Boutique label, SOUL DIRECTION are lining up two more 7” discs for late March release.
The first features cult soul man TOMMY McGEE. Like many of his ilk, not a lot is known about Tommy save that he hailed from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Discogs site tells us that he also played organ and had his own labels – amongst them TMG; he also fronted a band with same initials – the TMGS . He’s possibly best known by collectors for his 1976 album, ‘Positive Negative’ – laid back, edgy and soulful. Before that he’d worked with Al Green on his ‘Back Up Train’ album (Al was then known as Greene, of course) and at the same time (1971) he released his own, debut single, ‘ Come On’/’Guilty’ which was followed by ‘Give & Take’ / ‘To Make You Happy’ – both on Golden Voice Records and sadly, both slipped under the radar!
It goes without saying that original McGee music is now collectable and in 2021 Soul4Real’s Jai Alai imprint released two tracks from the album ‘Positive Negative’. They were the Curtis Mayfield-flavoured ‘We Ought To Be Together’ and ‘Make Sure’.
For their Tommy McGee disc, Soul Direction look to those two Golden Voice singles, taking a cut from each of them to pair ‘To Make You Happy’ and ‘Come On’. The former is a light, sweet affair with a short, sensual female intro monologue. The song’s a great showcase for Tom’s classic falsetto. ‘Come On’ is a tougher thing altogether and there’s an Eddie Kendricks/Temptations’ feel to this one.
The second new Soul Direction 45 features two different artists- THE SUMMITS and PHILLIPS. The label has issued Summits music before. In 2021 they released the vocal and instrumental versions of the group’s , ‘P’s And Q’s’. At the time we learned that the Summits were soul hopefuls hailing from Washington DC. They got together at Francis Cardoza High School (Marvin Gaye’s old school, by the way!) and it seems they named themselves after a bus route! Two of the group regularly travelled on Washington’s number 16 bus, whose terminus was Summit Hill!
The hopefuls signed with music biz hustler Joe Tate who got them deals with Dontee Records and Stan Bethel’s D.C. International label There they meant zilch and the boys called it a day! But when the soul collectors grapevine heard about them, their work became collectable – hence SD’s issue of P’s And Q’s’. The new release features the Summits’ ultra catchy and sweet ‘Window Shopping’ which was one of the group’s D.C. International recordings. It was eventually picked up by the Numero Group for digital release and with their full cooperation, Soul Direction are making the gem available in vinyl.
The disc’s B side features “Phillips” – another mystery artist/group. We believe that they were a 70s funk/soul band out of Washington DC -maybe they’re linked with music entrepreneur Joe Phillips – hence the name? It seems their output was limited to a 6 track EP from which Soul Direction have chsoen a bristling, bassy, funky ‘People Clap Your Hands’. It’s a proper 70s artefact and its first ever time on vinyl … a real collectors’ item.
Learn more about both these releases @ https://soul-direction.co.uk/
