There are two reasons I own this Best Of collection. I already own all the tracks on it (except one, which we will get to) so there had to be a good reason to get it. And yes, of course you guessed, it’s on coloured vinyl, Brass coloured to be exact, which in reality is a rather exotic shade of brown.

The second reason was the track I didn’t already have, Smoove & Turrell’s version of the Spencer Davis Group’s “I’m A Man”. Remember a few days ago while looking at their debut album “Antique Soul” I mentioned a version of it by Dan Roberts that Smoove had (re)mixed ? Turns out it’s the same backing track (possibly re-mixed again ?), with a few tweaks, this time with a vocal by John Turrell. Doubly turns out that it’s not really up to the level of the Dan Roberts version which is what led me to shelling out the tidy sum I mentioned to get that one on a 7”.

I’m A Man - https://youtu.be/fbnuN8VpVu8?si=N2MuudcCAmoF__e8

I’d like to think that with this title Smoove & Turrell were paying homage to their local boozer. The Crown Posada is, after all, a Victorian pub nestled beneath the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle. It was originally named simply The Crown until, sometime in the 19th-century, an owner with a wife from Spain decided to add the word Posada, the Spanish for hostelry, to the name. There is also a fine hostelry named The Posada in Wolverhampton. Here’s to fine hostelries everywhere.

But back to this album…if you cast your mind back to the end of September last year you may recall a very short blog post I wrote about Hot Chocolate’s album “Man To Man” and the only reason I owned it being for the track “You Could've Been A Lady” which I knew in a version by…ta-daaa…Smoove & Turrell. That very song is the first track on “Crown Posada”. Its a proper dancefloor banger and I was almost disappointed when I realised it was a cover.

More of the same, I like it. They end on another belter “New Jerusalem”…”And we built this pleasant land by workers and their hands, Now it crumbles oh how it crumbles just for their greed”…

You Could've Been A Lady - https://youtu.be/Dq3Ag5KTS6E?si=bor3LbUbEAjUuGdV

Smoove & Turrell never veer far from what they do (think of them as the AC/DC of danceable grooves) so these pieces about their records are likely to be short (lulling you into a sense of security for some monsters on the horizon).

This is music I don’t have to think about too hard for the most part. Infectious grooves, pleasant songs and a great singer is all  I need at times. That’s not to say Smoove & Turrell have nothing to say. While many of their songs are boy/girl out dancing at the weekend affairs the title track here looks at the affect other people’s wars have on those that have to fight them (“Queens and countries need their little boys, Playing with their lives like their latest toys”) and back on their first album “Beggarman” had some political points to make too. If you can make a point and have people dance to it you’re on to a winner. 

The album ends on a proper “end of the night” arms around your mates singalong, “Now Or Never” opening with the line “Your face it stood out like a bombed out house on the terrace”. Have a listen, just down there…

Now Or Never - https://youtu.be/OgfjeBLNi3g?si=f-hksdros2O4MSp5