The Vibrations - Great Soul Hits - (1997) Marginal 078 + Scans + Bonus Track - Rare Soul (MP3)HQ

The Vibrations are legends with soul lovers and the northern scene with so many great dancers and records under their belts. They hailed  from Los Angeles, California,  and active from the mid-1950s to 1976. Most notable among the group's hit singles were "My Girl Sloopy" (1964) and "Love in Them Thar Hills" (1968). The quintet's members included Don Bradley, Carl Fisher, Dave Govan, James Johnson and Ricky Owens. They underwent changes over the years and i think i have included photos of all the line ups. The group initially began recording as The Jay Hawks, and had a hit in 1956 with "Stranded in the Jungle" (US #18). After a few lineup changes, the group hit again in 1961 with the song "The Watusi" (US #25) concurrently, they had a hit under the name The Marathons with "Peanut Butter" (#20). It would require a full-length article to sort out the story of the Vibrations and their relationship to the Jayhawks,  the Marathons, and the Olympics, but suffice it to say that this Los Angeles vocal group was at a nexus of musical activity in the '60s.The group recorded many Northern Soul classics since their initial hit on Atlantic Records in 1963. A cover version of "My Girl Sloopy", retitled "Hang On, Sloopy", was a hit for the McCoys in 1965. But it was at the Okeh label where they performed their strongest material in my humble opinion knocking out classic after classic. Studio wise they recorded 5 albums and 50+ 45,s. They should have met with greater success, as they were a fantastic group but stardom sadly never beckoned as with The Metros a similar story. it's interesting to hear a
 crack soul  group adapt such unlikely material as Doris Day's "Secret Love" and the easy listening standard "Days of Wine and Roses." "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" is not the Patience and Prudence song, but borrows heavily from it, and "Canadian Sunset" is a vocal version of the instrumental tune (previously a hit for Andy Williams). Great Soul Hits has no liner notes or annotation and the sound quality is merely so so as with all marginal CD,s, but it contains a number of tracks that are not available elsewhere. The Vibrations briefly broke up in 1971. At this time, Owens became a member of The Temptations, although he was let go after his first few engagements. Owens and the other Vibrations regrouped and continued, eventually become a nightclub act in the mid 1970s, before officially dissolving the group in 1976. Again a group that should have been as big as the temptations as they had the quality but still enter AMM,s hal lof LEGENDS! ..Marginal missed out on "cause Your Mine" as its part of their dance history i,ve included it here. If you want to know what pure northern soul is get a load of these wonderful dancers,mind blowing!!!

AMM

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