The Flames "Soulfire!!" 1968 South African masterpiece of Psychedelic Soul Music.
‘Soulfire!!’ is without a doubt a masterpiece of South African soul music. From 1964 until 1967 the line-up consisted of Steve Fataar on guitar, Brother Fataar on bass, Ricky Fataar on drums and vocalist Edries Fredericks on guitar. This was the lineup that produced the first two albums, and more singles. Edries left the Flames after having sung lead on both these albums. He was briefly replaced by Baby Duval in 1967. The same year the group was joined by Blondie Chaplin. He can be heard as lead singer on the single ‘For Your Precious Love’ released in 1968. Together with Ricky Fataar he became a full member of the American super group The Beach Boys from 1971 to 1973, during which time the albums ‘So Tough’, ‘Holland’ and ‘In Concert’ were made and released. Ricky Fataar also did session drumming for other records by individual Beach Boys members.
When The Flames arrived in the United States in 1970 at the invitation of Al Jardine and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, they changed their name to The Flame, since there was competition from reggae group The Flames and James Brown’s own The Famous Flames. They started writing new material; powerful rockers, ballads, mood pieces and symphonic masterpieces that got a release on Brother, a local Nashville, Tennessee record label. The album was produced by Carl Wilson and it must be their rarest release ever, since it was distributed only locally in the beginning. Later on it was released in Uruguay, the Netherlands, the UK and Canada..
Personnel:
Steve Fataar (gtr)
Brother Fataar (bs)
George Faber (drms)
Eugene Champion (gtr)
Ricky Fataar (drms)
Edries Fredericks (gtr)
Baby Duval (gtr)
Blondie Chaplin (gtr)
