The Memphis-based
Goldwax label has a cult following among deep soul fans, especially for its recordings of
James Carr. Still, it's fair to say that there aren't a whole lot of people fanatical enough to want a single-by-single retrospective of the company's entire 45 output, as has been produced for a couple of bigger soul labels with much bigger followings,
Stax and
Motown.
Ace Records takes pride in tackling projects for niche collector markets, however, and for those
Goldwax aficionados out there, this two-CD, 58-track set will be heartily welcomed. To be technical, some of these were issued on
Goldwax subsidiaries, or labels in which
Goldwax founder
Quinton Claunch was involved before
Goldwax started; there are also a couple of
Spencer Wiggins 1968 tracks that came out on a collector-targeted bootleg single, though they didn't appear on a
Goldwax 45 at the time.
It should be stated right from the outset that although
Goldwax was most known for Memphis soul, like virtually all labels, it toyed with a bunch of different styles than the one that became its trademark, especially in its early days. So while there's a good share of the soul music with which
Goldwax became identified here -- especially as personified on sides by
Carr,
O.V. Wright,
Spencer Wiggins, and the very
Sam Cooke-like
Ovations -- there's also a surprisingly high percentage of other stuff. Sure, some of it's just different varieties of R&B that wouldn't be wholly surprising, like some
Booker T. & the MG's-type or
Lonnie Mack-ish instrumentals; some nearly straight electric brassy blues by
Big Lucky Carter; and the raucous '50s rock & roll-styled
"Every Woman I Know (Is Crazy About an Automobile)"/
"Have You Seen Jean" 45 by
Al Vance (which is one of the highlights). Yet there are also novelty twist records; a bathetic tribute to then-recently shot
John Kennedy on
"The Day the World Cried" by
Oboe, who'd find greater fame as black country singer
O.B. McClinton; and even straight country music by
Eddie Bond. The variety of genres might be a little unnerving for soul fans who want a steady diet of what they expect from
Goldwax. But for the less specialized listener, the curveballs actually enhance the listening pleasure, forming a snapshot of a gutsy and rootsy small Memphis label that tried a bunch of unpredictable angles. It's true that little here is in the gem-like category, despite the presence of
O.V. Wright's
"That's How Strong My Love Is," which in demo form was covered by
Otis Redding. It's more solid but somewhat generic material in the early- to mid-'60s Southern soul and R&B-pop field, sometimes falling outside of that spectrum entirely. Detailed track-by-track annotation gives more details on the records and performers that you suspect could have ever been unearthed. ~ Richie Unterberger
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