My Heart Cries Oh: Rare Soul from the 60s and 70s

       In the liner notes to the cd (see my post from several years back)  that accompanied the publication of his sublime book Sweet Soul Music, Gurlanick talks about interviewing a dj named Skippy White who told Guralnick not to overlook all of the less well-know soul acts in his book, as they were an equally important part of the history of soul music.  Now, I realize there are a lot of folks who know are far more knowledgeable about soul music, especially the rare stuff.  But, that's never stopped me before and more importantly, there's so much great overlooked material from the 60s and 70s.   And even if some of the acts were just one hit (well non-hit), there's a lot more folks who were just victims of bad luck, bad deals, historical circumstances like Little Ben of Little Ben and the Cheers (pictured at the left) going to fight in Vietnam.   So here's the first two volumes of my four volume set.

Volume I

Beggar of Love	Little Ben and the Cheers
Too Late to Cry	The Commands
Love Don't Love Nobody	Ella Brown
I Am Controlled By Your Love	Helene Smith
Trying My Best To Find Her	The Notations
Sweatin'	Alvin Cash & The Crawlers
Go Go Train	Eddy G. Giles
Bui Bui	L. Hollis & the Mackadoos
Groove Me Mamma	Eddie Steele
Gotta Find My Man	Linda Mackey
Girls Girls Girls	The Young Disciples Co.
One Heart	The Emanons
A Woman's Love	Joe Valentine
Have Fun	Ann Cole
I've Lived The Life	Marva W. Taylor
Love Game (From A To Z)	The Royal Jokers
Can't See Myself Doing You Wrong	Milt Matthews Inc
I've Got To Cry	Chris Hamilton
Darling Please Do Not Take My Love	Moody Scott
Self Preservation	Bill Brandon

 Volume II

There's Gonna Be Some Crying	Small Paul
Count to Ten	Frankie & The Spindles
Smalltown Girl	Jimmy Tig &The Rounders
My Heart Cries Oh	Fred Hughes
A Lady's Man	The Volcanos
I'm Gone	Eddie Parker
Instrumental #1	Richard Terry & Company
The Funky Judge	Bull & the Matadors
Wait	Bobbie Smith
Caught Making Love	Roger Hatcher
Sam Stone	Swamp Dogg
I Paid For The Party	The Enchanters
Meet Me In Church	Don Varner
Wouldn't It Be A Pleasure	Jay Rhythm
Down In the Country	Tee Fletcher
Bold Soul Sister, Bold Soul Brother	Black On White Affair
That Thing Is Green	Bob Smith and the Boo-Koos
Say You Will	Willie Small
When a Boy Loves a Girl	The Vows
Dreamers Hall of Fame	Jeb Stuart

My Heart Cries Oh: Volumes III and IV

         As promised, here's Volumes III and IV of rare 60s and 70s soul.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I used numerous selections from the great blog Soul-Sides.com.  I also used a bunch of tracks from the multi volume Numero Uno Eccentric Soul compilations - in particular, I recommend the Nickel and Penny and Way Out label compilations.



Volume III

We Have Love	Arrows
Oh What I'd Give	Tommy Collins
Forgive Then Forget	Jay Wiggins
A Lifetime	Brothers of Soul
Let Yourself Go	Syl Johnson
Deep Inside of You (12" Version)	Gloria Ann Taylor
Good Thing	Sweet Breeze
Gangster Of Love (Pts. 1 & 2)	Jimmy Norman
Lonely For You Baby	Sam Dees
Lunar Invasion	The Silhouettes
Really Really Love You	Ronnie Walker
Lonely Girl	Andrea Davis
There's Got To Be Rain In Your Life (To Appreciate The Sunshine)	Dorothy Norwood
Play with Fire	Rollers
Sad Shade Of Blue	Geater Davis
It Must Be Love	The Exceptions
Take This Hurt Off Me	Big John Hamilton
Tell Her	Fred Williams
Baby One More Time	Jimmy Garland
Cheaters Never Win	Tony Borders

Volume IV

I Wanna Know Who	The Keynoters
I Am A Member of the club	Titus Turner
I Got Everything I Need	The Soul Notes
It Must Be Love	Full Speed
Hard Times	Baby Huey & The Babysitters
Why Must Our Eyes Always Be Turned Backwards	Lou Bond
Go To Work (Alt.)	Revolution Compared To What
Can You Dig It?	Chico & Buddy
Strain On My Heart	Roscoe Shelton
Baby Baby Please	Timothy Wilson
You're My Everything	Joe King
I'm Tired Of What People Say Or Do	Bruce Griffith
Still My Life Through	Billy Young
Back Road Into Town	Willie Hightower
Fine Time	Genie Brooks
Save My Love	Billy Cee & The Freedom Express
This Heart Is Haunted	Lee Jones &The Sounds Of Soul (The Masqueraders)
My Faith in You	Eddie Billups & The Gigs
Powerful Love	Chuck & Mac
A Soldier's Sad Story	Tiny Watkins

On The Right Side of 2024

    Sorry for the delay in getting the best of compilation completed.  I would make a New Years resolution to be more punctual, but I don't think it would do any good.  My tardiness should, however, not be seen as a reflection on the music released, as there was a lot of great music released.  There's still a lot of releases that demand additional listens, but I particularly recommend Cindy Lee's "Diamond Jubilee", Mulatu Astatke's "Tension", and Clem Snide's "Oh Smokey".  I also would be remiss if I didn't mention two albums to benefit victims of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina:  Cardinals At The Window and Caverns of Gold: A Benefit for WNC Hurricane Relief.  I only discovered Caverns of Gold one three weeks ago so I haven't had much time to listen to it, but I've listened to about two thirds of Cardinals at the Window (it's 136 songs and Caverns of Gold has twice as many) and there's a lot of great live and unreleased cuts.  Both are also insanely cheap so be sure to add a tip.  :)

   As always, I only included artists who weren't on the two previous years' compilations (unless they were singing backup on another artist's song).  Also, all of the previous year end compilations are also available (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).

      Oh, and if you're wondering about the cover art.  Well, my youngest is a huge fan of capybaras, and the little one, Tupi, was born in December.  

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Disc 1

Punish	Ethel Cain
Rosemary	Donovan Woods
Butterfly	Shelby Lynne
Another Broken Heart	Wonder Women of Country
Jenny Jenkins	Viva Lone Justice
Ernest Evans	Pixies
Found a Job	The Linda Lindas
Walk Through Fire	Yannis & The Yaw
Samurai	Lupe Fiasco
Out There	Helado Negro
Hey Heron	Rosali
Love Will Tear Us Apart	Pedal Steel Noah
Rosa, Lua, Lhasa	Sítio Rosa & Jennifer Souza & Bernardo Bauer
Carte Blanche	Haux
Went for a Ride	Adia Victoria
Hey Girl	Moses Sumney
When a Man Cries	Leon Bridges
Midnight Cowboy	Charley Crockett
Long Way Home	Ray LaMontagne
Disc 2
Cowboy and the Stranger (demo)	Terry Allen
Saturday Morning	Dexter Romweber
Mighty Fine & All Mine	The Mystery Lights
Lesanu	Kamasi Washington
Mood Swings	Little Simz
She Feels	Jorja Smith
Inagei Otsehi (We Live in the Woods)	Agalisiga
Smokey	Clem Snide
Mother's Daughter	Skylar Gudasz
Rocky Raccoon (Bonus Track)	Swamp Dogg
A Bar Song (Tipsy)	Shaboozey
Broken Hearted Blue	Jenny Don't And The Spurs
Life Rides The Train	Victoria Liedtke & Jason Ringenberg
Liberty Print	Camera Obscura
Silencio	Patrick Watson feat. November Ultra
Uiara (Encantada da Água) - Vida e cura	Amaro Freitas
Mrs Ladyships and The Cleanerhouse Boys	The Smashing Times
Howdy Howdy	Gillian Welch
This Is Who I Am (From “The Day of the Jackal”)	Celeste
Disc 3
Aaron	Cassandra Jenkins + Bloomsday + Babehoven
Cinnamon Horses	Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Loser	Lydia Loveless
The Howl	Crowded House
Aquí Te Cuido	Reyna Tropical
I See You	Alice Russell
Water's Path	Nubya Garcia
Every Color In Blue	Brittany Howard
We're Still Here	Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Priss and Vinegar	The Surfrajettes
Cabin Song	Billy Strings
Time Between	Dwight Yoakam
News of the Universe	La Luz
Tension	Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra
Love You Got	Kelly Lee Owens
Tantos Planetas	St. Vincent
Oração 19 (oração pra Oxum)	Luiza Brina e Iara Rennó
THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS	Bon Iver
Fallin' Rain	The Nude Party