So this is some obscure soul/funk of the beginning of the 70's and I like it a lot,
so I bet you gonna do that too, because this is even progressive soul, with this nice
flute playing of Gus Hawkins, so the first album is a masterpiece for even for a proghead.
This is S.O.U.L. (Sounds Of Unity and Love) and they play some marvellous Funky Soul,
and when they only made two albums, so here you have the whole collection at once.
What Is It Originally released as Musicor LP ms-3195 1971
01 - Down In The Ghetto (5:36) (L. Lovett)
02 - Get Ready (5:23) (W. Robinson)
03 - Burning Spear (4:00) (R. Evans)
04 - Express Yourself (4:02) (C. Wright)
05 - Soul (8:54) (G. Hawkins-L. Lovett)
06 - Message From A Blackman (6:57) (N. Whitfield-B. Strong)
07 - Menphis Underground (3:57) (H. Mann)
Gus Hawkins - Flutes, Saxes, Vocals
Walter Winston - Guitar
Lee Lovett - Bass, Lead Tenor Vocals
Paul Stubblefield - Drums, Second Tenor Vocals
Can You Feel It Originally released as Musicor LP ms-3230 1972
08 - Can You Feel It (7:07) (Hancock-Hawkins-Lovett-Stubblefield-Winston)
09 - Tell It Like It Is (4:21) (Hancock-Hawkins)
10 - Do What Ever You Want To Do (3:31) (Hancock-Hawkins-Lovett)
11 - Peace Of Mind (3:49) (Hancock-Hawkins-Lovett-Stubblefield-Winston)
12 - My Cherie Amour (4:44) (Cosby-Moy-Wonder)
13 - Love, Peace And Power (3:54) (Hancock-Hawkins-Lovett-Stubblefield-Winston)
14 - To Mend A Broken Heart (4:08) (Hancock)
15 - Sleeping Beauty (2:49) (Hawkins)
Gus Hawkins - Flutes, Saxes, Vocals
Walter Winston - Guitar
Larry Hancock - Organ
Lee Lovett - Bass, Lead Tenor Vocals
Paul Stubblefield - Drums, Second Tenor Vocals
Claton Ellis - Piano
Steve Feldman - Percussion & Piano on 8
A quick review from the net
Incredible work from a group who've definitely earned their name! Naming a group SOUL might be suicide for a band that can't carry off the groove -- but these guys are funky monsters, with a real talent for a hard heavy sound that was rarely matched by other combos. The band have a great drummer, with a good talent for the funky break, but also a jazzy flourish that works well on SOUL's mellower numbers -- and apart from the usual bass and guitar riffing, the album also features some great funky flute, in a mode that's similar to some of Jeremy Steig's excellent early work. Some tracks have vocals and some have instrumentals -- and both albums are great! ACE put together both these masterpieces of heavy funky grooves and laid them back to back on one CD of super-heavy funky tracks. The set's a great deal, and both albums are winners all the way through! Tracks include "Down in the Ghetto", "Burning Spear", "Soul", "Tell it Like It Is", "Peace Of Mind", "My Cherie Amour", and "Sleeping Beauty".
Biography by Andrew Hamilton
Originating in Cleveland, OH, S.O.U.L. stood for "Sounds of Unity and Love." The members were Lee Lovett (bass), Gus Hawkins (sax/flute), Paul Stubblefield (drums), and Walter Winston (guitar). Larry Hancock (vocals/organ) was added in 1971 and Bernard (Beloyd) Taylor (guitar) replaced Winston in 1972. All had been involved in music before the formation of S.O.U.L. The fellows entered a battle-of-the-bands contest in 1970, sponsored by the May Company department store in Cleveland, WHK radio station, and Musicor Records. The group won the first prize of 1,000 dollars and a recording contract with Musicor. They traveled to New York City in 1971 and recorded a 45 entitled "Down in the Ghetto Parts I & II" which exceeded the expectations of Musicor by doing so well regionally. They cut a second single, then were invited back to New York to record an album. What It Is consisted of seven tracks and illuminated the versatility of the band. They did covers of jazz and funk tunes to augment their two singles. It did quite well, cracking the Top 40 album spot on Billboard's soul album chart and nesting there for two months. The album was released in the United Kingdom and other European countries in the early '90s on the BGP label where S.O.U.L. is a cult figure.
Bassist Lee Lovett was born in Detroit but moved to Cleveland in the late '50s. He led a popular band entitled Lee Lovett and the Dynamic Sounds in the '60s who played live gigs and backed some local acts in the studios.
Sax/flute player Gus Hawkins was born in Oakwood, where minorities were as scarce in the '50s and '60s as Dixie Peach hair dressing. It was an upper-middle-class village about 13 miles from Cleveland. He learned to play tenor sax in Oakwood's schools as a member of the band. Leaving school in the '60s, he moved to Cleveland and joined the Futuretones.
Around the time S.O.U.L. began work on their third LP, Winston quit the group and was replaced by Bernard "Beloyd" Taylor. Beloyd's birth place is a mystery, but he grew up in Cleveland. With Taylor, they enjoyed their most successful single, "This Time Around," which made the Top 50 R&B. The next release, "The Jones," written by Lee Lovett, entered the Top 100 and hung around for ten weeks.
After a few more releases the guys split up, going their separate ways. Gus Hawkins went to school and became a phlebotomist, then worked at the Cleveland Clinic before moving to Atlanta, GA, to work and raise his family. Paul Stubblefield joined a ten-member group called the Rasts, recording and touring before becoming a member of the Murphys (a lounge act). He also toured with various versions of the Ink Spots and the Platters before moving to Phoenix, AZ. Taylor moved to Los Angeles and wrote "Get Away" for Earth, Wind & Fire in 1976. He also recorded solo for 20th Century Records and later toured with Earth, Wind & Fire. Lee Lovett stayed in Cleveland and recorded tracks with other groups.
Hancock has been active since the breakup of S.O.U.L., recording with two versions of Truth. The first group featured Hancock, Al Boyd, Leo Green, and Russell Watts. Al Boyd later co-wrote "Shakey Ground" for the Temptations (it was redone by Phoebe Snow). Truth recordings failed to chart and two members left, leaving Hancock and Green as Truth's only members. The two recorded an album on Devaki Records as Truth, entitled Coming Home, that fail to grab the public when released. Interestingly, Dennis Edwards had been kicked out of the Temptations and was hanging around Cleveland and played a big part in the Coming Home album. Hancock ventured back out to California and recorded for Decca Records including a duet with Alfie Silas before returning to Cleveland. He also sang with one of the Platters groups. Lead singer Sonny Turner ("With This Ring") is a Clevelander and they knew each other well. There are two bands named S.O.U.L.; a funk band from Ohio, and a rock band from Poland.
1: S.O.U.L, witch means Sound of Unity and Love, is a group well known for being many times sampled by Hip Hop producers.
The first group's album "What it is" was released in 1971 and the second one "Can you feel it" in 1972. SOUL consists of 4 men from Cleveland, Ohio. They are Lee Lovett, who sings lead and plays bass and Bartone and is 3 native of Detroit, Gus Hawkins, who plays saxophone, flute, baritone and also sings, and he hails from Oakwood Village, Ohio; Paul Stubberfield, who is the drummer and sings second tenor, hailing from Toledo, Ohio; and Walter Winston, who plays guitar and hails from Utaw, Alabama. Originally formed by Lee Lovett and Walter Winston, they have been together just about one year .
2: S.O.U.L. is a Polish rock band with members: Darek Cieslak, Tomek Friebe, Mateusz Nowakowski, Jacek Szczepaniak and Dawid Grech.
Their official website is:
www.soul-reaktywacja.yoyo.pl
