Chalky

The return of a legend — or maybe more accurately, the first time this legend’s ever really gotten his due! Ralph Jackson’s been working in the Alabama soul underground for decades — yet this smoking album may well be the first time he’s ever really gotten out front, and able to do his thing — working with a tight group of younger musicians who really respect the southern soul vibe that Ralph’s going for — and help him hit a really great sound in the process! The set’s a soul record through and through — not one of these modern funk workouts with an old singer thrown into the mix — but the kind of old school album you’d hear from Malaco or Criteria Studios — particularly during that point when deep soul was growing up in the 70s. Production and arrangements are right on the money — and all tunes are written by Jackson, save for one totally great cover of The Ides Of March classic “Vehicle”! Other titles include “You’ve Been Very Good To Me”, “Searching”, “For Just One Second”, “I Can’t Leave Your Love Alone”, “I’ll Take Care Of You”, and “There Must Be A Reason”. © 1996-2012, Dusty Groove, Inc. Buy from Dusty Groove: http://www.dustygroo...2&ref=index.php Listen: http://www.popmatter...one-second-mp3/ A biography & discography by John Ciba. Legends from the golden age of soul music haven’t always achieved their status through gold records, flamboyant lifestyles, or appearances on cable television. Many cut one or two 45s for small, independent record labels with little to no distribution and only regional radio play. But they still became popular to an international audience when England’s Northern soul DJs sought out obscure American soul records to keep their dance floors full. These tracks, relatively unknown in the United States, gained traction in foreign markets, where buyers considered demand for esoteric soul proof of their music savvy. Ralph Soul Jackson, with six rare Southern soul 45s ranging in price from $50.00 to $1500.00, is no exception to this anomaly. Forty years ago, Jackson got a call from Rick Hall at FAME Studios who wanted to record Ralph’s Don’t Tear Yourself Down with Hank William's Jambalaya and leased the single to AMY/BELL Records. It was this soul-drenched first session in Muscle Shoals that led Hall to give Ralph the moniker he uses to this day. Hall chose to use the Hank Williams song as the A-side and tried to market the single to an unreceptive Black audience. During these sessions Jackson befriended A-list songwriter and session man Spooner Oldham who wanted to record Ralph singing Creams Sunshine of Your Love backed with a Penn/Oldham number Cause I Love You. Atlantic Records released the single in 1967 but it quickly faded while competing with Otis and Aretha for promotional support. In the early 70s local DJ Eddie Dr. Jive Mendell brought Ralph to Birmingham, Alabama, to play his songs for producer Neal Hemphill. They paired Ralph with Oldham again in Muscle Shoals and cut a driving version of Carl Perkins Matchbox and Let Your Sweet Love Surround Me for Hemphill’s legendary Sound of Birmingham label. Once again, poor radio and distribution drove the single into obscurity. After two poor experiences with the industry, Jackson walked away from music. In 1975 Ralph came to Neal’s new Hemphill Studios and wrote, played all instruments, and sang the soon-to-be Northern soul classic Set Me Free backed with Take Me Back for Hemphill’s Black Kat Records. The record, along with others from the label, suffered from a poorly structured, crooked distribution deal. While Jackson was performing on a circuit of U.S. Air Force bases he stopped off in Nashville in 1980 to record three modern soul rarities over two 45s for his own RAJAC label. These highly sought after records had no distribution or radio play and all sales were made during the military base shows. Ralph Soul Jackson is a native of Southern Alabama where he still lives and has never stopped writing, performing and recording music, whether its in his home studio, as the music minister in his church, or at his cousin Jo Jo Bensons club. Soul fans can look forward to the reissue of the classic tracks mentioned above; some newly discovered unreleased gems, as well as the first full length album of new material by Jackson, recorded between anticipated live dates. Jambalaya b/w Don’t Tear Yourself Down AMY/BELL Records 1965 Sunshine of Your Love b/w Cause I Love You Atlantic Records 1967 Matchbox b/w Let Your Sweet Love Surround Me SOB 1971 Set Me Free b/w Take Me Back Black Kat Records 1975 I’ll Be a Real True Man b/w This Is My Prayer RAJAC/Black Stallion 1981 I Can’t Leave You Alone b/w Instrumental RAJAC Records 1981 Visit John's homepage http://www.therabbitfactory.net for more details and more about Birmingham Soul.

I have received some publicity from Michele Green, the publicist for Charles Wilson. I am excited and pleased to announce that "The Crown Prince of Soul", Mr. Charles Wilson, is on the scene and ready to touch your soul like never before! His smooth, strong vocals can, and will also warm your heart, dig down deep into your spirit to stir up emotions you thought were untouchable, and will also shake you up to the point where you feel you can just reach out and touch whatever ails you, as it all melts away... That's the magic of the voice of Charles Wilson! Charles Wilson was raised in Chicago, began performing at age seven, and sang as a teenager in Chicago-area night clubs. Blues legend Little Milton is his uncle, however his break came when he got the opportunity to go out on the road with Bobby Rush at an early age. He started recording in 1978, but nothing was ever released. His first released single was in 1984, and achieved moderate success; however, it established him as a soul singer of note. He recorded for several record labels, including Ichiban Records, Ecko Records, Traction Records, CDS Records and also his own label Wilson Records; initial success of several artists included Lee 'Shot' Williams and Wilson himself. In 2004, Wilson then recorded a bona-fide blues CD for Delmark Records, entitled, "If Heartaches Were Nickels", featuring Little Milton and Carl Weathersby on guitars. This CD earned Wilson a W.C. Handy nomination for "Best Soul/Blues CD". A few years later, Wilson recorded a soul CD for Severn Records titled “TROUBLED CHILD”, which also got Wilson another W.C. Handy nomination for “Soul CD of The Year”. "TROUBLED CHILD", of which the title cut and "WHERE MY BABY'S AT" are both featured with this package. Enjoy your journey... Mr. Charles Wilson is available for concerts, festivals, corporate events, private parties, groups, casinos, plays, radio and television interviews, commercials... the sky's the limit! Please contact me, Michele Green, at; MicheleGreenPR@gmail.com or 843-986-1060 for more information. ~~~~~~~ A medley of three tracks can be heard at my sound-cloud page: Listen on Soundcloud.com The tracks are "Where My baby Went" Losing Boy" and I Walked All Night Long". You can buy Charles' music at: http://www.cdunivers...=Charles Wilson Follow this link to play and/or download tracks from the ‘IF HEARTACHES WERE NICKELS” and “TROUBLED CHILD” CD’s, and also see Charles Wilson perform LIVE: http://safehavenpubc..._prince_of_soul

Unfortunately Darrow Fletcher was turned away at Chicago O’Hare airport on Tuesday night because his passport was too scruffy. It’s a new one on me, all the information was readable because he had scanned that and sent it over and we had got him his work visa through that information: that was not good enough for the airline people though. He spent the whole of Wednesday in the passport centre and they issued it at the end of the day, by which time he was too late to make his standby flight. When he got to the airport they said he had missed today’s flight as well but could fly on Thursday evening, which of course gets him here on Friday morning, which means he can fulfil his appearances in Scotland and Yorkshire, but will be too late for the 100 Club tonight. However we have been able to postpone it by a week, as the club is free on Thursday 8th November at the same 8pm-2am times. I apologise about the lateness of this postponement but we were hoping right up to midnight last night that he would make the plane (all this has just happened of course). This morning has been spent rearranging the event and now notifying everybody personally. If you have bought tickets and cannot make next Thursday, we will send out a full refund, just let me know by email. If some friends can now come we will have a few extra tickets so they can purchase those over the next couple of days. If you were on the guest list and now cannot make it please let us know about that too. I am particularly happy to have been able to rearrange the show for Darrow who was nearly in tears at the thought of letting down his fans and missing out on what will be a terrific night. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused and hopefully we can share a drink in celebration next Thursday. Ady PS If anyone is stuck in London tonight looking for soul music, I'll be heading to the Majestic soul night which is free and plays a wonderful across the board mainly modern with quite a few 60s soul set. It's at the Horse and Groom pub 28 Curtain Road EC2A 3NZ 6.30pm till at least midnight. Ady Croasdell www.6ts.info