As great as you'd expect
Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 01/21/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Those who own either of the first two volumes of this series will have high expectations of this third release, which focuses on soul releases. The UK Sue label was run for Island Records as a subsidiary by Guy Stevens (1943-1981) and took its name from the US label run by Juggy Murray, whose records it released in the UK. Guy, a club deejay with an obsessive love of rock and roll, R'n'B, ska, jazz and soul, used the label to put out obscure American singles not only from the US Sue group of labels, but from any number of tiny independent record companies and some of the bigger ones.
On this volume there are singles recorded for Marc, Orbit, Fury, Gateway, Ron, King, Barry, Modern, Impact, Backbeat, Carnival, Sims, Goldwax, Vee-Jay and Duke. All of these came out on the Sue imprint in the UK, to the displeasure of Juggy Murray who wanted the label exclusively for his own product, and led to him taking his business elsewhere.
Fortunately for the hipsters, mods and swingers who bought the records, Guy Stevens had impeccable taste and anything on the label was highly likely to be worth the few bob it cost to purchase. For their money they got James Brown (Night Train had been slightly speeded up on the single to make it more danceable, so it is on this CD mastering too), Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, Jimmy McGriff, Ike and Tina Turner, James Carr, Bobby Bland and countless other worthies getting valuable exposure over here.
For many years it was rumoured that the black-sounding singer on Incense by the Anglos was actually UK Birmingham-born Stevie Winwood, who had used the name Steve Anglo elsewhere as a pseudonym. Hearing it at last on this CD it seems clear from the aural evidence that the singer, whilst stylistically similar, was not Stevie Winwood, and research has shown that he has gone in print declaring that indeed he has no connection with the recording. From the fulsome and fascinating booklet notes it seems likely that the vocals were by a New Jersey session singer named Joe Webster.
Am I A Fool In Love? turns out to be another remake of A Fool In Love, which Ike and Tina Turner recorded as their first single for Sue in 1960. They went on to record it again for Philles (1966), Pompeii (1968) and, in this instance, Kent (1964).
Had it not been for the passion and single-minded energy of Guy Stevens, many of these singles would probably have never got released in the UK, and here are 25 prime examples of what brought people from around the world to the New Scene Club in Ham Yard, gathered together on one tasty, readily available CD in pristine mono. It's almost too easy.
Volume 4 due February 2006."
NOT all killer quite a bit of filler 5 stars for Guy Steven
David Booker | Denver Co | 02/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Well , as a fan from the first time around with UK Sue , There are a lot of tracks I feel that are missing that I would have liked to have seen appear on these new Sue Compliations. I remember in the UK in the 60's , when you could go to the record shop; and actually see a Sue display in the window of the record store!!There are many tracks associated with UK Sue that STILL have not surfaced in this release program, and are not included on Volume 4 either.'MG Blues' by Jimmy McGriff , 'New Dance In France',by Bobby Lee Trammell , 'Treat Her Right', by Roy Head , 'Shotgun Wedding' by Roy 'C' ,'Stormy Monday' by Little Joe Cook (Chris Farlowe)'Barefootin' by Robert Parker , "Monkey Hips And Rice" by Hank Jacobs ,"Dont Put Me Down Like This" by Derek Martin , "She Put The Hurt On Me" by Prince 'La 'La, "Stick Shift" by the Duals , and "Tightrope" by Inez And Charlie Foxx , plus many more .. have not appeared yet on any of these compilations . The answer seems to be that some of the above mentioned tracks are on a 40th Anniversary ISLAND compilation,titled Rhythm And Blues Beat , which explains to a certain degree why I don't see some of my fave Sue tracks being included here on these Sue volumes . Licensing may be a problem ,originally Island and Sue were owned by Chris Blackwell(Sue was at first licensed from Juggy Murray's Sue label in New York) ,It's all a little confusing....I would have liked to have seen the aforementioned tracks included in this series.Sadly volume 4 is the weakest set yet, The Sleeve art though , on Volume 4 I must say, is stunning , and reproduces some of the original photographs I remember from the first time around ."
Track Listings (26) - Disc #1