I’ve often described Ace Records as the “British Rhino.”  If Rhino pioneered the concept of the deluxe reissue in America – containing bonus tracks, in-depth liner notes and unique packaging – Ace keeps the original Rhino tradition alive across the pond.  Virtually every month, Ace and its family of labels releases a handful of titles (both album reissues and compilations) to make collectors’ mouths water.  The batch arriving in the UK on April 26 and on our shores throughout May is no exception, with the most exciting being a first: a Motown release on the Ace label.

While largely unknown today, the Satintones have the distinction of being the first artists ever to be featured on a Motown single.  “My Beloved” b/w “Sugar Daddy” was released as Motown 1000 in October 1959 and reissued under the same catalog number in April 1960, paving the way for the Sound of Young America to come.  This was the second single by Motown’s first all-male vocal group, consisting of James Ellis, William “Sonny” Sanders, Chico Leverett and Robert Bateman.  Motown 1000, their debut single on Tamla 54026, and 22 other tracks are collected on The Satintones Sing! – The Complete Tamla and Motown Singles Plus.  Of these 26 songs, 13 represent the complete singles output of the group, and a whopping 11 tracks are unreleased direct from the Motown vault.  Both sides of an early Tamla single by Chico Leverett rounds out the set.  It is titled after an unreleased album, and looks like something of a Motown collector’s dream with appropriately retro cover art!  A 5000-word essay in the true Ace tradition accompanies the album, including interviews with all four Satintones.  Coming exactly 50 years to the month after that April 1960 release, The Satintones Sing! truly proves “better late than never," and looks like an essential edition to any Motown collector's shelf.

Other titles in this latest group of Ace releases are:

• The Shirelles – Sing The Golden Oldies (1964) and Spontaneous Combustion (1967), the final two-fer in Ace’s series collecting the seminal girl group’s complete Scepter album output;
• The Ace Story Volume 1, anthologizing the pioneering R&B label out of Jackson, Mississippi that gave the current Ace Records its name and helped launch the careers of Dr. John, Huey “Piano” Smith, Frankie Ford and others;
• Bobby Sheen – Anthology 1958-1975, collecting the recordings of the singer perhaps best known for fronting Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans at Phil Spector’s Philles Records, and including two of those Wall of Sound hits;
• Bo Diddley Is A…Songwriter, rounding up Diddley compositions by the eclectic likes of Captain Beefheart, the New York Dolls, Buddy Holly and the Zombies;
• Jerry Cole – Guitars A-Go Go, the second volume in Ace’s series collecting the guitarist’s 1960s recordings for the Crown label; and
• The Goldwax Story Volume 3, a 26-track compilation featuring lesser-known tracks from the  Southern soul factory known as Memphis’ Goldwax Records.

The Satintones Sing! is limited to 1000 copies as part of Ace’s new limited edition series, but is available at all usual outlets.  All of the other CDs are general releases.  Get the scoop on the full track list for The Satintones Sing! after the jump, and watch this space for further reissue news from Ace!

The Satintones - The Satintones Sing! – The Complete Tamla and Motown Singles Plus (Ace CDLUX 002)

1. Motor City
2. Going to the Hop
3. My Beloved (without strings)
4. Sugar Daddy
5. Tomorrow and Always (without strings)
6. A Love That Can Never Be
7. Hungry Henry *
8. You’d Make a Fine Son-in-Law *
9. Foot Stomping Time *
10. Angel
11. I Know How It Feels
12. My Kind of Love
13. Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart
14. Faded Letter
15. You Cast a Spell on Me *
16. Your Sweet Love *
17. Angel *
18. You’d Make a Fine Son-in-Law *
19. My Beloved (with strings)
20. Tomorrow and Always (with strings)
21. Boogie Woogie Heart *
22. Because I Love You *
23. The Feeling is So Fine *
24. You Can’t Beat My Lovin’ *
25. Solid Sender – Chico Leverett, vocal accompaniment by The Rayber Voices of Detroit
26. I’ll Never Love Again – Chico Leverett, vocal accompaniment by The Rayber Voices of Detroit

* denotes previously unreleased track
Tracks 1-2 from Tamla single 54026 (7/59)
Tracks 3-4 from Motown single 1000 (10/59)
Tracks 5-6 from Motown single 1006 (4/61)
Track 10 from Motown single 1006 reissue (5/61)
Tracks 11-12 from Motown single 1010 (6/61)
Tracks 13-14 from Motown single 1020 (8/61)
Track 19 from Motown 1000 single reissue (4/60)
Track 20 from Motown 1006 single reissue (5/61)
Tracks 25-26 from Tamla single 54024 (4/59)