The Notations - Still Here 1967-1973 (2015) Numero + Scans - Rare Soul (FLAC 240MB)

From the dawn of doo-wop to the death of disco, the Notations saw and sang it all. Persisting through changing trends and technologies, on major labels and minor ones, produced by both Syl Johnson and Curtis Mayfield, nothing could stop the Notations from representing Chicago’s Southside for decades. The first overview of their indie label golden age, Still Here 1967–1973 finds the Notations at a musical crossroads, turning from simmering R&B ballads to socially conscious soul. Offering up a platter of golden dipped harmonies, inventive arrangements, and super powered soul, the Notations survived as unheralded legends in their own time.Eight years after Numero released Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation (COMING HERE SOON), a compilation that included a handful of songs by the Notations, the label presented a more concentrated look at the Chicago soul group's 1967-1973 phase. The earliest officially released songs here are "Trying My Best to Find Her" and "Gonna Get Ready," both sides of a 1968 single pressed in an edition of "about 500" by the Tad label. At that point, the group's ability was considerable, but the budget was low and the identity wasn't exactly distinctive. All the later material previously gathered on the Twinight set is repeated here, including "I'm Still Here," a doo wop rooted ballad of devotion, produced by Syl Johnson, that entered Billboard's Soul Singles chart in December 1970 and peaked at number 26. It's signified, like some of the group's later material, by lead vocalist and songwriter Clifford Curry's stab like yelps. The 1971-1973 sides are of roughly the same quality, despite no repeat commercial success. Uniformly sweet with a little surface grit, they include a cover of the Impressions' "I've Been Trying," as well as a weeping original titled "What More Can I Say," the latter of which was released on yet another small independent, C.R.A. The program stops short of the group's later output supported by Curtis Mayfield, whose attention was caught by the Impressions cover, but it's a thorough anthology of the period it documents for followers of deep Windy City soul & Northern Fans for those elusive dancers!

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