The Old Town & Barry Soul Survey

by N/A

Overview

The Old Town label is known more for 1950s and early-'60s doo wop, R&B, and rock & roll than it is for 1960s soul music. However, it and its subsidiary label Barry did continue to operate throughout the '60s and release numerous soul records, though without much commercial success. This collector-oriented compilation features 26 of such sides, though one (Peggy Scott's "Things Have More Meaning Now") dates from 1973, a couple others didn't see the light of day until the 1990s, and one (Charlie Thomas' "No One Home to Come Home To") was previously unreleased. As it happens, none of the Old Town material by the label's two most successful artists during this period (Arthur Prysock and Hector Rivera) was available to license for this compilation. That leaves Billy Bland and, if you're really up on your soul charters A-Z, Thelma Jones as the only names here that even most soul collectors would be familiar with right off the bat. It's varied and fairly generic '60s soul without a specific regional or label-specific identity, but that doesn't mean it's bad. There are some above-average cuts here, like Freddie Houston's "If I Had Known," which sounds a bit like Jackie Wilson's more melodramatic '60s stuff arrangement-wise; Billy Bland's "All I Wanna Do Is Cry," which comes off a little like it's trying to ride Gene McDaniels' train; and the Sparkels' "Try Love (One More Time)" and Beverly McKay's "Say It With Feeling," which are uncannily like Motown's very early girl group-ish efforts. The influence of Motown, New York uptown soul, and maybe a little bit o' early Philly soul is all over many of the sides, and some of the more derivative ones can't fail to bring to mind superior efforts by Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and the like. So it's for collectors only, but it's above-average as such soul specialist productions go, with consistently good production. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2005
Label:	Kent
UPC:	0029667224420
Rank:	121884

Tracks

1. If I Had Known  - Bobby Adams  - Freddie Houston
2. Could This Be Love  - Rosco Gordon  -  Roscoe & Barbara
3. Souvenirs of a Heartbreak  - Thelma Jones
4. Left Out  - Edgar Campbell  - Jesse Johnson
5. I Gotta Have Love Too  -  Long
6. No One Home to Come Home To  - Charlie Thomas
7. You Can't Trust Your Best Friend  - Donald Height
8. All I Wanna Do Is Cry  - David Battaglia  - Billy Bland
9. Try Love (One More Time)  - Sidney Barnes  - George Kerr  -  Sparkels
10. Say It With Feeling  -  McKay  - Jimmy Oliver
11. Let Your Love Shine  - Lester Young
12. Think Smart  -  Fiestas
13. I'm So Glad  - Billy Cox  -  Howard
14. It's a Woman's World (You Better Believe It)  -  Gypsies  - Randy Stewart
15. Baby, I Need You  -  Lorraine & the Delights
16. Hold It Baby  -  King Ernest
17. Keep On Loving You  - Buddy Johnson  - Ella Johnson
18. Baby, I Need You  -  Gee  - Jesse Gould
19. The Tide Has Turned  - Sammy Fain  -  Mark IV  - Gene Jr. Redd
20. Lonely Man  - John Jr. Standberry
21. You Took My Love for Granted  - Billy Bland
22. Slowly I Turn  - Charles Fox  -  Profit
23. Stop and Take Another Look  -  Divine Men  - Fran Robbins
24. I Must Be Doing Something Right  - Stanley Jay Gelber  - Irene Reid
25. Second Chance  - Thelma Jones  - Bobby Lance  - Fran Robbins
26. Things Have More Meaning Now  - Bobby Lance  - Peggy Scott

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Thelma Jones   Primary Artist
Beverly McKay   Primary Artist
Donald Height   Primary Artist
Irene Reid   Primary Artist
Billy Profit   Primary Artist
Billy Bland   Primary Artist
Buddy Johnson   Primary Artist
Frank Howard & The Commanders   Primary Artist
Gypsies   Primary Artist
Mark IV   Primary Artist
Jesse Gee   Primary Artist
John Standberry, Jr.   Primary Artist
Freddie Houston   Primary Artist
Divine Men   Primary Artist
Sammy Fain   Primary Artist
Lorraine & the Delights   Primary Artist
Bobby Long & The Dealers   Primary Artist
The Sparkels   Primary Artist
Lester Young   Primary Artist
Charlie Thomas   Primary Artist
King Ernest   Primary Artist
Jesse Johnson   Primary Artist
The Fiestas   Primary Artist
Peggy Scott   Primary Artist
Ella Johnson   Primary Artist
Roscoe & Barbara   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Bert DeCoteaux   Arranger
Billy Bland   Composer
Billy Cox   Composer
Jimmy Oliver   Arranger,Composer
Donald Height   Composer
Sidney Barnes   Composer
Stanley Gelber   Composer
Tony Esposito   Arranger
John Standberry, Jr.   Composer
Bobby Adams   Composer
Nick Robins   Mastering
Jesse Gould   Composer
Randy Stewart   Producer,Composer
David Battaglia   Composer
Bobby Lance   Producer,Composer,Arranger
Edgar Campbell   Composer
Thomas Howard   Producer
Sammy Fain   Composer
Charles Fox   Composer
Gene Redd, Jr.   Composer
George Kerr   Producer,Composer
Buddy Johnson   Composer
Ady Croasdell   Liner Notes,Research
Rosco Gordon   Composer
Hy Weiss   Producer
Lester Young   Composer
Fran Robbins   Composer