1. Big John Patton – ‘Fat Judy’ (1965)
A classic and one of the
templates for Acid Jazz. I hadn’t heard the complete album it came from, Oh
Baby, until recently and if, like me, you like Hammond grooves you’ll love it.
2. Bobby Bland – ‘I Ain’t Myself Anymore’ (1966)
Another sensational Bland (pictured above) track
to add to the list with one record dealer describing it far better than I
could: “A cocktail of understated horns, his controlled gravel-coated throat,
purrs the lyrics out, like a sun-basking lion, in wait for the kill.”
3. The Lovers – ‘Whatcha Gonna Do Baby’ (1966)
Formed by a group of serving
officers at the Deal Air Force base in Northern California as the Emotions, a
name change to the Lovers saw one 45 in 1965, ‘Do This To Me’. A beautiful,
Impressions-like follow-up featuring ‘Whatcha Gonna Do Baby’ failed to happen
and languished in the vaults for 50 years until Kent rescued in this month for
their Harmony of the Soul comp.
4. The Gaylads – ‘Sounds of Silence’ (1967)
Tis brave to attempt a Simon
and Garfunkel song but Jamaican vocal group The Gaylads do so with some style, giving
it a graceful rocksteady overhaul.
5. Baby Huey – ‘Listen To Me’ (1970)
Within the space of a month in
1970 Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Baby Huey all checked out, with Huey (James
Ramey to his folks) not even making it to 27, falling short by a year. His
Curtis Mayfield produced album The Baby
Huey Story: The Living Legend was released posthumously and opens with this
fat funker.
6. The 8th Day – ‘You’ve Got To Crawl (Before You Walk)’ (1971)
The full refrain being “You’ve got to crawl before you walk back
into these arms of mine”. Storming early 70s soul from Holland,
Dozier & Holland’s Invictus label.
7. William De Vaughn – ‘Be Thankful For What You Got’ (1974)
It was hearing Arthur Lee and
Love’s 1975 cover that got me interested in this song and then by complete
coincidence, 25 years after it was released, I finally got around to listening
to Massive Attack’s Blue Lines and it
was on there too. All versions are good but De Vaughn’s cool and unhurried
soulful vibe is sheer class.
8. Neil Young – ‘Barstool Blues’ (1975)
Suitably woozy, boozy and
ragged; a strong contender for my favourite Neil Young song.
9. Altered Images – ‘A Day’s Wait’ (1981)
‘Happy Birthday’ was a big
bouncy pop hit but not typical of what lay on the rest of that album. Produced
by Siouxsie & the Banshees’ Steve Severin it’s not too far removed from the
Banshees own JuJu, out at the time; obviously not
as terrifyingly dark (what is?) but the guitars and drums are very similar in places.
10. The Coral – ‘Million Eyes’ (2016)
I’m usually fairly tepid towards
the Coral but they put on a great show at the Kentish Town Forum this month
with heavy-hitter ‘Million Eyes’ from new LP Distance Inbetween rocking like a late 60s Fillmore gig with an
eyeball shredding lightshow to match.
