Various Soulful Sounds From Soulville - The Soulville Jaywalking Story (CD)

(Get Hip Archive Series) 25 tracks

What's new from Soulville? Is Soulville back? What happened to Soulville? These are questions that are asked over and over again. Thee Reverend Bobby Fulton, the original founder of Soulville, says that Soulville never disappeared and that soul music is still alive and well at Soulville. This compilation album features a revue by the Soulville Allstars. Soulville now has an office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is manufactured, marketed and distributed by Get Hip Archive Series.

Soulville Records was founded in September 1967 by Bobby Fulton, Toby Young, Jimmy Walker and Hulie Diggs to fill the void of a gospel/soul label in the Harrisburg and central Pennsylvania area. The label's first release was Nobody To Blame,Nothing Matters by the Soulville All Stars, a young, racially mixed eight-piece band from Harrisburg. This 45 number didn't attract much attention, but their second one did: Be My Girl, I'm Gonna Get You was very well received.

Jay-Walking was launched as another attempt to get more radio airplay. Like many labels, Soulville found that DJs didn't want to play every release from a particular label. It was named in honor of Jimmy Walker, who ironically dissolved his partnership soon after. Toby Young also took a back seat after that, leaving Bobby Fulton in the lead role. The split was amicable, and everyone remained friends.

Fulton retained the rights to Soulville and Rob-Cole Music. Fulton even served as road manager/organist for the label's biggest hit, the Continental Four. Bobby Fulton was also one of the singers for the soul group The Emperors, which had a dance hit, "Karate," that is still popular in soul, dance and DJ circles. Although none of the other acts had any national success, each recording shows outstanding quality, ranging from soulful ballads to tuff funk to Motown-style pop.

In 1972, Bobby Fulton moved to Pittsburgh to become operations manager at Black Circle Records. Although Soulville will not release any more records, the label has always remained alive for Bobby Fulton. He still listens to the Soulville - Jaywalking recordings all the time and is very excited to finally tell his exciting story and have the chance to revive the label. Soulville and the dream live on!