Don Blackman

Heart’s Desire  (1982) Jazzy Funky Soul. Don Blackman was a session musician who worked with Earth, Wind and Fire among others. He wrote songs including Peanut Butter and Morning Sunrise. Don Blackman

Earl Curry

One Whole Year Baby A song that Georgie Fame had in his repertoire when he played at the Twisted Wheel.

Sonny Stitt

The Double O Soul Of Sonny Stitt The great Jazz artist Sonny Stitt does his version of the Edwin Starr song. With the same orchestration and same backing vocal girls – well it was recorded at ED Wingate’s New World Studios at the same time as Edwin’s. OO Soul and secret agent Soul of the … Read more

Al Jarreau

Moonlighting Al Jarreau, well a great musician, most famous for the TV theme “Moonlighting” (1985-89) which he sang. A musician as well as a singer, he made many television appearances, having a good face for TV. He had a voice not dissimilar to Curtis Mayfield. He had a musical family, mainly practised in the church – … Read more

Eumir Deodato

Double Face Eumir Deodato played with Al Jarreau on this great track. In fact, it is Eumir Deodato’s version of Richard Strauss’s  Thus Sprach Zarathustra. The recording was a big instrumental hit in 1973. Eumir Deodato – Wikipedia

Sarah Vaughan – Smooth Operator

SMOOTH OPERATOR (1958) She likes it like that and so do we. Sarah Vaughan was a fantastic singer. Great voice and vocalisation. Of course regarded as a great Jazz artist, this one’s certainly got Soul. As well as having a distinctive and appealing voice, she was an accomplished pianist, having started learning at the age … Read more

Jo Ann Henderson

BABY PLEASE DON’T GO Jo Ann Henderson was a Jazz Blues singer from the late 1940’s early fifties. This record was updated by the Northern Ireland group Them in 1965 with Van Morrison singing lead vocals. It was a standard that many blues artists used to sing including Muddy Waters and Joe Turner. It reached … Read more

Eddie Bishop – Call Me – Northern Soul?

Call Me The weird, strange world of Northern Soul includes Call Me by Eddie Bishop: Kev Roberts is puzzled as to why this was/is popular on the Northern Soul scene. Well, even so I guess for accuracy of the 45’s that influenced and made that second Soul scene. He puts it in at 312 on … Read more

Derek and Ray

Interplay Harpsichord sounding instrumental from Derek and Ray but is this Soul? Even Kev Roberts is not too sure, but due to its ‘strange’ popularity on that strange Northern Soul scene, he puts it at 212: enough said.