Goucher’s 2011 

Welcome to another round up of the new, recent and decent tunes that have entertained me through 2011, a year in which a white female singer has introduced the masses to a real strong distinctive vocal, real songs, thought provoking lyrics and a captivating presence who clearly tells her life story through her songs, yes its all there pain, love, deceit and the struggle to exist, so what chance of a knock on effect and some of the hysteria coming our way, we can only hope. New talent in the shape of Queen Emily, our own Ruby Turner could do with some help, JMAY, R Jones and Andrey Seville all need higher profiles, maybe what’s happening to Adele will have that knock on effect and allow some of the great black story tellers of the day in on the action.

Betty Wright was outstanding on Jules Holland and Ruby Turner gave THE greatest vocal performance ever witnessed anywhere, an astonishing rendition of an old gospel tune whipping up a storm as the song developed, jaw dropping stuff. If you can catch these 2 performances then do so asap.

Moving on then is James Morgan and his album “Just James” from 2009 this album contains 3 amazing tracks that are so good I’m surprised no one else has gotten on the case, first up we have a real throwback beat ballad cum stepper in the shape of “This time I’m gone for good”, starting with a drum roll, stabbing horns, tinkling piano fills, a chink chink base line to die for, a real drummer at the helm, occasional sax support and a glorious subdued ‘Hammond’ and a vocalist that can really cut it, this is so foooooooooooooooookin brilliant, I’ve got it on repeat as I type.

And if all this hasn’t caused you to reach for your fave search engine then wait until you get a load of the stunning dancer “I am all good with my baby”, this rammed the floor for me in Bilbao in October 2011, insistent drummer, synths, guitar fills so typically southern but this really is the dogs bollocks of a tune, the Soul 4 Real crowd really did groove to this, once again our hero provides a vocal that keeps your interest until its time to move onto the next tune. Speaking of which we have “It takes more to keep her”, this is more subdued and pays homage to how difficult it is to keep your woman once you have her, the drummer has that sound that is now synonymous with Sir Charles Jones but that’s where the similarity ends because this is soul story telling the way it used to be. The rest of the album has its moments but the 3 highlighted tracks are some of the finest of there kind and its about time you lot jumped on the James Morgan bandwagon. Beautiful Bobby Blackmon, who I hear you all shout, entered the fray with his “Yeah Baby” set and I’m guilty of falling for the title track with its insistent but subtle rhythm dominated by the drummer and the guitar of our man, his vocals are old school, gravelly, lived in full of feeling and passion, this dancer has dominated the laser flicker, it also dominated the dancefloor at Bilbao 2011 and was easily the tune of the weekend judging by the reaction having played both on the Friday and the Saturday, and then Mark Merry comes along and puts “Let me be the one” on his podcast and wow he blew me away, kicking myself big-time for not hearing what was only 2 tracks away for what is a down tempo masterpiece of the highest order. Love it love it love it. WC Clark is a real journeyman and there are an abundance of his albums sitting on the shelves here at home, recently (August/Sept) I pulled the “From Austin With Soul” album and fractured the silence with his excellent dancer “Got to find me a lover”, kicking off with a short guitar solo, joined by some real drums and then our man, all very simple in its approach but a superb southern styled dancer emerges, I’ve been hooked ever since ‘Alligator Records’ announced its arrival in 2002, the rest of the album is glorious southern soul and blues, not for the faint hearted amongst you. Now Earl Thomas can do no wrong in my world and his album “Introducing The Blues Ambassadors” is chock full of what I expected, superb tunes including the dancer “Never Can tell” in which my hero is very much out front vocally over some fine musicianship and then a quite brilliant instrumental in the shape of “All talk and no action”, it’s a throw back sound of Hammond, horns, guitars and a dominant drummer and a stark lesson in how to create an authentic black sound. Derobert & The Half Truths are in my very humble opinion the top funk band around, I first stumbled on them in 2010 when there ‘Soul in a digital world’ set surfaced, I was hooked on the subtle dancer “I know” and the up-tempo brilliance of “The joy”. Both are fine examples of modern day soul music, I took “The joy” over to Bilbao 2011 and the sight of a full dance floor to such a superb piece of soul music that had been ignored by the masses left me with a huge grin on my face, having got back to the UK I was informed that it had surfaced on a 45 on ‘Soulfly Records’, I had been pushing the label ‘Ged Records’ for nearly 9 months to get it out and finally its here, without doubt one of the finest dancers to surface in recent times HOWEVER; without any hesitation the finest dancer to surface in the past 10 years is JMAY “I wont hurt you”, download only at the time of acquisition and 2 months later (Nov 2011) still no other release, everyone who Iv played this too can’t believe this is a new release, staying true to the ethos of 70’s soul, swirling strings, kitchen sink production, muted guitar fills, and a male vocalist that can bounce up and down the scale in alarming beauty, there’s even time for a Hammond solo, the drummer holds the mid tempo rhythm perfectly, in Bilbao 2011 this holy grail of new music took the roof off the place on the Friday session and big raps must go to Mark Merry for bringing one of the greatest pieces of soul music to my attention, I can’t and won’t find another piece of new soul music of such elegance and beauty again for a long long time. I’ve had this cut to a 45 to give me an additional avenue of playing this out. Getting back to Derobert & The half Truths there latest seven inch EP has 5 tracks on but 2 of them are stone cold killer soul tuneage of the highest order “Reachin Out” and “Call me” are downtempo brilliance and are dead certs for eventual acceptance, Iv put several copies away for a rainy day.

2 albums that arrived with huge anticipation were The Noel Gourdin and Brad Marquis , well they arrived and got hammered, Brad Marquis just fails to make the cut, it’s a nice soul album but there’s not much originality here, we’ve heard it all before and at times his voice simply can’t cope, amazingly they have left his failings in, so not much in the way of quality control either, its not a total loss however; the Noel Gourdin is a masterful soul album of the highest order with at least half a dozen tracks doing the business. An album you can put on from start to finish without reaching for the skip button, vocally excellent on every level.

Another big tune this year for me was the New Face of Soul with there “Change the music” album, chock full of quality soul music but THE tune on here has to be the Maze soundalike dancer “I Can’t wait’, kicks off wth the drummer beating out the rhythm, guitar fills and then some excellent vocals, by the time the drummer has grabbed your attention your hooked, once again I played it both nights at Bilbao 2011 and the floor was rammed, so easy to dance to, actually I had this at the last Yarmouth too and played it several times in my early spots, those that heard it gave it the thumbs up. In a similar vein is the excellent Blue Mist Band and there “Valentine Lady’ album, this is a multi racial group and the influences depicted on this album reflect those origins, “Thankyou Girl” is the track that captured my attention from the off however this will suffer like many of these tracks with lack of exposure and disappear into the cavernous world of soul music. Johnny Adams needs no introduction and back in April last year I dropped the mid tempo dancer “Goin out of my head sale” from his 1998 “Man of my word” album and had quite a few folks wanting the details, I alerted Mick O’Donnell over there in the land of scarves and pedal cycles, he played it on his show and the rest is history, just about everyone I know has gotten there selves a copy, its not hard but so bloody soulful it hurts. They thought so over in Worcester at the last soul nite at the boating club too.

A lot was made of Deidre Gaddis and her “Life in the keys of Dei” album but I couldn’t get into it at all save for the very modern dancer “What are we gonna do”, as for the rest I don’t even think its one for me in the future either. Now then Kindred can do no wrong with me, the husband and wife duo with the most  wonderful soul vocals who write some stunning lyrics too, modern day life portrayed in the most captivated way, and so the latest album arrived in the shape of “Love has no recession”, too many tracks to tell you about but get a listen to “We all will know”, Hammond driven mid tempo soul music of the very highest order which some years ago now would have rammed the floor at most thinking mans venues, but those days are long gone, thank god for Yarmouth then, at least it will get some spins hopefully and raise its awareness.

The Skip Boardley album was warmly received by all who heard it, titled “Positive Love” it has that timeless quality, ballads, mid-tempo and dancers are all here but the strings and horns mix of “Spending more time with my baby” has won the accolades here at home, a stepper with some serious credentials unfolds and you just get transported back to a time long gone. An essential album if you aint on the case already.

Well it took a while didn’t it but just over a year after the Gregory Porter album “Water” surfaced the track “1960 what?” finally made some head way, yes its jazz but with one hell of a lot of soul, revisiting the burning and looting of the motor city during those now infamous riots. Brilliant to dance to or just throw your head back open your ears and wallow in its greatness, wonderful stuff. What a voice!

The album of the year for me is the The Revelations “Concrete Blues” with the lead vocals of Tre Williams, a total album in every way, tracks like the mournful “Behind these bars”, the simply beautiful “How could you walk away”, the mid tempo groover “One reason to stay”, the Memphis sounding “Untill you get enough of me”  or you could settle for the Bobby Womack inspired “I gotta have it” which is subtle enough to cause some dance floor activity. The drop dead slowie “Lonely Room” is another stunner and  the album finishes with another killer in the shape of “Don’t wait’, easily the top album of the year and like the Tad Robinson album from last year will go onto to be accepted as one of the all time greats.

One of my favourite singers having gone awol for a while is back, Omar Cunningham surfaced with his “Growing Pains” set, being very much a southern soul set it has moments of sheer nonsense, any way straight to track two and the fabulous mid tempo dancer “Find a good woman” and played back to back with James Butler had them up and at it in Bilbao 2011, he’s a great singer and on the slowee “Here I am” he excels as we know he has so often in the past, the stepper “If we can’t get along” just ambles along effortlessly, upping the pace into a bouncy dancer with “Do Right” which really does get into your head, moving into the albums top track the Ronnie Lovejoy sounding “Mr Lowdown” which has had sporadic plays on radio but this is one that needs greater acknowledgement, superb soul music.

A guy with a big voice arrived by the name Larkins, his album titled “Back in the game” isn’t any great shakes musically, synths in the main, but any negatives around that issue melt away because of his voice, unique, powerful and so beautiful to listen you, lyrically this too is an excellent album, so many tracks on here that will please you, have a listen you won’t be disappointed.

The ladies haven’t been represented much in these pages so lets put that right, Stephanie Pickett  gave us her second album and whilst its not as strong as the first it contains one of the ballads of the year “My love is guaranteed” is steeped in all that’s gone before it, echoes of Betty Swann, Betty Lavette and Denise Lasalle are here, she can rap just like Shirley Brown and Millie Jackson too, an absolute masterpiece. There are other worthy moments on here to, typical southern production qualities so get a listen first.

Betty Wright’s album was probably the worst kept secret and when it arrived it caused quite a stir, why she persists in having Joss Stone on here is beyond me, there are so many black singers out there struggling to get there music heard, it must be baffling to them as well, its not an instant album but Betty’s voice is still intact and having had it on repeat its beginning to sink in, not a bad album at all really which is more than can be said for Aretha Franklyn, it hurts me to say this but the voice has gone, her album is weak and very ordinary on every level, its almost like she was pushed to put it out, poor production values didn’t help either. She appears to be just going through the motions, no passion intensity or interest to these ears. Lalah Hathaway gave us the beautiful ballad “You were meant for me” from her album “Where it all begins” which will be in many top ten’s as will R Jones and his anthemic “Who’s love are you gonna be” which is download only but has probably been the most talked about release of the year, its been hammered on all the thinking mans soul shows, another top download is Andrey Seville and his “Just like magic” another downtempo opus.

My only problem with downloads is that they are scattered over so many different sites that its impossible to stay on top of them unless of course your Mark Merry who appears to be able do just that, his Soul Sermon Podcasts have put so many of us onto new music over the past couple of years he should be knighted however I think a simple thank you will suffice.

Now then Tony Saunders is a base player of some repute and his album titled “Romancing the Base” is testament to that but hidden on this 13 tracker are 2 killer vocal dancers, first up is “No one can love me forever” with lead vocals from a Margo Le Duc, nope I haven’t  heard of her either but on this mid tempo dancer she really is a find, very dance floor friendly but the real killer on here features our old friend Fred Ross with “Is it you”  a stunning dancer with all that’s needed to do the business, a lazy groove, some fine vocals what more could you want. I was fortunate to have my good mate Blake Helliwell come and stay for a couple of days and I know he took that one away on his list to acquire and quite rightly so it should be on every ones shelves by now.

This may not sit to comfortably with some of you but  but I believe Amy Whineouse along with Ruby Turner was the greatest voice we have ever produced in the UK, and coupled with the fact her music was soul/jazz based and that she was widely regarded by everyone, we have lost a serious ambassador for soul music , her albums are nothing short of masterpieces and the latest, “Lioness” is also the dogs bollocks too, don’t believe me then get your ears around the original version of “Tears Dry”, magical in every way and just in case you need further evidence play “Best Friends, Right” loud. The throwback “Between the Cheats” is just beautiful, anyway moving on, the god like Anthony Hamilton has recently given us his “Back to Love”, if its just soul music your into then this man must feature somewhere in your collection, 16 tracks of pure genius, if it wasn’t for the Revelations album this would have stormed to the top of the tree for me this year. A very listenable album in every way opening with the mid tempo swayer “Back to love” which sets the standard for the rest of this magical collection. Already acknowledged as the best soul singer around and has been for a number of years now, this album is a must, it really is.

The retro sounding album of year must go to Slim Moore & The Mar-kays with there 13 tracker, 11 of which are nothing short of a masterpiece, real instruments, and a lead vocal that sounds not unlike Linton Kwesi Johnson. Straight then to track 4 “Just can’t get head” you simply wouldn’t be able tell whether this was late 60’s or early 70’s had you not got the album in your hands, a simply stunning version of “Is it because I’m black” follows, this could with exposure become the siren for the oppressed all over again, staying fairly true to the original but with enough deft touches to stand alone as an iconic version in its own right, “Riverside Drive” is a lazy dancer of the highest order which I’ve heard on radio a couple of times, but then we move into an epic tour de force of a dancer in “Steppin all over me” which had em up and it in Bilbao 2011, I was fairly influenced by the whiskey intake when I got round to playing this on the Saturday night/morning, I wasn’t sure because it’s a fairly relentless slab of soul, but I thought sod it, I needn’t have worried once the beat had registered I could see people just moving on mass to the floor, the album cover must have been photographed 30+ times, the cover of which incidentally looks like a 70’s ghetto album cover. This really is another of those essential albums that only comes along once in a while, roll on there next project.

Chris Canas came along with a great subdued dancer in the shape of “Were gonna work it out” which in the past would have caused a stampede to dance floors, I’m not sure what would be the interest now, its heading for Yarmouth 2012 that’s for sure.

Ex ‘Temptation’ Ron Tyson has waded in with a monumental album which in places actually sounds like it’s the ‘Tempatations’ at the helm, the album is titled “Recipe For Love”, he excels on the ballads and this is what the album will be recognised for but one of the uptempo tracks “Got my swagger back” sounds very philly and has been getting some serious action.

 The Electric Empire have come storming in at the last minute with a very good album which has a number of seriously good dancers, the opener “Baby its you” is straight out of the Hi studios in Memphis, a subtle dancer in the Tad Robinson mold, “Everything I am” is a great base led chugger, “I just wanna give it” also turns up the heat and meanders along with guitar fills that compliment the tight vocals which include some super harmonies, there are some other top moments on here too look out for the ballad “Little Things” lovely stuff,  the nucleus are three Australian guys, Jason Heerah, Denis Dowlut and Aaron Mendoza plus a myriad of real players and they have caused a real stir at the tail end of what has been another super year for our music.

I need to stop now, as I’ve said many times in the past this is nothing more than a snapshot, I have so much music arriving here almost daily and a good proportion of that could have made it to these pages, there simply isn’t the time to listen to it all, I dread to think how many great tracks I’ve overlooked.

Gouch