soul sides

SOUL HUT: DAY FIVE (AND WE OUT!) The Soul...

SOUL HUT: DAY FIVE (AND WE OUT!)

The Soul Stirrers: He Knows How Much We Can Bear
Available on He's My Rock.

Today brings the end of the Soul Hut collaboration. I graced Tofu Hut with one of my all-time favorite covers: "Love and Happiness" by Monty Alexander. John, in turn, gave us this song by The Soul Stirrers, along with these comments:

"We end Soul Hut with a track that's near and dear to my heart and one with a message that grants me succor through hard times.

The Soul Stirrers are best remembered today as being the matrix from which Sam Cooke sprung; this recording presages that development by a good many years. The strong bass is courtesy of J.J. Farley, the honeyed lead by Robert Harris.

Don't let the surface noise bug you; think of it as a prestigious member of the band that only the grandest and oldest groups can claim.

Hustle over to Tuwa's Shanty and see if you can find a few more Soul Stirrers tracks.

Read this bio on the Soul Stirrers."

Soul Sides replies:

Alas, the static is pretty damn heavy on this and I found it to be more of a distraction than I would have liked. It's also a rather muted song: I like the harmonizing but I guess after the previous whoomp provided in the other songs, this one was the quiet close instead of a rousing, crashing finish.

But wait...it's not over yet! Wait for the Soul Hut Recap and Bonus Round, coming soon. We're actually backed up over here - Johnnie Taylor, Leon Spencer, Gene Russell and more, all waiting in queue.

TOMORROW'S YESTERDAY Jefferson Airplane...

TOMORROW'S YESTERDAY

Jefferson Airplane: Today
From Surrealstic Pillow (RCA, 1967)

Tom Scott: Today
From Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse, 1968)

The original "Today," appeared on Jefferson Airplane's second album and you can hear the crunchy, feel-good, Summer of Love vibe to the ballad - incense and peppermints for real. Clearly, it had an effect on saxophonist Tom Scott who recorded a cover of the song not long after for his debut album. What's interesting about his version is that it manages to sound quite similar to the original in some parts - especially the opening - but Scott's sax wails take the song in directions that the Airplane's vocals don't.

People tend to be divided over Scott's "Today": some think it's a little cheesball and musically daft. Others find it a great listen, especially as it bridges psych, pop and jazz together. I fall in the latter troupe.

This is freaky but I was planning on putting up Blackrock's monster of funky rock tunes: "Yeah, Yeah" but as it turns out, Fluxblog beat me too it. Seriously, "Yeah, Yeah" is incredible: visit our esteemed peer and peep that science.

SOUL HUT: DAY QUATTRO Jackson Gospel Sing...

SOUL HUT: DAY QUATTRO

Jackson Gospel Singers: Heaven Bound Train
Available on Heaven Bound Train: Southern Gospel 1949-1950

It's the penultimate (I've always wanted to use that word) day of the Soul Hut collabo. Tofu Hut has my offering: a spanktacular cover of "Down By the River" done by Ken Boothe.

John laced us with the Jackson Gospel Singers and this commentary:

"The Jackson Gospel Singers is an all-female band from New Orleans with just as great a range of sound and fury as any male counterpart.

I love the old gospel tricks these guys invoke: onomatopoetic train whistles and human orchestra clang on the tracks amidst the singing; the constant and gradual build in pace; the beautifully sustained shouts and cries of glory; unmatched harmony.

The P-Vine import CDs that many of these tracks hail from are virtually incomparable in terms of quality but they're a bit pricey and a pain in the ass to find. Good luck on the hunt and if anybody finds a reliable online export source other than Amazon, please let me know about them.

Explore this collection of train songs."

Our thoughts here at Soul Sides Central:

Kick ass. Our favorite song from Tofu Hut - this one is just so damn soulful on every level I can imagine: the acapella arrangement recalls the gospel roots of Aretha Franklin, the train-like sounds the Singers dole out are just straight up bonkers, and the sense of rhythm they have is fantastic.

GET ON UP Celio Gonzalez: Arriba!...

GET ON UP

Celio Gonzalez: Arriba!
From Arriba!/Up! (Tico, 196?)

When I first started to get into Latin, this is one of the first titles I picked up. Gonzalez is a Cuban artist, recorded a few sides with Tico (this was from his third album) and he has the distinction of looking like Mr. Rogers, only more waxen and a little scary.

When I first bought this LP, the store owner warned, "the instrumentation is good but his voice kind of ruins it" but I have to disagree. The music is great - swinging and soulful, just the kind of beat to get you twirling a dance partner on the parquet. But Gonzalez' singing fits right in the mix. Sure, he's not the finest Latin troubadour I've ever heard, but he's got verve and the ability to belt out a good one which seems to fit with this cut just fine.

SOUL HUT: DAY TRES The Brewsteraires of M...

SOUL HUT: DAY TRES

The Brewsteraires of Memphis: So Glad
Available on It's Amazing: the Glorious Female Gospel 1947-1951

For Day Three of Soul Hut, I dropped off a copy of "Tequila" as done by Bill Black's Combo. Tofu Hut came with the Brewsteraries of Memphis and John offered the following thoughts:

Psalm 40:2

Soul Strut opines:

First of all, I want to know what a Brewsterary is: I keep thinking of some kind of secret society of beer makers or something of the like. Doesn't quite fit with the gospel motif though. And yeah, this song is recorded off of vinyl so dusted I want to clean out my headphones after a listen. Solid material, especially the cross-gender harmonizing going on behind the lead.

HOW SUITE IT IS The Heath Brothers: Smili...

HOW SUITE IT IS

The Heath Brothers: Smilin' Billy Suite Part 1 and Part 2
From Marchin' On (Strata East, 1976)

Fear not: Soul Hut Day Three is still on its way. Just a bonus post to drop on ya'll today.

The Strata East jazz label used to be one of those imprints that would inspire instant "ooohs" and "aaahs" because people just assumed that anything off it would be 1) rare and 2) good. As it turned out, there are quite a many Strata titles that were neither.

This Heath Bros. release is one notable exception and while there are certainly titles far rarer than this one on Strata, I'd safely wager that most younger collectors go after this first on account of the immense and sublime "Smilin' Billy Suite" that takes up the entire B-side. I included Parts 1 and 2 since they are far and away the best two parts (four total) of the song. Part 1 has some fantastic bassline and flute interplay: moody but not morose, cool but not cold.

The seond part of the Suite is where it's at though: they melodic arrangement is very similar but instead of a flute, they break out a mbira thumb piano which has such a distinctive, glorious tone to it - like a vibraphone almost. It also makes the song sound that much more melancholy yet whatever sadness is implied is equally balanced by how beautiful the song's melody is. This is another one of those definitive "soul jazz" songs because, in my opinion, it so perfectly captures the essence of both genres within it.

KICKIN' FLAVOR WITH MY MAN Mo Ca$h: Ramblin' At...

KICKIN' FLAVOR WITH MY MAN

Mo Ca$h: Ramblin' At the Tip

Our man Milo aka Mo Ca$h drops the wickedness. A Soul Sides exclusive.

SOUL HUT: DAY TWO The Sensational Nightin...

SOUL HUT: DAY TWO

The Sensational Nightingales: Guide My Mind
Available on The Lord Will Make a Way: Early Recordings 1947-1951

On the second day of Soul Hut, I gave Tofu my this of thee, Afrique's cover of Bill Withers' "Kissing My Love." Tofu, in turn, hit us with the Sensational Nightingales and their "Guide My Mind," of which John says:

"A friend mondegreen-ed [interpreted] the chorus of this song (which actually reads "put your bit down into my mouth and bridle down my tongue") as "put your FIST into my mouth". In some way, that interpretation feels just as honest. I have a particular appreciation for good ol' Spirituals that cry out to a god that takes no bullshit. Praying to a god to rein you in and set you on a right path is something different than bitching about not getting a Playstation for Christmas, y'know?

Of course, it doesn't hurt that "Guide My Mind" is driven by the powerful and moving cries of the Nightingales demanding direction "RIGHT NOW LORD". It is a prayer that sounds desperate, painful and elated all at once.

Meet the current lineup for the Sensational Nightingales.

The Soul Sides .02:

What I like about this song is its great sense of rhythm and pacing. This is a very fast song, probably over 125 BPM and it just swings. I know John says it's got some heavy content but honestly, I never even get around to listening to what the group's preaching: I just get caught up in that quick-stepping it inspires. The elation I understand but I don't hear the desperation or pain - just the power of testifying fast and furious.

By the way, just to give ample credit where 'tis due, Soul Sides often times finds images for long, lost artists by visiting the well-nigh impressive Soul Generation out of the UK. Kudos to Martin and his team of crack scholars of the soul science. Damn, that's a lot of soul in that sentence. Dig it.