Pounds of Soul

Performers include: Betty Bibbs, Tommy Youngblood, Johnny Copeland, Vernon Garrett, Arthur & Mary, Jeb Stuart, Sim Twins, ZZ Hill, Freeman King, Brenda George, Jimmy Robins.
Contains 24 tracks.
Liner Note Author: John Ridley.
Arrangers: Lawrence Lucie; Miles Grayson; Rene Hall.
The Kent and Modern labels, working under the same umbrella that had been such a huge power in 1950s R&B and blues, really wasn't much of a force in the post-1950s soul era, the success of Lowell Fulson to the contrary. Nor was Los Angeles, where the majority of these two dozen tracks were cut, one of the more notable stables of regional soul music. Nonetheless, release a good amount of soul Kent and Modern did, and this compilation gathers a lot of their obscure sides from the late 1960s and early 1970s (with two offerings by Vernon Garrett coming from 1975). Aside from Johnny Copeland and ZZ Hill, most of these names will be unknown even to soul specialists, with the arguable exception of perhaps the Sims Twins and Arthur Adams (who appears as half the duo Arthur & Mary). Much of what's here is bluesier than much soul of the era, and down-home enough in its vibe that a lot it could have been passed for having been cut in the South. As is the case with much second-line soul, a lot of it's plainly inspired by much bigger names, whether Aretha Franklin (Betty Bibbs's "Pounds of Soul" and Brenda George's "What You See Is What You're Gonna Get"), Sam Cooke (Joe Haywood's "I Wanna Love You"), Otis Redding (Hill's "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby"), or B.B. King with wah-wah pedal (Copeland's "Old Man Blues"). It's interesting to hear a downbeat soul-blues cut called "Tobacco Road" (by Tommy Youngblood) that's actually an entirely different song than the famous John D. Loudermilk tune of the same name with which the Nashville Teens had a hit. The CD's reasonably good low-key, earthy soul, without any standout lost gems, with four of the cuts previously unreleased. ~ Richie Unterberger