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Tony Turner - 6 x 6 - the truth !!!


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Always amazed how frequently this masterpiece comes up in conversation after all this time since it was first recorded in my brother Chris Frost's bedroom back in the early / mid 70's.

After considerable thought and re-working of the lyrics to reflect the story of a lonely prison cell (6x6) in the state penitentiary/ doing time away from my baby. Chris preceded to lay down the vocal into a hand held mike whilst the Earl Van Dyke instrumental played in the background, eventually creating a poor quality /muffled but unmistakeable vocal take onto a C60 cassette and  a sound for the ages was created.

The ingredients were all there.

Artist - Tony Turner - unknown but rolled off the tongue

Label - Musicor - major but with numerous northern / obscure numbers and plenty of missing numbers

Song - 6 x 6 - as good a basis for an unknown vocal as you could find

Only known recording - classic terrible quality sound reproduction that smacked of being recorded live at an unknown venue direct from the speakers but with that aura of authenticity that this brought to the sound. - in reality our house.

The clincher was probably the provenance of the Frost brothers vinyl hound history - following on from Eddie & Ernie / Timothy Wilson / George Blackwell / Steinways  / Nicky C / Natural Four and numerous others in the early 70's right up until 2018 when Chris stunned the Prestatyn faithful with Willie Hutch - Train keep on moving on a Soul City 7" vinyl promo from 1966 found in LA earlier this year ( he wrote and produced it for the 5th Dimension) - see / hear it on his youtube post from Prestatyn 2018 under Chris Frost rare soul - 50yrs and still searching - we are still relentless in our pursuit of the next big sound -  they are still out there !!!

Tony Turner - Legend

Steve

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3 hours ago, vadnochka said:

Always amazed how frequently this masterpiece comes up in conversation after all this time since it was first recorded in my brother Chris Frost's bedroom back in the early / mid 70's.

After considerable thought and re-working of the lyrics to reflect the story of a lonely prison cell (6x6) in the state penitentiary/ doing time away from my baby. Chris preceded to lay down the vocal into a hand held mike whilst the Earl Van Dyke instrumental played in the background, eventually creating a poor quality /muffled but unmistakeable vocal take onto a C60 cassette and  a sound for the ages was created.

The ingredients were all there.

Artist - Tony Turner - unknown but rolled off the tongue

Label - Musicor - major but with numerous northern / obscure numbers and plenty of missing numbers

Song - 6 x 6 - as good a basis for an unknown vocal as you could find

Only known recording - classic terrible quality sound reproduction that smacked of being recorded live at an unknown venue direct from the speakers but with that aura of authenticity that this brought to the sound. - in reality our house.

The clincher was probably the provenance of the Frost brothers vinyl hound history - following on from Eddie & Ernie / Timothy Wilson / George Blackwell / Steinways  / Nicky C / Natural Four and numerous others in the early 70's right up until 2018 when Chris stunned the Prestatyn faithful with Willie Hutch - Train keep on moving on a Soul City 7" vinyl promo from 1966 found in LA earlier this year ( he wrote and produced it for the 5th Dimension) - see / hear it on his youtube post from Prestatyn 2018 under Chris Frost rare soul - 50yrs and still searching - we are still relentless in our pursuit of the next big sound -  they are still out there !!!

Tony Turner - Legend

Steve

memory says that it has been actually been reported as being played out yep?

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4 minutes ago, mike said:

memory says that it has been actually been reported as being played out yep?

What has Mike? The vocal sung over 6X6 playing in the background and recorded onto a C60 sometime in the 70's, or Willie Hutch - Train  Keep On Moving? I'm struggling to comprehend what the OP is on about 😀 but i'd like to hear this 6X6 vocal despite the poor quality and muffled recording.

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4 minutes ago, autumnstoned said:

What has Mike? The vocal sung over 6X6 playing in the background and recorded onto a C60 sometime in the 70's, or Willie Hutch - Train  Keep On Moving? I'm struggling to comprehend what the OP is on about 😀 but i'd like to hear this 6X6 vocal despite the poor quality and muffled recording.

he's on about the vocal of 6x6,

the willie hutch bit is a sort of addon and take it that's the youtube bit he's on about as the previous time the vocal has been discussed was said there was no recording of it but someone said heard it out at the 100 club...

1 minute ago, chalky said:

The one played out is a genuine motown press that John Pugh owns isn’t it, played it at 100 Club.  Terrible too. 

ahh, I just took it that both had to be the same, cause the same name was mentioned , I think, two versions? 

 

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2 minutes ago, mike said:

he's on about the vocal of 6x6,

the willie hutch bit is a sort of addon and take it that's the youtube bit he's on about as the previous time the vocal has been discussed was said there was no recording of it but someone said heard it out at the 100 club...

ahh, I just took it that both had to be the same, cause the same name was mentioned , I think, two versions? 

 

Sure it has been discussed on here in the past Mike.  The one I’m referring to isn’t Tony Turner on Musicor but a Motown acetate (?) of a vocal to 6*6. 

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2 minutes ago, chalky said:

The one played out is a genuine motown press that John Pugh owns isn’t it, played it at 100 Club.  Terrible too. 

I think that one was the same as the one Blue Max had on a CD in the late 90's or early 2000's (probably transferred from an earlier cassette ?) He gave me a copy of it to see if I could do anything with the very low vocal. I couldn't.

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1 hour ago, tomangoes said:

This one? Nowt else on u tube...

Really bad.

Ed

Holy shit...compared to the original that sounds like it was made on a bunch of kids instruments and recorded at a toy factory in Hong Kong.

Horrible,plastic sounding nonsense..

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digressing folks - I was only talking about the invention of the myth that was Tony Turner and how and where it came about. Not some dross recording that appears on some compilation or any of the other perceived recollections of a vocal.

Steve

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36 minutes ago, Soulsides said:

Holy shit...compared to the original that sounds like it was made on a bunch of kids instruments and recorded at a toy factory in Hong Kong.

Horrible,plastic sounding nonsense..

there was an instrumental to 'do I love you' back in the 8ts, its almost as bad as that!

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On ‎05‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 12:35, vadnochka said:

digressing folks - I was only talking about the invention of the myth that was Tony Turner and how and where it came about. Not some dross recording that appears on some compilation or any of the other perceived recollections of a vocal.

Steve

Is it possible to hear this Tony Turner thing?

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16 minutes ago, tomangoes said:

Some reet good tunes on that mix...

Ed

NOT IMHO, THE willie hutch is good tho, but I couldn't get past that bloody Spanish 4 tops, just smacks of desperation really. there some bloody awful stuff in the first half. A lot maybe rare, but its a really old fashioned concept of what Northern should by imo.  

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2 hours ago, tomangoes said:

Define some?

Its not all, it's not most, and it's not none.

So you think that impressions, Jimmy reed, ripple blast singers, magnetics, and the vows tracks are no good?

Shocking taste...

Ed

 

5 hours ago, geeselad said:

NOT IMHO, THE willie hutch is good tho, but I couldn't get past that bloody Spanish 4 tops, just smacks of desperation really. there some bloody awful stuff in the first half. A lot maybe rare, but its a really old fashioned concept of what Northern should by imo.  

Well you picked some of the ones i do like, used to play le grand melon. But judy stone and that big wheel track, really? And yeah the magnetics is class

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Interesting...Dave Godin's term ' Northern Soul ' was apparently coined in 1970.

I was first exposed to it 2 years later as an 11 year old whilst hanging around a youth club called the' disc' in Conisbrough where Jimmy Radcliffe, Jerry Williams, and Fontella Bass were played week in week out.

3 years later, I was going to the Four Seasons in Scarborough, the Winter Gardens in Cleethorpes, etc etc, and thought I'd got a good idea what constituted Northern Soul.

Still, it's nice to get educated by someone more qualified in these matters.

Ed

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4 hours ago, tomangoes said:

Interesting...Dave Godin's term ' Northern Soul ' was apparently coined in 1970.

I was first exposed to it 2 years later as an 11 year old whilst hanging around a youth club called the' disc' in Conisbrough where Jimmy Radcliffe, Jerry Williams, and Fontella Bass were played week in week out.

3 years later, I was going to the Four Seasons in Scarborough, the Winter Gardens in Cleethorpes, etc etc, and thought I'd got a good idea what constituted Northern Soul.

Still, it's nice to get educated by someone more qualified in these matters.

Ed

Why sire, i fo doth my cap to your profiund insight. I do quaketh in my veritable boots at your heritage and truely awesome soulfulness.

 

 

 

 

 

Actually pal, respect your opinion and mine differ and unconstructive comments like mine arent helpful. The mix does have a reasonable mix if known and semi know oldies. Some i like others i not so keen on. At least theres an effort at something different and I'd definitely sooner hear this set in a main room than another tired spot of top 50 oldies. So apologies uf my initial comments were a little harsh. 

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We are in complete agreement that this mix has brilliance and mediocrity included. Emphasising the positive is simply good manners.

What goes in what box is where it's unlikely any two northern soul fans will agree 100%.

Hence why I chose 'some ' great tunes in my analysis, which after much debate we both 100% agree on.

TSWONS.

Ed

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