Various Artists
ECCENTRIC SOUL: THE SHOESTRING LABEL
(LP)
Numero Group / NUM096LP / 00161873
12 Inch
10 soul classics from the Shoestring label on classic black vinyl.
Operating in a basement studio at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, pipeline man Howard Neal and his appropriately named Shoestring label was Alton, Illinois' answer to a question no one asked. Pressed in minuscule numbers and barely outside the 62002 zip code, the singles by The James Family, Jimmie Green, Pete & Cheez, and Carletta Sue are prime examples of cosmic midwestern disco in search of a break. This heavy weight 10-song LP is housed in a tip-on sleeve, and includes an essay and imagery that complete the picture of this pure expression of smalltown soul.[info sheet from distr.]