Rolling Through The Barrio With The Soulistics

'I've Been Fooled" by Underground Funk Band and a nice cover of James Brown's "Try Me" by The Vandels are the big standouts for me. The rest has been out on other comps but can't go wrong with picking this set up. All tracks are directly taken from vinyl sources so all associated anomalies are present. Sweet soul jams by The Mumy, Archie Bell And The Drells, The Mighty Marvelows, The Dynamics, Innersouls, The Candi-Bars and others. This is one of those order now or regret later comps. Check out my Instagram for a couple of sound clips. Pick these up and show the collaborators some appreciation.

7 out of 10

Louisiana Roots, The Jay Miller R&B Legacy

This is the only legit CD, that I have seen with Marva Allen's "Here Comes The Night Owl". Heavy on the blues sound throughout. Couple of other notable tracks include "Irene" by Guitar Gable and King Karl and "A Fool That Was Blind" by Jay Nelson And The Jumpers. Excellent sound quality.

5 out of 10
 

Dream Dancers

Cynthia And The Imaginary Three, Soul-Fay, Charlie McCoy. Holly Maxwell and Beverly And The Del-Capris are not typically the types of tracks I go after but are solid mid tempo tunes to compliment any sweet soul collection. Sound quality varies.

5 out of 10

 

The Northern Soul of Chicago

I am not much of a northern soul fan but when I spotted original copies I had to grab them. Most of the copies readily available a bootleg CD-R burns. Highlight by LaShawn Collins, The Magnetics, The Majors, The Venturas, Harold Currington,  Monique and Lenny Vestel. Solid pick up for the northern soul fans.

6 out of 10

 

Dreamtime

East coast compilation featuring some nice slow ballads. Sound quality varies on each volume, especially # 2. Highlight include "The Stakes Are Too High" by Ernie Marbray, "The Bells" by The Extremes, "Why Must I Cry" by Beverly Noble, "Baby Don't" by The Madison Brothers, "Most Of All" by The Jamecos, "I'll Cry Tomorrow" by The Serenaders, "Come Back To Me" by Suzy And The Copycats, 'I'm Without A Boyfriend" by The Candleligths, "Are You Ready" by The El Domingoes, "Come To Me" by The Tonettes, "My Guy" by The Young Sisters, "Until I Die" by The Fawns, "Love Me Now" by The Clevers, "Love Shall Never Return" by Joan And The Hearts, "Silent Tears" by The Hayden Sisters and "In The Night" by The Sydells. Nice pick up for the Doo Wop fans.

5 out of 10

 

Lovers Cry

All about crying themed ballads that mix mainstream pop with some more rare R&B tunes. Highlights include "Why I'm I Crying" by The Crescents, "Why Do You Cry" by The Charts, "Crying Over You" by The Cruisers, "Crying My Heart Out" by The Symbols, "Crying" by The Endorsers and "Crying" by The Versatiles. Decent sound quality for this type of compilation.

6 out of 10
 

Make Out Music

Odd ball east coast compilation featuring a few rare ballads such as "Me Dear Dearest Darling" by Art Neville (not Aaron as noted on the track list), "Johnny" by The Robins and "Tell Me Why" by Bob Brady And The Con Chords. Also, contains well known soul tracks by Don Julian And The Larks, Johnny Stewart, Aesop's Fables and Lawrence And The Arabians. Sounds quality varies from good to needs much improvement.

5 out of 10

 

Ronnie I's Top 25 Ballads by Non-Hit Vocal Groups

Obscure, mainly early R&B tracks that won't sound familiar to most make up this compilations. The sounds are rare, but only a few like "We Danced In The Moonlight" by The 5 Stars, "Tears In My Eyes' by The Magic Tones and "Evening Shadows Falling" by The Seniors show up some of the west coast oldies play lists. Sound quality varies.

4 out of 10
 

Doo Wop From New York's Rome & Power-Martin Records

"Someone To Watch Over Me" and "Something" by Del & The Escorts were the main reasons for this pick up. Other notable tracks include "Smile" by The Pretenders and "I Love You Darling" by The Apollos. Balance of tracks have more of a pop sound. Clean sound quality. 

4 out of 10
 

Barbara Lewis

The latest compilation on Barbara Lewis, but one that covers all but "The Many Grooves Of" LP. Lost of material but highlights remain the same as with other releases; "Pushing A Good Thing Too Far", "Spend A Little Time", "If You Love Her" and her classic "Hello Stranger". Top notch sound quality but can't give a higher rating due to the fact all highlights are available on her other compilations.

4 out of 10