The 7” vinyl renaissance continues apace with regular releases from a slew of indie labels keeping soul fans mighty happy (and mightily skint!)
Ramrock Records are one of the brand leaders in this new/old movement with their Ramrock Retro label – their recent 7” pressing of Gladys Knight and the Pips ‘Stop And Get A Hold Of Myself’ sold out in days!
The newest Ramrock Retro 7 features two in-demand cuts from 2 super stars – AARON NEVILLE with ‘Hercules’ and AL JARREAU with ‘Use Me’.
Neville’s ‘Hercules’ needs no introduction here. It was originally released on Mercury in 1973 with New Orleans legends Allan Toussaint and Marshall E Sehorn at the controls. The song enjoyed a renaissance in the mid 80’s on the Rare Groove scene and was repressed 16 years ago in 2005 on Jazz Man Records. A quick web search will tell you that the song has been sampled over 30 times!
Jarreau’s ‘Use Me’ was originally released on the jazz man’s 1979 LP ‘Lonely Town, Lonely Street’ and is regarded as a rather superior take on this oft-covered Bill Withers’ song. We believe that the track has never previously been released as a 45, so this is its UK 7” debut.
Both cuts have been remastered by Darren Morris at North Street West and the disc comes complete with a dinked centre and additional Ramrock Retro cardboard stock bag. If you want it (and why not?) – be quick. The pressing is limited to just 500 copies.
