Chuck Jackson - Big New York Soul - Wand Records 1961-1966 (2017)

We released the best of Chuck Jackson’s Wand recordings on “Good Things” (CDKEND 935) in 1990 and subsequently put out his eight Wand albums as four CD two-fers. A reassessment of the tapes from our Wand trawl of the mid-80s, along with more recent discoveries, means we are now able to issue a final CD of previously unreleased tracks and rarities. Of the eight previously unheard songs, highlights are the perky opener ‘Things Just Ain’t Right’, a tremendous cover of the Curtis Mayfield-written ‘Need To Belong’, originally covered by Jerry Butler, and ‘Anymore’, a duet with Dionne Warwick.

Also included are ‘Little By Little’, a great uptempo dancer previously available on the Kent LP “A Powerful Soul” in 1987, ‘The Silencer’, a secret agent-styled film theme released only on a 3CD set in the 90s, and a demo of ‘In Between Tears’ previously exclusive to another Kent LP. There are two very good B-sides, ‘For All Time’ and ‘And That’s Saying A Lot’, which have never appeared before on CD. Some collectors may know ‘And That’s Saying A Lot’ from Christine Perfect’s cover on her first solo LP. ‘Big New York’, which appeared on our deleted “In The Naked City” CD, is also included.

A recent flurry of internet activity saw Chuck’s fans amazed that the very popular ‘Hand It Over’ was issued in quite different vocal versions over two Wand singles. We include the one that has eluded CD release up to now. As our two-fers were mainly stereo, we have obtained mono versions of such great album numbers as ‘If I Didn’t Love You’, ‘I’ve Got To Be Strong’ and ‘This Broken Heart (That You Gave Me)’. ‘Another Day’ and ‘King Of The Mountain’ also get the mono treatment and sit well with a third Bob Crewe/4 Seasons-related track, the previously unissued ‘Through My Tears’.