New Orleans Soul 2014

For more than ten years Soul Jazz Records have been exploring and documenting the sound of New Orleans Funk. Now they turn their attention to the flipside of this musical coin - New Orleans Soul.
These two musical forms share a lineage that begins with the city's enormous rhythm and blues explosion in the post-war 1940s and 1950s. New Orleans Soul incorporated the soulful vocals of the gospel church, the driving beat of rhythm and blues, as well as traces of the second-line parade bands and the latinized rhythms of the city. Here you will find New Orleans soul in all its glorious variations - from the deep, deep soul of singers Aaron Neville, Willie Tee and Robert Parker to the storming northern soul of Maurice Williams and Eldridge Holmes, the funky soul of Eddie Bo, Lionel Robinson and Ernie K-Doe all alongside the Crescent City's finest soul sisters - Irma Thomas, Betty Harris, Jean Knight, Inell Young and more!

For more than ten years Soul Jazz Records have been exploring and documenting the sound of New Orleans Funk. Now they turn their attention to the flipside of this musical coin - New Orleans Soul.
These two musical forms share a lineage that begins with the city's enormous rhythm and blues explosion in the post-war 1940s and 1950s. New Orleans Soul incorporated the soulful vocals of the gospel church, the driving beat of rhythm and blues, as well as traces of the second-line parade bands and the latinized rhythms of the city. Here you will find New Orleans soul in all its glorious variations - from the deep, deep soul of singers Aaron Neville, Willie Tee and Robert Parker to the storming northern soul of Maurice Williams and Eldridge Holmes, the funky soul of Eddie Bo, Lionel Robinson and Ernie K-Doe all alongside the Crescent City's finest soul sisters - Irma Thomas, Betty Harris, Jean Knight, Inell Young and more!

For more than ten years Soul Jazz Records have been exploring and documenting the sound of New Orleans Funk. Now they turn their attention to the flipside of this musical coin - New Orleans Soul.
These two musical forms share a lineage that begins with the city's enormous rhythm and blues explosion in the post-war 1940s and 1950s. New Orleans Soul incorporated the soulful vocals of the gospel church, the driving beat of rhythm and blues, as well as traces of the second-line parade bands and the latinized rhythms of the city.

Cosimo Matassa began recording New Orleans R&B and soul long before the '60s, the decade documented on this 2014 compilation from Ace. Named after an online collection of Cosimo aficionados who have taken it upon themselves to seek out and document every Matassa-related single released, Cracking the Cosimo Code: 60s New Orleans R&B and Soul concentrates not on the '50s – that era can be found on Proper's wonderful 2007 box The Cosimo Matassa Story – but the slicker, funkier '60s.

Soul singer Betty Harris – mainly known for her Jubilee and Sansu recordings – was born in 1939 in Orlando, Florida. As a teenager she worked as a mate for Big Maybelle who encouraged her to start singing. First recording was released in 1962, her major hit was a cover of Solomon Burke’s “Cry To Me” in 1963. Taken at a slower pace, Harris’ rendition turned the song into a Billboard Hot 100 number 23 hit and soon became a deep soul classic. A total of three further singles including a reissue of “Cry to Me” were released on Jubilee with “His Kiss”, which was released on January 4, 1964, another deep soul ballad, reaching the lower part of the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. In 1964, Betty Harris switched record labels to Sansu, a New Orleans label, where she was produced by Allen Toussaint. Her recordings with Sansu produced ten singles and Toussaint raw yet sophisticated Southern soul arrangements behind Harris’ rich, distinctive vocal, are considered prime specimens of the classic soul era. Soul Perfection, originally licensed on UK label Action in 1969 , was in fact a collection of her previous works on Sansu, a rare groove affair rapidly in demand between a crowd of obsessive fans all over the world. Harris retired from performing in 1970 to raise a family and made an occasional return in 2007 with the album Intuition.

Soul singer Betty Harris – mainly known for her Jubilee and Sansu recordings – was born in 1939 in Orlando, Florida. As a teenager she worked as a mate for Big Maybelle who encouraged her to start singing. First recording was released in 1962, her major hit was a cover of Solomon Burke’s “Cry To Me” in 1963. Taken at a slower pace, Harris’ rendition turned the song into a Billboard Hot 100 number 23 hit and soon became a deep soul classic. A total of three further singles including a reissue of “Cry to Me” were released on Jubilee with “His Kiss”, which was released on January 4, 1964, another deep soul ballad, reaching the lower part of the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. In 1964, Betty Harris switched record labels to Sansu, a New Orleans label, where she was produced by Allen Toussaint. Her recordings with Sansu produced ten singles and Toussaint raw yet sophisticated Southern soul arrangements behind Harris’ rich, distinctive vocal, are considered prime specimens of the classic soul era. Soul Perfection, originally licensed on UK label Action in 1969 , was in fact a collection of her previous works on Sansu, a rare groove affair rapidly in demand between a crowd of obsessive fans all over the world. Harris retired from performing in 1970 to raise a family and made an occasional return in 2007 with the album Intuition.

New Orleans…. home of jazz, birthplace of the funk and, some would say, of rock'n'roll. No great controversy there, but The Big Easy's role in the history of soul music has been less well documented. Part of the 'History of Soul' series, this compilation of tracks illustrates the depth and breadth of music produced in the city between 1958 and 1962. Music that went way beyond R&B, taking into soul the joyous rhythms of funky second line parade bands, the gospel-based piano triplets of barrelhouse wizards and the tight horn sections of Allen Toussaint and Dave Bartholomew, whose arrangements from would later inform the classic Stax sound.

Lew Bedell's Doré label dabbled with black music recordings through its thirty year history, beginning in 1958 but the British beat invasion of 1964 propelled him to seek out soul acts so he didn t have to compete with the Limeys for plays on black radio stations at least. The Superbs were his main act and, despite only getting one hit from over twenty releases, he stuck with them undoubtedly enjoying their unique mix of simple soul balladry.