A beautiful document of the Philadelphia soul underground –
pulled from a time when the city had so much great music going on, there was a
huge amount of excellent music that never got the exposure it deserved! The
focus here is mostly on Philly groups – from a period when the harmony styles
had matured even past the excellent sound of the city in the 60s – warm,
complex, yet completely down to earth, too – mostly male vocals, delivered at a
level that's completely sublime! Much of this work is material that was
"standing in the shadows of Philadelphia International" – the 70s
powerhouse of soul that was Philly's answer to Motown – and which, like Motown,
shared links with the much deeper underground of both Pennsylvania and New
Jersey soul. Most tracks are mellow harmony soul cuts of the highest caliber –
and titles include "Take Your Time" by The Festivals, "We Belong
Together" by Paradise, "I Need Somebody To Love" by Phyllis
Smith, "Let's Love" by The Invitations, "She Calls Me Baby"
by J Kelly & The Premiers, "This Time Will Be Different" by The
Blue Notes, "The Echo" by The Epsilons, "When You're Gone
Away" by The Elegants, "Tell Love Hello" by The Mellow Moods,
"Thinking About My Baby" by The Geminiles, "It's OK With
Me" by Broadway Express, and "Betcha Didn't Know" by Choice Of
Colors. ~ Dusty Groove
DONNIE TATEM - AIN'T NO LOVE
A contemporary singer with roots in gospel – but one who
works here with some great mellow soul backings from The Ingram Family – at a
level that maybe makes the set one of the best to come from their recent run of
projects on the Society Hill label Donnie's voice goes nice and deep – at a
level that really takes us back to quiet storm singers of years back – and the
Ingram backings are more mellow 80s than any sort of 21st Century vibe –
perfectly suited to Tatum's sound and spirit. Titles include "Tonight I
Give In", "Ain't No Love", "Hope That We Can Be Together
Soon", "It's A Shame", "Night & Day Dream",
"Once In A While", and "Say You Love Me". ~ Dusty Groove
THIS LOVE IS FOR REAL: THE SWEET SOUL OF CHICAGO 1968-1981
Stunning group soul from the Chicago scene – an amazing
collection that has an especially strong focus on the city's brilliant work in
the early 70s! Most of the material here is post-Impressions, but has a similar
warm harmony glow that's completely sublime – that next level of harmony that
some of the best groups were using as the decade got started – in ways that
really blow away earlier doo wop and 60s soul with their complexity! The set
list is exceptionally well-chosen – and the package has some of our favorite
soul singles from our hometown – a lineup that includes "Sweet Fools"
by Essence, "I'm Not Gonna Be Anybody's Fool" by Harlem Meat Company,
"Wait A Minute" by Lost Generation, "Second Story Man" by
Chocolate Sunday, "Share My Love With You" by Magnum Force, "I
Need Your Love" by The Vegas, "Gotta Let You Go" by The
Ledgends, "I Made Up My Mind" by The Cheers, "Just For You"
by Windy City, "This Love Is Real" by The Lovelites, "This Love
For Real" by Hands Of Time, "Warm Summer Nights" by The Stimulators,
and "Gotta Get Away" by Billy & The Bloodknots. ~ Dusty Groove
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