Garethx

Context is everything. This was Channel 4 tea-time TV. Few who had ever seen an edition of the Paul O'Grady show could have been surprised at the tone of the piece: his intention is to satirise everything. His entire act is based on the idea that nothing is sacred and is fair game for a particular strain of camp piss-taking. Those involved are guilty of nothing more than naivity with the exception of Russ Winstanley, whose critical faculties and instincts have never been that strong, but who seems immune to buffeting from any outside force. Let's face it, they were never going to ask a credible, media-savvy talking head to appear and give an in-depth appreciation of this most mysterious and enduring of cults. To turn the entire thing on its head it might be pertinent to ask exactly how Rare Soul could usefully and truthfully be explored in a five to ten minute strand on any mainstream TV show? I agree with Joel that rare soul and the media can't or shouldn't mix, but if you've got something to promote (such as an impending feature film) the temptation to think that any exposure would be welcome is a strong urge to fight. The only people wringing their hands will be insiders; the wider world will still keep turning today. It won't be any wiser about Northern Soul but it won't really care about that.

The Cadet single and the Occasional Rain album are from 1972. The first released version is by Jerry Butler on the You & Me album from 1969. The Terry Callier 45 is virtually identical to the album version (the only difference is the slightly truncated piano solo on the 45, a difference of a few seconds). Callier later re-cut it in quite different style on the Elektra lp Turn You To Love in 1979. A Terry Callier version from September 1969 (around exactly the time of the Jerry Butler album's appearance) was released on the album First Light on Premonition Records in 1998. It's a radically different version, over six minutes long in a slower, more acoustic vein with a great electric piano mid-section. I don't have the facility to add sound files but someone else might be able to. It's well worth hearing. I've always wondered where the Cadet single was first played on the UK soul scene: as a new release or as a later 'revival' in the wake of the club success of the Elektra cut?

Great to see Andy Rix contributing to the thread.

Cheers Chris!

Hi Jock Butch has been 'reviving' Keith Curtis for the last couple of years. He played it at Soul Revolution at some point. Potent sixties soul.

My apologies Manus if it appeared that I was contradicting you rather than EA.

Helen Shapiro is definitely not of mixed race.

Very rarely turns up for sale these days and contains some great tracks, so well worth three figures.

That is fair comment as there is nothing super-cheap in his inventory, but I still think he's fairly priced given the level of his enterprise and the size of the company's overhead. Let's face it, the only bargains left in collecting 'old' music such as soul 45s are from sellers who are unaware of the value of what they're selling. Craig and his staff are seldom unaware of the value of the stock they're sitting on: in such cases his unknowns and obscurities are auctioned on ebay and the market decides the price.

If I was starting to collect soul music on classic labels CM would be my first port of call: tons of brilliant Atlantic, Chess, Stax, Motown etc. in unplayed condition. The grading and customer service are fantastic for such a big enterprise and the packaging is second to none.

I thought the Main Change was a bit of a bargain too: it turns up pretty infrequently these days. I suppose it's the kind of sound that's desperately out of fashion, being an out and out pop/soft rock record with no pretensions whatsoever to being a soul record. That said, it is a brilliant pop/soft rock record and musically interesting enough to withstand repeated listening. The key change leading into the sax solo is phenomenal.

Good question. I think this is much scarcer than records on the label which fetch money like the Lee Williams & The Cymbals 45s. A tremendous double sider, particularly the deep soul flip, "I'll Keep Holding On". Don't think I've ever seen a stock copy of it either. I wonder if it was issued?

Thanks James.

Hi Pete I've just re-read your comment and it makes perfect sense now.

Hi Pete no doubt genuine metalwork for this exists, but the copy I saw was a totally authentic Atlantic vinyl test pressing and the timing would have predated you getting dubs made. It would be interesting if James could describe his version of "Yes You Did": acetate or test pressing?

Been having a bit of a Betty Wright evening. So many tremendous tracks on all her albums, but I'd forgotten how mind-blowing her version of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" is: I'd go as far as to say that she makes the song her own. Also sounding absolutely awesome was her "Gimme Back My Man", a great Billy Kennedy composition from the Hard To Stop album.

A mate of mine used to prop up his knackered TV stand with a copy of this 45!

Billy Hambric was (is?) an albino, but definitely an African American. And a hell of a singer.

Hi Harry I've seen the offending article. It's an Atlantic vinyl test pressing rather than an acetate: Atlantic logo, laminated white label, neatly typed credits and recording dates. I think James Trouble has or has had another Nate Adams Atlantic TP: the instrumental of Herman Hitson's "Yes You Did": I think he may have got that off Sam. Maybe James can confirm? That's from the same session as his released Atlantic 45, "Why Is It Taking So Long", which is a great cheapie if you don't know it. As to why Richard covered it up, I can only speculate that it was at the insistence of his supplier, presumably John Anderson. Many of these Atlantic TPs are not one-offs, and that would provide a perfectly logical reason to cover this one up. The Herman Hitson version released on CD a few years ago is quite different, definitely a different band take and a much rawer, looser version of the song. It seems to have been producer Johnny Brantley's method to have as many of his stable of artists record as many versions of the songs of his main songwriters, Lewis, Farmer & Lewis as possible. Maybe there are further takes of "Love Slipped Through..." or "You Don't Mean It" by the likes of Lee Moses waiting to be found on shelves somewhere. Here's hoping!

I agree with Ken that a recurrent obsession with race is slightly distasteful, but seeing as the US record business has always been obsessed with the issue there is no doubt that the topic holds a morbid fascination. I'm surprised that contributors on the other thread on white artists could mistake Tony Middleton for a caucasian: to me he's always sounded very black, no matter what genre he was singing in. "Spanish Maiden" in particular harnesses a tremendously soulful vocal approach. On this subject I must say that I was amazed to find out that Joe Phillips on Omen was a black guy: one of The Jones Brothers, Pentagons etc. His Marshall Lieb-produced Omen singles are amazing Wall of Sound efforts where he manages to sound like the perfect hybrid of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield.

Johnny Hendley was a black guy, from California and responsible for a few of the most iconic records on our scene: not only the aforementioned Mutt & Jeff 45, but also he was the 'John' of John and The Weirdest fame as well as being the vocalist on the original, rare take of The Inspirations "No-one Else Can Take Your Place" on Breakthrough (the 70s reissue features an alternate version with another group member, Charles 'Diamond' Perry taking the lead).

No doubt this would have been recorded in the early 70s, but Sean's comment about it being touted as an unreleased track at around the time of Thorne got me thinking about the first time I saw a copy of the record: late 80s. Pure speculation but it could have been a case of Gino pressing these himself (as opposed to any kind of counterfeiting) at around that time. Can anyone remember having this 45 in the seventies?

Thanks for this fascinating information George: an interesting insight into the Ohio music business of the 1960s. Do you think there could be a case for speculating that the first Dupree recording (J.McCants / Harmonics) was recorded several years earlier than the release date of August 1st 1969? The vocalist on this certainly sounds very similar indeed to the King artist under discussion, but he's assumed to have died in 1967 as mentioned above.

The earlier 45, "Summer's Love", has a Cleveland address because that would have been the nearest big city with the apparatus to press and distribute R&B records. The other Harmonics 45s on Dupree, Gold Plate and Sock It (later released nationally on Seventy 7) sound much later historically: very much late 60s, early 70s. By this time Akron would have had a small recording industry itself.

Bob Thanks for posting Summer's Love. I'd say that's pretty much certainly Junior McCants on lead. Having said all that it's definitely not him singing lead on the other Harmonics 45s I have or have heard, so my theory is that he was plucked from the group, signed to King, groomed for stardom, got ill and died, and that the Hamonics (probably other family members) carried on making records after his death. The stories about Junior's death come from Charles Spurling himself if I'm not mistaken. As I said at the beginning of the thread Ady Croasdell will have a more complete recollection of the story as he compiled the track on a Kent CD about seven or eight years ago. The sleevenotes were quite detailed.