- Replies 17
- Views 1.4k
- Created
- Last Reply
Most Popular Posts
-
I write for a soul music mag at present -- S U Nth (& for others in the past), so my pieces can be very WORDY (sorry). But finding obscure soul facts is my passion. Ady C refers to me as a soul sl
-
Wow! Some work has gone into producing that introductory and opening post; thanks Roburt. Very interesting. Peter 🙏
-
Billy Larkin and the Delegates also covered the song which appeared on his "Hole In The Wall" album and as a Little LP-
We all know that most UK 60's beat groups got their start by covering US R&B / soul hits both in their stage shows & on record. BBC radio didn't help much as they didn't have much 'needle time' allowance, so featured live sets on many shows -- these being by the beat groups doing covers. When BBC radio did play records, they seemed to favour the UK cover versions over the US originals. Thus for an American R&B / soul hit to make the UK charts it had to become a big club sound (ahead of the pirates hitting the airways).
BUT things weren't too different in the US. A soul act who had a hit on their hands would be added to a soul revue package that would play many of the venues on the chitlin circuit. But, most of the chitlin circuit venues were in the northern states , California or down the US east coast (Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Norfolk, etc). In more rural areas, fans hardly ever got to see the acts who were having hits. That's one reason why in states such as Texas, lots of fake groups would play out-of-the-way venues (the Masqueraders took their name coz they had participated in such ruses in their early days). Fake versions of Archie Bell & the Drells did gigs all over when Archie was overseas in the forces. Miami was also a bit far for lots of acts to travel, so Florida had it's fair share of 'fakes' doing gigs.
However, dishing up versions of national hits for local punters wasn't just left to 'fakes'. Most locally based groups were playing R&B / soul sets on their live gigs in the 60's as this is what the audiences wanted. Many local groups started out as pure cover bands & as their musical skills improved, they would start to introduce original songs in their acts and this would lead to them getting to record those tunes. Sometimes though, a national hit would become so popular when performed by a local act that they'd be given the chance to record their version of the song.
An example of this was Edwin Starr's initial 45 release/ hit -- "Agent 00 Soul". His 45 was released in June 65 and (though it was on a small Detroit label) it took off quickly. From initial plays on Detroit radio stns, it was soon getting airplay all over. Golden World could see they had a big hit on their hands, so they started placing ads in the big US music mags and doing promotional work over a large geographic area. In no time the 45 was on radio stn charts in many parts of the US. Initially it was the R&B stations where it did well, but as it's popularity continued to spread, it started getting on pop station's charts too.
The 45 was on R&B radio stn charts in the northern US cities by late June 65, it then slowly extended it's reach and by early August it was getting extensive radio exposure over a wide area. It would climb the charts in say Cleveland, that fact would be reported and DJ's in other cities would pick it up and start giving it plays. So while it's peak popularity may have passed in Detroit, Chicago & Cleveland by mid August, in other cities it would still be climbing the local charts. By September it was doing well in enough areas to figure on the national R&B charts, just weeks later it was climbing the national pop charts.
One area where it was slow to catch on (almost certainly due to a lack of copies reaching the area) was Louisiana. It initially took off in New Orleans and was charting there by October. It also made it out to more rural areas of the state, with DJ's like Paul Thibeaux spinning it on KVOL. With "Agent 00 Soul" filling the airwaves in the region, many local acts started including it in their live shows. It became so popular for some acts that they were even asked to record their versions of it. Thus US cover versions of Edwin's first release made it onto US record store shelves.
P.S. . . . though it was a massive US hit, that success didn't lead to much international interest. It did escape on Reo in Canada but then Detroit radio stn signals reached deep into Canada & many local music fans would tune into Detroit radio stns rather than their own local enterprises. The odd Canadian stn had a large audience in their own rights -- Windsor based CKLW being one example. So most 45's that had been big in Detroit would get a Canadian release. Edwin's record failed to attract much interest from UK / European based labels, an omission that would soon be remedied.
BUT BACK TO LOUISIANA & THE US -- the impact "Agent 00 Soul" had there was extensive ...
Edited by Roburt