Johnny Hammond - Gears
I bought this from Out Of The Past Records in Afflecks Palace in Manchester in 1988. Six tracks, and every one a killer. One of those soul albums that I learnt about via a sample (Stetsasonic sampled the title track), which revealed so much depth beyond the song that originally attracted me. It was also my first proper taste of the Mizell Brothers production style. Amazing musicians (Michael White and Chuck Rainey for a start), with Larry and Fonce Mizell adding their spacey edge to proceedings. Caroline at Out Of The Past was the perfect specialist vendor, and was quite happy to spend hours playing and teaching me about soul music. A lot of my favourite soul albums are ones that I bought from her.