Robert "Red Top" YoungRobert “Red Top” Young had a long and varied career in the music business which you can read more about here. He played keyboards from a young age and after going professional covered a wide range of musical bases from jazz and blues through to country & western to pop and soul.

His early records as Lee Abel and / or the Red Ryders are all instrumental and could best be described as lounge jazz – not the sort of stuff I rave about on these pages. But his later releases as Red Top Young and the Young family are very much worth a listen or two.

The first for Tri-City coupled the lively Soul Power (not the Sandpebbles tune) with a dead slow Barbara which featured a super baritone sax solo and fills probably from producer Choker Campbell. Young’s vocals are well phrased and helped by some fine harmonies from his family.

But the killer for me is Young’s second very rare and expensive 45 on Soulsations. Your Future has had a good few plays on the Northern scene and is OK but the flip – a brilliant deep side called Take Care Of Her has had no attention at all before this page was written. And this is a disgrace frankly as it is a marvellous ballad full of all the right ingredients. With its lovely chord progression and classic deep soul arrangement Take Care Of Her features a very fine Young vocal over well organised horns and Young’s own tasteful organ fills.

Many more tracks like this from Red Top Young would have been so welcome.