Format Details: Jewel Case
Description
Smokey Robinson wrote those words in 1971. They were written in admiration of - and out of respect for - his soon-to-be erstwhile colleagues the Miracles, whose elegant vocal backups had graced many of Robinson's compositions during the previous decade and a half. In these simple words - and whether or not he fully realised he was doing so at the time - Smokey was also paying tribute to an important, even indispensible, sub-genre of American black music, and to the multitude of other exceptional vocal outfits that have enhanced that sub-genre since the mid 60s. " Group soul harmony has been dear to the hearts of soul fans and collectors for more than three decades now and, for almost as long as there has been such a thing, has been a prominent feature of the Ace catalogue. Down the years we have featured - and continue to feature - wonderful single-CD sets devoted to the Manhattans, Mad Lads, Impressions, Chi-Lites, Detroit Emeralds, Delfonics and many others who, for those of us who are aficionados, are pretty much the be-all and end-all of sweet soul harmony. Group soul has also been well represented across a host of great Kent compilations, which have drawn their repertoire from the catalogues of Carnival, Scepter/Wand, Stax, Excello, Modern and Philly Groove. It's fair to say that every time that age-old question Do you like good music, that sweet soul music?" has ever raised its head in Ace towers, the answer from most of us present has always been a very firm "Yeah! Yeah!". Sadly, our enthusiasm seems to be less well reflected in the buying habits of today's young music lovers. As times and tastes in black music have changed, the great vocal groups that were always one of the principal ingredients in the recipe of soul, seem to have become relegated to a seat at the back of the musical bus. Solo acts, meanwhile - both male and female - have become the mainstay of music that's nowadays known as R&B, but what, in truth, is no more related to real R&B than were Elsie and Doris Waters any kin of Muddy's (they were actually Dixon Of Dock Green's sisters, tedious fact fans). Contemporary soul groups may be a vanishing breed, but happily there's plenty of demand for both the past masters of the genre and their past masterpieces. And, now in 2003, we're happy to bring you even more of that sweet soul music in the form of IN PERFECT HARMONY, a multi-artist, multi label CD - the first, we'd like to hope, of an ongoing series - devoted entirely to the increasingly vanishing art(istry) of group soul. Its two dozen tracks, all recorded during group soul's golden decade of 1966-76, feature some of the greatest names the genre has to offer, as well as many so obscure that even the performers' mothers would be hard pressed to remember much more than names and dates of birth. But all these groups have one special thing in common - a vocal greatness that makes these, and any other records they might have made, totally indispensable to their genre's many
Tracklisting
Young-Holt Unlimited
Isaac Hayes
Jeanette Jones
Z.Z. Hill
Wilson Pickett
Willie Bollinger / Willie Walker
William Bell
William Bell
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
