Various Artists - Kent 271 - Hitsville West - San Francisco's Uptown Soul (2007) (FLAC) + Booklet

With the exception of Sly & the Family Stone, the San Francisco Bay Area was not noted for having an especially large or important soul scene in the 1960s. Like most major cities, however, it produced more in the genre than is generally realized. This 24-track anthology principally draws on rare 45s issued between 1965-1969 on an assortment of small labels, also including five previously unreleased cuts. If you're accustomed to how collections of local soul rarities are usually packaged, you know the drill: these are largely promising singers and groups who are consciously trying to imitate bigger artists and national trends (most frequently Motown, though also some soul-pop dance sounds), never getting anywhere commercially or even getting a chance to record much. As such compilations go, it's largely geared toward uptempo soul that's guaranteed to put smiles on the faces of many a Northern soul fan on British dancefloors & elsewhere. yet judged on the contents of hitsville west, the Bay Area was just as capable of generating fine sophisticated soul sounds. This compilation focuses on the more polished local soul recordings, and in doing so necessarily includes virtually the entire catalogue of the renowned Villa Label. the imprint is a legend amongst northern soul fans for the instrumental monster 'double cookin'. in 2006 discovered master tapes turned up not one but two vocal versions of this great stomper. along with the original track, both are included here. one is the stupendous '(just a little) faith & understanding' by the magicians, which had become the talk of the northern circuit back then. The package features detailed liner notes based on interviews with many of the participants, and a selection of photos of these rarely-seen artists.One of kent,s best issues!

AMM 

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