Various Artists - Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label [Extended] (2006)

Toiling in Floridian swelter for just a few years, the Deep City label and its sound would permeate the Miami-metro area and dress the set for disco powerhouse TK’s impressive 1970s run. Before “Rockin’ Chair,” “Rock Me Baby,” or “Clean Up Woman,” a few roguish cats from Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 band were blending their flams and paradiddles with the island sounds drifting into Miami’s airwaves from points unknown. Willie Clarke, Johnny Pearsall, Clarence Reid, and Arnold Albury set up the city’s first black record company, pumping out brassy proto-funk and echo-laden ballads by future hitmakers Betty Wright, Clarence “Blowfly” Reid, and Paul Kelly, plus a dozen can’t-miss/did-miss sides by Helene Smith, as well as a slew of 45s bearing Deep City, Lloyd, and Reid labels. Them Two’s “Am I A Good Man” must’ve simply been too damn good; it melted into Intercoastal waterways, alongside Four Tops-ified Moovers acetate “Darling I’ll Go,” and Clarke and company took separate roads toward Henry Stone’s mighty TK empire. The first of Numero’s twin Florida soul volumes, any Eccentric sojourn through the sunshine state begins with The Deep City Label. Our double-LP edition includes six bonus cuts and a plethora of photographs found nowhere else.



Tracklist:
01. Them Two - Am I a Good Man (3:12)
02. Moovers - Someone to Fulfill My Needs (2:55)
03. Helene Smith - I Am Controlled By Your Love (3:07)
04. Johnny K. Killens & The Dynamites - I Don't Need Help (2:10)
05. Freda Gray & The Rocketeers - Stay Away from My Johnny (2:31)
06. Helene Smith - Thrills and Chills (2:40)
07. Betty Wright - Paralyzed (2:41)
08. Moovers - I Love You Baby (2:35)
09. Helene Smith - Pain in My Heart (2:53)
10. Paul Kelly - The Upset (2:29)
11. Moovers - One Little Dance (2:27)
12. Betty Wright - Good Lovin' (2:45)
13. Helene Smith - Willing and Able (2:34)
14. Paul Kelly - It's My Baby (2:38)
15. Helene Smith - You Got to Do Your Share (2:26)
16. Frank Williams & the Rocketeers - Good Thing, Pt. 1 (3:00)
17. Moovers - Darling I'll Go (2:39)
18. Them Two - Am I a Good Man (Instrumental) (3:02)
19. Freda Gray & The Rocketeers - Stay Away from My Johnny (Instrumental) (2:37)
20. Moovers - I Love You Baby (Instrumental) (2:49)
21. Betty Wright - Good Lovin' (Instrumental) (3:01)
22. Frank Williams & the Rocketeers - Good Thing, Pt. 2 (2:16)
23. Moovers - Darling I'll Go (Instrumental) (3:01)