Thursday 27 August 2009

CLARENCE CARTER - TESTIFYIN' (ATLANTIC 1969) remastered + 4 bonus




From his biography
.................
...My music career began with a school pal of mine, Calvin Scott, and we signed a contract with "Duke Records" from which we had two releases that you probably never heard. We were known by several names, Clarence and Calvin and sometimes were called the CL. Boys. The songs that we recorded were, "You Stole My Heart" and "Money and women". I think one of the funniest thoughts about the experience with Duke Records happened the day when we received our first royalty check that amounted to twenty-five cents.
It is said that all things happen for the better, however when it happens, you cannot understand why. I am referring to the time when I was eleven years old and my mother told me that Santa would not be coming to me anymore. Though this news was disappointing to me at first, I quickly recovered when she told me that she bought me a guitar for Christmas.
I had a hard time learning how to play the guitar for I had no one to teach me how to play but, I was determined to play and I did so by listening to other people play and copy what I heard.
My association with Calvin was short lived because in 1966, we had an automobile accident that caused us to choose different careers. I then signed a contract with Rick Hall, who owned Fame Records, which was located in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This was probably one of the wisest moves I have ever made. I learned how to write songs, how to sing professionally and how songs were produced into hit records.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, the name of my first record on Fame Records; it was "Tell Daddy All About It". My association with Fame Records lasted from 1966 until 1973. During this time, we had records like: "Slip Away" in 1968, "Too Weak To Fight" in 1969 and "Patches" in 1970. All three of these records were in the top ten positions on the charts. Atlantic Records proved to be a good idea that Rick Hall had for my career, for it was that company that gave stability in the music business for me...
Here

CLARENCE CARTER - THIS IS CLARENCE CARTER (ATLANTIC 1968) remastered + 4 bonus




Born in Montgomery, Alabama on 14 January, 1936, Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama State College in Montgomery, graduating in August 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree in music. After the 1962 release of "I Don't Know (School Girl)," Carter and Scott left Fairlane Records for Duke Records, renaming themselves the CL Boys for their label debut, Hey. In all, the duo cut four Duke singles, none of them generating more than a shrug at radio[citation needed].

In 1965, they travelled to Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to record "Step by Step" and its flip side, "Rooster Knees and Rice. Atlantic Records took notice and released "Step by Step" on its Atco Records subsidiary, but it flopped. Carter continued as a solo act, signing to the Fame Records label for 1967's Tell Daddy. Several more solid singles followed, until Carter released "Slip Away," which hit number 6 on the Pop Charts. "Too Weak to Fight" hit number 13. Several more soul singles followed, like "Snatching It Back," "At The Dark End of the Street," "The Feeling Is Right," "Doing Our Thing" and "Patches." "Patches", (first recorded by Chairmen of the Board), was a UK number 2 and a U.S. number 4 in 1970, and was nominated for a Grammy in 1972. This disc sold over one million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A. in September 1970, just two months after its release.It was Carter's third million seller...
Here

Monday 10 August 2009

JAMES BROWN - I GOT THE FEELIN' (KING 1968) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve




Simply put, this is probably one of James Brown's all-time greatest, most consistently hot and funky records that he ever put out.
..........................................
"I Got the Feelin'" released as a single in 1968 & it reached #1 on the R&B charts and #6 on the pop charts. It also appeared on a 1968 album of the same name.
..........................................
The Jackson Five auditioned for Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1968 with a filmed performance of "I Got the Feelin'", with the ten-year-old Michael Jackson closely mimicking Brown's vocal style and dance moves...
Here

JAMES BROWN - SAY IT LOUD (KING 1969) Jap mastering cardboard sleeve




If there's a downside to the proliferation of box sets and greatest-hits packages, it's that artists are often reduced to little more than their smash singles and memorable B-sides. As a chance to hear James Brown as a full-album artist, Say It Loud: I'm Black and I'm Proud is well worth owning. Recorded in 1969, at the height of Brown's powers, this does contain several known songs, chief among them the fierce title track and the sexy "Licking Stick." But listen to Brown tear into the mournful "I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" or the bluesy "Let Them Talk" and you will get a true sense of the breadth of Brown's many talents. --Amy Linden
........................................................
The funk gem "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" is a song written and recorded by James Brown in 1968. It is notable both as one of Brown's signature songs and as one of the most popular "black power" anthems of the 1960s. The song was released as a two-part single which held the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart for six weeks, and peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. [1] Both parts of the single were later included on a 1969 album of the same name.
"Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud" was the first Brown recording to feature trombonist Fred Wesley, who went on to become the bandleader of The J.B.'s.
Here