The Complete Goldwax Singles Volume 3: 1967-1970 [Import]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Ace Records UK
• ASIN: B0030BEU5M
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,320 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Love Is A Beautiful Thing - Ben Atkins & The Nomads

2. Love Is A Beautiful Thing (Instrumental) - Ben Atkins & The Nomads

3. Once In A While (Is Better Than Never At All) - Spencer Wiggins

4. He's Too Old - Spencer Wiggins

5. Teach Me How To Let You Go - Kathy Davis

6. A Girl In Love - Kathy Davis

7. Love Me Tonight - Carmol Taylor

8. Sugar Creek Bottom - Carmol Taylor

9. Freedom Train - James Carr

10. That's The Way Love Turned Out For Me - James Carr

11. The Train Never Stops At Our Town - Carmol Taylor

12. Another Man's Shoes - Carmol Taylor

13. From Warm To Cool To Cold - Willie Walker

14. A Lucky Loser - Willie Walker

15. I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Love You) - Spencer Wiggins

16. Soul City USA - Spencer Wiggins

17. To Love Somebody - James Carr

18. These Ain't Raindrops - James Carr

19. Happiness - The Ovations

20. Rockin' Chair - The Ovations

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

This is the final installment of the singles released on Goldwax. After the height of success represented in Volume 2, this is a more sober affair. The label reached the end of the road and eventually closed over this period as its major artists: James Carr, Spencer Wiggins and the Ovations, found themselves out of fashion and out of hits, despite no collapse in quality.

James Carr and Spencer Wiggins are represented here with some of their most impassioned recordings: Carr's pounding Freedom Train and Wiggins' amazing take on I Never Loved A Woman.

Label owners Quinton Claunch and Doc Russell strove to find to broaden the label's appeal during this time-frame. This included the launch of the country label Timmie, which saw Carmol Taylor release some incredible records. But Memphis was no Nashville and the hits didn't follow. Other ploys included licensing to major labels such as Chess and United Artist's Veep label, but nothing led to another artist breakthrough.

Across the two CDs is some incredible southern soul recorded in Memphis and Muscle Shoals, not just by the headline acts but by Percy Milem and Willie Walker, future stars such as Timmy Thomas and the terminally obscure Willie Morgan. These recordings represent the best work of such studios as American Recordings, Sounds Of Memphis and Rick Hall's Fame studio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FINAL RELEASE OF GOLDWAX SOUL-ANOTHER WINNER, April 17, 2010

By 

Stuart Jefferson (San Diego,Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Goldwax Singles Volume 3: 1967-1970 (Audio CD)

Two discs 73,73 minutes each approximately. The sound has been remastered and is very good-warm yet clean. The 24 page booklet is very informative-giving track-by-track information on the artist and related information. There are also color reproductions of Goldwax 45 rpm labels (though small) that give some more depth to this set.

This is the third,and final,volume tracing the singles released by Goldwax Records in the years 1967-1970. While the previous two volumes might arguably be better,this volume is far from being filled with lesser quality music or throw-aways. The late 60's into 1970 saw public tastes moving into other areas of music. Soul and r&b was beginning to fall by the wayside as listeners found other genres of music more to their liking. But the quality of singles coming out of the Goldwax studios was still of fairly high quality.

Artists like Spencer Wiggins,James Carr (who should be spoken of in much the same way as Otis Redding),THE OVATIONS,and Ivory Joe Hunter all had good singles during these years. The lesser known artists heard here (Percy Milem,Willie Walker,Timmy Thomas,Carmol Taylor) are in some instances,every bit the equal of the more well known singers. The overall sound on this set is a bit smoother than the previous sets. But singers like James Carr,Timmy Thomas,and Spencer Wiggins still retained some of their rough soulfulness. One of the anomalies was Jeanne Newman,whose teen/love ballads stand in contrast with the other artists heard here. But Goldwax was interested in selling singles,and if something (country singer B.B. Jasper is another case in point) sounded good,they released it. On all three sets there are artists who don't fit the soul/r&b mold,which only serve to give added depth to the music. Heard here,the difference between Newman and James Carr,heard right after Newman,is startling.

If your tastes run toward soul/r&b from the southern states,this collection is for you. Together,all three (2CD) sets are full of great music. And,as usual,it doesn't really matter who the artist is-Goldwax' standards were always high,and even if some artists didn't breakout to national prominence,their music is still some of the best soul/r&b from the years 1962-1970. Actually,1967 was one of the better years for Goldwax artists,but by 1968,things started to slide for the label. It certainly wasn't because the music had slid downwards in quality-far from it. Frankly,I'm surprised that more music listeners haven't found these collections of great soul music. But the main reason I started reviewing music on Amazon was to alert people to some possibly good music that may have slipped by unnoticed. While my tastes are certainly not definitive,hopefully people will at least give this music a try,and hopefully they will hear something they like. This is one of those releases.