S.O.U.L.: Can You Feel It? [BGP]

Why you'll love it

BGP brings back the band's second LP for Musicor. It holds the title track and "Do Whatever You Want To Do," a breakbeat-heavy cut that BGP later picked for one of its DJ 45s.

About the album

Plenty of bands dream of being discovered; S.O.U.L. went out and won a talent show. The Cleveland group, formed in 1970 as the Sounds of Unity and Love, took a deal with Musicor Records as their prize, and their 1971 debut single did well enough for the label to invest in more. Their 1971 debut LP, What Is It, gave DJs a single they have been chasing ever since, and this follow-up keeps the same tough Cleveland groove.

Larry Hancock sings and plays organ, Bernard Taylor plays guitar, Lee Lovett bass, Gus Hawkins sax and flute, and Paul Stubblefield drums. On their second album they set the hard-hitting title track and "Peace Of Mind" next to "Love, Peace And Power" and their own take on "My Cherie Amour," with Hawkins's flute and Hancock's organ keeping it all warm.

BGP, the funk and soul arm of London's Ace Records, has made a habit of bringing records like this back. Seven more singles followed on Musicor through 1974, and a last one on its Dynamo subsidiary in 1975. The album title asks a question, and the opening track answers it rather firmly.

Also at Kops: more S.O.U.L. on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On BGP, a reissue of the 1972 album.