Northern Soul

NORTHERN SOUL
 
 
Northern Soul  is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England in the late 1960s from the British mod scene, based on a particular style of black American soul music, especially in the mid-1960s, with a heavy beat and fast tempo.  The northern soul movement generally eschews Motown or Motown-influenced music that has had significant mainstream commercial success.  The recordings most prized by enthusiasts of the genre are usually by lesser-known artists, released only in limited numbers, often by small regional American labels such as Ric-Tic and AMG Records (Cincinnati), Golden World Records (Detroit), Mirwood (Los Angeles), and Shout and Okeh (New York/Chicago).  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

In 1966, Andrew “Mike” Terry arranged both sides of a single on Karate Records, “Could it Be” b/w “Set My Heart at Ease” for Mikki Farrow; he also co-write “Could it Be” with Jack Ashford.  In 2013, “Set My Heart at Ease” was reissued on Pied Piper Records backed with a song by September Jones called “I’m Coming Home”.  

 

Both songs are now recognized as classic “Northern Soul”.  Northern Soul is a term for music and dance styles that actually grew out of the Mod movement in England, so the reference in this case is more to the recordings that originally led to this movement:  obscure American soul music having the Motown influence that were typically not hit songs.  On dustygroove.com is this comment about the Mikki Farrow song:  “‘Set My Heart at Ease’ is an upbeat groove from Mikki Farrow – produced perfectly by the Pied Piper team, who build things wonderfully in a very short space – and really out-Motown Motown with the groove!”  

 

“Could it Be” appears on a British compilation CD called Northern Soul Satisfaction that is subtitled “30 Tracks from Northern Soul’s Golden Era”.  The song is also on a 2013 CD on Kent Records called Pied Piper Presents A New Concept In Detroit Soul.  The website popsike.com lists numerous auctions of this Mikki Farrow 45 at prices as high as $1,111.  

 

(July 2014)

 

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Johnny Caswell is mentioned among the greats of Northern Soul, with his song “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” (written by Leon Huff) ranking #152 on the Northern Soul Top 500. His early sides are collected on the above album, The Best of Philly Soul, Vol. 4, with half of the 12 tracks being written or co-written by David White.
 
(August 2015)