VA - Masterpieces Of Modern Soul Vol. 4 (CD Edition) (2015)

Kent's latest volume of Modern Soul sides is a particularly splendid affair. The four-year gestation period is a reflection of the scarcity of these tracks and the gradual increase in the percentage of masters that were not issued at the time of recording to a staggering 70% tells us it's what's in the tape box that counts nowadays. Aural debuts abound; Elaine Armstrong cut one great single for King in 1968 but the company left the mid-tempo sadness of Tears Begin To Fall in the vaults. Jesse Johnson recorded in Los Angeles and cut a pretty upbeat love song, There Will Never Be Another You , for veteran producer Johnny Otis. The other Johnny Adams, who cut for Modern and Money, also performed with the group Fox Fire and an unissued LP featured a long beautiful ballad with a slow beat called You Amaze Me; sophisticated in the extreme. Dave Hamilton's Detroit projects ran from the 40s to the 80s and in the later years he came up with some modern soul winners, such as the previously unheard pleading male vocal of the New Experience's Never Felt This Way Before and Elayne Starr's Night After Night which has a hint of disco. Real released records feature in the form of Street People's Baby, You Got It All, a great mid-70s Spring dancer which is overlooked and hard to find. The Spring tapes also gave up an alternate lead vocal to Millie's Don't Send Nobody Else, here credited to Luv Co. Quirks abound - Kent feature the Garland Green rap version which only came out on the 1990 Kent LP by accident! Compilation and notes by Ady Croasdell.