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Matt Brown ................................... Macon, Georgia is a little city about 1 hour south of Atlanta. Driving down Main Street you get a real feeling of being in the old Deep South. As you l
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Came across this from Georgia Soul, Brian Poust I think from some time back. Seems Matt Brown and Matthew Brown despite earlier doubts are one and the same. As a child in Macon, Matt Brown’s fat
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Hi Dave Isn't he the Matt along with Robert (Robert Thomas of My Salvation fame)) who also recorded on Jar-Val, Uni, Soft & Le Cam too. I seem to remember hearing they were related, co
Matt Brown ...................................
Macon, Georgia is a little city about 1 hour south of Atlanta. Driving down Main Street you get a real feeling of being in the old Deep South. As you look down any of the city’s main street and squint a little it is easy to imagine this as it would have looked back in the 50’s and 60’s, apart from the odd new building and the cars, it’s still the same. But this little sleepy corner of the Deep South was a hot bed for music, home to Otis Redding, Bobby Smith, Arthur Lee (Pep) Brown, Jimmy Braswell, Thomas Bailey, Nancy Butts, Jimmy Lee Bryant and one Matthew Brown. Like many Matt got his break through lifelong friend to Otis Redding and pall bearer at his funeral Hampton Swain. Hampton owned a very successful car dealership in town and was able to use this to fund Jar-Val records. He used the third string to his bow, local radio DJ and his talent shows, called ‘The Teenage parties’ which he held at the Roxey & Douglas theatres, to scout for talent. It is also said that these talent shows were the showcase that help Otis get a break, with him winning them for fifteen weeks on the trot, at one stage. Over a number of years Hampton (Hamp) was able to record many of the city’s young hopeful artists for his record label. In later years he would receive some competition from Otis and his business partners Phil & Alan Walden when they opened Capricorn studios.
Matt hooked up with Atlanta producer Tee Fletcher for his two 45’s on Jar-Val. The first release having a Tee composed track ‘Everyday’ on the A side and a cover version of David Gates ‘Baby I’m a want you’ on the flip. His second 45 was ‘Thank you baby’ and ‘Sweet thing’ a record that 20 years later would become very popular in Europe for both sides, initially through a influential club called Top Of The World, Stafford. Both 45’s have that sophisticated Tee Fletcher production found on many of his numerous productions for many labels around the south. These records gave a small boost to Matt’s career and he was able to do limited touring around the south. Whilst on tour he met up with Major Bill Smith from Fort Worth and recorded a record for him, ‘Soul of a man / A man without a woman’ on Bill’s Le Cam label, this would also appear again on the Soft record label. By the mid 70’s Matt had stopped touring and settled back in Macon, working as a painter and decorator around the city, but in a short career he laid down some great sides.