“If, as a record-buying generation, we’re now better served and better informed about such seminal performers as B.B. King, Dion, Slim Harpo or even the likes of Jaibi and Little Willie Littlefield, then it’s no thanks to the major companies who have sat on the material for the last half-century. Instead, it’s been companies like Ace who went digging and unearthed some of the finest and most influential records of the postwar era.” (http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php?page_id=64)
I may add that ACE’s KENT Soul label accomplished the same for Deep Soul, Northern Soul, and Southern Soul. The New York Soul Serenade compilation piles up one rare beauty on top of another: Chuck Jackson, The Platters, Walter Jackson, Judy Clay — all of them top notch artists who definitely knew how to serenade their audiences …
Today’s pick from this album is by Ray Crossen. I can’t help but compare the background harmonies to those of the Temptations. What do you think?
