The contentious UK copyright laws have over the years allowed budget labels to issue plenty of vintage material without the problem of sorting royalties. Equally, savvy ad agencies have plundered popular music’s vast back catalogue to push their products whilst side stepping the royalty issue. It is contentious but I guess in the end music collectors have been the winners and amongst collectors the soul crowd can feel particularly happy since a plethora of old soul has been resurrected by the budget imprints… and the ad men have also been quick to exploit the charm and catchiness of vintage soul to enhance their promotions.
UK budget brand Jasmine Records have just issued a great, little 28 tracker that brings old soul and advertisements together. ‘SOULED OUT’ offers plenty of well-known items – like Booker T’s ‘Green Onions’ and Jackie Wilson’s’ ‘Reet Petite’ but it also features plenty of music that might not be so familiar – things like Eddie Bo’s ‘Walk That Walk’ and Earl Knight and George Kelly’s version of ‘Let The Good Times Roll’.
For a budget set , the package and notes are excellent (courtesy of Bob Fisher). You can learn the provenance of the music and – maybe more importantly in the context of the release – the particular ads that featured the particular song. For instance did you know that HSBC used James Ray’s ‘I’ve Got My Mind Set On You’, that Sainsbury’s use The Miracles ‘Shop Around’ or that teething gel Bonjela used the obscure Lewis Lymon’s ‘I’m So Happy’? Fascinating stuff and coming in at well under a tenner, highly recommended!
