The Faithful Brothers - northern soul from the Tel Aviv Soul Club
The Faithful Brothers debut on Record Kicks with 2 tracks, available as digital download and on limited edition 45.
June 11, 2018
Another offspring of the Tel Aviv Soul Club, The Faithful Brothers is Men of North Country's (Acid Jazz Records) sister-band, lead by singer Yashiv Cohen, who teamed up with veteran vinyl diggers, brothers Yoni and Bin Neeman, to form this eight-piece Deep Soul combo. Their official debut on Record Kicks will be available on limited edition 45 and digital download, on June 15.
The A side, "Crossroads of Love", is a Northern Soul / R&B stormer that will set any dancefloor on fire.
On the flip side is the stunning Soul ballad "One More Time", expected to become an instant classic on the Rare Soul scene across the world.
Whether or not you’ve ever asked yourself this question, you might find the answer surprising, there is a Northern Soul scene in Tel Aviv. If you're a soulie and in town, look for Tel Aviv Soul Club, and you might find yourself swaying across a talcum-powder covered floor to Tel Aviv's own unique blend of classic Northern Soul 45s and early 1960's R&B sounds. Chances are that those 45s will come out of the record boxes of one of the brothers Neeman, Johnnie and Bin, the sons of an Israeli diplomat, who traveled abroad extensively as children, in the 1960's and 1970's, discovering along the way the wonderful world of rare soul music, while their peers were either into progressive rock or disco.
10 years ago Yashiv Cohen singer and band leader of Men of North Country (MONC), a Tel Aviv band with a distinct sound, blending soul, rock, and British pop, that has recorded two albums for the London based label Acid Jazz Records, lured the brothers Neeman, whose sets have been hitherto confined to their respective living rooms, into playing their records to the Tel Aviv public and Tel Aviv Soul Club aka TASC was born. Story, as Yashiv tells it, is that since Neeman means Faithful in Hebrew, he woke up one morning with the crystallization that TASC must create a spin-off, a soul band, called the Faithful Brothers, where the original Neeman/Faithful brothers would be joined by top Tel Aviv musicians to create new original soul music and R&B inspired records. With a nod to the Northern Soul slogan Keep the Faith, the name seemed too perfect to waste.
It took a few years of feet dragging, but gradually the Neeman brothers succumbed to their fate, to continue their musical progression, from collectors to DJs to musicians and now it is finally all coming together, as The Faithful Brothers – an eight piece band behind Yashiv, complete with a mighty brass section.
“This is unbelievable”, says Johnnie. ”After decades of revering all those great soul records, to actually be able to compose new music and play it, with some fabulous musicians, and to see the inside of a recording studio for the first time, now when I'm in my 50s, is just mind blowing”.
Get "Crossroads of Love / One More Time" here:
https://thefaithfulbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/crossroads-of-love-one-more-time
Photo credits:
Doron Farhi