Rare Soul!!! The Sweet Sounds of Muscle Shoals

Taking a break from my mixtapes, I thought I'd post up some long out of print soul this week. In 1996, the Overture label put out a 4 volume collection of really great 1960s Southern soul from the Quinvy and South Camp labels featuring less well known performers like Don Varner, Bill Brandon, Eddie Bradford, Brenda Varner, and even Percy Sledge Jr. (though his one contribution is just kind of a novelty track). I picked up volumes 1 and 2 at a record store a long while back and then I think I got volume 3 in an ebay auction. Unfortunately, the fourth one has eluded me. Since it might be a long time coming before I can find it, here are volumes 1-3. (My personal fave song - Bill Brandon's "Self Preservation" on Volume 2)

Late update: I found Volume 4:

Download The Sweet Sounds of Muscle Shoals: Volume 1 - Tear Stained Soul

1. Tear Stained Face - Don Varner

2. Push Mr Pride Aside - Eddie Bradford

3. Mojo Mama - Don Varner

4. Hand Shaking - Jimmy Braswell

5. Little Bit of Love - Eddie Bradford

6. When It's Over - Don Varner

7. You Made Your Bed - Eddie Bradford

8. Sugar Makes Everything Sweeter - Percy Sledge Jr.

9. Meet Me in Church - Don Varner

10. Home For the Summer - Jimmy Braswell

11. Don't Give up on Me - Brenda Varner

12. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Bill Brandon

13. Down in Texas - Don Varner

14. Let Me Be a Woman - Brenda Varner

Download The Sweet Sounds of Muscle Shoals: Volume 2 - High on the Hog

1. Polly Wally Doodle - Tony Borders

2. Promise to Myself - Tony Borders

3. Can You Handle It - Eddie Bradford

4. Full Grown Lovin' Man - Bill Brandon

5. What Kind of Spell - Tony Borders

6. You Left the Water Running - Don Varner

7. Mix and Mingle - Tony Borders

8. One Minute Woman - Bill Brandon

9. Power of Love - Don Varner

10. Self Preservation - Bill Brandon

11. A Nice Place to Visit - Tony Borders

12. Little by Little - Bill Brandon

13. One Woman Man - Don Varner

14. She Knows What to Do For Me - Bill Brandon

Download The Sweet Sounds of Muscle Shoals: Volume 3 - You Better Believe It

1. You Better Believe It - Tony Borders

2. I Think I'd Do It - Z.Z. Hill

3. Since I Fell For You - Bill Brandon

4. High on the Hog - Tony Borders

5. He Kept on Talking - Don Varner

6. Faithful and True - Z.Z. Hill

7. Corn Bread Woman - Tony Borders

8. You've Lost That Lovin Feeling - Bill Brandon

9. When You Get What You Want - Bill Brandon

10. Cheaters Never Win - Tony Borders

11. Until It's Time For Me to Go - Tony Borders

12. Lonely Weekend - Tony Borders

13. Strangest Feeling - Bill Brandon

14. I'm Still in Love With You - Don Varner

Guest Blog Compilation! Guest Blog Compilation! (Hint: It's Los Lobos)

Yes, it's true - less than three months in to this blogging enterprise and I'm already farming the work out to friends. Hope the boss doesn't find out. I did, however, listen to it and I can assure you it lives up to the high standards of this blog. So here is a compilation of Los Lobos covers put together by my friend Kevin. Or as he puts it,

"How many other bands can do Buddy Holly, Louis Prima, James Brown and Johnny Thunders equally well? Here, then, is a collection of Los Lobos cover tunes pulled together from studio albums, tribute albums, soundtracks, guest appearances, hits collections etc. Hopefully it makes the case that Los Lobos aren't just a Mexican-American band – they’re American, period."

Download

Alone In A Crowd

Georgia Slop

Tomorrow Never Knows (Live)

Down Where the Drunkards Roll

Bertha (Live)

And It Didn't Even Bring Me Down

Johnny 99

I Got Loaded

I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)

Lonely Avenue

Wicked Rain/Across 110th Street (w/Bobby Womack)

Politician (Live)

Midnight Shift

Lonesome Tears In My Eyes (with Paul Burlison)

Try Me

Route 90

What's Going On (Live)

Color Me Impressed

Okay, it's more 80s music, but uh, ..... it's the Replacements and Pretenders!!! Need I say more?

Update: I didn't think these mixes were that great. Plus, the sound quality on some of the Pretenders songs was a little substandard. So here are the revised mixtapes.

Download Side One

Color Me Impressed The Replacements

Pack It Up The Pretenders

Otto The Replacements

Customer The Replacements

Middle Of The Road The Pretenders

Seen Your Video The Replacements

Louie Louie The Pretenders

Fools Must Die The Pretenders

You Lose The Replacements

Jealous Dogs The Pretenders

Shooting Dirty Pool The Replacements

I Hurt You The Pretenders

We'll Inherit the Earth The Replacements

Red Red Wine The Replacements

Mystery Achievement Pretenders

Download Side Two

The Wait Pretenders

Favorite Thing The Replacements

We're Coming Out The Replacements

Tattooed Love Boys Pretenders

Hayday The Replacements

Thumbelina The Pretenders

Don't Get Me Wrong The Pretenders

I Don't Know The Replacements

In the Sticks The Pretenders

Hangin Downtown The Replacements

Precious Pretenders

Kids Don't Follow The Replacements

Darlin' One The Replacements

Bad Boys Get Spanked The Pretenders

Swingin' Party The Replacements

Request for Neko Case's My '63

I'm putting together a Neko Case odds and sods collection (i.e. stuff not on her albums). I think I've got pretty much everything, but I don't have her My '63 (it was on a 1998 split 45 with Whiskeytown on the other side). And since I don't feel like spending $75 for a copy, I was wondering if anyone has an mp3 they could send me. I'd be much obliged.

(Late update: I found it and you can find it on the comp here.)

All the Mod Cons

One thing you should know about me is that I like soundtracks. Well, not all soundtracks, but I've always thought soundtracks got an unfair rap as generally crappy collections designed to cash in on a movie's popularity; relying on one hit to entice people to buy essentially an album otherwise full of (your choice of words) filler/dross. So here's three soundtracks (Absolute Beginners, The Harder They Come, and Scandal) with a minimum of filler (though the duplication of a couple of songs on The Harder They Come is a bit annoying, not to mention odd.) Even though there's precious little dross, I like the way the musical styles blend together so I've taken songs from all three and interspersed them into two mixtapes.

(P.S. Don't ask why I used this picture. It just seemed to fit.)

Side One:

That's Motivation David Bowie

Johnny Too Bad The Slickers

007 (Shanty Town) Desmond Dekker

Japanese Girl Lloyd Clarke

Having It All Eighth Wonder - Featuring Patsy Kensit

Rodrigo Bay Working Week

Scandal Don Drummond

Judge Not Bob Marley

Sweet and Dandy The Maytals

The Harder They Come Jimmy Cliff

Killer Blow Sade

Christine Keeler Roland Alphonso

Get on the Ball Basil Gabbidon

Riot City Jerry Dammers

Exodus Ernest Ranglin

Many Rivers to Cross Jimmy Cliff

Side Two

Honour Your Mother & Father Desmond Dekker

Absolute Beginners David Bowie

You Can Get It If You Really Want Jimmy Cliff

Draw Your Breaks Scotty

Mr. Kruschev Skitter

Russian Roulette King Edwards

Rivers of Babylon The Melodians

Girls Rush Lloyd Clarke

Have You Ever Had It Blue? The Style Council

Quiet Life Ray Davies

Miss Jamaica Jimmy Cliff

Love Me Baby Laurel Aitken

Va Va Voom Gil Evans

Sitting in Limbo Jimmy Cliff

Selling Out Slim Gaillard