Edwin Starr: "Soul Master, Expanded Edition" [BBR/Cherry Red UK-5/6/2022]

[Motown Eddie]

Debut album from the late, great Edwin Starr, expertly remastered and complete with extensive liner notes and several bonus tracks.
• Essential listening for all R&B, Soul and Funk fans.
• Classic ‘60s Motown sounds with mid to up-tempo songs either swinging, shuffling or stomping their way to a rapid and satisfying conclusion [only one track is over three minutes].
• Featuring Starr’s rough-hewn vocal chops interpreting lyrics by Motown greats Smokey Robinson and Norman Whitfield among others, adding real weight to the recordings.
Edwin Starr is best remembered for his rasping Vietnam protest song ‘War’ from 1970. His early recordings for Detroit’s Ric-Tic Records immediately gained chart success before Berry Gordy bought out Starr’s contract in 1967 and took him and his music to Motown.
‘Soul Master’ was Starr’s debut album and was released on Motown’s Gordy imprint in 1968. With soul music in the ‘60s, and especially with Motown, the emphasis was on singles, so the album did not chart but does boast a number of R&B hits. These include the aforementioned ‘Agent Double-O-Soul’ and Starr’s other top ten Ric-Tic release, 1966’s ‘Stop Her On Sight [SOS]’ [R&B #9/Pop #48/UK #35], as well as ‘Headline News’ [Pop #84].
Track Listing:
1 AGENT DOUBLE-O-SOUL
2 I AM THE MAN FOR YOU BABY
3 STOP HER ON SIGHT [S.O.S]
4 OH HOW HAPPY
5 WAY OVER THERE
6 MY WEAKNESS IS YOU
7 HEADLINE NEWS
8 SOUL MASTER
9 I WANT MY BABY BACK
10 LOVE IS MY DESTINATION
11 I AM YOUR MAN
12 TIME IS PASSIN’ BY
BONUS TRACKS
13 AGENT DOUBLE-O-SOUL [Stereo Mix]
14 BACK STREET [Single Version]
15 STOP HER ON SIGHT [SOS] [Single Version]
16 I HAVE FAITH IN YOU [Single Version]
17 HEADLINE NEWS [Single Version]
18 HARLEM [Single Version]
19 IT’S MY TURN NOW
20 GIRL’S ARE GETTING PRETTIER [Single Version]
21 YOU’RE MY MELLOW [Single Version]
22 MY KIND OF WOMAN [Single Version]
23 I WANT MY BABY BACK [Single Version]
24 GONNA KEEP TRYIN’ ‘TIL I WIN YOUR LOVE [Single Version]
25 I AM THE MAN FOR YOU BABY [Single Version]
26 MY WEAKNESS IS YOU [Single Version]
27 WAY OVER THERE [Single Version]
28 BACK STREET [Instrumental Version]
29 AGENT DOUBLE-O-SOUL [Instrumental Version]

Edwin Starr: Soul Master, Expanded Edition - Cherry Red Records

[SatansBlues]

Good to see a release on Edwin Starr. Count me in.

[DWSheffer]

Question on this item. Are these official Motown releases? Asking as I'm not familiar with this company BBR or Big Break Records that is evidently releasing it. It looks like they've released other related "expanded editions".
Thanks,
Darin

[mjdestiny]

Already issued in 2014 :

https://www.discogs.com/release/6587...rr-Soul-Master

And also issued , the same day in 2014 , this one :

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/6...Starr-Involved

[daviddesper]

So it sounds like this is just a re-issue of a re-issue? Right?

If so I am not complaining because any CD still being released anytime this year has my blessing. It will suit the heck out of me if they are still releasing them in 2032!

[kenneth]

I have both of the Edwin Starr reissues on this label and they are very high-quality, both in terms of the sound and the packaging as well. Buy with confidence, as they say!

I would love to see his other albums also released by this company. He had at least two other albums that I can recall, as well as the duets album with Blinky. The duets album has also been re-issued but I believe it’s a straight reissue of the original album on a Japanese label with no bonus tracks.

[reese]

I have both of the Edwin Starr reissues on this label and they are very high-quality, both in terms of the sound and the packaging as well. Buy with confidence, as they say!

I would love to see his other albums also released by this company. He had at least two other albums that I can recall, as well as the duets album with Blinky. The duets album has also been re-issued but I believe it’s a straight reissue of the original album on a Japanese label with no bonus tracks.

Motown Select released the Edwin / Blinky album on cd some time back. No bonus tracks.

[kenneth]

Motown Select released the Edwin / Blinky album on cd some time back. No bonus tracks.

You're right about that. The packaging is unusual for them and resembles one of the Japanese straight reissues.

I also forgot about the "Hell Up in Harlem" soundtrack, which has also been reissued. Would be nice to have an expanded edition of that one. I think he was very underrated as an artist. I guess he had a pretty good career after Motown, though I don't think that material holds up as well.

[mysterysinger]

BBR / Cherry Red are legitimate releases and high quality to boot. They've released many Motown and soul albums - usually with additional tracks. Have both the Soul Master and Involved issues which are great. Quite often when sold out they command premium prices so get them while you can,

As for Edwin all his Motown albums have seen release on CD [[some several times).

Some of mine are here .... https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookep...77720297125624

[PeaceNHarmony]

Thanks for the notice, MEddie - this one came and went a few years ago so I'm happy to see it available again.

[smallworld]

I've read that Cherry Red have been known to switch to CD-R product for repress output.

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...474985/page-33

[Danno]

I've read that Cherry Red have been known to switch to CD-R product for repress output.

Genuine question, how would you know if it was CD-R? I got the Skyy Anthology repress a couple of years back. Complete with booklet, Salsoul logo on the discs, barcode on the cover and sounded great.
I'm not an agent for Cherry Red or BBR but I've had loads of their releases over the years without any problems I can recall. They did an issue of Never Can Say Goodbye about ten years back that was absolutely panned for sound quality which is a shame as I'd have gone for that. Apart from that, I'd always expect a BBR release to be worth the money.

[kenneth]

@Danno,

In my experience, CD-Rs are often identifiable not only by the way the CD is manufactured and looks but by the packaging and graphics as well. I’ve been surprised a couple times but never from this label. Our friend Carlo on this site once warned me about a Gladys Knight CD that we were discussing, and that I had purchased, telling me that he was worried it might be a CDR, and when it arrived I could see he was right. The CD was generic looking with a very bad label design which obviously looked like a bootleg or something along those lines. The graphics were blurry as if they were a photo of a photo of a photo, and as I recall even the track listing was wrong in that several songs were left off the tracklist which were actually on the CD. I promptly returned it.


Like you, I’ve never been disappointed by this label but if a buyer is concerned, I would think they could certainly ask the company if they are selling CDR‘s, or if they buy one inadvertently just return it. but I wouldn’t let a rumor without any substantiation deter me from buying these great Edwin Starr albums.

[Danno]

Kenneth,
Yes, I was thinking along the same lines to be honest but wondered if I was missing the big picture. Ironically, I received Cherry Red's latest newsletter overnight. You can purchase from them direct so anyone can contact them beforehand if in doubt. I think they'd be quite surprised though.