Renfro Soul Story - Priceless Los Angeles Northern Soul
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Performer Notes
Artists Include Morris Chestnut, The Sequins, Carl Henderson & The Attraction, Helen Moore, Little Tony, Bobby Wisdom, Young Brothers, Luke Day, Viola Edwards, Tender Lovin' Care.
Arrangers: Buddy McKnight; Arthur Wright; Bobby Wisdom.
Los Angeles-based Renfro Records was the brainchild of owner Tony Renfro, a frustrated R&B vocalist who formed the label after both Sam Cooke and James Brown told him he was in fact a terrible singer. Undaunted, he channeled his earnings as a grocery store bagger into making records with an ace staff who included songwriter Ronald Saunders and arranger Arthur Wright, and while Renfro never cracked the charts, today its output is widely celebrated among connoisseurs of classic soul. The first volume in Kent's Renfro Soul Story series concentrates on the label's uptempo soul efforts -- these two dozen cuts are ebullient, shimmering efforts in the classic L.A. soul tradition, and while there are a few duds, it's a mystery that the highlights (among them the Sequins' "A Case of Love," the Stunners' "Nobody But Me," the Attractions' "Why Shouldn't a Man Cry," and Morris Chestnut's "Too Darn Soulful") didn't make a huge splash. ~ Jason Ankeny
Professional Reviews
Mojo (Publisher) (p.123) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]he bombastic big band uptown soul of Bobby Wisdom, the angelic vocal harmony of Carl Henderson and the frenetic excitement of The Sequins are all captured here on this top notch compilation."
