Soul in Print

Soul music remains the biggest ‘underground’ music scene in the world with each weekend, pre-Covid19, seeing countless soul nights and weekenders fill the diaries. Records, on often obscure labels, change hands regularly for four figure sums, while many artists come to Britain countless years after they first stepped into a recording studio to sing tracks that they had to re-learn the words to as it had been so long since they last sung it to an appreciative audience.
But for many to learn about those ‘four-figure’ tracks and those who recorded them, they have had to rely on countless diehards on the scene, the ‘anoraks’ so to speak. Those who seek out details of an artist’s career and compile discographies of the labels on which they recorded and then take the time to put it all into print in the form of a fanzine, or if finances allow, a fully-fledged magazine.
Some of those publications failed to last beyond one issue, others slightly longer, and although they do not command the same monetary value as the records, many will fetch considerably more than the music publications found on magazine shelves today.
There have been books on the artists, the record labels and the venues and now ‘Soul In Print’ fills a gap, covering the fanzines and magazines which did much to keep the scene alive and maintain the interest which continues today?

Author Biography

Although the author of more than two dozen books, all football related, [mainly on a particular club that he won’t name here in case it offends], of which one national journalist wrote: “When it comes to the club’s history, it would be fair to describe him as the most prolific author in the business”, this is Iain McCartney’s first venture into the world of music.

He is a regular contributor to the ‘Soul Up North’ fanzine, whilst also hosting ‘Soul Train’ a local community radio show. He can also be found DJ’ing locally now and again and was instrumental in bringing the Goldsoul Motown and Soul Weekender to Dumfries where he lives.

Despite having spent all his life in south-west Scotland he did manage to attend the Manchester Twisted Wheel and Blackpool Mecca, but was to miss out on a few years on the scene due to travelling around the country watching football. But slowly he got back into the music and a couple of magazines made him look out other, older issues, being keen to read up on what he had missed. The pile became bigger, so much so that it fuelled the contributions to ‘Soul Up North’ and kick-started the idea for this book.