Various Artists: R&B Hipshakers Vol 2 — Scratch that Itch (VampiSoul)
Sometimes an album just blows you away and this is one. Featuring 20 archival rhythm and blues and early soul tracks released between 1956 and 1968, this compilation is a humdinger.
What is even better is the fact that it is volume two, which means there is another potential humdinger of a compilation waiting to be heard.
Opening with Hank Marr’s 1963 organ-driven track, Marsanova, which sounds like a cheesier version of Booker T and the MGs’ standard fare, one would be forgiven for thinking this may be a compilation of curiosities. But it is not — there is Freddy King’s 1963 rhythm and blues track, The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist, which features some great guitar work, and there is the rare proto rock ‘n roll track, Shout Bamalama, recorded by Otis Redding.
These two tracks alone are worth picking up the album for but other highlights come courtesy of blues legend Willie Dixon and the Big Wheels, Lula Reed and El Pauling and Royal Abbit.
One final word, about the fantastic title track, Scratch That Itch, by Elliot Shavers & His Blazers — the press release that accompanied the CD says: “This compilation’s title track describes a dance that, like so many of the worthwhile ones, might get you escorted from your high-school prom in handcuffs if you tried it.”