I have spent most of tonight speaking on the phone with Lou Ragland in Las Vegas. Lou & I go all the way back to the Ric Tic Revue days. We met up @ the Ritz and hit it off as friends. I corresponded with him for some years & then started going over to Vegas to meet up with him & his family. We (the wife & I) would go to his group's shows in the local casinos & Lou would make it OK for me to take photos of the group performing (the use of cameras is usually banned in casinos for security purposes + to stop people being captured on film that weren't officially there). So we really built up a good relationship. I ran Lou's UK tour back in 1990, he & I ran the 1998 Soul Trip to Las Vegas for UK fans. He then got to perform @ the Prestatyn Weekender & I became his official UK agent (collecting his royalties, etc.).

As time has passed, we have met up less (Lou is now 78 & I'm 67) plus I no longer make it across to Vegas (stopping short in Florida these days). But our bond is still strong & I thought (before it's too late) I would interrogate Lou about his days as a studio engineer (he was one of the first fully trained black recording studio engineers in the north east USA).

  So that's what I have been doing tonight. We talked for over an hour in the end AND I NOW have to write up my scribbles & make sense of all the technical info he gave me (types of tape deck, microphones, mixing desks, echo chambers, etc). Plus all the data on the artists involved, musicians, the A&R guy, Jim Brown, the promotions & marketing guy, the other studios used, visiting singers using 'his' studio, etc.

When I have gotten everything typed up and have run it past Lou, I'll post the article up here ..... but as a taster I'll first post up a few old photos .........    

1/ Lou as a kid (early teenage years I'd guess).

2/ Lou with a friend in Cleveland.

3/ Lou (with guitar) -- a hip 19 yr old musician.

............... MORE TO FOLLOW .............

Edited March 10, 20169 yr by Roburt

"working with Brenda Holloway" bet that was fun 

Brenda can be a bit skitzy at times but her hearts in the right place (most of the time).

Another guy that Harvey (& Lou) were working with is ex-Clevelander Billy Wells. A picture of them both in the studio ... ....

PLUS a pic of Harvey with Phil Flowers Jnr .......

 .......... AMENDED   ............ AMENDED .............  

One of Lou's UK royalty statements .... unfortunately Passion Music stopped sending out his statements over a year ago, even though sales of his UK releases are still trickling through  ...... pity as Lou had earned just about enough to trigger another payment, but nothing has been received from Passion since last year, so it seems his money-stream from the UK has now dried up.

Edited June 10, 20168 yr by Roburt

That's quite an offensive post. Passion music certainly have not gone out of business and are very reputable. Ralph Tee in particular is a highly thought off part of their organization. 

Lou will be with us in Vegas 2018 for SoultripUSA and I sincerely hope this kind of muck spreading does not give him the wrong idea. We'll be in touch with Lou later today. 

john

as passion music is fairly easy to find online

ask 

a. can you post up an explanation why you felt fit to post such a claim as 'gone out of business' asp

and/or

b edit post to reflect correct status

thanks

mike

Edited June 10, 20168 yr by mike

Lots of postings on another current thread about a Jessie Fisher Way Out 45 & the different incarnations of this 45 ...........

.... so I thought I'd reflect that on here ..... it was Lou who came up with the Way Out red & yellow swirl label design though he never got anything for his troubles. Lou always has had a strong artistic side & has had pieces exhibited in Vegas art shows down the years.

... Jessie Fisher was of course the brother of Jive Five member Richard Fisher .....

.... (some info on him here  https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/F/richard_fisher/index.php )

... both brothers unfortunately passed at an early age though I don't have info on the reasons for each's untimely deaths.

After his popular Way Out release, Jessie had another biggie out via the Way Out family, the 2nd 45 escaping on the So Jamm label. 

..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnQMfbNKOVs

This later effort (a 1974 release that made mention of an LP to follow) was cut by Jessie under the supervision of Dunn Pearson, the then leader of 9th Street Exit. This isn't too surprising as at the time Jessie was doing live shows with 9th St Exit as his backing band ..... 

John, wasn't that the multi-coloured release of Jesse Fisher on Way Out a legal re-issue done by Soul Bowl in conjunction with Lester Johnson (The owner of the WayOut Label )?

Dave

On 3/15/2016 at 00:31, Roburt said:

Two mates of Lou's from the old days; Larry Hancock & Eddie Levert (can't think what group he's in) .........

The group which Larry was in was Truth along with Leo green who you talked about. Cutting 45s for Devaki, Soc and philly groove. Some really great info chaps, and as for the gun as the burglar alarm, that's quality.

10 hours ago, Louise said:

John, wasn't that the multi-coloured release of Jesse Fisher on Way Out a legal re-issue done by Soul Bowl in conjunction with Lester Johnson (The owner of the WayOut Label )?

Dave

Could well have been but I have no knowledge of it at all (I was out of the NS loop for much of the 70's which is when I guess this occurred).

Soul Bowl was always a great supporter of Lou Raglands music, heavily importing his 70's outing on SMH "What Should I Do" which featured on his list as a front page special as did Lou's 1892 outing under the pseudonym of the Great Lales Orchestra "Didn't I Tell You"

Dave

A new recording by Lou & the Ink Spots ..... based on a famous old tune ........

 

The things Lou lets slip in conversation ..........

....... so he's had a tidy up in his computer room & he's come across this TV mag from back in 2003.

Apparently the American Idol team were looking to expand their influence back then & had come up with a similar idea ... a song contest ... BUT ... this time for seniors looking for a 2nd chance at fame.

Lou was persuaded to enter & went on the show. He was filmed singing "Up On The Roof" & / or "Under the Boardwalk" and scored really well. The contest progressed & Lou ended up winning it (& the $25,000 prize). The producers sent him a form to fill as they would now be marketing him & getting a cut from any gigs he landed.

... BUT ... the form asked HAVE YOU HAD ANY COMMERCIAL SINGING CONTRACTS IN THE PAST .....

..... his own label outings didn't count but his recording with 7 Miles High that Warners released did, so he had to answer YES.

This disqualified him from the contest and he lost the prize & the publicity that would have been generated.

BET he was cursing that WB 45 even though it turned out to be a very popular track in the UK ....

   

As it's his birthday today, thought I'd post this UK gig ad by the main man ...

 

When Cholly Atkins (the old Motown choreographer) was still alive, he was always invited to shows given by Motown acts.

As he was a bit frail in his final years, Lou would always pick him up & take him along to such events. So Lou always ended up backstage with Cholly and got intruduced to all the acts, celebs who were around.

Cholly was responsible for all the Temptations stage moves, so was always welcome at any shows they gave in Vegas ...   

Another one of Lou Ragland’s releases heavily imported by Soul Bowl.

Lou with copies of his albums .... 

The 1st group Lou was in .... the Sahibs ... they provided the backing vocals on his 1st Way Out 45 ....  THEN & NOW PICS ....

MEMBERS: Lou Ragland, Robert Middlebrooks, Benny Butcher and James Dotson (L to R in original picture of group) .....

 

 

Great production from the man in the spotlight

Kev

About a third of the way down the 1st page of this thread, I posted up an ad for Agency Recording Studios in Cleveland. Lots of people cut here, including Lou himself (Hot Chocolate's "We Had True Love"). Lots of other top acts also used the studio, loads of these being rock acts.

Agency Recording was upstairs over the Agora Club. They drilled holes in the floor of the studio (over the stage area) and lowered electric wires down to mic up the club's stage. The likes of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, U2, Lou Reed, Argent, Grand Funk, Paul Simon (in a movie) & AC/DC all recorded at the club (some for album purposes but most for broadcast on a local radio stn).

HOWEVER soul acts still used the studio too. In August 1972, Kim Tolliver cut at Agency for her husband Fred Briggs and General American Records (GAR). Most likely the tracks laid down were "I Caught You" & "Get Myself Together".

Local group Truth also recorded quite a few songs at Agency. Truth also did a showcase on the stage at the Agora Club that all of those top rock bands had performed on (this was before going out on tour with the O'Jays).

 

To finish, another old photo showing Lou ..... this one is of members of the Sahibs ...  Lou is in the centre of the photo, George Hendricks on the left and James Dotson on the right side. The picture was taken in 1961 at Lou's mothers house (1762 East 88th Place, Cleveland) .....

... George Hendicks later joined the Hesitations & performed with the group @ the Prestatyn Weekender a few years back. Unfortunately George suffered a stroke at the start of this year.

 

Edited August 26, 20168 yr by Roburt

We're all getting much TOO OLD, Lou has even joined the crowd. In the US he says that no one would ever take him seriously as a singer ... the 1st time his singing skills were ever really appreciated was by the Brits and he couldn't belive the reaction of UK soulies to his efforts when he 1st toured here on the Ric Tic tour (he's since been 'down under' and they also like his singing a lot down there). ANYWAY, back in the States he had to make his way as a guitar player and here he did get some plaudits.

HOWEVER, he has been playing his fave guitar for many years now. This has meant many hours of strumming & picking with his fingers / hand / arm in the same position. The years of 'wear & tear' have meant that he now sufferes from arthritis in his hands / wrist. So, it is now painful for him to play is old guitar.

He has gotten a new one with a much thinner body & so with his arm now in a different position, it isn't too painful to keep playing. He wants to sell on his old faithful though as it's of no use to him anymore.

 

Edited August 30, 20168 yr by Roburt