Trust Me #30 - I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor
Whenever I visit the wonderful Monorail in Glasgow, I often gravitate to the soul section. There are always wonderful compilation records available and for me, they can easily make a case for the most value for money records in the store. Most recently, I've bought 2 of the
Shaolin Soul compilations - songs that RZA from Wu-Tang Clan has sampled - he has unbelievable taste!
Kent Records are arguably the masters of the soul compilation. Originally released back in 1982, their For Dancers Only compilation is a record I pulled out of the rack while browsing in Monorail one day, many years ago. I am a real sucker for sleeve notes and some soul comps go to the trouble of having a track-by-track run through.
On the For Dancers Only sleevenotes, the words every track is a great 60's dancer leapt out at me before the curator, Harboro' Horrace, went on to say the record was for dancers, drinkers and DJ's. Those words were enough for me.
That's the other reason why I love soul compilations - indeed, all kinds of compilations. They are great for DJ-ing as (unless your a purist) they mean you don't have to cart quite as many records around! When I bought this some friends and I would put on the odd DJ night in the downstairs basement of a pub called O'Henry's (now the Yes Bar) across from the famous Horseshoe Bar in Drury Street, Glasgow.
We always played vinyl. And on the rare occasions I do DJ, I like to use vinyl. I'm not a purist who plays originals only and I totally get the ease of using downloads/streaming, but I love the thrill of the needle drop and the skill of getting the next song right.
the aforementioned Shaolin Soul record - when I DJ'd in Mono in November 2021
Anyway, For Dancers Only was full of songs I could play when I DJ'd but one jumped out at me in particular - the mighty I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor.
After a glorious introduction with horns leading us into a groove, there is a run of
I Can Feel Your Love backing vocals sounding sweet and sublime, and then we're introduced to Felice Taylor's voice cutting through; strong, true, soulful and packed with emotion.
I can't explain this feeling that I get when you pass by
I guess I always knew that your love would get me by and by
I see the stars above me and my heart starts to cry
Cause you're the only one that I need by my side
And I can feel your love, oh yeah, coming down on me
And I can feel your love, oh yeah, coming down on me
What a vocal! The song is relentless, the backing vocals are delicious, the beat is perfect and somehow beautifully understated, the horns stab in all the right places.
And then things are lifted in a short instrumental section with horns to warm hearts before kicking back in to soar higher.
My darling when, I feel alone
I feel like I, just can't go on
Nothing seems to go right
Baby when you're, out of sight
What a song! It never fails to make me smile or reach for the volume to crank it up. I Can Feel Your Love continues to blow me away every time I hear it. Enjoy.
You'll find a list (and links to) of all the previous songs featured in the Trust Me series below.
And you can check them all out via my Spotify playlist by searching for Everything Flows - Trust Me or by
CLICKING HERE