Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures: Taken From Our Vaults, Vol. 1

by N/A

Overview

Dave Godin is a big name, perhaps the biggest in British soul scholarship. He was a writer and critic in Blues & Soul magazine in the 1960s and 1970s, and an all-around promoter and collector who was instrumental in getting much American soul released in the U.K. This is his personal selection, accompanied by almost 10,000 words in liner notes, of 25 of his favorite "Deep Soul" tracks (a term that, according to his notes, he coined himself) from the 1960s and early 1970s. There are no songs by Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, or the like here, so presumably the cuts were also chosen with an eye toward how undeservedly unknown they are. Irma Thomas, represented by the original 1964 mono single version of "Anyone Who Know What Love Is (Will Understand)," is the sole name likely to be familiar to non-fanatics. The main qualification for inclusion is the intensity of the vocal performances, and on that grounds this disc certainly delivers; the life-dependent emotion puts this, in some senses, closer to gospel than pop. As far as this anthology representing the alpha and omega of the best rare "deep soul," it's been a little overhyped. It's certainly leagues above the average soul rarity compilation (including many done by the same Kent label), in part because it licenses from so many sources, rather than just one or two labels as such collections are apt to do. It also doesn't focus exclusively on soloists, adding group vocal performances with more of a pop and doo-wop influence here and there. The songs and singers, though, aren't as striking as they are on the records made by the best soul stars. Is it the best compilation of rare deep soul, then? Well, it's up there, although some of the tunes are more generic than Godin seems willing to admit, and the slow-to-midtempo churchy arrangements can get a bit stifling all at once. As for songs that should definitely be better known, Kenny Carter's almost apocalyptically operatic "Showdown," actually written for (and turned down by) the Moody Blues as a possible follow-up to "Go Now," is certainly a lost classic. Zerben R. Hicks' "Lights Out" features a taut drama that crosses from the simply intense to the haunting. Raw Spitt's "Songs to Sing" has a specific social consciousness missing from most of the tracks here; it is comparable to the material Swamp Dogg put on his early-1970s albums, which is no surprise as Swamp Dogg produced Mr. Spitt (aka Charlie Whitehead). ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	05/20/1997
Label:	Kent
UPC:	0029667214322
Rank:	79173

Tracks

1. I'm Never Gonna Live It Down  - Shena DeMell  -  Knight Brothers  - Peylia Parham
2. Easy as Saying 1-2-3  - Timmy Willis
3. Lights Out  - Larry Banks  -  Dynamics  - Zerben R Hicks  -  Zerben R Hicks & The Dynamics
4. Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)  - Randy Newman  - Jeannie Seeley  - Jeannie Seely  - Irma Thomas
5. Have a Little Mercy  - Dorian Burton  - Clyde Otis  - Jean Wells
6. Try Love  - Dori Grayson  - Willie B. James
7. I Can't Make It Without Him  - Brendetta Davis  - Vernon Jones  - Barry White
8. Showdown  - Larry Banks  - Milton Bennett  - Kenny Carter
9. I'm Not the One  - Joan Banks  - Larry Banks
10. The Turning Point  - Jimmy Holiday
11. Standing Here Crying  -  Incredibles
12. She Broke My Heart  - Richard Beasley  - Fred Bridges  -  Just Brothers
13. You're on Top  - Brice Coefield  - Chester Pipkin  -  Untouchables
14. It's Not That Easy  - Reuben Bell  -  Casanovas  -  Bell
15. Cry Baby Cry  - Buzz Cason  - Mac Gayden  -  Van & Titus
16. I Still Love You  - Edgar Campbell  -  Stanback
17. Try to Leave Me If You Can (I Bet You Can't Do It)  - Bessie Banks  - Frank Green
18. Songs to Sing  - Troy Davis  -  Raw Spitt
19. How Much Longer (Must I Wait)  - Lee Moses
20. Nothing's Too Much (Nothing's Too Good)  - Billy Young
21. I Feel Like Cryin'  -  Sam & Bill
22. I'm Goin' for Myself  - Edgar Campbell  -  Eddie & Ernie
23. Tried So Hard to Please Her  - J.D. Diggs  -  Knight Brothers
24. The Love of My Man  - Pearlean Gray  -  Passengers  - Ed Townsend  -  Gray
25. You Got Me  - Larry Banks  -  Jaibi

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Zerben R Hicks & The Dynamics   Primary Artist
Reuben Bell & the Casanovas   Primary Artist
Pearlean Gray & The Passengers   Primary Artist
Raw Spitt   Primary Artist
Jean Wells   Primary Artist
Timmy Willis   Primary Artist
Pearlean Gray   Primary Artist
The Passengers   Primary Artist
Untouchables   Primary Artist
Zerben R. Hicks   Primary Artist
Brendetta Davis   Primary Artist
Jaibi   Primary Artist
Bessie Banks   Primary Artist
Kenny Carter   Primary Artist
Billy Young   Primary Artist
The Incredibles   Primary Artist
Larry Banks   Primary Artist
Eddie & Ernie   Primary Artist
Dori Grayson   Primary Artist
Just Brothers   Primary Artist
Jimmy Holiday   Primary Artist
Reuben Bell   Primary Artist
The Knight Brothers   Primary Artist
The Dynamics   Primary Artist
Jean Stanback   Primary Artist
Sam & Bill   Primary Artist
Van & Titus   Primary Artist
The Casanovas   Primary Artist
Irma Thomas   Primary Artist
Lee Moses   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Dave Godin   Producer
Van & Titus   Performer
Raw Spitt   Performer
Chester Pipkin   Composer
Jean Wells   Performer
Timmy Willis   Composer,Performer
Willie B. James   Composer
Edgar Campbell   Composer
Joan Banks   Composer
Jeannie Seeley   Composer
Vernon Jones   Composer
Brice Coefield   Composer
J.D. Diggs   Composer
Frank Green   Composer
Shena DeMell   Composer
Troy Davis   Composer
Bessie Banks   Performer
Kenny Carter   Performer
Billy Young   Performer
Larry Banks   Composer,Performer
Clyde Otis   Composer
Barry White   Composer
Dorian Burton   Composer
Ed Townsend   Composer
Fred Bridges   Composer
Mac Gayden   Composer
Dori Grayson   Performer
Jeannie Seely   Composer
Just Brothers   Performer
Peylia Parham   Composer
Richard Beasley   Composer
Jimmy Holiday   Composer,Performer
Randy Newman   Composer
Milton Bennett   Composer
Reuben Bell   Composer,Performer
Buzz Cason   Composer
The Knight Brothers   Performer
Irma Thomas   Performer
Lee Moses   Composer
Sam & Bill   Performer