In 1964, R&B music really came of age. Mainstream black music was evolving from R&B into soul and this helped it sell to greater volumes of white American teenagers. At the time, teenagers were the big growth market in record sales both in the US and in Europe. Because of this (due to the additional advertising revenue generated) most US radio stations were chasing the teenage market. But many American pop station DJ's weren't keeping up with the times. A 1964 run-down of top US radio DJ's most played artists includes the likes of Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Vinton, Elvis Presley, Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Lesley Gore, Peter Paul & Mary, the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons. The 'British Invasion' was also kicking in with the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five, Manfred Mann, Searchers, Hollies, Lulu, Moody Blues, Herman's Hermits and Sandi Shore all taking covers of US R&B hits high onto the US pop charts. When asked by journalists about who their favourite singers were; the Beatles, Dusty Springfield and Stones all listed black US artists. So US black music was really coming into it's own. A singles success was measured in the US in a number of different ways back then. A main source of assessing a 45's popularity was it's standing in the pop charts. Charts were also compiled of the most popular juke box tracks, there were also radio station charts and soul records also made up the content of the R&B charts. All three of America's top music mags compiled R&B charts and these were published each week. This is till just before the start of 1964.
With sales of black artists 45's being on the up in 1964, it seems really strange that this was the year Billboard magazine decided to abandon it's long established R&B 45 chart. The stated reason behind this decision was that so many R&B singles were making it onto the pop charts that the R&B chart had lost it's significance. It's hard to believe that this was the full explanation. Billboard never once considered dropping it's C&W chart during the magazine's long history. But then just about all C&W artists are white. The US being such a vast country, it was always quite difficult to select a truly representative sample of record shop 45 sales. Due to this, a combination of actual 45 sales and radio station plays were utilised to arrive at the chart standings there. Of course, radio station plays were highly influential in catching record buyer's ears, as were jukebox plays. The records that got the most radio exposure, reached a bigger audience, so tended to sell more copies; a virtuous circle therefore being formed. What singles pop stations decided to feature in their DJ picks and breakout sounds was totally different to the singles that R&B stations selected. A 45 by a little known R&B act or one released on an independent black owned label that sounded like a hit would be selected for playlisting by R&B stations. But only when it started to make a real impact on those R&B stations (& their charts) would it even be considered for playlisting by pop stations in 99% of cases. Even then, some pop stations south of the Mason - Dixon line were reluctant & slow to play popular singles by black artists.
None established R&B acts would therefore initially only got heard via spins of their new record on R&B radio. If a particular 45 proved popular on one R&B station, DJ's at other R&B stations would note it as a 'breakout' release and would select it as one of their plays. This would result in jukebox operators requesting copies to go on their machines and eventually the record (if it was popular enough on black radio) would crossover and start to gain plays on pop stations. Very few 45's by none established R&B acts would secure plays on 'white' pop stations initially but would have to prove their popularity with the audiences of R&B stations first. Of course, by 1964 lots of R&B stations had a sizeable white teenage audience and thus, for a lucky few releases, a path towards pop radio playlisting would begin. Such soul 45's would start to sell in pop outlets and so start to figure on music mag's tip / breakout listings. In addition to the difference in black / white radio record selections, regional differences also loomed large. Large and established labels (RCA, Mercury, Epic, Atlantic) had the resources to send copies of new releases out to both pop and R&B radio stations nationwide. The likes of Motown, Chess and Stax had by 1964 established themselves as strong enough to follow a similar practise, but many independent black labels only had the resources to service local stations and R&B stations over a slightly larger area. Going back to Motown, Berry Gordy could exert a lot of power over R&B radio DJ's. If one such DJ angered Berry, then he wouldn't get sent advance copies of the company's next big hits. He'd therefore be behind his rival DJ's and would instantly learn the error of his ways and fall back into line.
If a black act's 45 started out on a tiny label and still managed to start making an impact with a large audience then it would be picked up by the likes of Atlantic, Chess or Amy / Mala / Bell for national distribution. The large company would then send out promotional copies nationwide and thus give the single a chance of reaching a nationwide audience. In this way, a single would go (over a period of weeks) from being a radio hit in say Detroit to establishing itself on the charts of numerous R&B stations before crossing over and making it onto the national pop charts. The path for lots of black artist's releases to securing playlisting on many US pop stations was a long and torturous one. An unknown acts soul release could jump via black radio spins to local and national R&B chart success. Pop radio plays would then follow, the extra exposure becoming the road to Hot 100 success for many such singles. Due to this fact, Billboards decision to drop it's R&B chart for the whole of 1964 must have impacted negatively on the success of many black act's releases that year. Of course, Cash Box and Record World magazines continued to compile their R&B charts, but it was Billboard that was the most influential publication right across the US at that time. There were many more pop stations than R&B radio stations in just about all regions of the US. For instance, in Washington DC, just two stations (WOOK & WUST) dominated the market. So to gain a playlisting on either one meant the record in question would reach the ears of most black record buyers in the area. A 45 would then take off in DC and it's success could spread all along the eastern seaboard. But without Billboard's R&B chart to display it's growing achievements, it might not become a nationwide hit.
The impact of Billboard's decision to close down their R&B chart from November 30, 1963 till January 23, 1965 has continued to have an effect right down the years. The definitive book on R&B chart listings up to the present day is 'Joel Whitburn's Top R&B Singles' publication and this has always presented a false picture for 1964. Only R&B 45's that made it onto Billboard's Hot 100 Pop chart are detailed in the book during that year. The performance of most singles differed immensely between their R&B chart popularity and their standing on the pop charts. Of course, an alternative book was (in the past) made available that did correctly detail R&B 45 successes in 1964. But the book (The 'Cash Box' Black Contemporary Singles Charts 1960-1984) that listed Cash Box's 1964 R&B chart listings went out of print around 40 years ago. Examples of the difference between Hot 100 and R&B chart placings in 1964 aren't difficult to find. Betty Everett's – “Shoop Shoop Song” was No.1 on the R&B charts for most of April whereas it only reached No.6 on the Hot 100 chart (April 18th). It was the 5th best performing single of the year R&B wise but only 44th in Hot 100 standings. The Tams “What Kind Of Fool” was No.1 on the R&B charts for 3 weeks from mid February whereas it only reached No.9 on the Hot 100 chart (March 21st). It was the 21st best performing single of the year R&B wise but only 77th in Hot 100 standings. Making reference to both the Cash Box and Record World R&B charts for 1964 it is possible to identify the popularity of many black singles that were misrepresented in Billboard's pop chart listings.
Beginning in January 1964; Hank Marr's “The Greasy Spoon” (Federal #45-12508) is the first 45 I'll highlight. This Hammond organ led instrumental gained extensive airplay on black radio stations at the start of the year. On January 18th Cash Box had the single at No.15 on their R&B chart. A check with Billboard shows that this 45 never made an entry on their Hot 100 chart at all. Moving onto February we come across a release that seemingly broke the usual rules. Clyde McPhatter already had a good history of success on the US pop charts and his record was released by a major record label (Mercury). So he was one black singer who's new releases should have gained pop station plays from the outset. However his “Deep In The Heart of Harlem” (Mercury #72220) stood at No.10 on Cash Box's R&B chart on February 1st. The highest position it achieved on the Hot 100 was No.90. Another 45 doing well on that same ( Feb 1st) chart was Bob & Earl's club anthem “Harlem Shuffle” (Marc #104). It stood at No.3 on the chart, having taken 3 months since it's release to rise to those heights. On the Hot 100 it peaked at just No.44. Hoagy Lands was enjoying a regional breakout in Baltimore in late February with his Atlantic outing “Baby Come On Home” (# 45-2217). After receiving a favourable audience reaction to the plays it received, WEBB placed it at No.17 on their chart. By early April, it was enjoying similar success in Tennessee where WNOO (Chattanooga) also had it featured on it's top 20. The track must have been reactivated by one of that station's DJ's as it was already 12 weeks old by that time. Hoagy's cut never managed to make any national chart.
Becoming a regional hit didn't lead to it even attaining national R&B chart status.
The Vibrations had also already enjoyed hit singles, mainly with dance craze releases. In February 64 their latest release was enjoying lots of success. “My Girl Sloopy” was at No.10 on WUST's (R&B) chart on 28th February. A couple of weeks later, over on WOOK, it held down the #5 placing (8 weeks later it would be back in the same position). From there, it spread it's wings to cross over to numerous pop stations. In April and May it was charting with KQV, WEEP, KRLA and KRDG (radio stations who's call sign started with a K were located in the western states). In mid July it was still on Tucson (Arizona) pop station KTKT's chart. Nationally, it also fared well. On Cash Box's R&B chart it stood at No.10 for both the last week in April and the first week of May. It sold well enough right across the US to make the Hot 100 pop chart. After having entered that chart, it climbed slowly to eventually attain a top 40 place. Their single peaked on the chart at No.26 but then fell away till it dropped from view. But that wasn't the end of the song. The Yardbird's heard the Vibrations track and really liked it. So they cut a version that escaped in the US on their album. Reworded to become “My Girl Sloopy”, it would also cut by the McCoys and their 45 was issued in July 65. Over a year after the Vibrations original had been on the US pop charts, the McCoys take of the song followed it onto to the Hot 100 (August 14th). Their pop version got way more radio exposure than the Vibrations offering and this helped it attain the pivitol No.1 position on the Hot 100. By then, the song was so popular that the likes of jazz soul group the Ramsey Lewis Trio had added the song to their live act. It proved so popular with their audiences that a live take by them would also be put out on 45.
A soul instrumental was doing well at the same time as the Vibrations “My Girl Sloopy”. This was King Curtis's “Soul Serenade”. The tune would go on to become a much recorded soul anthem, with a version even being cut by a British outfit. King Curtis's version benefitted from being released on Capitol Records, so it was well promoted and easily available right across the country. So, unlike many other soul tracks, it had every chance of reaching a wide audience and going on to be a hit 45. It managed to achieve this feat and it became both an R&B and pop hit, locally and nationally. The 45 had been released in mid January and by early February it was already charting. It was popular on Top 40 station WJET from 4th February. That showing got it playlisted by a number of other DJ's, including by those who spun for KDIA; It held down the No.4 position there by the 15th March. At the same time, it was rising at two other R&B stations; WSID (#20 on 15th April) and WUST (#4 on 18th April). It was filling the airwaves via many other R&B outlets but detailing which is a hard task 60 years after the fact (record keeping for radio charts being much better for T40 stations). Back with Top 40 radio, down in Louisiana, on KDBS it stood at No.20 in mid April. By May, the single was dropping down on WWIN (R&B); from #11 to #18 and then to #22. Some Top 40 stations had lagged way behind, at KAYC in Texas (T40) it still stood at No.5 at the end of June. It had dropped to #10 as July opened. WDRC (Hartford) had been even slower off the mark, with it still charting there in late July. Nationally, it figured on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts. It had entered Billboard's flagship listing on 14th March. It climbed slowly and by the 4th April it had climbed to #86. Over at Cash Box, it climbed from #45 to #40 R&B on April 11th and it had also just scraped into their Top 100. Record World was still known as Music Vendor Magazine (the name change would happen one week later) and they had “Soul Serenade” at No.96 on their Top 100. The publication actually listed their top 150, placings 101 to 150 being labeled their 'Looking Up' section and the extra exposure this gave to many soul 45's certainly assisted them in pop circles. On their R&B chart, the track stood at #32.
At the start of that March, Gino Washington's 45 “Out Of This World” (Wand #147) was on Cash Box's R&B chart. Although it remained on their chart for almost the entire month, it never managed to rise higher than No.44 which it reached in the 3rd week. It was selling well enough right across the whole market to be listed as bubbling under the Hot 100 at the time (@ #125) – Billboard also detailing the next 35 most successful 45's each week. Also in March, Detroit based SonBert (a subsiduary label to Correc-tone) released another 45 by Gino; “Gino Is A Coward” (#3770). This was a reworking of an earlier Correc-tone outing by him titled “I'm A Coward”. For some reason two Detroit pop stations decided to playlist the record and it was soon rising up both their 45 charts. It rose to No.2 on both WKNR and WJBK at the end of April / early May. It was popular with both station's white audiences but SonBert didn't really have the clout to break it anywhere else and so the record stalled. In June, the reactivated Ric-Tic label decided to try again with the single and it was put out again (Ric-Tic #RT100). The label sent out promo copies to radio DJ's over a much wider geographic area than was normal and managed to secure plays in cities such as Minneapolis and San Francisco. By the end of June the single was being listed as a 'breakout' release in a good number of areas. As plays / sales occurred over an extended period and were split between pop & black stations, it never made it onto the national R&B 45 charts. It did however reach No.121 (July 11) on Billboard's Pop chart (the 'bubbling under' section to the Hot 100) and No.98 / 104 on Record World's pop chart almost a month later (August 1st / 8th).
Despite enjoying a long recording career, Gino never managed another release that would become a pop hit. However “Gino Is A Coward” was the best selling 45 at Harmony House store in Hazel Park that May. Being a top seller in such outlets illustrates the value of gaining pop radio plays. It was also in the top five sellers with Mumford Music in Oak Park. Another black act who had enjoyed a lot of Hot 100 success was Ike & Tina Turner. On 28 March 64 their Sonja 45 “You Can't Miss Nothing That You Never Had” (#2005) was placed at No. 29 (Cash Box R&B). This label was owned and run by Ike himself and he usually only sent out promo copies to black radio stations. Ike used his own label's 45 releases to help plug the band's upcoming live shows. Supplying R&B stations with these singles acted as promotion for tour dates (radio stations in cities that weren't hosting a show wouldn't be sent copies). The fact that this single (& his similar output) failed to make any impression at all on the Hot 100 should therefore not come as any big surprise. April witnessed Z Z Hill enjoying R&B success with both Cash Box and Record World magazines. His “You Were Wrong” (MH #200) had been climbing Cash Box's R&B chart during March and it peaked at No.20 on April 4th. It also enjoyed similar success on Record World's Top 40 R&B chart in the middle of the month. It had been slower to catch on in Baltimore, making it big there as April turned into May. At least ZZ's efforts were rewarded by an entry on the Hot 100, it making the bottom position on that chart for just one week.
New Orleans had a distinct music scene all of it's own. The city was somewhat distanced from other big US cities with large black populations. Due to this, it made soul tracks with a particular feel to them. This makes it worth looking at that city's R&B output in isolation. Lots of locally recorded tracks were played by the R&B radio stations in the city and it's surrounding area. Pop stations in the area also followed suit and playlisted locally recorded black cuts. Larry McKinley was a top DJ at radio station WYLD at the end of the 1950's. He next went into partnership with local record distributor Joe Banashak to form Minit Records. They signed lots of locals acts to their label and put Allen Touissaint in charge of recording them. Hit tracks from the likes of Ernie K-Doe, Benny Spellman, Jessie Hill and Chris Kenner soon followed. The cuts released on these acts were first picked up by Nola based R&B stations. As they became more popular with local listeners, pop radio started to playlist them too. From there, it didn't take long for these 45's to make the national R&B and then the Hot 100. The Minit label soon established itself as a major hit label, a position it held throughout most of the 1960's. Which records were doing well in New Orleans influenced what got played on radio stations in the surrounding area. Pop station KDBS (out of Alexandria) had Irma Thomas's “Wish Someone Would Care” @ No.7 and Benny Spellman's “Walk On Don't Cry” (Watch #6332) @ No.27 on their chart dated April 19th. Other soul singles on their chart that week included Cookie & the Cupcakes “Untill Then”, Marvin Gaye's “You're A Wonderful One”, King Curtis's “Soul Serenade”, Betty Everett's “Shoop Shoop Song”, Major Lance's “The Matador” and Dionne Warwick's “Walk On By”. It's obvious that KDBS's decision to get behind Irma & Benny's latest offerings was largely determined by their high standing on New Orleans R&B station charts.
Regional differences in certain record's popularity were always happening. It was local radio station charts that best illustrated this fact and the charts of Baltimore's R&B stations demonstrate this fact perfectly. From April 15th to 21st, WSID had Mary Wells “My Guy” at No.1 for the 2nd week, whereas her cut was still rising on Cash Box's national R&B chart (jumping from No.17 to No.8). Betty Everett's “Shoop Shoop Song” (Vee Jay) was still No.1 nationally but it had already dropped out of WSID's Top 20. WSID had the Marvelettes “Goddess Of Love” (Tamla) at No.3 for a 2nd week, whereas nationally the plug side of that single (“He's A Good Guy”) had dropped to No.36. Baby Washington's “I Can't Wait To See My Baby's Face” (Sue) was dropping down WSID's chart (to No.16), whilst The Diplomats “Help Me” (Arock) was a new entry at No.19. Neither were in the national R&B Top 50 at the time. Across Baltimore, WWIN had the 4 Buddies (“I Want To Be The Boy” Imperial), the Exotics (“Sad Sad Song” Coral), & Miss LaVell (“Why Young Men Go Wild” Duke) in their top 20 chart at the end of April. None of these singles would ever feature on any national charts. Which new soul 45's were getting major action and where was also detailed in the national music magazines as they published regular 'R&B Regional Breakout' listings. Appearing on these listings would assist 45's in getting radio playlistings over a wider geographic area and therefore help them to make a national R&B chart. Record World also identified which singles were doing well with One Stop distributors, in record stores and on radio station charts. They also noted in their 'SPOTLITEMS' section what some soul artists were currently up to. One such mention of Joe Hinton and Junior Parker designated that both were back in Houston for TV appearances and to record. Thus, their fans were alerted to new 45 releases in the near future.
Back at WSID in mid May, Gladys Knight's “Giving Up” (Maxx) was No.1 with Donnie Elbert's “Run Little Girl” (Gateway) standing at No.5. On the national charts, Gladys' record had just risen to No.33 while Donnie's outing was nowhere to be seen. Also on the WSID chart were Judy Clay's “My Arms Aren't Strong Enough” (Scepter) at No.12 while lower down Joan Baker's “Everybody's Talking” (Diamond) was also featuring. Little Johnny Taylor's “First Class Love” (Galaxy #729) became a national R&B hit in mid April but in Norfolk, WRAP had it's B side, “If You Love Me”, in their top 10 at the end of May, so one of their DJ's had obviously flipped the record. Jackie Wilson's “Big Boss Line” (Brunswick) and L C Cooke's “Put Me Down Easy” (SAR) were also on their chart. While Jackie's 45 fared well on the national charts, LC's didn't. Cash Box noted that Barbara Lewis's “Someday Were Gonna Love Again” and the Wallace Brothers “Precious Words” (Sims) were top plays with juke box operators at that time. Ricky Madison's “I'll Follow You” (DeRy) and Johnny Nash's “Talk To Me” (Argo) were two tracks that WRAP's DJ's were playing in heavy rotation and tipping for big things. It would be the B side of Johnny's 45 (“Love Ain't Nothin”) that would go on to prove popular in the UK. Inez Foxx's “Hurt By Love” (Sue) was being advertised nationally at the end of April and this exposure helped it make a major impact. It was already on some R&B station charts; it having made an entry onto WEBB's on 9th March. It was soon on a good number of other radio charts too, including pop stations. It did really well at WUST (in DC), on 20th March it was at #7 on their chart. Five weeks later it was back @ #7 and the week after (2nd May) it made #3. Meanwhile, it was doing well on pop stations such as WIBG, WLAN, WAMS and WMID. At WAMS it was still on their chart at the end of June; falling from #10 to #24. So her single enjoyed across the board sales and this assisted it gaining release in Canada and the UK.
Also at the end of May, in Baltimore, “Something You Got” by Alvin Robinson (Tiger) was at No.1 on WWIN. Nationally it had only just entered the charts and was still down in the 30's. Other 45's in the WWIN top 10 were Donnie Elbert's “Run Little Girl” and Clarence Ash's “Troubles I've Had”. The tiny New York based Falew label had two singles placed in the top 20 of WWIN's chart as well; Tommy Duncan's “Dance, Dance, Dance” and Bette Bothe's “Teardrop Avenue”. So Falew obviously had targeted WWIN's DJ's back then. The Tommy Duncan track, which had originally been released in April, also got lots of plays on white pop station WDRC up in Hartford, Connecticut. This fact helped it make the 'bubbling under' section of Billboards' Hot 100 in late July and the profile it gained eventually resulted in the single getting a UK Sue release (February 1966). Another indie label outing also on their top 20 was the Messengers “Darling This Is How I Feel” (Beam), a slow burner produced by Richard Barrett. The DC based Carltons also figured on the chart with their Argo outing “Can't You Hear The Beat”, as did Little Herman with “Gotta Keep On Walking” (Arlen / Gina). As a pointer to pop stations wanting to playlist up and coming soul tracks, the national music press printed lists of R&B 45's that were beginning to break on the pop charts. Which stations were playing what being detailed to assist pop radio DJ's as to which recent soul 45's they should consider adding to their show playlists. Not only had Billboard dropped it's R&B chart, it also seemed to be undervaluing soul 45's in other sections of the magazine. It ran a regular 'Breakout Singles 'listing. In a May edition, this gave an extra push to 7 newish 45's, not one of them being a soul release. However in the adjacent Hot Pop Spotlights' section both the Exciters “We Were Lovers”, the Orlons “Rules Of Love”, Otis Redding's “Security”, the Improbables “A Most Unusual Feeling” and Little Gigi's “Take The Bitter With The Sweet” were noted as being potential Hot 100 hits.
May saw both sides of Barbara Lewis's newest 45 outing gain R&B chart success. Released in April, her single coupled “Someday We're Gonna Love Again” with the Eddie Singleton penned “Spend A Little Time” (Atlantic #45-227). The highest Cash Box R&B chart position achieved by “Someday We're Gonna Love Again” was No.34 on May 23rd. “Spend A Little Time” faired somewhat better, peaking at No.30 on May 30th. Radio station's such as WRAP in Norfolk (Virginia) were responsible for making “Spend A Little Time” popular. Of course, had just one side of this single made the chart, then it would have achieved a better standing than both sides had managed individually. Both sides of her release also made it onto Record World's R&B charts, each track occupying Top 30 placings at the end of the month. Unfortunately neither side of her outing made any impression at all on the Hot 100. However, another version of the song did make it onto the Hot 100. After the Searcher's cover of “Someday We're Gonna Love Again” had enjoyed UK pop chart success following it's release here in July, it got released on Kapp in the USA and made it to No.34 on the Hot 100 (end of September). Another single charting R&B with both Cash Box and Record World from mid May to mid June was Clarence Ash's “Trouble I've Had” (J & S #1466). It's likely that this 45 started out gaining plays in the New York area and was then picked up for national distribution by Chess records in late April. With wider distribution, it's popularity spread to the likes of Baltimore and beyond. But even with Chess giving this 45 an extra push, it failed to even dent the Hot 100. In the DC area, WUST had both Mary Wells and Marvin Gaye in their Top 10 twice over. Their duet “What's The Matter With You Baby” stood @ #1. A bit lower down were Mary's “My Guy” and Marvin's “Try It Baby”. Also on their chart that same week (30th May), “Big Party” by Barbara & the Browns (Stax) was doing well @ #8 .
One black record company that chased pop chart success more than most of the others was Motown. Berry Gordy had come up with the slogan 'The Sound Of Young America' to reflect the fact that he was chasing sales with white US teenagers as much as their black counterparts. By 1964, Motown 45's were attaining high positions on Billboard's Hot 100 chart almost as often as they were doing the same on R&B stations / magazines charts. Of course, not every Motown act was as successful at crossing over to the white market as the Supremes, Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Four Tops were. That August, Motown placed a big ad in the national music press. This promoted 10 of their recent 45 releases. Five of these singles were on the Tamla label; Nos. 54095 to 54099. Marvin Gaye's “Try It Baby” was issued on 21st May 64 and the 45 made it onto 100's of radio station charts; both R&B + pop. It had entered Maryland R&B station WUST's Top 10 before the end of May. A month later it was holding down the No.5 position on that same chart. However it didn't enter the Cash Box Top 100 until mid June (climbing from #72 to #45 on 20th June). Stevie Wonder's “Hey Harmonica Man” made it onto nearly as many R&B plus pop radio station charts as Marvin's 45 had. Two of the earliest stations that Stevie's 45 got plays on were WJBK (T40 in Detroit) and CKLW (T40 in Windsor, Canada – their signal being targetted on Detroit). Over in DC, WUST had it at No.9 on their chart just a couple of days later (30th May). Although Stevie's single was on radio charts almost everywhere, it never really occupied many high positions (struggling to achieve many top 10 placings). In mid July it did stand at No.10 on Milwaukee Top 40 station WRIT. A week later it stood @ #5 on WBRB (T40), at #4 on WGH (T40) and at No.16 on WWIN (R&B). Though it didn't gain many more top 10 placings, the 45 didn't drop off many Top 40 station charts till the very end of the month. The Marvelettes had been the top female Motown group earlier in the decade but by summer 64, their standing had dropped. So their latest 45, “You're My Remedy”, got less attention than it's associated releases and so figured on a lot fewer radio charts. Because the group had enjoyed big pop hits in the past, their singles did still get lots of plays on Top 40 stations. The latest made WBIG's chart from the 8th June. As with Stevie's single, it never really occupied many high placings. It was #20 on WWIN in mid July, #7 on WJIM (T40) in Lansing from 24th July. The record was much later on the scene at KAKC in Tulsa, it rose to gain #10 on their chart on 10th August. At the same time over on WAMS (T40) in Wilmington it had started to descend their chart (from #15 to #18).
The 3rd of these Tamla 45's, the Miracles “I Like It Like That” got more radio plays than the Marvelettes single, but not as many as Marvin or Stevies. Once again, having enjoyed past big pop hits, the Miracles new record got lots of Top 40 station airplay (from mid June onwards). On the R&B front, it was #28 from 13th July at WWIN, it went on to hold down the #10 slot on WUST and the #1 position on WOOK at the end of the month. As August began, it was #4 on WVON. For the last week of July and the first half of August it occupied the #9 placing on WAMS (T40) but just about everywhere else it was tumbling down the charts. Brenda Holloway's “I'll Always Love You” got less radio station exposure than the other four releases that summer of 1964. I guess she wasn't as established a name as the other Tamla artists or was only really a fixture on the scene in California. She had just enjoyed a big hit though with her previous 45 release; “Every Little Bit Hurts” which had spent 3 months on R&B charts and almost as long on lots of Top 40 radio charts. The fact that her last outing had gained lots of pop radio airplay certainly helped her follow-up and it gained airplay on lots of Top 40 stations. Between the 19th July and the end of the month it was doing well on numerous such stations; including KGB (San Diego), WAVZ, WIBG, WKLO, WAMS and WTTH (#16 on their chart). Further stations got behind her 45 in early August, these included WTMA, WSPR, KSO, KAFY, WLAN, KYNO and WSPR (all top 40). It was also getting R&B station plays with WOOK listeners giving it lots of support (it hit that stations top 10 on 22nd August). Back at WTMA in Charleston, it had climbed to stand at #12 on their chart (15th August). But overall, across the board radio airplay was far less.
Another soul single that had the weight of a major label behind it was Billy Butler & the Enchanters “Gotta Get Away” (Okeh #4-7192). This had been released at the end of March but it was late May / early June before it was getting any national R&B chart action. Airplay on this single had commenced in Chicago and then slowly spread to black stations in other cities. At the beginning of May it was on Baltimore's WWIN top 20 and by the end of May it was doing well in St Louis plus other major cities. So Epic placed a big ad for the single in the music press and this helped it make it onto Cash Box's R&B chart at the end of that month. It rose to reach No.36 on June 6th but never managed to get anywhere near a Hot 100 placing. Lenny Welch's “If You See My Love” (Cadence #1446) was a throw-back ballad sound (written by Seals & Croft) that sounded really out of date in mid 64. This fact didn't prevent it from entering both the Cash Box and Record World R&B charts. It made the Cash Box chart on July 11. A week later it also made an appearance on Record World's R&B chart. It peaked at No. 38 (Record World) in mid July and No.43 (Cash Box) at the end of July. Welch's two previous singles had both made the top 30 of Billboard's Hot 100 and this outing also gained a lot of plays on pop stations across the country. These plays didn't really result in much pop chart success though as it peaked on the Hot 100 at No.92. Motown had introduced a new label back in March; SOUL. The initial release on the imprint was Shorty Long's “Devil With The Blue Dress” (# 35001) and this very slowly built in popularity over a four month period. By 18th July it held the No.36 position on Cashbox's R&B standings and it occupied a top 30 position through the first two weeks in August. By then, it had also placed on Record World's R&B chart but it never managed to achieve a Hot 100 placing.
Too many soul singles only ever managed to achieve local success, with home city R&B stations playing local act's product and this resulting in their 45's making those radio station charts. Good examples of this are illustrated by Chicago's WVON chart from July 31. The Vondells “Lenora” (Marvello #M5006), the Accents “New Girl” (M-Pac #7216) and the Du-ettes “Please Forgive Me” (One-derful #4827) all achieving top 20 status. One-Derful Records placed national ads for the later two 45 releases as they had charted so well in Chicago. For the Accents, the ad worked. The single was soon on WHK's (Cleveland) chart, six weeks later it stood at #25 and had gained major exposure to pop listeners in the city. That same week it held down the #28 position at Chicago pop station WLS. “Please Forgive Me” was slower to take off. By mid August , when it stood @ #19 at WVON, it began to get playlisted at a few pop stations. By the time September had arrived, it was charting on WRAW, WAMS, WTRY, WLAN and WBUD. The story didn't end there either. The 45 enjoyed a second spell in the spotlight in 1965. It must have been re-promoted by One-derful (probably following a radio DJ reactivating it) as in late November 65 it was @ #15 on Philly's WIBG. It also charted in 1965 at WAAT and WAEB. Returning to WVON's 1964 chart, lower down were Charles (Plookie) McCline's “She Got Another Man” (Larry-O #101) and Johnny Williams “You've Got It” (Kent #45x400). Just to prove that it wasn't just local acts who got to enjoy regional success, Baltimore's Kenny Hamber was also featured on the chart with his “Show Me Your Monkey” (DeJac #1254). Distributed by Atlantic (which obviously helped) this single also enjoyed regional breakout status in Baltimore, Nashville, Atlanta, New York and North Carolina. Joe Tex's “I'd Rather Have You” (Dial #45-3020) had first been released in May but initially the up-tempo “Old Time Lover” had formed the plug side of the single. This side failed to take off and so by July London Records (it's distributors) had flipped the 45 and were promoting “I'd Rather Have You”. By late July this policy had begun to bear fruit and it made an appearance on the Cash Box R&B chart. At the start of August it reached No.44 but that proved to be it's highest position. That was much better than it's pop showing though as it failed to get anywhere near the Hot 100. Joe had already been recording for 9 years at this point (having releases on King, Ace, Anna, Jalynne & Dial) but would have to wait till early 1965 before he would get his first national pop chart hit.
Two Donnie Elbert singles were featured on the KATZ chart in St Louis in late July; his earlier release “Run Little Girl” plus his new Gateway 45 “Lilly Lou”. Donnie's “Run Little Girl” 45 didn't cross over to the pop charts but it did gain him a place on a big revue package that played chit-lin venues down the east coast. In early July he was on at the Royal Theatre, Baltimore. A local release was also on the KATZ chart in the form of Billy James' “Don't You Think I Ought To Know” (Teek). At that same time, a number of 'obscure' singles were enjoying strong success in the Atlanta area. Radio station WAOK there had been formed by Zenus Sears in 1956 as one of the first all R&B format radio stations in the US. It soon became a highly influential broadcaster and set a trend that many other stations followed through to the 1960's. Both sides of Kip Anderson's latest Tomorrow label single were receiving strong supporton WAOK. “That's When The Crying Begins” was on their chart with “I Done You Wrong” also getting lots of airplay and listener support. Tomorrow Records was a small outfit based out of Columbia, South Carolina that didn't have the resources to get Kip's record out to a nationwide audience. Thankfully ABC-Paramount (# 45-10578) picked it up for national distribution though they flipped the single and made “I Done You Wrong” the plug side. As a result of ABC's intervention, the 45 was exposed to a much wider audience. Other tracks that WAOK were spinning included Nathan McKinney's “Weep No More (Ray Co), D.C. Playboys “You Were All I Needed (Arock), Bobby Marchan “I Got A Thing Going On” (Dial), the Carlton's “Can't You Hear The Beat” (Argo) and the Accents “New Girl (M-Pac). The station's DJ's were also getting behind Dorothy Williams “Closer To My Baby” (Volt), Sam Baker “Sweet Little Angel” (Athens) and Kenny Hamber's DeJac outing.
Before ABC-Paramount had picked up the Kip Anderson 45, they had released a slow burner of their own. The Tams “Hey Girl Don't Bother Me” (# 45-10573). This had been issued in late June and by mid July it was in WAOK's top 10 down in Atlanta. It was also on WEBB's chart in Baltimore (@ #19 in late July). Its entry onto Cashbox's R&B chart (#42) had also been in mid July when it made their Top 100 pop (# 95) too. The single continued to climb most charts and by August 22nd it was at No.7 on the Record World R&B chart. It made the top 10 on Cashbox's R&B chart in early September. The highest position it achieved on the Hot 100 however was only No. 41. Released at the end of April, Barbara Lynn's “Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Going” - Jamie # 1279) also failed to convert it's R&B success into a high Hot 100 placing. By early June, it had started to achieve national recognition, but it would be late July / early August till it hit Cash Box's R&B top 20. It was also on Record World's R&B top 20 for the first two weeks in August. The best it could do on the Hot 100 though was No.69. The radio exposure that had been building on Nathan McKinney's indie label outing “Weep No More (Ray Co #R-526) finally resulted in some chart success. The single made Record World's R&B chart top 30 on 22nd August and stood at No.20 on Cash Box's chart the following week. Down in Baltimore, it was featuring on WEBB's chart. Once again, it never got anywhere near a Hot 100 placing, even though it remained on the R&B charts till late September. Speaking of WEBB's charts, at the end of July, 45's from the Wallace Brothers (“Precious Words”), the Caronators (“Long Hot Summer / Senorita”) and a DC release from Jay Wiggin's (“You're On My Mind” – Solid Sound) all featured. The Jay Wiggins single would remain on their chart for the whole of August.
Other breaking sounds in Baltimore in August included “Baby Won't You Try Me “ Jill Harris (Capitol), I'm Counting On You” Freeman Brothers (Mala), “Opportunity” the Jewels (Dimension), “Can't Live Without Her” Billy Butler (Okeh) and “Weep No More” Terry & the Tyrants (Kent – an alternate version of Nathan McKinney's hit). DC's WOOK (August 22nd) had James Brown with “Out Of Sight” at the top of their chart. Little Anthony's “I'm On The Outside” and the Four Tops “Baby I Need Your Loving” stood just below it. At their No.6 was Brothers & Sisters Of Soul “I Don't Like It”. Up in Cleveland, WABQ's chart was featuring “Bad Girl” by the Fabulous Denos (King), “Gotta Get My Hands On Some Lovin” the Artistics, “Baby I'm Satisfied” Bob & Earl plus Tom Storm & the Peps “I Love You” (Ge Ge). Eddie Holland's “Candy To Me” (Motown) was doing well in Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philly and New York. Two other singles being tipped for big things on WABQ were “I'm Gonna Cry A River” Ohio Untouchables (Thelma) and “Sweet Young Love” Lenny O'Henry (Atco). Barbara Mason's “Trouble Child” (Crusader) and Carolyn Crawford's “My Smile Is Just A Frown” (Motown) were sounds that were hot in Philly, with James Duncan's “My Pillow Stays Wet” (King) doing really well in Georgia. The Enchanters “I Want To Thank You” (Warner Bros – Garnett Mimms old group) was getting lots of airplay in Cleveland, Philly and Charlotte (N Carolina). Some of these regionally hot tracks would eventually scrape onto Cash Box's national R&B chart but many of them wouldn't. As well as posting their R&B and pop charts plus reviewing new 45 releases, magazines like Cash Box also listed current 'Sure Shots' (singles that record dealers reported were selling really strongly). In mid August, the Four Tops “Baby I Need Your Loving”, Joe Hinton's “Funny” and Jerry Butler's “I Stand Accused” all achieved this status.
A single that was on Record World's R&B chart through most of August was Sugar Pie DeSanto's “Soulful Dress” (Checker # 1082). In fact on 8th August both sides of the 45 were on their top 40; “Use What You Got” being the flip side. By the end of the month “Soulful Dress” was around No.20 on both Record World's and Cash Box's charts. This was another soul outing that never broke into the Hot 100 but it's showing in soul circles did secure it a UK release on Pye International. Montgomery born Art Grayson was a jack of all trades in the music business who got his big break playing in the band on 'The Beat' TV show. His manager cut him on some solo tracks and leased his recording of “Oh My Heartache” to Four Corners (a Kapp label). This got some radio action that August. John Richbourg was spinning it on WLAC in Nashville, so were Sir Walter on WAMO in Pittsburgh and Ed Wright on WABQ in Cleveland. The popularity of the single spread geographically and by the end of September / early October it held a top 40 position on Record World's R&B charts. Two further singles followed with Art getting to perform his “When I Get Home” live on 'The Beat' in 1966. Also in August, Miami DJ's on WAME were making Jimmy Ricks' “Trouble in Mind” (Atlantic) into a local hit, while Chatty Hatty (WGIV) was pushing it in Charlotte. By the 3rd week in September, it was also doing well in New Orleans. It's regional success eventually resulted in it scraping into the national R&B chart. In Baltimore, Jackie Ross's “Selfish One” was riding high. WEBB had it at No. 6 on their Top 20 at the start of the month. It then held down the No.1 spot for most of the rest of August.
Houston, more than most other US cities, was in a somewhat similar position to New Orleans. It's 'isolated' location and home grown recording studios again led to it having a sound somewhat of it's own (though the biggest local record company did also sign a lot of Florida & Detroit based acts to it's roster). Finding charts from Texas based R&B ststions in 1964 is no easy matter these days. However, it is a lot easier with regard to Texas based pop stations. As with pop stations across the US, lots of soul 45's made the charts of these stations. Houston based KNUZ was typical of many US pop stations with British acts dominating their charts. In mid June 64, KNUZ had Peter & Gordon, Billy J Kramer plus Beach Boys tracks holding down their top 4 chart places. Lower down their chart (@ no.13) though was “Share Your Love For Me” from Duke's own Bobby Bland. Other R&B tracks also doing well on the station were the latest releases from the Dixie Cups, the Reflections, Barbara Lynn, King Curtis and Dionne Warwick. Earlier in June, “Share Your Love For Me” had become a top 'Klimber' on KFJZ in Dallas / Ft Worth. The end of the month would see both sides of Bobby's 45 (“After It's Too Late” being the other one) standing at No.4 on KAY-C's chart in Beaumont, Texas. For a pop station to have playlisted both sides of a soul 45 is somewhat unusual, however it just goes to show the power that Duke Records exerted in their home state. There were other differences between KFJZ and KAY-C's charts. KFJZ's top 10 only featured 4 R&B records, whilst KAY-C's contained 9. The highest placed R&B 45 on KFJZ's chart (@ no.2) was Mary Wells “My Guy”, this wasn't on KAY-C's Top 50 at all. Meanwhile over at KCOH, Texas’s first black radio station, one of their DJ's was branching out. Skipper Lee Frazier started to MC and promote shows by top soul artists playing in the area. From there, he started his own label and signed lots of top local acts. As well as cutting tracks on these acts and putting out their records, he also became their manager and launched them to international fame. Another artist who cut for a Houston based label (Duke) was Little Jnr Parker. His current 45, “Things I Used To Do” was a top play on juke box's right across the States back then.
An earlier New Orlean's cut record by Irma Thomas that had done well was “Ruler Of My Heart” (May 1963). The song was 'adapted' by Otis Redding to become “Pain In My Heart” (October 63) and it proved to be even more popular when covered by the Rolling Stones in 1964. That same British group's actions impacted on another black single. Due to this, the Valentinos “It's All Over Now” (SAR #152) experienced quite a tangled life. This single had originally been released in late May and was listed by Billboard as a 'breakout single' on 20th June. Although initially it didn't make the national R&B charts, it did enter Cash Box's pop Top 100 at the end of June. Here it climbed over a 3 week period to reach No.92. It then disappeared off the charts until after the Rolling Stones cover version had been released in the US. On the R&B front, it held down the No.3 position on WWIN's chart on the 6th July. The Rolling Stones effort had been a UK No.1 hit from July 2nd and US chart success followed after it's release there. It immediately entered the Hot 100 and climbed to reach no.26 by mid September. The UK success of the song had prompted SAR to re-promote the Valentinos version and in the middle of August it entered Cash Box's R&B chart. It remained on their R&B chart right through September, peaking at No.21 early in the month. The song's writer, Bobby Womack, wasn't initially too pleased that his group's version had been eclipsed by a UK group's cover version. But when the writer's royalty cheques started rolling in from the Stone's version, his attitude softened somewhat. Another record also charting at that time had a really long stay on Cash Box's R&B listing. “Solomon Burke's “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” (Atlantic #2241) had first entered the chart in mid July and it slowly rose up throughout August. Early September found it peaking at No.4 after which it slowly descended, finally dropping off the chart in mid October. Despite it's 12 week stay on the R&B charts, it only managed to reach No.58 on the Hot 100. This was yet another soul song covered by the Rolling Stones.
By mid September a number of singles were enjoying regional breakout status via plays on local stations. Three of these had first hit in Nashville at the end of August but then went on to find more widespread acceptance over the following weeks. Wendy Rene's “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” (Stax) also broke in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, Charlotte, Miami, Atlanta and Chicago. Big Maybelle's “Oh Lord What Are You Doing To Me” (Scepter) became popular in Atlanta, Baltimore, New Orleans, DC, New York while Roscoe Shelton's “Love Comes & Goes” (Sims) found favour in San Fran and New Orleans. Other singles getting widespread plays then included the Willows “It's Such A Shame” (Heidi) in Philly, Miami, Houston, Atlanta and San Fran. Another 45 that was doing well in San Fran was Joe Simon's “My Adorable One”. At local station KDIA, DJ John Handy was also spinning Ben E King's “It's All Over”, Inez Foxx's “La De Da, I Love You” and Little Richard's “Goodnight Irene”. California cities had something of a self contained scene, being seperated from other major black markets by the Rockies. The R&B airwaves in LA were dominated by just two stations; KGFJ and Santa Monica based KDAY. KGFJ had only just changed to 100% R&B formatting. The new management at the station had also eliminated all DJ picks, so restricting the total number of records that were being spun there (a policy that would become much more common later in the 60's). However Nathaniel "Magnificent" Montague was one of the top DJ's at KGFJ and he had a whole load of fans so could still push the limits. Elsewhere the Dells “Wait Till Tomorrow” (Vee Jay) was popular in Houston, Detroit, Fort Worth and Dallas. The Volumes “Gotta Give Her Love“ (American Arts) in Detroit, Baltimore and DC with the Gems “ I Can't Help Myself” (Chess) getting spun in Cleveland and Baltimore. The Mystics “She's Got Everything” (Safice / Constellation) only really broke out in the Charlotte area but it was enough for this outing on the Washington DC based label to convince Constellation to pick it up for wider distribution. That must have pleased Eddie Floyd (the song's writer) who part owned and helped run Safice Records.
Ever present on Cash Box's R&B chart right throughout September were Eddie Holland's “Candy To Me” (Motown #1063) which had risen to No.29 by the end of the month and Dee Clark's “Heartbreak (Constellation #132) that only made it to No.43. Bobby Marchan's “I Got A Thing Going On” (Dial #3022) had entered the chart on September 12th, it then went on to outstrip the other two and had made it up to No.27 before the month was out. It continued to climb the chart in early October, while Eddie's 45 was dropping down and Dee's effort had disappeared altogether. Pop wise, Billboard had Eddie's outing peaking at No.58 on their Hot 100, Neither Dee's or Bobby's efforts managed to come anywhere near a Hot 100 placing. October saw two 45's issued that were slow burners on the R&B charts. Mitty Collier's “I Had A Talk With My Man” (Chess #1907) and Rufus Thomas's “Jump Back” (Stax #157) both entered Cash Box's R&B chart on 3rd October. Mitty's cut had taken some time to make it onto the charts as it had been a mid August release. In mid September it was getting strong plays in Baltimore, Philly, Charlotte, Miami and Houston. From there, it's popularity built nationwide. Once on the national R&B charts it climbed quite slowly to attain a top 10 placing at the very end of that month. It continued to climb in November, peaking at No.3 on the 14th. Rufus's release had followed a similar path; it was a mid September release that steadily climbed Cash Box's chart through October. It reached the chart's top 10 on November 7th and peaked at No. 6 on the 14th. Both remained on the chart for quite a while; Rufus's effort dropping off just ahead of Christmas while Mitty's stayed on right into 1965. Pop wise, Rufus made No.49, while Mitty's peaked at No.41 on the Hot 100.
Motown had yet another hot 45 at the time. The Temptations “Why You Wanna Make Me Blue” (Gordy) being listed as 'single of the week' on WEBB at the end of August. Billboard followed suit and had it as a R&B national breakout 45 in mid September. It was also registering nationally in the pop field by then. From there, the only way was up. The 45 shot straight onto the Hot 100 chart on 12th September, a week later it had climbed to No.50. The following week it stood at #39, by 3rd October it stood at #30. It then climbed to #27, then to #26 (October 17th) but from there it started to descend back down the chart. On Record World's Top 100, the 45 rose from #44 to #36 at the start of October. By the middle of the month it was at #25 and #17 R&B (so it was almost as high on the pop chart as it was on their R&B one). At Cash Box, it was #27 pop and #13 R&B on Ocober 10th. That was it's peak position on their pop chart and from there it started to drop. However, on their R&B chart it held steady and two weeks later was holding down the #12 slot. The Temptations had similar popularity with both black & white record buyers (though the white pop buyers were responsible for a much larger volume of sales). By 1964, it wasn't just UK artists that were cutting R&B tracks and taking them high onto the US pop charts. American groups were also doing the same. California based the Blendells cut an old Stevie Wonder song; “La La La La La” (Reprise). It entered the Hot 100 in early September and had reached the No.80 position by 26th September. It continued to climb the chart and by October 17th held down the #62 position. On the radio front, it was almost exclusively pop stations that playlisted their 45. It started out by getting lots of airplay on the west coast (at KRLA, KFXM, KXOA, KFWB, etc.) but that soon spread to stations in Texas, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Atlantic City, Chicago & more). It made it all the way to the top spot at KMEN in San Bernadino and to #2 on KFXM and to #3 on KRLA. It did chart (#54) on R&B station WBUD in New Jersey, but that was one of a very few.
A quick look around some radio station charts in October showed the Music City Soul Brothers “Looking For My Baby” (Music City), the Spidells “That'll Make My Heart Break” (Monza), Emanuel Lasky's “Crazy” (Thelma), Cicero Blake's “Soul Of Pain” (Renee), Troy Dodds “Earthquake” (Baytown) and the Kolettes “Who's That Guy” (Barbara / Checker) all breaking on WJMO (Cleveland). The Cicero Blake & Kolettes cuts were already on WVON's chart (Chicago), as were Martha Jean Love's “How To Succeed In Love” (ABC) and Freddie Gorman's “In A Bad Way” (Ric Tic). Freddie Gorman was also on the KATZ chart in St Louis, along with Juanita Williams “Baby Boy” (Golden World). KDIA (Oakland) had Vernon & Jewel's “Those Lonely Lonely Nights” (Kent) in their top 10, with the Superbs “Baby Baby All The Time” (Dore) featuring lower down. Baltimore's WWIN were tipping the Fiestas “All That's Good” (Old Town), the Diplomats “He's Got You Now” (Arock) and Tutti Hill “He's A Lover” (Arock). Down in Houston, new entries to WYLD's top 15 were Joe Simon's “My Adorable One”, O V Wright's “That's How Strong My Love Is” and Big Maybelle's “Oh Lord, What Are You Doing To Me”. One's to watch included the Enchanters “I'm A Good Man” and Rufus Thomas's new 45. In Baltimore at station WWIN, Mitty Collier's “Talk With My Man” was top with Gene Chandler's “Bless Our Love” at #2 (these singles having swopped places since the previous week). The Harold Betters Combo with “Do Anything You Wanna” (Gateway) was at #10. This jazzy instrumental doing so well locally confirmed Balto's status as a jazz outpost (this 45 also fared well on KTOP in Topeka). The 45 even generated a vocal version credited to George (Stardust) Green with Harold Betters. Other singles on the chart at WWIN included Tutti Hill's “He's A Lover”, Don Gardner's “Bitter With The Sweet”, Candy & the Kisses “The 81” and Rita & the Upsetters “Done Got Over”.
On the Cash Box R&B chart, Walter Jackson's “It's All Over” (Oken #4-7204) was a new entry on October 24th. It slowly made it's way up the chart to peak at No.10 just ahead of Christmas. It didn't finally dropped off the chart till mid January after a 13 week stay. This prolonged R&B success wasn't shared by it's showing on the Hot 100 where it only reached No.67. A comparison between other soul 45's Cashbox R&B chart positions and their showing on the Pop 100 in mid November shows widely varying placings. The Supremes “Baby Love” was top of both charts but after that things really diverged. Mitty Collier was No.3 R&B but only No.46 pop. Major Lance's “Rhythm” (Okeh) was No.5 R&B but had already dropped out of the pop 100. Rufus Thomas was No.6 R&B but only No.86 pop. Joe Simon's “My Adorable One” (Vee Jay) was No.10 R&B but only No.76 pop. A new R&B chart entry on November 21st was Candy & the Kisses “The 81” (Cameo #336). From there it inched it's way up the chart, reaching No.19 over the Christmas period. Pop wise it only reached No. 51 on the Hot 100. Billboard had started to see the error of their ways by summer 1964 and had reintroduced an R&B section to the magazine, however their R&B chart hadn't been reactivated at that time. It would be January 30th 1965 before the Billboard R&B chart would reappear. Thus ended the period when the magazine only reflected the pop success of all R&B / soul singles. During that period of over 13 months, the popularity of many singles released by soul acts had not truly been reflected within the magazine's pages. Cash Box had the Impressions “Amen” as their top R&B single over the Christmas period. It retained the top spot on that chart right through to mid January. Pop wise it peaked @ #8 that same week. The Cash Box top 12 that Christmas period was quitr typical for 1964. The Supremes held down the No.1 spot and there were three other soul 45's on there too. These were joined by five singles from UK groups and a soulful effort from Johnny Rivers.
Picking just one single to reflect the distortion in performance terms by Billboard's chart showings however isn't that hard; Lee Rogers “I Want You To Have Everything” (D-Town #1035) providing all the evidence necessary to make the case. If you consult 'Joel Whitburn's Top R&B Singles' book, you learn that Lee Rogers 45 entered the Billboard R&B chart on 30th January 1965 and remained on there till March 13th. At first all seems normal, until you check the release date on this single. D-Town put it out back in early October, so it seems it took over 3 months to become popular enough to even make Billboard's R&B chart. Nothing could be further from the truth. It began it's journey in Detroit but first found success at R&B station WJMO (Cleveland). It was one of the station's top breakers on 12th October and entered their chart (at No.20) on 19th October. Back in Detroit, it had become a 'pop breakout' by November 15th.. By the end of November it had also attained similar status in LA. By then, it stood at #1 on WJMO's chart. The run up to Christmas saw it bubbling under the Hot 100 (at No.120) and a week later it stood at No.101 on Record World's pop chart. By then, Lee's effort was getting spins in various cities on both R&B and pop stations. It had made an appearance on numerous pop and R&B radio station's charts. These included WKNR, WXYZ, WKNR, WKFR, WAMS and WJLB. On December 19th it was a top breaking sound on Baltimore's WSID (R&B) while a week later it was No.10 on KGFJ's chart in LA. From there it quickly achieved chart placings on WJMO, WVON and KNUZ. So listing it as an R&B chart hit from 30th January totally distorts what the single had actually achieved over the previous 14 weeks.
Of course, some soul 45's actually did have to wait some period of time before they found chart success. But this was almost always down to the efforts of a R&B radio DJ. Each week, many more good soul 45's would be released across the US than could possibly ever even become R&B chart hits. So, on lots of ocassions a deserving track would get lost in the shuffle or would only break in one or two markets. Time passed and for all intents and purposes that 45 was now 'dead in the water'. But then a radio DJ would hear it with fresh ears – perhaps his station hadn't originally been mailed a copy of this record put out by a label based in a distant city. Or maybe, they had been sent a copy but the DJ in question had now flipped it and decided that he liked the other side. So the DJ would start to feature the cut in question on his show. If it got favourable audience reaction, his collegues would also start spinning it. DJ's at other local stations, seeing what was happening at a nearby rival station, would also follow suit. Word would get back to the label or artist in question and the decision to re-promote the single would be made. Fresh copies would be serviced to R&B stations with a cover letter stating the 45 was a hit in (say) LA or Miami. Because it was getting action elsewhere, the station's sent a new copy would consider playlisting it for a second time. Many would decide to give it airtime and, with luck, the single would begin a whole new (& more successful) life. One 45 that enjoyed such a life was Archie Bell & the Drells (one of Skipper Lee Frazier's groups) “Tighten Up”. It had first been put out on Ovide, a local Texas label as the B side to “Dog Eat Dog” (November 67). Atlantic Records picked it up for national distribution in January 68 (again with “Tighten Up” as just the B side). But radio DJ's started to flip the record and play the other side. “Tighten Up” took off and so Atlantic put the 45 out a 2nd time, as “Tighten Up / Tighten Up Part 2”. From there it went on to become a big R&B and pop hit. Of course, over in the UK, many soul singles that got neglected first time around went on to become chart hits. But that was via club DJ's and the soul scene here, so was a completely different story.
Of course, as soul 45's were competing with many pop releases on the Hot 100 chart, a soul single gaining a higher R&B chart placing was normal. However, that doesn't explain a great many of the differences that occurred over this period. Strangely, the odd soul 45 relatively outperformed it's R&B standing on the Hot 100 chart. When checking why, these almost always gained a lot of radio airplay on pop radio stations (some more so than on R&B stations). For instance, Dionne Warwick's “Walk On By” made the charts of 100's of US pop stations and a similar percentage of R&B station charts. In May, her single went from #16 to # 5, then to #2 for two weeks (May 18th / 25th) on R&B 's WWIN. During the same period, on pop station CKLW it made #1 (5th May) and at WKNR it was also #1 by 14th May. At other pop stations it rose more slowly; it didn't top WAKR's chart till 29th May, on WAVZ it got to #1 on 13th June. WTOB (North Carolina) were even later on the 45's case as it didn't top their chart till 11th July. But then the Carolinas were a very racist area, so beginning to playlist hot black records on the pop stations there was a slow process. “Walk On By” was on the top 10 of Cash Box's pop chart for just about the entire month of June (peaking @ #6). On that magazine's R&B chart, Dionne's 45 held down the no.2 position for both the 2nd & 3rd weeks in June. So it was selling more copies to pop 45 buyers then to R&B buyers. Chuck Jackson's “Beg Me” was released by the same record company as Dionne's 45. He also had a history of getting 45's high onto the pop charts. His “Beg Me” started out doing well early in May on R&B stations such as WUST, WRAP and KDIA. It then started getting pop station plays. Once again, some pop stations were slow on the uptake; it making it to #3 on WTOB but not until 22nd August. Moving to November, the Supremes “Baby Love” was another example of a 45 that was topping the chart on both the R&B and pop charts. On Cash Box's R&B chart on November 14th, it moved from #2 to #1. Likewise, on Cash Box's Top 100 pop chart it also went from #2 to #1.
Of course, the vast majority of soul releases on small locally based black owned labels never even managed to attain a chart placing on the R&B radio stations in their own home town's, so for these releases any pop chart placing would have been totally out of the question. But Billboard's strange decision to stop treating R&B as a seperate genre of US music certainly had a big effect on lots of soul releases. Over at Cash Box during the same timeframe, they were even running editorial pieces on the growing popularity & influence of American black music. In May they ran with the headline 'SOUL DISCS SELL'. This stated, that even though dance fads and fancies would come & go, year on year common denominators remained. A major one of these being the continuing and heavy action soul releases were now always getting. It also made mention of the fact that even though it could take many weeks for a soul 45 to cross over from the R&B to the pop charts, those singles still went on to enjoy an extended life, selling in good quantities for a further 9 to 12 months. Just weeks later (in July) the magazine ran a 2nd linked editorial; 'R&B: IS IT BREAKING THE ENGLISH SOUND BARRIER'. This detailed the fact that UK recordings were dominating the US pop charts (& other charts right around the world) but only a small number of US recordings now did well in the UK charts. A few years earlier, the UK charts had been dominated by US acts. By 1964, this was no longer the case. Lots of British groups, doing covers of R&B tunes, had gone from attaining high chart positions in the UK to doing the same in the US (the British Invasion – the Beatles and Rolling Stones getting specific mentions). It then went on to say that US recordings by the likes of Chuck Berry, Dionne Warwick, Little Richard, Ray Charles etc. were the only ones still making the UK charts. Getting back to the point of this article though; if you want to gauge how popular a particular soul 45 had been back in 1964, you need to be quite careful in the way you go about determining this.
It's worth checking out a top R&B station's plays from just before Billboard reinstated their R&B chart. Baltimore's WWIN was such a station, so I've looked at their Top 40 chart. Over the Xmas to New Year period, they had Joe Tex's “Hold What You've Got”” at No.1. Effie Smith “Dial That Telephone” was @ #2. The Jive Five's “United at No.6 with Baby Washington's “It'll Never Be Over Over For Me” at #11 (both for a 2nd week in a row). Lower down came Joe Graves “Always In Love”, Harold Melvin's “Get Out” and Big Maybelles “My Mothers Eyes”. Radio station charts were just about always ahead of the national music magazine's charts with regard to 'climbers'. So, moving forward to the week 11th to 17th January 65, their top spot was occupied by the Temptations “My Girl”. Right behind it at No.2 was Sam Cooke's “Shake”, which had also jumped up strongly since the week before. Betty Everett's “Getting Mighty Crowded” was at No.10 (up from #15) with the Contours “That Day She Needed Me” (the other side to “Can You Jerk Like Me”) rocketing up from #30 to #13. Lower down but also climbing quickly were Alvin Cash's “Twine Time” and Dottie & Ray's “I Love You Baby”(Le Sage). The new entries were headed by the Ad-Libs ”Boy From New York City”, Willie Mitchell's “Percolating”, Bobby Bland's “Blind Man and Leroy Taylor's “Taking My Time (Shrine). The last chart climber I'll make mention of is the Springers “I Know Why” (Way Out) out of Cleveland, which was up to #30 from #39. This showing was enough to get Atlantic to pick it up for national distribution.
Back to Billboard and their first R&B chart which was published on 30th January, having been compiled a few days earlier. The Temptations “My Girl”was at No.1, with Sam Cooke's “Shake” at #6 (with it's flip “A Change Is Gonna Come” @ #10). Betty Everett's “Getting Mighty Crowded” wasn't on the chart at all, with the Contours “Can You Jerk Like Me” #18 and “That Day She Needed Me” also holding the #37 placing. Alvin Cash's “Twine Time” was #8, the Ad-Libs ”Boy From New York City” @ #19. The more blusey Bobby Bland 45 was missing altogether, but “Get Out” by Harold Melvin was at #38. Cash Box's R&B chart for the same week also didn't even have Betty Everett's “Getting Mighty Crowded”, neither was the Contour's newie on their chart (the Top 50 R&B 45's being noted). Alvin Cash's “Twine Time” stood @ #2, Joe Tex @ #3, the Temptations “My Girl” @ #8, Sam Cooke's “Shake” @ #4 (with “Change Is Gonna Come” @ #39), Dottie & Ray's “I Love You Baby” @ #33. The Ad-Libs ”Boy From New York City” @ #19 and Bobby Bland's “Blind Man @ #16 with Effie Smith's “Dial That Telephone” @ #26. Likewise on Record World's R&B chart for that same week Betty Everett's and the Contours 45 weren't even on their top 40. Joe Tex's “Hold What You Got”was top of the pile, Alvin Cash's “Twine Time” stood @ # 3, the Temptations “My Girl” @ #6, Sam Cooke's “Shake” @ #4 and Dottie & Ray's “I Love You Baby” @ #38. The Ad-Libs ”Boy From New York City” @ #15 and Bobby Bland's “Blind Man @ #17 with Effie Smith's “Dial That Telephone” @ #19. The Jive Five's single wasn't on any of the three R&B charts with Harold Melvin's Lando 45 not figuring with Cash Box and Record World. As can be seen from these details, what tracks were hits on black radio and what the national chart magazines listed as being the most popular sounds were quite different a lot of time back then.
