Now here,s a real old blast from the past !..One or two uk fans may remember this gem...A bit of a novelty now...This was a very big album back in the day with the UK MODS in the 1960,s...Ray McVay was a band leader not known for venturing into the Soul arena,but he did this one album that went down a storm with the Mods & Northern fans alike.The album is cover versions of well known Dancers/standards from the "then" soul world. Most were played on the scene...Only 2 tasters on Youtube.
AMM
The Tasters!
26 comments:
You don't know the respect I have for sweet soul music! Thanks, AMM!
I do remember seeing this when I was I my suede head mode at the time in Dave Warwick (DJ) at the CO-OP Hall On Saturday Nights shop Dawsons Well that's where he worked but at the time i was fully focused on Motown Stax and Reggae (Pama) Label but listen too the two tracks not bad bit of nostalgia Thanks AMM
Cheers Pedro
Looks absolutely fantastic, appreciate your extensive review!
Thanks for this review
I remember this from the Youth Club back in about 1971, great stuff AMM
Quite a few of this type were released at the time, which were largely ignored, but this is very creditable and worth having! (pretty please?)
A discovery for me. I hate to listen even these are only covers.
Yves
absolutely my type of music - thanks for your review
Totally unfamiliar to this here Brooklyn lad. Looks like a lot of fun. Please and thanks.
I Had This LP Back In My Teens, 50p Bargain Bin Special, Quite A Surprise
Now That AMM Is Nostalgia
Great review . . . too intriguing to pass up
Great Review Thank you very much AMM
Thanks AMM for blastin' the past here.
Thank you, this is definitely a blast from the past for me...
I played keys in Ray McVay's band (a much later lineup) between late '81 & the beginning of '83 before I emigrated to Australia. We were resident band at the Empire Ballroom in Leicester Square. Chris White (Saxophone - Dire Straits, Paul McCartney. etc..) was also in the band. My wife Claire was one of the singers. Roger O'Dell (Shakatak) also was an occasional 'Dep' drummer.
What a small world :)
BigD
what an interesting story Big Dave!...thanks for that m8!
A discovery for me. And you have to guess, I'm in a hurry to listen to this little treat. Thank you Collins.
Pierre
Thanks for the great review. I had seen this album and now I know what it is about. Thanks AMM.
big thanks AMM!
Thank you AMM. New to me. Looking forward to the review!!
Wonderful times with this music.
Thanks for the review my friend.
Rocco
great share AMM many thanks Reb
Other very Rare Soul
New to me MM, thanks for reviewing.
cheers,ELtel
There is more...
At that time Ray McVay had two bands (both called the Ray McVay Band)... the one that did all the jewish weddings and bar mitzvahs, and the one with the Empire Ballroom residency,
Ray no longer played an instrument, but conducted the wedding band, and his brother Archie ran the band at the Empire. Archie 'played' trombone (he had one anyway...), and Ray had been a sax player.
The Empire band had four singers (2 guys, 2 girls), four piece horn section, and standard rhythm section (drums, bass, keys & guitar), and played all the hits of the time (plus a few standard oldies - Knees Up Mother Brown etc...).
It was a challenging reading gig... all charts written out in full (including solos !!). We'd be playing one tune, and maybe halfway through it Archie would drop a new chart over the one we were playing and count it in... my sight reading never improved so much in a short space of time as it did in that band. The drummer had the hardest job of all... each set was a complete segue, no breaks between songs, and he had to not only keep playing but change the tempo & feel on the fly... he really earned his money, that guy!!
Way back when, Ray's original band was called "Ray McVay and his Band of the Day", and as the name would suggest the members would come and go.
In later life, Ray became an "expert" on the music of Glen Miller... or so he maintains :)
All the best m8
Big Dave
Uuuh, I dig the tasters and dig the interesting comments/infos/stories almost a little bit more ;) Big thanks ☮️✌🏻🌞
It surely will be very interesting to hear this. Thanks for review, P.
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