Pittsburgh Diamond - The Soul Of Tommy Hunt - New Book
From Tommy's first waxings with teenage combo The Five Echoes in the late 1950s which lead to an invitation to join one of Chicago's biggest vocal harmony groups The Flamingos and the recording of the million selling single 'I Only Have Eyes For You', onto Tommy's solo career with the Scepter record label scoring the number one r&b hit with his very first release, Human, and the honour of being the first vocalist to officially record the now classic Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, which legend dictates was written specially for him.
The swinging sixties saw releases with the Dynamo, Capitol and Polydor labels and as a new decade dawned a relocation to the UK and Tommy's highly successful involvement in the '70s Northern Soul scene and the hit singles 'Cracking Up Over You', 'Loving On The Losing Side' and the iconic and historic album release via Spark records, 'Live At Wigan Casino'.
Sadly, Tommy passed away aged 91 on February 12th 2025 leaving behind a legacy of great records, 'Pittsburgh Diamond - The Soul Of Tommy Hunt' charts the history of all these seminal recordings along with the friendships and hardships enjoyed and suffered in-between.
NOTES AND EXCERPTS
CHAPTER 2 'CHICAGO'
Stepfather Paul 'Jelly' Holt, drummer with Chicago combo The Five Blazes who in 1952, as a slimmed down unit, scored a number one r&b hit with their debut 'United' label release 'Mary Jo'. Jelly initially supported stepson Tommy's embryonic career by allowing the teenager to accompany the band on stage at selected gigs until Tommy's solo contributions became a little 'too' well received!
CHAPTER 4 'AWOL AND ECHOES'
The formation of first group 'proper', The Five Echoes and their first release 'Lonely Mood'/'Baby Come Back To Me' via Sabre records. A sizeable local hit with Tommy singing second tenor and the group backed by The Fats Coles band (Fats the less famous brother of Nat King Cole). The follow up 45 sadly not featuring Tommy who was replaced for no better reason than being imprisoned for desertion from the US Airforce! Ex member of The Highway QCs and future 1968 'Who's Making Love' hitmaker Johnnie Taylor stepped in to take his place.
CHAPTER 5 'A FLAMBOYANCE OF FLAMINGOS'
Several years on we have Tommy's enlistment into one of Chicago's most famous doo-wop groups, The Flamingos. Originally only a temporary position that lead to full time membership and the recording of one of the biggest singles of the group's career, 'I Only Have Eyes For You'. It was at one of the first series of concerts Tommy ever played with the band that he met for the first time the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. Playing on the same bill at the Casino Theatre in Toronto, Canada, Tommy couldn't believe how 'black' Elvis sounded and decided he just had to meet him. He knocked on the singer's dressing room door which Tommy noticed was the only one featuring a 'gold star'. "He invited me in and we just sat around and laughed, talked about music, he asked who my favourite artist was and he said he loved Ray Charles. 'You know, your voice is very close to black peoples'' I said, 'How do you find that voice within yourself, that groove, that feeling?' Elvis replied, 'We, I've learned it from you, I've learned it from black people. I'd stand outside the clubs where black people played. I couldn't go in 'cos I was too young and I'd just listen at the guys playing and singing. I just loved the way they sounded. I just listened intently and I made myself learn how to do that!'
"It was just a nice, little, warm conversation and what a lovely personality I though he had. Then I left and went back to my dressing room and told the fellas, ''I've just met Elvis!!'"
CHAPTER 7 ' THE APOLLO'
Throughout his career Tommy had many friendships with his performing peers, one of the biggest and deepest with Brunswick recording artist 'Mr Excitement' himself, the irreplaceable 'Jacke Wilson'. "I first met him at The Apollo, The Flamingos were on the show with him. He was a phenomenal dancer and singer. I was crazy about his voice. Me and him ran together, we went out to drink together, eat together we gelled. Where drink was concerned Jackie could hold up with the best, but he wasn't as good as me! Jackie was a strange guy. The gangsters had him hanging out of a 15 storey building one night because he owed them money" They were getting ready to drop him if he didn't pay up. Jackie had one of the greatest voice in the world and he had one thing seldom mentioned these days... Talent! If Jackie had come to live in the UK he would have laid this country flat! Jackie I miss a lot, he was a character, one of my best mates and I think about him all the time!"
CHAPTER 12 ' THE KING OF NORTHERN SOUL'
The 1970s saw Tommy moving forward into one of his most successful chapter, Northern Soul and his many appearances at Wigan Casino. "When I first saw the club I was in a taxi and told the driver, 'You've got the wrong place!'
Tommy was expecting a gambling casino. "I walked into the club and couldn't believe what I saw. People were sleeping on the floor! I was stepping over bodies to get to the dressing room. I turned to Russ Winstanley and asked why they were sleeping, he said 'Tommy, they love to dance to the music, they dance a while then they lay down for a while, then they get up and start dancing again.
"I carried on stepping over bodies to get to the dressing rooms which were like holes in the walls! I walked through one and politely asked, 'Where's my dressing room?' 'You're in it!' they replied. There wasn't even a door to close so you could take your clothes off! But of all the clubs I had worked, Wigan Casino was by far the best".
One of the gigs Tommy played was to celebrate the club's 2nd anniversary which included the recording of the 'Live At Wigan' album. "It was a night I'll never forget, I think there were over 2000 people in there that night and WHAT a night. I was suddenly back in the 50s and 60s again. These kids had created their own sixties style spins and splits like I hadn't seen since Paul and I were doing them with The Flamingos. I went on that stage like hell had broken loose! I looked at the ocean of heads weaving and swaying in tempo to the music, man, it was the greatest feeling of my life. I sang and danced as if I was back at The Apollo in Harlem, I had no idea how popular I was with these Northern Soul fans, I felt like a King, in fact they even nicknamed me 'The King of Northern Soul'.
With several successful recordings on the Spark label, Tommy confesses he never actually made much money but he was never truly bitter even when he saw the chart successes of singles 'Cracking Up Over You' and 'Loving On The Losing Side'.
"I must have played Wigan Casino maybe 30/40 times. Wigan really put me on the map, they put me where I got a lot of respect from people. I'm not just a run of the mill singer because they put me in a position where I was a little higher which makes me feel good. That's worth more than money!"
'PITTSBURGH DIAMOND - THE SOUL OF TOMMY HUNT' is available from 18th June 2025 from various independent stores, on-line dealers and by mail from the author priced 24.99 (includes free UK postage)
Payment via PayPal: stevlor@hotmail.co.uk
