Chicago born soul/blues singer Lou Pride has a recording history spanning
more than 30 years. The early part of his career was marked by a string of
well-received singles, many of which are now hard to obtain. Fortunately,
Severn Records have now collected together them all together on one CD:
"The Memphis/EL Paso Sessions 1970-73."
The El Paso recording of "You're Love Is Fading," with its tight punchy
horn intro sets the ball rolling, and shows that Lou Pride has a great
voice. It is the first of seven tracks cut in El Paso; the other six were
cut at Memphis' Royal Studios, best known for Willie Mitchell's Hi
recordings. The Memphis stamp is readily discernible on tracks like "Look
Out Love," which ticks along nicely, and the Memphis take of "You're Love
Is Fading," which sounds tighter and a little more polished.
Pride was not averse to employing strings as well as brass. This works to
great effect on "Lonely Room" and "We're Only Fooling Ourselves." He sounds
equally at home covering slower songs like these, as well as more uptempo
tunes, like "I'm Com'un Home in the Morn'un." This is a classic song,
driven along initially by the rhythm section before the horns add the
killer blows. It is easy to see why it remains a favorite on the northern
soul scene.
The only cover here is "It's A Man's Man's Man's World," which rolls along
at a nice pace. It is given a more funky treatment than the original. This
side of Pride also reveals itself on the previously unreleased "Message To
The People," and the excellent closing track, "There's Got To Be Someone
For Me," his debut single.
"The Memphis/El Paso Sessions 1970-73" is a very good collection of classy
soul/blues. Lou Pride was (and still is) a great singer with enough range
to tackle any style of soul/blues you care to imagine. Instead of spending
your hard earned on rare copies of the vinyl singles, just pick up a copy
of "The Memphis/El Paso Sessions." You will not be disappointed.
www.severnrecords.com
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