LOVE, MARY

Soulzangeres Mary Love nam in de jaren zestig enkele indrukwekkende singles op voor labels als Modern en Josie, maar imponeerde vooral met Born To Live With Heartache. Diepe soul, die vooruitliep of de funkexplosie van begin jaren zeventig. Veel problemen hielden haar weg van de studio tot aan de ‘80’s, om terug te keren met een gospel repertoire dat echter van zoveel soul is voorzien dat deze niet misstaat naast haar meer wereldse nummers op deze fraaie verzamelaar.Mary Love’s music was the foundation of our Kent label. Her recordings opened and closed the first two vinyl LPs and various artists CD, as well as appearing on the A-side of the initial Kent45. She headlined the bill at the premier Cleethorpes Northern and Rare Soul weekender and helped Ace and Kent mark their 25th anniversaries, appearing at the celebratory live gigs. Her death in 2013 was a very sad day for us and her many fans.

This career overview CD features all Mary’s pivotal Modern sides, re-mastered from the original tapes. Nine of those 13 tracks are from the multi-track tapes and are therefore presented in their best sound quality ever. They are followed by both sides of Mary’s Josie hit, ‘The Hurt Is Just Beginning’ and ‘If You Change Your Mind’, and her wonderful Elco 45, ‘Born To Live With Heartache’, a major deep funk play in the last decade. The people involved with those recordings include Arthur Wright, Frank Wilson, Richard Parker, Miles Grayson, Ray Charles and Marc Gordon – as talented a bunch of Los Angeles musicians as ever produced records.

Despite her achievements and superficial success, Mary’s complex and troubled life contrasts starkly with her career. Family and personal issues kept her away from the studios in the early 70s but she came back impressively, writing and performing two tracks on each of the soundtracks for Rudy Ray Moore’s films Dolemite and Petey Wheatstraw. ‘Loving You’ from Petey Wheatstraw would have been a great number for Bettye Swann or Irma Thomas, not that they would have necessarily improved on Mary’s stunning performance or Nat Dove’s subtle arrangement. After an inevitable flirtation with disco, which we felt inappropriate for this compilation, she returned to recording religious music, devoting her life to God’s word and works. Her 1980s Co-Love gospel recordings were of such quality that they were partly responsible for rejuvenating the modern soul scene in the UK, where ‘Come Out Of The Sandbox’ and ‘The Price’ became indispensable for lovers of inspired black music of any genre or period.

Over her career, Mary amassed a large number of UK fans, of the mod, Northern, modern, gospel and even rare groove persuasion. She performed over here on several occasions, and that transatlantic story is featured in the booklet with photos of some of her treasured appearances. The detailed note covers the whole of Mary’s life and features some fabulous previously unseen photos, as well as a scan of a Japanese release which had eluded us for a couple of decades. We feel it will serve as an appropriate musical epitaph to Mary’s fascinating and creative life.

(tekst: http://acerecords.co.uk/)
1. Baby, I'll Come
2. Born To Live With Heartache
3. Come Out Of The Sandbox Mary Love Comer
4. Dance, Children, Dance
5. Hey, Stoney Face
6. The Hurt Is Just Beginning
7. If You Change Your Mind
8. I'm In Your Hands
9. I've Gotta Get You Back
10. Lay This Burden Down
11. Let Me Know
12. Move A Little Closer
13. Satisfied Feeling
14. Talkin' About My Man
15. There's Someone For Me
16. Think It Over Baby
17. You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet
18. The Price
19. Let's Get Together Arthur & Mary
20. Is That You Arthur & Mary
21. Caught Up
22. I Can't Wait
23. When We Start Making Love
24. Power Of Your Love