CD Reviews with Kevin Bryan

Various Artists, "Soul 66" (Cherry Red):This typically well annotated 3CD anthology from Cherry Red ranges far and wide in its choice of subject matter as it paints a vivid musical portrait of the U.S. soul scene in the mid sixties, drawing on a compelling blend of bona fide hits and fascinating obscurities from the illustrious archives of legendary labels such as Stax, Atlantic and much loved Northern Soul imprint Loma. 1966 has been described as “The Year That Soul Music Broke Big,” and there are certainly a generous helping of vinyl best sellers on display here, including Sam and Dave’s “Hold On I’m Comin’ ,” Wilson Pickett’s “Land of 1000 Dances” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock On Wood” to name a few. As always with Cherry Red compilations there are more than enough unexpected gems on offer to justify an investment too, with dynamic dance music particularly well represented here.

Suzy Thompson,”Suzy Sings Siebel Volume One” (Self Released): This unusual project takes the form of a heartfelt celebration of the creative legacy of criminally under appreciated American singer-songwriter Paul Siebel.This unassuming character recorded two critically acclaimed albums for the Elektra label during the early seventies but suffered from crippling stage fright throughout his sadly all too short performing career, finally giving up the ghost for good in 1978. Fiddler and guitar player Suzy Thompson fell in love with Siebel’s tender and melodic musical narratives half a century ago and has now decided to mark his recent untimely passing by recording some of the great man’s finest creations, applying her own distinctive imprint to delightfully melancholy ditties such as “Louise” and “Bride 1945” aided and abetted by some top notch musical talent including former Lovin’ Spoonful frontman John Sebastian,who chips in on harmonica on a couple of tracks.

Butterfield Blues Band,”Live at Fillmore West, San Francisco 1966/70” (Floating World): An atmospheric live package from trailblazing blues harmonica ace Paul Butterfield and his gifted musical cohorts, dominated by recordings made in California in October 1966 with the addition of a couple of tracks from a New York gig four years later. The inspired interplay between Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield is a joy to behold despite the overall sound quality suffering from the relatively low fidelity which was the norm for in concert recordings six decades or so ago, with a stunning version of the genre busting instrumental closer,”East West,” stealing the show in no uncertain fashion.