Five Heartbeats

Loosely based on the life and times of several R&B artists (The Dells, The Temptations, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others) The Five Heartbeats traces the rise and fall of a popular African-American 1950s singing aggregation. The story is told from the point of view of one of the "Heartbeats," played by Robert Townsend (who also co-produced, directed and co-wrote the script with Keenan Ivory Waynans). The film is an amalgam of anecdotes drawn from real-life experiences: the long struggle upward, the first rush of success, the dishonest record-company executives, the hard-nosed but nurturing managers, the sex, the drugs, the isolation and the precipitous downward slide. The film begins and ends in the 1990s, as the middle-aged "Duck" (Townsend) ruminates on the past and makes the best of the present.

In the early 1960's, a quintet of hopeful young African American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improve, turn pro, and rise to become a top flight music sensation.

Ever the thinker, saxophonist Steve Coleman now delves into the connection between human biology and music with Functional Arrhythmias, perhaps his most accessible release in recent memory. With a vast discography that has covered everything from unadulterated funk in 1988's Sine Die (Pegasus) to advanced concepts in 2011's The Mancy of Sound (Pi), his curiosity and influence continue to expand.

The Dells - Anthology (1999) [2CD] {Hip-O Records}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 952 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 341 Mb
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© 1999 Hip-O Records / Universal | CD MP D3811a
Doo Wop / Chicago Soul / Early R&B / Northern Soul / Pop-Soul

The Dells were one of the few groups that rode the transition from doo wop to smooth soul without missing a beat and without falling off the charts. Just as remarkably, the group did so without declining much in quality, as Hip-O's definitive double-disc Anthology proves. Throughout these 36 tracks, the music changes, from street-corner R&B to string-drenched disco-soul, but in all their incarnations, The Dells always sound wonderful. There are a handful of minor hits missing, but all the big singles – including both the Vee-Jay and Cadet versions of "Oh, What a Nite" and "Stay in My Corner" – are here, assembled chronologically.

Various Artists - The Rama Story (1999) {2CD Set, Westside Records WESD215 rec 1953-1956}
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© 1953-56, 1999 Rama Recordings / Westside Records | WESD 215
Rhythm & Blues / Doo Wop / Oldies / Rockabilly / Rock 'n' Roll

This 2 disc set brings together 61 tracks from this early George Goldner run label. Although Rama only had a three year run as a label, they made significant inroads, especially as a doo-wop specialist with seminal tracks from the Crows ("Gee"), the Wrens ("Come Back My Love"), the Valentines ("Lily Maybelle") and the Heartbeats ("A Thousand Miles Away"). But there's also some errant pop sides and some fine rockabilly aboard as well from Don "Red" Roberts, Little Billy Mason (a white Frankie Lymon sound-alike with guitar band backing), and Roc LaRue. A delightful two disc set that shows off the many sides of this interesting label.

No pop genre has defined what a summer night can be as much as doo wop, with its countless songs about the moon and the stars and the light they cast on the possibilities of romance, and no pop genre has ever had more earthly angels residing per square foot. This four-disc, 100-song collection of doo wop vocal groups has numerous examples of both, along with seemingly a song for every girl's name ever invented.

Various Artists - The Gee Story (1999) {2CD Set, Westside Records WESD223 rec 1954-1962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 549 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 364 Mb
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© 1954-62, 1999 Gee Recordings / Westside Records | WESD 223
Rhythm & Blues / Doo Wop / Oldies / Blues / Rock 'n' Roll

This 2 disc set brings together 63 tracks from this early George Goldner run label. Covering a nice selection of the label's output from 1954 to its demise in 1962, Gee made inroads as a doo-wop specialist, primarily with the recordings of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Cleftones, and later with the Regents and the Drapers. Plemty of classics aboard from these artists as well as goodies from the Emanons, the Coins, the Five Crowns, the Valtones, Annie Kaye, and Lorraine Ellis, making this a superlative overview of a label that for almost a decade dealing in nothing but new York rhythm and blues.