SOUL 4 REAL is a bijou indie soul label that specialises in releasing quality soul on 7″ vinyl. Eight of their nine singles released so far have never previoulsy been available in any format. Their latest offering is, in fact, the one that features previously available music. It pairs two classic CALVIN RICHARDSON tracks… ‘I´ll Take Her’ and ‘Looks Like (You´ve Been Crying)’ Nowadays, Richardson is best known for his work with Shanachie Records… in fact his latest Shanachie album, ‘Gold Dust’ has just been released. But he debuted back in 1999 with the acclaimed ‘Country Boy’ and it’s from those long players that these two tracks have been lifted. The sound is gritty, authentic soul and it’s clear how much Richardson revered Bobby Womack (and by extension, Sam Cooke). Hear that most clearly on ‘I’ll Take Her’ while ‘Looks Like (You’ve Been Crying)’ is a beautiful, melodic gem.
Amongst Soul 4 Real’s other offerings are two discs from Jimmy Gresham. Gresham is a veteran southern soul man (now 85 we believe) and his offerings date back to the early 70s and their provenance is the Playground Studios in Florida and produced by Finley Duncan. Jimmy at one time recorded for Decca and Teri-De and was also a member of the The New Yorkers and The Groovers, but the four songs on these two Soul 4 Real records are some of his most sought after work, having never officially been released. First up there’s ‘Garden Of Love’ / ‘Love Symphony’. The first is a classic mid tempo southern soul; the latter has rougher, tougher edge. The second Gresham 45 pairs ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’ / ‘Chasin´A Rainbow’. ‘Shadow…’ is proper Southern soul (penned by sometime Motown staffer Reuben Howell while ‘Rainbow’ is another rough hewn item.
We’ll be focusing on more Soul 4 Real releases in the coming weeks. In the meantime, find out more @ www.soul4real.es
