Omnivore Recordings: The South Side of Soul Street - The Minaret Soul Singles 1967-1976 - New Release Review

I just received the reissue of the South Side of Soul Street: The Minaret Soul Singles 1967-1972 and it's terrific! This 40 track (2 cd's) collection gathers all of the A's and B's of Minaret's soulful sides for the very first time. Opening the release is Big John Hamilton with The Train ... this is a terrific track with a pace along the lines of Stormy Monday, showing just how good Hamilton is as a vocalist and showcasing terrific guitar and piano riffs over stacked up horns. I'm sold already! Big Bad John is a rolling funky boogie with funky horns and understated guitar work. A high strutting R&B track you can smell the original sound when the sax kicks in... terrific! I Have No One is a beautiful vocal soul track with classic horn backing and understated guitar arpeggios. I Just Want To Thank You is another classic track which has roots in country...or does country have it's roots in soul. In any case, really nice. Genie Brooks is up next with some classic chugging R&B (Boogaloo), Fine Time,  featuring cool backing vocals and horns. Juanita is a real bluesy soul track with solid vocals and nicly articulated guitar compliments warmed up by great backing vocals. The Double Soul is up next with Blue Diamonds. This is a really solid track featuring great gospel like vocals and light guitar work. I Can't Use You is a great vocal track with dynamic harmonies and hot vocal leads pushed along with fat sax work. Big John Hamilton is back with Big Fanny with a light hearted track along the lines of Clarence Carter. How Much A Man Can Take has the dynamics of Otis Redding and is one of my favorite tracks on the release. On Pretty Girls, Hamilton gets the groove kickin and the horns are right on the riff. Some smokin guitar riffs make you think Albert is hangin back there. Johnny Dynamite cranks up the Night The Angels Cried, a romping R&B track with a pace like Proud Mary. Slowing it down for Everybody's Clown, Dynamite cranks out a beautiful soul/blues track. Genie Brooks is back with Helping Hand, a classic style soul track. Hamilton is back to deliver Breaking Up Is Hard To Do in style with classic piano style but with a surprise guitar twist giving the track just a twist of country. Love Comes and It Goes is another really sweet track with nice little guitar riffs on the response. Leroy Lloyd and the Dukes gets the crowd crankin with Sewanee Strut, a fast paced instrumental. Hot yakity sax work tops off this track. On A Taste Of The Blues Lloyd slows down the pace and with super key work and precise horn work builds a nice frame for white hot sax lead work and some of the hottest guitar I've heard on disk this month. Willie Cobbs opens CD 2 with I'll Love Only You and a cool bass lines. The vocals on each of these tracks are super but the horn work and on this track the guitar work is also really cool. Swinging Don't Worry About Me is a great track with super harp work added on the top of great soul singing. Doris Allen steps up with authority on A Shell Of A Woman. This is soul but blues vocals at it's best. Superb. Gable Reed sings I'm Your Man, a really nice blues track. This is a great track that has been sorely overlooked to be overplayed by all of the modern guitar slingers. What a nice job done by Reed and his guitar player. Hamilton and Allen team up on A Place In My Heart for a great vocal duet. Hamilton and Allen come back with a cover of Them Changes with a lot of funky soul drive. The bass on this track is particularly solid complimenting the driving drums and vocals. Searing guitar bursts find their way into this track as well. Hamilton comes back with another of my favorite tracks on the release, Lift Me Up, which is a classic blues track. Vocal work on this track continues to show how underrated Hamilton is and the horn work holding down the backing as crisp guitar riffs pepper the open air. ... Nice.... real nice!! Count Willie with LRL and the Dukes rolls out I've Got To Tell You, a super soul track. LRL and the Dukes continue with Double Funk, with tight bass riffs, funky guitar work and warm sax tones. Big John Hamilton wraps up the release with Free Me, a really clean soul track showing the fine line between soul and blues. This is a really super compilation of incredible tracks that I was totally unaware of. If you like soul and blues vocals...this is a really must hear! Also included in this package is an incredible 20 page set of liner notes and photos by music historian Bill Dahl.

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