It continues to be a vinyl desert out
there on the streets and in the fields of England. The year kicked off pretty
well on the vinyl hunting front, but the last few weeks have proved gruelling
at the chazzas and car boots. Last weekend I managed to squeeze in no less than
four car boot sales; the sun shone and encouraged the sellers out in their
droves. But for all the sellers there were, hardly any of them had any vinyl
amongst their unwanted junk. Either that or some very early bird dealers had
hoovered it all up before I arrived (I don’t think so though, there is one
notorious local ‘hooverer’ but I now tend to avoid the venues I know he
frequents).
Taking stock, this weekend booting frenzy
yielded five albums, two 12“ singles and eight little uns. Hmmm, not too bad in
the end, but it was hard work.
There are a few highlights. The 12”
singles are relatively recent reissues of some obscure(ish) 60s and 70s soul
gems I would have to look long and hard for as original issues (Helene Smith,
Edna Wright, James Walsh Gypsy Band gives you a flavour) – nice to have, but in
the end not the originals. Amongst the little uns are 45s from The Hollies, one
of which is a double header belter. Over at the VG+ forum there is an amusing
thread on the subject of collection tics. I think Hollies singles could qualify
as one of my current collecting tics - I buy everyone I see, unless I’m sure I
have it already. On the other hand a tic is something you wish you didn’t have,
and I make no apology for buying Hollies singles because they are generally
great.
One of the albums I bought was a
compilation and was sans sleeve. Hardly a highlight then? On the contrary, I am
more than happy to have found it. The compilation in question is This is Loma Vol 6. Loma was Warner
Brothers specialist Soul and R&B label that was active from 1964-68. In the
mid ‘70s WB UK issued no less than seven This
Is Loma compilations. This one was a must have for me purely on the
strength of a Carl Hall track, and the hope that Linda Jones wasn’t over
singing too much on the four tracks of hers
featured (I blow hot and cold with Linda Jones, although her voice was
undoubtedly a wondrous instrument, I think that too often she tended to over-egg
the delivery, and it’s the songs where she kept it reined in that I prefer, I
can just never remember which ones they are!). As it turns out, on this comp
Linda’s tracks generally get the thumbs up from me; as do all the tracks on the
album because it is a really strong compilation from a really strong label. The
one track that grabbed me by the ears on first listen – as much as the Carl Hall
track – was one of the two tracks by Ben Aiken.
I wasn’t familiar with Aiken and haven’t
been able to turn up much about him. It seems that Jerry Ragovoy brought him
into the Loma fold. There has seemed to be confusion surrounding the colour of
his skin, some people describe him as a “blue eyed” soul singer, but over at
the Soulful Detroit archives some big names from the world of soul music refute
that, and also state that he was working as a custodian at Philadelphia City
Hall, at least as recently as 2004. Baby
You Move Me was released in May 1968 a few short months before Loma’s
demise, and was the last of four singles Ben had released on the label. His
voice, especially on the other track of his on this comp, reminds me of Art
Neville at times.
Carl Hall’s You Don’t Know Nothing About Love preceded the Ben Aiken track here
by six months – Loma were really cooking by then, such a shame the label was
soon to close. About as much as I know about Carl Hall can be found on a Wiki entry. I’ll let the music do the talking here….. stunning!
And so once more, my ramble that started
in a field in England has ended up in Sixties America.
PS: I’ve just played this whole album
again, it’s really really good!
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