Jimmy Hughes - Something Extra Special 1968-71 torrent

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Jimmy Hughes - Something Extra Special - The Complete Volt Recordings 1968-71

Although his career never flourished on Volt like he and Stax hoped it would, the label released several singles and “Something Special”, a fine album which demonstrated that Jimmy was ready to take what he had achieved at Fame to the next level. Unfortunately the rise to superstardom of his labelmates Isaac Hayes and Johnnie Taylor, and the ongoing success of Stax stalwarts Eddie Floyd and William Bell, pushed him down the pecking order. When his first offerings failed, his career suffered. In a little over two years, Stax released just 13 recordings on Jimmy. But like so many other acts, he recorded far more than was actually released. In his case, the Stax ledgers show a possible 17 unissued sides, three of which exist in backing track form only. The remaining 14 all appear here for the first time. You will hear that they were not shelved owing to lack of quality. The songs are great, the singing even greater. Had he scored a hit with any of his issued material, it’s doubtful that so many would have remained in the can for as long as they have.

“Something Extra Special” brings together all 27 of Jimmy’s Volt titles. Sadly it also brings the curtain down on Kent’s restoration to catalogue of every surviving Jimmy Hughes recording. It’s been my personal pleasure to have assembled and annotated the three CDs that we’ve put out, and to have helped to turn the spotlight back on to a somewhat neglected pioneer of Southern Soul. Jimmy might never have achieved the worldwide popularity of his contemporary Otis Redding or his cousin Percy Sledge, but this collection and its two predecessors prove conclusively that his relative lack of mainstream success was in no way due to lack of talent – or no soul.

By Tony Rounce