Atlanta Soul Artistry 1965-1975
Though built with highly questionable finances, gangster Michael Thevisā GRC, Aware and Hotlanta labels produced some scintillating mid-70s soul music. Thevis knew his limitations and allowed his producers, arrangers and songwriters free reign as long as they worked hard and came up with good recordings. It was the period in music when Detroit and the south got together, as with Stax and Westboundās Memphis/Detroit co-productions, and Thevis tried to make that blueprint work for his Atlanta set-up. He brought producer Marlin McNichols and engineer Milan Bogdan down from the Motor City and Floyd Smith from Chicago. Smith came with the highly talented singers Loleatta Holloway and John Edwards, while McNichols brought the Counts, Ripple and Deep Velvet to cut in the spanking brand-new Sound Pit Studios. Songwriter supreme Sam Dees was co-opted from Thevisā Moonsong operation, which he ran out of nearby Birmingham, Alabama, and the resulting sessions produced some exquisite soul songs ā several of which charted, making the company hot between 1973 and 1975.
Those main acts are here along with artists from the Los Angeles office of the stature of Jimmy Lewis, King Hannibal and Joe Hinton. The John Edwards track debuts on vinyl for the first time, while the Joe Hinton number āIām Tired Of Dreamingā is the original version of the collectible 45 as recorded by Pure Velvet on Osiris in 1976 ā it has never been issued before at all. The King Hannibal track is from his Atlanta sessions (Hannibal lived in both Los Angeles and Atlanta, from where he hailed) and makes it out of the tape vaults for the first time, while gospel legend Dorothy Norwoodās epic opener āBig Boat Rideā had previously only been available since 2016 on CD and is now available to vinyl purists too.
We tried to avoid the non-Atlanta tracks from the Thevis years but have included earlier offerings from Arthur Alexander and Bobby Wilburn recorded by the independent producer Bill Haney ā a man as far adrift in personality to Thevis as you could wish for. One of Haneyās acts, Joe Graham, did record for the Aware set-up around 1973 but the four excellent tracks were shelved until now ā more will follow. Bill Haney recorded Drifter Charlie Thomas while he visited the city for live work, and āDonāt Let Me Knowā is another classy mid-tempo number making its vinyl debut.
Kent and BGP have featured this hugely impressive catalogue for nearly 30 years. This album is a great overview of the musiciansā and singersā work ā the cream of Atlanta Soul.
Tracklist
SIDE ONE
1. BIG BOAT RIDE - Dorothy Norwood
2. IāM TIRED OF DREAMING - Joe Hinton
3. YOU WERE RIGHT ON TIME - Ripple
4. YOU GET TO ME - Lee Brackett
5. ITāS GOT TO BE THE REAL THING - John Edwards
6. DONāT LET ME KNOW - Charlie Thomas
7. LOVE WOKE ME UP - Loleatta Holloway
SIDE TWO
1. IS THAT ANY WAY TO TREAT A LADY - Jimmy Lewis
2. COMPLAIN TO THE CLOUDS (BUT YOU CANāT
CHANGE THE WEATHER) - Deep Velvet
3. FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE - King Hannibal
4. YOU AINāT FOR REAL - Arthur Alexander
5. IāM LEAVING - Joe Graham
6. IāM A DREAMER - Bobby Burn
7. SINCE WE SAID GOODBYE - The Counts
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Description
Though built with highly questionable finances, gangster Michael Thevisā GRC, Aware and Hotlanta labels produced some scintillating mid-70s soul music. Thevis knew his limitations and allowed his producers, arrangers and songwriters free reign as long as they worked hard and came up with good recordings. It was the period in music when Detroit and the south got together, as with Stax and Westboundās Memphis/Detroit co-productions, and Thevis tried to make that blueprint work for his Atlanta set-up. He brought producer Marlin McNichols and engineer Milan Bogdan down from the Motor City and Floyd Smith from Chicago. Smith came with the highly talented singers Loleatta Holloway and John Edwards, while McNichols brought the Counts, Ripple and Deep Velvet to cut in the spanking brand-new Sound Pit Studios. Songwriter supreme Sam Dees was co-opted from Thevisā Moonsong operation, which he ran out of nearby Birmingham, Alabama, and the resulting sessions produced some exquisite soul songs ā several of which charted, making the company hot between 1973 and 1975.
Those main acts are here along with artists from the Los Angeles office of the stature of Jimmy Lewis, King Hannibal and Joe Hinton. The John Edwards track debuts on vinyl for the first time, while the Joe Hinton number āIām Tired Of Dreamingā is the original version of the collectible 45 as recorded by Pure Velvet on Osiris in 1976 ā it has never been issued before at all. The King Hannibal track is from his Atlanta sessions (Hannibal lived in both Los Angeles and Atlanta, from where he hailed) and makes it out of the tape vaults for the first time, while gospel legend Dorothy Norwoodās epic opener āBig Boat Rideā had previously only been available since 2016 on CD and is now available to vinyl purists too.
We tried to avoid the non-Atlanta tracks from the Thevis years but have included earlier offerings from Arthur Alexander and Bobby Wilburn recorded by the independent producer Bill Haney ā a man as far adrift in personality to Thevis as you could wish for. One of Haneyās acts, Joe Graham, did record for the Aware set-up around 1973 but the four excellent tracks were shelved until now ā more will follow. Bill Haney recorded Drifter Charlie Thomas while he visited the city for live work, and āDonāt Let Me Knowā is another classy mid-tempo number making its vinyl debut.
Kent and BGP have featured this hugely impressive catalogue for nearly 30 years. This album is a great overview of the musiciansā and singersā work ā the cream of Atlanta Soul.
Tracklist
SIDE ONE
1. BIG BOAT RIDE - Dorothy Norwood
2. IāM TIRED OF DREAMING - Joe Hinton
3. YOU WERE RIGHT ON TIME - Ripple
4. YOU GET TO ME - Lee Brackett
5. ITāS GOT TO BE THE REAL THING - John Edwards
6. DONāT LET ME KNOW - Charlie Thomas
7. LOVE WOKE ME UP - Loleatta Holloway
SIDE TWO
1. IS THAT ANY WAY TO TREAT A LADY - Jimmy Lewis
2. COMPLAIN TO THE CLOUDS (BUT YOU CANāT
CHANGE THE WEATHER) - Deep Velvet
3. FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE - King Hannibal
4. YOU AINāT FOR REAL - Arthur Alexander
5. IāM LEAVING - Joe Graham
6. IāM A DREAMER - Bobby Burn
7. SINCE WE SAID GOODBYE - The Counts
