░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████████████████████████▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████████ ███████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████░ ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████ ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░███████ V E T E R A N S ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██████ ██████████ █████████ ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████▓ ░░█████████ █████████ █████▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░██████████ █████████ █████▒░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░░█████████ █████████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░█████████ ████████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░████ U R B A N ░░██████████████████ U N I T E D █████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ████ ████ ░░████████████████ █████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░████ ████ ░████████████████ ░█████ █████ █████░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░██████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████▒ ░████ ████ ░████████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████ ░████ ████ ░░██████████ ░█████ █████ ████░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░████ ░██████████ ░█████████▓ ░███████████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░█████ ░█████████ ░░████████ ░█████████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░█████ ░███████ ░░██████ ░███████ ████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░█████ ░██████ █████░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░███████ ░░████ ███████░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░████████ ░███ ████████░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░█████▓▓██ ░░██ ██▓▓█████░░░░░░ ░░░░░█████▓▓▓██ ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ██▓▓▓█████░░░░░ ░░░█████▓▓▓█▓██ ║ r e l e a s e i n f o ║ ██▓█▓▓▓█████░░░ ░░▓████▓▓███▓██ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ██▓███▓▓█████░░ ░░████▓▓████▓██ ██▓████▓▓████░░ ░█████▓█████▓██ ▌Artist__│ Billy Paul ██▓█████▓█████░ ░████▓▓██▒██▓██ ▌Title___│ Going East ██▓█████▓▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Label___│ Philadelphia International Records ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Genre___│ Soul ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Format__│ Album ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░████▓███▒██▓██ ▌Year____│ 1971 ██▓██▒███▓████░ ░░████▓█████▓██ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██▓█████▓████░░ ░░████▓█████▓██ ▌Time____│ 40:12 ██▓█████▓████░░ ░░░████▓████▓██ ▌Size____│ 97.24 MB ██▓████▓████░░░ ░░░░███▓▓███▓██ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██▓███▓▓███░░░░ ░░░░░███▓▓▓█▓██ ▌Source__│ Web Store ██▓█▓▓▓███░░░░░ ░░░░░░████▓▓▓██ ▌Quality_│ 320 kbps ██▓▓▓████░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░██████ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀╝ ██████░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░███ ███░░░░░░░░░ ░░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ T R A C K S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ 01. East 6:27 ░░ 02. (If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can't I Touch 2:41 ░░ You? ░░ 03. This Is Your Life 4:15 ░░ 04. Jesus Boy (You Only Look Like A Man) 4:17 ░░ 05. Magic Carpet Ride 5:19 ░░ 06. I Wish It Were Yesterday 3:48 ░░ 07. Compared To What 5:19 ░░ 08. Love Buddies 3:39 ░░ 09. There's A Small Hotel 4:27 ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ╔═══════════════╗ ░░ ║ N O T E S ║░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░ ╚═══════════════╝▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ░░ ░░ Some musical situations sound like a good idea during the concept stage, ░░ yet when it comes to the recording stage, and the acceptance stage, ░░ things go a bit sideways à and through the fault of no one in particular, ░░ itÆs simply a matter of construct, and how to bring those initial notions ░░ into reality. ░░ ░░ Going East would be Billy Paul's debut with the Philadelphia ░░ International Records label back in 1971, with two previous albums under ░░ his belt, the man was no novice when it came to music and the recording ░░ studio. What was attempted, mostly on his second venture, was to find ░░ that sweet spot that sat right between PaulÆs natural jazz inclinations ░░ and what was happening with the flowering soul music scene. Without a ░░ doubt, he did have some commercial success, though mostly with other ░░ musicians and music writers. Here, the direction was established to take ░░ a things a step further, much as The Beatles had done and looked to the ░░ east, though the concept here was to use what The Beatles brought back ░░ and incorporated into their music as that stepping stone, rather than ░░ going east himself. The goal was to keep those soul and jazz hybrid ░░ rhythms alive, while Paul made his run, and mix in some contemporary ░░ material to reinvent the nature of both soul and jazz à perhaps not one ░░ of the wisest decisions ever made. ░░ ░░ One of the strangest aspects of the album was the choice of the song ░░ ôMagic Carpet Ride,ö a singular rockinÆ number filled with heavy metal ░░ thunder, that while arrangers and producers Bobby Martin, Lenny Pakula ░░ and Thom Bell claimed that they ænearlyÆ had a hit with the song, in the ░░ music business, the term ænearlyÆ doesnÆt count for much. And that brings ░░ to light the other major issue with Going East, à it had three arrangers, ░░ and to my way of thinking, thatÆs two too many, and surely accounted for ░░ the album feeling scattered, not cohesive, and with too many ideas ░░ floating around and not one of them being full actualized. Add to that ░░ that not one song was penned by Billy Paul, and itÆs rather easy to see ░░ that the man had a difficult time putting his personal stamp on even a ░░ single track. ░░ ░░ While I would never want or desire to reduce Billy PaulÆs career to his ░░ sensational hit ôMe and Mrs. Jones,ö the song did have all the hooks, the ░░ slow spacious build, the raspy vocals, and the burning arrangement, not ░░ to mention the subject matter to make the track a career defining moment. ░░ With his sophisticated cover of ôCompared to Whatö he reimagines swing, ░░ and with ôMagic Carpet Rideö rising slowly before resolving into a flute ░░ and vocal exclamation, we know something is happening here, but we just ░░ donÆt know what it is. Other tracks consist of gliding strings along with ░░ morphing and shifting percussions that are interfused with a resolve that ░░ is almost epic in its nature, Going East was not appreciated in its time, ░░ and only now is being rediscovered, though still, that lack of ░░ cohesiveness continues to manifest itself; with people either instantly ░░ ægetting itÆ or not. ░░ ░░ ThereÆs no in-between stage here, thereÆs no learning curve, if you dig ░░ the grooves laid down here then they will be friends for life, if not, ░░ itÆs an easy album to dismiss. Sadly, most people will be left on the ░░ fence, knowing in their hearts that the material presented here is first ░░ rate, that the concept is well worth consideration, but they just arenÆt ░░ able to step down from the fence and live with this body of work. ░░ ░░ https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bx67pjfwoflvxysdrvpvfz3ljya ░░ ░░█ ░░███ ░█ ░░░░██ █▓█ ████░ ░░░░░██ y o o v e e y o o █████ █████ ░░░░░░██ g o t t h e ▒████░ ██▒▒██ ░░░░░░░█ ░ ██▓██ ▓█▒██ ░░░░░░░█ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ ▒▓███ ▒███ ░░░░░░░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ █░█ ░███████ ████░ ░███ ░░░░░░░█ ░███░███░█ █░███░███ █████████▒ █████ ██ ░░░░░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░░░█ ██████████████ █████ █ ░░░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ██████████████████ ████▓ ░░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ████████████████████▒ ░░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ▓██████▒▒▒▒███████░ ░░░██ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ▓█████▒███████████ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ █████▒▒░████████ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░█ ██▓██▒██▓███▒ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░█ █░█ ░░░█ ██████████ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ░░░█ ░█ ░█ █░███░█ ░███ ▒███████ /─────────────────────────\ ░░░██ ███ ░| shouts 2 all the groups |░ ░░░░██ ████ ░| putting out |░ ░░░░░██ █████ ░| quality music |░ ░░░░░░███ ████▒ \─────────────────────────/ ░░░░░░░▓▓█████████████▒ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀