Various Artists: Atlanta Soul Artistry 1965-1975 (Vinyl LP)

Though built with highly questionable finances, gangster Michael Thevis’ GRC, Aware and Hotlanta labels produced some scintillating mid-70s soul music. Thevis knew his limitations and allowed his producers, arrangers and songwriters free reign as long as they worked hard and came up with good recordings.

It was the period in music when Detroit and the south got together, as with Stax and Westbound’s Memphis/Detroit co-productions, and Thevis tried to make that blueprint work for his Atlanta set-up. He brought producer Marlin McNichols and engineer Milan Bogdan down from the Motor City and Floyd Smith from Chicago. Smith came with the highly talented singers Loleatta Holloway and John Edwards, while McNichols brought the Counts, Ripple and Deep Velvet to cut in the spanking brand-new Sound Pit Studios.

Songwriter supreme Sam Dees was co-opted from Thevis’ Moonsong operation, which he ran out of nearby Birmingham, Alabama, and the resulting sessions produced some exquisite soul songs – several of which charted, making the company hot between 1973 and 1975.

1. Dorothy Norwood - Big Boat Ride
2. Joe Hinton - I'm Tired Of Dreaming
3. Ripple - You Were Right On Time
4. Lee Brackett - You Get To Me
5. John Edwards - It's Got To Be The Real Thing
6. Charlie Thomas - Don't Let Me Know
7. Loleatta Holloway - Love Woke Me Up
8. Jimmy Lewis - Is That Any Way To Treat A Lady
9. Deep Velvet - Complain To The Clouds (But You Can't Change The Weather)
10. King Hannibal - Fight Fire With Fire
11. Arthur Alexander - You Ain't For Real
12. Joe Graham - I'm Leaving
13. Bobby Burn - I'm A Dreamer
14. The Counts - Since We Said Goodbye