Rick Cooper

A rack... luxury.....what's wrong with the floor. Yes, records were usually mistreated by teenagers and end up in the bin however some radio stations weren't much better. The only US radio station I got to visit had the records for that show lying around on the desk and the rest skewered on short poles on the wall, all unsleeved. They didn't have a library but were only a tiny station in the middle of nowhere. Rick

Ed There's a story behind Purple Haze that ties in with this thread. The deal to issue the record on Cream was done with William Bell who produced the song via his Wilbe Productions. We issued the record but two weeks later it came out on UK Brunswick through Decca. After a few strongly worded letters and solicitors intervention we had to pull the record as we couldn't get the required documents from William Bell to prove the US Brunswick deal had expired. It's probably just as well as Decca had more money for lawyers and you wouldn't want to mess with Nat Tarnopol in the US, if you know what's good for you and don't want to have an "accident". The promos would have been sent out about 7 to 10 days before the release date so had Decca issued their record earlier we might have never been able to sell stock copies, but the promos would have been out there, a bit like the Darrell Banks on London v Stateside story. I think the Cream version probably sold about 5 to 6 hundred. Like almost everyone else I thought there was a line in Purple Haze that goes "Scuze me whilst I kiss this guy" but apparently it's "Scuze me whilst I kiss the sky", which may have made sense to Jimi Hendrix under certain circumstances. Rick

Chalky I've read something similar but I think it was when the royalties were calculated 10% was deducted from the sales figure to allow for freebies, faulty or lost copies. Rick

Ed I've never been that keen on the theory that record companies would only press stock copies if the record took off. It doesn't make sense to spend all that money on a recording session, mastering, labels etc to not spend a bit more having something ready to sell. Pressing promos and stock copies could be done at the same time for hardly much extra, having a second press of stock copies later would cost more per disc. Possibly mono/stereo promos might be done separately as the machine would have to be set up again. I've never read any evidence for this and suspect the idea started as musings amongst collectors in the 1970/80s to explain why some records hadn't been seen on stock copies. Since then some of these records have turned up on stock copies, such as Sam Williams on Tower. A few records are only known as promos but this is explained by special circumstances such as King pulling Junior McCants when he died just before the record came out. All the copies would have been destroyed , just a few promos escaping the crusher. Similarly Darrell Banks on UK London stock copy was supposed to have never been made until the one copy turned up, the rest being destroyed. It would be good to have some irrefutable evidence about how many records companies usually pressed but prior to the oil crisis in the 70s the cost of records was so cheap that they probably made a lot more than we might think. The only figures I've seen are for the Imaginations -Strange Neighborhood on Fraternity. @ady croasdell's sleeve notes on the Kent CD Classiest Rarities quote "Interestingly 3500 regular labels and 5000 demo labels were ordered for the first pressing, indicating why issues are sometimes rarer than DJ copies". Still some confusion here as the figures are for labels not records and each record needs two labels. Maybe Ady has some more figures he could share with us. When I issued records on Cream in the 70s I'd order loads of extra labels as they were very cheap, the pressing company held these for us to avoid delay if a quick re press was needed. Rick

Tomo If you're talking about US records on bigger labels from the 60s and 70s the rarity of some stock copies is down to what happened to them after they had finished selling. The record companies would send promos and stock copies to their distributors who would then try to get them on local radio or TV.Some promo copies would be given away to DJs and stock copies could be ordered by local shops. If the record didn't take off stock copies still at the distributors could be sent back for credit but the promos were a write off for the label so might be thrown away or after a while end up in a warehouse or bargain bins. When the stock copies got back to the record label they could sell them off , after drilling the deletion hole, or scrap them. For some labels I suppose they didn't want shops full of their flops so they destroyed a lot of stock copies, hence the rarity of some records. Rick

and meths in the afternoon

The view from the back door this morning, my workshop just visible through the bushes Managed to do the daily commute up the steps.

Zan, there's a name from the past. I think he was from Manchester or Stockport area. As a youngest I was told about some of the things that could happen to a stranger at the Wheel. One involved being relieved of money , records or a nice jacket by characters like Zan. Probably totally untrue.

Played at The Central and Pendulum ,Manchester and possibly The Torch. I think it mainly got played as being another version of a big record, it's a bit jerky for mass appeal. Do you know who Johnny and Lilly are/were? Always assumed Johnny is Johnny Copeland but that could be the obvious theory at the time.

Steve When I was working at Global / Cream records in 1972 to 1976 the pressing company (Lintone or Orlake I think) would always send three test pressings for each release. I don't think we had a choice as to the quantity. In those days no one did special white labels /promo or such like marketing tricks. I've still got one of each but don't know where the rest went. I'm not sure about US labels but probably similar. It's quite likely that bigger labels would get quite a few extra done so they could play the record to the salesmen and favoured radio DJs. I've seen an Atlantic/Stax test pressing for Wendy Rene Bar B Q that had a note from Jerry Wexler with it. The writing on your Sandra Philips doesn't look like 1960s US handwriting and there is no pressing plant name on it, but that may not be significant. Rick

The branch of Fopp in Manchester is a far better shop than any of the HMVs so I hope they can be saved if HMV folds. A better selection in all genres, more unusual CDs and an interesting selection of books. The shop tries to involve local public participation by having posters and info on local gigs and events. Last time I was there they were playing a CD that sounded interesting so I asked what it was. It was a Numero CD of obscure US Garage bands and the assistant was really enthusiastic and had a genuine passion for the music. Sadly this is lacking in the Stockport HMV. Quite agree about Derek Howe's singles counter at HMV Manchester, if only we could go back in time with a load of cash. Rick

If the HMV shops don't survive it could be the end of the type of record shop that most of us grew up with. Spending Saturdays going round the record shops was a way of life for a lot of teenagers from the 1950s onwards. Even if you didn't buy anything you'd meet up with other people with similar tastes, not the same thing as downloading or streaming. The Manchester HMV shop in the 70s had a great selection of singles when Derek Howe was there and was the busiest shop in town. I usually go in HMV in Stockport but never find anything worth buying. The stock seems to consist of loads of 2 for £10 CDs of tired back catalogue major label releases and the same old compilations of past hits. They don't stock any Kent, Outtasite , Soul Brother or other similar labels. In other genres they don't seem to have the stock to attract regular buyers. Could be the staff either don't know how to, or aren't allowed to stock any thing that could bring in committed customers. It doesn't help when they can't get the category for the artists right, this week I saw Jerry Reed and Bobby Bare in the Jazz section when, as I'm sure you all know,they belong in the bin, sorry that should be C&W section. Rick

Los Canarios- Spanish? . Massive early Wheel record on UK Major Minor

The P W Cannon record- Hanging Out My Tears To Dry- was a massive track in the Netherlands Surinam community in the late 70s. It was one of the most in demand records so was probably made available somehow. It's one of my favourite records of this type and for anyone who wants to know what they liked, give it a listen. Dancing permitted but it has to be a slow smooch with your partner. By a strange coincidence there is a UK company called P W Cannon that makes radiator grilles.

Thanks for that ,Dave. Another bush next to this one, but not a firethorn, had a pair of blackbirds nesting this year but something killed the chicks and threw them out, magpies probably but could have been one of the many local cats.

This summer a bush just outside the kitchen window had loads of flowers , and visiting bees. It now has masses of berries which attracts a blackbird every day around the same time. After about five days I managed to get a decent photo just as it picked a berry.

Very sad news. He always had time for everyone. Contributed so much , going to be greatly missed . Rick and Gill

My post of December 2015 ends with a brief mention of my US visit with Terry (Francis) Thomas. Since then Terry has sadly died so I'd thought I'd try to remember some of the visit. I was given a photo album that Terry had from the trip and found some receipts and invoices that I had kept. With these I have managed to piece together places and dates without having to rely on a not very reliable memory. I had sold a lot of my records in early 1977 as I was sick of all the bootlegs and reissues ruining the value of the originals. With the money from this I decided to have a holiday trip to the US. Terry was doing well with his badge and record business so together we had the funds for a holiday without having to make it pay by finding records. However we had made a few plans to visit certain shops and warehouses and had a few tips from Rod Shard @modernsoulsucks and Ian Levine also by then I was working at Robinson's Records who bought from the US. We had a Greyhound bus pass and Holiday Inn vouchers so after four or five days in New York we headed off down the East Coast aiming to get to Miami and back in two weeks. In most towns we found small record shops but apart from some 70s stuff we hadn't found anything to get excited about. As we had an address in Miami from Levine and the phone number for Rod's contact in Miami we planned to stay there for three or four days. Levine's lead was a waste of time as the shop had lots of records but the owner wouldn't let us look through them. He had some copies of Tobi Lark -Happiness is Here but wanted about 8 or 9 dollars each, way too much. Jose was supposed to come to our hotel but for some reason couldn't make it. Having some spare time we went to look round the area near the hotel. Fairly soon we came across a record shop still open in the evening. The shop had LPs in racks everywhere but tucked away at the back was a small glass counter with some singles in. The top record on one pile was Little Joe Romans When You're Lonesome. We asked to look at the others and found the rest were all mid 60s soul records with no C&W and pop. What more could we want, well obviously more records but that seemed to be the lot. After asking the owner if he had anymore he said there were loads in the back rooms but we had to buy at least 100 records and if we made a mess he would kick us out. The owner , Jack Howerd, was a foul mouthed grumpy old man. Although it was getting late we immediately got stuck in and soon found some great records. We had to start back to New York within two days so spent the rest of time going through thousands of records and even then couldn't get into another room as there were stacks of car tyres, fridges,boxes and other junk in the way. Some of the best finds were Tony Clarke Landslide demos, Nolan Chance and Holly Maxwell on Constellation demos, Butch Baker -Batman at the Go Go, Tainted Love and lots of titles for Japan and Netherland collectors. One of these -Syl Johnson- Do you Know what Love Is we took about 25 copies, left loads more. All these went to Japan as no one wanted it in the UK. I think the owner used to be in the record business in Chicago and had moved to Miami in his old age. Someone told me that John Anderson had found the shop but wouldn't pay the dollar a record Jack was asking and I'm sure he wouldn't stand for any haggling. I think Dave Raistrick found the shop and had a good result after us. @Dave Raistrick is that right? We had to get going so must have left loads of good records but didn't care as we had found enough to make the trip worth it. To save time travelling we hired a car and dropped the records of at Robinsons shipping agent in New Jersey. Photos, top L checking Yellow Pages, top R hitting the road, middle row, Tone Distributors in Miami, Global Records in Philly. Bottom row, Terry with Steve Alaimo at TK, Terry outside Ed Balbiers (Global owner) house in Philly. The other photos I've got are all tourist type stuff , Disney world , New York etc. etc. Various receipts. Flights cost £198 for both of us. The Greyhound ticket was £97 each. A holiday to remember but I seemed to have forgotten whole chunks of it, but other stuff was , nearly getting thrown out of disco in Miami as we didn't buy a drink from the waitress, being told to get out of the area by a passing cop car, visiting a radio station, the warm welcome at TK, the FO at Philadelphia International, NY Jazz club, Disney World and other tourist attractions. Rick

Another fact from Art Rupe's instructions to his reps is the royalty rate for new signings . This is stated as half a cent for the first year raising the rate until the artist is receiving 2 cents. So yes, half a cent was the starting rate at Specialty for Little Richard but I should think they all got more when the hits started. Did they also discuss how much they got for top billing at the Apollo or appearing on American Bandstand?

In my post above it wasn't one of the Bihari brothers (Modern Records) but Art Rupe of Specialty who had written instructions for his field reps when signing new acts. The actual quote is "Impress upon the artists that if they succeed, the publicity of having their records played constantly all over the U.S.A. will make them in demand for personal appearances . Impress on them not to look in the records for income, but to the profitable personal appearances." The royalty statement I mentioned was from Modern Records for Lee Denson ( no , me neither) from June 1958. This is - 300 records @85 cents 255.00 90% of $255 * 229.50 Artists Royalty 3% of 229.50 6.89 Artist Draw and Expenses Session musicians (6 @ 41.25) 247.50 21% to Union** 51.98 Vocal Group 75.00 Artist Advance 50.00 Total 424.48 Overdrawn Balance $ 417.59 * I think it was standard practice to pay royalties on 90% of sales to cover promo, lost or damaged records (and probably a few boxes to DJs and radio bosses) ** Musicians Union, paid when session musicians belonged to the Union. So the record company spent $424 , the musicians , musicians union , vocal group and artist all got paid but the record company lost money so far. Maybe the record sold some more after June. If my maths is right the artist got 2.3 cents per record , so the record would have to sell 18439 copies (18439 x 2.3c = $424) before his account would be in credit and he would get another cheque. This seems a lot so perhaps I've not worked it out correctly. Using this as an example a later 5000 custom press of the record would still not clear the overdrawn balance. Rick

Good question Kegsy but I don't think the artists got anything. In John Broven's book Record Makers and Breakers he quotes from an internal document for Modern Records field reps from one of the Bihari brothers. Basically it tells them to stress that an artist signed to their (or any other) label will not make much money from record sales. A hit record will let them do more and better paying live appearances . A royalty statement is also listed from the early 60s for an artist who didn't have a hit. It shows that the artist got an advance but all the recording , promotion and other expenses would be charged against record sales. I think the statement showed sales of 300 and there was still quite a lot "owed" by the artist. From the figures quoted it would take sales of nearly 5000 before any money was due. So if the record had a special pressing of 2000 10 years later the artist still wouldn't be owed anything. This is always used as evidence of the evil record labels exploiting artists but the record label put the money up and probably lost it on most releases. Meanwhile the artist got their fees from live appearances, minus the agents fee. Don Varner is quoted as saying that the money most artists earned was from live gigs. The agreement I did for the Cream issue of Seven Day Lover was with William Bell as owner of the recording. Depending on the contract he had with James Fountain any money due was a matter between Bell and James Fountain. I think James was aware that the record was issued by Cream and I'm sure he would have got any money due as William Bell is known as a trustworthy guy, unlike a lot of other record label owners. The publisher got a cut from every record sold so monies should be due no matter what the artist got. As for the Okeh, Columbia SP and RCA northern issues some artists may have been owed royalties if the record had covered the recording costs. Whether they got them or not I don't think will ever know. Some artists like Little Richard, Watson and Williams, Paul Anka etc should have got something as they were well known and probably had good management. Maybe Lorraine Chandler might know more but I should think it is a subject that is not talked about in public. Ady would probably know more but it's something that may be confidential. Didn't Dave Godin insist on the artists on his Deep Soul CDs getting paid no matter what the original contract said. Rick

Quite enjoyed the programme but wonder how it went down with the people who were there at the time. Did they get all the facts right? There was no mention of the artists and labels who made the music which was a shame. The DJs and club promoters got all the credit but the musicians,writers and artists didn't get a look-in . Next week it's about the superstar DJs. Fopp have copies of the book Life After Dark by Dave Haslam for £3.00 which includes a lot more info on the dance scene covered by the TV prog, as well as interesting facts about other clubs and scenes going back to late 1800s. Worth getting. Rick

It looks like Good Old Gold records were only available around LA / South California then. I never saw any of them around Philly/ New York and the East coast. Perhaps they didn't think it worth selling nationally or wanted to keep a low profile.

Blackpoolsoul Not sure if you're asking me on this and your other question (who,when and where) but I have nothing to add on this label, which doesn't help you any further. As RobbK and The Yank don't have any info and other sources have nothing it must have been a very secretive and obscure label. Tax write off maybe but who knows.