macca

Interesting thread. What about Alpaca Phase III 'I Like To Party'? Huge at Cleethorpes & Peterborough summer 75. Another piste packer at the same time was Reggie Garner's 'Hotline', which I don't think anyone's mentioned so far. Both Mecca records originally, no?

But didn't Keb say he was orientating them as regards to representative sounds from that year? I think 1974 was fab. One only has to listen to Pete Smith's Casino tapes from that period. The dross came later on, at least for me.

what must old cotton club regulars have thought of francis ford coppola's tribute to the era? The film was made a good 50 years after it's heyday. Perhaps we should wait another 15 years for the NS story to be told in all its gory detail. By then, most of us will be well into retirement & be able to lambast it from the undeniable comfort of our comodes. I reservedly apologise if this point has been previously raised.

my status quo loving classmates used to think I was winding them up when I spoke in rverential tones of dooley silverspoon, garnett mimms, percy wiggins, morris chestnut & pookie hudson. & that's to name but a few. :-)

what don't you like about it Pete? The arrangement? The vocal? The twee lyrics?

Christ, I enjoyed that!

No room for sexism in this day & age. I agree with the girlie nights comment though. surely it's playing into the retards' hands. we'd have campaigns for boylie nights next, but then some of them might confuse that with the 'any coarse fishers out there' thread.

Never understood their popularity, but each to his own. I preferred loafers or moccassins at that time. Trousers got ridiculously wider & wider & then these polyveldts appeared. A kind of death knell for me.

Well I never. Has anybody asked him for photos of his dad's combo? Did they release any other stuff on Buddha? We just might get to see their more soulful side, who knows?

I can remember a time when people didn't applaud the records. when it started to happen I wasn't too sure if I liked it or not. I think the energetic presentation of a record, soul sam style for example, is a vital component of this scene, yet another thing that sets it apart from the rest. some djs would be almost unintelligible to me (ginger taylor?) others would be quite articulate & loquacious (nev wherry & tony clayton?).

I'm surprised more of the ceiling plaster didn't come down. During that stamping (I wouldn't call it stomping) phase through 1975 when stuff like 'what a difference a day makes', 'you sexy sugarplum', 'so is the sun' & 'the champion' were big, the very foundations must have been rocked.

That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time.

My modish sister used to play a JJ&TV album of hers on MFP called 'Come To Me Softly'. Would ATCO have licensed this to them? Are we talking about the same LP? As a 15 year old Soul fan learning the ropes, some of the tracks on the album appealed to me, but most of my pals sniffed at it as being 'commercial shite'. We used to be quite narrow minded in those days. :-)

I'd recommend the Sounds Of Unity & Love Weekender held every year in Luanco/Gij³n Northern Spain. This year it was held in May, last year in early March. Arthur Fenn, Steve Guarnori, Soul Sam & Ian Wright have all jocked there in recent years. Beautiful scenery, huge town beach, fine old quarter, great food & cider, nice friendly peeps with a amazingly wide spectrum of Soul music over two days. Check it out!!

cheers andy. echar un vistazo. :-)

I was just wondering if there have been any really decent Detroit compilations in recent years. I've got the Goldmine Essential Detroit Collection, but it features mainly (or all?) disc dubbed material & nothing from the original masters. Or am I wrong? M

Betty appeared not long ago in my adopted hometown of Pontevedra. Last summer we had Mavis Staples, & the summer before that, Solomon Burke & Taj Mahal. I've never been to Altea, but don't be suprised to find 'Giants of Blues & Soul' on at summer fiestas across the country. Percy Sledge is going to perform in two weeks in Cedeira, a little fishing village in the North-West. How weird is that? One of the nice things about 'patronal' summer festivals in Spain is that the concerts are usually free, unless it's a big star like Ray Charles, who I saw in the local bull ring about 8 years ago for around 10 euros. Next week we've got Johnny Winter but I don't think I'll be attending. M p.s. The sentence you don't understand means, more or less, "El Palau de Altea (name of venue) welcomes today (the performance) of Betty Lavette, the voice of American Soul. "

"did they beat the drum slowly? did they play the fife lowly? did they sound the death march as they lowered him down?" from the green fields of france - an anti war song... I think a fife is a kind of tin whistle or flute, like the one that can be heard on the record. A great jazz flavoured tune that used to be 'well big' long before we got hung up about genres, right?

She's still got the voice, ain't she? Unmistakeably her I reckon... Love the way the band picks up that also unmistakeable Detroit vibe at the end.

dire.

That intro is fab. In my variable top 5 too. a rare one at that.

Fantastic Una! Lecherous b'stard, eh? I can remember the glum faces at the Fleet one night when there was absolutely nothing available. A minority stomped on regardless, but the place seriously thinned out from about 4pm onwards. Some admirable resistance show there Pete.

In my top five. Hairs on the back of the neck job. Shame I can't afford it or I'd be rapping on your door. M

I attended Glastonbury in 1986, 1989 & 1990 and thoroughly enjoyed it. A week of total escapism. Don't think I could hack it now though. When I went in 1990 it was the first year the police had been allowed onto the site I think. It attracts a lot of 'rum' people these days though. seem to remember the mutoid waste company being in charge of refuse collection, 'usherettes' selling hash fudge on the paths that connected the stage areas & mushroom tea for breakfast. s'truth, the more I think about it... I don't think it's a venue for hip-hop either. candi staton, betty lavette, mavis staples etc, are a different matter though. gallagher is a prize prat, but I tend to agree with him on this occasion.

what a wonderful thread, such knowledge, so many great sounds. I'm surprised that Donald Austin was played at the Casino as early as 74. I perceived it back then as being a bit on the 'funky' side. I heard via John Vincent at the fleet peterborough.