Roburt

Just noticed that there's an old thread on the label (from 2011) but it turned up little additional info on the enterprise.

A Gene Diamond 'Mothers' track that seems quite familiar !!!! Wonder if perhaps HB had cut it earlier on a group (perhaps from Ohio) ....

.......... INFO OFF THE NET ............... Round Robin was a Los Angeles-based singer who got his start in the early 60’s with the regional hit ‘Do the Slauson’, and was for a time (thanks to a lot of exposure on the Lloyd Thaxton TV show*) something of a West Coast, dance-craze Chubby Checker. In fact, so popular was ‘The Slauson’ that he devoted sides of his first three 45s to the ‘Slauson’ (a street in LA) -- ‘Slauson Shuffle Time’, ‘Slauson Party’ and ‘Do the Slauson’. He recorded more than a dozen 45s between 1963 and 1975, running the gamut from R&B/twist party. His only Capitol 45 featured "The Vulture". The record has a deceptively slow, spoken opening before Round Robin drops in with a loud, overwrought and vaguely out of tune shout of ‘The Vulture’ and the tune hits a solid four on the floor dancers beat, with just enough vibes and baritone sax in the background. All this in addition to the fact that the record was produced by the mighty David Axelrod. ........ LLoyd Thaxton was a major LA-based TV and radio personality, whose dance party show was syndicated for a time in the 60s. Round Robin apparently released a couple of albums for Thaxton, so the chances are that there are in fact even more ‘Slauson’ tunes. Interestingly enough, Bob & Earl reportedly looked to ‘Slauson Shuffle Time’ for inspiration when they whipped up the mighty ‘Harlem Shuffle’. ........ MORE OFF THE NET ........... I played bass for Round Robin for several years from 1969 through 1975. He was a really good guy. We traveled from L.A. to Miami, to Chicago, New York, Texas, Colorado & all stops in between. We had a kick butt band with two guitars, Larry Green, who played & sang great, from Fort &Worth, and Dub Craft from L.A. who we called Zero. For a while, we even had two drummers. One of the drummers was Ollie Lamey who later resided in Las Vegas. The other drummer was from Cuba, and played conga drums when he wasn’t needed on the trap set. On sax was Arnold Barry, we called him Stunigan, and he hailed from New York City. He was a good singer, too. We also had a trumpet player, his name escapes me, and a trombone player, Rex White from Florida. We played James Brown, Chicago type music and everything funky from the times. The house was always packed no matter where we were. Robin wound up in Dallas building huge, wonderful, custom homes in the Plano area and then I lost track of him. Dallas seemed to be his home base as his act was truly loved there. Robin was kind and always tried to keep every band member happy, which is a very hard thing to do. Robin was very funny during the shows we performed, he danced light on his feet and belted out tunes with his soul. Thanks, Ray Brown; bass player, Round Robin (wonder how he got his name !?!) appearing on the Lloyd Thaxton TV show ........

Sharon got to appear on a few TV shows back then. She appeared on 'Allen Ludden's Gallery' TV show in August 69 (Spanky Wilson had also on the show 6 weeks earlier). In November 1970, she was featured on the 'Rosey Grier Show' (his series was on US TV for over a year). I wonder if clips from either show have survived ? A Sharon Cash 'Mothers' LP track ..........

Spanky Wilson ............ ....... AND LIVE .............

Little Gary Ferguson on 'the Beat'. His performances on the show were seen across the US in 1966 .............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWL2tdNfQ6A ... AND on 'Mothers' .............

This label, which was owned by a Jay Ward & based in LA, sprung into life in 1967, burnt bright for some months and then disappeared in 1970. All its releases were credited to Jay Ward Productions but I don't believe that Jay was very 'hands-on' in the studio. H B Barnum seemed to be the guy who guided the artists through the recording process, though the label's output didn't really enjoy great commercial sales levels back then. The mix of artists signed to the label was all over the place. Jazz singer Teri Thornton had the first single to come out on 'Mothers' and her outing has fans on here. The B side of her 45 was just recently posted up on another thread (Soul Source Record Club). Round Robin (Lloyd) had been around a while in recording terms also. He had cut for Domain in the mid 60's and had appeared on the Lloyd Thaxton TV show. Round Robin's "Kick That Little Foot Sally Ann" had been a hit with UK mods in the mid 60's. His later outings on Stax's Truth label (the Round Robin Monopoly) have also garnered many fans down the years. Little Gary Ferguson was (if my memory ain't playing tricks) originally from the south (Dallas, Texas) and he first cut there for Red Bean Records. He really sprang to fame after he moved to the Nashville area. Back then, he was just 6 years old and seemed to be marketed as a rival to 'Little' Stevie Wonder (though he based his stage act around James Brown tunes). Another of his top live performance songs back then was "Midnight Hour". Gary made a few appearances on 'the Beat' TV show in 1966 and as these have survived, lots of soul fans now know of this kid's high profile back then. After his spell in Nashville, he headed out to LA to perform and was signed eventually to 'Mothers'. After his stint with 'Mothers', he was signed to (Ike & Tina's) Pompeii Records and the NS biggie "There's A Gift" was released. Gene Diamond I know little about other than that he cut other stuff for TAG ("I'm Only A Man") and his 'Mothers' 45 featured a Frank Wilson (of Motown fame) song. He also seemed to have powerful friends (Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr, etc) when it came to political issues. Via Mothers & Snarf, he put out a campaign single supporting local Major Bradley. In February 1970, the LA Times reported on a live club appearance he had done. Their reporter thought that Gene had possibilities but still seemed to be searching for his own sound. Jazz lady Spanky Wilson had the most releases on the label and she would go onto bigger things via her Eastbound / Westbound Records releases in the mid 70's. Sharon Cash made her start with 'Mothers' towards the end of the label's life. She then cut for Playboy Records before becoming a member of the Honeycones (Hot Wax) in the mid 70's. Michael 'Love'Smith worked with her at Hot Wax. A partial run-down on the labels releases can be found here ........ https://www.discogs.com/label/Mothers+Records+%26+The+Snarf+Company

Steve, Best I can do is the 45 label scan above ...... or if audio is needed, this alt version .......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJ93qmj0Rs Unless this is the same as the HOB version .............. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Up-Above-My-Head/dp/B002FROQZ6/ref=sr_1_53?ie=UTF8&qid=1374868197&sr=8-53&keywords=BROCKINGTON+ENSEMBLE

Seems that in it's early years (mid 60's) this outfit was just called the 'Gospel Singers Ensemble'. There's a track (11) by an outfit with that name on this great 2fer CD compilation ...... https://www.music-bazaar.com/world-music/albums/view/id/259701/name/Great-Black-Gospel-Music-CD-2 Wonder if it's them or a different outfit altogether (perhaps the Rev Douglas Fulton's group) ? BTW, Track 1 on the CD could perhaps go down well with alniter audiences !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32hD6xRFvkY

Anyone track down Irvin Brockington down the years to ask him if he's got any copies of the Arctic 45 ? Seems that they celebrated 50 years in the music biz this year ........... .... The Brockington Ensemble will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary on Saturday June 8, 2013 @4pm at Mt. Airy C.O.G.I.C. 6401 Ogontz Ave. Our Main guest all the way from Washington DC Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music.. Along with the Inspirational Choral Ensemble from Atlantic City, NJ and the Gospel Blenders from Philadelphia. Tickets are $15 - $20 at the door so Please see any member of the Brockington Ensemble or contact Professor Irvin Brockington 215-676-5X8X MORE HERE ....... https://www.phillytrib.com/religionarticles/item/9746-ensemble-celebrates-50th-anniversary.html I always wondered if Irvin was related to Baltimore's Julius Brockington, but I guess he ain't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh-DErg8_5g

Yet more cuts by them ............ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY7Nqii-uAE From The Album "Guide Me" -- 1971 -- HOB Records https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRDpcecOK38 More info on them here .... https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Brockington-Ensemble/343924125652186?sk=info

Started in 1963 by Professor Irvin Brockington and hailing from Philadelphia, this ensemble has been seen on PBS and BET and has shared the stage with gospel greats Rance Allen and The Clark Sisters in the gospel play "Momma Don't". The 15th release from the ensemble was preceeded by a lead-out single "I Came To Worship You". They have had stuff put out by the likes of Hob, Savoy, Sweet Rain, Paradise & more. Their Hob tracks were just about all cut in the Scepter Recording Studios in New York, so someone at the company must have liked them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzE5cRmTqs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sega4qN_BSI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=havfBGkSBLs

This Philly gospel outfit have had quite a few well distributed releases (almost 20) since 1970 to say their 1st (?) outing on Arctic has remained such an illusive item own the years ............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMSJLrchLRo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EIkarZ-tUo

Works fine, some great ads up there.

You can listen to "Catch Action" here (though not buy a copy of the 12") ........ https://www.firstexperiencerecords.com/product-detail/Vinyl+Singles/64/Sheridan+House/Ty+Karim+%26+George+Griffin/Keep+On+Doin'+Whatcha'+Doin'/vinyl/2490

O'Malley's Romark track ain't on youtube, but you can listen to a snippet of it here ......... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pay-And-Be-On-Way/dp/B00CX1K0GI

O'Malley's singing on this track (from 1980) as well ............. a twice released (on different labels) 12" single ........ https://www.discogs.com/Ty-Karim-George-Griffin-Ty-Towana-Feat-OMalley-Jones-Keep-On-Doin-Whatcha-Doin-Catch-Action/release/1528165

Thanks for the pointer Ady, its a good clip (& there are others of him). What age must he be now ?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BeC30Ey-iQ

Gloria Milller, one of Mayfield's lead vocalists, performing a while back ...

How did the foreign (UK, France, Switzerland) licensing deals come about & who ran the UK Airwave label (who put out the Mel Carter & Monalisa Young single) ?

Lifted from the anorakscorner web site ...... ...... PRESSING PLANT INFO ...... H.V. Waddell Co. - Burbank, Calif. -- Featued a "W" stamped in the dead-wax. Closed in the mid-80's. So Airwave were using the place to make their test pressings in late 82. Guess they had their 'normal stock' pressed up there as well back then. Info on a fraction of what was pressed up at Waddells here ..... https://www.discogs.com/label/H.V.+Waddell+Co.

Found this out while tidying up old paperwork that I had filed away (in no particular order) about 20 years ago. Scanner 'up the spout' at present, so could only take a photo of it. Wonder if the info it contains fetches back any memories for Robb ? Some info here .... https://www.discogs.com/label/Airwave%20Records%20(2) & here .... https://www.discogs.com/label/Airwave+International

Back to 1967 now & Sheffield's King Mojo Club ........... Only actually attended the niter that was held on 1st April when the (fake) Drifters were the live act. My mate Tom Sleight wouldn't go to the niter on 4th March coz no live act was on and we'd been to see the Alan Bown Set there the Sunday before. So he couldn't see the point in heading over to Sheffield once again. Didn't go see Zoot Money either as cash that week was short and we'd seen Zoot's Big Roll Band at the Boulevard (Tadcaster) on NY's Eve. Zoot & the group had turned up really late that night which had screwed up the night's timetable on that important occasion. Anyway, Steve Jennison & Graham Bolton were over in Dony (from Hull) that weekend, so we took em out on the town and then gatecrashed a couple of late night parties. Spent the middle of the following week in Hull (the place always had a great nite life scene back then). Grey Bolton And Phil Smith came back to Sth Yorks with us and we all went to the Mojo niter together on the Saturday (Tom Sleight also being a member of our small troop). Had a great time at the niter but did note down that there was a lack of 'birds' in attendance at the club that night. Made no mention of what songs the 'Drifters' performed or how good I thought they were.

Eddie was surely destined to develop into an actual tree ... ... but he went through a wild unruly stage (a bit like you good sir) and so was cut off in his prime.

No good on current prices but I'd guess you'd get little (or no change) from £500.