Action Speaks Louder Than Words

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合計収録時間 : 01:07:14
Shelby S. Singleton is best known among record collector types as the man who bought Sun Records from Sam Phillips and ran the Plantation label which charted a handful of country hits in the late '60s. But Singleton's SSS International label and its many offshoots (Silver Fox Records, Exit Records, Honor Brigade Records) released some excellent soul and R&B sides in the late '60s and early '70s, and two-dozen high-impact dance tunes from the SSS vaults are featured on this compilation. While there are a couple of semi-familiar names here -- Robert Parker, who hit the charts with "Barefootin'" in 1966, and Johnny Adams, New Orleans' own "Tan Canary" -- most of the folks here known only to the most obsessive soul fans, but they generate plenty of soul-satisfying R&B and early funk that will easily fill up the dancefloor. Highlights include the rollicking "Grab Your Partner and Do Your Thing" by Baby Al & the Capps, Sonny Barfield & the Men of S.O.U.L.'s good and greasy "Soul Butter," a tough and passionate cover of Bobbie Gentry's "Fancy" from Rosalind Madison, the gritty deep South soul of Big Al Downing's "Cornbread Row," Jake Porter's wild and slinky "I'm Gonna Make Her Love Me Till the Cows Come Home," and "Mama, I Ain't a Baby No More," a spirited proto-feminist anthem by Marilyn Haywood. There are also a few fun surprises, including a jazz-influenced instrumental take on the Temptations' "Cloud Nine" by Bill Hemmans & Clay's Composite, and the audio is consistently strong throughout. The bare-bones liner notes don't offer anything in the way of information about the artists, which would be appreciated given their obscurity, but the music on Action Speaks Louder Than Words is a stone groove from beginning to end, and if there are another 24 sides this hot in the SSS archives, a second volume would be more than welcome. ~ Mark Deming