Syl Johnson - Complete Mythology reviews
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| Pitchfork |
 Syl Johnson is-- there's no other way to put it-- an also-ran. A very good singer, a pretty good guitar player, a fine songwriter, a canny reader of the zeitgeist, he was a fixture on the Chicago soul scene on and off for decades. He made the R&B charts 19 times over the years, but never really broke through to a pop audience. His records are mostly out of print, his big numbers all but forgotten-- although he did apparently make a killing from all the hip-hop records that sampled Morris Jennings' breakbeat and Minnie Riperton's giggle from his 1967 single "Different Strokes".
So the Numero Group's comprehensive box set of Johnson's 1959-1971 material is a labor of love-- four CDs, packaged with six LPs of the same material and an extensive booklet, drawn from releases on half dozen or so labels and encompassing a bit of unreleased material, too. This isn't even the full career survey its title implies; more than half of his 19 R&B hits happened after the period documented here, the bulk of them on Hi Records, where he was effectively the second-tier Al Green. (His only Top-10 R&B hit was a cover of Green's "Take Me to the River".) It's a tribute to a local guy who really made good only long after the fact.
"Something is holding me back", Johnson sang on one of his most potent songs. "Is it because I'm black?" Well, of course-- and he addressed racism pretty directly on some of his 1969-1970 recordings. But that wasn't what was holding him back within the R&B context, at least not directly. He spent most of the era covered here on tiny Chicago independent labels that didn't have any other big acts, most famously Twilight, aka Twinight, in which he was a shareholder. A lot of his mid-60s material was indifferently recorded at best. He didn't have a consistent band on record the way most hitmakers of his era did, although he did work with some good ones. (He recorded a handful of these songs in Memphis with the first-rate band who'd later back him up at Hi, including the hit "Dresses Too Short", whose attitude is very much of its time: "Just because I whistle at you/ You say that I'm doin' you wrong/ Why do you blame me, baby?/ I didn't tell you to put it on.")...full text |
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| Earmilk |
| Syl Johnson (born in 1936) never got the real exposure that he deserved during his prime. And, that’s where Numero Group comes in to make right on previous wrongs. This group prides itself in the fact that they re-release music that may of been overlooked over the years and they do it in style. The re-releases consist of amazing packaging and extensive information and liner notes that put more context on the music itself. Syl Johson is a perfect choice for a re-release considering the fact that he has just as much soul in his music as the legendary James Brown yet he remained pretty low-key his entire career. People ‘in-the-know’ were aware of Syl’s skills but he never gained the popularity he deserved. The Syl Johnson set will include 4 CD’s, 6 LP’s and a 48-page booklet containing an abundance of information. You can pre-order the set HERE. The track below is just one track out of the 80+ songs included in the set that span his whole career. Check it out below and check out the other releases from Numero Group....full text |
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| Phonicarecords |
| Mammoth 6 LP & 4 CD boxset - the definitive carreer retrospective of Syl Johnson on Numero Group. We're only geting these to order so if you want a copy make sure you pre-order one! Expected early November....full text |
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