Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

Man, 1975 was a fine vintage for soul. Any Major Soul 1975 Vol. 1 was great; the second mix is no less wonderful. There are so many songs that failed to make the cut. And if you want more 1975 vibes, Any Major Soul 1974/75 is still up.

The mix begins with a time-capsule novelty: The Soul Train Gang preaching colour-blindness, with the late, great Don Cornelius, the presenter of Soul Train, rapping over the backing vocals of the quintet he founded. Flute fans will get something out of the outro.

Most acts on these mixes are North Americans, with the occasional Brit showing up “” as Linda Lewis does in this edition with a song that is gospel-tinged soul but influenced, like all of Lewis” music, by folk-rock. But here we also have a South African, Richard Jon Smith, who had a brief period of international success. As his fellow South African Jonathan Butler, Smith emerged from Cape Town”s vibrant “mixed-race” music scene where the boundaries between jazz, funk and soul are virtually meaningless “” and it shows in their music.

By 1975, the heyday of JJ Barnes was over. He”d been an artist on Motown, though none of his songs were released by the label, and he enjoyed a 1967 hit with Baby Please Come Back Home. In the 1970s he moved to Britain, where his catalogue was popular on the Northern Soul scene. He released a few records in the UK, but had no chart success.

Founded in the wake of funk acts like Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool & the Gang, Memphis band Chocolate Milk were also Allen Toussaint”s backing band. They were versatile, dabbling in funk, disco, soul, ballads and jazz.

In this mix, Clydene Jackson“s song recalls the southern soul of the late 1960s “” perhaps not surprising, since she was produced by Ray Charles. Jackson didn”t record much for herself, but did (and still does) a lot of session work for acts like Rick James, Randy Crawford, Teddy Pendergrass, Tom Petty, Neil Diamond, Anita Baker, Martha Reeves, Mary Wilson, Gil Scott-Heron, Patti LaBelle, Michael McDonald, Hugh Masekela, Rod Stewart, Richard “Dimples” Fields, Tom Scott, Idris Muhammad, Neil Young, Muse  and lots others.

Leon Haywood“s seriously sexy I Want”a Do Something Freaky To You was famously sampled by Dr Dre for Nuthin” But A “˜G” Thang “” and by many other hip hop acts, such as Redman on Rockafella. A word of warning, the female backing vocalist”s contribution to the song, especially towards the end, might be NSFW. Haywood died in April 2016.

As ever, CD-R-length, covers, PW the same as always (amdwhah)

1.  Soul Train Gang – Spectrum
2.  Chocolate Milk – Ain’t Nothing But A Thing
3.  Leon Haywood – I Want’a Do Something Freaky To You
4.  Merry Clayton – Room 205
5.  Linda Lewis – Love, Love, Love
6.  Minnie Riperton – Feelin’ That Your Feelin’s Right
7.  Clydene Jackson – If You Were Mine
8.  Johnny Bristol – Leave My World
9.  J.J. Barnes – I Think I’ve Got A Good Chance
10. Richard Jon Smith – Live For You
11. Smoked Sugar – My Eyes Search A Lonely Room For You
12. Loleatta Holloway – I Know Where You”re Coming From
13. Melba Moore – Get Into My Mind
14. Barbara Acklin – Give Me Some Your Sweet Love
15. Carl Graves – You”re Gonna Be All Alone
16. Curtis Mayfield – So In Love
17. Freddie North – Cuss The Wind
18. Roberta Flack – Mr. Magic
19. Bill Withers – I Wish You Well
20. Vernon Garrett – I Learned My Lesson
21. Impressions – Groove

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