No, thats not short for blackboard ... BUT ... Billboard.

As the Jobettes thread has turned all 'techie' thought I'd jump over here ............

A few more US city POP charts published in Billboard on 4th September 1965 .........

And yet more US city POP charts published in Billboard on 4th September 1965 .........

Its suprising to see just which soul songs were selling strongly in some cities back then .........

Philly, Baltimore & Washington are all close together (by US city standards) & so some listeners in each city would listen to pop / soul radio stns in the other city's. So, it could be expected that what was being played on radio stns in those 3 cities at a particular time would have been quite similar, but in many cases they weren't and the local pop charts reflected this.

In DC that week, pop chart sales were good for the following :-Wilson Picket was at 12 (down from 8), Barbara Lewis 14 (down from 11), Edwin Starr 25, Dixie Drifter 27, Danny White (on Frisco) 29 & O V Wright at 34.

in Baltimore; the Contours were at 10 (they always were a popular live draw in the city), Ramsey Lewis at 12, Barbara Mason 16, G L Crockett 26, Jackie Wilson 27, Manhattans 28, Harold Burrage 31, Gene Chandler 34, Derek Martin 39 & Aretha had 2 x 45s on the local pop chart.

In Philly; Ramsey Lewis was No.1, Contours 10, Jive Five 20 (down from 14), Spinners 28 (from 15), Astors 30 (from 21), G L Crockett 39 (from 31) with Lee Andrews & Hearts at 40.

In Detroit; Contours at 5, San Remo Strings at 6, Edwin Starr 11 (down from 6), Chuck Jackson 18, Little Caesar 22, Dixie Drifter 31, Derek Martin 37 & Bobby Bland 38.

In St Louis; Barbara Mason was at 12 (down from 8), Edwin Starr 18, O V Wright 25 with Jerry Butler, the Impressions & Major Lance also on the local pop chart.

In Cleveland; Edwin Starr was at 17 (Edwin had of course lived in Cleveland for some years when younger), Chuck Jackson 21, Major Lance 28, Derek Martin 32 & Dee Dee Warwick 33 (down from 26).

In LA; Barbara Lewis was at 3, Wilson Pickett at 7, Edwin Starr 20, G L Crockett 30, Whispers 31 (down from 23), Little Anthony & Imperials 35, Bobby Bland 37 with the Spinners at 39.

The Whispers 45 (on LA pop chart) didn't even make the US soul Top 100 !!!

Danny White (selling in DC) also didn't even make the US soul Top 100 !!

Dixie Drifter made the US soul chart Top 10 but only reached No.99 on the national pop chart !!

It was a strange old world back then.

Edited April 6, 201213 yr by Roburt

That same week in Miami, soul 45's weren't doing too well.

Mel Carter was at No.4 (!!!), James Brown 6, Supremes 9 & Barbara Lewis 10.

The 4 Tops were at 12, Sam Cooke 15, Dixie Drifter 16, Ramsey Lewis 17, with O V Wright at 18.

No other soul or Motown 45's were in the local Top 20.

Back to the charts I've posted up; is there any connection between G L Crocket's "It's A Man Down There" & Jimmy Reeds "I'm The Man Down There" (very similar titles -- which seems strange as they're both on Chicago labels)

Edited April 7, 201213 yr by Roburt

Anyone got one of these Billboard Directories ??

They were published yearly with updated info listed in an edition of the mag about 6 months after each years directory had been published.

For Record Labels it detailed the labels address, phone number, the names of the guys running each label, artists signed to label, best selling record releases (US + abroad), etc.

Music publishers details again had contact address + writers signed to publishing house.

No doubt the early thru mid to late 60's editions would contain many fascinating bits of info !!!

Edited April 7, 201213 yr by Roburt

Class Records was Googie's Rene's own record label; he started it after his discharge from the army in 1950. A native of Los Angeles, he followed closely in the footsteps of his father, Leon Rene.

Leon Rene was responsible for Exclusive Records with his brother Otis being indentified with Excelsior Records.

In 1945, Otis Ren was elected president of the newly-established Pacific Coast Record Manufactures Assoc.

To support their record labels, Otis and Leon purchased their own record plant. However when the format changed from 78's to 45's they didn't have presses for the new format. Leon Rene's Exclusive Records existed from 1944 to 1949. His brother Otis's Excelsior label lasted from 1944 to 1951. In 1952, Otis Ren launched the short-lived Spin Records.

Googie's son was Leon Rene & he also got involved in the record biz. Leon, whilst organising sessions for Class Records, he hired a 'struggling' Barry White to provide 'hand claps' back in 1966.

............ back to Googie ..........

this one has a slow start but give it a chance; the initial 1min 30secs are like a movie theme but then the vibes (Jack Costanzo) kick in and it gets good.

....... and moving on a few years (early 1966) , he cut this true UK mod / soul club classic ........

....

Edited April 8, 201213 yr by Roburt

"Smokey Joe's La La" was on the Philly & Pittsburgh Pop charts in March 1966 ...........

(but then Deon Jackson, Z Z Hill, Sam & Bill, Mitty Collier, Mary Wells, Mad Lads, Isley Bros, Darrow Fletcher, Eddie Holman, Bob Kuban, Kim Weston & Lee Dorsey were also on some of these charts) ............

And "Smokey Joe's La La" is on this chart as well ..........

1963 ........ It was a very good year for ........

There was a new guy in town back in 1957 ....

well, in Detroit, St Louis & Cleveland at least .....

Edited April 9, 201213 yr by Roburt

A few WEBB radio charts from the first 3 months of 1964 .......

Jay Wiggins was doing OK with "Forgive Then Forget" BUT ....

there was only one winner : Stevie Wonder - No.1 for 5 weeks

Edited April 11, 201213 yr by Roburt

Guess this will only prove a popular add (ad) with the gospel fans on here .......

By 1977 when loads of soul singer were being made to cut disco, gospel groups could still be relied upon to come through with some great 'testifying' tracks ......

There was Aretha & Erma,

but who was the 3rd one ......

Down to DC now & a guy / group

that had their own label ...

... the above piece was from 1963 ....

but the group started out much earlier

Vessie Simmons may have a few collectable records, but she has been a 'bad girl' at times ....

In 1973, she was touring with a group of fake Shirelles ......

A band of southern guys were hired by a Los Angeles fella to back the Shirelles at a show at Fort McClellan, Anniston, Alabama. The gig went well & so they stayed on as the girls backing band for further shows across Oklahoma and then Texas (mostly at military bases). Another show they played was at Kelly AFB in San Antonio. On all the shows, the 3 'other' girls opened with a couple of songs then they would bring out Vessie, the 'star Shirelle' & the show would really kick in.

Vessie also claims to have been an Ikette & to even have led one of the incarnations of the Ikettes, but I can find no real evidence of this (apart from Vessie's own statements).

Anyway, she was brought up in court in Newark New Jersey in the 70's for 'impersonating' a Shirelle on live shows but somehow got off (the piccy on the left shows her leaving the Newark court after being acquitted).

BTW, she WAS a member of the Ribbons from the early to mid 1960's.

So they would throw the double doors open at the side of the stage & we would all pour out early on a Sunday morning into the car park behind the Wheel.

What next, some of us had a couple of hours to wait for the 1st train of the day to get us home.

Well, over to one of the cars, a record box was opened & a Discatron pulled out.

Into the slot went an O'Jays, Bobby Bland, Soul Bros 6 or Betty Swan 45 and we were 'off again'.

.......... the time quickly passed by.

BTW, the 'Playtape' was a portable 8 track type machine (2 track only actually) that MGM tried to break worldwide. No idea what happened elsewhere, but it failed miserably here in the UK.

The Sound of Where ???

The Five Stairsteps biggest US pop chart hit was on Buddah ........

..... this wasn't it (it was the later release "Oh, Child") ...

I'd have taken a job here as an inspector or packager ......

... but it would have been 5 for them and 1 for me !!!

Two soulful females (not) ....

However, this guy certainly had SOUL .........

One of Chicago's best guitarists .......

Gerald Sims based his Gerim Records out of the old Chess Records office & studio building at 2120 Sth Michigan Ave.

The Stone titled a track that they cut there in the 60's after the building's address .....

....

This is what all those precious rare 45's were made to be played on ....

... (for $19.95 you could get one without the radio -- a real bargain)

A New York record label that was set up in 1971.

Was "Stand Up & Be Counted" by Family Affair actually released ???

(I guess the song was the same one that Getto Kitty cut for Stroud).

Sonny Freeman & the Unusuals were B B King's backing group for 3 / 4 years in the early 1970's, they toured overseas (Japan, Australia) with him as well as playing dates at such places as Rhode Island Prison.

Sonny Freeman and the Unusuals were -- V. S. 'Sonny' Freeman -drums; Louis Hubert - tenor sax; Wilbert Freeman - bass; Booker Walker - alto sax; John Browning - trumpet & Ron Levy - piano. 'Little Joe' Burton was then added on trombone. Booker Walker left and was replaced by Earl Turbinton on alto. Louis Hubert switched to baritone sax and Bobby Forte was added on tenor sax. Then Milton Hopkins was added on rhythm guitar.

They (SF&U's) were a fixture on the US club scene for many years; Odessa Harris was their featured lead singer for years (from the late 70's to late 80's) when they were based in the US mid-west. Sonny passed away in the late 80's.

BTW, "TRY IT" (Sonny Freeman's Jarda track) was written by JOE BURTON , JOHNNY COLEMAN , BOBBY FORTE , V S FREEMAN JR, WILBERT FREEMAN, MILTON HOPKINS , LOUIS HUBERT , RONALD LEVY , ELMOORE MORRIS & EDDIE ROWE.

So I guess this was the outfit's line-up in 1971.

Edited April 25, 201213 yr by Roburt

Earl Turbinton (listed as a member of the Unusuals in the late 60's) was of course Willie Tee's brother ........ I didn't realise he was based up in the New York area during that period.

A New York area artist, recording & label .......

I much prefer the B side to the 'messy' top side dancer.

Who was the 'little monkey' that started a big US dance craze back in 1963 ....

.... none other than the Major !!!

Another chart from a Baltimore radio station .....

Not too many local records figure on this chart though Jay Wiggins (a very popular live draw in the city) is on there.

5 Motown tracks in the Top 20, Eddie Holland being the most pleasing to me.

A guy who has 'hung on' in the recording biz for around 50 years now ..............

A Spinner who was also interested in other parts of cars ...............

One of the VERY BEST editions of Billboard to check out (for interesting reading & good photos) ........

... 22nd August 1970 edition of mag that included a BIG SUPPLEMENT ..... The World Of Soul .......

Articles on Chess + Jerry Butler's Writers Workshop & much more ........ ENJOY ..........

https://books.google.com/books?id=lSkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&dq=%22World+of+Soul%22&lr=&as_pt=MAGAZINES&cd=5#v=onepage&q=%22World%20of%20Soul%22&f=false

They did an earlier mid-60's soul supplement as well...which defo belongs in the one of the very best category

WARNING ... I've made a QUICK CHANGE to 67 coz my THIRD FINGER, LEFT HAND ... LIKES TO BOOGALOO .....

Deffo recommended .........

....... One for 70's fans

(+ they don't have many chain shops like this now) ....

The music that brought the world to its feet ........

A few artists who prospered in the disco years ....

Not with the Butler's anymore ..........

A 12" single from Elton John's old mate .....

In 1973, CBS / Epic took the decision to get into soul music in a big way. They hired guys who had help run indie soul labels and set about signing up labels like T-Neck, Philly Int. & Stax. Two of the top guys employed by their Epic Records Div were LeBaron Taylor & Jim Tyrrell.

Born in Detroit, LeBaron Taylor started out as a DJ at the 20 Grand Club before getting on radio with WCHJ and WJLB. He then formed Solid Hitbound Productions (Solid Hit-Revilot-Brute) with George White & Don Davis. was also a partner. With Don Davis, he produced Steve Mancha for Groovesville. Leaving Detroit in 1970, he moved to Philly where he worked at WDAS. In 1972 he was appointed to an A&R post with Atlantic Records. At Atlantic, he organised the signing of acts such as the Sons of Robin Stone and formed the Young Professionals Production team (they worked with Sister Sledge, R.B. Greaves, Clyde Brown, Jackie Moore, the Persuaders, Vivian Reed, etc). In 1974, he was hired by CBS to run their Black Music Division.

Jim Tyrell, a native New Yorker, was a much in demand New York studio musician; one of the first to play the fender electric bass in live performance & on studio recording sessions. He played on many tracks cut by top artists in the 50's and 60s, including several hits by James Brown, Maxine Brown, Inez & Charlie Fox and the Manhattans. In 1965 he left the Apollo Theatre house band to work on the 'dark side' of the music biz (as a record label exec). After working at Buddah - Kama Sutra, he joined CBS in 1970. By 1973, he was Vice-Pres of Marketing at Epic and largely responsible for making the distribution deal with Stax work. Whilst at Epic, he still kept his hand in on the actual musical side, working (as executive producer) with the likes of Webster Lewis in 1976.

Stan (The Record Man) Lewis was the go to guy if you needed some good soul 45's

....... He'd even sell you stuff on his own Jewel, Paula & Ronn labels !!!

Happier times (commercially) for soul music .....

the US POP chart in May 1972 .....