Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It's Not Eccentric, It's Awesome (Revisited)

Sheila Jack - I've Got To Have You

I recently purchased the newest installment of the Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series, which features the productions of Phoenix, Arizona DJ/record store owner/label owner/artist manager Mike Lenaburg. This CD ranks right up there with the Capsoul and Deep City volumes as the best in the series, featuring lots of strong material. A lot of the uptempo stuff on the disc is patterened after Phoenix's main claim to soul fame, Dyke & The Blazers, which of course is not a bad thing. Today's selection, however, went unreleased at the dawn of the '70s and it's so fortunate that such a fine ballad was included in this comp. Sheila Jack's cover of "I've Got To Have You" is a bare-bones production which puts her great vocals (which are double-tracked in the choruses) right in the forefront. Like Helene Smith's "I Am Controlled By Your Love" on the Deep City disc (featured on this blog some time ago), the end result is breathtaking. The only negative point is that it appears that the Numero crew had to get this great tune from an acetate, and as a result there's a scratchy portion that, although not enough to ruin the recording, is quite noticeable. I'm glad, however, that they didn't let that stop them from putting it on the disc, since the song is so good; besides, if nothing else, listeners can make believe that they are spinning the 45!

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