Soul in His Music, Music in His Soul
features sublime vocalist
Roscoe Shelton
interpreting a dozen tracks by songwriters
Huey "Piano" Smith
,
Allen Julian Orange
Bobby Hebb
, and others. Recorded by DJ/producer
John Richbourg
aka "
John R
" of
Rich Records
and
Cape Ann Music
publishing, the material eventually emerged on the
Sound Stage 7
label as this collection. A total of 11 of these 12 titles were released over seven separate 45 rpm records - that's almost the entire album issued as singles to radio and the public years before
Cyndi Lauper
Tina Turner
Heart
, and
Fleetwood Mac
would make multiple releases from an LP the norm. When
Shelton
left
Excello Records
circa 1961, he released a song written by his guitarist from the early
Excello
sessions,
, coincidentally on
Battle Records
, the same label
Hebb
released a 45 on.
Battle #45913
had
Ted Jarrett
's
"Worry"
on the B-side with
"My Best Friend"
as the featured track. Written by
in 1959 or 1960,
changed the lyrics slightly in the middle-eight, making this unique from the songwriter's original version. The double-sided single
"Love Comes and Goes"
b/w
"Mastermind"
was released on
Sims
imprint,
Sims 190
to be exact, written by
of
"Sea Cruise"
"Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu"
fame.
"Strain on My Heart"
was issued as
Sims #217
and became an
R&B
hit in 1965.
"Keep Your Mind on Me"
came out as
Sims #240
, while
"The Fire Still Burns"
was issued on
Sims 245
. Amazingly, the singles kept finding release with
"I Know Your Heart Has Been Broken"
on
Sound Plus #2122
while another
hit,
"Easy Going Fellow
, found fame in 1966 on
Sound Stage #2555
.
"Who Walks In (When I Walk Out)"
"You're Living Too Fast"
got issued on
Sound Plus #2114
/
Sound Stage 7 #2563
-- staggering when one thinks of the outreach to radio this important artist received. From the strings of
to the
groove of
the seven compositions from the pen of
Allen Orange
most likely had his guiding presence to help them along in the recording studio. Though all the tracks here got scattered across the
Deep in My Soul
CD collection about 40 years after this initial release; the tracking on
works wonderfully and is worth a listen if just for the superb original context. ~ Joe Viglione