Soulbowl

View full article

JA sent me another US digging story:

STEVE G MENTIONED TONY WILSON COLLECTING NEW ORLEANS LABELS.IT BROUGHT BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES FOR ME AS IT WAS A FANTASTIC PLACE TO FIND SOUL RECORDS.I HIT ALL THE MOM AND POP  STORES/ONE STOPS ETC.EDDIE THREEWAY WAS MY MAIN MAN–HE WAS A DJ AND ALSO HAD A TV SHOW SO ANY ARTIST WANTING EXPOSURE GAVE HIM RECORDS TO PROMOTE–––FOR INSTANCE WHEN LARRY WILLIAMS AND JOHNNY WATSON CAME THROUGH TOWN THEY ALWAYS DROPPED OFF 200 OF THEIR LATEST RELEASE SO IT WAS A GOLDMINE OF SOUL MUSIC–––IT WAS ALSO THE ONLY STORE WHERE YOU COULD TAKE A LEAK AND THE BATHROOM WAS LINED WITH SHELVES STACKED WITH RECORD BOXES.THAT'S HOW WE GOT THE FIRST 50 COUNT BOX OF RUFUS WOOD-2001–I WAS PEEING AND LOOKING AT RECORDS AT THE SAME TIME!I USED TO SPEND A WEEK AT A TIME THERE AND ON SUNDAY THAT'S WHEN PEOPLE FROM THE COUNTRY CAME TO TOWN––EDDIE WOULD ORDER FRIED CHICKEN PLATTERS FROM THE LOCAL CHURCH GROUP AND SAY TO ME GO GET ME 25 COPIES OF A BLUES RECORD–LOWELL FULSOM/JUNIOR PARKER ETC. AND HE'D SAY WATCH THIS–HE HAD AN OLD BATTERED TURNTABLE AND SPEAKERS IN THE STREET––WITHIN A MINUTE OF PUTTING THE 45 ON THE DECK,WE HAD A LINE OF PEOPLE COMING IN THE STORE –WE WANT THAT TUNE!–A MASTER SALESMAN––THAT'S WHERE WE GOT GEORGE PEPP/TOMMY RIDGLEY ON INTERNATIONAL CITY  ETC.IN THE END A HURRICANE CAME THROUGH AND DESTROYED A LOT OF THE REMAINING STOCK.LASTLY SOMETIMES YOU FIND A TITLE BY COMPLETE CHANCE–NOT FAR FROM EDDIE'S WAS AN OLD RECORD STORE THAT WAS CLOSED UP,IT ALWAYS FASCINATED ME EACH TIME I DROVE BY,SO EVENTUALLY WE TRACKED DOWN THE LANDLORD AND GOT THE KEY.THE RACKS STILL LINED THE WALLS,THE COUNTER WAS STILL THERE BUT THE RECORDS WERE GONE APART FROM A 100 RECORD BOX SITTING ON THE COUNTER.IT MADE ALL THE EFFORT WORTHWHILE–IT WAS A 100 COPIES OF TY KARIM LIGHTEN UP BABY ON CARAMEL!!!!!!I STILL WONDER WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE STORE WHEN IT WAS IN OPERATION.

 

JUST ANOTHER STORY–JOHN

 

And some more Soulbowl lists:

 

  

 

 

 

JA in his element; playing me a record in the warehouse at SoulBowl HQ. sometime in the early 8ts.  

 

Last list for now.  A £1.50 Northern Specials page.  Some nice tunes on this one; Delreys Inc. Embracables, TNJ's, Monticellos,  Tobi Lark, etc. 

 

Amazing - five copies of William Cummings for the price of one copy of Natural Four - The Devil Made Me Do It

JOHN ANDERSON AKA SOUL BOWL...

 

The man is a legend and deserves to be KNIGHTED for his services to the Northern Soul fraternity.

met John Anderson for the first time last year in the usa at a record show .what a pleasant man he even paid for my lunch!!! tons of great stories .i bought from the list back in the 70s there were always a few bargains to be had .no soul snobbery top bloke

2pm - 5.30pm on Saturday 

 

A great session last Saturday afternoon at Prestatyn - all the Djs played cracking sets of some of those fabulous records that John Anderson and his Soul Bowl records discovered for us and blessed our ears with !!! 

 

 45RPM review .

A great session last Saturday afternoon at Prestatyn - all the Djs played cracking sets of some of those fabulous records that John Anderson and his Soul Bowl records discovered for us and blessed our ears with !!! 

 

Certainly was mate - brilliant!!

Hello all,

As I'm a little bit disorganised at home its taken a while to cobble together some personal faves for this tribute to John and Soul Bowl. Upon reading this thread, I was glad to see that Im not the only sad bastard that keeps old record lists ! In my defence though,Ive only got a few left now,I chucked the really old ones out years ago to make more room in the loft for a whole host of other crap I don't really need…..Doh !

 I used to buy from John regularly on the phone,couldn't wait for the new weekly list to pop through the letter box. I only made it up to Kings Lynn twice,travelling up with a good friend of mine who also bought a lot off of John. Obviously,before the days of satellite technology,on the first trip up there we got a bit lost but found it in the end though ! Phew ! 

  Upon our arrival,when we walked into the barn I couldn't believe it,the amount of records there…. All Soul too !

 John was a perfect gentleman too and when it got to lunchtime he got us some fish and chips for dinner. Imagine that,going through a pile of tunes while scoffing fish and chips ! 

Onto some memory jerkers for me:

 

Hello John, have you still got…..

 

100 packs !

 

 

Now for some personal faves which will always remind me of John and Soul Bowl.

 Not all rare but all great, every one of them…..

  

Thank you John…..

More to follow,

   Ivor

On 11/04/2015 at 18:53, Ivor Jones said:

Hello all,

As I'm a little bit disorganised at home its taken a while to cobble together some personal faves for this tribute to John and Soul Bowl. Upon reading this thread, I was glad to see that Im not the only sad bastard that keeps old record lists ! In my defence though,Ive only got a few left now,I chucked the really old ones out years ago to make more room in the loft for a whole host of other crap I don't really need…..Doh !

 I used to buy from John regularly on the phone,couldn't wait for the new weekly list to pop through the letter box. I only made it up to Kings Lynn twice,travelling up with a good friend of mine who also bought a lot off of John. Obviously,before the days of satellite technology,on the first trip up there we got a bit lost but found it in the end though ! Phew ! 

  Upon our arrival,when we walked into the barn I couldn't believe it,the amount of records there…. All Soul too !

 John was a perfect gentleman too and when it got to lunchtime he got us some fish and chips for dinner. Imagine that,going through a pile of tunes while scoffing fish and chips ! 

Onto some memory jerkers for me:

 

Hello John, have you still got…..

 

Now for some personal faves which will always remind me of John and Soul Bowl.

 Not all rare but all great, every one of them…..

  

Thank you John…..

More to follow,

   Ivor

Nice one Ivor i remember bumping into you up their you were with Simon Dunmore.

I certainly was….those were the days ! Great times indeed…..

More from the Bowl…..laugh a minute prices…..look out for Four Voices, Doc Peabody…….

 

Some more faves…….

 

 

 

 

Once I got my first job I got a bank account. First cheque I ever wrote out was to Soul Bowl which I sent off but being more than a litlle bit wet behind the ears did not realise you had to sign it!!!

Another time, and by now the cheques I sent to Kings Lynn were signed, I remember being desperate for a copy of Joe Hicks Don't It Make You Feel Funky and John said he had a copy with a crack on it stored in a greenhouse in his garden.  He sent me the single for nothing and the crack was not that bad at all. .

"In his greenhouse" . Superb.!

My fave tale is when i was searching for this particular record that i had only ever heard Richard Searling play at daytime sessions at weekenders by Flowers.................I rang one day as the list came out to order something, then casually asked 'How you got Flowers - For real' to which John said 'It's on today's list'..........................can't believe I've missed it, so scoured the list whilst still on the phone and there it was, mis-spelt as 'Flares - For Real'.......................Christ it was £60 which was a dead lot of money for me then. Gulp, 'I'll have it' I said. Ate bread and water for a week but it was well worth it :-)

Cheers

Steve Plumb

Ah brings me back when i'd be trying to call him early and he would never answer lol. I Bought so many records from Soul Bowl in the 8ts and 9ts. I remember getting the list one morning and walking up the Goldhawk Road, on my way to the tube station. Got to the platform and opened up the list and there it was Otis Lee for £25! right thats it ran up the stairs, f*ck the train and out the door to the phone box. Got through after it been engaged and said Hi its Greg in London and have you still got Otis Lee, yup got that for ya, how many do you want??? i bought 7 copies and sold them on to my mates....of course i stuck an extra fiver on top :-) .  Those were the days....Anita Anderson, Gary Dean, Nat Hall, Sept. Jones, Shamettes etc etc. Top Bloke! just don't call before opening times.

 

Greg

Soul Bowl   ,  more like  Vinyl Heaven . My first records from there were  James Brown "Night train"  and Arthur Prysock "when love is new"  

Once I got my first job I got a bank account. First cheque I ever wrote out was to Soul Bowl which I sent off but being more than a litlle bit wet behind the ears did not realise you had to sign it!!!

Another time, and by now the cheques I sent to Kings Lynn were signed, I remember being desperate for a copy of Joe Hicks Don't It Make You Feel Funky and John said he had a copy with a crack on it stored in a greenhouse in his garden.  He sent me the single for nothing and the crack was not that bad at all. .

 A Greenhouse ! Neil

I think you may have a got your out buildings mixed up, John hates gardening with a passion!!!

It would take at least a 25 count box of Eddie Parker's "I'm Gone" secreted amongst the geranium cuttings to entice John through the door

Mind you he did once find 50 plus copies of Benny Harper's "My Prayer" in a Texas potting shed!

Dave

 A Greenhouse ! Neil

I think you may have a got your out buildings mixed up, John hates gardening with a passion!!!

It would take at least a 25 count box of Eddie Parker's "I'm Gone" secreted amongst the geranium cuttings to entice John through the door

Mind you he did once find 50 plus copies of Benny Harper's "My Prayer" in a Texas potting shed!

Dave

It was a long time ago. I thoght he said Greenhouse but if I got that wrong it was as you say some kind of out building. I was really happy to get the record!

On 18/04/2015 at 07:28, Louise said:

 A Greenhouse ! Neil

I think you may have a got your out buildings mixed up, John hates gardening with a passion!!!

It would take at least a 25 count box of Eddie Parker's "I'm Gone" secreted amongst the geranium cuttings to entice John through the door

Mind you he did once find 50 plus copies of Benny Harper's "My Prayer" in a Texas potting shed!

Dave

What with Joe Hicks in a greenhouse , Plumby and his " Flowers " and then Benny Harper in the potting shed in Texas!

 

JA's solid reputation for leaving no stone unturned (or garden unearthed ) when it came to digging for records..... and whilst we're talking of BHarper and "Texas " TX being one of the great American states famous for two types of  "Black Gold" ....1)  fabulous  vinyl finds ...2) but cannot remember what the other stuff is for the life of me ? Doh lol .... 

 

(See below ) 

 

 

 

tfk

What with Joe Hicks in a greenhouse and Benny Harper in the potting shed in Texas!

 

JA's solid reputation for leaving no stone (or garden ) unturned  when it comes to digging for records..... and whilst talking of BHarper n "Texas " that being one of the great American states famous for two types of  "Black Gold" ....1)  fabulous  vinyl finds ...2) cannot remember what the other stuff is ? Doh lol .... 

 

(See below ) 

 

 

 

tfk

 

Nice one !

Certainly a hot bed of soul Texas….

What with Joe Hicks in a greenhouse , Plumby's Flowers and then Benny Harper in the potting shed in Texas!

 

JA's solid reputation for leaving no stone (or garden ) unturned  when it comes to digging for records..... and whilst talking of BHarper n "Texas " that being one of the great American states famous for two types of  "Black Gold" ....1)  fabulous  vinyl finds ...2) but cannot remember what the other stuff is for the life of me ? Doh lol .... 

 

(See below ) 

 

 

 

tfk

 

Got to agree with that funky kid. Texas has always been kind to me with great record finds...YEEE HAA!!!!!

great thread..............thanks ez

Top top man ... I had three of his soul packs in the 70's at £15 and that included P+P. Wish I'd bought a hundred ! Got a Dickie Wonder Nobody Knows on Sound of soul and an Eddie Billups Shake off that Dream 777 Demo to name 2 ... 15p each. Then loads of top top sounds, Johnny Scott let me be a winner, Mike Jemison I want some satisfaction etc etc etc ... Legend

Still working his magic too, been reading through all the old lists you've posted and listening to the different versions of some known tunes that I hadn't heard of before. Found two I like. 

Only remember being successful  once from Soul Bowl in the late 70's but can't for the life of me remember what it was, however the excitement of the lists and waiting for the record is a memory, as others have commented, that never leaves you.

Black Music Advert July 1974 ....

 

 

A few more old Soul Bowl lists, with what seems amazing prices these days!

They were about the going rates at the time, but that was the 1970's.

Wish I had a time machine to go back and buy these.

I remember buying The Sapphires Slow Fizz, and The Fascinations, from Soulbowl but can't remember what I paid. I had forgotten about the LP listings. The Larry Santos LP I remember being in demand together with Bobby Hutton and the Skullsnaps at the time (1975/76). Happy Days?

 

part 3 of the interview in Big Daddy magazine ....a great read 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soul Bowl catalogue from the 90's ...

Such a fantastic read. I too remember the list arriving, dashing to the pay-phone, reserving the latest big tunes at Wigan such as Lou Johnson- Unsatisfied, Detroit Executives- Cool Off and others. Wish I could turn the hands back now and buy a few more obscurities off the lists.

From Blues and Soul April 1991 .....

 

On 27/06/2017 at 20:55, Eddie Hubbard said:

From Blues and Soul April 1991 .....

I remember that exact advert Eddie! 🙂

 

Cheers,

Mark R

I can remember saying to John, at Cleethorpes, some years ago that he should write a book. Well I guess this will be the next best thing.

Are'nt we all going dewy eyed looking at those prices? But the guy is still at it. At Prestatyn this year, he had a box of 70's/Modern, all mintish and full of stuff to make a collector dribble.

I think it's fair to say, this guys contribution to the Rare Soul scene has been as important as any artist/dj etc.

Think I'm right in saying that Soul Bowl's origins were back in Glasgow in (or around) 1963 ...

.... also believe the concern started out by using the name RECORD BAZAAR ..... 

if that's the case then these are examples of John's early magazine ads ... the top one (when 45's were being sold for 2s. -- or 10p) dates from the late 60's ... the next one down from his earliest days (early summer 63) when 45's were sold for 1/- each (5p) ...  

1 hour ago, Roburt said:

Think I'm right in saying that Soul Bowl's origins were back in Glasgow in (or around) 1963 ...

.... also believe the concern started out by using the name RECORD BAZAAR ..... 

if that's the case then these are examples of John's early magazine ads ... the top one (when 45's were being sold for 2s. -- or 10p) dates from the late 60's ... the next one down from his earliest days (early summer 63) when 45's were sold for 1/- each (5p) ...  

1142/6 Argyle Street, Glasgow was a second hand shop called Silverdales.  They had one room for records, and the bigger part was general second-hand stuff. I think the name "Record Bazaar" was just used for their mail order. I don't think Silverdales had any connection with John Anderson.   

just a comment to connect/link this article and comments with the recent sad news of John Anderson passing on

RIP

 

John Anderson King Of The Record Dealers Part 2 ,From Big Daddy magazine .Interview conducted by Snowboy with Garry Cape adding information.

Interesting extract confirms his views on much of what he sold.

 

this 'Soul Bowl' article has just been tagged as one of our 'spotlight' features

fabulous read.

What a great article and the thread makes brilliant reading too. Like one or two others on here I went for the soul packs, and what an education they were.

The range was immense, and it was always fascinating to see how different the pairing of the 2 sides on one record could be. As years went by I'd often find my taste changed to favour the side I'd thought wasn't so good when I first decided what to write on the sleeve.

I never did have that buzz of trying to phone through for a specific record from the lists, but I do have very happy memories of getting the soul pack and trying to work out what I wanted to play first along with creating little piles of ones I thought I liked most, ones to check again, and, it hurts to think of this, ones I planned to get rid of. Very few in that last group thankfully, and if I'd known how my tastes would expand and change then I'd have kept every last one!

On 20/02/2015 at 09:27, Tfk said:

What a fantastic article and read of one of  the hardest working guys in the business  (48 years plus and still going strong  ) Wow !!! 

gillian daniels photo bombing 

Good article.

Edited July 27, 2024Jul 27 by Solidsoul