Garethx

Boba: do you have any idea of how Bob Lee came to release this in Chicago? Jimmy Robbins was a Californian artist and I've always been led to believe that Impression was the first, Californian release of a Californian recording. Having said that, it's an almost definitive example of 'Chicago-style' hard soul in the vein of an Otis Clay or Harold Burrage, explaining its popularity in that market.

Not as straightforward as this at all Benji. The Jesse Fisher YNLAB 45 is not distributed by MGM. While the multicolored issue is on an MGM-type blank the rest of the typesetting (i.e. the black type) is exactly the same as the red type on the 'early', red and white stock, and doesn't emanate from an MGM pressing facility. The football star Jim Brown was the major financial backer of Way Out. He started filming The Dirty Dozen after the end of the 1965-1966 season for MGM. In order to finish the movie he refused to return from England to play for The Cleveland Browns in the 1966-67 season, effectively retiring from the sport. MGM distribution of Brown's Way Out logo was presumably a sweetener to the nascent film star and a way for the notoriously staid MGM to cash in on the soul music boom with a label fronted and guaranteed by one of the most visible and charismatic African Americans of that or any other time. Unfortunately for them Way Out couldn't unearth anything like a consistent hitmaker, probably a fault of distribution and radio-plugging shortcomings in an unfamiliar part of the market rather than a lack of quality in the actual product. By 1969 Brown's film career was in decline as he never really replicated the success of his first film. MGM would have been keen to offload fripperies like the notoriously-difficult Brown's pet record label. The releases of this period are not MGM distributed: rather they feature the credit "BIG JIM RECORDS: A division of Way Out Ent." My contention is that in order to release Brown from his film contract part of the deal was offloading remaining physical assets like the magenta and yellow label blanks, of which there must have been a few, seeing as very few of the MGM-distributed releases of 67-69 sold in any great number. The chaos of Brown's financial affairs might go some way to explaining the often erratic nature of the label's releases. At this time Brown was a notoriously profligate spender, gambler and high-roller. His financial affairs often lurched from feast to famine. Because of this the Way Out label continued in much the same manner, maybe explaining why some releases are plentiful, while others such as Demanding Man are decidedly scarce.

I think Tony is absolutely correct regarding this point. The particular copy of The Sensations for auction is about the cleanest copy of the record I've seen, so probably worth the bucks to those wishing to upgrade to a minter. A great record into the bargain: group Northern gets no better than this double-sider in my opinion. Something has occured to me about Way Out releases which exist on several variants of the label such as Bobby Wade I'm In Love With You and Jesse Fisher's You're Not Loving A Beginner: conventional wisdom has it that the first issue of these is on the red and white logo (as per Demanding Man), and that the other releases (grey in the case of Bobby Wade, magenta and yellow in the instance of Jesse Fisher) are later issues, carrying lesser pricetags. I wonder if this is really the case. My theory is that the ones on the red and white logo could very well be be later pressings on remaindered blanks of the "c.1966" stock. If you think about it any record label would press on the latest, 'hip and happening' variant of its label design first, then, when stocks of this are exhausted and a 45 demands another pressing run, on its older blanks if they happen to be lying around. Something to think about next time a red and white Jesse Fisher is offered at a price premium above the multicoloured label version.

Joan is right: this was a 'Gene McDaniels' cover-up in the mists of time. A bit of a slur on old Willie McDougal as the two vocalists are like chalk and cheese. I would sell my copy but for the fact that the other side is brilliant, top drawer deep soul which would be expensive to replace.

Symptomatic of the credit crunch I suppose, but a deal for this has now fallen through. This 45 is now available for sale again if anyone is interested. TIA gareth

Nice. As an aside to the above can anyone remember seeing a black issue of the group's other MGM release, "I Don't Want To Lose You" c/w "Never Set Me Free", which I'm guessing is pretty scarce in that format.

I mentioned in the thread on this subject two or three years ago that Sam had a copy in his sales box for some time for about four hundred quid: a well used but perfectly playable copy. Great record.

Originally released on the Japanese P-Vine album Got To Find A Way-The Beginning in the late 70s. An excellent album of Onederful releases and previously unavailable material. The Testify cd from a few years ago has more unreleased masters, including the brilliant Lost Someone.

In all of this talk of Willie & The Mighty Magnificents, Lonnie Youngblood etc. we mustn't lose sight of the fact that Ton Of Dynamite itself is probably the greatest record known to humanity.

Ill stick my neck out and state that I think forty quid is a reasonable price for a copy. Not a rare record by any means, but it seems demand currently outstrips supply in the 'cheap stock' online places like gemm and musicstack. As an aside most examples I've ever seen were white label copies with a large promo sticker on the cover. A stocker might be worth a bit more, not that this seems to matter in the album market.

You are correct Tony. I should have stated that NB was one of the first non-djs to try to collect the label's releases.

In fairness to Nick I don't think he ever claimed to have a full set of Shrine releases. He was one of the first people to try to collect the label though, so fair play to him for that.

A few tracks on the early Kent albums are different cuts from released versions: Johnny Maestro on Scepter (as discussed before on here an alternative group vocal with radically different harmonies), Theola Kilgore's "This Is My Prayer" (massed choral start before the main song not on the 45), Garland Green's "Ain't That Good Enough" (completely different string arrangement) are just some which spring to mind: there must be others too. Aside from these treasures the mastering and pressing of the Kent vinyl was so good that lots of tracks sound completely different: Joanie Sommers "Don't Pity Me" sounds breathtaking on the Kent lp, but slightly flat on a 45; somehow the dynamic range of the Kent pressings was such that this is often the best way to hear many of the tracks therein. The Kent version of Maxine Brown's LMGYML is the one I first heard (being a young whippersnapper) and is as good in its own way as the 45. To me this is still one of the greatest records played in the name of Northern Soul. A truly exquisite record. Was it a Mecca play first?

I too would love to know more about the Abbott label if anyone knows more. Was it some kind of budget label? I ask because the pressings and labels are almost uniformly shoddy on all the releases I've had or seen, and some like the Charles Mintz had been released on other labels in other locales. Also, are there any albums? TIA for any information, gareth.

Thanks for clearing that up Bob.

Harrison & The Majestic Kind Tearing Me Up Inside / Can You Find Me Love on Twinight 143. Originally released on the Coin label (Coin 2526), which I think was part of the Crajon set up. I think this is a fairly tough record on either label.

So, we finally got to see evidence of this mythical 45s existence: it's just gone through ebay for four figures (in dollars). Nice.

For Sale: Bobby "Guitar" Bennett on Junior 1009 You Did It Again / EVOL (Love Spelled Backwards) Very clean VG++ grade (I don't use the excellent grade, but this would be equivalent to an E+, essentially a very clean, well looked after copy of the record with nothing to intrude on listening pleasure. The orange labels are very clean on both sides.) Great copy of this fantastic Philly soul record. You Did It Again is a great mid to uptempo shuffler with atmospheric acapella intro. Vocals from BB are out of the top drawer. The EVOL side is an underrated downtempo track which will appeal to lovers of Bobby Bland, Buddy Ace etc. £325.00 including registered postage. Please PM if interested. TIA gareth

Willie Tee on Atlantic: "I Want Somebody (To Show Me the Way Back Home)"? Should be a clip in refosoul.

It's great that USA Today can run a feature on a great singer like Linda Jones, but comparisons between Ms Jones and Aretha Franklin are unfair to both ladies. What is interesting is that Jerry Wexler signed Linda Jones (to record for Atco) some years before he signed Aretha to an Atlantic deal. On the evidence of each singers' body of recorded work it's probably correct to state that Linda Jones aces Aretha Franklin in terms of the ratio of killer to filler, though. Part of me agrees with Tony in that the cream of Aretha's output is relatively small in comparison to her overall career, but I have to say that those highlights are spectacular, (again agreeing with Mr Rounce) generally speaking on songs she either wrote herself or got the first chance to record. Comments claiming never to have listened to any of her records as some kind of badge of "soul honour" sadden me: I wouldn't like to think of having to go through life never hearing such miraculous recordings as I'm Your Speed or Call Me. Those and others are truly great soul records, "mainstream" or not (and believe me, there is little mainstream about recordings which exhibit such pure soul). In addition to her singing it shouldn't be forgotten that at her peak Aretha was a highly distinctive, original and inspirational pianist and recordings which showcase this aspect of her talents are often highly memorable. In short Aretha Franklin's career says more about the US recording industry (good and bad) than it does about those talents. In latter years she seems to have been treated by that industry as some kind of performing seal, particularly as a guest on others' records ("this record needs some quasi-gospel superstar wailing: what's Aretha doing?") which is again disappointing, but is a measure of her status I suppose. Overall you'd have to say that she's treated her talent with something akin to a lack of care: there is no doubt that she's a complex personality and that fame and acclaim have probably given her as much cause for disquiet as they have a degree of satisfaction or comfort. The identity of the greatest female soul singer will always be cause for much debate: in terms of transcendent moments on tape I'd personally put Big Maybelle, Bettye Swann, Judy Clay, Denise LaSalle and Candi Staton far in advance of either Linda or Aretha, but that debate is for another day.

Vandriver: establishing how common the record is might give you a better idea of how much to pay for the said EP.

Hi Mark On reflection you're absolutely right about it being a hard record, it's just that in the last eighteen months or so I think I've seen Gavin, Steve G and Ivor all playing the track from the EP; it's clearly the most desirable format for the tune. I can't say that I'd noticed the album and single versions of WYBIM being a different mix, however I do remember that they are roughly the same duration, so kept the 45 and sold the album when prices for the latter were higher. yours in soul gareth

The EP is a US four-tracker from the Rashida album. It comes in a black & white gloss paper cover, rather than in a board cover like a European EP. I've never seen a release copy of it and wonder if it's a 'promotional use only' release? I bought one from Ian Clark about twenty years ago and didn't see another copy for quite a while after that, but have noticed that most people who play the track in clubs these days have tended to do so from the four-track single rather than the album, so it can't be ultra-rare. Couldn't speculate on price, I'm afraid, but the album is much cheaper in these days of ebay, gemm and musicstack than it ever was in the old days. Watch out for the lookalike 're-issues' of the album being passed off as originals, though. I don't have Rashida these days but seem to remember it being on Dynaflex vinyl: a custom RCA process which produced very lightweight, very flexible vinyl which the bootleggers would find difficult to replicate. Would You Believe In Me is probably my favourite Jon Lucien track, closely followed by Listen Love from the Mind's Eye set: a unique and much missed vocalist.

Thing is Terry, Russ could have had his 'hair' washed and done the programme simoultaneously: the two don't have to be in the same county.

Indeed, but I don't think that SC would have provided the right calibre of stooge for Paul O'Grady's act and that's the point. Put Russ and the dancers into a five minute slot on Richard & Judy and the outcome may have been slightly different: still not a positive image for everybody perhaps, but not the apparently deeply offensive fiasco broadcast yesterday evening.