60s DETROIT NORTHERN SOUL CAPITOLS #2 MAYBE US KAREN DJ
£
28
$
37
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Description
I've recently been thinning down my collection, getting rid of some tunes I've already got elsewhere. We're now on 'C', and a true Detroit classic.
60s DETROIT NORTHERN SOUL ORIGINALS
THE CAPITOLS
"COOL PEARL"
b/w
"DON'T SAY MAYBE BABY"
(US: Karen 45-1536, 1967; Promotional Copy)
Record conditon: See description below
Labels condition: Very good
The Capitols were a Detroit soul trio, comprising Sam George (lead), Donald Storball, and Richard McDougal. They will always be remembered for the 1966 smash hit "Cool Jerk", but their nine follow-ups are also worth picking up. Every one was recorded for Ollie McLaughlin's Karen label, which was one of his group of Detroit imprints that also included Carla and Moira. These three were named after his daughters. He also had other labels, such as Omack - the source of that label name is obvious.
In a forlorn effort to come up with another "Cool Jerk", the group tried to reproduce the sound, and "Cool Pearl" was one of the results. It's flip, however, is by far the finest of all their recordings, and a possible contender for many people's favourite Detroit side of all time. It's so different from anything else the trio did, that it almost sounds as if it were a different group entirely. Gone are the corny dance lyrics of "Cool Jerk"/"Cool Pearl"/"Zig-Zagging", etc. Instead, there are perfect "ooh-ooh" harmonies, lyrics about the magic of romance, a tremendous sax break, and plenty of sweeping strings. Oh, and a great, fast dance beat.
As a footnote, lead singer Sam George was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife on 17th March 1982, during a family dispute at his Detroit home. He was aged only 39.
Sadly, this record was not looked after very well before I bought it, though there are no jumps at all. Both sides have lots of "spiders webs", which are more pronounced on the A-side. "Cool Pearl" plays with loud background noise for the first few seconds, though this soon disappears, leaving the rest to play somewhere around very good. Fortunately, "Don't Say Maybe Baby" plays at least excellent -, possibly as high as excellent for the most part. The numerous thin, wispy lines seen on the vinyl don't affect the sound quality. If you can put up with the look of the record, and aren't too bothered with the A-side, then this is probably as cheap as you'll see a copy today.
Both labels have medium ring-wear, which approaches strong on the A-side.
The edges are completely chip-free.
As with all my sales, the record has been played on both sides to verify condition. It comes in my own personalized card cover.
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