Search - Cado Belle :: Cado Belle

Caledonia Soul indeed.

Junglies | Morrisville, NC United States | 05/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the mid 1970s while living in London, one song dominated the airwaves. Actually it was an instrumental by the Average White Band entitled Pick Up the Pieces but it seemed to be on everystation all the time. What was interesting other than it being a great track was that it marked a period of what was in effect Caledonia Soul which came like a tide through the British Isles. Van Morrison fronted the Caledonia Soul Orchestra and was the most well known of the genre but there were many more besides.



Maggie Bell, late of Stone the Crows, was also a leading representative of the movement which inspired many people including my old friend Tony MacCananey, to get on board. I first came across Cado Belle when they performed on the BBC Radio One in Concert Series along with the O Band.



I was enthralled by the sound of the band but overawed by the singer who sounded as she had been born on the banks of the mississippi with a voice so soulful and beautiful it could not be believed. The sound quality was not great but I taped the show and still have the tape to this day although I no longer have a tape player.



Imagine my surprise and delight when I happened to put in Cado Belle into the amazon search engine and it turned up trumps. Although the price was a little high it has been definitely worth it to get hold of this gem.



Hearing Cado Belle again after 30 years or so has brought me to tears. The disc has not been out of my car player since I got it. On top of everything else there are an additional four tracks of superb music which had not been available until now. I do not know where to start. Well my two favourite tracks are Stones Throw from Nowhere and I Name this Ship Survival although I have to say that I prefer the live versions as they have no orchestration. Paul Buckmaster is certainly a Master of his craft but I do feel that his arrangements detract from the band and the voice. Perhaps we could see a live album from the BBC or a Cado Belle Naked to just show the sheer power of virtuosity of this band.



Each of the tracks on this album are well written and well arranged with the band acting in complete harmony while Maggie's voice is just a joy.



I am certainly glad that this album is finally available though I fear it will be lost in the United States while much lesser talent is promoted in the name of soul but which has much less than this singer and this band.



Hear this album and weep."

Before the word Neo-soul was coined ...

Peppino | 08/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...Lovely diminutive singer with the GRANDE voice, Maggie Reilly and a grupo of "craque" musicians styled a classic recording that received absolutely NO exposure in USA, and died on the vine.



From Japan, the import, if a bit expensive, features the only recording I am aware of from Cado Belle.



As England are entusiastic purveyors of USian soul/funk many fine recordings have been issued , and this recording is almost a "trunk of the tree" for sounds now being made by Bluey Maunick and his great "Incognito" aggregation! This is a grupo that had incredible telepatic interaction, and as Tower of Power, for example,could integrate improvisational elements more common in the freedom of the jazz idioma than in popular sounds.



Cado Belle features beautifully crafted melodies backed by rich harmonic concept in the chord changes, expert guitar soloing that cold be proud to match with the fretwork of the Steely Dan recordings of that time, and Maggies sweet overdubbed vocals , with help from the band.



This recording melted away with the avalanche of DISCO , there are MANY high points on this recording.(Unfortunate, a couple of tracks have a quase-disco groove, but the harmonic /melodic elements are superior, and the tracks are quite good.



"Paper in the Rain" is a ballad , memories fond of the departed Jimi Hendrix, Maggie's voice is a "cry of love" to JH. "Infamous Mister"(with the quase-disco ritmo , ih! haha) and "Rocked to Stony Silence" among all the near perfect tracks are the early indication that Maggie Reilly would continue to soar with her beautiful voice, and the músicos who back her are what could be said in the slang, "tight as a 60's go-go girl" hips-huggers!



A fun recording, IMO, possibly the legendary Average White Band could have been influenced by this recording to make their gem record "Soul Searching". English/Scottish funk idioma has been the keeper of the flame of sounds only recently being rediscovered in the place of origin , now called, for marketing reasons I imagine, "neo-soul". These sounds never left, they emigrated across the sea!



There is no justice in the world (musically speaking, in this case..), this recording should be well known, and not the hidden diamond waiting to be mined!

The CD contains additional tracks from (unreleased?) short-play. Not as good as the original recording, but a nice bonus!



100 stars , they play 'em outta the sky!"

Band Members - Correction

Mr. Rob Baxter | Aberdeen, Scotland | 10/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Further to several reviews stating that Maggie Bell from Stone The Crows fame is the female vocalist with Cado Belle, it was in fact Maggie Reilly .. who went on to provide vocals on some Mike Oldfield's hits such as 'Family Man' and 'Moonshadow'. As an aside, Maggie Reilly opted for a nominal one-off session fee of £500 for 'Moonshadow' over worldwide royalties .. Oops!"