Back in the 60s, artists would cover, record, and put out each other’s songs while the original was still playing on the radio! The Beatles, the Stones, and everyone else would cover songs that influenced them or songs by artists that they respected and loved. For too many reasons, most of them coming down to money, artists don’t do that too much anymore. In the spirit of song and good songs at that, Soul Sides Volume 2: The Covers is filled with some of the crème of the crop singers you’ve never heard of covering some of the best pop tunes out there during the 60s, adding a whole lot of soul to familiar songs.
Zealous records and soul-sides.com founder and beat digger extraordinaire Oliver Wang (DJ O-Dub) once again have teamed up to create Soul Sides Volume 2: The Covers. Building an album on the old-school tradition of freely covering artist’s way back in the pre-getting-sued-for-covering-another-artists-songs days, this compilation has some familiar funk jams and many more gems, polished off for another spin. The one thing I like about their comps is that there are always surprises that I can’t believe I’ve never heard. In that category are the following: “Fever” by Sharon Cash, “Here I Am (Come and Take Me) by Marcia Griffiths, and “Express Yourself” by Byron Lee & The Dragonaires who do it reggae style. Going deep into the vaults to fish these tracks out must have been fun. Not forgetting the present, there’s even a track by Afrobeat band Antibalas doing “Che Che Cole.”
The hardest thing about making a good compilation is choosing the right songs and doing a comp of covers is even harder due to having to find covers that measure up to the originals. Oliver and Zealous have definitely succeeded in mining the vaults for some tasty treats here. For fans of good music, and of artists who’ve kept that funk torch lit, this comp will not disappoint. That is a promise. |