Local Customs: Burned At Boddie

Another release by the folks at Numero Group that does not fail to deliver that rare monster soul ballad. This Cd has a few in  "Don't Stop Smiling" by Jus' Us, "Let Me Go" By The Harmonics and "I'm Gonna Treat You Good" by The Donations. A must for your collection.
8 out of 10

Chicago Gangsters

Rare soul harmony by The Chicago Gangsters that are widely forgotten but keep alive through hard core fans and collectors. "Blind Over You" is the big hit here.Other nice ballads include "We've Been Together", "Let Me Go" and their covers of "Break Your Promise" and "5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years Of Love)" A must for the soul music fan.
7 out of 10

The Esquires

Bummer that both of these releases left out "Girls In The City"! If you can get the Westside CD at a good price choose that one as it includes all tracks on the Collectables Records release. Nice tracks (ballads and mid tempos) include "Part Angel", "No Doubt About It", "Woman", "Everybody Is Laughing" and "Why Can't I Stop".
6 out of 10

Carla Thomas

I picked this one up from the bargin bin thinking I would get her classic "Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) then a bunch of material I would probably never listen to twice. I was surprised by other nice tracks such as "Give Me Enough (To Keep Me Going)", "I've Fallen In Love With You" and "A Love Of My Own".
6 out of 10

Soul Boppin' Ladies

Female soul featuring some Jan Bradley who hit it big with one monster hit in "Mama Didn't Lie". Glad to see more of her material being issued on CD. Highlights include "I'm Over You" and "The Brush Off" by Jan Bradley, "Selfish One" by Jackie Ross, "Your Love Back" and "Come See About Me" by Nella Dodds. Sorry to her fans but I skipped though the Mitty Collier portion.
6 out of 10

Got A Good Thing Going

Some obscure soul ballads are included in this Sequel Records release. Some do lean more on the southern soul style. Highlights include "Say You'll Never (Never Leave Me)" by Alice Clark, "You Better Go" by Derek Martin, "I'll Find You" by Valerie And Nick and can't go without mentioning Johnny And The Expressions with the Lowrider classic "Something I Want To Tell You".
5 out of 10

The Dreamlovers

A must have for the Doo Wop fans. A fair share of good ballads which include "I'm Thru With You", "Together", "When We Get Married", "While We Were Dancing" and a few others.
7 out of 10

Annette & Rendevous

A couple of very nice Doo Wop ballads in this release then a good amount of early R&B that I skipped through rather quickly. The good tracks are "Only Memories" by The Marlettes, "Teardrops" by The Markeets and "You mean So Much To Me" by Doreeta Clark And The Madison Brothers.
4 out of 10

The Five Satins Meet The Scarlets

A nice budget CD featuring The Five Satins and the early tracks of their lead singer Fred Parris with The Scarlets. I picked this one up for the lesser known tracks of "Dear One", "True Love" and "Darling I'm Yours".
5 out of 10

The Chanters

Lots of upbeat tracks, only a couple of notable ballads. The best ballad being "Angel Darling" from there "I Need Your Tenderness", "I Make This Pledge" and their take on "For Sentimental Reasons" round up the slow tracks.
4 out of 10