Garethx

I rarely play the Don Covay albums from start to finish these days, but as you say Paul, tracks like "Leave Him" and "A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste" are truly exceptional pieces of soul music from a master craftsman and a true original. Ask Mick Jagger. One I forgot to mention is Jimmy Lewis's "Totally Involved". Strangely I've never really played side two from start to finish that much but consider side one to be as good a twenty minutes by a single artist as ever committed to tape. An artist who probably won't get much of a mention here that I keep going back to is Alicia Myers. Her three MCA albums stand up really well as cleanly produced, well written and exceptionally soulful: Detroit's last stand in the soul mainstream perhaps.

It's hard to argue with any of the choices mentioned so far in the topic: I think I own every one! The albums that have sustained me through decades are: The Poet I by Bobby Womack (even though it's probably not his best work it's the album which got me into all of this as a current release and side two is just masterly. "If You Think You're Lonely Now" has rightfully become the anthem of soul music from the 80s); The Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis (so complete and so beautifully put together); Here To Stay by Darrell Banks (soul perfection from every conceivable angle); Send My Baby Back by Freddie Hughes (a virtuoso singer's one shot at fame, still cruelly under-rated); Friction by The Soul Children (a sumptuous and adult work, to me the very pinnacle of Southern Soul as a commercial artform); Hold On by Tommy Tate (one of soul's greatest ever artists at his creative peak); and last but not least, Terry Callier's monumental What Color Is Love (still impossible for me to listen to "Dancing Girl" and not be mesmerised and moved by it).

The other side of this record is an overlooked and tremendous slice of aggro-soul. I might be tempted to sell for the ebay price, though.

If Joey Irving were to start getting plays in clubs from big-name deejays I'd say it would sell for more, but really I can't think that anybody has ever paid in the ballpark of £400 for this record. I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear George, but It's a common sense price for what is essentially, up to this point, a 'collectors' record. A good and none-too-common one, but still a collectors piece. Good luck with your sales, though, as there are some belters in that list above.

A brilliant and tough-to-get record, but I think $550 is a more than fair price.

I think £50 is fair for a mint DJ copy these days.

A bargain for someone. Tremendous gritty soul which rarely turns up for sale.

The points about different issues for the Royal Esquires are completely off the mark. There is only one issue and it is blue: not light blue or dark blue, just blue. Any differences in label colour can be explained by differing degrees of flash photography used on ebay auctions. Value these days is about £30-40 i'd say. Hope this helps, gareth

The George Soule 45 is as legitimate a soul record as any ever made and lyrically and musically is aimed squarely at the R&B market. Yes, the guy's white but, to my ears, there isn't a hint of pop about any element of it.

I must say from the off that I don't collect Uk issues but this has been a tremendously enjoyable and informative read. An example of the forum at its best. Thanks to all who have contributed.

Off the top of my head I'd say £30-40 for the 12", lots more for the seven. The other side is a tremendous slowie.

For Sale: THE ASCOTS JUST A FEW FEET FROM THE GUTTER/ MR. FIXIT, THE REPAIRMAN AMERICAN PLAYBOY 1007 SOLD Mint copy of this monster Texas dance track. Label has a tiny amount of flaking around the centre hole, vinyl looks unplayed. The small quantity of this record which turned up about five years ago are all safely nestling in collections so a great opportunity to buy a really nice copy. I accept Paypal (buyer to pay fees), cashiers cheques, bank transfers in sterling. Sorry no cash or trades. TIA for any interest, gareth

Again Ian, I'd call all of those Blue Eyed Soul with the possible exception of the Paul Anka 45, and even then I'm not sure. I would be interested to know if anyone's spoken to Paul Anka about those records and whether they were aimed squarely at the discotheque after listening to a lot of Motown.

I think it's a bit unfair to cite Timi Yuro in this topic as many of her releases were definitely conceived as 'soul': she appeared on the US R&B charts on numerous occasions and her management and producers were clearly aware of her capabilities as a 'crossover' artist. Similarly a great many of Dusty Springfield's records were slanted in such a way, particularly her material recorded at American Studios in Memphis and at Sigma in Philadelphia. I mentioned Cajun Hart above because I can't remotely think that those who went in the studio that day believed they were going in to make 'soul music' in anything other than the broadest terms, and would probably be slightly bemused that the record had met with such fervent approval from soul fans. On a similar note I personally love the Connie Stevens 45 on Bell, "Tick Tock", which I'm sure would have been an enormously popular record at any of the big allnighters of the 70s had it been more widely known at that time. A textbook example of an out and out pop record having all the correct ingredients to qualify as a total Northern smash. Dana Valery on Columbia is another great example.

Cajun Hart.

Hi Joel I think LA was the biggest market, but in terms of making 'Mexican Soul' there were other significant centres: think of the large amount of 'brown-eyed' soul from San Antonio, Texas: Sunny & The Sunliners, Ray & his assorted groups, Joe Jama, the Texan Volumes on Garu etc. It's instructive to look at the Youtube comments on clips like "My Life" and realise that for the Mexican community in the southwestern US these records were anthems of long standing; in some cases for decades before the UK Northern scene picked up on them, mirroring instances like Sam Fletcher for the Belgian scene or Reggie Saddler Combo for the Beach fans. I suppose the point I was trying to make was that it's often wrong to assume that we were the only people who were interested in these sounds; in time a good record will reach an audience of some sort and I think it's very interesting when records gain notoriety on a number of scenes quite independently of each other.

It's categorically not a UK produced record.

The Latin American gangs of Los Angeles used a lot of harmony soul as the soundtrack for their lifestyle of hanging out in their modified vintage cars which you may have seen bouncing along the road in TV shows and films. That's a simplistic way of putting it, but hope it conveys the idea. Up until relatively recently 60s and 70s soul records were a big part of their culture, but in recent times it seems to have been supplanted by hip hop. There are quite a few examples of records we regard as 'Northern Soul' being big (and avidly collected) on their scene: The Stoppers on Jubilee, The Ringleaders on M-Pac to name two. Groups like Thee Midnighters basically sprang from this scene.

Can anyone think of a record which has been big on all of the Northern Soul, Popcorn, Beach and Low Rider scenes?

Baz Lew Stanley was auctioning an original of the S.O.B. 45 last week: went for a couple of hundred dollars. Much rarer than 'Set Me Free" in my experience and one of the finest Fame productions not on the Fame label in my opinion.

Glad to be of help. The consensus seems to be that the gold label is the more common of the two: I've had both but kept the dark red one. I used to have his Palos 45 too, but seem to have sold that. A record that once had a pretty hefty price tag but wasn't quite good enough to justify it. The George McGregor & The Bronzettes 45 on Twinight, Temptation Is Hard To Fight, is a tremendous ballad, and was even featured on the soundtrack of Season II of 'Mad Men'.

Here it is:

I have it on a burgundy Mellotone label. Will post a scan when I dig it out.

Cool. Many thanks.

Very interesting Dave. No mention of Neal Hemphill on the yellow label. I wonder which one was first?