The '60s recordings of Spencer Wiggins and his brother Percy are outstanding pieces of Southern soul from differing sides of the soul spectrum. Percy, whose "Book of Memories" appears on the "Country Soul Special" episode of the podcast, has a cooler, lighter voice that worked well on ballads and Northern Soul-oriented stuff (like "That's Lovin' You"). Spencer, whose "Love Attack" appeared on Episode #6 of the podcast, has gospel fire through and through, and on ballads like "The Power of a Woman" (a personal fave, along with the FAME 45 "Double Lovin'") such power is breathtaking. Fortunately, his Goldwax sides have been recently reissued by Kent on the great CD The Goldwax Years. Colin Dilnot has the liner notes on his blog, and I refer you to them for information about Spencer and his recordings for the legendary Memphis label.
"I'm a Poor Man's Son" caught my attention right away, with its herky-jerky rhythm (to which I can imagine doing a soulful version of the conga or some type of New Orleans second line stepping), nice horn charts and perky vibraphone accents. Spencer gives the optimistic lyrics the appropriate amount of enthusiasm, and all in all it's a fun song.
1 comment:
this is a really fun song, vibes, simple organ work and all, and your new orleans conga line visual is perfect for it.
im really interested in his goldwax reissue now.
thanks--
martha
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