"WINDY CITY SOUL" - Rare Soul Uncovered From One-derful Records

The follow-up to Charly's Chicago Twine Time continues its exploration of One-derful, Mar-V-Lus, and M-pac, the family of soul labels founded in late 1962 by producer George Leaner. A product of Mississippi, Leaner's tastes reflected an earthier, more distinctively Southern flavor than the uptown soul approach favored by his labels' Windy City rivals -- the result was a string of superb raw soul singles that remain favorites at Northern soul clubs to this day, decades after Leaner closed up shop in 1968. Focusing primarily on the One-derful output, Windy City Soul suffers from the absence of material by the great McKinley Mitchell, including the extraordinary "The Town I Live In" -- while Mitchell's singles are scheduled to appear on a subsequent volume in the series, the effect is roughly that of leaving Elvis Presley off a Sun Records retrospective, and the disc seems sadly incomplete as a result. That said, the material that is included here is, well, wonderful, highlighted by Betty Everett's scorching deep blues effort "Your Love Is Important to Me," Lucky Laws' exuberant "Who Is She?," and the Accents stomper "Who You Gonna Love?." As on the first volume, sound quality varies wildly, with original vinyl copies obviously sourced for some entries -- still, the music is consistently excellent, and aficionados of rare soul are advised to check this out regardless of its considerable flaws. by Jason Ankeny, AMG

trax:
1. Do The 45 - The Sharpees 2. I'm Satisfied - Otis Clay 3. I Testify - Otis Clay 4. New Girl - The Accents 5. Where Will You Be Boy? - Beverly Shaffer 6. Tired Of Being Lonely - The Sharpees 7. That'S How It Is (When You'Re In Love) - Otis Clay 8. Wait Til I Get To Know You - The Admirations 9. Please Love Me - Betty Everett 10. I'Ll Be There - Betty Everett 11. Who You Gonna Love - The Accents 12. Even The Score - Beverly Shaffer 13. Show Place - Otis Clay 14. One Man'S Poison - Liz Lands 15. I'Ve Got A Secret - The Sharpees 16. The Power Of Love - Mary Silvers 17. A Flame In Your Heart - Otis Clay 18. I'Ve Got A Claim On You - Betty Everett 19. I Don'T Know What To Do - Otis Clay 20. You Better Think Again - The Accents 21. Who Is She - Lucky Laws 22. Don'T You Worry - Joe Mack 23. A Lasting Love - Otis Clay 24. Just To Please You - The Sharpees 25. Your Love Is Important To Me - Betty Everett 26. Don'T Shut Me Out - Liz Lands 27. Don'T Leave Me - The Admirations 28. Got To Find A Way - Otis Clay
...served by Gyro1966...