Articles: Willie Weems - His Story

[Munchkin]

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[Platters 81]

super article

[Amsterdam Russ]

Hugely interesting - thanks for sharing!

[Dave Moore]

Great Read! Top Article Kev.  Well done matey.  

Dave 

 

[Chalky]

Great article Kev. 

[Jamesh]

Really enjoyed reading that. Thanks very much 

[The Yank]

Great, well researched article ! 

 "Don"t Hit On Me" did well for Sam and Kitty in Baltimore, going up to #24 on this survey -

 

[Bo Diddley]

Well done Kev, you put a lot of time and effort in and it was worth it.

[Robbk]

Great article!

[Michael V]

Excellent,really interesting article,thank you..As a young man  way back when I  listened to and enjoyed the Relic Doo-Wop LP 'Golden Groups -Beltone Records' and the ballad 'Lovers Reunion' by the Dontells ,I never realised that there had been such a long journey before and after it for Willie and the group (little seems to have been known back then about them  by the guys at Relic,going by the sleeve notes)  Amazingly,I have had the 60's UK Fontana 45' of The Dontells 'In You Heart' all these years too, but never realised it was the same group until now ! (same spelling of the groups' name but such different  musical styles-and as Beltone was a NYC label, I assumed they were 2 different groups)

One small point-the Chicago Johnny Moore did'nt record as Johnny Darrow-that was Johnny Moore of The Drifters,who is pictured in the article

 

 

[The Yank]

Here's the Chicago Johnny Moore - 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by The Yank

[Robbk]

16 hours ago, Michael V said:

Excellent,really interesting article,thank you..As a young man  way back when I  listened to and enjoyed the Relic Doo-Wop LP 'Golden Groups -Beltone Records' and the ballad 'Lovers Reunion' by the Dontells ,I never realised that there had been such a long journey before and after it for Willie and the group (little seems to have been known back then about them  by the guys at Relic,going by the sleeve notes)  Amazingly,I have had the 60's UK Fontana 45' of The Dontells 'In You Heart' all these years too, but never realised it was the same group until now ! (same spelling of the groups' name but such different  musical styles-and as Beltone was a NYC label, I assumed they were 2 different groups)

One small point-the Chicago Johnny Moore didn't record as Johnny Darrow-that was Johnny Moore of The Drifters,who is pictured in the article

 

 

Not only did New York's Beltone Records pick up Chicago's Dontels, but they also picked up The Opals' (Okeh female group) first record, "Two-Sided Love", a Maurice Rogers production. 

[Windlesoul]

Very interesting article Kev, and joins up a number of dots for me. I appreciate the great effort clearly gone into pulling it together. Thanks for sharing. 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Windlesoul

[Ficklefingers]

Nice One Kev !!

Thanks for sharing.. a really good informative read and I learned a lot from it so many thanks for that and very much appreciated

[Michael V]

18 hours ago, Robbk said:

Not only did New York's Beltone Records pick up Chicago's Dontels, but they also picked up The Opals' (Okeh female group) first record, "Two-Sided Love", a Maurice Rogers production. 

Thanks for that Robb-wow,I never knew the Opals recorded before their Okeh sides(which I love) .Had a listen on You Tube- very much in the Marvelettes/Orlons style so popular then (1961/2) and so different to the Okehs ,but nice !

[neckender]

A very enjoyable read, thankyou for your efforts.

[Robbk]

6 hours ago, Michael V said:

Thanks for that Robb-wow,I never knew the Opals recorded before their Okeh sides(which I love) .Had a listen on You Tube- very much in the Marvelettes/Orlons style so popular then (1961/2) and so different to the Okehs ,but nice !

I also seem to remember that New York's Beltone leased one other Chicago production during the 1962-63 period (I think it was a single artist), but I can't remember what it was, but I think it was one of the missing catalogue numbers on Global Dog's and SoulfulKindaMusic's label discographies.

[Munchkin]

On 10/10/2020 at 01:51, Michael V said:

Excellent,really interesting article,thank you..As a young man  way back when I  listened to and enjoyed the Relic Doo-Wop LP 'Golden Groups -Beltone Records' and the ballad 'Lovers Reunion' by the Dontells ,I never realised that there had been such a long journey before and after it for Willie and the group (little seems to have been known back then about them  by the guys at Relic,going by the sleeve notes)  Amazingly,I have had the 60's UK Fontana 45' of The Dontells 'In You Heart' all these years too, but never realised it was the same group until now ! (same spelling of the groups' name but such different  musical styles-and as Beltone was a NYC label, I assumed they were 2 different groups)

One small point-the Chicago Johnny Moore did'nt record as Johnny Darrow-that was Johnny Moore of The Drifters,who is pictured in the article

 

 

thanks for that will try to find a different photo for JM

[Mike]

via the 'contact us' feature

Re: Willie Weems article - the Junior Wells release on Blue Rock by Willie was "Girl You Lit My Fire" which was on Junior's great "You're Tuff Enough" album  (credited to "Weems/Daniels")

Kind regards,

Dan Nooger

[micky kent]

Excellent history Kevin. A great read

[shelly]

Anyone ever seen one of these?

Brazilian Joda release and different pairing to US release

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by shelly