"Instrumentals Soul-Style" 1956-1962

Instrumental soul music is hard to describe. Unlike soul music we all know with great vocals, instrumental soul music is harder to define. But this set with over two hours of music does a good job of collecting music that has the sound and feel of "soul"--late night smooch music, a little jazzy, gut-bucket honking, stinging guitar, grooving organ--it's all here. The sound is good/very good with a period feel. The 25 page booklet is crammed with information on the music, plus period photos, album covers (in color), and other memorabilia. All booklets should be this good. But one minor quibble--the information doesn't follow the order of the tracks--so you have to hunt for a particular artist/tune. This is another great set in an on going series focusing on the soul music genre. Soul fans should check out the many 2 CD sets in this series...
...Included are instrumentals from people like Ray Charles, The Mar-Keys, James Brown, Ray Bryant, Jimmy McGriff, Allen Toussaint, Mac Rebenak (pre-Dr. John), Freddie King, Booker T and The MGs, Ike Turner, and other well known artists. But also here (and some are real finds) are good/great sides by many lesser known or unknown performers who up the instrumental soul quotient greatly. Naming names would be pretty pointless unless you're a deep collector--but included are sides by Roosevelt Fountain ("Red Pepper"), Nat Bagby ("Grinding"), The Barons ("Jay Walk"), Porgy & The Polka Dots ("Say Yeah"), The Ohio Untouchables ("Hot Stuff") with guitarist Robert Ward, The Twistin' Kings ("Congo (Pt1)"), Googie Rene ("Side Track"), and several others. But known or not these people can dish out some serious soul--instrumental style.
Some of this music is slinky, some is more up beat, some is funky, some is close to early r'n'r ("The Party Stomp" by The Egyptians, with it's Link Wray-like distorted guitar), and some tracks are just down home soulful grooves. Lead instruments include horns, guitar, or keyboards, and all these sides have an undeniable soulful groove to them with rhythm sections that lay down a deep, in the pocket pulse that helps define instrumental soul music. Just listen to "Snake Walk (Pt 1)", by The Swinging Tigers for proof. which is listed as Motown's first instrumental.
So if you're looking for instrumental music with "soul" all through it this is the set to have. Included here is a good workout on the hit vocal single "Green Door", by Eskew Reeder, later known more as Esquerita, who was a big influence on Little Richard. With something like that you can't go wrong. Plus, one listen to "The Stranger" (no strings) by King Curtis will tell you all you need to know about how great this music is. (Stuart Jefferson, Goldmine)

trax disc 1:
1. Red Pepper - Roosevelt Fountain 2. Pig Eyes (Part 1) - Nat Kendrick 3. Grinding - Doc Bagby 4. Rockhouse - Ray Charles 5. (Can You) Feel It (Part 1) - James Brown 6. (Can You) Feel It (Part 2) - James Brown 7. The Party Stomp - The Egyptians 8. Sack Of Woe - Ray Bryant Combo 9. The Hawk - Mike Hanks 10. Mercy - Gene & Al's Spacemen 11. I've Got A Woman (Parts 1 & 2) - Jimmy McGriff 12. Snake Walk (Part 1) - The Swinging Tigers 13. Jay Walk - The Barons 14. Gonzo - James Booker 15. Whirlaway - Allen Toussaint 16. Twist Lakawanna - Junior Walker & The All Stars 17. What's Happenin' Tonight - The Mar-Keys 18. So Far Away - Hank Jacobs 19. Soul City - Ray Johnson 20. Say Yeah - Porgy & The Polka Dots 21. Bee Dee - David Rockingham Trio 22. Leap Frog - Magnificent Seven 23. Loco Limbo - Sonny Thompson 24. Texas Oil - Freddie King 25. Behave Yourself - Booker T. & The MG's 26. The Git Back (Part 1) - Joe "Guitar" Morris 27. Hot Stuff - The Ohio Untouchables
trax disc 2:
1. You Can't Sit Down - Phil Upchurch 2. Whole Lotta Nothin' - The　Merced　Blue　Notes 3. The Freedom Riders - Harold Jackson 4. Prancing - Ike & Tina Turner 5. The Groove - Magnificent Seven 6. Last Night - The Mar-Keys 7. Hot Chile - Nat Kendrick 8. Burnt Biscuits - Truimph 9. A Night With Daddy (Part 1) - Church Street Five 10. Hold It - James Brown 11. Jaywalking - The Upsetters 12. All About My Girl - Jimmy McGriff 13. Brainwasher (Part 2) - Junior Walker & The All Stars 14. Aw' Mercy - Booker T. & The MG's 15. Sahara - Mac Rebennack 16. Dawn - David Rockingham 17. Mo-Self - Eugene Blacknell 18. Green Door - Esquerita 19. Congo (Part 1) - The Twistin'kings 20. One Mint Julep - Ray Charles 21. Wash Board - The Poor Boys 22. All Nite Long (Part 2) - Robert Parker 23. Jookin' - Noble Watts 24. Workout - The Ohio Untouchables 25. Side Track - Googie Rene 26. Wiggle Wobble - Les Cooper & The Soul Rockers 27. The Stranger (No Strings) - King Curtis
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