REVIEW: Various Artists, Lost and Found - The Blue Rock Records
Story
- Joann D. Ball
Soul music is experiencing a major renaissance in the United States as the Nineties come to a close, and this time it's being positioned in mainstream popular culture as more than the soundtrack of big chill memories. That sweet soul music is being used to advertise automobiles, shampoos, fast food restaurants and a host of other products, all of which combine music with a feel good message. While many of the ads are created especially to reach financially secure members of the chill generation, the commercial use of soul seems to target buyers of all ages. And this current mass marketing of soul makes the California raisins' appropriation of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" seem small and minor in comparison.
So what then becomes of soul music as it was originally defined? Whether it was love and love-making music or message and (Power to the) People music it helped shape the musical and social landscape of 1960s and 1970s America and has had a tremendous impact on popular music worldwide. As a result of the renewal process now underway, however, it seems almost certain that the category "soul music" will be reconfigured, modified and transformed. Commercial radio is also a significant factor in this process, too, with the advent of Classic-Soul-The-Format which has appeared in such radio markets as the Bay Area, San Diego and elsewhere. Additionally, new and noticeably more generic Classic Soul stations are popping up in cities like Chicago right beside established R&B and urban contemporary stations that have always played soul music to a loyal listenership. Given the overexposure and oversaturation of classic rock formats nationwide, applying the same principles and limited playlist practices to soul appears to be the new expressway to the gold mine. Unfortunately, it seems to strategically bypass legendary soul DJs and listeners in favor of the "Most Desirable Target Market."
If Classic Soul (food) for the radio means heavy on the Aretha and James, ample portions of Motown with some Stax on the side and a few garnishes, then the music formerly known as soul will be woefully underserved. One can only hope that radio consultants and programmers search beyond the comfortably familiar to include a greater variety of artists and songs. Making space for marginalized, forgotten and ignored material would make the canonization of soul a lot easier to swallow. To this end, Lost and Found: The Blue Rock Records Story is one of many rich and essential primary sources.
Back in the day (1964-1969), Blue Rock was Mercury Records' soul music imprint. It was a determined effort by Mercury to enhance its roster beyond pop-slanted acts like Dinah Washington, Brook Benton and Clyde McPhatter. Unfortunately, Blue Rock was less coordinated than Motown and less recognizable than Stax. Unlike those two legendary homes of soul music, Blue Rock Records lacked a geographical urban identity. Blue Rock operated out of New York and Chicago, and signed talent from across the country without the benefit of a signature house band. Thus, there isn't a definitive Blue Rock sound, but it is clearly evident from this collection that the performers on the imprint were deeply rooted in and committed to the essence, spirit and creative artistry of soul music.
Lost and Found: The Blue Rock Records Story is an extensive compilation of singles released during the label's brief existence. The 60 selections featured here were prepared from the original 2-track master mixdown tapes, and the only singles not included were those lacking the crucial master tapes. The double disc collection contains almost three hours of soul stirrings from forty or so artists. Many of them, like Otis Leavill (whose "Let Her Love Me" was the label's first national hit), the Brothers of Love who declared "Yes I Am," and the duo Johnny and Jake who shouted out "It's A Mess I Tell You" are performers whose names and songs barely register on the average recognition scale. Others, like Dizzy Jones who offered up "Come On And Love Me" and "Let Me Talk To You," had strong ties to musical luminaries but are scarcely remembered today. Jones had been a musical partner of James Brown's saxist and trumpeter, and Blue Rock artist James Crawford frequently opened for the Godfather of Soul on the road and got Brown to produce the shouter "Got No Excuse" for him. And Dee Dee Warwick was the more down to earth sister of pop vocalist Dionne. Her Blue Rock singles included "Do It With All Your Heart," "Gotta Get A Hold of Yourself," and the 1965 hit "We're Doing Fine."
The Blue Rock roster did include some performers who managed to avoid obscurity. Featured on the compilation are The Shirelles whose Blue Rock contributions "Sweet, Sweet Lovin'" and "Call Me" are chronologically and thematically removed from the sweet innocence of "Soldier Boy." Windy City fixtures the Chi-Lites generated the singles "Never No More" and "She's Mine" for the label before their 1970s string of hits. And Chicago blues mainstay Junior Wells infused some funky old soul into his sound for Blue Rock efforts "Party Power" and "You're Tuff Enough." Then there's also the song that subsequently became a hit the second time around for another, more popular soul artist. Even though Sir Mack Rice first recorded "Mustang Sally" for Blue Rock, it is the cover version by his ex-Falcons bandmate Wilson Picket that has stood the test of time.
Lost and Found: The Blue Rock Records Story is a valuable and immensely enjoyable collection. Mercury/Chronicles Records has given a whole new lease on life for these Sixties soul tracks, many of which are available on compact disc for the very first time. It's doubtful that any of these songs will provide the musical backdrop to a clever television commercial. And whether any of these Blue Rock cuts will get airplay on those the new Classic Soul radio stations remains to be heard. In spite of that, though, Lost and Found: The Blue Rock Records Story provides tangible proof that soul music was once indicative of a distinctive, urban Black American sound that was born of equal parts hope and frustration in an era that has become increasingly distorted and distant.
