OK. OK. It’s Friday. Not a bad thing. The weekend is chock-loaded with festivals of all varieties (Hamtown Labor Day Fest, Detroit Jazz Fest, Arts, Beats and Eats) and the weather, at this point, is supposed to precipitation-free. The Detroit Lives film is coming out real, real soon.

In celebration, it’s time for a little Friday Soul Roundup, a collection of succulent selctions coming straight out of Detroit in the late 50s and 60s:

There is an entire stockpile of information and anecdotes about Detroit soul, R&B and otherwise over at Soulful Detroit.  It’s quite easy to get lost in the depths of information over there. Have a pleasant weekend now, ya hear?

I wanted to re-post the DL! Mixtape that went up a couple months ago. The mix is a conglomerate of some of the lesser-known soul troubadors that Detroit had hot off the press in the late 60s. All artists included in the mix recorded in Detroit between the years 1966-1969, when some of the record companies were at their peak. Detroit’s streets were loaded with independent studios like Fortune Records (see the old studio before being demo’d here). Fortune was kind of like Seattle’s Sub Pop record label in that they leaned towards that dirtier sound and embraced many different types of music. Fortune took on rockabilly artists, a lot of blue, doo-wop and of course the kind of soul tunes that you can listen to below. By the late 50s and 60s, they became a staple on the scene and started releasing bigger names like Nolan Strong and Nathanial Mayer. Anyway, check out some of these tunes, true gems and a nice walk down memory lane with some of Detroit’s greatest soul beacons.

1. The Elgins – Heaven Must Have Sent You (3:56), 1966
2. Chris Clark – Love’s Gone Bad (2:23), 1966
3. Tammi Terrell – All I Do Is Think About You (3:02), 1966
4. The Isley Brothers – My Love Is Your Forever (3:07), 1966
5. The Monitors – Serve Yourself A Cup Of Happiness (2:18), 1969
6. Shorty Long – Here Comes The Judge (2:44), 1968
7. Fred Briggs – Sound Off (2:54), 1966
8. Deon Jackson – Love Makes The World Go Round (2:31), 1966
9. JJ Barnes – Chains of Love (2:31), 1967
10. The Precisions – If This Is Love (2:47), 1967
11. Dee Edwards – All The Way Home (2:38), 1966
12. Edwin Starr – My Kind Of Woman (2:35)
13. Johnny Mae Mathews – I Have No Choice (2:40), 1967

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DL! presents a little jewel of a mixtape centering on some of the soul studs (and stud’ettes) that Detroit had to offer between 1966-69. Was a fine few years indeed. The following are all transferred from vinyl, so pardon some of the quality at times. Enjoy the tunes.

1. The Elgins – Heaven Must Have Sent You (3:56), 1966
2. Chris Clark – Love’s Gone Bad (2:23), 1966
3. Tammi Terrell – All I Do Is Think About You (3:02), 1966
4. The Isley Brothers – My Love Is Your Forever (3:07), 1966
5. The Monitors – Serve Yourself A Cup Of Happiness (2:18), 1969
6. Shorty Long – Here Comes The Judge (2:44), 1968
7. Fred Briggs – Sound Off (2:54), 1966
8. Deon Jackson – Love Makes The World Go Round (2:31), 1966
9. JJ Barnes – Chains of Love (2:31), 1967
10. The Precisions – If This Is Love (2:47), 1967
11. Dee Edwards – All The Way Home (2:38), 1966
12. Edwin Starr – My Kind Of Woman (2:35)
13. Johnny Mae Mathews – I Have No Choice (2:40), 1967

A permanent link to the mixtape is available in the projects section.