King New Breed R&B Volume 2 – Various Artists CD (Kent)

Code: CDKEND373

£12.75

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01 Love Man – Hal Hardy
02 I’m Tore Down – Freddy King
03 When You Move, You Lose – Lee “Shot” Williams
04 Send Me A Picture, Baby – Mel Williams
05 Let’s Have A Good Time – The Hi Tones
06 Two Hearts – The King Pins
07 All Around The World – Little Willie John
08 You’re Gonna Drive Me Crazy – Dolph Prince
09 Why Oh Why – Guitar Crusher
10 It Hurts Inside – The “5” Royales
11 Slooptime USA – Bobby & The Expressions
12 Stop Talking To Your Child (Mother-In-Law) – James Duncan
13 Geneva – Eugene Church
14 Why Did We Have To Part – Herb Hardesty and His Band – vocal by Walter “Papoose” Nelson
15 Gangster Of Love – Johnny “Guitar” Watson
16 I’m A Cool Teenager – El Pauling & the Royalton
17 Wild Child – Donnie Elbert
18 I’m So In Love – Lee Williams & The Moonrays
19 You’d Better Come Home – The Five Fabulous Demons
20 I Promise You (I Won’t Mention Your Name) – Billy Conn
21 Say Hey Pretty Baby – Lula Reed & Her Little Teeners w Sonny Thompson & Orch
22 Your Letter – Willie Wright & His Sparklers
23 Let Me Walk With You – Eddie Kirk
24 What Makes You So Tough – Teddy Humphries

Weight 120 g
Title

King New Breed R&B Volume 2

Artist

Various Artists

Label

Format

Genre

,

Release Year

Condition

In the ten years it’s taken for this second volume of “King New Breed R&B” to come to fruition the R&B collecting scene has gone from strength to strength. Many great sounds have been discovered languishing in shops and collections and the phenomenon has become truly international. A lot of these records have crossed over to the Northern soul, popcorn and mod music scenes. Mike Pedicin’s ‘Burnt Toast And Black Coffee’ and Little Willie John’s ‘I’m Shakin’’ from our first King volume have become mainstream retro music classics, outselling even the biggest Northern soul 45s we’ve issued in this period.

I’m guessing that our opening track is going to be a rising star of the vintage black music world. Hal Hardy’s ‘Love Man’ is best known for its Northern soul flip ‘House Of Broken Hearts’. I found ‘Love Man’ on YouTube and immediately fell in love with it. It’s a record that defies the blues, soul or funk tags and powers this CD off with a blast.

More familiar territory comes with the blues classics ‘I’m Tore Down’ by Freddy King, Little Willie John’s ‘All Around The World’ and Johnny Watson’s ‘Gangster Of Love’. They’ve all been comped before, but sound terrific strategically placed throughout this CD.

1955 is an early starting point to what is, in the main, an early 60s sound but Mel Williams’ ‘Send Me A Picture, Baby’ fits snugly next to the blues grooves of its later vintage companions. The 1957 offerings from Donnie Elbert and Dolph Prince have a ‘Fever’ groove that epitomises the Popcorn end of the scene’s sounds. The earliest-sounding numbers are the doo wop-inspired 1960 recordings from the Hi Tones and Lee Williams & the Moonrays.

We were hoping to feature ‘Just A Little Bit Of Everything’ by Herb Hardesty but had tape problems that need a little more time to sort. (The track will definitely be on Herb’s solo CD out later this year.) In its place we opted for ‘Why Did We Have To Part’, featuring a full vocal from Herb’s co-writer Walter Nelson.

The “5” Royales are here with their swaying ‘It Hurts Inside’ featuring the soulful vocals of Lowman Pauling, who also teams up with the band’s guitarist Royal Abbit on ‘I’m A Cool Teenager’, a blueprint for the well-groomed youth cults to come. Lowman Pauling also co-wrote the Hi Tones’ song.

There is a Willie Wright track not previously issued on CD and a great Eddie Kirk side co-written with future Stax/Volt singer Oscar Mack. Eugene Church describes his girl Geneva’s charms so effectively that I was blushing at one point and the King Pins’ update of the Charms’ ‘Two Hearts’ simply rocks the joint.

In researching this CD I was turned on to a wealth of good music and I’m sure the majority of these will be new to the ears of most black music aficionados. By Ady Croasdell –  Ace Records

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