CD - Various Artists: Goldwax Story Volume 1

An old review but kept as part of the Shades revamp because of the importance of the label and because the CD is still around and Volume 2 is also now available!

...All I needed was to find some talented artists. My dreams came true with a knock on my front door one night at midnight, and when I answered there stood Roosevelt Jamison with James Carr and O.V Wright......    (label owner Quinton Claunch)
So goes the story that kick started the Goldwax imprint - read more about the label on the Primer here.

Goldwax is a much loved label in the history of soul music and this release is the first in a promised series of repackages (hence Volume 1). It's not necessarily a release the Primer would recommend in any starter collection - it's too variable in quality and, to be honest, if you're just starting out, any of the Atlantic, Stax and even the Chess compilations are all better ports of call. But you've been visiting the Primer for a while now (haven't you?) and you now want to go beyond the usual suspects - in which case, there's some fine stuff on the CD tailor made for you.

It's an interesting mix on this, the first of the various artist compilations planned: And because it acts partly as an historical record as well as a musical treat, we get the inclusion of items like the first ever release on the label ('Darling' by the Lyrics), along with a couple of other tracks that haven't seen the light of day since they were originally recorded. In my view, the downside of this approach is the quality of the material is mixed, with the odd cut or two bordering on the mundane.
'Darling' may have been the first release for the label, but it's not particularly exciting, the Timmy Thomas and Gene Miller instrumentals are fairly run of the mill and the blue-eyed soul of Ben Atkin's take on 'I've Been Loving You Too Long' is serviceable but doesn't really add to the better known versions we all know and love. Sometimes, it has to be said, rarity alone does not make for exceptional music.

Add to the above the fact that the most famous Goldwax artist of all, James Carr, is represented by three glorious tracks (the justly renowned 'Dark End Of The Street', the fine 'Pouring Water On A Drowning Man' and the LP cut 'I Don't Want To Be Hurt Anymore') and the CD is starting to develop 'essential purchase' status for soul lovers anywhere.

What clinches recommendation however, are the rare but essential tracks that have been found in the company vaults. Songwriters George Jackson and Dan Greer duetting as George and Greer on 'You Didn't Know It, But You Had Me', the bluesy Dorothy Williams on the Isaac Hayes penned 'The Well's Gone Dry', 'Some Other Time' by Eddie Jefferson - every one of these releases was new to the Primer and each is a high quality performance that suffers nothing in comparison with the better known material.

As with most Kent releases, the packaging is exemplary with excellent and informative liner notes (a key Primer resource, it has to be said!) In a sense this is where we came in - the release is a fascinating historical as well as musical record - so, although there is an occasional dip in quality, perversely, it would have been an error to not include all these tracks on the album. Too much of this release is first rate southern soul for it not to receive a full blooded recommendation. Add to that the fact that you're getting a way into one of the most famous labels in soul, your own piece of history, and it fast takes on the status of essential.

January 2002