5th Blackpool International Soul Festival

After three long years it was great to get back to the Blackpool International Soul Festival and the chance to see sixties and seventies soul stars perform in person. The line up was originally announced in 2020 and several acts had dropped out for various reasons, including Maxine Brown, Barbra Mason and, at the last minute because of flight problems, Darrow Fletcher. But the four acts who did make it there made the trip worthwhile, despite long delays on the roads on the way there. It was good to catch up with friends such as Hans Diepstraten and Harry van Vliet, whose wonderful Fingerpoppin' Soul From Amsterdam radio show celebrates its 30th anniverary later this year. Good, too, to catch up with intrepid music globetrotter Noah Shaffer from Boston after three years. He had already seen Diana Ross in Leeds and Tony Christie in Radlett, of all places, before being stuck in London as a result of a fire at Euston Station and arriving in Blackpool a day late. We and a few others (including, naturally, Dave Thomas) were there for the live acts, but the majority of the Northern Soul obsessives were at the festival for the records, the DJs and the dancing in the many rooms catering for different styles of soul and it seems that this may be the last such festival with live acts. Hopefully not.

First live act on the Friday night was Jimmy Delphs, a fairly obscure soul singer who was apparently found, after much searching, living quietly in Ohio. His best known song 'Don't Sign The Papers Baby (I Want You Back)' is a cracker. I was unaware of it until I heard Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob Squarepants) and his band sing it at a show at Joe's American Bar and Grill in Los Angeles in 2019. I tracked down a copy of the record, on the Karen label, when I visited Detroit later in the year so it was good to put a face to the name. Jimmy showed plenty of enthuriasm when he appeared on stage and led off with his 'Papers' theme song. Other numbers included its B side 'Almost' and 'Dancing A Hole In the World', a classic Northern Soul anthem. It was a fairly short set but a good start to the live portion of the festival.

The second act on Friday was Jean Carn (or Carne as she spelt it in later years) who I first saw over 30 years ago at the Jazz Cafe. Dressed in a silver gown and with huge hair and glasses, she still has an excellent voice and threw herself into her set with gusto - a bit too much gusto in truth, as she veered off into various acapella numbers which the band (the excellent Snake Davis and the Suspicions) didn't know. Numbers included 'Was That All It Was', from the 1979 album 'When I Find Your Love', 'Free Love' and 'If You Wanna Go Back', from the 1976 LP 'Jean Carn', 'We Got Some Catching To Do' from 1981, 'Let's Stay Together', which she recorded with Bobby Militello, and an over extended version of her biggest hit 'Don't Let It Go To Your Head' from the 1978 album 'Happy To Be With You'. which included acapella snippets of Chaka Khan's 'I'm Every Woman'. The sound on the first night (certainly at the centre of the stage) was very muddy so I couldn't work out what the acapella numbers were but my travelling companion Dave Carroll assures me that they included 'I'm Back For More' which she recorded with Al Johnson.

Saturday's entertainment included a showing of the Motown film 'Hitsville - The Movie' followed by a Q and A session with Motown expert Adam White and the live session in the evening began with a couple of Darrow Fletcher numbers performed by Snake Davis and his band, including '(Love Is My) Secret Weapon'. The first main act of the second evening was New Orleans soul veteran Betty Harris who I have seen, and enjoyed, many times over the years. Last time I saw her, at the 100 Club in London in 2017, her voice was a little shaky, so I didn't have high hopes this time. After all Betty is now 82 and her best known records, for Jubilee and Sansu, date back to the sixties. But I was pleasantly surprised by her act this time. Dressed in an elegant blue gown she started with 'Trouble With My Lover' and was well supported by the two backing singers in Snake's band. She followed with one of her greatest records 'Cry To Me'. Much of it was spoken rather than sung, but it was a heart wrenching few minutes which brought a lump to my throat. Betty seemed relaxed and in control and put this superb song across strongly. I was unfamiliar with her next song - something along the lines of 'If You Don't Love Me Please Let Me Go' (any suggestions?) - and so was Betty: she had to read the lyrics as she had never sung it before, she said. Her final number 'Ride Your Pony', once again with good work by the backing singers, completed a short set which was enjoyable and fun. Bravo Betty - you did well.

The final act was Eddie Holman, who starred at the last Blackpool festival in 2019. Eddie looked resplendent in a a purple jacket and wearing a hat and showed that his voice is as amazing as ever, reaching incredibly high notes with ease. He's also a great showman who had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. His excellent set began with Northern Soul favourites 'Where I'm Not Wanted' and 'This Feeling Is Real'. He read the lyrics of the next song, 'Hold Me In Your Arms' from a piece of paper as he was unfamiliar with it, he said, but still managed to dance his way across the stage whilst doing so. Eddie dedicated his next song, 'My Mind Keeps Telling Me' to his long time producer and song writer Ronnie Baker and then brought on festival organiser Richard Searling to wish him a happy 70th birthday. From there he moved on to crowd favourites 'This Will Be A Night To Remember' and 'I Surrender', which was co-written with his wife of 56 years Sheila. His greatest hit of course was 'Hey There Lonely Girl' in 1970 - a song which he said had made him financially secure over the years - and this was to be his final number, performed with great skill and amazing vocal acrobatics on those high notes. A class act and well worth the return visit.

While I was there I managed to get my photo taken with some of the stars. Here I am with Jimmy Delphs.

And with Jean Carn.

And with Betty Harris.

One of the great things about Harry and Hans is that they invariably present a batch of European picture sleeve 45s to artists at festivals and guests on their show (they gave me a superb selection when I visited them in Amsterdam a few years ago and appeared on their show). Here they are with Eddie Holman presenting him with his record pack.

Jimmy Delphs with festival organiser Richard Searling.