Soul Music
It’s hard to grow up normal when Grandfather rides a white horse and wields a scythe — and especially when you have to face the new and addictive music that has entered Discworld. It’s lawless. It changes people. It’s called Music with Rocks In. It’s alive. And it won’t fade away.Soul Music is the 16th book in the bestselling Discworld series, with close ties to the fourth book, Mort. Susan Sto Helit is rather bored at her boarding school in the city of Ankh-Morpork, which is just a
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Sweet Soul Music: 31 Scorching Classics From 1964
2008 release, an installment in this exciting R&B series from the Bear Family label, a sequel of sorts to their highly acclaimed, award-winning series Blowin’ The Fuse. Each installment contains all the greatest and most influential hits as R&B became Soul in the 1960s! It was a turbulent era. Over the course of ten years, R&B became Soul, and Soul became the soundtrack to a social revolution known throughout the world as Civil Rights. Some record companies have compiled anthologies from thei
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I Know, It’s Only Rock N Roll,
Soul Music has three narrative threads: Death takes a holiday (which Pratchett fans will remember from _Mort_), Mort’s orphan daughter, Susan Sto Helit, and her attempts to cope with the family legacy, and the discovery of rock and roll on the disc. The three stories intertwine and the result, for me, ranged from snickers to guffaws.
The big news is that rock and roll comes to the disk, through the agency of a pawnshop guitar and a skilled harpist, whose name translates as “Bud of Holly” and who looks kind of Elvis[h]. With a dwarvish horn player named Glod and a trollish drummer named Cliff, the band Music with Rocks In takes the Discworld by storm. The Librarian, the monk… orangutan who runs the Wizard’s library, sits in on keyboards, and exceeds even the excesses of Jerry Lee Lewis. You cannot imagine a rock music issue that Pterry doesn’t reach. Women fans pitch articles of clothing; espresso shops appear; rock promoters – C.M.O.T. Dibbler, of course – arrive; even the sedate wizards wear leather, do their best James Dean and show they, too, are “Born to Rune.”
Parts of the book are a pastiche of “Blues Brothers” (“We’re on a mission from Glod”), “Spinal Tap,” and “Woodstock.” Other parts are simply Pratchett’s own mad invention. And this book also features Pterry’s best pun – “some felonious monk;” possibly the best pun in literature since Niven’s and Gerrold’s _The Flying Sorcerors_. You can spend a lot of time just working out the puns. And let me note that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” gets the treatment it righteously deserves.
But while Buddy and his band tour with their roadie Asphalt and inescapably head towards Dead Man’s Curve, and while Death does his best to learn how to forget with the help of the Klatchian Foreign Legion and alcohol, Susan makes increasingly frantic efforts to keep what passes for reality on the Discworld from coming completely unstuck. With the help of the Death of Rats, Albert and other favorites, the Disc is saved, but not without some uncommon poignancy.
There are scholarly articles on whether Pratchett writes parody or satire. However labelled, this was the high water mark for his experiments with the pure form. Anglo-American literature has never had as brilliant a satirist/parodist as Terry Pratchett. He may have written better Discworld books, but I’m not sure he has written a funnier book. Especially if you know and like rock music.
“Bee There Orr Bee A Rectangular Thyng”
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|Death has job trouble, doesn’t he?,
That’s an in-joke about how NOBODY in the Klatchian Foreign Legion can remember anything.
…so, his granddaughter Susan inherits the job accidentally.
Meanwhile, the young bard Imp y Celyn starts to make it big when he finds a magical guitar and music takes over his soul. He changes his name to Buddy…
…and, in positively classic Pratchett style, the two plotlines come together in a rush of magic, energy, and Music With Rocks In!
I very highly recommend this book to anyone with… well, anyone with a willpower rating of above 10, which is what you need to move.
As Death would likely say, DON’T FORGET. I CAN’T ANYWAY, SO IT’S NOT A PROBLEM. BUT YOU HUMANS…
And you don’t want to miss the Death of Rats who goes around saying SQUEAK.
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|“We’re on a mission from Glod”,
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|“…I Just Kept On Saying…Oh No Not My Baby…”,
Compilations like this live or die based on a few key ingredients – great track choices, properly remastered sound and all of it wrapped up in knowledgeable and (if you’re lucky) sumptuous presentation. Well “Sweet Soul Music” wins on all counts – it really does. The entire series is gorgeous to look at and especially to listen to.
Released July 2008 in Germany, “Sweet Soul Music – 31 Scorching Classics From 1964″ is on Bear Family BCD 16870 AS and is part of a 10-volume series stretching from 1961 to 1970 (I’ve reviewed 1965 and the second five in the series which were released in September 2009 – 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970). Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures a 7” single in its label bag relevant to the year (1964 has “Needle In A Haystack” by The Velvelettes), the centre flap holds a 60 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 16 titles in Bear Family’s award-winning “Blowing The Fuse” CDs from 1945 to 1960, each spine in the “Sweet Soul Music” series also makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a live shot of Jackie Wilson leaning into an audience to make a handshake – it’s in the 1963 compilation). This 1964 issue has 88-pages in its booklet (yes 88!) with The Dixie Cups on the front sleeve and The Larks in dance mode on the inner flap – and it runs to a whopping 81:40 minutes.
TRACK CHOICES:
I raved about Dave “Daddy Cool” Booth’s sequencing on the other editions – it’s the same here. Proceedings open with the crystal clear Doo Wop intro to “What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” by The Tams which is followed by the zippy “brought you from the South” song “Gonna Send You Back To Georgia (A City Slick)” by Timmy Shaw. There’s a lot of middle-tempo tunes that are part Rhythm `n’ Blues and part Soul like the cool dancer “The Jerk” by The Larks and while B.B. King’s bar-band standard “Rock Me Baby” is pure Blues and Chuck Berry’s “No Particular Place To Go” is Rock `n’ Roll – both are welcome inclusions (the stereo on the Berry track in particular is fabulous). Genius choices include the lovely slow build of “Steal Away” by Jimmy Hughes, the Mink DeVille street shuffle of “Devil With A Blue Dress” by Shorty Long, the punchy James Brown funk of Willie Mitchell’s instrumental “20-75” and the sophisticated crooner vibe of Joe Hinton’s “Funny (How Time Slips Away)”.
Booth took his time with this – actually playing the set through – mixing in the famous with the obscure but in a new order – and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. The compilation begins in January and in rough chronological order ends in December. Also, because of the extended playing time, there’s usually only a one second space between each track, so it feels like you’re listening to a jukebox of the time – or a good DJ cueing up song after song – seamlessly segueing one cool tune after another. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like “My Guy”, “Dancing In The Street'” and “Under The Boardwalk” are sorted out by the next big plus…the beautifully clear sound…
THE SOUND:
Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (good Stereo preferred over Mono) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care – the sound is GLORIOUS. The clarity on the sublime “On No Not My Baby” by Maxine Brown (lyrics above) is thrilling. The Acapella vocal intro to “Chapel Of Love” by The Dixie Cups is so squeaky clean as are the bass and brass parts that follow. It’s impressive stuff soundwise…
THE BOOKLET:
Like all the other issues I’ve covered, the booklet is to die for. The text for the songs begins on Page 4 and ends on Page 84, so there’s very little wasted space. Each artist is pictured using quality publicity shots, the 7″ single is usually sat beside that – and even if it isn’t – the album it came off is – with most of it in colour. Each song then has a 2 to 3 page essay on its history with its title centred like a paper nametag inside a jukebox – a nice touch. Noted writer and soul lover BILL DAHL handles the liner notes with knowledgeable contributions from Colin Escott, Rudigar Ladwig & Bill Millar. And because the booklet allows Dahl to spread out on each song, the details come thick and fast – it’s a fabulously entertaining and informative read.
Niggles – purists might say that as many as a third of the tracks on here have little to do with “Soul” and more to do with Pop, R&B and even Blues – but personally I like the way Booth blurs the lines and as a straight-through listen, it all works. Also the Motown-followed-by-Atlantic tracks are ‘overplayed’ for many of us, but again – and I can’t emphasize this enough – 95% of these heard-too-often tracks are at least countered by…
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|“…Down On Funky Street…Diggin’ The Funky Beat…”,
Being a voracious collector of Soul and Funk music on CD for over 20 years now, I’d initially resisted buying this series of themed compilations because glancing at the track lists, I realised that I’d at least 60 to 70% of the songs on each CD already – so why buy them again? Well – this is Bear Family to start with – uncompromising in their quest for quality presented in the very best way. But the truth is simpler – you buy just one of these peaches and you’re screwed – they’re so good, you’ll need the whole damn lot…
Released September 2009 in Germany, “Sweet Soul Music – 29 Scorching Classics From 1968″ is on Bear Family BCD 16973 AS and is part of a 10-volume series stretching from 1961 to 1970 (I’ve reviewed all 10 compilations). Each US-based yearly compilation comes in a 3-way foldout card digipak sleeve. The left flap pictures a 7” single in its label bag relevant to the year (1968 has “Funky Street” by Arthur Conley on Atco – lyrics above), the centre flap holds a 60 to 90 page oversized booklet that slips out so you can read it separately and the right flap a colour-themed CD that matches the outer packaging. As with the 16 titles in their award-winning “Blowing The Fuse” CDs from 1945 to 1960, each spine in the “Sweet Soul Music” series also makes up a whole photo when placed alongside each other (a live shot of a singer leaning into an audience to make a handshake – I think it’s Otis Redding). This 1968 issue has 96 pages in its booklet (yes 96!), Wilson Pickett is on the front sleeve with Charlie & Inez Foxx pictured inside and runs to a whopping 79:58 minutes.
TRACK CHOICES:
I raved about Dave “Daddy Cool” Booth’s sequencing on the 1969 and 1970 editions – it’s the same here. Proceedings open with an amazingly warm remaster of Smokey Robinson’s “I Second That Emotion” which quickly slides into the sublime “I’m In Love” by Wilson Pickett (written by Bobby Womack, later recorded by him). Genius inclusions include “Soulful Strut” by Young-Holt Unlimited – an instrumental few people recognize by title, but know instantly on hearing the brassy line that runs through its upbeat shimmy-shaking length (it’s been used in countless movies). Then there’s the truly lovely “Love Makes A Woman” by Barbara Acklin which jumps out of your speakers like summer itself (she lived with Eugene Record of The Chi-Lites and co-wrote “Have You Seen Her” with him). Then there’s the slinky “Take me in…” song “The Snake” by Al Wilson and a Chess/Cadet rarity – collectors should note that “Stay In My Corner” by The Dells is the lesser seen 7″ edit at 3:05 minutes and not the more commonly featured full-album version.
As with the other years, Booth took his time with this compilation – actually playing the set through – mixing the famous with the obscure and the result is a truly satisfying listen rather than a patchy one. One clever coupling is the lesser known pair of “Girl Watcher” by The O’Kaysions which follows the brilliant “Lover’s Holiday” by Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson. Also, because of the extended playing time, there’s usually only a one second space between each track, so it feels like you’re listening to a jukebox of the time – or a good DJ cueing up song after song – seamlessly segueing one cool tune after another. And even the way-too-familiar tracks on here like “(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay” by Otis Redding and “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye are sorted out by the next big plus…the beautifully clear sound…
THE SOUND:
Ace Records of the UK and Rhino of the USA issued the Stax and Atlantic stuff respectively throughout most of the Nineties, but I find that their remasters (good as they were at the time) are now sounding decidedly dated – especially given what is being presented to us on these 2009 sets. Bear Family have gotten all the ORIGINAL master tapes from each record company (good Stereo preferred over Mono) and their resident expert JURGEN CRASSER has mastered them with care. The sound is GLORIOUS – clarity, warmth, details popping out at you at every turn. The drums and vocals in “We’re A Winner” by The Impressions are just incredible, the strings and brass of “Cowboys To Girls” by The Intruders are beautiful and the churchy organ of Percy Sledge’s “Take Time To Know Her” makes you sit up and take notice – and also realize just how underrated his contribution to Sixties Soul is. And on it goes – it truly is a sonic embarrassment of riches.
THE BOOKLET:
Like the other issues, the booklet is astonishing. The text for the songs begins on Page 4 and ends on Page 91, so there’s very little wasted space. Each artist is pictured, the 7″ single beside it and even the album it came off (most of it in colour). The titles are centred in each review like a paper nametag inside a jukebox – a nice touch. Noted writer and soul lover BILL DAHL handles the liner notes with contributions from good names like Colin…
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|Sweet soul obscurities,
For the next several years, remainders were issued, also a number of “hits” packages.
SWEET SOUL MUSIC: The Stax Groups (MPS-8549) was issued by STAX/FANTASY in 1988.
Only two here made Billboard’s R&B chart.
In 1975, “Too Much Going On” peaked at #74. “Peaceful Journey” was briefly #94 in 1978.
All tracks are stereo, except (M) = mono
SIDE ONE
Since I’ve Been in Love – The Dramatics (M)
The Echo – The Epsilons
All Because of You – The Limitations
Since I Fell For You – The Lords
Mannish Boy – The Newcomers (M)
Which Way – The Leaders
(Too Little In Common To Be Lovers) Too Much Going On to Say Good-Bye – The Newcomers
SIDE TWO
I Love You, You Love Me – The Temprees
Let Me Repair Your Heart – The Mad Lads
Anyone Can – The Leaders (M)
Girl, This Boy Loves You – The Newcomers
Peaceful Journey – Fat Larry’s Band
I’ll Be Your Anything – Ollie & the Nightingales (M)
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