Due for release 28th March 2025 via Ace Records
CD / 2LP
This 2-LP set and CD open the curtains on 26 tracks that are some of Paul’s favourite soul records most of which nestle on vinyl in his own collection. He can still recall paying £70 for his copy of Jon Lucien’s 1971 ‘Search For The Inner Self’ 7” at a record shop in Leicester in the 90s. Some of these tracks are soul classics like James Carr’s 1966 ‘Pouring Water On A Drowning Man’ and Brother to Brother’s brilliant take on Gil Scott Heron and Brian Jackson’s ‘In The Bottle’ from 1974. Others are deliciously obscure wonderous gems like the A-side of Blackrock’s sole 1971 single ‘Blackrock “Yeah, Yeah”’, ‘Life Walked Out’ from the same year by the Mist or Syl Johnson’s ‘Black Balloons’ taken from his 1970 album “Is It Because I’m Black?”
1. GOD MADE ME FUNKY - The Headhunters
2. SPANISH TWIST - The I. B. Special
3. BREAKAWAY - The Valentines
4. TOP OF THE STAIRS - Collins & Collins
5. DONT LET THE GREEN GRASS FOOL YOU –
The Spinners
6. BLACK BALLOONS - Syl Johnson
7. SOULSHAKE - Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson
8. I CAN'T MAKE IT ANYMORE - Richie Havens
9. YOU GOT TO HAVE MONEY - The Exits
10. PULL MY STRING (TURN ME ON) - The Joneses
11. RUN FOR COVER - The Dells
12. ON EASY STREET - O.C. Smith
13. IT AIN'T NO BIG THING - The Radiants
14. SUMMERTIME - Billy Stewart
15. IN THE BOTTLE - Brother To Brother
16. HARD TIMES - Baby Huey
17. MAGGIE - Johnny Williams
18. WHEN - Joe Simon
19. POURING WATER ON A DROWNING MAN
- James Carr
20. THAT'S ENOUGH - Roscoe Robinson
21. BLACKROCK “YEAH, YEAH” - Blackrock
22. GOLDEN RING - American Gypsy
23. SEARCH FOR THE INNER SELF - Jon Lucien
24. LIFE WALKED OUT - The Mist
25. IN THE MEANTIME - Betty Davis
26. BEAUTIFUL FEELING - Darrell Banks