Welcome to Sir Shambling's Website!

Here you’ll find articles – some brief, some less so – on soul music and the artists who made it. Mostly concentrating on deep soul and recordings from below the Mason - Dixon line in the Golden Age between about 1960 and 1980 when the dreaded synthesisers began to take over. But like all the “rules” of the site, this one was made to be broken, and a lot of other sorts of black music have found their way here as well.

Due to Sir Shambling’s age, weight and general physical condition the emphasis here is on the slower side of things – not just by way of personal preference for those gritty ballads but also to act as a counter-weight to all the Northern soul and dance sites that exist. And while the great names of Southern soul will all feature here, so will a lot of lesser known artists. Again not just for the thrill of the obscure, but because so many rarer performances deserve to be valued and appreciated properly.

So the aim of the site is to attempt to bring this wonderful music to as wide an audience as possible. But while words and pictures can help this process the best method is obviously to listen to the tracks described here. So highlighted throughout the individual artist and article pages are soundclips of the best tracks concerned. These sound files are not digital copies of recorded works but considerably downgraded representations of the sounds, in lossy, gloriously low-fi MP3 format. The aim of these is to demonstrate the sounds, in order to promote the interest in this music and consequently promote the buying of original copies of the recordings, on vinyl or on CD. They are not meant to, and their low quality does not permit them to, serve as a replacement for the original recordings. Sadly as we all know there is a problem with sharing music via the Net. My own personal view is that the widest possible exposure to music is the best way to keep it alive, to promote interest in the artists themselves and to generate activity in the legitimate reissue business – and I could quote several examples of this taking place, so the soundclips are designed to do just that.

Like blond highlights in the hair of a third rate soccer player, scattered amongst the articles are discographies of sorts. Help with these would be most appreciated.

But while the site is very serious about this wonderful music, it isn’t solemn. Too many music commentators and DJs appear to put themselves in front of the sounds that give them their excuse for “fame”. Not the case here – anonymity rules! Part of the impetus to Sir Shambling’s efforts is the desire to share the detritus of music facts and info that cling perilously to his mind, like barnacles to the bottom of an old tramp steamer, before they lose their grip and fall off. It can’t be long now as already the days of the week blur uncomfortably together…

Finally, this site couldn’t exist without a lot of help from a lot of kind people with similar musical tastes. Please look at “The Roll Of Honour”.

Sir Shambling’s website is dedicated to the singers and musicians without whose efforts the world would be a lot poorer.