soulfulsaint

I almost agree - except for the fact that the title of this thread remains negative and implies wrong doing on Johnny Manship's part. John has not only defended himself he has done so with quite remarkable patience. I bid on his site and my most recent win was George Blackwell, which I paid below my highest bid and below the book price. It was very transparent. In this case I was more than happy to bid high. I have always been a bit of a completist and already have all Smoke releases - Herbs Exsayvons etc. In that sense I was willing to go above the record's book value becasue its important to me and how/why I collect. In this case I've wanted a mint copy of 'Can't Lose My Head' for 30 years - so it was my heart not my head that was judging the record's value to me. If someone choses to pay more for a very specific reason - high quality service, security and peace of mind, or just because they had a free hour at work then they are neither fools nor dupes, they are doing what people do in every free market in the world. They are paying a premium for something they want. JM's site like Soul Source is a great addition to the overall knowledge base of rare soul and should be supported. Yes its about business, but its also about the exchange of knowledge and information too - I sometimes don't bid but love reading JM's descriptions of records, which are always informed and evocative of the scene and the passion we share for rare soul. I'd like to make one final point, and that is about the way we are nostalgic for the pre-auction era - record boxes on a table in the corner of an all-nighter. I love pepetuating myths as much as the next guy, but I've looked through enough collector's boxes to know that hyped prices and exaggerated value are not unique to the internet bidding system. The lists of the '70s and '80s were vulnerable to misrepresntation just as much as the internet. The record bar at Wigan was populated by very knowledgeable and decent collectors but they had to rub shoulders with rogues, fruadsters, bootleggers and common or garden egomaniacs. By comparsion with that particular jungle John Manship's site is ordered and honest. Great debate tho' 'SoulfulSaint' aka Stuart Cosgrove ....And St Johnstone remain the only team in Britain with a J in their name.

A truly brilliant interview by Keb - proud to hear the truth in an unconditional Scottish accent. the Man Who Fell to Perth

quality sound - will swap for a Mel Britt demo or is that the whisky talking?

I second that emotion - so often hard work is taken for granted. I also spend time on a football site for my home town team and when the forum crashed it was like losing a limb. Well done MIke Great environment for all soul fans. Make sure it never splinetrs into sectarian factions, my collection goes from rare northern to funk and deep and back again long live the voice.

Yes there is a big rare soul connection - not covered on the show. John Peel lived in Ipswich and regularly visited John Anderson at 'Soul Bowl'. Both shared a love of deep southern soul. That's where the records came from. Good show - The Saint

You may well laugh gasher but Andy Stewart does an Elvis impression in the last verse of this song and it has a swaggering uptempo beat. Rare on UK original too. Not as good as other Scottish classics by Jock Mitchell, Willie McDougall or Junior McCants but don't knock it

Just to confuse things further I have the 77 version and the instrumental of 'Shake Off That Dream on 'Sound of Gold' credited to Eddie Owen. Notice on the 77 version that the producer is Linda Owens so I assume Eddie Billups, Shorty Billups and Eddie Owen are all the same. Instrumental is okay but you really miss the vocals. Saint

Hi I hope someone can help. I own two versions of 'Shake Off That Dream' The classic Eddie Billups original, and a 'disco version' which I found in the USA on a 12" EP under the name Eddie Owen. On the label of the Billups, the writing credits are 'Owen'. Question - is Eddie Billups also known as Eddie Owen, are both versions in fact the same singer and how rare is the Owen version? Help - confused.