Chicago Radio Soul – Various Artists CD (Kent)

Commencing with one of the most memorable bass lines in soul and R&B – the melodic dancing beat of Fontella Bass’s Rescue Me – Chicago Radio Soul surveys the many local hits that fired up Chicago radio station broadcasts in the 1960s. Some of the songs – Rescue Me and Jackie Ross’s Take Me For A Little While – have gone on to acquire the status of all-time R&B classics. Some of the artists – Etta James, in particular, since her recent chart hit I Just Want To Make Love To You – are now household names. All, however, have provided endless hours of listening pleasure for soul and R&B fans around the world. Culled from the Chess family of labels – Chess, Checker, Argo and Cadet – and with the best sound quality available, Chicago Radio Soul embraces styles and performers from bluesman Little Milton to Northern Soul fave Tony ‘The Entertainer’ Clarke, vocal group The Radiants to emotive-soul diva Denise La Salle, gospel-fuelled soul singer Mitty Collier to ex-Soul Stirrer James Phelps.The excellent sleevenotes are by Robert Pruter (author of the book ‘Chicago Soul’). – Ace Records