Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities

As the title implies, most tracks are upbeat northern soul. A few have appeared in various soul compilations such s "Wrong, Wrong, Wrong" by Ray And Dave and "It Ain't No Achievement" by The Millionaires. Other notable tracks include "Little Boy" by Carla Thomas, "Lost In A City" by The Vows and "Cry In The Arms Of Another Love" by Andre Scott with Jessie, Otis & Shotgun. Top notch sound quality as always with Ace Records' releases.
5 out of 10

The Impressions

Main reason for picking this one up is for the sweet soul jam, "This Love's For Real". A killer tune that plays right into the lowrider sound. Other notable tracks include "Can't You See" and "Say You Love Me". Excellent sound quality and can be found at a decent price.
6 out of 10

Odds & Ends

Standout and reason for my purchase, is "(Give Me A) Chance" by The Pharotones. The tracks by The Excels and Bruce Marvello & The Red Coats are also decent but rest of the material I skipped through rather quickly. Sound quality varies as expected with such rare recordings.

4 out of 10

The Rare Record Collection

Pretty good batch of long forgotten Doo Wop tracks with very good sound quality. Highlights include "I Found You" by The Metrics, "Maybe" by The Shawlettes, "The Only One (Is You)" by The Starbounds, "My Love Let Me Down" by The The Trutones" and "I Love You So" by The Kittens. A solid addition to the Doo Wop library. Sweet soul seekers might want to skip this one.

5 out of 10

Sly Stone

An interesting look at early Sly Stone recordings starting in the mid 1950's. Highlights include "Since You've Been Gone", "Heavenly Angel", "Long Time Alone" and "Yellow Moon". Nice pick up if you are a big fan of Sly Stone. If not, leave this one for the Doo Wop fans.

4 out of 10

Sueño Feliz

Brand new release with a Spanish twist. Even if you do not speak the language, you will surely pick up the covers quickly. Lots of very hard to find records with covers of well know tracks. I suggest you put a rush on buying this CD as once it is gone that will be it. Check out my Instagram post for info on who to contact for ordering. Highlights include tracks by Los Blue Angels, Wild Wind, Conjunto Musical De Tamaulipas and Los Correcaminos. Tracks taken directly from vinyl sources so associated anomalies will be present.
8 out of 10

Con Safos Oldies

A large undergound compilation with light packaging and no track lists. You will pretty much have to chance it on this one. If you have most rare soul oldies compilations out there, you have a good 90% of what is on these CD's. Sound quality varies.

3 out of 10

Lee Moses

"I Can't Take No Chances" is the strongest track here for those seeking ballads. Material is raw deep soul.This track can also be found on Gangsters Dedications Vol. 1 and I suggest you pick it up there.
2 out of 10

Super Soul Sisters

 A mix of standards with a few odd ball female tracks on this 3 disc set. This one is a nice to have but not one I can say run out and buy right now. Highlights include tracks by Baby Washington, Barbara Lynn, Yvonne Fair, Brenda Holloway and Gladys Knight And the Pips. Good sound quality.
4 out of 10

The Best Of X-Tra Records

A beauty in "Oh So Much" by The Heartspinners was the main reason for picking this CD up. Other notable tracks include "Can I Come Over" by The Youngtones, "The Bells" and "Oh Baby" by The Belaires.
5 out of 10