When a Man Cries

Performers include: Joe Wilson, Marvin Preyer, Charlie Whitehead, Benny Conn, L.C. Cooke, Lloyd Price, Benny Gordon, Masqueraders, Tommy Hunt, Johnny Copeland.
Contains 27 tracks.
The soul music issued by the Scepter/Wand and Musicor/Dynamo labels tended to be the most pop-oriented, "uptown" sort of 1960s New York soul, as sung by stars on their roster like Dionne Warwick, Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown, and the Shirelles. However, from the mid-'60s through the early '70s, these labels did license material from other sources (often from the South) that was in much more of a "deep soul" or "sweet soul" style, with gospel-derived vocals and brassy production. When a Man Cries collects 27 of those releases from 1965-73. A lot of these names are unknown; with the exception of Lloyd Price, even the recognizable artists are minor ones, such as Jackie Moore, Judy Clay, LC Cooke (Sam Cooke's brother), and Johnny Copeland. Like so many of these collector-targeted anthologies, this represents the second or third tier of the genre, not the cream. The imprint of the Stax ballad approach (with horns, bluesy guitars and organs), as well as fainter echoes of the Philadelphia and Chicago "sweet soul" vibe, is audible on many of the cuts. By and large they're emotionally sung and well produced, but not possessed of that special something (particularly that special songwriting) needed to elevate the cut to major durability. There are occasional lifts from more famous songs (let's not try to pretend these don't exist) such as Murge's "How Long Must This Fool Pay," whose opening piano is pretty close to Brenda Holloway's classic "Every Little Bit Hurts." Guess what the punchline of Marvin Preyer's previously unissued "You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Love Her" is? (Yep: "But it sure helps a lot.") ~ Richie Unterberger