 The Roots of Soul through the early solo sounds of no.1 Soul Brother James Brown in 1960-1961, and contender for no.2 Eddie Floyd in 1963-1964.Jeffrey Kruger's Ember label acquired the rights to issue "The Amazing James Brown" in 1964, James' fourth LP for King Records, dating from 1962. The tracks herein were the product of King sessions dating from September 1960 through to September 1961, and provide a superb overview of the transition of James Brown & the Famous Flames (Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett, Lloyd Stallworth at that time) from formative gospel-based doo-wop, through the tearful intensity of blues-shouting to root soul beat and ballads. In fact the album was a true reflection of "the amazing James Brown" as it contains no less then three R&B hit 45s, two of which were also crossover top 50 in the national Hot 100 during 1961. An example is the track "Tell Me What You're Gonna Do", a precursor of the trademark Brown funk, uptempo with vamping horns and high-intensity vocal, which made a late entry in the singles stakes in 1966 as a reissue in the wake of the success of the epic "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". After his Doo Wop Vocal Group the Falcons split Eddie Floyd continued to record for the Detroit Lu Pine label as a solo artist and develop his own writing career. The solo tracks by Eddie presented herein reflect the stylistic change within the soul music genre of the early 1960's, alternating between the nouveau 'soul' strand and the artistic safety-net displaying the doo-wop pedigree. An example is the track 'I'll Never Find Another Girl Like You', a chunky soul-beater redolent of the best of vintage Motown, splashing cymbals, on-the-fours piano and strong group support from the Falcons certainly has musical impact. James Brown
Just You & Me / I Love You Yes I Do / I Don't Mind / Come Over Here / The Bells / Love Don't Love Nobody / Dancing Little Thing / Lost Someone / And I Do Just What I Want / So Long / You Don't Have To Go / Tell Me What You're Gonna Do Eddie Floyd
Bye Bye Baby / Never Get Enough of Your Love / I'm Her Yo Yo Man / Lonely / Please Don't Leave Me Dear / I'll Never Find Another Girl Like You / When You're In Love / The Whip
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Volume two in this series looks at the scene that provided the bedrock to Soul in Detroit. This metamorphosis of Doo Wop to Soul is epitomised by the group the Falcons who are strongly featured here. From 1955 until their split in 1963 they scored a number of hits on the R&B and then Pop charts via an evolving line up with a developing sound. Going on to solo Soul success from the Falcons were Eddie Floyd (founder of the group), Mack Rice, Wilson Pickett, and Joe Stubbs (brother of the Four Tops Levi Stubbs) who scored later as lead singer with the Contours.
The SHOUT! catalogue is dedicated to re-presenting classic real soul, and this mini series Rem-ember-ing Roots Of Soul looks at the bedrock of that genre . At the component parts . In the UK Jeffrey Kruger was a prime mover in introducing this country to the joys of R&B, Doo Wop, Vocal Groups through his pioneering licensing and acquisition of US labels in the late 1950's and early 1960's . The recordings were then issued through his Ember International group from the late 1950's onwards.