Atlanta Soul Artistry 1965-1975 / Various Atlanta Soul Artistry 1965-1975 / Various LP Vinyl

Vinyl LP pressing. Though built with highly questionable finances, gangster Michael Thevis' GRC, Aware and Hotlanta labels produced some scintillating mid-70s soul music. Thevis knew his limitations and allowed his producers, arrangers and songwriters free reign as long as they worked hard and came up with good recordings. It was the period in music when Detroit and the south got together, as with Stax and Westbound's Memphis/Detroit co-productions, and Thevis tried to make that blueprint work for his Atlanta set-up. He brought producer Marlin McNichols and engineer Milan Bogdan down from the Motor City and Floyd Smith from Chicago. Smith came with the highly talented singers Loleatta Holloway and John Edwards, while McNichols brought the Counts, Ripple and Deep Velvet to cut in the spanking brand-new Sound Pit Studios. Songwriter supreme Sam Dees was co-opted from Thevis' Moonsong operation, which he ran out of nearby Birmingham, Alabama, and the resulting sessions produced some exquisite soul songs - several of which charted, making the company hot between 1973 and 1975. Those main acts are here along with artists from the Los Angeles office of the stature of Jimmy Lewis, King Hannibal and Joe Hinton.

1. Big Boat Ride - Dorothy Norwood 2. I'm Tired of Dreaming - Joe Hinton 3. You Were Right on Time - Ripple 4. You Get to Me - Lee Brackett 5. It's Got to Be the Real Thing - John Edwards 6. Don't Let Me Know - Charlie Thomas 7. Love Woke Me Up - Loleatta Holloway 8. Is That Any Way to Treat a Lady - Jimmy Lewis 9. Complain to the Clouds (But You Can't 10. Change the Weather) - Deep Velvet 11. Fight Fire with Fire - King Hannibal 12. You Ain't for Real - Arthur Alexander 13. I'm Leaving - Joe Graham 14. I'm a Dreamer - Bobby Burn 15. Since We Said Goodbye - the Counts