Various Artists - Jetstar Records - The Soul Sides (2022) Sundazed LP - Rare Soul (FLAC)

One of the reasons i got this album was because of one name...Alder Ray (Black) Mathis. Who could forget her amazing dancer on MGM " My Heart Is In Danger" a lady with a fantastic voice who again should have gone on to achieve a lot more in the music business. She started out on Los Angeles’ Liberty Records. For that label she recorded the rollicking, Spectorish, “A Little Love (Will Go A Long Way)” backed with “Cause I Love Him.” On this album Brass heavy, mid-tempo “Take Me Baby” has a definite Fame feel to it. “What About Me” is previously unissued and a real find. Once again, it’s loaded with brass and chicken scratch rhythm behind Alder Ray’s full throated voice and a nifty organ hook. The other previously unissued track, “I Don’t Need But One Man” is more bluesy. This is the first ever compilation of  ‘60s soul from the Jetstar stable, including 4 superb outings from Alder Ray Mathis. Also featuring previously unissued tracks from former NFL star and civil rights icon Abner Haynes, Beamon Young and more, plus rare cuts from Bobby Patterson. Jetstar Records "The Soul Sides" brings together a mix of released and previously unissued tracks and a selection of superb sides by singer, songwriter, producer and former DJ, Dallas Soul Brother Number One Bobby Patterson, 4 Tracks featured on here. It’s not difficult to get the impression that Jetstar was a kind of boutique label for Patterson. “Back in the early 60s,” Patterson has said, “I met John H. Abdnor Jr. He said, ‘I’m going to get my daddy to open up a record company.’ He developed Jetstar for me.” John H. Abdnor Sr, the ambitious Fort Worth insurance man who founded Jetstar, was a forceful character, a man who worked his way up the ladder his own way, to become, as John Durrill of Patterson’s Jetstar labelmates The Five Americans described him, “influential, wealthy, and tough. He was a Colonel Tom Parker kind of guy who did it his way, a very decisive man. Hard to understand. But he was able to make connections. No one messed with us. He would always stand up for the group, but he was standing up for himself too.” Abdnor Sr. also had ambitions for Jetstar to be a player in the world of soul,as well as rock as the stories behind the sides gathered here demonstrate. Three sides by Dallas Texans football legend and sometime sax player Abner Haynes are the real oddities here. Born in Denton, Texas in 1937, Haynes is a cousin of Sly Stone. The three tracks here were recorded in 1965 at Creative Sound Studios, around the time Haynes joined the Denver Broncos. Haynes plays sax. The Strings and female backing singers on the previously unissued Beamon Young tracks give them a retro-for-even-then feel for mid-’60s soul.  “Beautiful Day” is a warm ballad and “I Want A Lover,” is an upbeat number with a resemblance to Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover.” Bobby Patterson like Alder ray is idolized by the Northern Soul scene and has played to worshipful audiences at events all over the UK. Ever modest, he said this “surprised me to death. They know more about me than I do. But it was a pleasant surprise.” . This is a great album filled with floor fillers and elusive Soul !  Tracks 3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,14 All Previously Unreleased.

AMM

                                                                       The Tasters!

Tracks

01 Alder Ray Mathis – Take Me Baby
02 Bobby Patterson – What's Your Problem,Baby
03 Abner Haynes – I'll Be There
04 Beamon Young – I Want A Lover
05 Bobby Patterson – You Can Tell I'm In Love
06 Alder Ray Mathis – What About Me
07 Abner Haynes – Hot Cha
08 Alder Ray Mathis – I Want To Get Married
09 Bobby Patterson – Sock Some Lovin' At Me
10 Abner Haynes – What Love Has Joined Together
11 Beamon Young – Beautiful Day
12 Alder Ray Mathis – I Don't Need But One Man   
13 Bobby Patterson – If A Man Ever Loved A Woman(Baby I Love You)   
14 Abner Haynes – Let It Be Me   
15 The Mustangs – Turn Back The Hands Of Time