Mike

Soul Odyssey 1968 - Jonas Bernholm - York University Jonas Bernholm has been in touch and shared details of a book of his which is available to read freely online in full under Creative Comments License via York University 'It's a diary from my Soul Trip in USA in 1968. and meetings with numerous artists and persons in the soul music business' A few clips and details follow along with the link below, be aware you may need to get a brew on before reading as it is an extensive read, accompanied with some great photos. Soul Music Odyssey USA 1968 Subtitle: [Second edition] Author: Jonas Bernholm License: Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives This is the complete book from my research trip 1968 (plus a little from 1978). The first version was basically a translation of articles written in Swedish and originally published in the Swedish magazine Jefferson (world’s oldest blues magazine) plus a summary. It was published online by York University Libraries in 2017. This edition includes illustrations and corrections. Special thanks go to Jan Kotschack, who digitized the photographs so they could be included online, and Rob van der Bliek, who copy-edited the manuscript and converted it to the online version. Jonas “Mr R&B” Bernholm July 2019 Previews New York (II) August 20, 1968 ...I went upstairs to the theater. It was like a big worn out cinema (1600 or 1800 seats). Not much was spent on decoration. The stage was always spartan and nothing distracted attention from the music and artists. They supposedly had 13 dressing rooms on four floors. (I did not see or visit that many) The staircase was to the left of the stage. This week the Dynamics / Bandwagon / Edwin Starr / Cliff Nobles / Gladys Knight & The Pips were advertised on the 125th Street marquee. The Dynamics was a four-man group whose hit recording Misery actually had found its way to Kungsholmens Record Exchange in Stockholm and to my record collection a couple of years earlier. American Vietnam war deserters that were pressed financially sold their records and contributed to the emergence of a soul-music scene in Sweden. The Dynamics at the Apollo At the Apollo they did: “It’s Not Unusual,” “Murder In the First Degree,” “Ain’t No Sun.” “Murder” was especially good. It was a fine group but without that little extra that was needed to make it big. I talked with them backstage. They were four nice guys, (especially the fattest member), in a group consisting of... The Marvelettes at the Apollo August 27, 1968 Los Angeles July 30 – August 8, 1968 ....Next stop was Venture Records (8350 Wilshire Blvd). Rochelle Reed had recommended a visit to this newly established record company. A friendly girl in the reception escorted me into the recording studio where the Ballads were busy. They recorded an album and a follow up to their big hit God Bless Our Love. The LP was due for release in late August 1968 and they also had a big tour planned. A small, thin man introduced himself as Bob Relf. He was the producer. A few years earlier the duo, Bob & Earl’s amazing recording Harlem Shuffle (1963) had been acclaimed in England when Beatle George Harrison called it his favourite record that year (1964). In Europe speculations ran high who hid behind the names of Bob & Earl. Some must have reached Bob Relf who seemed anxious to sort things out once and for all: Bob Relf (born in Los Angeles); his real name was Robert Nelson Relf and he was “Bob.” Earl Cosby = “Earl” Nelson (also called = Jackie “The Duck” Lee). I still do believe that I was the first one in Europe to finally solve this riddle – with the help of Bob Relf, of course. Suddenly, two men burst into the studio. They were sales and promotion-man Warren Lanier(e) and Mickey Stevenson, who owned the company. Mickey had played an important role in Detroit during Motown’s early years and his name as a producer and songwriter is on many fine hits, for example, with The Miracles. Maybe he inspired Holland-Dozier-Holland to write Mickey’s Monkey for the group. But he had recently left Motown’s West Coast office and started on his own. His wife, Kim Weston, who had had some Hot 100 hits on Gordy as a solo artist, had followed him. The Bandwagon at the Apollo Chicago June 13 – 26, 1968 Maurice and Mac were next. They were Chicago’s answer to Sam & Dave. They had based their performance on them and Mac was a good enough dancer to almost fill the role. Maurice was a little hoarse that day and didn’t really get a chance to show what a fantastic singer he is. Which everybody who has heard the Radiants recordings can hear. (But I was not yet aware of that both came from that group.) Their You Left The Water Running was much heard on the radio then. Jean Wells was at the second stop of her Chitlin’ Circuit tour. Her performance was pretty identical to what she had done at the Apollo the week before (Try Me And See and Have A Little Mercy). Here she also did Giving Up that Gladys Knight and the Pips made early in their career. Jean’s interpretation of this outstanding number confirmed my impression that she was one of the very best soul singers in USA. I saw this rather short singer on three occasions but I never took the chance to interview her. Just a few clips, the Chapter list follows to give a sense of scale... Contents Preface, Main Body, Introduction, New York (I), Chicago, Memphis, Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, New York (II), Conclusions/Summary, Postscript (I): Joe Tex, Postscript (II): Wilson Pickett, About the author As said the full book Soul Odyssey 1968 - Jonas Bernholm is available to read in full via York University Pressbooks, Hosted by York University Libraries, the link follows below... https://pressbooks.library.yorku.ca/soulmusicodyssey/

The Memphis Flyer website has just added a new Eddie Floyd feature. Titled Knock On Wood! Eddie Floyd on Music, Life, and His New Book - Eddie Floyd and the power of positive thinking ' written by Alex Greene The article is made up of quite a lengthy article/interview, taking in Eddie's career and his upcoming book. Knock! Knock! Knock! on Wood: My Life in Soul. Along with images and such, A couple of clips... Eddie Floyd's attitude is contagious. After speaking with him for over an hour, what stuck with me most was the laughter. It's a beautiful thing, these little regional markets where you can have a hit, like the Carolina beach scene you write about, or Jamaica. Or the UK, where so many songs have taken on a new life. Oh yeah. And Northern Soul in England. They'll listen right away. And I know all the fields. That's the way I write, too. Sometimes I'll be thinking about them also. Definitely Northern Soul. You can do different styles, if you have an idea. 'Cause they're open-minded there! If it's got a groove, they'll get into it. You can introduce some new things to 'em, so they'll be eager for new grooves. It's an amazing area. Full article can be read via https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/knock-on-wood/Content?oid=23561958

Mainstream and local papers currently reporting last week's purchase of Frank Wilson - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Lee Jeffries The mainstream take goes like this... Harborough Mail 'It's like finding the Holy Grail' - Harborough multi-millionaire spends £100,000 on the world’s most valuable Motown record In what he described as 'the most incredible fortnight I’ve ever had', he also got married and bought a Ferrari More here https://www.harboroughmail.co.uk/news/people/its-finding-holy-grail-harborough-multi-millionaire-spends-ps100000-worlds-most-valuable-motown-record-2934113 Clash Music https://www.clashmusic.com/news/rare-soul-seven-inch-sells-for-£100000 Soul Source Source members forum talk on this latest purchase started here https://www.soul-source.co.uk/forums/topic/402826-frank-wilson-do-i-love-you-value/?do=findComment&comment=100110469 John Manship Video

Gospel according to Mica – The Story of Gospel Music in Six Songs British soul singer Mica Paris was brought up on gospel music and sang in church from an early age. In her teens, she became an international star, singing pop and soul and having worldwide hits. Now though, Mica is curious about the origins of the songs she sang so easily as a child, why some of her contemporaries have returned to their gospel roots as well as thinking about her own faith and her own big teenage decision to leave the church and sing secular music. Mica revisits her childhood church in Lewisham to start exploring the meaning and origins of these famous gospel songs. She examines songs such as Amazing Grace and discovers the complex reasoning behind the words. She sings with The Kingdom Choir, made famous by the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan, and travels to the cotton fields of America, where gospel was used to make the work of enslaved Africans more bearable. She meets the choir at Fisk University in Tennessee, who formed just after slavery was abolished and sang for Queen Victoria, and finds herself overwhelmed by her emotions when she finds out how the slavery freedom fighters used gospel to communicate. Mica also delves into the history of Sam Cooke and Thomas A Dorsey, who both encountered tragedy in and out of the church, and she sings with bluesman Jools Holland to contemporise a favourite gospel tune. Finally, Mica comes right up to date with the music of current artists, such as Stormzy, who have no fear of church versus secular music, are open about their faith and are combining the two with great success. BBC 4 iPlayer link https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000l9tk

Latest releases for August 2020 from Ace Records Our regular Soul Source catch up of the month's new releases from Ace records... In Memphis Southern Soul George Jackson LP £15.60 The great singer/songwriter's essential Sounds of Memphis 70s recordings. New Breed R&B - Saturday Night Special New Breed R&B Various Artists (New Breed R&B) CD £11.50 The master tapes reveal more great New Breed R&B dance exclusives – fully augmented by rare records and elusive CD offerings from the past. Dirty Work Going On - Kent & Modern Records Blues Into The 60s Vol 1 Blues Various Artists (Kent/ Modern) CD £11.50 The blues didn’t stop with the end of the 50s and, as soul ruled the charts, the grittier end of black music was well represented by the nine artists on this compilation. Saint Etienne Present Songs For The Fountain Coffee Room 70s Rock Various Artists (Saint Etienne) CD £11.50 This is the soundtrack for a bar in mid-70s Los Angeles, the kind of place where Warren Beatty and Julie Christie might meet in the afternoon for a secret rendezvous. There’s a high quotient of blue-eyed soul, some airy R&B and the odd singer-songwriter. The pace is strictly mid-tempo; it’s too warm for anything faster. Girls With Guitars Know Why! Girls Various Artists (Girls With Guitars) LP £21.94 “It always bothered me when people would say, ‘You’re not bad for girls’. What does that mean, we can’t play? We would prove them wrong.” Cindy Wilhelmi, Girls Take Over Full details on all THEabove releases can be had via Ace Records fine website along with information on Ace 45th Anniversary Singles due out later this month https://acerecords.co.uk/ A more deliberate look at some of the above new releases will follow very shortly.