All I Need Is Your Love

In the mail today was the debut issue of There's That Beat!, a new soul fanzine. Inside is an article on Carnival Records, a label that released records out of northern New Jersey. After reading the article, I immediately went looking for the few Carnival 45s I own (and wondered why I don't own more....). I also realized that I had yet to feature one of my favorite soul records, The Manhattans' "All I Need Is Your Love".

Opening with a guitar line, the horns and rhythm come in and the backing vocals set up the chorus. The lead vocals come in and it's all business. The sound is a textured, multi-layered sound, vocals and backing vocals supported by the guitar, horns covering the background, the percussion - drums and congas - seeming everywhere (especially like how the cymbals and the congas interact at the start). The group is tight, the production is crisp. A vibraphone accompanies the conga for the bridge, which adds a nice transitional element. Then the group comes back together to bring it on home. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.