals Sound On October 28, FAME Records - the original home of The Muscle Shoals Sound -will relaunch with the release of the eighteen track collection 'The Best of Jimmy Hughes.' It's an appropriate partnership, as Hughes' epic soul classic "Steal Away" was the first recording made at FAME Studios and the inaugural release on the original FAME label in 1964. 'The Best of Jimmy Hughes' makes most of these songs available for the first time in the digital age. It also shines a light of one of soul music's great untold stories. Hughes grew up near Muscle Shoals, in the town of Leighton, AL, where he learned to sing in church, and joined a gospel group called the Singing Clouds before deciding to give soul music a shot. Like many soul legends, Hughes mixed the sacred and the secular in his own work, and it's been noted that "Steal Away" - the story of a late-night rendezvous between two young lovers - bears a striking resemblence to the gospel anthem "Steal Away to Jesus." When Hughes recorded "Steal Away" - in one take - at FAME Studios in 1964, owner Rick Hall instantly knew he had a hit on his hands. He had only to convince the rest of the country. Hall remembers that with an idea from then 15-year-old friend and legendary songwriter Dan Penn, "we pressed up some 45 RPM records, borrowed a Ford Fairlane station wagon, bought two cases of vodka, and hit the road on a holy mission to transform 'Steal Away' into a hit record." Hall and Penn traveled to radio stations across the southeast, including Memphis, Tupelo, Little Rock, New Orleans, and Mobile, leaving a copy of 'Steal Away" and a bottle of vodka at every stop. "Miraculously, that's all it took," says Hall. "Each and every one of them played the new Jimmy Hughes record." Jimmy Hughes himself picks up the story. "I resigned from my job [at a rubber factory] in April, 1964, and started touring. I went out with Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Bobby Womack, when he was with his brothers, and so many other people. I played the Apollo and many other theaters. I was working with people that I'd [previously] paid to see!" But Hughes eventually grew weary of life on the road, and retired from the music business by the early 1970s. He worked for the government for twenty five years, making parts for nuclear power plants in the Tennessee River Valley. Today, Jimmy Hughes still lives in Leighton, AL, and still sings in church most Sundays. But his recordings live on, and the sound he helped create - The Muscle Shoals Sound - has had an influence beyond anything he or Rick Hall could have imagined. Located at the crossroads of country, rock and soul, FAME was founded in 1959, in Florence, AL (FAME is an acronym for Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) as a publishing company. In 1960, Rick Hall moved the facility across the Tennessee River, to Muscle Shoals, AL. Since then, FAME has earned worldwide renown as the birthplace of The Muscle Shoals Sound hosting such music titans as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Duane Allman, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Little Richard and many others. The studio remains a destination facility to this day, and last year Bettye Lavette and Heartland released Grammy-nominated albums recorded at FAME. Hall founded FAME Records in 1964 as an outgrowth of the studio and released music by soul legends Candi Staton, Dan Penn, Clarence Carter, Arthur Conley, The FAME Gang and many others before mothballing the label in 1976. FAME Publishing has earned multiple Song of Year awards from The Grammys, ASCAP and others, and published songs recorded by country superstars such as Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride and Alabama. Songs recorded or published by FAME have sold over 300 million copies worldwide. FAME Recording Studios, FAME Records, FAME Publishing, House of Fame and Muscle Shoals Records are members of the Muscle Shoals Music Group. For more information please contact Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com) or Nick Loss-Eaton (nlosseaton@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media – 718.522.7171 links http://www.myspace.com/famestudios http://www.myspace.com/jimmyhughesmusic http://www.fame2.com/ original news of fame/emi and plans etc from 2006 https://www.soul-source.co.uk/rare-northern-soul-words/soul-news/fame-records-new-deal-with-emi-may-mean-fresh-rare-output