Thursday, May 31, 2012

Philly Devotions / The Creations






A few nice slow jams. Sound quality varies. "Don't Let Me Down" by The Creations, at least on my copy, skips and the disc does not have any scratches or damage. The Philly Devotions Cd has nearly all the same tracks but the sound quality is excellent.
4 out of 10.

Maureen Gray






A very nice cover of "I'm So Young" and that is about it. The rest sounds similar to The Ronnettes material which is not of my interest.
2 out of 10.

Mid Tempo Soul Rolas







Some decent tracks but I am impartial to the slow ballads. I don't find myself listening to these two releases much.
4 out of 10.

Soul Generation





Collectables Records was on a hot streak during the early to mid 90's releasing killer group soul. The Soul Generation falls right in with the sounds of much better known groups such as The Delfonics and The Stylistics. A very good addition to your collection.
8 out of 10.

Soulful Doo-Wop








If Doo Wop is your thing then, these two discs will definatley not dissapoint you. There are the expected uptempo Doo Wop tracks but then we have some nice slow Doo Wop by The Brightones, The Gallahads, The Stereos, The Superlatives and The Master Four among others.
8 out of 10.

Rare Soul Of The Sixties





Soul from the Carnival label. Solid tracks by Lee Williams & The Cymbals, The Manhattans, The Pretenders and The Three Reasons.
8 out of 10.

The Barons





"I'm So Lonely" is a solid sweet soul jam. Besides that this cd offers "Kid Stuff", "Clap Your Little Hands" and that is pretty much it.
4 out of 10.

The Medallions





Clean CD with plenty of liner notes. Highlights include "Magic Mountain", "The Letter", "Unseen" and "The Telegram". A must for the Doo Wop fan.
7 out of 10.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tony Allen







Before picking up my first CD on Tony Allen I thought he has "Nite Owl" but what else?. Well, I was surprised to hear how many good slow tempo tracks he put out. Highlights include of course "Nite Owl", "Forgive Me" Tell Me", "I" and "Dreaming" among others.
9 out of 10.

The Servicemen



Obscure soul group release from 2010. Includes the killer soul jam "My Turn" plus a nice cover of "Close Your Eyes". A recommended add for your collection.
8 out of 10.

Kris Records





Mainly uptempo northern soul. You can count the slow songs on one hand and have fingers left over. This comp spands from the 60's to 90's. Wish I would have known before purchasing. You can skip this one.
1 out of 10.

South Side Soul Survey





A nice look into the Chicago soul scene. Excellent sound quality with good liners notes. Highlights include "I'm Not Like The Others", "I've Gotta Let You Go" and "Will You Be There".
8 out of 10.

The Dells












The anthology release does a pretty good job of capturing all of The Dells' hits. I picked up the bottom two prior to the anthology release. The original Vee-Jay recording of "Stay In My Corner" in my opinion, is a better version than the Cadet release on the Chess CD (which stays too long). Both versions along with a third are included in the anthology release. The Jasmine double CD release give you all of their early material.
7 out of 10.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

The Dukays





A few nice slow tracks from The Dukays whom lost their chance at fame when Gene Chandler left the group and his people staked claim to one of the most famous tracks of all time, "Duke of Earl".
5 out of 10.

Gotta Right To Cry





Given the group that put this CD out, I was expecting it to be much better. It has repeats and some not so stellar tracks.
4 out of 10.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Black Nasty





Little known on the low rider music seen, Black Nasty has a couple of really nice sweet soul tracks. "Rushin' Sea" & "I Must Be In Love" will not dissapoint the soul fan.
6 out of 10.

All Soul-ed Out







Early soul comp on Arcee Records. Most all tracks are now on other comps.
5 out of 10.