Roburt

There's a few pure soul records here ... and the 2 guys singled out below had a big hand in making early soul tracks (+ they certainly popularised soul releases here in the UK) ... AND AS SAID ABOVE .... Ike & Tina were in the soul bag from an early date ...

Jumping back to the Futuretones. Edwin always promised his old group members he'd return for them when he left Cleve with Bill Doggett. William Isom took him at his word & was still waiting some years later. My interview with Edwin about his Cleve years was done ages ago & I can't remember whole chunks of it (but it was published in a UK soul fanzine if anyone has that to hand). Think some of the info in the blog posted above was lifted from my interview info. EDWIN, when he hit big with Agent 00 Soul did return to Cleve BUT just to pick up the old local musicians he knew / had worked with in the past. Those guys became his first backing band in his Ric Tic period (till they got tired of always being on the road & went back to Cleve).

Edwin back in Cleveland -- before he went into the military (mostly Germany) & then hooked up with Bill Doggett ...

FROM ABOVE ... chat with Edwin about his time in Cleveland before he was in the military & then teamed with Bill Doggett to sing lead vocals for the combo .. It was Doggett refusing to let Edwin record "Agent 00 Soul" at the same time that Edwin / Doggett were appearing @ the 20 Grand that led Edwin to seek out the guys from Golden World ... the rest is history ...

One that only RobbK can explain / inform us about in detail ...

I'm a bit older than most who've posted on this thread (being on the wrong side of 75) ... so though Kent comps introduced me to lots of great tracks ... my real 'soul' education came much earlier, via Sue label compilations and the brilliant 'BELL'S CELLAR OF SOUL' volumes. Mind you, that there Ady has put out the odd decent record over the last 45+ years.

Can't believe I missed this one off my first posting ... perhaps the most significant double sided soul 45 of all time (with the most important song buried on the flip side) ...

A couple more charts with some added 45 ads ... most from early 65, then other from summer 65 (with 2 biggies out of Detroit doing well AND a lot more of the same on the chart) ...

There was a jazz album from COLEMAN HAWKINS just titled Soul (Prestige) released in 1958. ... another jazz album from HANK MOBLEY titled Soul Station (Blue Note) released in 1960. Also yet another jazz album from BARBARA LONG just titled Soul (Savoy) in 1961. Also in 61; Ray Charles had his Genius + Soul = Jazz LP (Impulse) out. So the term was out there before & around the start of the decade, but was being used in a musical sense by jazz artists. In fact JAZZ had it's own (almost) complete language ... jazz slang ... where 100's of different terms were used on a regular basis ... one of these was ... SOUL JAZZ -- which was a genre of music that emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s, blending elements of jazz, R&B, and gospel music all together. GOING BACK TO THE RAY CHARLES ALBUM ... the sleeve notes state that this album demonstrates Ray Charles pushing the boundaries of music utilising the Hammond organ. The music is out & out jazz with an emotional projection ... as SOUL MUSIC was really R&B fused with gospel, I'd guess that would be R&B with an emotional projection ...

If you were living in Baltimore in 1960 & attended these 4 shows @ the Royal Theatre ...I'm sure you'd have witnessed a few PURE SOUL filled performances of these artists recordings ...

RE: their ABC period. ABC records were cutting stuff everyday for years. Some tracks were never released & the tapes just ended up in the master tape storage facility. One day an application was made by the ABC creatives to have money allocated to construct extra tape storage space. The label's bean counters weren't happy. They had a better idea. Just take all the tapes that contain unreleased stuff & throw them away. That way, you'll create 10 to 15% capacity in the existing tape stores and we'll not have to waste money providing additional capacity ... AFTER ALL, what use are we ever gonna make of tracks that weren't released at the time they were laid down. WHO KNEW MONEY MEN WERE CAPABLE OF TAKING SUCH A BRILLIANT DECISION.

The Laddins had been popular since 1958 and it had become an annual event for them to go down to Miami to perform each winter. This earnt them money but also got them away from the awful weather in New York. They built up a strong following down in Florida and so their shows there were always popular. Even when their doo-wop sound was out of fashion, they still got plenty of bookings in Miami. But they knew they'd have to change with the times & so by 1964 they were doing soul styled covers of old standards such as DREAM BABY. Most of their live act was covers of recent soul hits though, so they stayed relevant with their audiences. But to re-energise their recording career, they need a new identity, so they became the Steinways. HOWEVER, down in Miami, folk knew who the Laddins were but not the Steinways. So they continued to be advertised as the Laddins on live shows as late as 1966. Luckily for them, some of the Steinways 45's managed to get playlisted on Florida / Miami radio stns. "My Heart's Not In It Anymore" made WLOF's chart in Orlando and then "Call Me" spent 5 weeks on WMBM's (Miami) chart. So, they felt brave enough to accept some bookings under the Steinways name.

1953 >> Faye Adams . . . released here in 1968 on Bell's Cellar Of Soul Vol. Two

Four more from me ... Martha And The Vandellas -- Heat Wave / A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday) Edwin Starr -- Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.) / I Have Faith In You J. J. Barnes -- Baby Please Come Back Home / Chains Of Love Edwin Starr -- I Am The Man For You Baby / My Weakness Is You

One I forgot to list ... The Steinways – My Heart's Not In It Anymore (Babe, Babe, Babe) / You've Been Leadin' Me On . . . . aka The Laddins