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Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band made a name for themselves in the mod soul scene of the U.K. in the 1960s with their high-octane live stage performances.  Late in 2016, Edsel celebrated the legacy of the U.S. expatriate soul man and his band with two releases.  Geno! The Piccadilly and Pye Studio Recordings collects all of Washington’s studio recordings for the labels between 1966 and 1972, while Geno – Live!!! brings together all three of his hit live albums originally issued from 1966-1968.

U.S. airman William Francis “Geno” Washington began playing gigs while stationed in Suffolk, England by December 1961.  After three years of active Air Force duty in the U.K., he returned home to America, but it didn’t take long before he realized that England was the place to answer his musical calling.  He returned to the U.K. club scene, fronting a group led by guitarist Pete Gage.  This unit became the original Ram Jam Band, named for an inn and restaurant on the A1 highway.  Inspired by the likes of Solomon Burke and Ike and Tina Turner, Washington conceived a soul revue that became popular among R&B-minded mods.  Washington and The Ram Jam Band recorded one single for Columbia in 1965 before moving the next year to Pye Records’ Piccadilly imprint.  Their debut single – “Water,” from Brill Building scribes Helen Miller and Roger Atkins b/w Johnny Nash’s “Understanding” – reached the Pop top 40.

This auspicious debut kicked off a six-year period at Pye.  This collection features every one of the group’s A and B-sides, including Washington originals, standards, and tunes plucked from Stax Records, the songbook of prolific British composer Tony Macaulay, and even The Archies!  It also has the entirety of the band’s soulful 1968 album Shake a Tail Feather, which featured their interpretations of R&B favorites like “You Got Me Hummin’,” “Three Time Loser,” “Use Me,” “Knock on Wood,” and “I’m Your Puppet.”  The package is rounded out by a selection of eight bonus tracks first issued in 2002.

Geno! The Piccadilly and Pye Studio Recordings is joined by Geno – Live!!! on three CDs.  The band released live albums, all of which are reissued on this set. 1966’s Hand Clappin’, Foot Stompin’, Funky-Butt … Live! reached an impressive No.5 on the U.K. Albums Chart, remaining on the countdown for a whopping 38 weeks.  The band’s energetic soul revue was captured on tracks from Motown (“Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” “(I’m a) Road Runner”), Stax (“Respect,” “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” “Philly Dog”) and the songbooks of Allen Toussaint (“Ride Your Pony”) and Wilson Pickett (“Don’t Fight It,” co-written with Stax’s Steve Cropper, and Chris Kenner’s “Land of 1000 Dances”).  The next year, Hipster Flipsters Finger Poppin’ Daddies followed.  It nearly matched the success of its predecessor, making No. 8 on the chart with an Otis Redding medley by way of The Beatles with “Day Tripper/I Can’t Turn You Loose” plus more Pickett (“In the Midnight Hour”), Motown (“Shogun”) and Stax (“Raise Your Hand,” “Things Get Better,” “It’s a Wonder”).  A third live album, Running Wild, came next in 1968.  But it repeated a number of songs (albeit in new recordings) from the previous sets, and it failed to make a strong impression on the sales chart.

Geno Washington has continued to tour and perform around Europe, treating fans to his storming renditions of classic soul.  He’s also well remembered as the subject of the 1980 song “Geno” by Dexys Midnight Runners.  Both of these new collections are housed in digipaks and feature new liner notes by Alan Robinson and remastering by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering.  These sets of high-energy rock and soul are available now from Edsel at the links below!

Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, Geno! The Piccadilly and Pye Studio Recordings (Edsel EDSK 7114, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1 – The Singles 1966-1967 (Tracks 1-14)/Shake a Tail Feather (Pye LP NPL 38029, 1968) (Tracks 15-26)

1. Water
2. Understanding
3. Hi Hi Hazel
4. Beach Bash
5. Que Sera Sera
6. All I Need
7. Michael
8. (I Gotta) Hold On to My Love
9. Always
10. If You Knew
11. She Shot a Hole in My Soul
12. I’ve Been Hurt By Love
13. Tell It Like It Is
14. Girl, I Want to Marry You
15. Raise Your Hand
16. You Got Me Hummin’
17. Three Time Loser
18. Tell It Like It Is
19. Use Me
20. Understanding/Turn It Over
21. Knock on Wood
22. Bonie Maronie
23. Never Like This Before
24. I’m Your Puppet
25. Who’s Foolin’ Who
26. (I Gotta) Hold On to My Love

CD 2: The Singles 1968-1972 (Tracks 1-13) and Bonus Tracks

1. Different Strokes
2. You Got Me Hummin’
3. I Can’t Quit Her
4. Put Out the Fire
5. Bring it to Me, Baby
6. I Can’t Let You Go
7. My Little Chickadee
8. Seven Eleven
9. Alison Please
10. Each and Every Part of Me
11. Feeling So Good (Skooby Doo)
12. Dirty, Dirty
13. Give ‘Em a Hand
14. If This is Love (I’d Rather Be Lonely)
15. Going Back
16. Listen to My Love Song That Ain’t Got a Rhyme
17. Careful Not to Break the Spell
18. I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman
19. Boomerang
20. She’s All I Got
21. Summer Fever – Geno and Frenchie

CD 1, Tracks 1-2 from Piccadilly single 7N 35312, 1966
CD 1, Tracks 3-4 from Piccadilly single 7N 35329, 1966
CD 1, Tracks 5-6 from Piccadilly single 7N 35346, 1966
CD 1, Tracks 7-8 from Piccadilly single 7N 35359, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 9-10 from Piccadilly EP 34054, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 11-12 from Piccadilly single 7N 35392, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 13-14 from Piccadilly single 7N 35403, 1967
CD 2, Tracks 1-2 from Pye single 7N 17425, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 3-4 from Pye single 7N 17570, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 5-6 from Pye single 7N 17649, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 7-8 from Pye single 7N 17745, 1969
CD 2, Tracks 9-10 from Pye single 7N 45019, 1971
CD 2, Track 11 from Pye single 7N 45085, 1972
CD 2, Tracks 12-13 from Pye single 7N 45121, 1972
CD 2, Tracks 14-16 previously released on My Bombers, My Dexys, My Highs: The Sixties Studio Sessions, Sanctuary, 2002

Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, Geno – Live!!! (Edsel EDSK 3032, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Hand Clappin’ Foot Stompin’ Funky Butt…Live! (Piccadilly NPL 38026, 1966)

1. Philly Dog
2. Ride Your Pony
3. Uptight (Everything’s Alright)
4. (I’m a) Road Runner
5. Hold On, I’m Comin’
6. Don’t Fight It
7. Land of a Thousand Dances Parts 1 & 2
8. Respect
9. Willy Nilly
10. Get Down with It
11. Michael (The Lover)
12. Que Sera Sera
13. You Don’t Know (Like I Know)

CD 2: Hipsters, Flipsters, Finger-Poppin’ Daddies (Piccadilly NPL 38032, 1967)

1. Herk’s Works
2. Day Tripper/I Can’t Turn You Loose
3. You Left the Water Running
4. In the Midnight Hour
5. Hi-Heel Sneakers
6. Shotgun
7. Raise Your Hand
8. Who’s Foolin’ Who
9. Things Get Better
10. It’s a Wonder
11. She Shot a Hole in My Soul
12. Wild Thing

CD 3: Running Wild (Pye NPL 181219, 1968)

1. I Take What I Want
2. Knock on Wood
3. Gimme Little Sign/Raise Your Hand
4. Michael (The Lover)
5. Que Sera Sera
6. Rock Me Baby, Parts 1 & 2
7. Hi-Heel Sneakers/Mary Ann
8. I Get So Excited
9. Holdin’ On with Both Hands/Day Tripper/Baby Come Back/Jumpin’ Jack Flash/I Got You Babe