"What a belter! This
is one groovy, hipshaking mother of an album. These are gritty, honest records.
Dripping in Brut 33, bad shirt and ties, dodgy beer stained carpets and boozy
Friday nights 'down the club'. Very funky. Great for a party and a laugh...see
you there!!! Working Man's Soul celebrates the forgotten world of cabaret
performers from the 1960s and 70s and selects the cream of the funky club cuts
unearthed from records only previously available on private pressings.
Manufactured by the artists themselves in miniscule quantities, these records
were sold only at live performances in socia clubs, miner's welfare clubs and
working men's clubs across the UK. The compilation covers everything from soul,
funk and jazz to rock and easy listening. Jazz standards given a bit of extra
pep sit next to funky filmic big band numbers, while Hammond players show off
their chops, guitarists give their plank a spank, vocalists belt it out good
and proper and even the drummer gets a chance for a solo. The common theme here
is a strong groove designed to keep a busy dancefloor moving: After all, this
is music written to be performed down the Social to celebrate the good times
and the end of the working week! The records from which these tracks are taken
have been unearthed by Licorice Soul over many years of persistent (and usually
fruitless) searching at flea markets, car boot sales, charity shops, and even
the odd proper second hand record shop. The majority of these tracks are here
made commercially available for the very first time, each brings with it its
own story of success, failure, or years of simply hoping, and in its own unique
way, evokes the golden age of the British club circuit."
from the liner notes to
Working Man's Soul Vol. 1, on Licorice Soul label, 2009
