Robert Kirkland and brother of Mike James Kirkland formed Mike and the Censations with brother in law lonnie ?...At the outset of the Seventies.Mississippi soul singer Mike James Kirkland, like so many of the 1960s and 1970s soul singing greats, grew up singing doo wop and gospel, and by the time he was fronting Mike & the Censations in the mid-'60s, he had mixed in elements of funk and jazz as well, coming up with an impressive hybrid that sounded a bit like Sam Cooke singing with a garage soul band, and sides like the striking “Don’t Sell Your Soul” could hold their own on any radio station. In all, Mike & the Censations released seven singles, none of which got the attention they deserved as Kirkland moved from label to label in search of the right deal, even turning down Columbia Records at one point, and the end result of it was that the Censations never got to release an album of any kind. Kirkland drifted into the 1970s and really found his stride with a pair of albums with MCA Records, 1972’s Hang on in There and 1973’s Doin’ It Right, both of which sounded like Superfly-era Curtis Mayfield crossed with What’s Going On-era Marvin Gaye, and tracks like the ecological-themed “What Have We Done,” the reassuring “Hang on in There,”POSTED.. and the lush and beautiful “Love Is All We Need” ended up being highly sought-after collector’s items with the low-rider set. That was it for Kirkland, though, at least as a secular musician. In later years he ended up hosting a socially conscious television talk show in Los Angeles and reconnecting with his gospel roots, singing mostly in churches and only occasionally reaching into his secular catalog. Kirkland, in a fair and just world, should have been a big-time funk and soul star, but it was not to be. It certainly isn’t the music’s fault. At his best, Kirkland could hold his own with Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, or Otis Redding, and he deserves to be spoken of in that company. This valuable two LP set combines those rare early singles from Mike & the Censations to deliver the collected secular works of a great lost funk and soul singer. It’s wonderful to finally have it all together, even if it took some 40 years. Soul is soul. Some great gems on here that graced the floor of many a northern soul club..Rare as hens teeth!...5 Unissued tracks included!
AMM
**********REQUEST**********
The Tasters!
27 comments:
All right! Mike and the C's. Great choice, AMM. Thank you, ol' buddy.
Beautiful !
Thanks A Lot
Thanks for sharing this AMM and the bonus tracks Reb
Thanks AMM for keeping the Kirkland train going
A very impressive review. Thanks AMM!!
Many thanks for more Kirkland amm!
Nice, your review got me interested and I definitely dig the Tasters, so thanks a lot one more time mate :) ✌🏻🌞
A great looking comp, thanks for the review
I'd completely missed out on this release, even though I know Kirkland's solo albums from the 1970's. Thanks a lot for the review.
/Jumpstart
I'm a victim of circumstance and there's nothing I can do about it. Thanks, AMM!
Great review, many thanks.
Thank you very much for this great review, much appreciated
Great Review Thank you AMM
thank you so much for more Kirkland and Censations sweet stuff i love it
Manu thanks for rhis good review AMM
A great addition to every Kirkland collection. Thanks for review, P.
Great review thanks AMM
Thanks for sharing this review
Another good'un from the AMM auspices! Thanks
i have a different CD version of this with his 2 solo albums in stead of the unreleased tracks. i would be grateful to have that handful of cuts, thanks kindly.
Trying to catch up and this is one of them!
Thanks AMM for a great review Mike in the early days great set Thanks AMM
Cheers Pedro
Like I have said before I enjoyed Mike and the Censations. I loved Victim of Circumstance both the vocal as well as the instrumental. Thank AMM.
This is a great album, really enjoyed listening to it, many many thanks for the great review AMM
one that got by me.
It looks like I touched a wrong key and my message disappeared, but anyway, I wanted to tell that I like the music of the Kirklands, and thank you for bringing this review.
Hi AMM, The great stuff just keeps coming, thank you so much.
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