VA - The Complete Goldwax Singles, Vol. 1 1962-1966 (2009)

Tracklist:

CD1
01. Jon Kennedy - Big Bad Jon The Twister (2:30)
02. Jon Kennedy - Pop-Eye Time (2:27)
03. Bobby Mcdowell - A Thousand Vows (2:21)
04. Bobby Mcdowell - A Gal Named Jo (2:14)
05. Oboe - Tradin' Stamps (2:40)
06. Oboe - Mother-In-Law Trouble (2:40)
07. Darling - The Lyrics (2:19)
08. The Lyrics - How A Woman Does Her Man (2:20)
09. Oboe - The Day The World Cried Part 1 (2:43)
10. Oboe - The Day The World Cried Part 2 (2:02)
11. Jeb Stuart - The Greasy Frog (2:37)
12. Jeb Stuart - Will I Ever Be Free (2:30)
13. Bobby Mcdowell - Our Last Quarrel (2:32)
14. Bobby Mcdowell - These Ain't Raindrops (2:31)
15. Oboe With The Keys - Too Slow (2:31)
16. Oboe With The Keys - She's Better Than You (2:48)
17. The Lyrics With The Top Notes - The Side Wind (2:23)
18. The Lyrics With The Top Notes - So Hard To Get Along (2:01)
19. Ov Wright With The Keys - That's How Strong My Love Is (2:58)
20. Ov Wright With The Keys - There Goes My Used To Be (2:53)
21. Eddie Bond - I Can't Fight This Much Longer (2:18)
22. Eddie Bond - Now And Then (2:31)
23. James Carr - Only Fools Run Away (2:50)
24. James Carr - You Don't Want Me (2:37)
25. Phillip And The Faithfuls - Love Me (1:55)
26. Phillip And The Faithfuls - Rhythm Marie (2:38)
27. The Playboy Five - Spoonful (2:23)
28. The Playboy Five - What Am I Living For (3:01)
29. The Ovations Feat Louis Williams - Pretty Little Angel (2:30)
30. The Ovations Feat Louis Williams - Won't You Call (2:43)

CD2
01. Gene 'Bowlegs' Miller - Toddlin' (1:51)
02. Gene 'Bowlegs' Miller - Bow Legged (2:23)
03. James Carr - I Can't Make It (2:21)
04. James Carr - Lover's Competition (2:15)
05. Merits - Arabian Jerk (2:11)
06. Merits - Please Please Little Girl (2:39)
07. Ovations Featuring Louis Williams - It's Wonderful To Be In Love (3:12)
08. Ovations Featuring Louis Williams - Dance Party (2:49)
09. Big Lucky Carter - Ohio Bound (2:30)
10. Big Lucky Carter - Hurricane Blues (3:09)
11. Dorothy Williams - The Well's Gone Dry (2:29)
12. Dorothy Williams - Country Style (2:58)
13. Al Vance - Every Woman I Know (Is Crazy Bout Automobiles) (2:39)
14. Al Vance - Have You Seen Jean (2:04)
15. Spencer Wiggins - What Do You Think About My Baby (2:46)
16. Spencer Wiggins - Lover's Crime (2:12)
17. Ovations Featuring Louis Williams - I'm Living Good (version 1) (2:44)
18. Ovations Featuring Louis Williams - Recipe For Love (2:31)
19. Spencer Wiggins - Love Works That Way (2:43)
20. Spencer Wiggins - I'll Be True To You (2:37)
21. James Carr - She's Better Than You (2:21)
22. James Carr - Talk Talk (2:17)
23. Lamar - My Motorbike Balked (2:32)
24. Lamar - Patsy (2:53)
25. Ovations - Don't Cry (2:35)
26. Ovations - Need A Lot Of Loving (2:29)
27. Vel Tones - Darling (2:43)
28. Vel Tones - I Do (2:19)

The Memphis-based Goldwax label has a cult following among deep soul fans, especially for its recordings of James Carr. Still, it's fair to say that there aren't a whole lot of people fanatical enough to want a single-by-single retrospective of the company's entire 45 output, as has been produced for a couple of bigger soul labels with much bigger followings, Stax and Motown. Ace Records takes pride in tackling projects for niche collector markets, however, and for those Goldwax aficionados out there, this two-CD, 58-track set will be heartily welcomed. To be technical, some of these were issued on Goldwax subsidiaries, or labels in which Goldwax founder Quinton Claunch was involved before Goldwax started; there are also a couple of Spencer Wiggins 1968 tracks that came out on a collector-targeted bootleg single, though they didn't appear on a Goldwax 45 at the time.
It should be stated right from the outset that although Goldwax was most known for Memphis soul, like virtually all labels, it toyed with a bunch of different styles than the one that became its trademark, especially in its early days. So while there's a good share of the soul music with which Goldwax became identified here -- especially as personified on sides by Carr, O.V. Wright, Spencer Wiggins, and the very Sam Cooke-like Ovations -- there's also a surprisingly high percentage of other stuff. Sure, some of it's just different varieties of R&B that wouldn't be wholly surprising, like some Booker T. & the MG's-type or Lonnie Mack-ish instrumentals; some nearly straight electric brassy blues by Big Lucky Carter; and the raucous '50s rock & roll-styled "Every Woman I Know (Is Crazy About an Automobile)"/"Have You Seen Jean" 45 by Al Vance (which is one of the highlights). Yet there are also novelty twist records; a bathetic tribute to then-recently shot John Kennedy on "The Day the World Cried" by Oboe, who'd find greater fame as black country singer O.B. McClinton; and even straight country music by Eddie Bond. The variety of genres might be a little unnerving for soul fans who want a steady diet of what they expect from Goldwax. But for the less specialized listener, the curveballs actually enhance the listening pleasure, forming a snapshot of a gutsy and rootsy small Memphis label that tried a bunch of unpredictable angles. It's true that little here is in the gem-like category, despite the presence of O.V. Wright's "That's How Strong My Love Is," which in demo form was covered by Otis Redding. It's more solid but somewhat generic material in the early- to mid-'60s Southern soul and R&B-pop field, sometimes falling outside of that spectrum entirely. Detailed track-by-track annotation gives more details on the records and performers that you suspect could have ever been unearthed.