Posted on 05/21/2009
Receiving a pre-release version of this CD, I did not get a chance to see the packaging or liner notes that have become a major part of The Numero Group's look on their project, thus this will be judged on the music alone. Smart's Palace is a continuation of the label's fantastic Eccentric Soul series where they look at different labels and artists, thus focusing on a specific region of the country that seems lost at a time when you can no longer tell where a singer or musician is from. In this case the focus is Wichita, Kansas, and the soul scene was like many across the country: vibrant, alive, and always willing to take changes.

Smart's Palace represents the music of the Smart Brothers, and more specifically the Solo label. When there was a national hit on the R&B charts, everyone hoped to get the same kind of recognition by doing a slight knock-off. There were (and are) thousands of those out there, but what you also had in the process were artists who made attempts to show off what they were about through their upbringing, where family had a major influence on singing and playing, and perhaps the community found at church. The CD explores music in the shadows of Motown, Stax, and Chess, and moves its way in time when things became looser, funkier, and hotter than ever, with more jazz and funk influence than the Northern soul sound that begins the disc. You can hear a bit of Sam & Dave's style in The Smart Brothers' "I'm Not Ashamed" and "Barefoot Philly," and they could have been making hits well into the 70's had they been given the same exposure as their contemporaries. One of the more interesting songs is a cover of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" as performed by Chocolate Snow. When I first listened to the song, it reminded me of Sun Goddess-era Ramsey Lewis and I thought the song was mindblowing. It wasn't until the end of the song that I looked at the cover and realized it was a Beatles song. I played the song again and while the "I read the news today, oh boy" melody is there, there's nothing else in the song that makes it distinctly Betalesque - they could have gotten away with calling it "3am Taco" and it becoming a cratedigger's secret weapon.

That is what one will find throughout Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace, the hopes and dreams of people who were ready to offer up musical ammunition for anyone who wished to be blown away, or to have a memory attached to these songs. It may have been another failure in the eyes of the Wichita music scene, but there was a sense of creativity and compassion when they made these songs, and you can't front on that. The unknown now becomes known, and if today's artists had any of their parents' compassion, they would look into these songs and bring them to a generation that sorely needs it.

- John Book