WELCOME TO SIR SHAMBLING'S DEEP SOUL HEAVEN
Here you’ll find articles – some brief, some less so – on soul music and the artists who made it. Mostly concentrating on deep soul and southern soul recordings from below the Mason - Dixon line in the Golden Age between about 1960 and 1980 when the dreaded synthesisers began to take over. But like all the “rules” of the site, this one was made to be broken, and a lot of other sorts of black music have found their way here as well.
To help you find your way around the site:
Artists - an ever growing index that will lead you to biographies, discographies, label shots and, of course, the music from deep and southern soul artists - famous and not so famous. Sound files you can listen to or download are highlighted by this symbol 
Articles - Index of some reviews, articles and ramblings from Sir Shambling and various guest writers. These include small features on what this site is all about, a definition of the music highlighted here, who Sir Shambling is and a "thank you" list of friends without whom this site would not have been possible.
Links - Sir Shambling's favourite websites, record dealers, magazines and other friends of this site.
Contact Sir Shambling - leave your comments positive or not right here.
NEW!! Search - Search for artists, labels or anything or anybody else covered in this website.
NEW!! CD Reviews - a section highlighting CDs both old and new of interest to southern and deep soul fans.
Latest News
6 May - new artist pages added - Minnie Epperson, Little Lewis, Wes Lewis, Raymond George and Little Janice.
Additionally Pete Nickols has added a new article in our occasional Superstars of Southern Soul series - this piece is on the excellent singer Betty Harris. You can find it here.
22 April - new artist pages added - Billy Hamlin, Jimmy Hambric, Jackie Hunt, Lois Lane and Ramona Jones.
15 April - new artist pages added - Joe Dossett, Charles Berry, Sonny Williams, Eddy Giles and Mitch Mitchell & Gene King.
There are also several new CD reviews. You can find the full list here.
1 April - new artist pages added - Bossatettes, Rudy Mockabee, Oscar & Steve, Joe Johnson and Carl Stewart.
And I have written a review of Volume 2 of Bob McGrath's wonderful Soul Discography whichyou can find here.
And Pete Nickols has kindly contributed another article in the occasional Superstars of Southern Soul series - this time on the great Oscar Toney Jr.
Pete has also kindly written more additions to the CD Reviews section which you can find here.
25 March - new artist pages added - George Torrence, Freda Torche, Les Watson, Ruth White and Jimmy Dotson written by my great friend Greg Burgess.
18 March - new artist pages added - Willie Charles Gray, Larry Banks, Joe Odom, Alexander Patton and Leroy Horne.
And Pete Nickols has kindly contributed another article ib the occasional Superstars of Southern Soul series - this time on the great Joe Tex.
There are additions to the CD Reviews section which you can find here.
11 March - new artist pages added - Buddy Lamp, Simms Twins, Johnny Tipp, Arnold Mitchell and Ben Mitchell.
26 February - new artist pages added - Matthew White, Delores Johnson, Sir Thompson, Jessie Glover and Andrew Jeffrey.
19 February - new artist pages added - Nat Fross, James B, Little Reuben, Cry Baby Curtis and Jerry Cook.
12 February - new artist pages added - Fred Hughes, Jimmy Thorpe, Ollie Wiggins, Prince Eddie and Claude Huey.
5 February - Again, in response to a large number of requests I've started a new series of articles on the Superstars Of Southern Soul. This will an occasional series with new artist added to the list from time to time. The series kicks off with a fine article by Pete Nickols on one of his heroines, Candi Staton, which you can find here. I've also contributed an article on one of my heroes Z Z Hill, which you can find here. You can find the full list of articles on this site here. I'm very grateful to Pete as ever for all his energy and enthusiasm.
29 January - In response to a great many requests I've added a new section to my website - CD Reviews. This will cover both new releases and older favourites of interest to southern and deep soul enthusiasts. I intend this section to grow considerably over the next few months as we get up to date with the "backlog" of releases from the last 20 years or so. I'd like to thank Pete Nickols particularly for his hard work in kicking this section off. You can find the list of reviews here.
Additionally new artist pages added - Camille LaVah, Nobody's, Sharen Clark, James Fry.
22 January - new artist pages added - Danny White, Edna Echols, Carlena Weaver, Joanne Murray and Jimmy Outler.
15 January - new artist pages added - Dynamic Adam, Gary Wicks, Mighty Sensations, Della Marie and Clarence Mobley.
8 January 2012 - new artist pages added - Cynthia Sheeler, James Dudley, Bobby Lacour, Delores Lynn and the Soul Twins.