The Salsoul Orchestra — It’s Good For The Soul ( CD Boxset)

It’s Good For The Soul is an eight-CD box set celebrating the considerable talents of Vincent Montana- an American composer, arranger, vibraphonist, and percussionist who is known as the godfather of disco. The set focuses on his mid-70s work with The Salsoul Orchestra- one of the key disco/ soul/ pop Orchestras of the decade.

The set appears on Soul Music Records-  the disco/ funk/soul/ etc sublabel of Cherry Red. The set comes presented in a glossy black flip-side box- on its front cover we have a groovy/ camp picture of Mr Montana juggling different colour cartoon stars in front of the moon.  The rest of the boxes takes in red, blue, yellow and green texts. Each disc comes in its own colour card slip- reproducing the original groovy/ sleazy album covers. Also, the set comes with a glossy/ colourful forty-page booklet- taking in a twenty-five-piece write-up regarding Montana, The Salsoul Orchestra, and all of the albums featured here. Full/ detailed credits We also get a wonderful selection of Montana, poster artwork, and artists' photos. So, a lovely bit of presentation.

Vincent Montana was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the year 1928. He grew up in an Italian-American neighbourhood first playing drums as a child- before soon taking up other percussion instruments, such as glockenspiel and marimba. In the late 1940s, he was in nightclubs playing with jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown and Red Garland. During this period he spent time playing in Las Vegas hotels, accompanying and arranging for the likes of Harry Belafonte, Louis Prima and others.

 In the late 1950s, he returned to his home city playing vibraphone on Frankie Avalon's 1959 hit "Venus", as well as recordings by Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell and others. By around the late 60’s he helped set up Sigma Sound Studios, and was the founding member of MFSB- a pool of thirty studio musicians. He played on and arranged many tracks by The Intruders, The Delfonics, The Spinners, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The O'Jays, The Trammps, Eddie Kendricks, William DeVaughn, Billy Paul, Lou Rawls, The Stylistics, Teddy Pendergrass. In 1974 Montana established The Salsoul Orchestra- they went on to record six albums- he left the orchestra in 1978. This set collects together all the material the Orchestra played- taking in album material & unreleased stuff- the only thing missing here is 1976’s Christmas Jollies.

The set opens with 1975’s self-titled album- which like all of the project's releases originally appeared on New York Salsoul Records. The original album took in eight tracks- but this CD adds another seven bonus tracks. We go from the jazzily cascading to boogie-woogie keys, joyful vamping to swooning horns, wack-wack percussion of “Get Happy”. Onto the wonderfully sleazy groove of “You're Just The Right Size” with its blend of tight-butt strutting percussion ‘n’ bass, darting strings, horn flourishes and female vocals that go from repeating the tracks title to sexual moans. The original album plays out rapid bass groove,  melodic string glides, dramatic horn vampings, and glittering vibe runs of “Love Letters”.

 

Next up we have 1976’s Nice ‘N’ Naasty- this took in ten tracks, and added to the already sexually provocative cover photo of a woman in a T-shirt with her buttocks barely- the original sides were called ‘left cheek’ and ‘right cheek’. The album moves from the title track with its bounding bass line, stabbing horns, and female chorus vocalising singing about being ‘nasty’. We have the decidedly exotica-tinged “Nightcrawler” with its clip-clop to twisting percussion, darting keys ‘n’ vibes, bird squawks and occlusion flute flows.  There’s “Salsoul 3001” which takes the lead theme from 2001, and adds in a steady galloping drum track, string dramatics, horn stabs, jaunting organ work, and the occasional spacy synth tone. 

 Disc number three is entitled Nice ‘n’ Naasty (part 2). This is sort of a odds and sods collection of alternative versions of the tracks from the Nice ‘n’ Nasty album as a few bonus tracks, and on paper that sounds a little uninspiring/unneeded- but there are some great. It takes in thirteen tracks in all- we kick off with "Tale Of Three Cities( Mike Maurro Mix)" which starts off with fuzzed-out rock ‘n’ organ riffing with a steadily pounded-out rhythm- as we move we shift into pumping ‘n’ proud disco strings & horns, Hammond organ breakdowns, and strutting grooves. There’s “Nice ‘n’ Naasty”(Walter Gibbson 12” disco Mix)" which seemingly adds in nice mellow sax trails, and a neat rhythmic breakdown to the original track. And “It’s Good For The Soul( Demarkus Lewis Chocolate Dice Re-drum mix)" which does what it suggests- put a new focused drum track to great effect.

Disc number four sees us back with the original album material 1976’s ‘Lectric Lady- which was not an official Salsoul Orchestra release- instead, it was the debut album from New Jersey Carol Williams- with the Orchestra backing her. This for me is the least interesting/ rewarding disc of the set- as it’s a fairly standard disco, soul, and R&B selection of tracks. Yes, Ms Williams has a good/ powerful voice, but the songs are just so cliched/ what you expect from this type of things/ from this time. We do of course get a few neat/recognisable touches from her backing band- like the occasional vibe run, elegant-yet- groovy orchestra, effective if darting solo instrumentation- but for me there wasn’t enough to save this from being a rather mediocre album.

Disc five gets us back with an official Salsoul Orchestra release- with 1977’s Magic Journey. This was originally a nine-track album- here it’s expanded to a fourteen-track affair.  And this is another great and varied album- we go from “Short Shorts” with its buck ‘n’ banging blend of rock ‘n’ roll guitars, rolling horn work, shouty female chorus, and motorbike sound effects.  Onto “ Themes From Montreal Olympics 1976: Farewell Song & Ballet For The Closing Ceremony” which is all sweeping & melodic strings, easy clip-clopping percussion, the occasional harp glide, and later some great rousing string/ horn work. Through to steady funk groove, galloping percussion, and flighty to dramatic strings, rising female vocalising, and swooning horn work of “Alpha Centauri”.

Disc six takes in Cuchi-Cuchi, which is also from 1977, and it finds the orchestrator collaboration with Spanish female singer Charo. The original album was a ten-track affair with this new CD version being bumped up to fourteen tracks. And boy this is a lot of cheesy/ camp fun- with lots of sexually suggestive song titles/ lyrics from Charo. Let’s be fair she’s not the greatest of singers- moving between warbling’s ‘n’ waverings, akward sing-song, sudden shifts in Spanish spoken word elements, and a fair few moans/ groans. Musically we get a nice varied selection going from jiving disco, flamenco disco cross-overs, tip-taping ballads, etc. I think the highlight of suggestive 70’s camp comes in the form of  “You're Just The Right Size” with its steadily jerking bass line, horn darts, repeating of the tracks title, and a fair few moans.  All in all, this is a great camp 70’s classic- all finished off with Charo in a wet-tshirt cover, and amusing liner notes on the back of the card sleeve.

Disc seven features 1978’s  Up The Yellow Brick Road. This originally featured just five tracks- but here is expanded to nine tracks.  And this is basically Salsoul Orchestra covers album- with a large part of the album getting taken up on their on the music from West Side Story, Fiddle On The Roof,  and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band. This sits more in the general up-beat 70’s easy listening side of things- with some funky groove/ disco strut here & there. It’s very much a novelty record- though some of the band's take on familiar melodies/ arrangements are neat enough…can’t see myself returning to this disc too often, but it’s nice to have it here part of the box.

Finally, on disc eight we have two releases- How Deep Is Your Love and Saturday Night Disco Party. The first takes in five tracks, and these are basically very vibe-heavy/ easy listening covers- going from the title track, “You Light Up My Life”, and “More Than A Women”- this is a nicely pleasant & laid back slice of 70’s easy listening- perfect for a party wind down. The second takes in three tracks- taking in their take on camp disco classics like “You Should Be Dancing”, “Night Fever”, and “Staying Alive”- these are ok, though not too different from the original save the primal female vocal focus.

If you’re a fan of disco and easy listening, and in particular where they meet & bond then It’s Good For The Soul is a must. And hats off to the folks at Soul Music Records for bringing together the bonus tracks, and the wonderful inlay booklet