Genre > Soul, R&B, Funk

Uptown Shakedown is the 1979 album from Hi Records Soul legend, Syl Johnson. Via Fat Possum, this album is available again on vinyl for the first time in decades.

81 track, 6LP+4CD box (both formats included) contains re-mastered versions of no less than 28 singles from the Twinight, Federal, Cha-Cha, Tmp-Ting, Special Agent, and Zachron labels, facsimiles of the Dresses Too Short and Is It Because I'm Black albums, ten previously unreleased tracks and detailed track by track notes from acclaimed music historian Bill Dahl. The 52 page booklet contains a 35,000 word essay, scores of previously unpublished photos, a sampling index, and complete discographyall presented in a lavish hard bound box.

During his eight-year stint with Hi Records, Syl Johnson was in the shadows of both Al Green and Ann Peebles. His albums never flew off the shelves but he could be trusted to release two or three good singles a year. By 1975, Johnson's partnership with Hi Records started to yield even more success. As this album's predecessors had Johnson vacillating between being a romantic and a wretch, "Total Explosion" explores his unrepentant side with good results. "I Only Have Love for You" is a classic Memphis shuffle and finds Johnson all but boasting about his lack of financial savvy, as he sings, »all I got to give is me«. With all of the ill will and venom spewed on "Total Explosion", the innocent "Star Bright, Star Lite" just still doesn't ring true. Johnson comes back to his senses on "Steppin' Out". The dramatic, hard-edged track is all anger and domestic unrest as he sings, »excuse me, excuse me while I get dressed«; you get the feeling he won't be back anytime soon. The album's biggest single was Johnson's slowed-down take on Green's "Take Me To The River". Although the religious/sexual imagery is lost in the translation, Johnson does a good job with it. The best track, the brilliantly arranged "Watch What You Do to Me" has Johnson playing the role of cuckold, and as he sings »I carry my piece, everywhere I go«, it certainly made him more a menace than romantic balladeer. "Total Explosion" was Johnson's most successful album at Hi Records and was one of the best in the label's catalog.

Musicians:

• Syl Johnson (vocal)
• Wayne Jackson (trumpet)
• Andrew Love, Lewis Collins (tenor saxophone)
• James Mitchell (bassoon)
• Jack Hale (trombone)
• Archie Turner & Earl Randle (piano)
• Charlie Hodges (organ, piano)
• Leroy Hodges (bass)
• Howard Grimes (drums)

Recording: 1973 by Willie Mitchell at Royal Recording Studios, South Lauderdale, Memphis, Tennessee
Production: Willie Mitchell

About Pure Pleasure

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasize that Pure Pleasure Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

During his eight-year stint with Hi Records, Johnson was in the shadows of both Al Green and Ann Peebles. His albums never flew off the shelves but he could be trusted to release two or three good singles a year. By 1975, Johnson's partnership with Hi Records started to yield even more success. As this album's predecessors had Johnson vacillating between being a romantic and a wretch, Total Explosion explores his unrepentant side with good results. "I Only Have Love for You" is a classic Memphis shuffle and finds Johnson all but boasting about his lack of financial savvy, as he sings, "All I got to give is me." With all of the ill will and venom spewed on Total Explosion, the innocent "Star Bright, Star Lite" just still doesn't ring true. Johnson comes back to his senses on "Steppin' Out." The dramatic, hard-edged track is all anger and domestic unrest as he sings, "Excuse me, excuse me while I get dressed"; you get the feeling he won't be back anytime soon. The album's biggest single was Johnson's slowed-down take on Green's "Take Me to the River." Although the religious/sexual imagery is lost in the translation, Johnson does a good job with it. The best track, the brilliantly arranged "Watch What You Do to Me" has Johnson playing the role of cuckold, and as he sings "I carry my piece, everywhere I go," it certainly made him more a menace than romantic balladeer. Total Explosion was Johnson's most successful album at Hi Records and was one of the best in the label's catalog.
-AllMusic

A rollicking vocalist and gifted harmonica player, Syl Johnson has forged a career in both blues and soul. The brother of bassist Mac Thompson and guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Johnson, Syl Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, and Junior Wells in the '50s before recording with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal. Johnson toured with Howlin' Wolf from late 1959 until 1962, when Willie Mitchell signed him to Hi Records.

Johnson recorded for both Twilight and Hi in the late '60s and early '70s, clicking with the dance/novelty cut "Come on Sock It to Me" and crackling message track "Is It Because I'm Black?" He had his biggest hit with "Take Me to the River" in 1975, reaching number seven on the R&B charts. Johnson later recorded for Shama and Boardwalk. He reappeared on a collaboration with his brother Jimmy in the summer of 2002, humorously titled "Two Johnsons Are Better Than One".

[Back For A Taste Of Your Love] ...moves his hard Chicago soul groove over to Willie Mitchell's production style, which has a bit more of a mellow tip to it. Syl wrote a number of the tracks, and the titles include "I'm Yours", "Feelin' Frisky", "I Hate I Walked Away", and "The Love You Left Behind".

- Zero G Sound