Satagans / Solid Gold Interview

[boba]

Hi. Today on my radio show I interviewed Benjio Caffee, member of the Satagans and Solid Gold. Benjio was originally from Birmingham, AL and was inspired to get into music by his neighbors Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. He joined the Air Force and while in the service he formed a group called the Cameos, performing in Berkeley, CA and in Alaska. Benjio moved to Chicago in 1961.

Throughout the 60s, Benjio performed in nightclubs in Chicago, performing in Red Saunders' review at different clubs throughout the city. Toward the end of the 60s, Benjio began writing songs for producers Leo Austell and Hillary Johnson (for example, writing for Betty Everett, including "Take Me", the B-side to her hit "There'll come a time").

In the mid-60s, Benjio did a show with the Sheppards and made friends with the group, becoming especially good friends with their guitarist Kermit Chandler. After the group broke up, Benjio started singing and writing songs with Kermit and they formed a vocal group called the Satagans. They recruited a third member, Willie Logan; Benjio knew Willie's sister and Willie had previously sang with the Doowop group the Equallos (who had also cut a soul record as the Plaids).

The Satagans were initially produced by Len Bowden, who produced a 3-song demo recorded at RCA studios. The recordings had a unique, psychedelic sound -- especially due to the Pharoahs' backing (with Charles Handy on flute and Master Gibson on congas) and Kermit Chandler's guitar work. Kermit's gravelly lead vocals added to the psychedelic feel of the recording. A few copies of the tracks were pressed on a 10" acetate with the intention of shopping the recordings around to different labels.

Willie Dixon immediately picked up the record for release on his Yambo record label. After signing with Dixon, Chandler became very ill and died. The group replaced Chandler with James "Brother" Isaac of the Sheppards and re-recorded the vocals with Isaac on lead. Dixon released "Smokin" / "Lovers to friends" on Yambo and "Smokin" got radio play in Chicago. Unfortunately, the group never really came together as a performing group and soon drifted apart.

In the late-70s, Benjio formed a new group called Solid Gold with his wife Lucy singing lead and a couple of other male backing singers. Lucy had previously sang live for several years with Donny Hathaway as "June" as June Conquest's replacement in "June and Donnie". Solid Gold released on record -- "Don't you know" / "The Magic" -- on Fortress, a tiny Kankakee, IL record label in the late 70s. Although the record was a nice ballad and even got picked up by the national label AVI, it received little play. The group almost signed to RCA but failed due to management problems and soon broke up, although they have since recorded a few more times. Benjio has continued to be active in producing music since the 70s.

You can check out the interview at the bottom of my interview page at:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

thanks,

Bob