Playboy 01 2024

The black music scene in post war America was dominated by the emerging urban, electrified R&B scene in Chicago. Nearby Detroit was musically dwarfed, with much of its talent being drawn to the Windy City, but as the 50s drew to a close, things began to change. Detroit’s population bulge coincided with the consumer boom, making its age profile younger than its neighbour’s. Thousands of southern black migrants were joined by many immigrants from Europe come to work in the automobile industry. Henry Ford’s pay was good, and with plenty of disposable income available for its inhabitants, Detroit became the goodtime capital of the USA.

It's a wonder that the title "Modernists" hasn't already been used for a collection of mod-related music, but Ace's 2015 set, Modernists: A Decade of Rhythm & Soul Dedication, lives up to this worthy name. The compilers, who are the team behind Mod Jazz, favor high-energy, snazzy soul and R&B that Mods would've favored back in the mid-'60s. In essence, this means the 24 tracks are often not that dissimilar to Northern Soul – much of it echoes Motown and Chicago soul, all stylish and upbeat – but there's a distinct emphasis on hard-charging rhythms and a bit of grit. That doesn't mean there isn't space for John Fred & His Playboy Band riding a Big Easy shuffle on "Shirley," or a dose of tight Memphis groove (Oliver Morgan's "Hold Your Dog," which makes its debt to Rufus Thomas quite plain), but this is generally high-energy good-time music, a party record crafted out of rare elements that never feel obscure.~Modernists: A Decade of Rhythm and Soul Dedication Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Drifters can also claim a unique place in popular music history, as a major R&B group founded at the instigation of a record-label chief. Their story began in early 1953, when Clyde McPhatter, the soaring high-tenor lead singer in the Dominoes, a vocal quintet formed by Billy Ward three years earlier, quit that group.

Groups of girls singing together… from the end of the 20s they were known as girl vocal groups, a huge phenomenon in the USA that ended only in the 60s. By then they’d established the art of singing vocal harmony in every genre of American pop, and gone far beyond the country’s borders. Jean Buzelin and Jean-Paul Ricard have gone deep into jazz, pop and soul material for this set, and chosen the most representative groups that sublimed the songs of America’s girl singers.

Calling Claudia Lennear's appearance in 20 Feet from Stardom, the documentary about the great unsung backup singers in rock 'n' roll, a "star turn" may be a contradiction in terms, but if you find her riveting on screen you're in good company not only did she inspire Mick Jagger to write "Brown Sugar" (and David Bowie to write "Lady Grinning Soul'), but Jagger calls her "very hot" and a "beautiful girl" in the film! Claudia made her reputation singing as one of the "Shelter People" that Leon Russell used as session musicians on his Shelter label; she also sang on Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and at George Harrison's Concert for Bangla Desh among many other projects (there was also that, ahem, photo spread in Playboy). But for those seeking a pure taste of her singular talent, this 1973 album, her only solo release, is the place to be; side one features her with members of Jim Dickinson's Dixie Flyers and Ry Cooder, side two finds her singing songs written and arranged by the great Allen Toussaint, with such legends as Jim Keltner and Spooner Oldham along for the funky ride. Our Real Gone reissue features a non-LP bonus track, notes by Pat Thomas featuring quotes from Claudia herself and, yes, photos from her private archive. CD debut and an extremely timely one