THE CH-LITES
The Best Of (Kent; CD)
     This CD originally came out in 1989, and is still the best "greatest hits" collection on the market of the band that brought their harmonious blend of vocal soul/pop crashing into the charts throughout the '70s. If unaccustomed with The Chi-Lites, Eugene Record (sweet tenor and songwriter), Marshall Thompson and Robert Lester continued what The Impressions had begun, with the addition of some preposterously BIG hair. Record was in fact a very happy chap even though he specialised and excelled in tender songs of heartbreak - 'Have You Seen Her' being one of his finest, and a huge hit too. But it wasn't all sadness: 'I Like Your Lovin' (Do You Like Mine?)' (1970) is cut from the same cloth as The Temptations' "psychedelic doo-wop" era or The Jackson Five at their rockinest… and it's a sheer electric buzz. From '71 to '76 these guys shined and all of their big hits (and a few worthy misses) are included on this superb 19 tracker. 
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

THE IMPRESSIONS
Definitive Impressions Part 2 (Kent; CD)
     What else can a fan of the work of Curtis Mayfield say about Kent's second volume of Definitive Impressions other than "sheeesh, this is a mighty fine compilation"? It features a wonderfully chosen selection of tracks, all 28 of them -- this time mainly post -'65 --, superb sound and a nice set of liners and pics that all further the brilliance of Curtis Mayfield as a writer and singer, and the perfection of the trio's harmonies. So once again, here's to The Impressions, perhaps the most soulful band of the '60s! Whether a fan or a beginner this is a brilliant album to dip in and out of when needing that sweet, sweet soul music.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Jon 'Mojo' Mills

JOE HOUSTON
Rockin' At The Drive In (Ace Records; CD) 
     Texas tenor saxophonist Joe Houston had been recording since 1949 down in the Lone Star State, but in 1952 he moved to Los Angeles to sign with Modern Records and there in California he found his niche in the burgeoning market for wild R&B sax instrumentals, founding the Unholy Trinity that comprised Houston, Big Jay McNeely and Chuck Higgins. Sneered at by jazz fans for bringing the instrument into disrepute, Houston and his histrionic followers would walk along the bar top, roll on their backs on stage, roam through the audience, and shed their clothes, all the while honking and squealing an unmusical - but supremely exciting - counterpoint and whipping the masses into a frenzy. 
     Throughout the 1950s, Joe Houston recorded sporadically for Jake Porter's Combo Records, and in 1984 Ace Records reissued Houston's 1957 Combo LP Rockin' At The Drive In with additional tracks. Now, twenty years later, they have boosted the tracklisting to two dozen and have released the last word on Joe's Combo recordings. There are a few vocals, and as no regular vocalists were employed by the band at this time, pianist Sherman Booker covers Guitar Slim's 1953 R&B hit 'The Things I Used To Do', while twin tenorman Boogie Daniels joins him to render the Marvin & Johnny styled 'Baby Don't Go' and even Joe himself sings on 'Shuckin' 'n' A-jivin'' (a previously unissued Little Richard rip-off).
     In the main though, the fare is good quality 1950s R&B/R&R instrumentals - West Coast style; rippling piano, plangent guitar, thudding bass, heavy backbeat and those buzzsaw saxophones, but it's not all honking and screaming as there is plenty of good blues and even some close-enough-for-jazz...and if you like this, also try Joe Houston Blows Crazy, a 24-track compilation of Houston's Modern/RPM recordings released by Ace in 2000.
www.acerecords.co.uk
Dave Penny

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Crazy 'Bout An Automobile (Ace Records; CD) 
     We all know about sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll (or at least we kid ourselves that we do!), but the forgotten fourth ingredient of that recipe for youth is the subject of this new Ace CD - the motor car. From 'Rocket 88' and 'Motorhead Baby' through 'Hot Rod Lincoln' and 'Maybelline' to 'Little Deuce Coupe' and 'Mustang Sally', the America of the 1950s and 1960s seemed completely obsessed with owning a "boss set of wheels", but the gas ran out sometime in the late 1960s and today's bland, environmentally-friendly, crumple-zoned, air-bagged excuses for road transport do not fire the imagination the way those big fish-tails used to.
     This twenty-five tracker sports a 16-page booklet with notes from the reliable Rob Finnis and is fairly equally divided between 1950s rock 'n' roll/R&B and 1960s pop and Hot Rod instrumentals. Big names like Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and Jan & Dean rub shoulders with nonentities such as The Exports (King 1964), The Hollywood Vines (Capitol 1961) and The Shutdowns (on the aptly-named Karsong label from 1963), while The Mar-Keys' 'Hot Rod' (RCA Victor 1958) features the immature lead vocals of Little Georgie Morton, who would become the enigmatic "Shadow" Morton of 'Leader Of The Pack' fame.
     Although I'm sure we could all choose a completely different tracklisting of our favourite wagon-related cuts, all in all this is a very successful themed compilation documenting the new American teenager's love-affair with the automobile through recordings cut between 1951 and 1966...oh, except there is one, lone British recording; the fantastic 'Brand New Cadillac' by Vince Taylor, but as he pretended he was American and sang about a Cadillac, we can let that go!
www.acerecords.co.uk
Dave Penny