Has anyone below the age of 12 ever made a great soul record? Take something like Reggie Garner's 'Call Me on the Hotline' - its likeable but hardly great. Little Stevie Wonder, Cubie Burke, Michael Jackson Five in the early years, were they up to it or a nice novelty? My theory is 'you win nowt with kids'. So name a great soul record by someone below the age of 12.

chubby reynolds - sweet tooth

11yrs old i heard.

fantastic record for any age!

Shane

chubby reynolds - sweet tooth

11yrs old i heard.

fantastic record for any age!

Shane

Five stairsteps 'stay close to me' on curtom Cubie is very young on that recording

I'm not 100% sure but i think Edward Hamilton, Fifes,Arabians etc. was pretty young when he cut the likes of 'Baby Don't You Weep', 'Call Me' etc. also Gene Woodbury was a tender age of 'Ever Again' fame again not sure, not very helpful i'm sorry...i'll get my coat...lol

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Carl Carlton was 12 when he went to Golden World.

https://soulfuldetroit.com/web07-golden%20w...arl-carlton.htm

Found this link really informative on Carl.

https://www.answers.com/topic/carl-carlton

I'm not 100% sure but i think Edward Hamilton, Fifes,Arabians etc. was pretty young when he cut the likes of 'Baby Don't You Weep', 'Call Me' etc. also Gene Woodbury was a tender age of 'Ever Again' fame again not sure, not very helpful i'm sorry...i'll get my coat...lol

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

I'll check on the CD Mark that came out with all the Del Val stuff on it as I think there may be a write up on Gene Woodbury

Tony Michaels was only about 13 I think when he recorded 'I Love The Life I Live'

Grant

I'll check on the CD Mark that came out with all the Del Val stuff on it as I think there may be a write up on Gene Woodbury

Tony Michaels was only about 13 I think when he recorded 'I Love The Life I Live'

Grant

Grant, i have that cd must be where i read it, also seen a promo photograph of him looked a snip of a teenager i think.

Mark Bicknell.

I'll check on the CD Mark that came out with all the Del Val stuff on it as I think there may be a write up on Gene Woodbury

Tony Michaels was only about 13 I think when he recorded 'I Love The Life I Live'

Grant

He'd have had a job, he was lead singer with The Reflections (I think)

Grant, i have that cd must be where i read it, also seen a promo photograph of him looked a snip of a teenager i think.

Mark Bicknell.

He looks a bit like that little fella of that American comedy that used to be on years ago with the two black brothers, one was called Willis, he was the other one

I was thinking of a couple of fabulous records featuring (what sound like) kid lead singers:

The Admirations - heaven is in your arms (and the one on peaches)

Pee Wee, Shuck & Huey - Besides myself (not such a well known record but brilliant Jackson 5 impersonation...well sort of jackson 5)

Grant, i have that cd must be where i read it, also seen a promo photograph of him looked a snip of a teenager i think.

Mark Bicknell.

just checked Mark - he started recording on Del Val at the age of 14

The kid singing that old Little Carl Carlton C/U sounds that young it must have been recorded 'in utero'!

Five stairsteps 'stay close to me' on curtom Cubie is very young on that recording

The only 5 Stairsteps record that Cubie actually sings on is "New Dance Craze", so "Stay Close To Me" doesn't count...

TONE

BTW assuming we're counting "Little" Stevie Wonder, "Contract On Love" (made when he was 11) and "Castles In The Sand" (made when he was 12-13) are pretty good records, I think. Also, slightly away from soul - but still with a Northern connection of sorts - Brenda Lee made some of her best early hits (e.g. "I'm Sorry") when she was 12-13 years old.

...and to be fair, the Jackson Five's "Big Boy" (on Steeltown, made when Wacko Jacko was about 10) is a real stunner.

I know this will sound totally bizarre but I heard Stevie Wonder's "Castles in the sand" for the first time EVER about 3 weeks ago, I've even had the record but never played it because for some reason I thought it was a mawkish ballad, I've definitely got it mixed up with something else, but my goodness, what a brilliant brilliant track...

He'd have had a job, he was lead singer with The Reflections (I think)

Indeed he was, guv.

TONE

I know this will sound totally bizarre but I heard Stevie Wonder's "Castles in the sand" for the first time EVER about 3 weeks ago, I've even had the record but never played it because for some reason I thought it was a mawkish ballad, I've definitely got it mixed up with something else, but my goodness, what a brilliant brilliant track...

...those strings will break your heart if you let them....

TONE

The only 5 Stairsteps record that Cubie actually sings on is "New Dance Craze", so "Stay Close To Me" doesn't count...

TONE

BTW assuming we're counting "Little" Stevie Wonder, "Contract On Love" (made when he was 11) and "Castles In The Sand" (made when he was 12-13) are pretty good records, I think. Also, slightly away from soul - but still with a Northern connection of sorts - Brenda Lee made some of her best early hits (e.g. "I'm Sorry") when she was 12-13 years old.

...and to be fair, the Jackson Five's "Big Boy" (on Steeltown, made when Wacko Jacko was about 10) is a real stunner.

Jackson 5 is a great record, love it.

I'll throw in Little Jimmy Gandy "I'm not like the others" Roulette. Similar feel to Jackson 5. Superb crossover/two step if youre into labels. Big Manchester record.

That said, I have a hunch he might have been just a bit older than 12. The B side is called "Cool 13" if memory serves me.

Yarr,

There is a record by a whippersnapper by the name of "Little Dion"...

Sounds like he's about six.

Aharr.

The kid singing that old Little Carl Carlton C/U sounds that young it must have been recorded 'in utero'!

F***** 'ell thats awful

F***** 'ell thats awful

I can'ee argue with that statement.

Vocal sounds sped up but the backing doesn't?

Be it Alvin and the Chipmunks?

Yarr.

..and to be fair, the Jackson Five's "Big Boy" (on Steeltown, made when Wacko Jacko was about 10) is a real stunner.

How about the Jackson Five on Dynamo ?

Gwen Owens ?

Darrow Fletcher ?

I know this will sound totally bizarre but I heard Stevie Wonder's "Castles in the sand" for the first time EVER about 3 weeks ago, I've even had the record but never played it because for some reason I thought it was a mawkish ballad, I've definitely got it mixed up with something else, but my goodness, what a brilliant brilliant track...

Pete,

I envy you. Having known of a record, but not playing it or hearing it thinking it is something else.... Then 30 years later you hear and think wow!! Must be a unique situation for a record thats not the rarest in the world?

I'm sure Carl Willingham used to play it, as well as Contract on Love?

Always been a big fan of Stevie's 60s stuff. Saw him live in Manchester in 71. Believe it or not, I was disappointed as he had just hit the Wonderlove phase, and just did a brief medley of his 60s stuff, but what a voice.

His version of I hear a Symphony is my favourite ever sound, and thats after 36 years on the northern scene.

Five stairsteps 'stay close to me' on curtom Cubie is very young on that recording

He joined the band when he was three, and he was four when it was recorded. I doubt he appears on the record. I think it was a token signing... a bit like Theo Woolcott.

I really like Hotline actually. How old was Reggie Garner?

Junior McCants and Bobbie Smith(on American Arts) are my favourite kids

Leonard (Lil man) Kaigler -You got me believin in you" on Sunburst 197? was a Michael Jackson soundalike but I don't know how old he was,(10?) record wasn't bad, I think I've got two copies somewhere from those old soulpacks

Pete,

I envy you. Having known of a record, but not playing it or hearing it thinking it is something else.... Then 30 years later you hear and think wow!! Must be a unique situation for a record thats not the rarest in the world?

I'm sure Carl Willingham used to play it, as well as Contract on Love?

Always been a big fan of Stevie's 60s stuff. Saw him live in Manchester in 71. Believe it or not, I was disappointed as he had just hit the Wonderlove phase, and just did a brief medley of his 60s stuff, but what a voice.

His version of I hear a Symphony is my favourite ever sound, and thats after 36 years on the northern scene.

It's just dawned on me that I was confusing it with Don McLeans' Castles In The Air...doh!

TYRONE "THE WONDER BOY"- a.k.a. TYRONE DAVIS....

Don McLeans' Castles In The Air...

Now that IS a good record!

... but aside from that, I saw Stevie around 71 at the Fiesta in Sheffield and the audience were literally baying for "Castles in The Sand" ... but he still didn't sing it.

Lovely tune!

Sean

I really like Hotline actually. How old was Reggie Garner?

Heard he was about 10 when he was signed by ABC as a Michael Jackson rival. Maybe even features on some records as Little Reggie Garner. Not 100% sure tho.

I love Hotline too. But its great black pop rather than soul, he said, sounding like a Mecca purist with a copy of Linda Jones rammed up his back passage.

Personally I love the child vocal - they sound so innocent yet sing lyrics you wouldn't normally hear children of that age sing. Yay

Yarr,

There is a record by a whippersnapper by the name of "Little Dion"...

Sounds like he's about six.

Aharr.

Little Dion had two 45s on RCA both produced by H.B.barnum, all 4 sides are brilliant Northern Soul backing, sadly his twee 5 year old voice ruins them!

The Lil' Soul Brothers - Heartaches / If This Is Love - Wheelsville / D-Town

Now this is great! Anything else by them? I love em'.

Gwen Owens ?

Bobbie Smith(on American Arts)

How old were these two? Never occurred to me that they sounded particularly young

Bobbie Smith was in her 20s when she made "Walk On Into My Heart". Dunno about Gwen, sorry!

TONE

How old were these two? Never occurred to me that they sounded particularly young

How old was the lead singer of the Lil' Soul Brothers (D-Town) he sounds mighty young!!

... Howard

Gwen Owens ?

I'm sure she said at Prestatyn she was 16 when she cut JSYWAN

Junior McCants and Bobbie Smith(on American Arts) are my favourite kids

Was Junior McCants a child pillion passenger when the motor cycle crashed killed him, or was he old enough to ride it legally? I'm sure in the Kent CD notes it tell you how old he was when he cut his two King outings

Little Dion had two 45s on RCA both produced by H.B.barnum, all 4 sides are brilliant Northern Soul backing, sadly his twee 5 year old voice ruins them!

The Lil' Soul Brothers - Heartaches / If This Is Love - Wheelsville / D-Town

Now this is great! Anything else by them? I love em'.

little dion "little sister" on rca, I was given this record many years ago, I seem to remember that the backing track is awesome however the vocal is not, the conversation in the pub at time centred around "if only we could get rid of the singing we,d have a monster"

anyone have a copy and the technology (just for fun)