VA - Dave Hamilton's Detroit Soul Volume 2 (2015)

The cottage industry that was Dave Hamilton's studio has revealed more high quality soul tracks from the plentiful stash of tapes. This year's offerings include some names not just restricted to the Detroit area. Carolyn Franklin, Aretha's sister, recorded four albums for RCA between 1969 and 1976 (see CDKEND 265). By the early 80s she was semi-retired from secular singing and caring for her father Reverend CL Franklin who had been shot and suffered a five-year coma. His church the New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church was across the road from Dave Hamilton's home and basement studios, which explains how a singing star came to record at the inauspicious location. Buddy Lamp was a Detroiter who recorded extensively, having almost twenty 45s out under his name on labels as big as Duke and ABC. His recordings with Dave Hamilton were made in the mid-70s. The Dynamics were a celebrated Detroit group who had national releases and several R&B hits; they recorded a superb mid-tempo harmony soul song with Dave in the early 80s. Possibly the most famous act of them all was included as a member of the female vocal group the Del-Phis; Martha Reeves who soon had everybody dancing. Motown fans will also be pleased to hear Rita DuShay's original recording of Steal Away , written by Dave with Clarence Paul and sung by Barbara McNair on her 1966 Motown LP. Dave's own roster of acts provide many of the tracks: Little Ann's funky I Gotta Have You has only appeared on a Kent 45 (now deleted). Chico & Buddy's TCB release Party Time gets its first Ace release. Its flip was Dave's own in-demand instrumental Cracklin Bread featured here with some previously unheard vocal overdubs which take it to a new level. His When I Say Groove is another exciting discovery. The big, growling voice of O.C. Tolbert gives us a new-to-Kent song, Love Bandit, and also a very alternate long rap intro to All I Want Is You . Dave's gospel and blues talents are revealed with Glemie Blues Boy Derrell s TCB 45 Four O Clock Blues and Little Stevie Reynolds awesome Demo Ristic single Moving On . There are new vocal group offerings from Nightchill and Anxiety and fine female vocals from Elaine Porter and Bobbie Dee. Tobi Lark's Challenge My Love is in re-mastered multi-track quality with an extended finish while the esteemed vocal group the Tokays give their version of Dave's classic Marriage Is Just A State Of Mind.