POOKIE HUDSON - THIS GETS TO ME

Could ever a song title be more true?

This song certainly gets to ME; it's records like this that make me devote so much of my time to collecting records.

Pookie was the lead singer of legendary doo wop group the Spaniels, and after the Spaniels disintegrated after doo wop waned in popularity he disappeared for a while but came back with this record. Sadly, it went nowhere but the doo wop revival was right around the corner and Pookie's new Spaniels performed until his passing two years ago.

A real gem of a record.

from 1966...

POOKIE HUDSON - THIS GETS TO ME

SAM AND BILL - FOR YOUR LOVE

This is an absolutely gorgeous duo ballad from these New Jersey fellas. They have a few more releases that I understand are also great that I need to find.

from 1964...

SAM AND BILL - FOR YOUR LOVE

HOLIDAYS - ALL THAT IS REQUIRED (IS YOU)

The story of "The Holidays" is incredibly complex and I won't even begin to get into it here. A very detailed (and multi-page) article about the different groups, lineups and cash-ins from Detroit that have used the name can be found here: http://soulfuldetroit.com/web15-Holidays/index.html

As for this record, it was cut when the mighty Revilot label was on its last legs, shortly before it went under (after releasing an astonishing amount of top notch soul records)

from 1969...

HOLIDAYS - ALL THAT IS REQUIRED (IS YOU)

THE VALENTINOS - SWEETER THAN THE DAY BEFORE

While they were a family band, their last name wasn't Valentino; these guys were actually the Womack brothers (including future solo star Bobby Womack along with brothers Cecil, Harry, Friendly and Curtis).

The group began recording in the late 50's in Cleveland and were discovered by Sam Cooke who took him under his wing and signed them to his SAR label. After Cooke died tragically, the group was signed to Chess records and this track was one of the first they cut for Chess. Cecil was briefly married to Mary Wells, and the two of them co-wrote this track.

While the phenomenon of "northern soul" is an enigma, if anyone were to ask me to name a song that epitomizes northern soul this would be the track I would demonstrate. Of course, being a 34 year old American who wasn't in the north of England in the early seventies it may be presumptuous for me to do so, but for all I have read about the whole scene this track just seems to have it all.

from 1965...

THE VALENTINOS - SWEETER THAN THE DAY BEFORE

THE SHOCKING BLUE - SEND ME A POSTCARD

Of course this Dutch group struck a huge national hit with "Venus", but today's featured tracks is one of the greatest fuzzed out freakbeat numbers ever.

Notice how today's scan is not of the label; this pic sleeve is too nice to not feature! I'm typically not that hyped up about picture sleeves, but this one from Japan is an exception.

from 1968...

THE SHOCKING BLUE - SEND ME A POSTCARD

DARROW FLETCHER - NOW IS THE TIME FOR LOVE pt1

It's no secret how much I dig Darrow, if you've been hangin' around this blog for a while. This was one of those notoriously tough to get 45's but hell yeah it was worth the wait. Psychedelic soul at its' best. Part two is really cool (just keeps the jam going) as well; if you wanna hear it I'll email it to you.

from 1971...

DARROW FLETCHER - NOW IS THE TIME FOR LOVE pt1

THE ASTORS - IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE

This Memphis group was formed while the guys were still in high school in the late 50's and went through a number of name changes before settling on the name THE ASTORS in 1963. During their formative years, they worked with Rufus Thomas, who helped them get their act together as performers.

This track should have been massive, but sadly disappeared (while another record they cut for Stax, 'Candy", WAS a charting record and although solid its' nowhere near the velocity of this stomper). I haven't read anything to substantiate, but it's GOTTA be Booker T & The MG's as backing group on this one.

from 1965...

THE ASTORS - IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE