DAVE GODIN’S DEEP SOUL TREASURES VOLUME 5.

dereksmusicblog ♦ October 29, 2019 ♦ Leave a comment

Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5.

Label: Kent Soul.

It’s hard to believe that it’s fifteen years since the passing of Dave Godin, one of the most influential and informative writers on soul music. He was passionate about soul music and wanted to convert agnostics and make believers of them. His passion was obvious in his columns for Blues and  Soul, and then later, in the much-missed Soulful Kinda Music magazine. However, Dave Godin who coined them term deep soul, didn’t just write about music.

He also compiled and lent his name to a quartet of lovingly curated compilations of deep soul for Kent Soul. Sadly, Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 4 was released just a few months before his death fifteen years ago. For many critics it was the finest instalment in the series. 

As a mark of respect, Kent Soul didn’t release any further instalments in this much-loved series. That was despite having lists of tracks that David Godin felt were worthy of including on the original volumes. It would’ve been easy enough to compile further compilations. However, this didn’t happen as Kent Soul didn’t want to be accused of cashing in on Dave Godin’s name.  

As the years passed, the label managed to secure the rights to various tracks that Dave Godin believed were among the most important in the deep soul genre. These tracks and some from David Godin’s lists became the first instalment in the series for fifteen years. This is Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5, which has just been released by Kent Soul, an imprint of Ace Records.

Opening Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5 is Who Knows by The Soul City, which was released by Goodtime in 1966. It was penned by William Guest and Gladys Knight, who recorded the song in 1965. This is a heart-wrenching cut that epitomises everything that is good about deep soul.

Helena Ferguson only ever released two singles during her career. This includes Where’s The Party, which was released on Compass in 1969, and showcases a singer with the ability to breath meaning and emotion into lyrics with a vocal that is almost needy.

Despite enjoying a lengthy career, Home Is Where The Hatred Is has to be one of Esther Phillips’ finest recordings. She was accompanied by some top session players and an orchestrated arrangement on a single for the Kudu label which was released in 1972. It’s a soul-baring reading and it sounds as if Esther Phillips had lived the lyrics as as she reinvents Gil Scott-Heron’s classic.

Soul-baring and impassioned describes I Ain’t Got To Love Nobody Else by The Masqueraders, which was released on Bell in 1968. It’s a reminder if any was needed of how good a group the Dallas-based Masqueraders were.

One of the tracks Dave Godin always wanted to feature on one of his compilations was Somebody New by The Emotions. It was released by Twin Stacks in 1968, and features a hurt-filled vocal from the Chicago-based trio. This was just the start of the rise and rise of The Emotions.

(Until Then) I’ll Suffer featured on the album Here Is Barbara Lynn which was released by Atlantic in 1968. It features an emotive, hurt-filed vocal as Barbara Lynn lives the lyrics and makes the pain seem very real.

Ed Townsend wrote and produced Foolish Fool for Dee Dee Warwick. She lays bare her soul for all to see on a single released  on Mercury in 1968.

James Carr was one of the greatest soul singers ever, and These Ain’t Raindrops shows just why.  It was released on Goldwax in 1969, and is an outpouring of emotion, hurt, sorrow and soulfulness from a musical master craftsman who had the ability to bring a song to life.

Can’t Last Much Longer is a reminder of a vasty underrated soul singers Betty Harris. She recorded for the New Orleans-based Sansu label and this track was one of her finest recordings. 

Lovers Always Forgive was written by Van McCoy and released by Gladys Knight and The Pips in 1964. It’s a stunning and sensuous sounding track that more than hints at what was to come from one of the great female soul  singers of her generation.

Judy White who  was the daughter of bluesman Josh White, recorded Satisfaction Guaranteed for Buddah, which was released in 1969. It showcases a truly talented singer accompanied by some top session players as she  delivers an impassioned vocal that is intense and bristling with emotion. 

A gospel influence can be heard throughout I Will  by  Lattimore Brown, which was released by the Renegade label in 1970. Especially the piano that is part of the understated arrangement that accompanies a vocal that is akin to a confessional.

What Can I Do (Without You) was released on the Loma label in 1968, and features a vocal powerhouse from Linda Jones. She’s another vastly underrated soul singer whose music deserves a wider audience.

Nothing Can Change The Love I Have For You by Z.Z. Hill closes Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5. It’s a cover  of Sam Cooke song that was released on Kent in 1967. However, ZZ breathes life, meaning and emotion into his impassioned reading of this cover version. It closes the compilation on a high.

After the passing of David Godin it seemed unlikely that there would ever be another instalment in the deep soul  compilation that he lent his name to.  As the years passed by Kent Soul resisted the temptation to release another compilation of what was one of their most popular compilation series’. That was despite having lists of tracks that David Godin felt were worthy of inclusion on the original volumes. It would’ve been easy enough to compile further compilations. This didn’t happen as Kent Soul didn’t want to be accused of cashing in on Dave Godin’s name.

Now fifteen years later and Kent Soul had secured the rights to various tracks that Dave Godin believed were among the most important in the deep soul genre. These were augmented with tracks from his lists. The result was Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5, which is a welcome addition to this much-loved series.  It features twenty-five tracks by familiar faces and new names that all have one thing in common …quality. These tracks feature deep soul at its finest and epitomises everything that is good about the genre. For a newcomer Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5 is the perfect introduction to the genre before discovering the delights of this lovingly curated compilation of beautiful, emotive and  heart-wrenching soul music.

Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5.