Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
For this soultacular edition of the Motherlode, your miner has unearthed a quintet of rarities, classics, favorites and long-ago posted gems whose download links are miraculously still working. Stop whatever it is your doing (including reading this) and slurp up these treasures straightaway. It's chicken soup for the soul lover's soul.
Percy Sledge ~ In Soul Africa
(Blog: Soul Safari)
Sledge Hammers It
"Not an easy album to track down, I must agree but last February luck was on my side as I went digging into a hospice shop in the Eastern Cape. Between all the nicks and nacks and lots of broken tracks and poor old vinyl, there it suddenly was; Percy Sledge in Soul Africa, music from the soundtrack recording. It’s actually a film about the soul singer touring South Africa in 1970. Most of Percy’s worldwide hits can be heard, although live creates another vibe, another energy. Most of all it contains two really funky tracks, unusual James Brown -type-o-sound like “Soul Fire” and the groovy, funky instrumental “The First Time.“ Percy and his band getting down!! And ’Soul Fire’ is perpetrated by the true Zulu spirit, with tribal chanting in a steaming 7 minutes version. Can you feel it?!!" (Description by Eddy De Clerq, at Soul Safari)
[Note: Only three of the LPs tracks have been posted so far. Keep your ears to the grindstone on this one.]
Shirley & Jessie ~ You Can't Fight Love
(Blog: The Singing Bones)
Love Makes the Record Go Round
When master selector Ana-B of The Singing Bones calls a 45 one of her all-time favorites, the thing to do is remain calm, stop breathing, then lunge for the download link in a frothy fury. Shit, download the thing twice. Just because.
Darrell Banks ~ Here to Stay
(Blog: I Don't Care About Sleep)
From Motown to Memphis
"Some superb deep soul from Darrell Banks, one of the better late-'60s stylists, especially on ballads. This was one of two tremendous albums issued featuring Banks' dramatic, gospel-tinged wailing….The Volt stuff…contains some of the deepest soul ever recorded, a winning combination of Detroit and Memphis styles, supervised by Don Davis. "Forgive me," "Just Because Your Love Is Gone," "Don't Know What to Do," "Beautiful Feeling," "I Could Never Hate Her" – what an album." (Description by Nikos, at Funk My Soul, who posted this back in 2008)
The Fuzz ~ The Fuzz…Plus
(Blog: Classic and Rare Soul Sisters 50s - 70s)
'Frotastic
"Three Afro-wearing girls from Washington D.C. who recorded in Philadelphia, The Fuzz started out in 1970 as the Passionettes and managed to record a one-off single for the small Path Records label ('My Plea' b/w 'My Fault'), before being picked up by Uni Records, where they released a second 45: 'Sister Watch Yourself' b/w 'Stand By Your Man'. They got off to a strong start on Calla in 1971 with the single ‘I Love You for All Seasons.’ Written by their lead singer, Seila Young, who teamed with Barbara Gilliam and Val Williams, the sentimental number went Top 10 R&B and peaked at #21 on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart." (Description by Rony Wynn, at Allmusic)
Donny Hathaway ~ Everything Is Everything
(Blog: Caesar Tjalbo)
Still Desperately Missed
"He’d been acting strangely all evening. Sometimes he’d sit there talking in weird voices, asking no-one in particular preposterous questions… then answering them himself with ever more unintelligible ramblings. Or he might move to the piano and spiral off into some classical composition that he’d been working on, shooting out at gospel and jazzy tangents as his muse dictated. Occasionally he’d get up and walk out of the studio altogether, until the fresh air brought him back to something like lucidity...." (Read the entire essay reprinted without attribution at Jazz-Not-Jazz)
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