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Ever since me and Roger Armstrong got wedged into the Scepter /Wand / Musicor vaults about twelve years ago and came away with unreleased recordings like Maxine Brown's Torture, Chuck Jackson's What's With This Loneliness and Melba Moore's The Magic Touch, I've been hooked on hearing those kind of tapes that haven't been aired for thirty years but damn well should have been.
From time to time I've had a nice tickle like Carla Thomas' magnificent unissued Stax recording I'll Never Stop Loving You (featured on Do The Crossover Baby CDKEND 105), or even the big batch of unreleased Aware/Hotlanta tapes by Sam Dees (CDKEND 125), John Edwards (CDKEND 127) and Loleatta Holloway (CDKEND 135). However, those fell on my doorstep, rather than having me delve through old scotch tapes boxes to unearth them. So it wasn't until a full 10 years on from my first serious fix that I was to fully satisfy my craving. Although I didn't actually make it into the vault to get my fingernails dirty, I was there in a New York studio when tape boxes from 1966 were opened for the first time since the tracks were laid down and their full glory was revealed to me. I got to touch the boxes and reels, was able to copy down all the information contained thereon and, joy upon joy, saw the full session sheets that virtually put me back in the United Sound Studios, Detroit, at the peak of the soul music boom.
The songs themselves were of at least equal quality to the ones that actually did come out of these sessions and as these were Lorraine Chandler's I Can't Hold On, The Metros' Since I Found My Baby, Roy Hamilton's Reach Out For Me and Sharon Scott's Could It Be You, that was very high quality indeed. As RCA has a wealth of great soul records that have never made it on to CD, we've mixed in the unreleased with the released and spread the project over 2 volumes. (Vol 2 is CDKEND 156).
Highlights of the released tracks for me are The Insiders' I'm Just A Man, a vivacious well-crafted song performed by the boys who went on to become the Main Ingredient, one of the greatest of all the 70s vocal groups. Also Johnny Nash's Hugo and Luigi produced big ballad I'm Leaving from a different soul era but exquisitely made. The unreleased songs are all exciting but the one that always does it for me is Kenny Carter's original cut of What's That On Your Finger. I drone on about this one extensively on the sleevenotes so here I'll merely say that anyone who has already heard it will be buying the CD on the strength of this track alone.
Tracklist
01 Ooh It Hurts Me - The Cavaliers
02 Push A Little Harder - The Metros
03 Change Your Ways - Willie Kendrick
04 What Can I Do - Lorraine Chandler
05 Preview (Putting My Heart Under) Lock And Key - Sharon Scott
06 Take Me Away - Carolyn Cooke
07 What's That On Your Finger - Kenny Carter
08 It Hurts Too Much To Cry - H B Barnum
09 Today Is My Day - Dean Courtney
10 Since You're Gone - The Barons
11 Love Sick - The Dynamics
12 She'll Be Leaving You - Willie Kendrick
13 It's Better - Sharon Scott
14 Mend The Torn Pieces Of My Heart - Lorraine Chandler
15 Having Fun - The Bobbettes
16 Don't You Know A True Love (When You Find One) - Tony Mason
17 Crackin' Up Over You - Roy Hamilton
18 I'm Just A Man - The Insiders
19 I'm Leaving - Johnny Nash
20 Let The Music Play - Roy Hamilton
21 What Have I Done Wrong - Faye Crawford
22 Coming On Strong - Nancy Wilcox
23 It Didn't Take Much (For Me To Fall In Love) - Percy Wiggins
24 I'll Never Forget You - The Metros