70s RARE NORTHERN SOUL/DEEP ANN SEXTON GONE 2 LONG ORIG

	£		69
	$		91

PLEASE NOTE:

THE POSTAGE ON THIS ITEM IS NOT FREE!

I REALLY COULDN'T AFFORD TO START THE BIDDING AT JUST 99p IF IT ONLY SOLD FOR THAT AMOUNT.

THE FEES THAT EBAY AND PAYPAL CHARGE ALL SELLERS HAVE TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, AS WELL AS THE P&P COSTS, SO I'M SURE THAT PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS WILL UNDERSTAND. ALL OF MY ITEMS ARE WELL-PARCELLED, AND MOST ARE SENT RECORDED.

PLEASE WAIT FOR THE INVOICE BEFORE FINALISING PAYMENT.

Postal rates:

One 7" single: £1.80; 30p per 7" afterwards.

One 12" single/LP: £2.80; 50p per 12"/LP afterwards.

YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO PICK UP THE ITEM IN PERSON.

BECAUSE OF IT'S BOOK VALUE, IF THIS SINGLE SELLS FOR A 'CONSIDERABLE' AMOUNT, IT WILL BE SENT BY SPECIAL DELIVERY, AT A COST OF £5.

OVERSEAS WINNERS WILL AUTOMATICALLY PAY £10 FOR SPECIAL DELIVERY.

I've made the decision to sell some of my very large collection of 7", 12" and LPs.

ALL THE ITEMS I AM SELLING COME FROM NEARLY FORTY YEARS OF COLLECTING.

I AM NOT A DEALER.

There will be some real gems, so make sure you keep your eyes open.

SOME OF MY LISTINGS CARRY 'BORROWED' SOUND CLIPS BENEATH THE TITLE.

I AREN'T QUITE ADVANCED ENOUGH YET TO PROVIDE MY OWN!

From now on, most of my items will start at just 99p, unless they are valued at £30 or more.

70s RARE NORTHERN SOUL/CROSSOVER

FEMME HEAVEN WITH DEEP SOUL A-SIDE

ANN SEXTON & THE SOUL MASTERS

"YOU'RE LETTING ME DOWN"

HEAR HERE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJw5blFCSPE

b/w

"YOU'VE BEEN GONE TOO LONG"

HEAR HERE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q0vMnzq-MQ

(US: Seventy 7 77-104, 1971)

Vinyl

Record conditon: Excellent - (A); Very good + (B) (plays Excellent to Excellent ++ (A); Excellent ++ (B))

Labels condition: Spotless (A); Excellent (B)

Ann Sexton (1950 - )

Born in Greensville, South Carolina, this southern soulstress began her career on David Lee's tiny Impel label (based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida). She recorded "You're Letting Me Down"/"You've Been Gone Too Long" as her debut single, and it subsequently impressed John Richbourg (the boss of 'JR Enterprises'), who gave it a wider audience on his recently-formed Seventy 7 label. Ann continued to pour her soul into recording until the late 70s, releasing a total of ten singles and one album, before retiring. Most of her output is relatively inexpensive, and well worth seeking out. Her final single, in particular, is a skipping Northern dancer, called "You Got To Use What You Got", and comes highly recommended. She has recently revived her career, making an appearance at the Baltic Soul Weekender two years in a row. 2004's "Anthology" (available on vinyl and extended CD) is probably the best way of sampling the work of this top quality femme singer.

Both sides of the single on offer here were written by David Lee, with the help of Melvin and Ann Benton on "You've Been Gone Too Long". Benton was Ann Sexton's married name, and Melvin was her husband. "You've Been Gone Too Long" went onto the playlist of the influential Blackpool Mecca DJ, Ian Levine, in 1974, and it's been on and off the decks ever since. It's just as popular now as it was in the mid-70s, although the days not too long ago, when the very common multi-coloured reissues regularly topped the £50 mark, seem to have gone. Still, it's much nicer to own a copy on an original yellow issue, so bid accordingly. Of course, you may prefer to wait until the Impel variety comes along. The guide price for one of those is £500, so good luck!

This one is currently priced by Manship at £150 for a minter.

A. Stunning, deep soul ballad; listen in full via the above youtube link.

B. Magical brass intro; rapid-fire, jerky rhythm; total heaven; listen in full via the above youtube link.

The vinyl on the A-side looks just below excellent, with some form of rubbing in the deadwax. The B-side has similar marks in the deadwax, plus a medium amount of 'swirling'. From this, I assume that it was once on a juke box. The sound quality on the A-side is at least excellent or higher, with a faint degree of background noise during the first few seconds. The B-side plays well above excellent throughout, and close to perfect at times.

The A-side label is immaculate. The B-side label has a medium-sized tick in crayon (see scan).

The edges are completely chip-free.