ATLANTA: HOTBED OF 70s SOUL

The GRC Records set-up in Atlanta produced a wealth of great soul music but - because of the sudden curtailment of the company, due to owner Michael Thevis’ incarceration - so much of it never saw a release.

The tapes were preserved though, with many tracks since being issued. This latest batch of tape discoveries is of shockingly high quality. Sam Dees’ presence is a major cause of this. Standouts include Miss Louistine’s original version of ‘Con Me’ – surely a contender to be a Deep Soul Treasure, had Dave Godin heard it. Her take on Dees’ ‘Extra Extra’ is possibly the opposite emotion – sheer joy at finding her lover; equally well expressed. ‘Paperman’ is a classic mid 70s Dees’ composition, well sung by Wes Lewis with his group Alpaca Phase III. Dees collaborated with another major GRC talent, Joe Hinton, for the funkier ‘Shouldn’t I Be Given The Right To Be Wrong’. Hinton co-penned two songs with backing singer Louvain Demps who left her job with Motown’s backing girls the Andantes to move to Atlanta with Hinton. Their ‘Grant Me One More Day’ is a beautiful track and ‘Depend On Me’ is another worthy find.