Customer Reviews

The Complete Goldwax Singles Volume 3: 1967-1970

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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.