Welcome back Soul People!

I hope you enjoyed the two 45s I posted earlier in the week? With the long awaited arrival of Friday finally upon us, I thought I’d throw down a nice slice of uplifting instrumental soul to help ease you into weekend mode!

Today’s 45 is ‘Soulful Strut’ from the Brunswick label and comes courtesy of Young-Holt Unlimited. I’d originally included this as part of the We’re Doin’ It guest post that I dropped for Scholar over at the truly fantastic Souled On Music, but felt that this track needed another airing on it’s own today, maybe something to do with the bright spring sunshine outside, who knows??

Young-Holt Unlimited hailed from Chicago, Illinois and were formed in 1966 originally as The Young-Holt Trio with Isaac Holt, Eldee Young and Don Walker. Originally Holt and Young were members of the Ramsey Lewis group who left to pursue a more popular sound.

The transition to Young-Holt Unlimited came in 1968 after Don Walker left and was replaced with Ken Chaney. The group had several notable hits but it wasn’t until 1968 that they hit the mainstream with ‘Soulful Strut’ which made #3 and sold well over a million copies. It was also used on Barbara Acklin’s ‘Am I The Same Girl’

The group eventually disbanded in 1974 and Isaac Holt and Eldee Young rejoined Ramsey Lewis for a new album in the 80’s entitled ‘Reunion’

The track has a Tighten up-esque feel to it, with some really nice snappy drums and rolling piano licks and definitely should be what’s required to help you enjoy the weekend sunshine…..while it still lasts!

I thankfully have an extended weekend away from ‘The Coal Face’. If all goes well it will be spent amongst other things, reorganizing and re-cataloguing my messy and extremely unorganized crates after the recent relocation of Hook and Sling HQ. I plan to return mid-week with something special for you, so enjoy the weekend, stay safe and I’ll catch you all on the flip side