Chess Uptown Soul [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 28, 2004)
• Original Release Date: March 25, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Kent Records UK
• ASIN: B0000013BW
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,446 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #82 in Music > Indie Music > R&B > Soul

Track Listings

1. The Entertainer - Tony Clarke

2. Love Ain't Nothin' - Johnny Nash

3. Jerk And Twine - Jackie Ross

4. Oh What A Feeling - James Phelps

5. It Ain't No Big Thing - The Radiants

6. Sitting In The Park - Billy Stewart

7. Temptation 'Bout To Get Me - The Knight Brothers

8. Everything To Me - Donnie Elbert

9. Nothing But You - The Chessmen

10. I Won't Need You - Gene Chandler

11. Wear It On Our Face - The Dells

12. Do You Wanta Go - Andy Mack

13. Pushover - Etta James

14. Believe In Me Baby - Little Milton

15. Searching For My Love - Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces

16. I Had A Talk With My Man - Mitty Collier

17. I Believe She Will - Eddie And Ernie

18. So Much Love - Maurice & Mac

19. Hurt So Bad - Ramsey Lewis

20. Here You Come Running - Sugar Pie De Santo

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Chicago-based, the Chess group of labels included at various times Aristocrat, Argo and Cadet. Phil and Len Chess built up their label on the success of their roster of hard-hitting blues artists like Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, but they dabbled in many forms of music including soul. Another Kent Records release, Chess Uptown Soul, explores their 60s soul output. However, as the astute among you will have gathered from its title, this isn't an album of stompin' dance toons: no Landslide or In Orbit here. As compiler Ady Croasdell (What him again? Does this man ever sleep?) puts it, ''Think sophisticated. Think subtle. Think Slick''.

After the exhilarating Saturday night soul of the OKeh set, here's a 24-tracker ideal for a Sunday morning: snuggle down in your armchair, attempt to do the crossword and let the soul waves lap comfortably against your feet. Sophisticated? Yes indeedy, check out Marlena Shaw's jazz-tinged slant on Go Away Little Boy. Subtle? Absolutely: Marvel at Spooner's Crowd as they wittily create a sound picture of a whole evening at a hip club in the 2 minutes and 9 seconds of Two In The Morning. Slick? Sho'nuff - gasp at The Radiants' inch-perfect harmonies on Ain't No Big Thing. This uptown festival includes such soul beats as Jan Bradley's charmingly naive Mama Didn't Lie, Etta James' assertive Pushover, the Knight Brothers' gospel-flavored Temptation Bout To Get Me and Mitty Collier's affecting I Had A Talk With My Man. There's a touch of the blues from Johnny Nash and a touch of jazz from Ramsey Lewis. It all adds up to a soul-satisfying Sunday morning's listening. But wait: Jackie Ross' Jerk And Twine, one of the first batch of releases on the UK Chess label back in '65, has an irresistible finger snapping beat, and she's going on about good timing hips are rocking...the build-up to next Saturday night starts here! --Mike Atherton, Ace UK (Mike is also a regular contributor to Echoes, Blues & Rhythm and Record Collector magazines)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another classic from the inexhaustable vaults of Chess..., January 24, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chess Uptown Soul (Audio CD)

Man, I can't get enough of sixties Chicago soul, and no one did it better than Chess. Sure, they had Etta James, but the story doesn't end there. They issued many records that didn't get the exposure they deserved when they were released, but they sure sound great today. This collection, only available as an import, is a great sounding, seminal collection of mostly obscure Chess soul. Don't miss it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More greatest hits you've never heard, January 7, 2005

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chess Uptown Soul (Audio CD)

This collection is filled with breathtakingly beautiful tunes (even the uptempo ones) from Chess records during the 1960s. One can only wonder why these songs were not better known, but the good folks at England's Kent records have justly brought them to light.

"Ain't No Big Thing" by the Radiants is a sweet midtempo groove featuring the lovely leads of each of the singers. I recall hearing this one once on a late-night radio show as a child, but not since then. Jackie Ross' "Jerk and Twine" is one of those wonderful songs that you could sit and listen to as well as dance to. Andy Mack's "Do You Wanna Go" is a nice late-doo-wopper and Etta James does a lesser-known number that's more R&b than her typical barrelhouse blues (as is also the case with the Little Milton number).

But the truly breathtaking tune that makes you wonder where it's been all your life is "Temptation About to Get Me" by the (actually unrelated) Knight Brothers. You will listen in awe at this number and like much of this CD, you will not be able to listen to it just once.

It says much about the quality of Soul Music in it's prime years that wonderful records like this (mostly regional hits that you would not likely have heard if you didn't have access to Chicago's WVON-AM or at British dance clubs) were often lost in the shuffle in the midst of other really good songs. As Jay Butler, the "Pied Piper" of Charleston's WPAL-AM used to say, "God Bless Rhythm and Blues!" After hearing this CD, you'll agree.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars when r&b was r&b!!, July 5, 2002

By 

J. Hoffman "soul lover" (dover, pa. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chess Uptown Soul (Audio CD)

this small collection of soul gems is a great example of when r&b was r&b. this socalled digittal music today could not even hold a candle up to one of these great tunes & even their not so great tunes.with fabulous hits like, the entertainer by:tony clarke,temptation bout to get me by:the knight brothers,ain't no big thing by:the radiants,searching for my love by:bobby moore & the rhythm aces,sitting in the park by:billy stewart,everthing to me by:donnie elbert,hurt so bad by: ramsey lewis,mama didn't lie by:jan bradley,go away little boy by:marlena shaw,soul of the man by::fontella bass,i had a talk with my man by:mitty collier,two in the morning by:spooner's crowd.keep up the fabulous work chess records!! love,peace&soul,j.h.52757 god bless!!