VA - Down in the Basement: Soul From New York Vol. 2 (2014)

There was way too much great early soul, R & B and blues being produced in New York City to squeeze onto one double CD, so here we are again with another selection of the best. Several artists on this new compilation are very well known: Ray Charles, Little Willie John and Ike & Tine Turner for example, but many others less so. It speaks volumes about the wealth of talent in the Big Apple around the turn of the 60s that gifted singers such as Ruby Roberson, Bobby Long and Betty O’Brien never quite made the grade.

There is considerable variation in styles here too, from rough, untutored voices like King Coleman and Vernon Harrell to consummate stylists such as Chuck Jackson, Gladys Knight and of course Aretha Franklin. But alley blues and sophisticated uptown ballads alike played their part in the development of soul music. And therefore all the tracks on these CDs well deserve their inclusion in our History Of Soul series.