Roburt

RUFUS BEACHAM BACKING MUSICIAN @ TROPICAL --- BOB TEBO Luckily, I have been able to touch base with Bob Tebo who today works in the DC area as a Digital Media video producer (his day job). He's a drummer in a modern funk band for a hobby and lives in Alexandria, a southern suburb of DC (though it's over the river in Virginia). Back in the day, he was in a 4 strong band of white kids that got to play on some recordings for Tropical Records artists. He recalled those days for me …. The whole Rufus Beacham episode was an experience and lots of fun.!! I started playing drums about 1966 and I'm still having fun playing, performing and recording. The Miami soul sound was unique and I just played a small part in it. However, the experience with Rufus was one of the many reasons why I continue to play drums. I was born and raised in Miami so right up front that's why I happened to be there in the first place. I actually grew up in Miami Springs and I had some friends that lived in Coral Springs (he made mention of this as Coral Springs is where we stay when in the area). My time with Tropical. At the time of the recording I was playing drums in several high school dance bands, doing Santana and 3 Dog Night stuff at high school sock hops etc. The other band I was in was a gospel / soul band for an older guy by the name of William Gerome Vickers (who has 12 songs registered with BMI). Some friends and I met Bill in a record store one night and we got talking. I had only been playing about 4 year up till then and wasn't really all that skilled. But I was always learning and listening to the latest pop music and trying to imitate what I heard. Bill Vickers was an aspiring black gospel singer / producer who lived with his family close by Tropical Records. He led a group of four singers that had a similar sound to the Staple Singers, they were called "The Creative Voices and the Faith". Just picture 4 black singers dancing with purple suits on, looking kind of like the Temptations .... and then 4 white kids playing behind them (David Todd on bass, Don Marinelli on guitar, Joel Stein on keyboards with me on drums). When we would get together with Bill for rehearsals and planning, he was always playing Staple Singers records to us. Anyway, we met several times with Bill and he expressed the need for a young funky / soul sounding band to play behind him and his singers. We all got along great too. When we played, we were just average but we tried hard to sound something like Motown musicians and yet get the sound that he wanted. Bill wrote original material for us to play, some good, some bad. We (me and my mates) felt like we were doing something cool and yet a little different than the usual rock and roll that we had been used to. We ended up going on a few limited tours with him into north Florida and Georgia. So all in all it was fun and really interesting. He wanted to do some demo recordings in hopes of shopping them to labels up and down the east coast. We were intrigued to say the least, so we started rehearsing with him on a regular basis. There was a lot of rehearsing and group meetings that went on before we were ready. Over a few months, he pulled enough funds together to record our first demos at Tropical studios at the 7th Ave. address. They were basic but not too bad and so were pressed up on the Tropical label as well. I still have a few of the 45 pressings in my home vault. As for the studio,Tropical was in a rough neighbourhood (Overtown) and it wasn't a fancy place. The inside was pretty modest and limited compared to the bigger studios I'd been to in Miami. It was old and had a real 1950's industrial look about it. But it was studio and did the job. We recorded on a 1/2 inch ampex 4 track machine. The console looked very basic and home-made, probably built by the resident engineer. I cant remember the monitors but they sounded real muddy and didn't have much high end. I was a kid at the time and didn't have much knowledge about studios. I was just excited I was even in one. That all went on for about 6 months. We then hooked up with Rufus one night when we were scheduled for a Creative Voices session. We (the band) arrived early, so we set up and started warming up with some basic funky jams. The engineer was getting levels and placing mics as we were jamming. Low and behold to our surprise Rufus Beacham came strolling in and heard us. He liked our spirit and asked us if we were playing with anyone and if we wanted to so some session work for him. Of course we all said YES, just like that ! I recall that one of his comments was that "we played like funky black boys". He couldnt believe we were white kids playing like black guys. It was a politically incorrect time and we were all just brothers together in the studio. We had no Idea who he was at the time, but again it all sounded like fun so we went for it. We talked a little more and hit it off and he set up a time for us to come back and cut one song with him and his guitarist Bobby Sands (or was it Sam?) That song was "Do You Have a Good Woman". We 'white boys' were so excited about the idea that someone heard us and wanted us on a session that we were ga ga the whole week back at school! Well, the session came off and we worked for several hours on a handful of takes. We worked hard and never got a penny, but it was fun to say the least. The pressing doesn't have a good sound at all, but my bandmates and I didn't care. We were young and excited to be part of the whole process. I had a modest drum kit compared to today but it didn't matter ! It was all about the sound and getting the beat right. We were getting our studio experience early. Rufus was a good very flashy keyboard player and singer and was kinda like a Sly Stone / Marvin Gaye character. A tall skinny dude all dressed up with lots of attitude. I would estimate him in his late 30's, maybe 40 when we met him. He had done a lot of work down the years, but we didn't know much about this and him. He was very skilled at session work and how to underplay to make a good pad for his voice. Rufus acted as the producer on "Good Woman". It was his arrangement and he directed the whole sound on every take (we did 4 to 6 takes in all) He giving us orders for feel, emphasis and style etc. The 3rd guy that was there in the studio, he did the narrative intro on the cut but acted more like a manager / biz kinda fellow. He didn't seem very knowledgeable about arranging or playing music, he just dealt with logistic matters with the engineer. Rufus gave us tips on how not to overplay and clutter the overall sound. I was learning how to dump the fills and just stick to a solid consistent beat. He worked us hard but he liked what he got from us. Bobby Sands (who was about the same age as Rufus) was pretty good too. Neither of them would tolerate any slack playing. They played solid and knew what they wanted. It was a good learning experience for a young pup drummer and bass player (both David and I played on the track). Don tried some to put in some background chords and Joel just sat it out. The funny thing about the track that we could never get over was, when the producer did the verbal intro to the song and then mentioned 'Bobby Sands on Guitar', it sounded a little corny to us. But it was their song and they were paying the studio time so we just shut up and played. We figured it was just some kind of thing that he put on all his demos. We were young and having fun in a studio. After the session wrapped, we listened to the playbacks and everyone seemed to like what we had put down. We all left the studio and we never heard from Rufus again. It was way back when there were no cell phones and texting. After that I never heard the song played again anywhere. I just figured the tapes ended up in the great dumpster in the sky. So you can imagine my reaction to seeing it up on Youtube as a 45 all these years later!!, my jaw dropped. After all that recording and playing ended, I never went back to Tropical after that. The next year we did some more demo's and two 45 singles for Bill Vickers with a new singer, 'Queenie Bell'. We used Criteria Studios in Miami this time. The legendary Carl Richardson was our engineer. We learnt a lot from him too. Once again, not to overplay, keep the beat solid; less is more! The tracks that I played on for Vickers that were done for the Tropical label are were follows :- Stop Playin With the Lord – Bill Vickers on lead vocal. Recorded at Criteria Time For Peace – Queenie Bell on lead vocal. Recorded at Criteria (these 2 recordings I have on tape. They were transferred from an acetate reference disc about 25 yrs ago). I Want To Be an Angel -- Queenie Bell on lead vocal. Recorded at Tropical Sincere People -- Queenie Bell on lead vocal. Recorded at Criteria (these 2 recordings are pressed up on a 45 rpm disc on Tropical) All 4 songs were written by William Vickers and are registered with BMI. We recorded maybe another 2 or 3 titles for Vickers but I don't have copies of those recordings and can't remember the titles. Bill Vickers was stocky black guy about 40 to mid 40s.Queenie Bell was a thin black woman about in her mid twenties, maybe 30. She was a good singer but not highly motivated in the studio. Vickers tried pushing her, but she never seemed all that interested. We would see her at the rehearsals a lot. She alternated between backing vocals and lead vocals depending on the song. I don't know about any other groups or recordings that she was involved with. All of Vickers material was gospel and so many of his singers were church friends. They all had that gospel singing style. Bill would rotate the guy singers almost every month to the point where we couldn't keep track of their names. Some of the vocals on the recorded songs were not very good, being rough but some were actually very good. It just depended on the song. We white boys just rolled with it all because Bill was paying the bills. It was fun, however, those recordings never went anywhere. So like many bands, we split up and went our separate ways. After that I went back to school and then onto NY and LA and did studio and club work for a while. I still have a copy of the 45 single "Sincere People" which we recorded at Criteria as I recall. BOB TEBO

Eddie Holloway, who also had a 45 out on Gem Records, would play gigs at the Continental Club as well ..........

The Human Race, who had a 45 out on Tropical's Gem label, were the house band at the Continental Club. The club was situated across the road from Mr. Walters Wig Shop (he ran Wax-wel Records) and so Mr. Walters would organise shows at the club on a regular basis. The Continental was located on 7th Avenue, a few blocks north of where Tropical Records were based (today it's just an empty plot). Before it was known as the Continental, it had operated under the name of the King O' Hearts and was the venue where Sam & Dave had started out as a duo. HUMAN RACE .... Other local (& national) artists also played the club, one of these being Mary Hylor .........

Another major establishment in the Overtown area (where Tropical Records et al were located) was the Mary Elizabeth Hotel. This place had it's Zebra Lounge and it's Birdland Nightclub. Here local acts such as the Marvells (Fabulettes) would support the likes of Little Willie John, Dizzy Jones, the Original Drifters, the Laddins (Steinways), etc. When the I-95 road was constructed through Overtown in 1967, the destruction of housing involved reduced the resident population from 40,000 to 10,000. So although the major establishments survived the demolition, their local crowd had been decimated and so they were never really the same again. The building that housed the hotel wasn't actually demolished until summer 1983 but it had long been closed by that time. The place back in it's heyday ..... A Dizzy Jones track .....

A 6 minute long video documentary about the music scene in Overtown (Miami) back in the day. Tropical Records, the (Sir John) Knight Beat Club & more were all located in the area ............ https://overtownmusicproject.org/videos/overtown-in-its-heydey

Find below a pretty incomplete listing of the 45's put out by Tropical (Miami) ......... I'd guess that most of the missing numbers relate to gospel tracks. If you can fill in any gaps please send the info along. I've also guessed that there is no Tropical T114 & that the Soul Time 45 took this number but could easily be wrong. TROPICAL RECORDS -- MIAMI Tropical 101 Eddie Taylor – Just The Way You Are / The State Song SOUL (1964) Tropical 102 Tropical 103 Tropical 104 Tropical 105 Utility Voices – What He Said He Would Do / I Got Everything I Need Tropical 106 Tropical 107 Frankie Seay & Soul Riders – Soul Food / Black Jack SOUL Tropical 108 Frankie Seay & Soul Riders – I Came a Long Way To Get You / Hold On SOUL Tropical 109 Tropical 110 Missionaires – Clouds Hanging Low Pt. 1 & 2 Tropical 111 Tropical 112 Frankie Seay & Soul Riders – Baby Please / All I Want Is Loving You SOUL Tropical T113 Queenie Bell & Creative Voices – Sincere People / I Want To Be An Angel Soul Time ST114 Alberta Baker – My Search Is Over / I Have Something SOUL Tropical T115 Tropical T116 Treetop & the Soul Branches -- Inside Out / Don't Go Away SOUL (1970) Tropical T117 Tropical T118 Tropical T119 Rufus Mr. Soul Beacham – Lead Me On / Do You Have A Good Woman SOUL Tropical T120 W.C. Keith with the Sons of Daniel – My Job / On The Battlefield Tropical T121 Tropical T122 Tropical T123 The Faithful Few – Did You Stop To Pray This Morning / Tropical T124 Tropical T125 Tropical T126 Wallace Key with Sons of Daniel – My Prayer / Jesus Died Tropical T127 Tropical 126 Tropical 29 Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Choir – Do You Know My Jesus / ? Gem 101 Human Race – Human Race / Gray Boy SOUL (late 60's release?) Gem 102 Eddie Holloway -- I Had A Good Time / I'm Standing By SOUL (Aug 70 release)

There's a photo of Treetop with his instruments (& ready to play) in this 2009 newspaper article. The piece also shows a photo of David Hudson who was performing at the establishment that night ........... https://www.miaminewtimes.com/restaurants/shantel-lounge-sunday-fish-fry-with-live-blues-and-randb-6565930 Shantel's Lounge is located on the corner of NW 7th St & 55th Terrace, just a short distance north of where the Tropical Records building is situated.

Treetop was in the house band at this club for a number of years back in the day ......

More info on Treetop .................. https://overtownmusicproject.org/overtown-musicians/tree-top

Miami based soulman Bobby Stringer (Fun City & SWAR Records) passed away last year and I don't believe the fact has been noted on here .................. https://overtownmusicproject.org/overtown-musicians/rip-bobby-stringer Bobby singing live deep soul not too long before he passed ......

This is a bit old now (the house was saved from a forced bank sale 6 months ago) but I don't recall it being reported at the time. Just shows, even a guy who had & made numerous hits and was a mainstay on the soul music scene can fall on hard times .............. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-blowfly-s-house-from-the-taxman

Treetop rehearsing for the concert shown on the last post (the Bobby Stringer Tribute show) .......... https://vimeo.com/48679193

Treetop (Treetop & the Soul Branches) was still active on the Miami music scene last year ......... ... here's a flyer for a Bobby Stringer (Fun City & Swar Records) Tribute show he played on ....

This Utica (not too far east of Buffalo & Syracuse) based outfit would press up 500 copies of your 45 in 1972 for $105. That worked out at around 20c per single.

Even the likes of H-D-H had to hire out their Detroit studio facilities after the guys had spent all the advance payments they had received for signing up with big national distributors (Capitol, Buddah, CBS, etc.). I don't know what their hire charges were back in around 73, but have some for an LA studio ........ .... they were charging $30 per hour for use of their facility in 1973. Like airplane seats and hotel rooms that if left empty earn no money, recording studios found themselves in a similar situation. A studio left empty earned nothing that day, so many would allow outside parties to make use of their facilities with no advance payment. Their hold on such artists making use of the studio was that they would hold onto the master tape until they were paid. So if the singer or their reps hadn't come up with the required fee, the master tapes stayed at the studio till money did change hands.

A Cleveland based company that turned your recordings into records ................ I have no costings for their work but have costings for other facilities that I will also post up .....

Tommy has messaged me with some further questions & I thought others might also be interested in the info. So I'm going to post it up on this thread and not just forward it to him privately . ....... Firstly some Cleveland studios that hired themselves out to outside parties. Cleveland never really had a large well financed home-town label (Way Out being just about the biggest there was but they were never really properly financed). So the local recording studios all had to hire themselves out to 'outside parties' to keep the work / monies rolling in.

There was also a 12 (?) track BONUS LP released as part of the V.A. package but this was a 'limited edition' item that quickly sold out. I know it featured tracks by the Sensations, Springers, Betty & Angel, Exceptional 3 and more but don't have the full track listing. Maybe another SS'er has a copy and can list all the cuts it contained.

Numero has bought the rights to the Way Out material but as of yet (as far as I know) they have only released a 40 track package that includes previously released tracks (+ the 32 track Lou Ragland package). On the V.A. compilation they have included the 2 Way Out tracks that Lou Ragland (& friends) cut under the name of Volcanic Eruption. An article about the release from about 9 months ago ... ...... https://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/old-soul-never-dies-a-quirky-historical-cleveland-record-label-gets-new-life/Content?oid=4342987 Guess we can expect further Way Out related stuff from them in the future but can't at present confirm this.

Most recording studios were available 'for hire' (& still are). The Motown studio (and most years) the Stax Studios were too busy to take 'outside bookings' but just about every other studio ran a for hire side to the business. In house sessions (for the studio's own label) didn't earn cash, they just cost money to run. So to fetch in 'outside income' most studios ran sessions paid for by 3rd parties (for instance I'd say the majority of sessions cut at Detroit's United Sound studios were for such 'outside' parties). You could either hire the studio with it's full compliment of musicians, producer, etc. OR just the room and the sound engineer to 'turn the knobs' & produce the master tape. Many 'outside artists' would have the song's picked out & learnt in advance, the arrangement organised, the musicians prepared BEFORE actually going into the hired studio. That way about 4 tracks could be cut, mixed & mastered in a 2 hour session. It was generally the small operator's studios that were used by 'private labels' as they were the cheapest and most amenable, I'm sure that not too many 'private label' sessions were booked at places like United Sounds in the studios heyday. Today you could hire a (basic) US studio for as little as $70 (for a 2hr duration session).

The Tropical Records shop (4950 NW 7th Ave) was still listed (in Billboard) as a 'Hot Black Singles Retail Outlet' as late as 1985 (along with Peaches, Specs and Rudy's Records which were also in Miami).

As John has said, usually refers to a 45 (or LP) pressed up by the artist himself (or his family / group). Huge numbers of gospel tracks released in this way. Recording session organised (in hired studio or in church) by actual artist. Record making (pressing process) organised & paid for by artist AND many times records mostly sold at the artist's live concerts (usually with no copies sent to distributors / very few or no promo copies sent out / very few copies sold via actual record shops).

More Boogaloo info here to further muddy the water (with regards to the origin of bugalu / boogaloo) ............ https://www.chancellorofsoul.com/jerryo.html

More on Nth Florida's Charles Vickers .............. Charles Vickers is a native of Daytona Beach, Florida. He first appeared on stage at the tender age of six. He was chosen to sing the Lord's Prayer by the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune at her college program. The event was held at White Hall on the campus of Bethune Cookman College and Charles Vickers was chosen to sing solo. Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune became a great inspiration in his life. Afterwards Dr. Bethune nodded a head of approval to the young singer. She was so amazed to see such a little fellow singing that song with such great enthusiasm! He learnt to play piano from his sister who was taking formal music lessons, quickly learning the keys on the piano. He later took lessons himself from a renowned pianist in Florida. At age of fourteen, Charles had his own gospel radio show a local radio station WDAT. He went on to host a local gospel TV show. By the time he turned twenty, Charles signed his first recording contract with King Records ("Do Me Good / Lost My Faith In You” King 45-6128 1967). “Do Me Good” escaped on V.A. LP's released in France & Germany. Charles was trained in classical and gospel music and although his records are still played all over the world, he has yet to receive anything more than a few dollars in royalties. Charles has a book (gospel themed) that is available from Amazon. "Do Me Good" ........... "Me Lost My Faith In You" ....

The Florida based outfit that also used the name Tropical Records was based out of two different places in the NE part of the State. One base was Ormond Beach which is on the Atlantic coast immediately north of Daytona Beach. When the label released the Bobby Williams 45 (see post #7) they were based out of Deland which is inland and about 40 kms from Ormond Beach. There is a bit of info on this TROPICAL RECORDS on the net ........ here's an extract (relevant bits) ....... ....... (some) TROPICAL RECORDS 45's 118: Charles Vickers -- Did You Have A Good Time / Every Day's Blue Monday 125: Charles Vickers -- Where Do The Teardrops Go / I'm Trying To Believe I'm Through (1967 release ?) 128: Country Church Singers -- Jesus Was A Helpful Man / And He Heard Me //Who Else Is Listening / Divine Guidance & Revelation 130: Bobby Williams & His Mar Kings -- Darling, Here Is My Heart / All The Time 136: True Heavenly Gospel Singers -- Nobody But You, Lord / Ain't It Sweet To Know 139: Charles Vickers -- No, No More Tears / Can't Get Anywhere With You // If I / Wondering, Wondering 140: Tammie Johns -- Soul Searching For My Baby / Soul Power (both wr. Sullivan-Sherman) 141: Mighty Willing Gospel Singers -- All The Way With Jesus / Have You Got Your Ticket 147: Roger Hamilton & Odds & Ends -- I'm A Mojo Man / Something's Wrong (c.'69) 153: Gospel Days -- I've Tried Jesus / Holdin' On By Faith 164: Charles Vickers -- That Little Honey Bee / Jim Lea -- You Can Light Another Candle (Chuck McCarthy) 167: Heavenly Trumpets -- I Want To Rest / O Not Enough Love 170: Sensational Spiritualaires -- Give Up The World / Son Of God 171: Charles Vickers -- Thunder Bay / Yes-es Of Yesterday 172: Charles Vickers -- Let There Be Another Tomorrow / Let's Go Back 172: Charles Vickers -- If The Hat Fits / You've Gotta Meet Your Partner ....... (some) TROPICAL RECORDS LP's 165: Charles Vickers -- The Charles Vickers Album Come On Down (Olga Wolkenstein) Over Too Soon (Gunther Woschank) If I ("Rebel" Fortini) I Don't Want To Dream An Impossible Dream (Gene Aloe) Witch Woman (Florence Trento-Gordon Florence) Did She Mention My Name? (Henry G. James) What More Can I Offer? (Albert McCauley) Half-Hearted (James Harmon-Henry Marcus) Raining Sorrow (Joseph Zavitsky-Helen Chaney) A Million Clowns (Jessie Munro) Twilight Lonely (Louis Petro-Bernard Reichman) Soul Searching For My Baby (Mike Sullivan-Don Sherman) ................................................................... 402: Charles Vickers -- Does Disco Baby, What's Gonna Happen Tonight? (Wanda & Wen Allen) Woman And Love (Theodore Stokes) Shut Your Mouth (Wanda & Wen Allen) Just To Get Her Out Of My Mind (Thelma Miller) Tryin' To Keep You Out Of My Mind (Lee Alison) Nightmare (Jim Kelly) Livin' In Paradise (Donnie Covington) Tug Of Love (Robert Bernasconi) Black Widow Spider (C.U. Smith) Disco Joggin' (Camille Beaulieu) Crazy Knockin' (Bernie Perry)* I Promised My Baby (Bernie Perry) There Can't Be A Dream Without A Dreamer (Cliff Huddleson & Stacey Stevens) .............................................................. 403: Charles Vickers -- Disco Pop For The 80's A Brand New Face (Edward Culver, R.C. Culver) I've Been A Fool (John Drogas) So Lonely (James Miliken) It's Significant (William Doane) True Love Can Never Go Wrong (Ted Nagle) You Are Mine (Wanda Allen, Wen Allen) Please Walk Away (Wanda Allen, Den Allen) Love Left Before I Woke (Larry Liljenquist) How Many Years 'Til April? (Vyrl Burghart) Gift Of Love (G.P. King) Home For Me Is Only Where You Are (Sonia Oliver) From The First Moment (Randy Braman) Nothing Will Keep Me From You (Lionel Beauchamp, Duane Hannigan) ALL ABOVE TAKEN FROM ......... https://www.songpoemmusic.com/labels/tropical.htm It makes sense that Charles Vickers cut for this Nth Florida label (& not the Miami based one) as he was born in Daytona Beach.