Salsoul Presents Philly Soul Flavas

[markydefad]

Found a new UK Import CD at Amoeba; pricey for just 1 disc ($22)--but jam-packed with obscurities. :D

1) FALLING IN LOVE - Double Exposure (5:22)
2) TIRED OF BEING YOUR FOOL - Love Committee (3:00)
3) (WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN) ALL MY LIFE - Eddie Holman (3:16)
4) STANDING AND WAITING ON LOVE - Salsoul Orchestra (3:43)
5) CAN YOU SEE WHERE I'M COMING FROM - Instant Funk (4:11)
6) LOVE IS FINALLY COMING MY WAY - True Example (6:25)
7) HERE'S TO YOU - Metropolis featuring The Sweethearts (3:57)
8. CRY MY EYES OUT - Bunny Sigler (7:12)
9) THAT'S HOW HEARTACHES ARE MADE - Loleatta Holloway (3:04)
10) I CAN BE (EVERYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BE) - Flashlight (5:39)
11) COME ON IN - Moment of Truth (6:06)
12) THIS WILL BE A NIGHT TO REMEMBER - Eddie Holman (5:52)
13) TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY - Loleatta Holloway (4:28.)
14) SITTING PRETTY - First Choice (4:22)
15) CRYING - Instant Funk (5:56)
16) I DECLARE WAR - Double Exposure (5:49)

Anyone heard this yet? I'm listening now...very nice.

[K-Bee]

Looks very interesting Marky. Wellknown artists - unknown songs seems to be the theme here.
I only know the Bunny Sigler song cause I have the original LP from where it is taken.

[paul]

Obscure to me as well. The only one I know from looking at the list is Crying.

[Mixmachine]

Are you sure you didn't get this because of the Eddie Holman cut? :P :P

[marc0]

Completly unknown to me. :o

[NickNack]

Other than the Eddie Holman track it's all new(s) to me. I've got to hear Loleatta covering Genie Brown's cut, "That's How Heartaches are Made". Must be sweet.

[Salsoul1975]

I have Loleatta Holloway's "That's How Heartaches Are Made" on a UK CD reissue of her 1977 LP "Loleatta". I have yet to hear Genie Brown's version.

[discodjinn]

This CD is one of a series of 19 (yes-- 19!), many of which are 2-disc sets. The Walter Gibbons release is a 3-disc set. These are great for avid collectors and completists. They are nicely packaged and have extensive liner notes which are poorly written but contain nuggets about the acts. My reservations about these regard the price-- up to 34 US dollars each-- and the fact that while it is great that someone is mining the lesser-known album tracks, much of these are hit-or-miss in quality. The songwriting is variable, as is the vocal by some of the obscure acts.

To play one of these discs straight through, I think, is to reveal the weaknesses of the Salsoul factory. Courting heresy, I'll go out on a limb and say that the arrangements are repetitious. The albums used the same two or three rhythm sections and almost always the same orchestra players. These musicians had a grinding schedule, recording six to eight albums tracks, a different album every day. Many of the producers couldn't compose horn and string charts, and so the Orchestra players often came up with the backing arrangements in the studio. Their on-the-fly approach naturally resulted in much recycling. Today, when we listen, it is to 14 CD tracks rather than 6 album cuts. The samey-ness of the arrangements shows.

On the Gibbons set, his fine efforts punching up the drums and re-arranging the verses, bridges, and breaks improve the original tracks, but he was often given crap to work with. I feel that 3 discs was 2 too many for his work. I have three or four of these Salsoul Presents sets. If any single disc has so many weak spots and so few good tracks, then the entire series seems to be stretched thin. My opinion is that most of the great Salsoul stuff has already been released. I wouldn't recommend shelling out so much dough unless the buyer REALLY wants particular cuts.

[Giovanni]

These cds are part of a UK Salsoul project bound to reissue the entire catalogue in several comps. The tracks are sorted in various ways (female singers, Gibbons remix, etc) with many repetitions among the cds and with some antistorical ideas (Marshall Jefferson presenting his (???) Salsoul tracks).

I keep being loyal to my motto BUY VINYL !!!

[Salsoul1975]

I can agree with some of the comments made by discodjinn and Giovanni with regards to the Salsoul compilations. It would be a miracle if Suss'd UK would release actual albums by Salsoul label artists as opposed to various compilations.

Giovanni, if only vinyl were so widely available....but it ISN'T. I have a vinyl re-issue of Disco Boogie Volume 2, which was mixed by Walter Gibbons. If Suss'd UK re-issued this on CD, along with Salsoul Orchestra's album Nice 'n Naasty, they'd be forever in my debt ;-). Unfortunately, I think various artist compilations will be the only thing they will release, and will only concentrate on the Northern Soul-esque songs as opposed to the entire output from the Salsoul library. This is where some good U.S.-released Salsoul compilations come into play. I am skipping Suss'd's The Definitive Masters Vols. 1 & 2 simply because I have 9 out of 10 songs on those already via the U.S.-released The Original Salsoul Classics, and its Vols. 3 & 4 follow-up disc. A much more variety of songs from the label were represented there and if you can get your hands on those two US releases, then that's a good dose of Salsoul already.

I have the Marshall Jefferson two-disc set and think it's good, but it's not a live mix-it's a studio job with all its effects and self-promotion.

Apparently, on any Suss'd release, everything is mixed and sequence "with love"...which starts to get a bit long in the tooth eventually.

I can agree that the sound of the Salsoul's orchestra was repetitive at one point, probably between 1976-77, after their success with "Salsoul Hustle" and "Tangerine". Of course, the Motown sound was repetitive in its mid-60's heyday as well...

[QUINNY]

I can agree that the sound of the Salsoul's orchestra was repetitive at one point, probably between 1976-77, after their success with "Salsoul Hustle" and "Tangerine". Of course, the Motown sound was repetitive in its mid-60's heyday as well...

You can say that again!!!