It's a three-disc series. Volume 1: The Jack Nitzsche Story Volume 2: Hard Workin' Man: The Jack Nitzsche Story Volume 2 Volume 3: Night Walker: The Jack Nitzsche Story Volume 3 EDIT: Whoops, John B. Good already pointed it out.
I've been meaning to pick up a couple of Ace's southern soul compilations, but there are so many that it's hard to decide where to start. I'm specifically looking for collections focusing on heart-wrenching southern-fried ballads like this one featured on King's Serious Soul: Too Much Pain. Which of these would you folks recommend to choose first? Atlantic: Sanctified Soul Our Turn To Cry King: King's Serious Soul: Too Much Pain King's Serious Soul Vol 2: Counting Teardrops Excello: The Heart Of Southern Soul: From Nashville To Memphis And Muscle Shoals The Heart Of Southern Soul Volume 2 The Heart Of Southern Soul Volume 3 Kent: Slow'n'Moody, Black & Bluesy Scepter/Wand: When A Man Cries SSS: Southern Soul Showcase: Cryin' In The Streets
Ended up buying When a Man Cries because it seems to have the fewest uptempo tracks to disrupt the mood, may pick up some others. I also just got all four discs of George Jackson's mostly-unreleased Fame recordings, which are excellent.
These look interesting.... I just ordered volumes 63-66 from Import cds on EBay and took advantage of their Buy 4 get 3 at 15% off offer...
Been aware of Ace Records for many years, but never owned any of their releases until last year. I got the 2 Charlie Rich releases that covered the RCA/GROOVE material and the other one covering the SMASH recordings. A few days ago, I decided to get the cd of Ray Stevens' MONUMENT singles.(I knew beforehand about the incorrect track error with the Gitarzan track on the Ray Stevens cd). I love the cds including the quality of the sound, and the booklet. My only complaint is that they don't include a sessionography. Perhaps they do on some, but I don't think that my 3 titles have this info. Seems like it should be pretty easy to get, and the number of sessions is pretty limited, so the session musicians should be easy to list.
Johnny Otis - Watts Funky and Cold Shot / Snatch and the Poontangs Rare West Coast Surf Instrumentals Link Wray - The Original Rumble The Birth Of Surf Slim Harpo - The Best Of Wailers - Original Golden Crest Masters Rationals - s/t Little Richard - The Original British Hit Singles
Yeah, their Ventures - From the Vaults series is spectacular and has my vote for favorite Ace release. They also did a better job on the Garden Party era Rick Nelson recordings than Bear Family. In particular, their Rick live at the Troubadour collection is more complete.
If you dig surf, I highly recommend this collection of Liberty Records material. Nearly a third of the tracks are by Eddie & The Showmen, one of the most underappreciated surf bands ever. Toes On The Nose:32 Surf Age Instrumentals Those Charlie Rich collections are fantastic. I especially like the first disc of the Groove set covering his forays into pop and R&B. I only know that Ace's Specialty reissues contain sessionographies.
This 10” LP from 1985 is in dire need of reissue for the sake of rockabilly collectors and fans of boppin’ music in general. All four of Sonny Fisher’s unbeatable 1955/56 Starday singles in one place.
I only have Sanctified Soul out of those. It's excellent but I haven't had it long and haven't played it a lot. Some of the best Ace soul compilations took a few listens to grow on me, but then they became essential. I'd recommend the Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures series, but to buy them one at a time and let each one become familiar before buying the next. Not all Southern Soul, but there's a lot on them.
I have one of them, as well as the Bear Family Box. All good. I just wish someone would release the later years Brenda (about 1965 onwards) on cd.
Some excellent recommendations here, and a salute to Ace's quality work. I appreciate their releases: they always try to track down the best sources and masters, they handle the remastering process with great care, they compile sensible compilations (usually finding a fine balance between the "hits" and more obscure and previously unreleased stuff), their liner notes and annotations are expansive and informative, and they pay royalties to the rights holders. Ace put together some fine compilations on the Excello label, among them a rather obscure one: No Jive: Authentic Southern Country Blues A compilation of country blues recordings from rural Tennessee from 1953 to 1963. Including tracks from Shy Guy Douglas, Arthur Gunter, Little Al, Louis Campbell, Slim Hunt, Good Rockin' Bob, Robert Garrett, The Leap Frogs, Chas Dowell with James Stewart, and The Dixie Doodlers.
Just picked up a couple of Ace comps of The 5 Royales, good stuff with some occasional hot rock n roll guitar chucked in for good measure!
When it comes to those guys, I'd recommend going straight for the complete package. Lowman Pauling had some of the most down-and-dirty guitar sounds of his time. https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Swagger-complete-5-Royales/dp/B00HGTNKAU
Sometimes Ace Records is not as good as I've hoped. The label uses stereo versions instead of mono versions for songs from the 60s. Example "Let's Dance": Let's Dance TPL Left: -4.7 dB TPL Right: -5.5 dB TPL Mid: -6.9 dB TPL Side: -10.8 dB RMS Left: -20.3 dB RMS Right: -21.2 dB RMS Mid: -21.4 dB RMS Side: -29.1 dB
I love ACE Records, I've spent a fortune there. I can't list a favorite, I love too many, so I'll just list some of my last order. probably will list more now that you brought it up Considered a great, great label in my house.
Personally I would recommend the Definitive 5 Royales set, much better sound as the Soul Swagger set has compression and NR.
