Candiman

Thanks for pulling this together jimmyjrg, and to everyone one here for chipping in. A great read.

A couple more selections from old Soul House lists. This time from list#15 January '78. I read somewhere (probably on here) that Phil had his head turned by Punk. The front page of this list would appear to back that up. Funny, I thought it was just a joke at the time, Phil copying the numerous Punk fanzines that had popped up around then. This was the last list of his I got. Not sure whether this was because it was the last one he produced or that I just stopped getting them (I had had my head turned by Punk, and along with Reggae and Disco 12s there wasn't really any money left to spend on blind buys from Soul lists). First selection were mostly 40p on the list. Not really any Northern on this mix, but plenty of top quality Soul and a bit of Funk. Second selection features records that were 75p - £2 on the list. Some Northern on this one.

Actually an 'Ogs median is misleading in this case as only two recorded copies sold £1100 last year and £145 for a VG/VG+ copy 10 years ago which I guess was something of a bargain.

Funnily enough I was looking through an old Black Grape list from 1980 the other day and Johnny McCall I Need You was one you could pick up for just over a £1 back then. Here were a few from the list that have turned into "big hitters":

Interesting. As I said Rudzy was identifying reissues and pressings on some releases at least on his lists. So if they were bootlegs ,either: he didn't know they were; It was generally accepted on the scene they must be; He was being naughty. I was never really into the Northern scene, just general Soul/funk, but I have become increasingly fascinated by it over the years. Bootleg v original must have been a minefield back then unless you were deeply into the scene.

The image below is from an August 1976 list from Paul Rudzitis. Eddie Rey for £6 , so about £50 in today's money. The George Payton is not the one on the most sought after list but is today £500 median on the 'Ogs. Cliff Goldsmith Orch is seriously obscure it seems and was £10 on Rudzy's previous list. Rudzy would tend to identify pressings and reissues on his lists but Eula Cooper for 50p had to be a reissue didn't it? (It was seen on a few of his lists at the time. Also he had Eddie Foster listed for £2 but as a Demo so that must have been a reissue? A couple more on the same 1976 list that I'm pretty sure were originals, and almost certainly M- as just dead stock at the time: Chico Lamarr - £1 William Cummings - £1.50 Would people like Rudzy have got these from John Anderson at the time do you think?

Looking through old Soul Groove sales lists and I see Rudzy had Cliff Goldsmith (Vault) - Double Crossing on his July 1976 list for £10 (£89 in todays money with inflation) on a page headed "the following are ALL Massive Northern Monsters fresh from the states. All are originals. GET EM QUICK" This seems to be a seriously obscure record. Not on 45cat, not on Discogs as far as I can tell. It is on YouTube, and that is the only other reference I can find. The YouTube vid shows the record which looks like it has a catalog number (519) that does not fit in to any of the Vault catalog number runs (unless it is 919, but it doesn't look like it). If it is in fact 919 that would date it to 1965. Bobby Mandolph vocal version is 949 dating to 1969 according to 45cat. Sam Fletcher does have a documented release on Vault (but not the same Vault as has different label design to all others on the label?) sometime in the 70s (1972?) with a catalog# 502. So was Double Crossing really a legit 60s Vault release?

Everything he has done so far is quality. Have been eagerly awaiting his 2024 tour only to find as he is flying over here I am flying in the other direction for a holday.

Yes, RIP George. His passing actually made the rolling news headlines on Sky. Great memories of Kool & The Gang and Fatback Band records spun at the first discos I went to at a local rugby club back in the early 70s. Their Light Of Worlds album was one of first soul/funk albums I bought. Still cherish (no pun intended) it now.

More from Phil Lynskey's "Soul House" lists. List #14 this time, September 1977. Nearly all these were again priced at 40p on the list (which, just as a reminder, would equate to £3.06 today).

My copy of PJ Smith & Co "Hold On To It" has a Miami Tape deadwax date code that equates to April 1976 and I have also found a label scan on the internet (now added to 45cat) with an April 1976 radio station sticker. So Barry & Patti Jo were still in contact in '76, unless of course the track had been in the can for years and just randomly pulled out for a '76 release (Barry Smith's version of "Hold On To It" was released in 1973).

Here's another selection, this time from Phil Lynskey's "Soul House" #13 list , April 1977. 40p a pop back then.

Bumping this and adding a bit more info. On this site https://chatsworthchallenge.com/ if you scroll down just a bit you will see a picture of Phil. I am now reasonably sure this is Phil of "Soul House"/"Street Corner" list fame, and elsewhere on the internet I have seen his initials quoted as P.N. which were the initials he quoted on his lists for cheque payments. I didn't know Phil personally but through reading his "Soul House", and before that "Street Corner", lists I felt that, in a way, I did as he would make comments sometimes which hinted at his personality. Looking at these lists again recently was a big nostalgia trip, which is now tinged with sadness. I have put together a few Spotify playlists of records that could be found in his basic stock section, most of which have, after allowing for inflation, increased in value quite nicely. These were 30p each back in 1976. I bought hardly any of these at the time as I couldn't afford to shell out much on blind buys. But it just goes to show the quality that was hiding in these lists at the time. No internet, little documentation, and plenty of discovery still ahead of us at the time of course. Not much out and out Northern here (as I guess many had already been discovered and were fetching more money by then) but plenty of quality Soul. Here are some from Phil's List #9 mailed out in April 1976.

Had to look up how to do that... here goes

I have created my own (public) playlist now which includes Jimmy Castor, not sure I got it chronologically in the exactly the right place though. My playlist is called Boiling Point (BBC Series 2023). Cheers

Yes a great soundtrack. You can find a playlist of them all (except for Jimmy Castor's It's Just Begun, which they missed) on Spotify. Gets a bit Dance/Disco heavy at the end, but they were in a club in the final episode. Yes, absolutely love this.

Agree. And one of the few that spanned the decades reinventing themselves in the process (as did Parliament/Funkadelic and Ohio Players, but there weren't many). Always seemed to be underappreciated as a group - especially by Motown. R.I.P. Rudolph. Will always be one of ,my absolute favourite voices.

Indirectly mentioned. I did know that only after Red Kelly told me about 15 years ago now. He then emailed me earlier last year to say that this 45 is only one of 8 Stax and Volt 45s that are not on the Stax Museum wall, It's a rare one. Only a few weeks after that email Red Kelly was dead. A tragic loss to the soul music community. No, I went down that rabbit hole a few years ago.

It's been bugging me for years who Joni Wilson was and why did she not record anything else. I am beginning to wonder whether Joni Wilson is in fact Naomi Wilson. I noticed that the last track on the "The Black Man Sings: Best of Bacone Recordings" CD is credited to Naomi Blount, and is clearly a demo version of the B side of the Joni Wilson 45 "Flame Flame Flame". Naomi Wilson's married name was Blount, and she was born and raised in Philly. Listening to "More Than I Do" by Naomi (Wilson) & Harris (Hughes) I could start to convince myself the voice is similar. Naomi's other recorded material is too fast to draw comparisons, and were also recorded a few years prior when she was very young. Maybe they used the name Joni Wilson as she was still contracted to Atco? Naomi did have a sister, but it couldn't have been her as Naomi has stated that her sister was 4 years older and she died of lung cancer at age 19. Naomi was descending into drink and drug addiction by the 70s I think from interviews she has given recently, which could explain why she never recorded again. And then in 1982 she was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 37 years incarcerated. Thoughts?

Have just been looking through some old record lists I used to get back in the 70s. Good fun looking up the ones I marked but didn't get and others that I missed, or have since bought. Of course I was buying blind then mostly (and wasn't deeply into the scene it has to be said - punk and disco turned my head around then for a while) so it was all pot luck really. One of the regular ones I got was "Soul House" run by Phil Lynskey in Wakefield. Did/does anybody here know Phil, and whether he continued to be a dealer? Looking around the internet it seems he had a YouTube channel that went quiet about a year ago, and putting two and two together from a couple of references to a "Phil Lynskey" I fear he my have passed away last year.

10 is impossible but 20 LPs should be doable, or so I thought... Here are just over 20 that I don't think have been mentioned before, followed by a good few more that already have been mentioned but are also essential so need to be listed again. Back To Oakland – Tower Of Power Ask Rufus - Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Jean Carn s/t Diamond In The Rough / Is It Because I'm Black / Back For A Taste Of Your Love- Syl Johnson Super Dude I - Don Covay I'm Just A Prisoner & Candi (1974) – Candi Staton Love Sign – The Counts Rockin' You Eternally – Leon Ware Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - The Dramatics Lady T – Teena Marie Have You Heard This Story? - Swamp Dogg Clones of Dr Funkenstein – Parliament Get It Out'cha System – Millie Jackson Light Of Worlds – Kool & The Gang If Loving You is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right – Luther Ingram The Five Stairsteps - 2nd Resurrection Is It Still Good To Ya – Ashford & Simpson You Send Me – Roy Ayers Innervisions & Talking Book – Stevie Wonder Dreamer - Bobby Bland The Pointer Sisters s/t Barrabas s/t I Love The Way You Love – Betty Wright Acoustic Soul – India.Arie The ones that have already been mentioned: Relight My Fire – Rhetta Hughes 3 + 3 – Isley Brothers Last Days And Time – Earth, Wind & Fire Rufusized – Rufus The Show Must Go On - Sam Dees What Am I Gonna Do - Gloria Scott What Color Is Love – Terry Callier With Love From.. The Lovelites What's Going On? - Marvin Gaye Caught Up - Millie Jackson I Can't Stand The Rain – Ann Peebles Pieces Of A Man - Gil Scott-Heron Higher & Higher – Jackie Wilson The Poet - Bobby Womack His California Album - Bobby Bland Compilations are usually excluded I know but I just have to mention these: Motown Chartbusters Vol 6 (the first album I ever bought) The Best Of Norman Connors And Friends. Of course by the time I have also considered other genres – Rock, Jazz, Jazz-Funk, Reggae, SSW I'd be well over a 100!

BTW possibly my best ever "in the wild" purchase - 25p at a car boot a few years ago. Sleeveless but easily an EX.

I sort of know what you mean about sounding like something else - especially the horns and the guitar., Doesn't sound similar but Johnny & The Expressions Something I Want To Tell You is same pace and written and sung (I think) by Ralph Weeks and has "Something" in the title.

Gina Hill passed away in 2014. Her obituary (not currently behind a paywall, unlike the AJC one) can be found here.

Very sad news. I was an avid follower of his blogs The Bside, Soul Detective etc. And learnt so much from them. Crazy to think that was15 years or so ago now and then out of the blue he emailed me earlier this year. R.I.P Red