Roburt

I spend up to 10 weeks in the US each year BUT our lass has banned me from buying any more vinyl. So I haven't been making use of my time over this side of the pond for over 18 months. Could just try & have them smuggled in but she caught me many times in the past so it ain't really worth it anymore. She has a point though; some of the 45's / 12" & LP's I have haven't found their way onto a turntable in many years (size of collection & my change in taste down the years being the reasons PLUS being away from the things for about a fifth of each year). Current exchange rate still gets me though. Changed £500 before we left the UK & got $1.48 per £, now it's nowhere near that.

I put info on Bobby Wade on the recent 'Power Exchange Records' thread .......... Some more Way Out Records info ........... anyone got a Canadian Way Out related 45 ??? .......

RE: Way Out 45 numbering & other related info ......... Prior to the deal with MGM, some Way Out 45's were distributed by Atlantic (seem to recall Springers 45 getting Atlantic distribution). Post MGM deal, Way Out was very short of money to press up copies of their 45's & had no real distribution outside Ohio area, hence rarity of series numbered in 2000's. The label had it's own studio, so acts were always in there cutting tracks (Lou Ragland being producer / engineer on many sessions). Loads of unissued tracks from that period (and the decaying mastertapes still exist). The studio was kept busy, people always coming & going, that way it wasn't suspicious if the place was used as a front for non-legal uses (say numbers running for instance). Sub label Big Jim funded by ex Cleveland Brown's football player Jim Brown. Other sub labels started up in 1970's to refresh labels image with local record buyers. Other Way Out recordings licensed out to other bigger labels to make some money for the label. Bobby Wade stuff escaping on Deluxe and a couple of things being licensed to De-lite a few years after original Way Out release dates.

I like Bobby Wade's version COZ he's a mate of mine !!! BTW, the Volcanic Eruption were another of Lou Ragland's outfits.

Some info off the net on the SOS Band's Mary Davis ............ In 1980, "Take Your Time (Do It Right)," written for the band by Sigidi Abdullah and recorded in one take, sold two million copies and went platinum, reaching number one on the pop and R&B charts. Their eponymous debut album would go on to sell 800,000 copies. The timing was right for Davis, back in 1977, after seeking fame and fortune in the Big Apple, she came back home to Georgia. She began performing at Milton Lamar's legendary Regal Room in Atlanta. It was there that time and fate were on her side. At the same time, accomplished keyboard player Jason TC Bryant had just moved from Japan to Atlanta, and in just weeks, their two musical worlds collided. Regal owner Milton Lamar told the two promising musicians to combine their talents and form a group. What came from that was the original S.O.S. Band, originally named Santa Monica. The lineup would include Willie "Sonny" Killebrew (saxophone), the late Billy Ellis (flute), Bruno Speight (guitar), John Simpson (bass), James Earl Jones III (drums), Bryant, and Davis. The band's manager Bunnie Jackson-Ransom, a successful local Atlanta business woman who would go onto manage SOS and then Cameo, sent a demo to Tabu Records owner Clarence Avant and the rest was history, not only for the band, but for David as a female bandleader. Davis had to earn the respect of the fledgling band and its male members. There was no template at the time which produced many female-led groups. The scene was dominated by the likes of male groups such as Parliament-Funkadelic, Brothers Johnson, Kool and the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, and many more. The key for Davis was her versatility and talent. "It was a combination of both [being a singer and songwriter]," she acknowledges. "I was the only singer in the group for a while, so they had to come over to that [having her as a leader]. We were able to talk about it, and make it happen." And, as much as her rise-and-fall-and-rise-again success has come via her singing, it has been her unwavering dedication to her faith stepped in Southern gospel that has sustained her -- that and a tireless passion for living the rest of her musical dream. So if she had spent around 8/9 years in New York trying to make it in the music biz there, she could be the lady who cut for Conclave. She has just re-joined the SOS Band & they have gone back on the road. If she is the 'Conclave woman' then should must have been born in the early 50's (making her around 18 yrs old in 69 when that 45 was issued). She would now be around 65 years old !! So I still think she's actually too young to have cut "Danger (Playboy At Work)".

The guys associated with the label would usually take part of the writing credits (& hence royalties) as part of the deal to release their artists records. Even the likes of Berry Gordy would take part credits on songs that he only got them to change 2/3 words on. BTW, didn't realise this till a short while back BUT Big Maybelle was performing on the road as far back as the 40's -- back then she was featured singer with Gene Popes Genial Gentlemen !! After all those years of hardship on the road, it's no wonder she had some bad habits by the late 60's.

The B & B version as it was released in the UK back in the day & that is the version I heard first (& danced to first).

Conclave was based in New York & were actively trying to sign outside productions to the label in spring / summer 69, so it could be that the Ohio lady signed with them as an outlet for her recordings ..............

I don't believe so. The SOS Band Mary Davis was from Savannah, Georgia. There were a few females named Mary Davis who were involved with the US music biz going back to the 40's. One Ohio based lady by that name was cutting stuff up in Ohio back in 69 ....

Fill ya boots, Eli !!!

Some on Homer's old work ..........

I recall Blues & Soul doing an article on Homer around 69/70 (I have the actual edition at home in the UK) and it confused me at the time. I had spent 2/3 years, dancing in mod & soul clubs (+ @ niters) to Homer's records -- Hooked By Love; A Lot Of Love & 60 Minutes Of Your Love (all massive UK club plays) & yet the article focused on his "Lady Of Stone" which I hardly knew.

I don't believe there is. Homer had (around) 5 US Minit 45's released + Minit picked up the rights to his pre-Minit recordings HOWEVER he was mainly known as a song writer. The compilation CD of all his pre Stax work that EMI put out in the UK included about 20 tracks (not counted them exactly, that number is from memory & a guess). So assuming he had around 10 cuts released on vinyl in the US in the mid 60's (Minit used some tracks twice on his 45s) then about half the cuts on that UK CD would have been 'vaulted' tracks prior to the CD escaping. I GUESS that "Ain't Found Nothin To Beat" was a demo he made at Minit for another artist to record OR it was a track destined for a Minit LP that never actually materialised.

The alternate B side of Justin's Down East 45 (not the cut that was on the other US & the UK 45) sounds just like a 60's 4 Tops track.

Do you count EP track's in your listing ? .... i.e. tracks on 45 / 33 rpm 7" releases from France / UK / Mexico / Brazil ? If so the number of tracks goes up hugely. I bought Stevie Wonder's French 60's EP release coz it was the only place to get his "Love A GoGo" (a massive King Mojo niter club play) on a 7" 45 rpm release. Lots of other French Motown 60's EP tracks only available on 7" on those records. ALSO most (all ?) Brazilian 7" releases play at 33 rpm. Coz of that it was common to add 2 extra tracks (LP only cuts) to the US 45 single releases in Brazil (otherwise the run-out groove area took up more of the playing surface than the grooves holding the music. Lots of tracks (& countries) to detail then. Some Motown acts were COLD back in the US while still HOT (selling records) over here in Europe. So artists such as Jnr Walker, Jimmy Ruffin, Marv Johnson, Edwin Starr has stuff on 45 over our side of the pond that didn't make 45 release in the US.

No one mentioned the Platters 60's tracks (for Musicor) yet ? I know lots of their 60's LP cuts used pre-recorded Detroit backing tracks but other tracks ("With This Ring", "Washed Ashore", etc. ) are very Motown influenced without being too Motown connected.

The 50's Tony Williams led group were quite influential if only because they enjoyed such massive international hits. Lots of 60's soul singers inspired to sing by listening to Tony Williams leads for the group. He went solo in the late 50's but never made it as a big solo act / recording artist. He stayed with that 50's sound and so his influence soon faded. He was replaced as lead singer by Cleveland's Sonny Turner. Sonny is 'the sound of the group' for me. It was tracks he was lead on that are my faves (the Musicor stuff). But in this era, the group followed trends (making Motown sounding cuts) rather than leading the way (sound wise). Sonny went solo (led his own group) around 1970 and the guys that followed him (on lead) became more & more anonymous. PLUS, the group's manager (Buck Ram) owned the name, so there were soon loads of versions of the Platters playing live gigs across the US / world. Sonny was prosecuted by Buck Ram & so couldn't perform under the Platters name, so he had to use a different name (Sounds Limited) for his group or go out as 'Sonny Turner of the Platters & his group'. It was Sonny (& his guys) that were big on the Beach Scene in the 70's / 80's and who were the big group on the Vegas casino live performance circuit BUT he was never allowed to bill his group as the Platters. Sonny performed all the big Musicor cuts the Platters made @ the live show Lou Ragland & I put on in Vegas in 1998 (Vegas US Soul Trip). In the 60's, the Platters were so busy doing live dates all over the US that many times it was just Sonny who jetted back to New York to cut the group's recordings (the other voices on their records being NY studio based guys). Many of their 'backing tracks' having been pre-cut in Detroit & then the master tapes sent off to NY to be finished (Vocals added). When I saw Sonny perform these songs ("With This Ring", "Washed Ashore", "Devri", etc) he would come on stage (after being introduced as just Sonny Turner & his group) with a big board containing the group's Musicor 45's & LP covers to ensure the audience knew they would be getting a 'Platters show'. Of course his outfit would also perform the group's 50's hits on their shows (they also re-recorded the tracks for Musicor LP's).

"This Old Heart Of Mine" does nothing for you ?!?!? It has to be the atypical 60's Motown dancer and an all-time classic for me.

Loads of Motown tracks issued on 45 in UK, Europe, Sth America, etc that never made it out on 45 in the US. Lots of these were in the 70's when foreign licensees went their own way rather than following the US labels lead as to what would make the best 45 cuts. Seem to recall a big Miracles dance track escaping on 45 in Brazil that was LP only in the US. Also UK / German 45 B sides in the 70's that never made it onto 45 in the US. Away from my collection at present, so can't quote actual examples (song titles) but no doubt if you check 'Obscure -- unusual foreign releases' thread some will be detailed / shown there. Maybe one of the Motown related internet sites has compiled a list of the sort you want.

Yep, I was getting Lola (who I remember from pictures of her & the info that she married one of the Tavares brothers) mixed up with Fluffy. I think you're right that Fluffy must have been Lola's brother even though Fluffy would normally (to me anyway) be a females (or dogs) name. I also know she had at least one 45 out in Italy in 67 (sung in Italian) but don't know if "Coalmine" was included on this release. So are her 1975 RCA cuts (that escaped) any good ?

Just checked & it was Lola (not Fluffy) that married one of the Tavares boys in 1970. Lola was a dancer / singer who played Broadway shows, appeared in 60's films & was featured on the Bill Cosby TV Show (so no doubt she knew Bill very well & maybe even his little old man ?!?). Lola was a star in Vegas for some years but went down with an illness in 1972 (think this stopped her dancing for a while). Fluffy & Lola were from Philly originally. Lola cut for Reprise in the 60's ..... was her early 67 Reprise 45 a Virtue Production ??? ..... ..... & did her Italian language version of "Working in a Coalmine" ever actually escape on 45 in Italy ? If so, is it any good ? ..... By 1975 Cuba Gooding (of Main Ingredient) was recording Lola on some new tunes but I don't know if these ever escaped from the tape vaults.

Wasn't Fluffy (a looker by all accounts & ex-showgirl I believe) married to one of the Tavares brothers in the 70's ? Maybe that was her sister Lola .....

Seems that it was a big play back in the day ........

Back to the group / record in question (Shangi-las -- Give Him a Great Big Kiss) ............ It COULD be considered NORTHERN but not NS (IMHO). Many pop songs played on the scene down the years (most being garbage IMO) but they were played and therefore have to figure in the history of NS. Now, I'll go on Facebook & the like and state that I recall Bill Oddie's NS biggie being played on the scene in the 70's and a whole new heated debate can kick off.

Seems that the Sonny Daye on Ru-Jac (Baltimore) had no connection at all with Eddie Daye (of 4 Bars fame). Full story on the 4 Bars (from an interview Eddie himself gave before his death) is here ....... https://www.uncamarvy.com/4Bars/4bars.html So Eddie & the 4 Bars were the backing singers on the Donbut 45 by Vic Marcell (uncredited on the record label though) .....