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Icemen

The Icemen comprised James Stokes and Gino Armstrong and a more righteous pair of soulmen it's hard to imagine. Although they only cut a small handful of New York 45s each of them features their heavy duty gospel drenched vocals. Their discs for Johnny Brantley "(My Girl) She's A Fox" and "Only Time Will Tell" are ballads of the highest order. The latter may just take preference for the stronger meoldy and the fine horn and string sections. Gino Stokes had the higher baritone and most of the lead action but the interplay of their voices is simply wonderful. The first Samar 45 is famous for being one of those tracks that Jimi Hendrix played on when he was learning his trade. And while I bow to nobody in my dislike of his own name recordings, while he was playing within the discipline of a session framework he used to turn in more than adequate guitar fills as here.

The duo's ABC 45 is another super performance. "How Can I Get Over A Fox Like You" is a plodding deep ballad of great power, written like many of their tracks by the Poindexter Brothers and given a first class production by the great George Kerr. It grows on you like a creeper round a vine - you find yourself humming the hook long after the cut is over. Perhaps even better than this was their rare Ole-9 release. This sounds so much like the ABC 45 it must have been recorded at the same session. "It's Gonna Take A Lot" makes use of similar chord changes as well and arranger Richard Tee is credited on both 45s. I love the strong horn charts here and the guys vocals are just sensational. When the story of soul duos is finally written the Icemen should feature pretty near the top of the pile.  

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