Kev Cane

That's right Chalky, problem has always been there, however, I think that from the mid 80s onwards there was a definite shift from the "hail be to the DJ, we must aspire to obtain his gifts" " he's my mentor" culture. Don't get me wrong, it's still there, and I have huge respect for some of the DJs down the years, who've given me some great memories and introduced me to a multitude of awesome soul music, especially pre social media time's, but, as with everything, as time moves on, appreciation, knowledge and appropriate understanding of a subject matter is accumulated. Soul music being no exception Tempo, writer's, producers, sound exclusive to localities (Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, West Coast etc) were now being considered more by the, by now, more knowledgeable collector, not just what was coming through the speakers at a venue, digging trips to the US were frequently unearthing stuff that, maybe, were not desirable to the dancing brigade, but coveted among the collectors fraternity, out of these scenarios was borne the alternative gem's that you mention, I know you know this already Chalkster, but I think the dye has been set long ago, never to change,there will always be those who will chase the "John Bowies" etc, and that's their choice, but, my point being, there's plenty of enlightened folk out there taking the alternative route in collecting quality soul music, let the so called "trophy" hunter's crack on, they're not listening anyhow. Kev

Let's say you had the luck to have recorded your stuff at Muscle Shoals and then released, unless you take them with you on tour, you'll have a hard job getting any where near replicating the sound, for instance, listen to Bobby Womacks Home is where the heart is album, for all Bobby's greatness, you'll never be able to bring that backing to a venue, seen clips of Sam and Dave live, they had Booker T and the guy's backing, they were pretty damn close to replicating it 👍

Your last paragraph sums it up Robert

And there lies the problem with the misrepresentation of the genre Robert, total bollocks, my previous post more than touches on that perception

Paul represents what a lot of us on here think, yet he's the only one prepared to put his balls in the vice, so to speak. Nostalgia is the buzz word, yet not fully representative of a massive chunk in the history of the genre. He's right, 90% of media or/and documentation of the scene, has been downright lazy and without proper research. We're sick of being tarred with the "Footsee, The Kid, You Don't know where your interests lie" brush, everything seems to hinge on the pre Wigan and Wigan era's. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of awesome stuff came out of it, but, as with Proms, it is never represented. Things changed massively after that, and that's where the misrepresentation, laziness and clueless media perception and documentation is so apparent. Each to there own I suppose, but from what I've seen and heard about it (Proms), it only serves to make me embarrassed when people say " oh, you're into Northern Soul aren't you " when the truth is, I, along with a lot more on here, absolutely love the music and scene that developed when the chaff was weeded out and it was allowed to move forward

Get there if you can, away on holiday myself, but you won't be disappointed if cutting edge, Sweet Soul and Group Harmony is your bag Kev

That's what he told me Chalkster, and they sound identical voice for voice to me , i

The guy who has the Harthon catalogue lives in my village, Paul Mooney, he confirmed to me it's The United Four, a take they did and canned obviously releasing the more polished take on Harthon, listen to the actual release, voice for voice, the exact same personel that's on the Leo Wright c/up Kev

Brilliant, so refreshing to see stuff like that being played out at a gig, rather than confined to a backroom token gesture 👍

I'm going for Shaft, tell me a more Soulful scene than when Richard Rowntree is walking around Harlem looking for "oh, that Ben Beauford " to the Isaac Hayes masterclass, "Soulsville" Kev

Don't know if this qualifies, but, The Dramatics were heavily involved in the fact based "Detroit" gripping, and disturbing at the same time Kev

Yes Roburt, remember The Temptations dramatisation, it was on a channel called Hallmark over here, the guy who played David Ruffin looked more like Ruffin than Ruffin himself 😆 Kev

Took the exact words out of my mouth Dave 👍

Fantastic, "thinking out the box" playlists 👏

Classic male "Sweet Soul" Ken, Falsetto lead can be mistaken for female vocal, or adolescent male lead, superb record anyhow 👍 Kev

No, big want here, male group harmony at its zenith 👌Sweet Soul heaven, male falsetto intro, backed by tight male harmony Kev

R.I.P Greg Treasure the "One For The Road" set, a masterpiece Kev

Rob Marriot played an alternative version out back in 1990ish, sure it was an unissued acetate version sourced from the can Kev

New Jersey Turnpike-Stay away-Vitrech Aristocrats-Be my lady-Rondo X-cessors-Silent weapon-Lu-Tall Cold Bold and Together-Lets Backtrack/All the time-Ice Cold Bold and Together-Dedication Pm if you can help Kev

New Jersey Turnpike-Stay Away/Baby it's so hard-Viterech Please PM if you can help Kev

Really saddened by this, Karl was as keen as mustard about his soul, great nights at the legendary DDA sessions at Lowton, like everyone says, great character, good to be around, RIP Karl 🙏

Still looking Aristocrats-Be My Lady-Rondo Cold bold and together-All the time-Ice X-cessors-Silent weapon-Lu-Tall Kev

There were two groups called Blue Magic, the "Can I say I love you" which you duly played, think, not 100% though, they were a West Coast group, then there was the Philly group, who were quite prolific output wise, serving up typical for the era (early 70s) and area (Philadelphia) Sweet Soul ballads Kev

Is that The Soul Ambassadors on Ovide?

Gotcha my man Kev