Goldsoul Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 (edited) Departing from Manchester and London, this is the 4th SoultripUSA and anyone who has joined us on a past adventure will tell you how unique these trips really are. Artists to meet, records to find, cities to discover, new friends to meet. To register your interest email david.coupe@travelbag.co.uk or call 01909-515150 See the event at www.goldsoul.co.uk Edited August 9, 2010 by The Golden 101 Link to comment
Guest rushden Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Kev & Sam , Me & Barry & Kay Simpson will be there in this not to be missed event . I have been fortunate to have made the last two and the memories are priceless . Barry did a review of the last one. HI GUYS, what a trip, an astral trip! the past 10 days were the most awesome ever. the only downside was (get the crap out of the way first) american airways. their custmer service was beyond crap. i have used a mixture of the littlest and the biggest during longhauls to australia, brazil and the like, and i have to say these were the worst. it felt like all the passengers were a big nuisance to the crew, one cheeky madam was clicking her fingers at me because i was watching a movie wth earphones on and she was handing out meals, she did this on three occasions. grr grr . the whole attitude stunk and these were not trolley dollies but mature people. after an arduous 30 hour journey across 3 continents i landed in chicago and literally bumped into johnny redpants on a bridge at the airport and we caught the shuttle to the hotel. the hotel has had a bit of a bashing on soul source with reference to its style/age, but beleive me when i say it was perfect, my opinion. built around the 1920`s it still displays the class it had in those days and sports pictures of many of the greatest figures of the past 80 years on the lounge wall. the entrance, foyer and ballroom had the most luxurious chandeliers and marble reception with giant pillars decorating the foyer, very grand. the rooms were great although i will say dont share a room with johnny redpants coz he cant iron or make coffee or a bed, LOL LOL. and a tip to the maid ensured a good supply of coffee and biscuits. the hotel was situated in an exclusive area called the GOLD COAST, about two blocks from the beach/lake where the average gorgeous 4 story townhouse was 2 to 3 million dollars. ill post some pics also some of the guys cleaning the windows of the hotel next door,(absailing with a bucket of water down 36 floors. a daily walk past the old playboy mansion on our way to breakfast and soon everyone had caught on to a nice little corner bakery that did the business for 10bucks........and all the coffee you wanted. the first sounds of soul were spun on wednesday late on due to the brits being held up, so it was about 9 or 10 before it really got gong by snowy and played an eclectic mix while everyone said hello ad met old friends like bev and kev, dave and bev, dave, dave, dave, dave and dave, dave , dave and dave.........there was about 20 daves and i`ll list em when i get to that page snowy played some typical chicago sounds to warm things up and break the ice. landslide tony clarke chess kept on dancing doug banks argo just like the weather nolan chance constelation mr big shot gene chandler constelation KEV took the mike and welcomed everyone and wished us a good time and then also informed us of the death of a gentleman called richard pegue who was to be a guest here. he was a d.j. and had played on or wrote the record do the pearl girl by the matta baby.he was a friend of local girl jo anne garrett (who will be joing us on saturday)and some may know him as the owner of penny records. at this point i was introduced to a real nice guy called stephen yoxall whom some of you may know as yockie from barnsley or doncaster and he had played at johnny redpants 50th last year. we hung out a bit during the trip visiting a record shop for some bargains where i found all the hipster records and a neat little tune by ivy joe hunter called shooty booty (not far from a version of tune up). they told a story about a gay party they had mistakenly attended, but by this time i`d had 2 lite beers and a bud so mmmmmmmmm....... here are some of the sounds played by snowy and neil jones. neil jones was up next the trends gonna have to show you abc, i saw this in about 5 record boxes tat week so a popular tune! queen city show band patron of the arts pow gene chandler there as a time constelation isley bros why when love has gone tamla marvin gaye love starved heart tamla servicemen sweet magic chartmaker little richie just another heartache sss snowy follwed ruby andrews just loving you zodiac artistics this heart of mine okeh joe jama my life optimum mickey champion what good am i mussette curtis mayfield move on up buddah baby earl/trinidads back slop spqr i was reliably informed that snowy was the first to play this at the portculis club barnsley years ago, but no dout someone will have played it at wigan!........ feeling a bit wrecked everyone packed up and hit the beds for a good rest............. see ya tomorrow zzzzzzzzzzzzThursday, and our first free day. a walk in the cold all wrapped up and you can still feel it, the biting wind, but i suppose when you go from 30 plus celcius to 2 farhen hiet or it felt like that argh. after a stonking breakfast in, what was to become little england for a week, it was off to meet mr chicago soul BOB MINER at the @#$%%%*& shop. johnny, yockie dave and i spent all day trawling through records sitting on the floor standing up etc finding no real rare ones but we got quite a few tunes nevertheless. personally i got over 60 numbers many of them soul label and gordy for around 50 cents and the saving on postage was approx 10 aussie for each record so even more savings for records i would have needed for the set anyway. it was here i discovered the hipster set for 3 dollars. his is a set of records about 3 inches wide.the idea was they would fit into your pocket along with the player and you would look COOL with you friends when it was produced at a party or on the beach. there were many soul sounds released which either reflects the feel for soul music during that period or the other version....that they had so many problem with the player that they withdrew the series. sounds like brenda and the tabulations wilson picket jay and the americans arthur connelly the dells kieth (remember 98.6) just to name a few. at 6.00 we decided enough was enough, or rather our backs told us, and it was off for some tea at a old american themed diner, good value too and then the 1/2 hour drive back to the hotel. come 9.00 it was on again. kev gave a warm up speech and reminded us of some of the visitors for saturday, lou pride, marvin smith,jimmy burns and carl davis and wished us a good night, handing over to the SOULMILLIONAIRE, 2 YOU GUYS OF 19 OR 20 sonny and aret from chicago and for guys that young and across the world they played some great tunes including jo anne garret whole new plan martha starr no part time love for me the ringladers what has happened lada edmund jr la rue after this set i went to the foyer and on the way back i walked into the lift and met RUBY ANDREWS she was a bit lost for words that a white guy in a chicago hotel would know her, but it did her street cred no end of good in front of her two sisters, who incedently are called gwen and esther same as berry grdy`s sisters. neil jones was up next and cracked off with the johnny sayles gem and a fav of mine cant get enough jack montgomery dear beloved bobby sheen dr love lorraine chandler i cant change volumes cheapie cover up fo 20 quid (dead easy to spot if you know matrix numbers. bernie williams ever again pointer sisters send him back martha and vand ellas nowhere to run the floor was dancing off to the old faithfulls and the party was on. i was introduced to a chap called mick h who was up after neil. neil was potententially on his stag night as he was getting married on fridy here in chicago, here is a selection of mick h`s set frankie beverley if thats what you wanted rita & tiaras gone with the wind (incredible tune) timi yuro itll never be over for me anne sexton been gone too long mellow souls we can make it and the incredible parliaments my rainy day. it was the beginng of some fantastic music.......and one of the records of the weekend.... during a conversation with dave moore he reiterated a story of when they did the frankford wayne studios. they were allowed into the vaults and as a self test dave sort of closed his eyes and picked a random tape out. it contained 13 takes of "i`ll aways love my mama". the intruders,i know its not one of the rarities but it gave a glimpse of what may be hidden there............drool drooooool......(lets have a look for the 10 cuts of country girl.LOL LOL)then there was the great remark from jimmy wisner when asked if he remembered certain records and he replied "im like a jockey, i rode many horses but i only remember the winners. and if you buy "theres that beat" number 3 (which incidently has an article by my good self on motown)you will know what he was meaning. by the way if you collect these i get 10 a month so if you are missing any let me know. i do now that no 3 and 4 are hard to find and bev has no other copies. 2 bottles of bud........ dave rivers next with some great tunes and for me one of the sets of the week del satins baby your the fire ( great tune i hadnt heard) helena fergson come on and dance with me (cover up version of soul time) vibrations cause your mine donni burdick bari track (incredible tune with the late mike terry on sax) a cover up of an instumental to miss my baby , rose batiste gwen and ray build your house (you just never see this anymore) 1 bottle of miller lite during all this time and all week there was a young guy strutting his stuff at 19 yrs old,and side burns that elvis would have died for just heard about the week, was into jazz and came along......his style was somewhat different, but isnt ours to some people, but he danced all week long, marcus i think his name was. he just danced all week. clint passed me a tonic water and as it was 2.00 .....time for bed i had heard all about the last one but this was shaping up already to be a success. little did we know just how good it was gonna get. the people were great and both johnny and i met some great friends nd some old ones from the past like bev and kev from burnley and a soul stalwart sheila lazonby, any one who doesnt recognise sheila doesnt go to anighters, discovered that dave fergusson was born 500 yards from me and had some great chats with dave greet and dave moore and a great set from dave rivers who was trying to be on his best behaviour for the wedding tomorrow. please bare in mind this is my opinion and that of a lot of others too, maybe not all and some may not have enjoyed it or had a bad time. point is johnny and i had a fantastic time and well worth the trip , effort and money to celebrate with many of the artists who gave us this fantastic music in the first place, well done to kev and sam. catch ya.........and dont miss the next installment of this great trip. another free day so after breakfast johnny redpants and i set off to do some tommy tourist stuff and headed along the ice covered lakefront to navy pier. quite an awesome structure in itself. a plague was displayed saying its contsruction was equivilent to that of a 200 story building surrounded by 20 feet of water. but of course you knew that already.......didnt you. just agree coz you pobably dont care anyhow.after a bit shopping, a couple of beers and coffee...as johnny doesnt drink much, i took johnny on the ferris wheel....silly bugger didnt tell me he is scared of hieghts and sat frozen in the corner while i sauntered around the cabin. and in true redpants style he never whinged just allowed me to take it all in. we did some shopping and headed home.after a meal at an irish bar it was back to the hotel again and sort our sets out. johnny redpants had got a spot on the friday night and only found out before he left for a record hunt in los angeles with gabby, so he emaild and told me to get a set ready coz he wanted me to double deck, now thats what its all about guys.....none of this "im the man stuff". terry finn was up first gene chandler there was a time gene chandler mr big shot jack montgomery my dear beloved artistics this heart of mine ringleaders what has happened. a couple of new guys we hadnt seen before appeared and kev roberts introduced me..........clifford curry, ok pick myself up, and began discussing tunes from his carreer on elf and abbott, namely "she shot a hole in my sole"but also his time with the five pennys on savoy, the five jokers who had a hit on storm and the contenders who i didnt know, but the most discussion was around his time with curtis mayfield as the notations and he was gobsmaked when i mentioned "think before you stop" he hadnt really rated it and was really taken aback as i went through how big it was in the 70`s disco craze, some of you how like me may still have it on curtom..........anyhow he says "hang on a minute man my freind has to hear this" and dissapears returning with bobby thomas who later joined CHANNELL 3, autographs on the white t shirt specially printed by KINELL OF PERTH,were purloined. we chatted and johnny and i treated them to a beer before we went up for our spot. kev roberts said take as long as you want guys... one and half hours later we came away, here is what we played, it was comming across as a relax, play the good oldies too, mix it a bit........ nearly forgot, when we returned to the hotel the wedding party ad returned and there was dave rivers, absolutley smart as a carrott in his scottish regalia, check out the photos to be added. johnny and i bought the happy couple neil and donna jones a boquet but when we called them to the decks there were nowhere to be found. obviously something better than northernsoul to do, anyway mick h took them on there behalf and niel came down and said thanks (fully clothed i might add for you seedier readers) heres our set, fully and in no order.......me or johnny.. the shakers one wonderfull mment (for neil and donna) larry clinton wanted in 3 states tamal lewis say nothing freddie chevez theyll never know why alice clarke hit me mel britt shell come running back rita & tiars gone with the wind nabay believe it or not holly thats not love joanne courcey you got the power chuck henley broken heart george blckwell cant lose my head billy hines ying ting tong delites lover cody black slowly moulding moments he said johnny caswell you dont love me cecil washingtn i dont like to lose dean parish bricks, bottles and sticks court davis try to think tangeers hart and soul danny lee stop calling me baby billy prophet what can i do march &the ides ceasar stomp frankie valli beggin appreciations i cant hide it dean courtney always love you bev anne you got your mind on other things mike and ray man without a woman joanie sommers pity me honey bees dynamite dropped dead bobby gentry walkin inst (bobby paris i waked away) and an hour and a half was gone.........and dave whitle from florida ever sat down, another understanding partner sits and waits....... chris dalton was on next and played a set that included the ambassadors, too much soul inc what goes up matadors say yes jesse fisher honey unique blend yes im in love seven souls (im no stranger) a few guys played this one ) i got on talking to chris lalerwho told us tales ofthe famous "strange world of northern soul", such as how bob relf was in a mental home and looked older than his mum due to drug abuse, how they filmed jackie ross singing to a backing track coz no one had the words and she had forgotten a verse. so she went home and chris faxed her the words, she sang them down the phone and he passed the recordng onto some it guys who matched it to some words she did remember, cleaned itup and added it in..as it turned out that wasnt the case some one just hadnt switched the mike on at the start and excuses wer flying, any how once the engineers had a go , all was good.........wow.he also said the 3 degrees were really above them selves, really causing problems, being awkward but eventually with 40 mins left out of a days studio time they got something down i got talking to a crowd from wales who know our own john and val from adelaide, carol and steve ask "remember the beta boys" contact me and ill give you the emails. neil self next on and among his set were..... sam dees lonley for you appreciations lonley voices of east harlem cashin in seven souls i still love you john bowie gonna miss a good thing dave moore gave me a spot on the saturday in the chillout room and in the main oom on the monday and i immediately asked if he would mind me double decking with johnny redpants and he said go for it, so it was on again. snowy finished the nigt off and had to resort to a few cds as a lt of good records had been played, here is a selection........know no me when it comes to them silver cd things....... i coundnt distinguish the difference so i suppose who cared.... the guys danced and that was the atmosphere. these were deff on vinyl moody woman my weakness is you would you believe it dont send nobody else nobody but me 6x6 the bottle our love is in the pocket you dont love me after a few millers and buds the jet lag was kicking in i had lost my perriferal vision and that was it, time for bed...............the best was still to come i forgot to mention, as i got my notes a bit mixed up, major lances daughter made an appearance last night and was delighted to hear stories of her fathers music being so well liked.......even by you white guys back over in england is unbelievable, i had a dance with her and a foto opportunity, a really nice lady. anyhow we had a trip out to the east side and a recordshop that had nothing although dave greet got a few albums and i found a dovells, james brown,paul mariat and a junior walker albums in the fullest shittiest opshop/cum/junkshop ya eva did see.dave wasnt impressed...actually none of us were, that a SUBWAY DIDNT SELL COFFEE, DOH , NOT EVEN A COFFEE MACHINE. as i was passing a guitar shop i noticed a nice poster on the back wall so i went in and offered the owner who was actually hand crafting guitars, 20 bucks for a 1963 new years eve poster of fats domino in chicago on tour, a great item. dave cuban whom johnny and i had met over the net took us all over and a tour of chicago was no probs, i saw the cinema where dillinger was shot and the famous wrigleys baseballground, bought some slipmats, tea time, dinner at a pizza place with tim a record dealer we met on the net from minnesota then it was off to the saturday gig. and oh my god what a night. first up was a great lad and adelaide visitor CHRIS DALTON, he came with andy jackson and the guys. here is some of his set j. jocko. im gettin over jesse fisher honey willie tee first taste of hurt matt brown sweet thing jimmy reed i aint going nowhere kenny wells isnt it just a shame kenn shepard what difference does it make jive five if i had a chance to love you the seven souls im no stranger john and i were in the chillout room and sharing a set but the fun had started so we did a sort of 10 mins/15 mins/ swap each and it got a bit hectic to write so much so hang on, whoops sorry MR LOU PRIDE. and how are you today, dragging any paper available for autographs and the of course the white t shirts came out and lou duly signed it and a few other bits of memorobilia as i turned there was syl johnson comming out of the lift with the akubra sporting a kangaroo he had quite obviously bought last week in australia when he performed in perth, another autograph and foto then there was ruby andrews again and i got her to sign my shirt and an autograph fo my mate paul in perth who`s wife has "just loving you " as a ring tone, ruby andrews just loved that. oops can you sign this mr cicereo blake.......shit this was soul heaven, oops hello mr willie henderson, how are you today... dave moore got hold of me and said get your self in the green room mate, i cant do that thats where the stars are, he said "why do you think im on the dooor", to make sure you guys get to meet em, and in i went bumping into the coolest dude there"BOBBY HUTTON" CHAT, autograph photograph, turnaround and bump, oops sorry mr jimmy burns, i believe you are gonna sing for us later(didnt tell him id just sold i really love you for over 5000 quid)autograph, photograph. there was lou pride again so i got a few photos and autographs and a bit chat then in walks the blonde black bombshell................holly maxwell, boobs and all, along with jo anne garrtt and jackie ross...........whoa soul heaven. i had bought a copy of TIME magazine with barrack obama on the cover for to get some of the artists to sign and managed lou pride, jimmy burns, ruby anddrews and carl davis (he showed up on the monday night so watch for that one) RUBY ANDREWS grabbed it off me......thats the muthafucka whole sort this place out and gave it a big kiss, this was turning out to be some night i had to go and relieve johnny redpants so i missed some action but what i got was fan tas ticcccccccccc. dont know what john played coz he cant write as you know but here is some of mine before i got distracted talking to lou pride again and handing out some aussie caps and teeshirts. shooty booty coverup trinidads backslop danny lee stop calling me baby pat bradley one more chance adam wade half the world is mine louie chitrentienel train jive(cover up) eddie carrigan i wish i was the inticers since you left lonnie hewit gonna git gloria hill now i need him charles holiday dont lie de lola carmicheal leave the boy alone but then it was back to the main room for some serious stuff...............as the band got themselves together, and it was great to see, jamming and joking along. they obviously had worked together for decades......... THEN THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT............. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ......LOU PRIDE. and there he was, 5 feet away from me singing 'IM CUMMIN HOME". I GOT IT SWEET ON VIDEO and fotos.....then LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I GIVE YOU ...........JIMMY BURNS........... and he went straight into "i really love you" just 5 feet away. does it get any better. the crowd was singing along........ LADIES AND GENTLEMEN .....HANDS TOGETHER FOR JO ANNE GARRETT HOLLY MAXWELL LADIES AND GENTLE MEN ................. BARBARA GREEN JACKIE ROSS This was just an awesome night . i got chatting to a local dj who used to go out with one of the artistics sisters and we chatted for over an hour. what a laff...............and you only need to ask a few of the right questions to see if they know, and they did LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ............. RUBY ANDREWS........ and she went into just loving you........... later i was in the chillout room and jimmy burns walked in, well many of you know i collect/steal whatever memorobilia, so as he bought his drinks ticket i bought his drink for him and asked him to autograph the ticket and at this point he also signed my copy of the TIMES mag with barrack on the cover. his next sentence sort of broughT everything to a reality...... he said to me "sir, i used to deliver gRoceries to this hotel (and he totted it up SILENTLY in his head before finishing) 51 years ago, and they wouldnt even let me in the front door," he told me he used to go to A SCHOOL NOT TO FAR WAY CALLED FERGUSSON HIGH. we chatted for over half an hour, he didnt record to many records but stayed in music. it was thought he lived in texas having moved away from chicago. hit the bed about 4.00am having phone my beloved and discovered dave raistrick flat out wrecked on the setee in the foyer. well done sam for the best night ever.............. and it got better, tune in for the next episode......... there had been a complaint about the bolted togather dance floor and the size of the hall, but as kev said he had over 40 people cancel for various reasons and there was the sad case of the chap from oxfod soul club who died the week prior,so a bigger room may have been to much. it was certainly ok all week, maybe small for the saturday, but hell................they only expected 30 plus guests to urn up and 140 actually turned up, many hangers on i know and agree, but if ruby andrews wants to bring her sisters, cousin, nephew, second aunt, rabbitt ......whoever, to let them see that she had been appreciated but never knew......then i say bring em alllllllll have a good one. terrasaturday night took a lot of people by surprise and it was a very late night, to say it was awesome was an understatement, it was one after another, i never ever thought id see lou pride again or meet jimmy burns, it was like a kid being in a sweet shop, there was a dopey dude wandering around with a dummy in and quite a few hangers on but hey, its there world. i know some guys get a bit uptight when they hear mention of kev but i speak as i find and he and sam were tremendous to me, even finding some of my records and sending them back. and he was apologetic about new jersey, but i really cannot comment and i wont be drawn in either, as i wasnt there, all i can say is from my point of view , here and now,i was having a fucking fantastic time! as was johnny, it was even better than he said it would be and i will be forever in heis debt for this!and if that is what speed does them give some. there were some great great sets with some fantastic chillout music being played, in the chillout room, checkout some of the tunes..................it was about 5.00 am when i crawled in to bed. and i probably dropped off for an hour or two before waking up bright as a button get breakfast and ready for the record fair. there was only about 6 or 7 guys there but plenty to go through. i got a couple of rare ones that the guy didnt realise he had and could only afford 3, i had to leave one as i bought a few more numbers for my soul, gordy and ric tic collection. after a few hours it was heads down and ready for the next one or two nights here are a couple of sets taking us up to and including monday night. breakfast was at one of those great pancake places where you stick your hand up for more coffee. saturday chillin....... two young american guys in there very low 20`s and teens played some class soul sounds, ARET AND BEN, here is a sample johnny howard chase is on ivories please stay wade flemmons jeanette paris sleepless nights remember ben is only 19yrs old.............. royal five say it to my face (class tune) MARKE JACKSON ill never forget alexander a lil lovin dave ferguson mill evans why why why joseph moore i still cant get to you the visitors im in danger curtis blandon in the long rn opals im so afraid shepphards ittle girl major lance too hot to hold dave moore theola kilgore its gonna be alright tsu tornados what good am i little anthony its not the same jo walker this is my last goodbye rod e jones r n b time sunday night the windy city soul club and hitsville USA aret and ben again coaster crazy baby tamangoes i really love you epitome of sound you lala la ala la invitations whats .............. ideals mighty lover dave and dave (hitsville) sahpires gotta have yur love saphires evil (SELDOM HEARD) barbara randolph got a feeling alex brown im not responsible deniece chandler mama i wished id stayed home vellvelettes these things will keep me loving you ( for anoracks only.......this was on the white demo) bev showed me how to access the net to look for another hotel as my flights had changed then it was back to the music........or was it bev, bev or bev. no i`m certain it was bev, yes. during the sunday night yockie and his mates went to see a play about the life of joe tex and reported that it was fantastic, with guys playing the parts of otis redding , solomon burke, ben e king and they sang yockie happy birthday!! chris was up n addam with jimmy mack my world is on fire herbie hunter born to love ya yvonne baker didnt say a word gerri granger i go to pieces ( filled the floor) jr walker good rockin willie kendrick change your ways dave moore dropped the needle on some real class oldies al williams larry clinton frankie karl jimmy burns 4 perfections peoples choice, thought i wasnt gonna hear this at all then the magnificent POETS, wrapped around your finger billy prophet robbie lawson love runs out ( why will no one play the other side "the duck" sheer class.........................)i got mixed up coz i thought id missed out when dave played the velvellettes so just to be as true as possible, it was during this set. here are a few of the guys we met dave greet dave river dave whittle dave moore dave fergusson dave cuban dave raistrick dave johnsn dave smith (there`s always a dave smith) dave, dave dave and dave, oh and dave too kev and bev kev and sam bev and dave ......................... sheila lazonby mike mick and mickey and ian......... chris, chris, chris, and christine, next behind the decks DAVE YES DAVE, DAVE greet, who blames his diabetes on drinks and anphetameens ( not sreu fi htats how its spelt) and he played ty karim lighten up the proffesional lillie bryant (another record of the week) salvadores (think everyone one had this, probably nearly very known copy was in chicago) earl jackson tony clarke (the rare white demo i may add, for the anoracks) the dells run for cover flash mckinley. harold andrews the magnificents the music was of a very high calibre and still they guys were dancing when dave came on and playe a band of real classics duke browner pookie hudson jock mitchell the soul generation ojays (working) BILLY BUTLER J.J BARNES (HUMDINGER) MONDAY SORT OF FITTED IN AROUND HERE.............. monday came around and jet lag and a lovely whiskey and coke put johnny redpants in bed for the day,i was too excited, it would be thursday when i would sleep for 26 hours...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........zzzzzzzzzz pancake breakfast for 2 hours chatting and a quick tour of the hancock building, as big as the sears towers which was closed for observation. some tremendous views, really guys and gals, chicago is some city to visit.... we went to the american branch of borders book shop where i found a load of motown motif "gift cards" just lying on the rack......honestly gov, they was all 10 an the just fell onto the floor really. to celabrate 50 years of motown they had some gift cards printed with the motown map label on so i purloined a few. the idea is you add money onto them and give it as a gift, like the old record vouchers.....showing me age.........yeh but ya knew what i meant didnt ya monday night got a call from dAve to go on early as a special guest would be here at 9.00. so while it was getting going johnny and i tried a few of the big ballads, ralph graham gerry ganey danny lee karen brookes lenny curtis peter jarret (old velours cover up) betty obrien dean parish (determination) kurt harris appointments prince phillip mitchell the volumes the spiedells neil self was on next while we waited For our guest candace love tsu toranados jackie wilson (WHISPERS) sandy wynns cliff nobles love is thelma lindsey diplomats kev came on and made the introductions then on came the guest....the very smart...the magnificent chicago producer CARL DAVIS HE TOLD US HOW HE WORKED FOR VEE-JAY IN CHICAGO, AND THEN went to work for columbia in new york where he met a young man called major lance, they recorded UM UM UM UM UM MONKEY TIME HEY LITTLE GIRL AND CARL WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE SET UP OF OKEH RECORDS. he told us how he met and worked with the opals, and billy butler, but in 1965 he got fired by his boss who i think was a boyfriend of mary wells, something like that, and there was stories in the papers about carl and mary, they werent true........but it was prss any how, his exact words were, " i couldnt give a flying f@#ck and he did dear lover to stick it in yer ere. he was the only one making hit tunes but they still got rid of him and with some severance pay he got an office over a restaurant and began producing mary wells and worked with gerald simms. he wrote and produced for the chilites and jackie wilson on whispers getting louder he produced but it was another songstress who wrote it barbara acklin. carl did a lot of production with gerald simms , checkout a lot o jackie wilson stuff. he also worked with gerald simms on many walter jackson tunes, and vibrations. he also moved to england for a bit and worked with jon abbey and organised shows brought over the artistics etc. he ended his little speech with a signing and discussion session, he also introduced us to "antone" a new guy he is producing much in the vein of barry white, indeed to of the cd tracks are barry white tunes. he grew tired and went to the green rom for a rest and an interview with dave moore for theres that beat, it was off to bead for me and an early start, 6.00 leaving at 7.00 for detroit be there or be square catch the best of the best , in the next episode of soulies do chicago! catch ya terrajohn had been telling me about this for 3 years, and all i had heard was how bad the new jersey trip had been "you dont wanna miss it bazza' and so i saved up, and then my beloved bought me the plane tickets for my birthday,you couldve been there too if you`d really wanted to........ but it was the best money i have spent EVER (except of course my wedding to the wonderfull kay). It was up and atom at 6.30 and kev had organised a breakfast for the coach as we had to get off sharp. the drivers would be on the road from then until 10.00 that night. as we drove off, sipping the european blend and munching on the bacon butty, we passed all the familiar signs "INDIANA 120 KM " "MICHIGAN 400KM" OR "MINNEAPOLIS 200KM"..........trivia question when in michigan which direction will you drive to get to canada...... a pint at the nash if you guess it within 2 seconds and can prove it LOL. (email me) the journey took us over 4 hours but it was quite a good journey, plenty of rest and time to soak in the events of the week so far. what a time it had been.......holly maxwell pushing it all forward, cool dude bobby hutton, lou pride and jimmy burns, dancing with major lances daughter, jo anne garrett, arl davis. how could that ever ever be topped. little did we know! along the way kevs bus had stopped to pick up a special guest who was later revealed as none other than mel britt, unfortunatley life had not been kind to mr britt and he was living in a forest house i believe with his wife and living somewhat off the land, discussing how the onions and veggies were getting along with dave raistick certainly brought home exactly how it REALLY WAS for many of the guys who had entertained us for 3 decades. along the freeway another hour passed to the dreadful tunes chosenby our bus tour guide until johnnie handed him "shitfaced in the sun" to play, i was at a loss for words when out of all innocence he was heard to ask his driver (thinking the mike was off) "what does shitfaced mean"? "dunno said the driver, them aussies could never speak the queens anyway!" LOL.joke WE passed into detroit and were in the suburbs in no time and pulled off the expressway. exactly as i thought, we drove passed derelict homes, rubbish dumped all over, rundown areas and through an underpass with puddles like something out of a cenral new york murder movie and onto rosa parks ave. rosa parks was the brave lady who stood up to be counted, or rather sat down to be counted and became famous for her part in the civil rights movement to end segregation. these areas around the big industries had been populated by black families moving up from the south to find work as the cotton fields died off and the hope of better life. AND THERE WE WERE. i felt quite choked actually because it was just there............on the street, as we turned the corner there it was. HITSVILLE USA, the building that had brought such joy to millions and changed the face of the music we know today. johnny and i ran up the steps and chucked my camera to bev moore.......you gotta get us on here bev. it felt like the end of a quest, quite poignant,humbling that this was it, just a house, or not .....depending on your perspective........it was theeeeeeeeeee house. john and i made our way inside and from then on the whole day was just so wierd and surreal. as we got to the top of the stairs i introduced myself to a lovely lady whom i thought may have been an assistant, "hi im barry and this is john"............... "oh , hello" came the reply, im francis nero .........".............f@#CK! both john and i were realy taken aback and a tear in our eyes as we asked for an autograph "oh plenty of time for that she said , ill be with you all day". we were ushered down stairs to view a short movie on the beginings of motown. how apt to be there on its 50th anniversary and help some of the guys celebrate. the tour was admittedly to quick,(later we would be thankfull) but we were on a tight schedule as the drivers would be up and driving for more than a full day. in the musem there was a lot missing, and being a bit of an anorack on motown, i noticed no fotos of martha and the vandellas, none of the jackson five, the velevellets, but plenty of diana and marvin. this was dissapoiting but i believe a reflection on the funding it gets or doesnt and was certainly not a reflection of the part it played in the progression of music, never mind black music. records on display were in the wrong sleeves and it felt sort of not complete........not sure how to describe it.......not finished! john and i went into the "snake pit" where dennis coffey was giving a bit of a lecture on "how it was" and signing autographs. we had a look at the old mixing equipment and it was easy to visualise berry or h.d.h. flicking the switches and coaxing the groups along. there was certainly an eery truth to it all, you could feel it. we were left alone to wander round and i got some video footage of the snake pit. over the years berry bought quite a few of the houses on the street and built the empire we know today. then it was of for lunch at a steak house............or so we thought!....... we were met by a whole host of stars. laura lee signed my shirt as did sylvester potts, i had sylvester in kinks laughing as i told him one of my wifes favourite records was that sexy r & b tune "whole lotta woman"... oh maaan thats sooo cool, that was so far back maaannnnn. then there was john tapping me on the shoulder "barry, quick,look, there`s lorrains chandler..............billy wilson, francis nero, mel britt, kid in a candy store comes to mind, you wanted to give all these guys your attention but there were so many. francis nero was sitting on her own on the other side of the room. so i went over and offerd to buy her a cool drink, but she had one and thanked me. i asked her why she was sittig far away from everyone, "thats where the waitress put me " was the reply. so i picked up here dinner and brought her over to john and my table and chatted, i was getting paper, menus, lottery tickets, anything to get her signature on as gifts for some friends in england and australia. " i was the first girl on soul you know" she said with imense pride, then she took a sip of diet coke "gotta watch my diabetes guys" "hi francis how ya doin giiirl,.........aint seen you for yeers girl" i recognised roslind of the vandellas as i had brought the song sheet of "dancing in the street" for autgraphs and was dissapointed when she advised that martha was working for detoit council and wouldnt make it today.............i wasnt sure who would be most dissapointed,us or martha. that brought a lump to the throat to think one may never see or get her autograph and tell her how good you thought she was and the joy her music brought us. they all sat and chatted like old days, photo opportunites and autographs treating them to a "soda" then as they were catching up with old friends john and i set off to meet some of the other guests. i saw mel britt and cheekily asked him "what would you do if she`d came back' he instantly knew what i meant and replied "i didnt want her to"...so it may have been a love song from the heart. he went on to add he moved to L.A. and joined the visitors and then changed thier name to THE MISTS, who recorded on twinight. kev played "she`ll come running back" and the whole room sprang into song with mel swaying and clapping over his illnes, it was sad to see but to witness the pleasure in his face was worth it a thousand times over. meanwhile little francis nero was having a ball meeting everyone and donig autographs and photos, i think we all made her day.........no, i think we made her year and she never stopped thanking us.billy wilson was an informative guy, i got talking to him for ages about berry`s formula......the indian rthym etc how the baby boomers changed the way of life forever and how alan abrahms created "the sound of young america". he told us how they would use no artist photos on the sleeves to confuse audiences not knowing thier colour and how the music moved on..the chit`lin curcuit (which i kenw about).........at this point johnnie taps me on the arm........"barry here`s carl carlton.........oh and there are the capitols.....taking to lorrains chandler.....they all got up on stage for photos and broke into an acapello version of "cool jerk" and to see these guys giving it all they could with 150 guys singing along "co oo ool je er erk" well the hairs just prickled up...........you just had to be there and be able to say you were............what would ever top that day. and as quick as it started, it was over and back on the bus so i stood in line........... but no one was moving.....why ....shit! there was martha reeves signing autographs, i was gonna get it after all, martha and the vandellas autographs on my copy of jimmy mack. that just finished it for me. i dont think anyone spoke all the way back....just trying to recapture every moment, never to be repeated............. we got back around 10.00 and had a bit of a finale, but everyne was wrecked, kev said his thank you and we did too and goodbye, sam had definatley done a superb job getting all these artists to show up.....once in a lifetime experience that i would certainly have paid twice the price for. this morning, the 31 march i got a lovely email off carl davis and francis nero once again thanking us english guys for what you have done for us. it was also francis` birthday and a happy one at that............................................................................ ........................ LIFES GOOD...........NO.......LIFES GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Departing from Manchester and London, this is the 4th SoultripUSA and anyone who has joined us on a past adventure will tell you how unique these trips really are. Artists to meet, records to find, cities to discover, new friends to meet. To register your inteest email dave.coupe@travelcounsellors.com See the event at www.goldsoul.co.uk Link to comment
Goldsoul Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Wow that's some blog! At least we can get some sun this time. Chicago was truly freezing! The location is fabulous. Link to comment
munchkinette Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Will be interested in coming over for this but we wouldn't need the accomodation and flights so will you be selling tickets/passes for the entertainment. Sharon Link to comment
Goldsoul Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 Will be interested in coming over for this but we wouldn't need the accomodation and flights so will you be selling tickets/passes for the entertainment. Sharon Not at this stage. We have to be faithful to the hundreds that have supported us on our last 3 adventures. Keep an eye on our web site for details . Link to comment
Andybellwood Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Kev & Sam , Me & Barry & Kay Simpson will be there in this not to be missed event . I have been fortunate to have made the last two and the memories are priceless . Barry did a review of the last one. HI GUYS, what a trip, an astral trip! the past 10 days were the most awesome ever. the only downside was (get the crap out of the way first) american airways. their custmer service was beyond crap. i have used a mixture of the littlest and the biggest during longhauls to australia, brazil and the like, and i have to say these were the worst. it felt like all the passengers were a big nuisance to the crew, one cheeky madam was clicking her fingers at me because i was watching a movie wth earphones on and she was handing out meals, she did this on three occasions. grr grr . the whole attitude stunk and these were not trolley dollies but mature people. after an arduous 30 hour journey across 3 continents i landed in chicago and literally bumped into johnny redpants on a bridge at the airport and we caught the shuttle to the hotel. the hotel has had a bit of a bashing on soul source with reference to its style/age, but beleive me when i say it was perfect, my opinion. built around the 1920`s it still displays the class it had in those days and sports pictures of many of the greatest figures of the past 80 years on the lounge wall. the entrance, foyer and ballroom had the most luxurious chandeliers and marble reception with giant pillars decorating the foyer, very grand. the rooms were great although i will say dont share a room with johnny redpants coz he cant iron or make coffee or a bed, LOL LOL. and a tip to the maid ensured a good supply of coffee and biscuits. the hotel was situated in an exclusive area called the GOLD COAST, about two blocks from the beach/lake where the average gorgeous 4 story townhouse was 2 to 3 million dollars. ill post some pics also some of the guys cleaning the windows of the hotel next door,(absailing with a bucket of water down 36 floors. a daily walk past the old playboy mansion on our way to breakfast and soon everyone had caught on to a nice little corner bakery that did the business for 10bucks........and all the coffee you wanted. the first sounds of soul were spun on wednesday late on due to the brits being held up, so it was about 9 or 10 before it really got gong by snowy and played an eclectic mix while everyone said hello ad met old friends like bev and kev, dave and bev, dave, dave, dave, dave and dave, dave , dave and dave.........there was about 20 daves and i`ll list em when i get to that page snowy played some typical chicago sounds to warm things up and break the ice. landslide tony clarke chess kept on dancing doug banks argo just like the weather nolan chance constelation mr big shot gene chandler constelation KEV took the mike and welcomed everyone and wished us a good time and then also informed us of the death of a gentleman called richard pegue who was to be a guest here. he was a d.j. and had played on or wrote the record do the pearl girl by the matta baby.he was a friend of local girl jo anne garrett (who will be joing us on saturday)and some may know him as the owner of penny records. at this point i was introduced to a real nice guy called stephen yoxall whom some of you may know as yockie from barnsley or doncaster and he had played at johnny redpants 50th last year. we hung out a bit during the trip visiting a record shop for some bargains where i found all the hipster records and a neat little tune by ivy joe hunter called shooty booty (not far from a version of tune up). they told a story about a gay party they had mistakenly attended, but by this time i`d had 2 lite beers and a bud so mmmmmmmmm....... here are some of the sounds played by snowy and neil jones. neil jones was up next the trends gonna have to show you abc, i saw this in about 5 record boxes tat week so a popular tune! queen city show band patron of the arts pow gene chandler there as a time constelation isley bros why when love has gone tamla marvin gaye love starved heart tamla servicemen sweet magic chartmaker little richie just another heartache sss snowy follwed ruby andrews just loving you zodiac artistics this heart of mine okeh joe jama my life optimum mickey champion what good am i mussette curtis mayfield move on up buddah baby earl/trinidads back slop spqr i was reliably informed that snowy was the first to play this at the portculis club barnsley years ago, but no dout someone will have played it at wigan!........ feeling a bit wrecked everyone packed up and hit the beds for a good rest............. see ya tomorrow zzzzzzzzzzzzThursday, and our first free day. a walk in the cold all wrapped up and you can still feel it, the biting wind, but i suppose when you go from 30 plus celcius to 2 farhen hiet or it felt like that argh. after a stonking breakfast in, what was to become little england for a week, it was off to meet mr chicago soul BOB MINER at the @#$%%%*& shop. johnny, yockie dave and i spent all day trawling through records sitting on the floor standing up etc finding no real rare ones but we got quite a few tunes nevertheless. personally i got over 60 numbers many of them soul label and gordy for around 50 cents and the saving on postage was approx 10 aussie for each record so even more savings for records i would have needed for the set anyway. it was here i discovered the hipster set for 3 dollars. his is a set of records about 3 inches wide.the idea was they would fit into your pocket along with the player and you would look COOL with you friends when it was produced at a party or on the beach. there were many soul sounds released which either reflects the feel for soul music during that period or the other version....that they had so many problem with the player that they withdrew the series. sounds like brenda and the tabulations wilson picket jay and the americans arthur connelly the dells kieth (remember 98.6) just to name a few. at 6.00 we decided enough was enough, or rather our backs told us, and it was off for some tea at a old american themed diner, good value too and then the 1/2 hour drive back to the hotel. come 9.00 it was on again. kev gave a warm up speech and reminded us of some of the visitors for saturday, lou pride, marvin smith,jimmy burns and carl davis and wished us a good night, handing over to the SOULMILLIONAIRE, 2 YOU GUYS OF 19 OR 20 sonny and aret from chicago and for guys that young and across the world they played some great tunes including jo anne garret whole new plan martha starr no part time love for me the ringladers what has happened lada edmund jr la rue after this set i went to the foyer and on the way back i walked into the lift and met RUBY ANDREWS she was a bit lost for words that a white guy in a chicago hotel would know her, but it did her street cred no end of good in front of her two sisters, who incedently are called gwen and esther same as berry grdy`s sisters. neil jones was up next and cracked off with the johnny sayles gem and a fav of mine cant get enough jack montgomery dear beloved bobby sheen dr love lorraine chandler i cant change volumes cheapie cover up fo 20 quid (dead easy to spot if you know matrix numbers. bernie williams ever again pointer sisters send him back martha and vand ellas nowhere to run the floor was dancing off to the old faithfulls and the party was on. i was introduced to a chap called mick h who was up after neil. neil was potententially on his stag night as he was getting married on fridy here in chicago, here is a selection of mick h`s set frankie beverley if thats what you wanted rita & tiaras gone with the wind (incredible tune) timi yuro itll never be over for me anne sexton been gone too long mellow souls we can make it and the incredible parliaments my rainy day. it was the beginng of some fantastic music.......and one of the records of the weekend.... during a conversation with dave moore he reiterated a story of when they did the frankford wayne studios. they were allowed into the vaults and as a self test dave sort of closed his eyes and picked a random tape out. it contained 13 takes of "i`ll aways love my mama". the intruders,i know its not one of the rarities but it gave a glimpse of what may be hidden there............drool drooooool......(lets have a look for the 10 cuts of country girl.LOL LOL)then there was the great remark from jimmy wisner when asked if he remembered certain records and he replied "im like a jockey, i rode many horses but i only remember the winners. and if you buy "theres that beat" number 3 (which incidently has an article by my good self on motown)you will know what he was meaning. by the way if you collect these i get 10 a month so if you are missing any let me know. i do now that no 3 and 4 are hard to find and bev has no other copies. 2 bottles of bud........ dave rivers next with some great tunes and for me one of the sets of the week del satins baby your the fire ( great tune i hadnt heard) helena fergson come on and dance with me (cover up version of soul time) vibrations cause your mine donni burdick bari track (incredible tune with the late mike terry on sax) a cover up of an instumental to miss my baby , rose batiste gwen and ray build your house (you just never see this anymore) 1 bottle of miller lite during all this time and all week there was a young guy strutting his stuff at 19 yrs old,and side burns that elvis would have died for just heard about the week, was into jazz and came along......his style was somewhat different, but isnt ours to some people, but he danced all week long, marcus i think his name was. he just danced all week. clint passed me a tonic water and as it was 2.00 .....time for bed i had heard all about the last one but this was shaping up already to be a success. little did we know just how good it was gonna get. the people were great and both johnny and i met some great friends nd some old ones from the past like bev and kev from burnley and a soul stalwart sheila lazonby, any one who doesnt recognise sheila doesnt go to anighters, discovered that dave fergusson was born 500 yards from me and had some great chats with dave greet and dave moore and a great set from dave rivers who was trying to be on his best behaviour for the wedding tomorrow. please bare in mind this is my opinion and that of a lot of others too, maybe not all and some may not have enjoyed it or had a bad time. point is johnny and i had a fantastic time and well worth the trip , effort and money to celebrate with many of the artists who gave us this fantastic music in the first place, well done to kev and sam. catch ya.........and dont miss the next installment of this great trip. another free day so after breakfast johnny redpants and i set off to do some tommy tourist stuff and headed along the ice covered lakefront to navy pier. quite an awesome structure in itself. a plague was displayed saying its contsruction was equivilent to that of a 200 story building surrounded by 20 feet of water. but of course you knew that already.......didnt you. just agree coz you pobably dont care anyhow.after a bit shopping, a couple of beers and coffee...as johnny doesnt drink much, i took johnny on the ferris wheel....silly bugger didnt tell me he is scared of hieghts and sat frozen in the corner while i sauntered around the cabin. and in true redpants style he never whinged just allowed me to take it all in. we did some shopping and headed home.after a meal at an irish bar it was back to the hotel again and sort our sets out. johnny redpants had got a spot on the friday night and only found out before he left for a record hunt in los angeles with gabby, so he emaild and told me to get a set ready coz he wanted me to double deck, now thats what its all about guys.....none of this "im the man stuff". terry finn was up first gene chandler there was a time gene chandler mr big shot jack montgomery my dear beloved artistics this heart of mine ringleaders what has happened. a couple of new guys we hadnt seen before appeared and kev roberts introduced me..........clifford curry, ok pick myself up, and began discussing tunes from his carreer on elf and abbott, namely "she shot a hole in my sole"but also his time with the five pennys on savoy, the five jokers who had a hit on storm and the contenders who i didnt know, but the most discussion was around his time with curtis mayfield as the notations and he was gobsmaked when i mentioned "think before you stop" he hadnt really rated it and was really taken aback as i went through how big it was in the 70`s disco craze, some of you how like me may still have it on curtom..........anyhow he says "hang on a minute man my freind has to hear this" and dissapears returning with bobby thomas who later joined CHANNELL 3, autographs on the white t shirt specially printed by KINELL OF PERTH,were purloined. we chatted and johnny and i treated them to a beer before we went up for our spot. kev roberts said take as long as you want guys... one and half hours later we came away, here is what we played, it was comming across as a relax, play the good oldies too, mix it a bit........ nearly forgot, when we returned to the hotel the wedding party ad returned and there was dave rivers, absolutley smart as a carrott in his scottish regalia, check out the photos to be added. johnny and i bought the happy couple neil and donna jones a boquet but when we called them to the decks there were nowhere to be found. obviously something better than northernsoul to do, anyway mick h took them on there behalf and niel came down and said thanks (fully clothed i might add for you seedier readers) heres our set, fully and in no order.......me or johnny.. the shakers one wonderfull mment (for neil and donna) larry clinton wanted in 3 states tamal lewis say nothing freddie chevez theyll never know why alice clarke hit me mel britt shell come running back rita & tiars gone with the wind nabay believe it or not holly thats not love joanne courcey you got the power chuck henley broken heart george blckwell cant lose my head billy hines ying ting tong delites lover cody black slowly moulding moments he said johnny caswell you dont love me cecil washingtn i dont like to lose dean parish bricks, bottles and sticks court davis try to think tangeers hart and soul danny lee stop calling me baby billy prophet what can i do march &the ides ceasar stomp frankie valli beggin appreciations i cant hide it dean courtney always love you bev anne you got your mind on other things mike and ray man without a woman joanie sommers pity me honey bees dynamite dropped dead bobby gentry walkin inst (bobby paris i waked away) and an hour and a half was gone.........and dave whitle from florida ever sat down, another understanding partner sits and waits....... chris dalton was on next and played a set that included the ambassadors, too much soul inc what goes up matadors say yes jesse fisher honey unique blend yes im in love seven souls (im no stranger) a few guys played this one ) i got on talking to chris lalerwho told us tales ofthe famous "strange world of northern soul", such as how bob relf was in a mental home and looked older than his mum due to drug abuse, how they filmed jackie ross singing to a backing track coz no one had the words and she had forgotten a verse. so she went home and chris faxed her the words, she sang them down the phone and he passed the recordng onto some it guys who matched it to some words she did remember, cleaned itup and added it in..as it turned out that wasnt the case some one just hadnt switched the mike on at the start and excuses wer flying, any how once the engineers had a go , all was good.........wow.he also said the 3 degrees were really above them selves, really causing problems, being awkward but eventually with 40 mins left out of a days studio time they got something down i got talking to a crowd from wales who know our own john and val from adelaide, carol and steve ask "remember the beta boys" contact me and ill give you the emails. neil self next on and among his set were..... sam dees lonley for you appreciations lonley voices of east harlem cashin in seven souls i still love you john bowie gonna miss a good thing dave moore gave me a spot on the saturday in the chillout room and in the main oom on the monday and i immediately asked if he would mind me double decking with johnny redpants and he said go for it, so it was on again. snowy finished the nigt off and had to resort to a few cds as a lt of good records had been played, here is a selection........know no me when it comes to them silver cd things....... i coundnt distinguish the difference so i suppose who cared.... the guys danced and that was the atmosphere. these were deff on vinyl moody woman my weakness is you would you believe it dont send nobody else nobody but me 6x6 the bottle our love is in the pocket you dont love me after a few millers and buds the jet lag was kicking in i had lost my perriferal vision and that was it, time for bed...............the best was still to come i forgot to mention, as i got my notes a bit mixed up, major lances daughter made an appearance last night and was delighted to hear stories of her fathers music being so well liked.......even by you white guys back over in england is unbelievable, i had a dance with her and a foto opportunity, a really nice lady. anyhow we had a trip out to the east side and a recordshop that had nothing although dave greet got a few albums and i found a dovells, james brown,paul mariat and a junior walker albums in the fullest shittiest opshop/cum/junkshop ya eva did see.dave wasnt impressed...actually none of us were, that a SUBWAY DIDNT SELL COFFEE, DOH , NOT EVEN A COFFEE MACHINE. as i was passing a guitar shop i noticed a nice poster on the back wall so i went in and offered the owner who was actually hand crafting guitars, 20 bucks for a 1963 new years eve poster of fats domino in chicago on tour, a great item. dave cuban whom johnny and i had met over the net took us all over and a tour of chicago was no probs, i saw the cinema where dillinger was shot and the famous wrigleys baseballground, bought some slipmats, tea time, dinner at a pizza place with tim a record dealer we met on the net from minnesota then it was off to the saturday gig. and oh my god what a night. first up was a great lad and adelaide visitor CHRIS DALTON, he came with andy jackson and the guys. here is some of his set j. jocko. im gettin over jesse fisher honey willie tee first taste of hurt matt brown sweet thing jimmy reed i aint going nowhere kenny wells isnt it just a shame kenn shepard what difference does it make jive five if i had a chance to love you the seven souls im no stranger john and i were in the chillout room and sharing a set but the fun had started so we did a sort of 10 mins/15 mins/ swap each and it got a bit hectic to write so much so hang on, whoops sorry MR LOU PRIDE. and how are you today, dragging any paper available for autographs and the of course the white t shirts came out and lou duly signed it and a few other bits of memorobilia as i turned there was syl johnson comming out of the lift with the akubra sporting a kangaroo he had quite obviously bought last week in australia when he performed in perth, another autograph and foto then there was ruby andrews again and i got her to sign my shirt and an autograph fo my mate paul in perth who`s wife has "just loving you " as a ring tone, ruby andrews just loved that. oops can you sign this mr cicereo blake.......shit this was soul heaven, oops hello mr willie henderson, how are you today... dave moore got hold of me and said get your self in the green room mate, i cant do that thats where the stars are, he said "why do you think im on the dooor", to make sure you guys get to meet em, and in i went bumping into the coolest dude there"BOBBY HUTTON" CHAT, autograph photograph, turnaround and bump, oops sorry mr jimmy burns, i believe you are gonna sing for us later(didnt tell him id just sold i really love you for over 5000 quid)autograph, photograph. there was lou pride again so i got a few photos and autographs and a bit chat then in walks the blonde black bombshell................holly maxwell, boobs and all, along with jo anne garrtt and jackie ross...........whoa soul heaven. i had bought a copy of TIME magazine with barrack obama on the cover for to get some of the artists to sign and managed lou pride, jimmy burns, ruby anddrews and carl davis (he showed up on the monday night so watch for that one) RUBY ANDREWS grabbed it off me......thats the muthafucka whole sort this place out and gave it a big kiss, this was turning out to be some night i had to go and relieve johnny redpants so i missed some action but what i got was fan tas ticcccccccccc. dont know what john played coz he cant write as you know but here is some of mine before i got distracted talking to lou pride again and handing out some aussie caps and teeshirts. shooty booty coverup trinidads backslop danny lee stop calling me baby pat bradley one more chance adam wade half the world is mine louie chitrentienel train jive(cover up) eddie carrigan i wish i was the inticers since you left lonnie hewit gonna git gloria hill now i need him charles holiday dont lie de lola carmicheal leave the boy alone but then it was back to the main room for some serious stuff...............as the band got themselves together, and it was great to see, jamming and joking along. they obviously had worked together for decades......... THEN THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT............. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ......LOU PRIDE. and there he was, 5 feet away from me singing 'IM CUMMIN HOME". I GOT IT SWEET ON VIDEO and fotos.....then LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I GIVE YOU ...........JIMMY BURNS........... and he went straight into "i really love you" just 5 feet away. does it get any better. the crowd was singing along........ LADIES AND GENTLEMEN .....HANDS TOGETHER FOR JO ANNE GARRETT HOLLY MAXWELL LADIES AND GENTLE MEN ................. BARBARA GREEN JACKIE ROSS This was just an awesome night . i got chatting to a local dj who used to go out with one of the artistics sisters and we chatted for over an hour. what a laff...............and you only need to ask a few of the right questions to see if they know, and they did LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ............. RUBY ANDREWS........ and she went into just loving you........... later i was in the chillout room and jimmy burns walked in, well many of you know i collect/steal whatever memorobilia, so as he bought his drinks ticket i bought his drink for him and asked him to autograph the ticket and at this point he also signed my copy of the TIMES mag with barrack on the cover. his next sentence sort of broughT everything to a reality...... he said to me "sir, i used to deliver gRoceries to this hotel (and he totted it up SILENTLY in his head before finishing) 51 years ago, and they wouldnt even let me in the front door," he told me he used to go to A SCHOOL NOT TO FAR WAY CALLED FERGUSSON HIGH. we chatted for over half an hour, he didnt record to many records but stayed in music. it was thought he lived in texas having moved away from chicago. hit the bed about 4.00am having phone my beloved and discovered dave raistrick flat out wrecked on the setee in the foyer. well done sam for the best night ever.............. and it got better, tune in for the next episode......... there had been a complaint about the bolted togather dance floor and the size of the hall, but as kev said he had over 40 people cancel for various reasons and there was the sad case of the chap from oxfod soul club who died the week prior,so a bigger room may have been to much. it was certainly ok all week, maybe small for the saturday, but hell................they only expected 30 plus guests to urn up and 140 actually turned up, many hangers on i know and agree, but if ruby andrews wants to bring her sisters, cousin, nephew, second aunt, rabbitt ......whoever, to let them see that she had been appreciated but never knew......then i say bring em alllllllll have a good one. terrasaturday night took a lot of people by surprise and it was a very late night, to say it was awesome was an understatement, it was one after another, i never ever thought id see lou pride again or meet jimmy burns, it was like a kid being in a sweet shop, there was a dopey dude wandering around with a dummy in and quite a few hangers on but hey, its there world. i know some guys get a bit uptight when they hear mention of kev but i speak as i find and he and sam were tremendous to me, even finding some of my records and sending them back. and he was apologetic about new jersey, but i really cannot comment and i wont be drawn in either, as i wasnt there, all i can say is from my point of view , here and now,i was having a fucking fantastic time! as was johnny, it was even better than he said it would be and i will be forever in heis debt for this!and if that is what speed does them give some. there were some great great sets with some fantastic chillout music being played, in the chillout room, checkout some of the tunes..................it was about 5.00 am when i crawled in to bed. and i probably dropped off for an hour or two before waking up bright as a button get breakfast and ready for the record fair. there was only about 6 or 7 guys there but plenty to go through. i got a couple of rare ones that the guy didnt realise he had and could only afford 3, i had to leave one as i bought a few more numbers for my soul, gordy and ric tic collection. after a few hours it was heads down and ready for the next one or two nights here are a couple of sets taking us up to and including monday night. breakfast was at one of those great pancake places where you stick your hand up for more coffee. saturday chillin....... two young american guys in there very low 20`s and teens played some class soul sounds, ARET AND BEN, here is a sample johnny howard chase is on ivories please stay wade flemmons jeanette paris sleepless nights remember ben is only 19yrs old.............. royal five say it to my face (class tune) MARKE JACKSON ill never forget alexander a lil lovin dave ferguson mill evans why why why joseph moore i still cant get to you the visitors im in danger curtis blandon in the long rn opals im so afraid shepphards ittle girl major lance too hot to hold dave moore theola kilgore its gonna be alright tsu tornados what good am i little anthony its not the same jo walker this is my last goodbye rod e jones r n b time sunday night the windy city soul club and hitsville USA aret and ben again coaster crazy baby tamangoes i really love you epitome of sound you lala la ala la invitations whats .............. ideals mighty lover dave and dave (hitsville) sahpires gotta have yur love saphires evil (SELDOM HEARD) barbara randolph got a feeling alex brown im not responsible deniece chandler mama i wished id stayed home vellvelettes these things will keep me loving you ( for anoracks only.......this was on the white demo) bev showed me how to access the net to look for another hotel as my flights had changed then it was back to the music........or was it bev, bev or bev. no i`m certain it was bev, yes. during the sunday night yockie and his mates went to see a play about the life of joe tex and reported that it was fantastic, with guys playing the parts of otis redding , solomon burke, ben e king and they sang yockie happy birthday!! chris was up n addam with jimmy mack my world is on fire herbie hunter born to love ya yvonne baker didnt say a word gerri granger i go to pieces ( filled the floor) jr walker good rockin willie kendrick change your ways dave moore dropped the needle on some real class oldies al williams larry clinton frankie karl jimmy burns 4 perfections peoples choice, thought i wasnt gonna hear this at all then the magnificent POETS, wrapped around your finger billy prophet robbie lawson love runs out ( why will no one play the other side "the duck" sheer class.........................)i got mixed up coz i thought id missed out when dave played the velvellettes so just to be as true as possible, it was during this set. here are a few of the guys we met dave greet dave river dave whittle dave moore dave fergusson dave cuban dave raistrick dave johnsn dave smith (there`s always a dave smith) dave, dave dave and dave, oh and dave too kev and bev kev and sam bev and dave ......................... sheila lazonby mike mick and mickey and ian......... chris, chris, chris, and christine, next behind the decks DAVE YES DAVE, DAVE greet, who blames his diabetes on drinks and anphetameens ( not sreu fi htats how its spelt) and he played ty karim lighten up the proffesional lillie bryant (another record of the week) salvadores (think everyone one had this, probably nearly very known copy was in chicago) earl jackson tony clarke (the rare white demo i may add, for the anoracks) the dells run for cover flash mckinley. harold andrews the magnificents the music was of a very high calibre and still they guys were dancing when dave came on and playe a band of real classics duke browner pookie hudson jock mitchell the soul generation ojays (working) BILLY BUTLER J.J BARNES (HUMDINGER) MONDAY SORT OF FITTED IN AROUND HERE.............. monday came around and jet lag and a lovely whiskey and coke put johnny redpants in bed for the day,i was too excited, it would be thursday when i would sleep for 26 hours...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........zzzzzzzzzz pancake breakfast for 2 hours chatting and a quick tour of the hancock building, as big as the sears towers which was closed for observation. some tremendous views, really guys and gals, chicago is some city to visit.... we went to the american branch of borders book shop where i found a load of motown motif "gift cards" just lying on the rack......honestly gov, they was all 10 an the just fell onto the floor really. to celabrate 50 years of motown they had some gift cards printed with the motown map label on so i purloined a few. the idea is you add money onto them and give it as a gift, like the old record vouchers.....showing me age.........yeh but ya knew what i meant didnt ya monday night got a call from dAve to go on early as a special guest would be here at 9.00. so while it was getting going johnny and i tried a few of the big ballads, ralph graham gerry ganey danny lee karen brookes lenny curtis peter jarret (old velours cover up) betty obrien dean parish (determination) kurt harris appointments prince phillip mitchell the volumes the spiedells neil self was on next while we waited For our guest candace love tsu toranados jackie wilson (WHISPERS) sandy wynns cliff nobles love is thelma lindsey diplomats kev came on and made the introductions then on came the guest....the very smart...the magnificent chicago producer CARL DAVIS HE TOLD US HOW HE WORKED FOR VEE-JAY IN CHICAGO, AND THEN went to work for columbia in new york where he met a young man called major lance, they recorded UM UM UM UM UM MONKEY TIME HEY LITTLE GIRL AND CARL WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE SET UP OF OKEH RECORDS. he told us how he met and worked with the opals, and billy butler, but in 1965 he got fired by his boss who i think was a boyfriend of mary wells, something like that, and there was stories in the papers about carl and mary, they werent true........but it was prss any how, his exact words were, " i couldnt give a flying f@#ck and he did dear lover to stick it in yer ere. he was the only one making hit tunes but they still got rid of him and with some severance pay he got an office over a restaurant and began producing mary wells and worked with gerald simms. he wrote and produced for the chilites and jackie wilson on whispers getting louder he produced but it was another songstress who wrote it barbara acklin. carl did a lot of production with gerald simms , checkout a lot o jackie wilson stuff. he also worked with gerald simms on many walter jackson tunes, and vibrations. he also moved to england for a bit and worked with jon abbey and organised shows brought over the artistics etc. he ended his little speech with a signing and discussion session, he also introduced us to "antone" a new guy he is producing much in the vein of barry white, indeed to of the cd tracks are barry white tunes. he grew tired and went to the green rom for a rest and an interview with dave moore for theres that beat, it was off to bead for me and an early start, 6.00 leaving at 7.00 for detroit be there or be square catch the best of the best , in the next episode of soulies do chicago! catch ya terrajohn had been telling me about this for 3 years, and all i had heard was how bad the new jersey trip had been "you dont wanna miss it bazza' and so i saved up, and then my beloved bought me the plane tickets for my birthday,you couldve been there too if you`d really wanted to........ but it was the best money i have spent EVER (except of course my wedding to the wonderfull kay). It was up and atom at 6.30 and kev had organised a breakfast for the coach as we had to get off sharp. the drivers would be on the road from then until 10.00 that night. as we drove off, sipping the european blend and munching on the bacon butty, we passed all the familiar signs "INDIANA 120 KM " "MICHIGAN 400KM" OR "MINNEAPOLIS 200KM"..........trivia question when in michigan which direction will you drive to get to canada...... a pint at the nash if you guess it within 2 seconds and can prove it LOL. (email me) the journey took us over 4 hours but it was quite a good journey, plenty of rest and time to soak in the events of the week so far. what a time it had been.......holly maxwell pushing it all forward, cool dude bobby hutton, lou pride and jimmy burns, dancing with major lances daughter, jo anne garrett, arl davis. how could that ever ever be topped. little did we know! along the way kevs bus had stopped to pick up a special guest who was later revealed as none other than mel britt, unfortunatley life had not been kind to mr britt and he was living in a forest house i believe with his wife and living somewhat off the land, discussing how the onions and veggies were getting along with dave raistick certainly brought home exactly how it REALLY WAS for many of the guys who had entertained us for 3 decades. along the freeway another hour passed to the dreadful tunes chosenby our bus tour guide until johnnie handed him "shitfaced in the sun" to play, i was at a loss for words when out of all innocence he was heard to ask his driver (thinking the mike was off) "what does shitfaced mean"? "dunno said the driver, them aussies could never speak the queens anyway!" LOL.joke WE passed into detroit and were in the suburbs in no time and pulled off the expressway. exactly as i thought, we drove passed derelict homes, rubbish dumped all over, rundown areas and through an underpass with puddles like something out of a cenral new york murder movie and onto rosa parks ave. rosa parks was the brave lady who stood up to be counted, or rather sat down to be counted and became famous for her part in the civil rights movement to end segregation. these areas around the big industries had been populated by black families moving up from the south to find work as the cotton fields died off and the hope of better life. AND THERE WE WERE. i felt quite choked actually because it was just there............on the street, as we turned the corner there it was. HITSVILLE USA, the building that had brought such joy to millions and changed the face of the music we know today. johnny and i ran up the steps and chucked my camera to bev moore.......you gotta get us on here bev. it felt like the end of a quest, quite poignant,humbling that this was it, just a house, or not .....depending on your perspective........it was theeeeeeeeeee house. john and i made our way inside and from then on the whole day was just so wierd and surreal. as we got to the top of the stairs i introduced myself to a lovely lady whom i thought may have been an assistant, "hi im barry and this is john"............... "oh , hello" came the reply, im francis nero .........".............f@#CK! both john and i were realy taken aback and a tear in our eyes as we asked for an autograph "oh plenty of time for that she said , ill be with you all day". we were ushered down stairs to view a short movie on the beginings of motown. how apt to be there on its 50th anniversary and help some of the guys celebrate. the tour was admittedly to quick,(later we would be thankfull) but we were on a tight schedule as the drivers would be up and driving for more than a full day. in the musem there was a lot missing, and being a bit of an anorack on motown, i noticed no fotos of martha and the vandellas, none of the jackson five, the velevellets, but plenty of diana and marvin. this was dissapoiting but i believe a reflection on the funding it gets or doesnt and was certainly not a reflection of the part it played in the progression of music, never mind black music. records on display were in the wrong sleeves and it felt sort of not complete........not sure how to describe it.......not finished! john and i went into the "snake pit" where dennis coffey was giving a bit of a lecture on "how it was" and signing autographs. we had a look at the old mixing equipment and it was easy to visualise berry or h.d.h. flicking the switches and coaxing the groups along. there was certainly an eery truth to it all, you could feel it. we were left alone to wander round and i got some video footage of the snake pit. over the years berry bought quite a few of the houses on the street and built the empire we know today. then it was of for lunch at a steak house............or so we thought!....... we were met by a whole host of stars. laura lee signed my shirt as did sylvester potts, i had sylvester in kinks laughing as i told him one of my wifes favourite records was that sexy r & b tune "whole lotta woman"... oh maaan thats sooo cool, that was so far back maaannnnn. then there was john tapping me on the shoulder "barry, quick,look, there`s lorrains chandler..............billy wilson, francis nero, mel britt, kid in a candy store comes to mind, you wanted to give all these guys your attention but there were so many. francis nero was sitting on her own on the other side of the room. so i went over and offerd to buy her a cool drink, but she had one and thanked me. i asked her why she was sittig far away from everyone, "thats where the waitress put me " was the reply. so i picked up here dinner and brought her over to john and my table and chatted, i was getting paper, menus, lottery tickets, anything to get her signature on as gifts for some friends in england and australia. " i was the first girl on soul you know" she said with imense pride, then she took a sip of diet coke "gotta watch my diabetes guys" "hi francis how ya doin giiirl,.........aint seen you for yeers girl" i recognised roslind of the vandellas as i had brought the song sheet of "dancing in the street" for autgraphs and was dissapointed when she advised that martha was working for detoit council and wouldnt make it today.............i wasnt sure who would be most dissapointed,us or martha. that brought a lump to the throat to think one may never see or get her autograph and tell her how good you thought she was and the joy her music brought us. they all sat and chatted like old days, photo opportunites and autographs treating them to a "soda" then as they were catching up with old friends john and i set off to meet some of the other guests. i saw mel britt and cheekily asked him "what would you do if she`d came back' he instantly knew what i meant and replied "i didnt want her to"...so it may have been a love song from the heart. he went on to add he moved to L.A. and joined the visitors and then changed thier name to THE MISTS, who recorded on twinight. kev played "she`ll come running back" and the whole room sprang into song with mel swaying and clapping over his illnes, it was sad to see but to witness the pleasure in his face was worth it a thousand times over. meanwhile little francis nero was having a ball meeting everyone and donig autographs and photos, i think we all made her day.........no, i think we made her year and she never stopped thanking us.billy wilson was an informative guy, i got talking to him for ages about berry`s formula......the indian rthym etc how the baby boomers changed the way of life forever and how alan abrahms created "the sound of young america". he told us how they would use no artist photos on the sleeves to confuse audiences not knowing thier colour and how the music moved on..the chit`lin curcuit (which i kenw about).........at this point johnnie taps me on the arm........"barry here`s carl carlton.........oh and there are the capitols.....taking to lorrains chandler.....they all got up on stage for photos and broke into an acapello version of "cool jerk" and to see these guys giving it all they could with 150 guys singing along "co oo ool je er erk" well the hairs just prickled up...........you just had to be there and be able to say you were............what would ever top that day. and as quick as it started, it was over and back on the bus so i stood in line........... but no one was moving.....why ....shit! there was martha reeves signing autographs, i was gonna get it after all, martha and the vandellas autographs on my copy of jimmy mack. that just finished it for me. i dont think anyone spoke all the way back....just trying to recapture every moment, never to be repeated............. we got back around 10.00 and had a bit of a finale, but everyne was wrecked, kev said his thank you and we did too and goodbye, sam had definatley done a superb job getting all these artists to show up.....once in a lifetime experience that i would certainly have paid twice the price for. this morning, the 31 march i got a lovely email off carl davis and francis nero once again thanking us english guys for what you have done for us. it was also francis` birthday and a happy one at that............................................................................\ ........................ LIFES GOOD...........NO.......LIFES GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Wow , what an incrediable independant 'warts n all' review - made you feel you were there . Very tempted to make the next one, our first . A truely once in a lifetime experience . SOULGALORE @ Crofton Community Centre, Middle Lane, Crofton Wakefield. WF4 1LB Friday 22nd January 2010 Guest DJs: Andy Bellwood & Dale Byers Resident DJs: Paul Newton & Tony Jackson 8.00pm - 1.00am.....Entrance £3 OTD. Large Wooden Dance Floor.....Cheap Bar Prices 4th Friday in every month For further information contact Paul tel 01924 895038 / 07749192499 E-mail: info@soulgalore.co.uk. Website: www.soulgalore.co.uk Link to comment
Guest Mark Holmes Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Not at this stage. We have to be faithful to the hundreds that have supported us on our last 3 adventures. Keep an eye on our web site for details . Hmmm....curious how anyone who is already in the USA is going to be able to attend if there aren't any tickets or passes. I live in Orlando so won't need flights or hotel. There are a lot of people from the US who wouldn't need flights but would maybe take advantage of any group rates at the hotel or other Orlando accommodation. There are lots of people who have accommodation (villas and timeshares etc} who would love to attend the event and would combine it as part of their vacation. Should I put the word out with the Seattle and Chicago, California guys not to plan on attending as there won't be any tickets? Was looking forward to it. Oh Well. I really hope that you would consider, try not to let it go t**ts up for us. Link to comment
munchkinette Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Hmmm....curious how anyone who is already in the USA is going to be able to attend if there aren't any tickets or passes. I live in Orlando so won't need flights or hotel. There are a lot of people from the US who wouldn't need flights but would maybe take advantage of any group rates at the hotel or other Orlando accommodation. There are lots of people who have accommodation (villas and timeshares etc} who would love to attend the event and would combine it as part of their vacation. Should I put the word out with the Seattle and Chicago, California guys not to plan on attending as there won't be any tickets? Was looking forward to it. Oh Well. I really hope that you would consider, try not to let it go t**ts up for us. Agreed Mark it would appear that the only people who can attend this are the people who book everything through Goldsoul's chosen travel agent from the UK, as I mentioned before we wouldn't need accomodation but would have liked to have come over for this. Sharon Link to comment
Newer Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 We would be "nipping" down from Ontario so would only need tickets and accomodation. Link to comment
Goldsoul Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 We would be "nipping" down from Ontario so would only need tickets and accomodation. BOOKINGS ARE BEING TAKEN NOW Contact dave.coupe@travelcounsellors.com Link to comment
Staceys Dad Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 have you got a list of any of the artists yet, who will be turning up?? Link to comment
Goldsoul Posted February 6, 2010 Author Share Posted February 6, 2010 have you got a list of any of the artists yet, who will be turning up?? No. Way to early. But if you attended any of our past Soultrips........ Link to comment
Staceys Dad Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 (edited) No. Way to early. But if you attended any of our past Soultrips........ yes i have been on all 3,gonna have to be good to beat the chicago & detroit one (one trip to take to the dance hall in the sky,just think of that MEL BRITT moment, priceless ) ,but no doubt you and sam will pull out all the stops....remember the floral hall and the spag bol at our house kev.... Edited February 6, 2010 by staceys dad Link to comment
munchkinette Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Was just looking at your website for details of passes etc and have noticed that the date of travel is for 23rd March but the trip to the Carolinas has been arranged for a couple of days before 21/22nd March probably a typing error but just thought I'd better let you know. Sharon Link to comment
Britmusicsoulfan Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I'm working on saving up my pennies so the Mrs. and I can go! Link to comment
Goldsoul Posted March 30, 2010 Author Share Posted March 30, 2010 I'm working on saving up my pennies so the Mrs. and I can go! Just a quick update. Places are filling up at quite a pace. Here's what you do if you would like to attend the 4th SOULTRIPUSA. MARCH 23-APRIL 6 * Register your interest to dave.coupe@travelcounsellors.com * Deposits being taken from May. * Final balance by Jan 31,2011 * Flying from Manchester and London * Choice of 7, 10, 14 nights at the Doubletree Resort,Orlando(Next to Premium Shopping Outlet) * Nightly dancing plus LIVE Show featuring many Northern/Modern legends. * Optional trips to The Carolinas(Live show in Charleston,South Carolina) plus Casino/Gulf Coast and Miami. Another unique adventure. Don't miss it! Call Sam for more details 01909-515150 or e-sales@goldsoul.co.uk See the photo gallery at www.goldsoul.co.uk (More than 200 Artist/Writers/Producers have met us in Los Angeles,New Jersey/Philadelphia, Chicago/Detroit) get ready for more in the SUNSHINE STATE!! Link to comment
Ian Seaman Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 can we pay with vinyl Kev ?? Ian. Link to comment
Dolly13 Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 (edited) Kev & Sam , Me & Barry & Kay Simpson will be there in this not to be missed event . I have been fortunate to have made the last two and the memories are priceless . Barry did a review of the last one. HI GUYS, what a trip, an astral trip! the past 10 days were the most awesome ever. the only downside was (get the crap out of the way first) american airways. their custmer service was beyond crap. i have used a mixture of the littlest and the biggest during longhauls to australia, brazil and the like, and i have to say these were the worst. it felt like all the passengers were a big nuisance to the crew, one cheeky madam was clicking her fingers at me because i was watching a movie wth earphones on and she was handing out meals, she did this on three occasions. grr grr . the whole attitude stunk and these were not trolley dollies but mature people. after an arduous 30 hour journey across 3 continents i landed in chicago and literally bumped into johnny redpants on a bridge at the airport and we caught the shuttle to the hotel. the hotel has had a bit of a bashing on soul source with reference to its style/age, but beleive me when i say it was perfect, my opinion. built around the 1920`s it still displays the class it had in those days and sports pictures of many of the greatest figures of the past 80 years on the lounge wall. the entrance, foyer and ballroom had the most luxurious chandeliers and marble reception with giant pillars decorating the foyer, very grand. the rooms were great although i will say dont share a room with johnny redpants coz he cant iron or make coffee or a bed, LOL LOL. and a tip to the maid ensured a good supply of coffee and biscuits. the hotel was situated in an exclusive area called the GOLD COAST, about two blocks from the beach/lake where the average gorgeous 4 story townhouse was 2 to 3 million dollars. ill post some pics also some of the guys cleaning the windows of the hotel next door,(absailing with a bucket of water down 36 floors. a daily walk past the old playboy mansion on our way to breakfast and soon everyone had caught on to a nice little corner bakery that did the business for 10bucks........and all the coffee you wanted. the first sounds of soul were spun on wednesday late on due to the brits being held up, so it was about 9 or 10 before it really got gong by snowy and played an eclectic mix while everyone said hello ad met old friends like bev and kev, dave and bev, dave, dave, dave, dave and dave, dave , dave and dave.........there was about 20 daves and i`ll list em when i get to that page snowy played some typical chicago sounds to warm things up and break the ice. landslide tony clarke chess kept on dancing doug banks argo just like the weather nolan chance constelation mr big shot gene chandler constelation KEV took the mike and welcomed everyone and wished us a good time and then also informed us of the death of a gentleman called richard pegue who was to be a guest here. he was a d.j. and had played on or wrote the record do the pearl girl by the matta baby.he was a friend of local girl jo anne garrett (who will be joing us on saturday)and some may know him as the owner of penny records. at this point i was introduced to a real nice guy called stephen yoxall whom some of you may know as yockie from barnsley or doncaster and he had played at johnny redpants 50th last year. we hung out a bit during the trip visiting a record shop for some bargains where i found all the hipster records and a neat little tune by ivy joe hunter called shooty booty (not far from a version of tune up). they told a story about a gay party they had mistakenly attended, but by this time i`d had 2 lite beers and a bud so mmmmmmmmm....... here are some of the sounds played by snowy and neil jones. neil jones was up next the trends gonna have to show you abc, i saw this in about 5 record boxes tat week so a popular tune! queen city show band patron of the arts pow gene chandler there as a time constelation isley bros why when love has gone tamla marvin gaye love starved heart tamla servicemen sweet magic chartmaker little richie just another heartache sss snowy follwed ruby andrews just loving you zodiac artistics this heart of mine okeh joe jama my life optimum mickey champion what good am i mussette curtis mayfield move on up buddah baby earl/trinidads back slop spqr i was reliably informed that snowy was the first to play this at the portculis club barnsley years ago, but no dout someone will have played it at wigan!........ feeling a bit wrecked everyone packed up and hit the beds for a good rest............. see ya tomorrow zzzzzzzzzzzzThursday, and our first free day. a walk in the cold all wrapped up and you can still feel it, the biting wind, but i suppose when you go from 30 plus celcius to 2 farhen hiet or it felt like that argh. after a stonking breakfast in, what was to become little england for a week, it was off to meet mr chicago soul BOB MINER at the @#$%%%*& shop. johnny, yockie dave and i spent all day trawling through records sitting on the floor standing up etc finding no real rare ones but we got quite a few tunes nevertheless. personally i got over 60 numbers many of them soul label and gordy for around 50 cents and the saving on postage was approx 10 aussie for each record so even more savings for records i would have needed for the set anyway. it was here i discovered the hipster set for 3 dollars. his is a set of records about 3 inches wide.the idea was they would fit into your pocket along with the player and you would look COOL with you friends when it was produced at a party or on the beach. there were many soul sounds released which either reflects the feel for soul music during that period or the other version....that they had so many problem with the player that they withdrew the series. sounds like brenda and the tabulations wilson picket jay and the americans arthur connelly the dells kieth (remember 98.6) just to name a few. at 6.00 we decided enough was enough, or rather our backs told us, and it was off for some tea at a old american themed diner, good value too and then the 1/2 hour drive back to the hotel. come 9.00 it was on again. kev gave a warm up speech and reminded us of some of the visitors for saturday, lou pride, marvin smith,jimmy burns and carl davis and wished us a good night, handing over to the SOULMILLIONAIRE, 2 YOU GUYS OF 19 OR 20 sonny and aret from chicago and for guys that young and across the world they played some great tunes including jo anne garret whole new plan martha starr no part time love for me the ringladers what has happened lada edmund jr la rue after this set i went to the foyer and on the way back i walked into the lift and met RUBY ANDREWS she was a bit lost for words that a white guy in a chicago hotel would know her, but it did her street cred no end of good in front of her two sisters, who incedently are called gwen and esther same as berry grdy`s sisters. neil jones was up next and cracked off with the johnny sayles gem and a fav of mine cant get enough jack montgomery dear beloved bobby sheen dr love lorraine chandler i cant change volumes cheapie cover up fo 20 quid (dead easy to spot if you know matrix numbers. bernie williams ever again pointer sisters send him back martha and vand ellas nowhere to run the floor was dancing off to the old faithfulls and the party was on. i was introduced to a chap called mick h who was up after neil. neil was potententially on his stag night as he was getting married on fridy here in chicago, here is a selection of mick h`s set frankie beverley if thats what you wanted rita & tiaras gone with the wind (incredible tune) timi yuro itll never be over for me anne sexton been gone too long mellow souls we can make it and the incredible parliaments my rainy day. it was the beginng of some fantastic music.......and one of the records of the weekend.... during a conversation with dave moore he reiterated a story of when they did the frankford wayne studios. they were allowed into the vaults and as a self test dave sort of closed his eyes and picked a random tape out. it contained 13 takes of "i`ll aways love my mama". the intruders,i know its not one of the rarities but it gave a glimpse of what may be hidden there............drool drooooool......(lets have a look for the 10 cuts of country girl.LOL LOL)then there was the great remark from jimmy wisner when asked if he remembered certain records and he replied "im like a jockey, i rode many horses but i only remember the winners. and if you buy "theres that beat" number 3 (which incidently has an article by my good self on motown)you will know what he was meaning. by the way if you collect these i get 10 a month so if you are missing any let me know. i do now that no 3 and 4 are hard to find and bev has no other copies. 2 bottles of bud........ dave rivers next with some great tunes and for me one of the sets of the week del satins baby your the fire ( great tune i hadnt heard) helena fergson come on and dance with me (cover up version of soul time) vibrations cause your mine donni burdick bari track (incredible tune with the late mike terry on sax) a cover up of an instumental to miss my baby , rose batiste gwen and ray build your house (you just never see this anymore) 1 bottle of miller lite during all this time and all week there was a young guy strutting his stuff at 19 yrs old,and side burns that elvis would have died for just heard about the week, was into jazz and came along......his style was somewhat different, but isnt ours to some people, but he danced all week long, marcus i think his name was. he just danced all week. clint passed me a tonic water and as it was 2.00 .....time for bed i had heard all about the last one but this was shaping up already to be a success. little did we know just how good it was gonna get. the people were great and both johnny and i met some great friends nd some old ones from the past like bev and kev from burnley and a soul stalwart sheila lazonby, any one who doesnt recognise sheila doesnt go to anighters, discovered that dave fergusson was born 500 yards from me and had some great chats with dave greet and dave moore and a great set from dave rivers who was trying to be on his best behaviour for the wedding tomorrow. please bare in mind this is my opinion and that of a lot of others too, maybe not all and some may not have enjoyed it or had a bad time. point is johnny and i had a fantastic time and well worth the trip , effort and money to celebrate with many of the artists who gave us this fantastic music in the first place, well done to kev and sam. catch ya.........and dont miss the next installment of this great trip. another free day so after breakfast johnny redpants and i set off to do some tommy tourist stuff and headed along the ice covered lakefront to navy pier. quite an awesome structure in itself. a plague was displayed saying its contsruction was equivilent to that of a 200 story building surrounded by 20 feet of water. but of course you knew that already.......didnt you. just agree coz you pobably dont care anyhow.after a bit shopping, a couple of beers and coffee...as johnny doesnt drink much, i took johnny on the ferris wheel....silly bugger didnt tell me he is scared of hieghts and sat frozen in the corner while i sauntered around the cabin. and in true redpants style he never whinged just allowed me to take it all in. we did some shopping and headed home.after a meal at an irish bar it was back to the hotel again and sort our sets out. johnny redpants had got a spot on the friday night and only found out before he left for a record hunt in los angeles with gabby, so he emaild and told me to get a set ready coz he wanted me to double deck, now thats what its all about guys.....none of this "im the man stuff". terry finn was up first gene chandler there was a time gene chandler mr big shot jack montgomery my dear beloved artistics this heart of mine ringleaders what has happened. a couple of new guys we hadnt seen before appeared and kev roberts introduced me..........clifford curry, ok pick myself up, and began discussing tunes from his carreer on elf and abbott, namely "she shot a hole in my sole"but also his time with the five pennys on savoy, the five jokers who had a hit on storm and the contenders who i didnt know, but the most discussion was around his time with curtis mayfield as the notations and he was gobsmaked when i mentioned "think before you stop" he hadnt really rated it and was really taken aback as i went through how big it was in the 70`s disco craze, some of you how like me may still have it on curtom..........anyhow he says "hang on a minute man my freind has to hear this" and dissapears returning with bobby thomas who later joined CHANNELL 3, autographs on the white t shirt specially printed by KINELL OF PERTH,were purloined. we chatted and johnny and i treated them to a beer before we went up for our spot. kev roberts said take as long as you want guys... one and half hours later we came away, here is what we played, it was comming across as a relax, play the good oldies too, mix it a bit........ nearly forgot, when we returned to the hotel the wedding party ad returned and there was dave rivers, absolutley smart as a carrott in his scottish regalia, check out the photos to be added. johnny and i bought the happy couple neil and donna jones a boquet but when we called them to the decks there were nowhere to be found. obviously something better than northernsoul to do, anyway mick h took them on there behalf and niel came down and said thanks (fully clothed i might add for you seedier readers) heres our set, fully and in no order.......me or johnny.. the shakers one wonderfull mment (for neil and donna) larry clinton wanted in 3 states tamal lewis say nothing freddie chevez theyll never know why alice clarke hit me mel britt shell come running back rita & tiars gone with the wind nabay believe it or not holly thats not love joanne courcey you got the power chuck henley broken heart george blckwell cant lose my head billy hines ying ting tong delites lover cody black slowly moulding moments he said johnny caswell you dont love me cecil washingtn i dont like to lose dean parish bricks, bottles and sticks court davis try to think tangeers hart and soul danny lee stop calling me baby billy prophet what can i do march &the ides ceasar stomp frankie valli beggin appreciations i cant hide it dean courtney always love you bev anne you got your mind on other things mike and ray man without a woman joanie sommers pity me honey bees dynamite dropped dead bobby gentry walkin inst (bobby paris i waked away) and an hour and a half was gone.........and dave whitle from florida ever sat down, another understanding partner sits and waits....... chris dalton was on next and played a set that included the ambassadors, too much soul inc what goes up matadors say yes jesse fisher honey unique blend yes im in love seven souls (im no stranger) a few guys played this one ) i got on talking to chris lalerwho told us tales ofthe famous "strange world of northern soul", such as how bob relf was in a mental home and looked older than his mum due to drug abuse, how they filmed jackie ross singing to a backing track coz no one had the words and she had forgotten a verse. so she went home and chris faxed her the words, she sang them down the phone and he passed the recordng onto some it guys who matched it to some words she did remember, cleaned itup and added it in..as it turned out that wasnt the case some one just hadnt switched the mike on at the start and excuses wer flying, any how once the engineers had a go , all was good.........wow.he also said the 3 degrees were really above them selves, really causing problems, being awkward but eventually with 40 mins left out of a days studio time they got something down i got talking to a crowd from wales who know our own john and val from adelaide, carol and steve ask "remember the beta boys" contact me and ill give you the emails. neil self next on and among his set were..... sam dees lonley for you appreciations lonley voices of east harlem cashin in seven souls i still love you john bowie gonna miss a good thing dave moore gave me a spot on the saturday in the chillout room and in the main oom on the monday and i immediately asked if he would mind me double decking with johnny redpants and he said go for it, so it was on again. snowy finished the nigt off and had to resort to a few cds as a lt of good records had been played, here is a selection........know no me when it comes to them silver cd things....... i coundnt distinguish the difference so i suppose who cared.... the guys danced and that was the atmosphere. these were deff on vinyl moody woman my weakness is you would you believe it dont send nobody else nobody but me 6x6 the bottle our love is in the pocket you dont love me after a few millers and buds the jet lag was kicking in i had lost my perriferal vision and that was it, time for bed...............the best was still to come i forgot to mention, as i got my notes a bit mixed up, major lances daughter made an appearance last night and was delighted to hear stories of her fathers music being so well liked.......even by you white guys back over in england is unbelievable, i had a dance with her and a foto opportunity, a really nice lady. anyhow we had a trip out to the east side and a recordshop that had nothing although dave greet got a few albums and i found a dovells, james brown,paul mariat and a junior walker albums in the fullest shittiest opshop/cum/junkshop ya eva did see.dave wasnt impressed...actually none of us were, that a SUBWAY DIDNT SELL COFFEE, DOH , NOT EVEN A COFFEE MACHINE. as i was passing a guitar shop i noticed a nice poster on the back wall so i went in and offered the owner who was actually hand crafting guitars, 20 bucks for a 1963 new years eve poster of fats domino in chicago on tour, a great item. dave cuban whom johnny and i had met over the net took us all over and a tour of chicago was no probs, i saw the cinema where dillinger was shot and the famous wrigleys baseballground, bought some slipmats, tea time, dinner at a pizza place with tim a record dealer we met on the net from minnesota then it was off to the saturday gig. and oh my god what a night. first up was a great lad and adelaide visitor CHRIS DALTON, he came with andy jackson and the guys. here is some of his set j. jocko. im gettin over jesse fisher honey willie tee first taste of hurt matt brown sweet thing jimmy reed i aint going nowhere kenny wells isnt it just a shame kenn shepard what difference does it make jive five if i had a chance to love you the seven souls im no stranger john and i were in the chillout room and sharing a set but the fun had started so we did a sort of 10 mins/15 mins/ swap each and it got a bit hectic to write so much so hang on, whoops sorry MR LOU PRIDE. and how are you today, dragging any paper available for autographs and the of course the white t shirts came out and lou duly signed it and a few other bits of memorobilia as i turned there was syl johnson comming out of the lift with the akubra sporting a kangaroo he had quite obviously bought last week in australia when he performed in perth, another autograph and foto then there was ruby andrews again and i got her to sign my shirt and an autograph fo my mate paul in perth who`s wife has "just loving you " as a ring tone, ruby andrews just loved that. oops can you sign this mr cicereo blake.......shit this was soul heaven, oops hello mr willie henderson, how are you today... dave moore got hold of me and said get your self in the green room mate, i cant do that thats where the stars are, he said "why do you think im on the dooor", to make sure you guys get to meet em, and in i went bumping into the coolest dude there"BOBBY HUTTON" CHAT, autograph photograph, turnaround and bump, oops sorry mr jimmy burns, i believe you are gonna sing for us later(didnt tell him id just sold i really love you for over 5000 quid)autograph, photograph. there was lou pride again so i got a few photos and autographs and a bit chat then in walks the blonde black bombshell................holly maxwell, boobs and all, along with jo anne garrtt and jackie ross...........whoa soul heaven. i had bought a copy of TIME magazine with barrack obama on the cover for to get some of the artists to sign and managed lou pride, jimmy burns, ruby anddrews and carl davis (he showed up on the monday night so watch for that one) RUBY ANDREWS grabbed it off me......thats the muthafucka whole sort this place out and gave it a big kiss, this was turning out to be some night i had to go and relieve johnny redpants so i missed some action but what i got was fan tas ticcccccccccc. dont know what john played coz he cant write as you know but here is some of mine before i got distracted talking to lou pride again and handing out some aussie caps and teeshirts. shooty booty coverup trinidads backslop danny lee stop calling me baby pat bradley one more chance adam wade half the world is mine louie chitrentienel train jive(cover up) eddie carrigan i wish i was the inticers since you left lonnie hewit gonna git gloria hill now i need him charles holiday dont lie de lola carmicheal leave the boy alone but then it was back to the main room for some serious stuff...............as the band got themselves together, and it was great to see, jamming and joking along. they obviously had worked together for decades......... THEN THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT............. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ......LOU PRIDE. and there he was, 5 feet away from me singing 'IM CUMMIN HOME". I GOT IT SWEET ON VIDEO and fotos.....then LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I GIVE YOU ...........JIMMY BURNS........... and he went straight into "i really love you" just 5 feet away. does it get any better. the crowd was singing along........ LADIES AND GENTLEMEN .....HANDS TOGETHER FOR JO ANNE GARRETT HOLLY MAXWELL LADIES AND GENTLE MEN ................. BARBARA GREEN JACKIE ROSS This was just an awesome night . i got chatting to a local dj who used to go out with one of the artistics sisters and we chatted for over an hour. what a laff...............and you only need to ask a few of the right questions to see if they know, and they did LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ............. RUBY ANDREWS........ and she went into just loving you........... later i was in the chillout room and jimmy burns walked in, well many of you know i collect/steal whatever memorobilia, so as he bought his drinks ticket i bought his drink for him and asked him to autograph the ticket and at this point he also signed my copy of the TIMES mag with barrack on the cover. his next sentence sort of broughT everything to a reality...... he said to me "sir, i used to deliver gRoceries to this hotel (and he totted it up SILENTLY in his head before finishing) 51 years ago, and they wouldnt even let me in the front door," he told me he used to go to A SCHOOL NOT TO FAR WAY CALLED FERGUSSON HIGH. we chatted for over half an hour, he didnt record to many records but stayed in music. it was thought he lived in texas having moved away from chicago. hit the bed about 4.00am having phone my beloved and discovered dave raistrick flat out wrecked on the setee in the foyer. well done sam for the best night ever.............. and it got better, tune in for the next episode......... there had been a complaint about the bolted togather dance floor and the size of the hall, but as kev said he had over 40 people cancel for various reasons and there was the sad case of the chap from oxfod soul club who died the week prior,so a bigger room may have been to much. it was certainly ok all week, maybe small for the saturday, but hell................they only expected 30 plus guests to urn up and 140 actually turned up, many hangers on i know and agree, but if ruby andrews wants to bring her sisters, cousin, nephew, second aunt, rabbitt ......whoever, to let them see that she had been appreciated but never knew......then i say bring em alllllllll have a good one. terrasaturday night took a lot of people by surprise and it was a very late night, to say it was awesome was an understatement, it was one after another, i never ever thought id see lou pride again or meet jimmy burns, it was like a kid being in a sweet shop, there was a dopey dude wandering around with a dummy in and quite a few hangers on but hey, its there world. i know some guys get a bit uptight when they hear mention of kev but i speak as i find and he and sam were tremendous to me, even finding some of my records and sending them back. and he was apologetic about new jersey, but i really cannot comment and i wont be drawn in either, as i wasnt there, all i can say is from my point of view , here and now,i was having a fucking fantastic time! as was johnny, it was even better than he said it would be and i will be forever in heis debt for this!and if that is what speed does them give some. there were some great great sets with some fantastic chillout music being played, in the chillout room, checkout some of the tunes..................it was about 5.00 am when i crawled in to bed. and i probably dropped off for an hour or two before waking up bright as a button get breakfast and ready for the record fair. there was only about 6 or 7 guys there but plenty to go through. i got a couple of rare ones that the guy didnt realise he had and could only afford 3, i had to leave one as i bought a few more numbers for my soul, gordy and ric tic collection. after a few hours it was heads down and ready for the next one or two nights here are a couple of sets taking us up to and including monday night. breakfast was at one of those great pancake places where you stick your hand up for more coffee. saturday chillin....... two young american guys in there very low 20`s and teens played some class soul sounds, ARET AND BEN, here is a sample johnny howard chase is on ivories please stay wade flemmons jeanette paris sleepless nights remember ben is only 19yrs old.............. royal five say it to my face (class tune) MARKE JACKSON ill never forget alexander a lil lovin dave ferguson mill evans why why why joseph moore i still cant get to you the visitors im in danger curtis blandon in the long rn opals im so afraid shepphards ittle girl major lance too hot to hold dave moore theola kilgore its gonna be alright tsu tornados what good am i little anthony its not the same jo walker this is my last goodbye rod e jones r n b time sunday night the windy city soul club and hitsville USA aret and ben again coaster crazy baby tamangoes i really love you epitome of sound you lala la ala la invitations whats .............. ideals mighty lover dave and dave (hitsville) sahpires gotta have yur love saphires evil (SELDOM HEARD) barbara randolph got a feeling alex brown im not responsible deniece chandler mama i wished id stayed home vellvelettes these things will keep me loving you ( for anoracks only.......this was on the white demo) bev showed me how to access the net to look for another hotel as my flights had changed then it was back to the music........or was it bev, bev or bev. no i`m certain it was bev, yes. during the sunday night yockie and his mates went to see a play about the life of joe tex and reported that it was fantastic, with guys playing the parts of otis redding , solomon burke, ben e king and they sang yockie happy birthday!! chris was up n addam with jimmy mack my world is on fire herbie hunter born to love ya yvonne baker didnt say a word gerri granger i go to pieces ( filled the floor) jr walker good rockin willie kendrick change your ways dave moore dropped the needle on some real class oldies al williams larry clinton frankie karl jimmy burns 4 perfections peoples choice, thought i wasnt gonna hear this at all then the magnificent POETS, wrapped around your finger billy prophet robbie lawson love runs out ( why will no one play the other side "the duck" sheer class.........................)i got mixed up coz i thought id missed out when dave played the velvellettes so just to be as true as possible, it was during this set. here are a few of the guys we met dave greet dave river dave whittle dave moore dave fergusson dave cuban dave raistrick dave johnsn dave smith (there`s always a dave smith) dave, dave dave and dave, oh and dave too kev and bev kev and sam bev and dave ......................... sheila lazonby mike mick and mickey and ian......... chris, chris, chris, and christine, next behind the decks DAVE YES DAVE, DAVE greet, who blames his diabetes on drinks and anphetameens ( not sreu fi htats how its spelt) and he played ty karim lighten up the proffesional lillie bryant (another record of the week) salvadores (think everyone one had this, probably nearly very known copy was in chicago) earl jackson tony clarke (the rare white demo i may add, for the anoracks) the dells run for cover flash mckinley. harold andrews the magnificents the music was of a very high calibre and still they guys were dancing when dave came on and playe a band of real classics duke browner pookie hudson jock mitchell the soul generation ojays (working) BILLY BUTLER J.J BARNES (HUMDINGER) MONDAY SORT OF FITTED IN AROUND HERE.............. monday came around and jet lag and a lovely whiskey and coke put johnny redpants in bed for the day,i was too excited, it would be thursday when i would sleep for 26 hours...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........zzzzzzzzzz pancake breakfast for 2 hours chatting and a quick tour of the hancock building, as big as the sears towers which was closed for observation. some tremendous views, really guys and gals, chicago is some city to visit.... we went to the american branch of borders book shop where i found a load of motown motif "gift cards" just lying on the rack......honestly gov, they was all 10 an the just fell onto the floor really. to celabrate 50 years of motown they had some gift cards printed with the motown map label on so i purloined a few. the idea is you add money onto them and give it as a gift, like the old record vouchers.....showing me age.........yeh but ya knew what i meant didnt ya monday night got a call from dAve to go on early as a special guest would be here at 9.00. so while it was getting going johnny and i tried a few of the big ballads, ralph graham gerry ganey danny lee karen brookes lenny curtis peter jarret (old velours cover up) betty obrien dean parish (determination) kurt harris appointments prince phillip mitchell the volumes the spiedells neil self was on next while we waited For our guest candace love tsu toranados jackie wilson (WHISPERS) sandy wynns cliff nobles love is thelma lindsey diplomats kev came on and made the introductions then on came the guest....the very smart...the magnificent chicago producer CARL DAVIS HE TOLD US HOW HE WORKED FOR VEE-JAY IN CHICAGO, AND THEN went to work for columbia in new york where he met a young man called major lance, they recorded UM UM UM UM UM MONKEY TIME HEY LITTLE GIRL AND CARL WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE SET UP OF OKEH RECORDS. he told us how he met and worked with the opals, and billy butler, but in 1965 he got fired by his boss who i think was a boyfriend of mary wells, something like that, and there was stories in the papers about carl and mary, they werent true........but it was prss any how, his exact words were, " i couldnt give a flying f@#ck and he did dear lover to stick it in yer ere. he was the only one making hit tunes but they still got rid of him and with some severance pay he got an office over a restaurant and began producing mary wells and worked with gerald simms. he wrote and produced for the chilites and jackie wilson on whispers getting louder he produced but it was another songstress who wrote it barbara acklin. carl did a lot of production with gerald simms , checkout a lot o jackie wilson stuff. he also worked with gerald simms on many walter jackson tunes, and vibrations. he also moved to england for a bit and worked with jon abbey and organised shows brought over the artistics etc. he ended his little speech with a signing and discussion session, he also introduced us to "antone" a new guy he is producing much in the vein of barry white, indeed to of the cd tracks are barry white tunes. he grew tired and went to the green rom for a rest and an interview with dave moore for theres that beat, it was off to bead for me and an early start, 6.00 leaving at 7.00 for detroit be there or be square catch the best of the best , in the next episode of soulies do chicago! catch ya terrajohn had been telling me about this for 3 years, and all i had heard was how bad the new jersey trip had been "you dont wanna miss it bazza' and so i saved up, and then my beloved bought me the plane tickets for my birthday,you couldve been there too if you`d really wanted to........ but it was the best money i have spent EVER (except of course my wedding to the wonderfull kay). It was up and atom at 6.30 and kev had organised a breakfast for the coach as we had to get off sharp. the drivers would be on the road from then until 10.00 that night. as we drove off, sipping the european blend and munching on the bacon butty, we passed all the familiar signs "INDIANA 120 KM " "MICHIGAN 400KM" OR "MINNEAPOLIS 200KM"..........trivia question when in michigan which direction will you drive to get to canada...... a pint at the nash if you guess it within 2 seconds and can prove it LOL. (email me) the journey took us over 4 hours but it was quite a good journey, plenty of rest and time to soak in the events of the week so far. what a time it had been.......holly maxwell pushing it all forward, cool dude bobby hutton, lou pride and jimmy burns, dancing with major lances daughter, jo anne garrett, arl davis. how could that ever ever be topped. little did we know! along the way kevs bus had stopped to pick up a special guest who was later revealed as none other than mel britt, unfortunatley life had not been kind to mr britt and he was living in a forest house i believe with his wife and living somewhat off the land, discussing how the onions and veggies were getting along with dave raistick certainly brought home exactly how it REALLY WAS for many of the guys who had entertained us for 3 decades. along the freeway another hour passed to the dreadful tunes chosenby our bus tour guide until johnnie handed him "shitfaced in the sun" to play, i was at a loss for words when out of all innocence he was heard to ask his driver (thinking the mike was off) "what does shitfaced mean"? "dunno said the driver, them aussies could never speak the queens anyway!" LOL.joke WE passed into detroit and were in the suburbs in no time and pulled off the expressway. exactly as i thought, we drove passed derelict homes, rubbish dumped all over, rundown areas and through an underpass with puddles like something out of a cenral new york murder movie and onto rosa parks ave. rosa parks was the brave lady who stood up to be counted, or rather sat down to be counted and became famous for her part in the civil rights movement to end segregation. these areas around the big industries had been populated by black families moving up from the south to find work as the cotton fields died off and the hope of better life. AND THERE WE WERE. i felt quite choked actually because it was just there............on the street, as we turned the corner there it was. HITSVILLE USA, the building that had brought such joy to millions and changed the face of the music we know today. johnny and i ran up the steps and chucked my camera to bev moore.......you gotta get us on here bev. it felt like the end of a quest, quite poignant,humbling that this was it, just a house, or not .....depending on your perspective........it was theeeeeeeeeee house. john and i made our way inside and from then on the whole day was just so wierd and surreal. as we got to the top of the stairs i introduced myself to a lovely lady whom i thought may have been an assistant, "hi im barry and this is john"............... "oh , hello" came the reply, im francis nero .........".............f@#CK! both john and i were realy taken aback and a tear in our eyes as we asked for an autograph "oh plenty of time for that she said , ill be with you all day". we were ushered down stairs to view a short movie on the beginings of motown. how apt to be there on its 50th anniversary and help some of the guys celebrate. the tour was admittedly to quick,(later we would be thankfull) but we were on a tight schedule as the drivers would be up and driving for more than a full day. in the musem there was a lot missing, and being a bit of an anorack on motown, i noticed no fotos of martha and the vandellas, none of the jackson five, the velevellets, but plenty of diana and marvin. this was dissapoiting but i believe a reflection on the funding it gets or doesnt and was certainly not a reflection of the part it played in the progression of music, never mind black music. records on display were in the wrong sleeves and it felt sort of not complete........not sure how to describe it.......not finished! john and i went into the "snake pit" where dennis coffey was giving a bit of a lecture on "how it was" and signing autographs. we had a look at the old mixing equipment and it was easy to visualise berry or h.d.h. flicking the switches and coaxing the groups along. there was certainly an eery truth to it all, you could feel it. we were left alone to wander round and i got some video footage of the snake pit. over the years berry bought quite a few of the houses on the street and built the empire we know today. then it was of for lunch at a steak house............or so we thought!....... we were met by a whole host of stars. laura lee signed my shirt as did sylvester potts, i had sylvester in kinks laughing as i told him one of my wifes favourite records was that sexy r & b tune "whole lotta woman"... oh maaan thats sooo cool, that was so far back maaannnnn. then there was john tapping me on the shoulder "barry, quick,look, there`s lorrains chandler..............billy wilson, francis nero, mel britt, kid in a candy store comes to mind, you wanted to give all these guys your attention but there were so many. francis nero was sitting on her own on the other side of the room. so i went over and offerd to buy her a cool drink, but she had one and thanked me. i asked her why she was sittig far away from everyone, "thats where the waitress put me " was the reply. so i picked up here dinner and brought her over to john and my table and chatted, i was getting paper, menus, lottery tickets, anything to get her signature on as gifts for some friends in england and australia. " i was the first girl on soul you know" she said with imense pride, then she took a sip of diet coke "gotta watch my diabetes guys" "hi francis how ya doin giiirl,.........aint seen you for yeers girl" i recognised roslind of the vandellas as i had brought the song sheet of "dancing in the street" for autgraphs and was dissapointed when she advised that martha was working for detoit council and wouldnt make it today.............i wasnt sure who would be most dissapointed,us or martha. that brought a lump to the throat to think one may never see or get her autograph and tell her how good you thought she was and the joy her music brought us. they all sat and chatted like old days, photo opportunites and autographs treating them to a "soda" then as they were catching up with old friends john and i set off to meet some of the other guests. i saw mel britt and cheekily asked him "what would you do if she`d came back' he instantly knew what i meant and replied "i didnt want her to"...so it may have been a love song from the heart. he went on to add he moved to L.A. and joined the visitors and then changed thier name to THE MISTS, who recorded on twinight. kev played "she`ll come running back" and the whole room sprang into song with mel swaying and clapping over his illnes, it was sad to see but to witness the pleasure in his face was worth it a thousand times over. meanwhile little francis nero was having a ball meeting everyone and donig autographs and photos, i think we all made her day.........no, i think we made her year and she never stopped thanking us.billy wilson was an informative guy, i got talking to him for ages about berry`s formula......the indian rthym etc how the baby boomers changed the way of life forever and how alan abrahms created "the sound of young america". he told us how they would use no artist photos on the sleeves to confuse audiences not knowing thier colour and how the music moved on..the chit`lin curcuit (which i kenw about).........at this point johnnie taps me on the arm........"barry here`s carl carlton.........oh and there are the capitols.....taking to lorrains chandler.....they all got up on stage for photos and broke into an acapello version of "cool jerk" and to see these guys giving it all they could with 150 guys singing along "co oo ool je er erk" well the hairs just prickled up...........you just had to be there and be able to say you were............what would ever top that day. and as quick as it started, it was over and back on the bus so i stood in line........... but no one was moving.....why ....shit! there was martha reeves signing autographs, i was gonna get it after all, martha and the vandellas autographs on my copy of jimmy mack. that just finished it for me. i dont think anyone spoke all the way back....just trying to recapture every moment, never to be repeated............. we got back around 10.00 and had a bit of a finale, but everyne was wrecked, kev said his thank you and we did too and goodbye, sam had definatley done a superb job getting all these artists to show up.....once in a lifetime experience that i would certainly have paid twice the price for. this morning, the 31 march i got a lovely email off carl davis and francis nero once again thanking us english guys for what you have done for us. it was also francis` birthday and a happy one at that............................................................................ ........................ LIFES GOOD...........NO.......LIFES GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Edited May 19, 2010 by Dolly13 Link to comment
Chris L Posted May 30, 2010 Share Posted May 30, 2010 We'll be there coming up from Cleveland, Ohio Link to comment
Goldsoul Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 You'd better, otherwise a search party will be sent! Lol Link to comment
Rushden8 Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 ALREADY FOUR OFF US FROM DOWN UNDER GOING TO BE THERE FOR THIS NOT TO BE MISSED EVENT . I HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE IN BEING AT THE LAST TWO AND IT BE THE MONEY YOU EVER SPEND '' NO PRICE ON MEMORIES LIKE THESE '' DONT MISS IT BEST REDPANTS IN DA SUN Link to comment
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