A third slice of Memphis soul from Willie Mitchell. You'll find the previous posts with more information on Mitchell HERE and HERE.
Solid Soul dates from 1968 and consists mainly of cover versions of other people's instrumental hits: Jimmy Smith's Prayer Meetin', Hugh Masekela's Grazing in the Grass and two Freddie King hits, San-Ho-Zay and Hideaway are among them.
Then there's Up-Hard, a driving R&B track from the LP that turned into a minor hit for Mitchell when it was released as a single.
Up-Hard
Solid Soul was packaged with its predecessor On Top on a 2-on-1 CD by Hi Records UK in 1995 and again in 2001. But it's out of print now and commands upwards of $40 for a copy.
Best bet for Willie Mitchell on CD is Soul Serenade: The Best of Willie Mitchell, a 1999 Capitol release. It includes Up-Hard and 19 other tracks. Used copies start at about $10 on Amazon.
There's a ton of Willie Mitchell material to download on iTunes and elsewhere. Stick to the albums on the original Hi label and avoid the compilations put together by companies that use old LPs as their source material.
Here's another track from Solid Soul. Thanks to mrsoul1770, publisher of the first-rate Groove Addict blog, for posting this on YouTube.
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