Mr.Richard Arnold Jackson (Richard ”Groove” Holmes) ”Soul Power!” Originally Posted: 04/09/08

Mr.Richard Arnold Jackson
(Richard ”Groove” Holmes)

”Soul Power!”
( LP Prestige Records, 1967 )
Catalog # PR 7543

Tracklisting:
Gimme A Little Sign Prestige 45-460, PR 7543
How Can I Be Sure Prestige PR 7543
Girl Talk Prestige PR 7543, PR 7768
Soul Power! Prestige 45-460, PR 7543, PR 7700
Since I Fell For You Prestige PR 7543
The Preacher -
Sunny -

Personnel & Credits:
The Richard “Groove” Holmes Sextet:
Richard “Groove” Holmes (org)
Wally Richardson, Steve Wolfe (g)
Jimmy Lewis (el-b)
Ben Dixon (d)
Dave Blume (cga)
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 19, 1967

Review:

The selection of material for Soul Power! was a little pop-oriented, including a few contemporary soul hits ("How Can I Be Sure," "Sunny," "Gimme Little Sign"), "Since I Fell for You," and Neal Hefti's ballad "Girl Talk," rounded out by Horace Silver's "The Preacher" and Richard "Groove" Holmes' own "Soul Power." There's not much that can be said about the performances that couldn't be said about numerous other soul-jazz sessions of the late '60s (many on the same label, Prestige). It's relaxed and funky, organ-paced small-combo music, Holmes perhaps breaking out less of a sweat than some of his more bop-influenced and frenetic contemporaries. The unexpected high point is the cover of the Rascals' "How Can I Be Sure." Far from being a routine run-through of a then-current pop hit, it has some compellingly stuttering, overlapping runs from Holmes and a swinging, tense rhythm backup. That rapid-fire style of organ reappears to a somewhat lesser degree in "Sunny," and for the most part the rest of the set is more in line with the routine Prestige soul-jazz product of the era. [All but one of the tracks ("Gimme Little Sign") were added to the 2004 expanded reissue of Holmes' 1967 album Super Soul as bonus cuts.]

By Richie Unterberger (AMG)

Originally posted: 04/09/08..some people comes after & takes all the credits!

Note by Lupo: ''Be aware that this LP is not in the best condition. I have tried to get rid of some cracks, but a certain hiss is still present.”

Courtesy of Lupo