Various Artists
Pied Piper ~ Follow Your Soul
This is the eagerly awaited second volume of Pied Piper Productions, the Detroit group of arrangers, writers, artists and musicians who defined the Northern Soul style in their short 1966-1967 lifespan. Easily as strong as the first Pied Piper Presents CD of 2013, this volume has some of the biggest new 60s soul discoveries. Nancy Wilcox provides two with the pounding He'll Be Leaving You and equally classy More Than A Memory. September Jones' Voodoo Madamoiselle has been the biggest record of the past two years, already released as a single following Northern Soul girl dancer Lev featuring it in one of her YouTube videos; this is its CD debut. September's You'll Never Know Why is femme soul perfection. Lorraine Chandler's original version of the James Bond theme You Only Live Twice is even more urgent than the first version Kent revealed in the 90s and her beautiful Lost Without You shows Pied Piper could produce mesmerising ballads when required. There are two scorchers from the Cavaliers, the fully finished version of Ooh It Hurts Me with Jack Ashford s rhythm track, missing from previous versions and Without Someone To Tell Me whose acetate sale reached the highest price ever. The Metros also have two previously unheard numbers and there are two established classics, one from the Dynamics with I Need Your Love and the other the evergreen Could It Be You courtesy of Sharon Scott. There are new exclusive photos of both those acts. Harry Gates is a largely unknown quantity but his haunting Love Will Find A Way which utilises the backing of Tony Hester's Just Can't Leave You is a terrific find. The Pied Piper Players, ie the musicians on the sessions, many of whom were established Funk Brothers from Motown, can be heard uncluttered by any pesky singers on the Cavaliers Hold To My Baby and the Dynamics powerful Love Sick. There are great mid-tempo ballads from Freddy Butler and the Hesitations, cameos from Sam E Solo and Mikki Farrow and several thousand words that help paint the picture of the source of some of the best uptempo soul ever made.
Tracklist
1. Voo Doo Madamoiselle - September Jones
2. He'll Be Leaving You - Nancy Wilcox
3. You Only Live Twice (Alt) - Lorraine Chandler
4. Could It Be You - Sharon Scott
5. Ooh It Hurts Me (Alternate Version) - The Cavaliers
6. I Need Your Love - The Dynamics
7. Watch Yourself - Tony Hester
8. Love Will Find A Way - Harry Gates
9. They Say I'm Afraid (Of Losing You) - Freddy Butler
10. Lost Without You - Lorraine Chandler
11. Wait A Minute - The Hesitations
12. Love Sick - The Pied Piper Players
13. No More Love - September Jones
14. Set My Heart At Ease - Mikki Farrow
15. More Than A Memory - Nancy Wilcox
16. Without Someone To Tell Me - The Cavaliers
17. It's Right Now - The Metros
18. Love Is Not A Game - Sam E Solo
19. What Can I Do - Lorraine Chandler
20. You Better Know Why - September Jones
21. You Don't Know Me Do You - The Metros
22. Hold To My Baby - The Pied Piper Players
23. That's What Love Is - The Hesitations
24. Give Me Lots Of Lovin' - Freddy Butler
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