image note       view larger image

Maybe/So Much Love (with bonus tracks)

$19.99 ... CD 2CD (€14.73 || £12.61 || ¥1875) (approx.)

A killer package – two full albums, plus bonus tracks too! First up is Maybe – amazing early work from the Three Degrees – tracks cut before their more famous disco years in the 70s – but already showing a whole new approach to girl group soul! At some level, the trio take off strongly from the best late 60s styles of The Supremes – taking the most righteous elements, and working them into a hip new take on female soul – often using slight undercurrents of funk, in ways that are a bit like Honeycone, but even groovier! Arrangements are by Sammy Lowe and Steve Swanson – who bring in a nice east coast bite – and titles include "Sugar On Sunday", "Rosegarden", "You're The One", "The Magic Door", "Collage", "Maybe", and "You're The Fool". Next is So Much Love – a great illustration of the way the female trio could really take off – even without the disco grooves that would later bring them fame! There's a bouncy sound to most numbers here – a bit of Northern Soul here, some 60s mod there – and the girls' vocals are even more amazing than we remember them in later years – really at the top of the girl group pack for the time. Arrangements are by Hutch Davie, Tony Camillo, and Bert DeCoteaux – and titles include "Maybe", "Trade Winds", "I Do Take You", "Who Is She (And What Is She To You)", and "Magic Mirror". 2CD set features a whopping 23 bonus tracks – including "Handle With Care", "Shades Of Green", "Requiem", "Isn't It A Pity", "Yours (long single version)", "There's So Much Love All Around Me (mono)", "Through Misty Eyes (mono)", and mono takes of many album tracks!  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.