Edwin Starr was born Charles Hatcher in Nashville on Jan 21, 1942. He grew up in Cleveland but signed with Ric-Tic Records and settled in Detroit in 1965. "Agent Double-O-Soul" hit the R&B Top Ten later in 1965 and just missed the pop Top 20. He returned to the Top Ten a year later with "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.). Motown head Berry Gordy bought out Ric-Tic and took over its artist roster. Starr rebounded with his biggest hit in 1969's "25 Miles" which reached the Top Ten on both the pop and R&B charts. The follow-up "I'm Still A Struggling Man" wasn't as successful, but this, his second album is an embarrassment of riches - soaring lyricism mated to a pounding, emphatic beat that won't let the listener go. Released in April 1969, 25 Miles was actually comprised, in part, of single sides, some going back as far as 1967. It embraced many of the changes that started to overtake Motown Records for the better as the 1960s came to a close, and it got a lot of what it did just right. "I'm Still a Struggling Man", though it didn't do that well as a single, features one of Starr's most moving vocal performances, and in its lyric was the distant precursor to the musical/social vision that would burst forward full-force on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" — it's still a love song, but is laced with bitter images and a social awareness that makes it all the more poignant. Aside from jewels like that, and the killer Starr original "24 Hours (To Find My Baby)", the album is also one of Starr's most rewarding vocal showcases, from the rough-hewn passion of "Backyard Lovin' Man", across the tender vulnerability of "If My Heart Could Tell the Story", to the soaring falsetto he generates on "He Who Picks a Rose"; they could all have made great singles, as could the soaring, lushly produced "Soul City (Open Your Arms to Me)". Even the updating of "You Beat Me to the Punch" gives it a whole new sound. Surprisingly, Norman Whitfield only produced a pair of cuts on this album, and the more startling of them is the gospel-flavored Barrett Strong number "Gonna Keep on Tryin' Till I Win Your Love" which is a delightful throwback to the sound of Sam Cooke; it makes a good pairing with "Pretty Little Angel", a Clarence Paul/Stevie Wonder/Mike Valvano copyright (and another lost potential single), and they flow right into "If My Heart Could Tell the Story", a big favorite of mine which I featured on my Third compilation. Starr moved to the UK in the 80's and is a firm favorite of the Northern Soul fans. The whole record is a keeper, and one of the finer under-regarded albums in the Motown library. Issued on Tamla Motown in UK and Gordy in the USA, this is the Mono version. Hope you like it !!! Let me know.........Track Listing
Side 1
A1 -Twenty-Five Miles
A2 -I'm Still A Struggling Man
A3 - Backyard Lovin' Man
A4 - He Who Picks A Rose
A5 - Soul City (Open Your Arms To Me)
A6 - You Beat Me To The Punch
Side 2
B1 - Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love
B2 - Pretty Little Angel
B3 - If My Heart Could Tell The Story
B4 - Who Cares If You're Happy Or Not (I Do)
B5 - 24 Hours (To Find My Baby)
B6 - Mighty Good Lovin'
Posted by RossyBoy
Download here:
No comments:
Post a Comment