1966 Time Life

The second volume of The Complete Goldwax Singles sees us hit the labels golden period, where classic southern soul 45s pour out at a rate of knots. James Carr cements his place in the pantheon of great soul singers with a series of simply jaw-dropping singles. On this volume we have You Got My Mind Messed Up, Love Attack and Pouring Water On A Drowning Man before we get to Dark End Of The Street, the song that not only defined him, but quite possibly the whole southern soul genre. Volume Two is not just James Carr: the Ovations made amazing 45s at this period of the labels history, as did soul man Spencer Wiggins, who serves up the sublime Uptight Good Woman, among others. Other brilliant slices of southern soul featured are from Percy Millem, Eddie Jefferson, George (Jackson) and (Dan) Greer and Barbara Perry.

Colours launched onto the scene in 1968 with a stunningly glorious Psychedelic masterpiece of L.A studio wizardry. A super group before the name was coined, Colours was the brainchild of Gary Montgomery and Jack Dalton, two hard-working, former Motown songwriters who also penned songs for The Turtles, Nino & April and The Moon.
This magical mystery tour-de-force of Psychedelic Beatlesque Pop also features the talents of Derek & The Dominos bassist Carl Radle. This first-ever CD issue of their long-out-of-print albums (Colours and Atmosphere) is supplemented by long-lost '67 Dalton & Montgomery recordings cut just months before they formed Colours.
1969's Atmosphere features former Beach Boy David Marks around the same time he was a member of The Moon, another band with many connections to Colours…

This CD reissues one of Joe Williams' finest recordings. Accompanied by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, the singer is heard at the peak of his powers. The big band primarily functions as an ensemble (Snooky Young gets off some good blasts on "Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning"), but the inventive Thad Jones arrangements ensure that his illustrious sidemen have plenty to play. Many of the selections (half of which have been in the singer's repertoire ever since) are given definitive treatment on this set (particularly a humorous "Evil Man Blues," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," and "Smack Dab in the Middle"), and Williams scats at his best on "It Don't Mean a Thing."

Blues with a Feeling is a two-CD, 40-track compilation which makes the perfect audio bookend to The Essential Little Walter (or the single disc The Best of Little Walter for those on a budget) by systematically combing the Chess vaults and rounding up the best stuff. No bottom-of-the-barrel scrapings here; this compilation effectively renders all '70s Euro vinyl bootlegs null and void, both from a sound and selection standpoint. While not as exhaustive as the European nine-CD retrospective (in and out of print as of this writing), there are still things on this compilation that are left off the box set on Charly. The rarities (including the low down "Tonight with a Fool," possibly the rarest Walter Checker single of all and one whose title never shows up in the lyrics) are all noteworthy by their inclusion…

Marvin Gaye - At The Copa (1966) {Motown–Hip-O Select B0003629-02 rel 2005}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 423 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 57 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 2005 Motown Records / Hip-O Select | B0003629-02
Soul / Pop Standard / R&B / Motown / Urban / Vocal Jazz

Generally regarded as an iconic nightclub in the history of New York City, the Copa represented that and more to Motown owner Berry Gordy. For Gordy, the Copa was one of many benchmarks indicating that his little experiment called Motown was successful, and having his artists there was the ultimate symbol of how far he had come. The Supremes already had their shot at the Copa, and a live album was issued shortly thereafter. Next up was Gordy's rebellious but chart topping prodigy, Marvin Gaye. In many respects this was the ideal performance for Gaye, as many of the singers he grew to idolize shared the stage there at one point or another, with names like Sinatra and Cole.

The theme song 'You're Dead' to the FX show What We Do in the Shadows has fostered a new appreciation for the singular talent that was Norma Tanega. And it's high time, too…Norma was discovered while singing to Catskill summer campers by producer Herb Bernstein, who brought her to Four Seasons songwriter Bob Crewe. Crewe signed her to his New Voice label, and success was instantaneous: the title song to Walkin' My Cat Named Dog went to #22 on the charts. But, despite the album's folk-pop trappings, Norma Tanega was not an artist destined to stay at the top of the charts for long; her voice was unconventional, and her songs were too idiosyncratic, not sticking to typical song structure or even meter (for example, 'No Stranger Am I' is set to a 5/4 time signature).