Barndance Alert: Syl Johnson special on Nov. 11
“I made my opportunities, but I never got the breaks I should have gotten. I was a jack-of-all-trades. More soul than Marvin, more funk than James. If I’d gone pop, you’d be talkin’ about me, not them. I rate right at the top, though I’ve been underrated all my life.” …..So says soul & blues man Syl Johnson.
Not to be cliché, but the proof is in the pudding and the reissue of the year has just been released this week courtesy of Chicago-based resurrectionists The Numero Group. “Syl Johnson: The Complete Mythology” takes us back to the Chicago-based Johnson’s pre-Hi Records days. It is an 81-track, 6LP/4CD box set monster featuring remastered versions of no less than 28 singles from the Twinight, Federal, Cha-Cha, Tmp-Ting, Special Agent and Zachron labels to go with detailed track-by-track notes from the acclaimed music historian Bill Dahl and a 52-page booklet containing a 35,000 word essay, loads of previously unpublished photos, a sampling index, and complete discography. Oh yeah, it’s all packaged in a striking hard bound box. This set is in Bear Family territory and that’s saying quite a bit.
This all sound tempting? The Boudin Barndance sure thinks so. If you’re a regular, you know we like to delve into soul, usually in the last hour. We’ll give you listeners a sampling of this big gulp of Syl during the 8-9 pm segment of this Thursday’s show. Tune in.
(Wanna know more about this set, check out http://www.numerogroup.com/catalog_detail.php?uid=01178.)
How about the unboxings? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR33lQ2bFxs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdcoT0hNHQQ&feature=related
Dan<...