Village Soul 2
I can't believe the first volume from Terry Jones was over 4 years ago! Scary how time flies. Scarier still is the ability to beat, hands down, the first terrific compilation! This is definitely a notch higher in my book – not to diminish the worthiness of the original, of course, but to champion instead the seriously fine nature of the inclusions here. It's an essential release. Compilations such as this look down the decades and catch the very essence or Zeitgeist of what popular soul is all about; shining a laser down the decades and cutting an incisor-like beam into the fabric of what essentially makes a good groove from each era, and setting them down together in one basket. No mean task!
Adeva is a class dance act – her “So Right” still features prominently at home with me, and this uptempo 90s gem “Don't Think About It” is so Village it hurts! I admit that Chuck Jackson's “Waiting In Vain” was new to me and being a cover of the reggae song I was a bit uncertain. However, it is superb and as soulful as you like, bearing little resemblance to the original hit. The Real Thing, from Liverpool deliver a class early 80s rendition of the old Johnny Bristol tune from '75's “Feeling The Magic”. This is a stonking cover and sits nicely with the original.
You will be familiar with the excellent Larry London Project. A remix version appears here on glorious CD! This is classy, uptempo material for 2008 and then some. Talking of classy uptempo material...check out the set's KILLER. Function are a UK outfit composed of – wait for it – 2 old Norfolk regulars and a SUPERB backing singer who can usually be found behind UK pop singer Craig David! I kid you not. This vocalist is called Lincoln and I tell no lie – If I were told this was Frankie Beverly and I would not have had reason to disbelieve it! Imagine Maze turning their hand to thumping soulful house a la Big Brooklyn Red or Masters At Work. This is a MONSTER groove and I hope that we hear more worthwhile material from this great setup.
From 1982 comes Rose Royce with their excellent Rufus-like dancer for Epic, “Best Love” - a tune I was hitherto unfamiliar with, but now I cannot stop playing it. This is exactly the type of uptempo groove that fires me up, and I feel was lost in the late 80s, never to return thanks to urban styles and hip hop. Soul Heroes Randy Brown and Z.Z. Hill also add pedigree to proceedings. His cover of “Make Me Yours” is easily as good as Bettye Swann's original and proves beyond doubt about what a major player he should have been. Both Carl Douglas and The Ebonys inclusions hail from 1974. Carl Douglas is well known for his big hit in the 70s, which tend to overshadow these greater songs. Check out this great cut which always reminds me of a fresh summer's morning. Pure class.
The Urban Blues Project featuring Michael Proctor, from 1995, is an inspirational slice of soulful house complete with horn section and righteous pulpit-styled backing vocals. Think Colonel Abrams meets Chuck Jackson and you're not too far from what you have here. The set closes with one of my all-time favourite groups, The Dells. This classic cut from 1974 would make Barry White proud. The backing has a lot of the Love Unlimited Orchestra to it. Something Chess seemed to emulate at the time, if one thinks of the contemporaneous Solomon Burke LP! I could rattle on all day about this CD. Its essential. I am proud that here in the UK soul music has not died, and that those of a nature as Terry Jones keeps the flame alive. A genuinely sincere man and a genuine, well-thought out compilation.
Barry Towler
