rick clarke: guess who
Rick Clarke's Guess Who LP is one of the underground holy-grails of street soul. After being originally self-released in 1992, this record gets a reissue treatement by the fantastic Freestyle Records imprint. Despite being signed to Soul II Soul's Funki Dreds label at that time, Clarke was unable to resist the creative energy and urge to self-release this album. Guess Who features raw drum machines, simple but effective bass-lines and melodies, and at times, penciled musical ideas still in flux. Highlights include Jill Francis' sublime vocal on “Gonna Make You Happy”, Imaani's sugary soul harmonies on” Share My Love With You”, and the criminally short outro track “Sweet Vibrations”.
The album was recorded in a couple of days at Clarke's MJB Records studio in West Kensington, London, and it contains banger after banger indebted to the UK street soul scene in the early 90s. It was a scene that was characterized by the fusion of different genres. Rick Clarke masterfully crosses the boundaries of UK street soul with influences from house music, garage, hip hop and R&B. Guess Who is a perfect example of a special time in music, in which different types of instrumentation and creativity started to flow in some of the most important urban centers in the world. It blends different elements to create a unique sound that was ahead of its time. Available on vinyl, courtesy of Freestyle Records.