Hank "Soul Man" Mullen
Listen is a really fine piece of deep soul, sung with a great deal of emotional depth by Hank Mullen on the tiny Audel label out of Buffalo, NY.The musicians involved (down in Macon, GA) do a bang up job of backing up Mullen's great pleading vocals who has just the right amount of the Big O in his tone and phrasing. The horns and the rhythm section are well arranged but the focus of the song is firmly on the singer - as is only right. And Mullen certainly deserves his "Soul Man" tag here.
UPDATE ~ This 45 has been reissued by Daptone subsidiary Ever-Soul. And on their website you can read about the recording, the members of the band and some more about Mr Mullen himself. You can find the piece here. Perhaps the most important - and very sad - info is that shortly after the original release of this single Hank Mullen died of a heart attack while only in his mid-20s
Thanks to all who sent me info on the Ever-Soul relase including Naoya Yamauchi, my friend Greg Burgess, Kevin Briscoe and Frederic Adrian.