Eddie Hubbard

Soul Satisfaction 5 from Universal In my review for the recent Chuck Jackson and Kim Weston CD's, I begged the question, what would Motown /Universal release next, to keep up the momentum of what has been a wonderful year for Motown collectors. The result? A fantastic collection of under exposed Motown sides, as compiler Jo Wallace digs deep into the vaults, and emerges with 24 super sides that have appeal right across the Soul spectrum. Beginning with the early pioneering sounds of Barrett Strong's " You knows what to do " , The Marvelettes fantastic album only take of Smokey's " Way over there " and Stevie Wonder's in demand " Contract on love " , into the " classic " Motown sound of Smokey and The Miracles " My baby changes like the weather " , Earl Van Dyke's hammond organ version of Martha /Vandellas mega classic " Nowhere to run " , the floor filling " Why when love is gone " by The Isley Brothers , the super cool finger clicking sound of Marvin Gaye, with " Tear it on down " , before moving seamlessly into the crossover / 70's era with equally great sides such as the beautiful " Something on my mind " by Diana Ross, the unissued and wonderful " Life Beats " by The Supremes, the in demand, and epitome of crossover Soul that is Thelma Houston's " Nothing left to give ", and the personal faves of " I will never let you get away" by Jimmy Ruffin and the Soul heaven of The Originals with " Good lovin ' is just a dime away " The CD ends with The Dynamic Superiors version of Ace Spectrum's " Don't send nobody else " , maybe not as good as their version, though still a very interesting listen .An unreservedly recommended collection , with appeal right across the board , an essential purchase . Eddie Hubbard

Chuck Jackson and Kim Weston [ The Motown Anthologys ] Two more fabulous releases from Universal , timed to perfection , as both of these prolific Artists have appeared live at weekenders in the UK recently , puting in powerhouse performances , and leaving us with great memories . The Chuck Jackson 2 CD collection contains his 3 albums for Motown ' Arrives ' , ' Goin Back to Chuck Jackson ' and ' Teardrops keep fallin ' on my heart ' [ which actually appeared on V.I.P in the USA ] , giving the listener the opportunity to enjoy fantastic sides like ' Ain't no sun ' , ' What am I gonna do without you ' , ' Girls ,Girls ,Girls ' , A brilliant cover of Aretha's ' Cry like a baby ' , ditto Tyrone Davis's ' Can I change my mind ' , ' Just a little love ' ' Two feet from happiness ' and the personal favourite ' Theres a rainbow in your heart ' plus many more top notch tracks .Also included are 12 rare or unissued tracks , including covers of The Fantastic Four's ' Pin point it down ' Kim Weston's ' Helpless ' , The Temps ' Who you gonna run to ' and personal faves like ' Thanks but no thanks ' which Chuck actually performed at the Northampton weekender , plus the brilliant ' At last I found a true love ' which is one of the best sides to ever emerge from the Motown tape vault in my view . The barely readable artwork that has spoiled recent Motown CD's has gone thankfully , the informative sleeve notes this time around are an enjoyable read , as is a superb essay from Chuck himself , charting his ' road to Motown ' , with scans of his Motown albums on each page . The Kim Weston release is also a 2 CD set , this release intended as a companion volume to her ' Greatest hits and rare classics ' set , so there are no duets with Marvin Gaye , but so prolific was Kim's output for Motown , that this barely matters , as this wonderful collection is bursting with fantastic unissued sides like ' You hit me ' [ in stereo for the first time ] , ' I'm gonna make it up to you ' , ' I got a weak heart ' , ' Fancy meeting you here ', ' Any girl in love ' , ' Absent minded lover ' and the unbelievably brilliant ' You can do it ' all of which are as good as any of Kim's released tracks for Berry Gordy's empire , plus a host of alternate mixes and versions of well known tracks like ' Helpless ' and ' Take me in your arms ' .As with the Chuck Jackson release , the packaging and sleeve notes are of a wonderful quality , very informative , with great archive photo's and mouth watering label scans to accompany . This has been a brilliant year for Motown releases , with the first Monday of the month being ' Motown Monday ' , these two releases are essential for your colection , what will they come up with next !! ? Eddie Hubbard