When we began to search for the owners of the Sounds Of Memphis and XL record labels, we were aware of a small number of their releases, perhaps a CD or two’s worth of material – an interesting project to do some work on if we could secure a deal. It took us a few years to track down Gene and Linda Lucchesi and then a little bit longer to do the deal and get into the climate-controlled tape vault. Sitting at Ardent Studios in Memphis lining up the tapes and transferring the music contained on the reels we realised that we had something more exciting. This was an untapped mine of great recordings – Southern soul at its very finest. Our first objective was to get a Barbara Brown album completed and then a great compilation. Once we had completed those we realised that we hadn’t even touched the surface of what was available. Gene Lucchesi, who had started the label in the mid-60s, had been fairly free with his studio time while employing the best producers and the best musicians in town.
For full details see releases/products below.
