With the Cellar Of Soul and Hall Of Fame series on the Kent label both reaching Volume 3, you may be asking yourself: do I need another soul compilation from Kent? The answer: of course you do! As usual, there's an embarassment of riches to be found within, from Fred Hughes' yearning "Ooh Wee Baby, I Love You" on Cellar Of Soul to the sweet soul duos by Billy & Clyde and Ben & Spence on Hall Of Fame.
"We present for your delectation 26 mid-to-late '60s classic soul tracks, only six of which are currently on Ace CDs. Inevitably, many are uptempo, but this CD is designed to capture the spirit of '60s soul rather than its later UK dance-centric revision. Several were R&B hits, and a few made the Pop Hot 100, too. Most were released in the UK, some on groovy little labels such as Action, Spark, Soul City, Direction, B&C and Pama. They were the type of records the pirate radio stations would plug from their off-shore floating studios. It was mod music in the sense of new, hip and in the groove, rather than of any elite, exclusive in-crowd." - Ace Records
"Our Fame vault excavation continues to be the gift that keeps on giving for southern soul fans. And what better way could there be to start another soul-filled year than with a new volume of Hall Of Fame. The previous two volumes of the series presented a cross-section of exceptional, and mostly unissued, material from the vaults of Fame studios from the prime years of Rick Hall's funky building on Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals. The previous volumes mixed male and female vocalists and added a smattering of groups, but this one concentrates on the recordings by the great male singers who passed through Fame’s doors in the mid-to-late '60s." - Ace Records