Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Numero Unearths Red Black Green Productions


I've gone on and on about how Numero Records are awesome at what they do and how they lovingly search out, find, and restore records that need to be preserved. There's no one better at finding obscurities and bringing them to the light of day than Numero. And as per usual they've done it again. Their latest collection A Red Black Green Production is an astonishing array of classic quiet storm like tracks and stirring soul numbers that no one outside of the label has probably ever heard.

Taken from the District of Columbia the compilation focuses on the efforts of Robert Jose Williams and how he picked up the torch of the then defunct Shrine Records and made it all his own as A Red Black Green Production. The compilation is a beautiful array of passion, love, and heart and that's just the lyrics. Featuring 19 tracks or so, the compilation covers all its bases and includes artists as diverse as Father's Children, Skip Mahoney & The Casuals, East Coast Connection, and Promise. Artists that no one outside of the Beltway ever heard but nonetheless had the chops to make it big time they just never did. This is essentially the late 60's early 70's Motown sound found smack dab in the middle of the Capital an no one even knew.

While the quiet storm-like numbers tend to wear thin on fans of upbeat soul, like me, when the record finds its funky heart it truly excels. Check out the Summits, "Sleepwalking," for some funky love that Kool and the Gang would kill for 15 years later. This record has it all and as per usual has been painstakingly given the respect it deserves. Whether it's a night of passion or a slow dance at the club, A Red Black Green Production truly delivers it all in soulful fashion. This is the kind of record The Ladies Man would have playing in his boudoir with a glass of Courvoisier in hand to seduce his lady friends. And my guess is that it would work.

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