Soul Harmony : Sweet Soul Vocals 1961-1984

Description

This year, the “in vogue” black music style is the slow, sweet groove of soul-harmonic ballads. Interest in this musical genre has increased over the past decade, and the rarest records now regularly fetch four-figure prices. This interest in Soul Harmony led Ace to create its own singles label of the same name, with the aim of releasing vinyl titles for DJs and collectors of this genre. Although not that expensive, several titles on this record are sold at high prices because of demand. The Question Marks on Money, the Puffs on Dore, John Wesley and the Melic offering by 4 Tees will make a dent in most people’s pockets. We do not choose the songs based on price, but rather on their musical excellence. Thus, the recordings by the Mad Lads, Moments, Diplomats and Lee Williams & The Cymbals are relatively common gems that sound perfect in this context. What makes this CD essential is the first digital inclusion of top-class examples of the harmonious sound from the little-known 87Th Off Broadway, Exclusive, Natural Resources and Soul Interiors. All these tracks were discovered in the tape vaults of the licensors we work with; it is baffling that these excellent tracks were never released. We have expanded the period generally associated with these sounds to include superb earlier and later examples of this craft. The West Coast titles by the Imperialites, Question Marks, Music City Soul Brothers and Ray & Bob recall the doo wop era but are clearly great soul records. The musical style carried through the 70s and even in 1980, Dave Hamilton and his young songwriting partner Dexter Dixon were still searching for that romantic love-song sound.