Roburt

Not according to Mercury Records press briefings given at the very end of 1965 & reported by the likes of Billboard. See below ......... ........ seems Mercury were takin loads of outside guys on at that time; Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance, Chip Taylor, Shadow Morton, Dave Bartholomew, Jerry Ross, Ted Cooper, Carl Spencer, Pac 4, Major Bill Smith & Bob Bateman .............

We could do with a 'new' decent Mag Men compilation CD .......... Collectables put a CD on the group out in the US about 20 years back ..... ..... BUT we need a decent one put together by a real soul fan. Where's Ian Dewhirst or Ady when you need them ????

A short piece on Bob Bateman & his biggest song at Motown ......... https://www.alexandermagazine.com/recordingeq/weeklytip/06tip03-3b_new.asp I know Bateman was working for Mercury in 1965/66, probably in New York (or maybe Chicago) ? So how come he came to end up working in New York and no longer being a part of the Motown team ..... ....... was he 'sidelined' there & thought he could do better working 'independently' ?

Will this do instead .............. ....... OR THIS ........... ......... OR EVEN THIS ...........

An ad from back in the day ............

Guess there was no connection between these later (Chicago based?) Fabulous Playboys (with Thomas East) and the outfit above (who became the Falcons on Atlantic, LuPine, Big Wheel & Moira).

This was Detroit, even though it escaped on a New York label .......... Was it on Daco first & then picked up by Apollo for wider distribution ?

Nudaun ....... Erma Franklin .............

The Ronettes .............

The Sam Cooke (soundalike) song that was also used ...........

Dinah Washington ...........

Don't start blind buying 45's made by Dusty Williams thinking you might find a NS gem ......... The main 'Dusty Williams' who recorded (for the likes of Boney Records through the 60's) is a hillbilly C&W style singer ..... AND .......... don't buy rekids by this Geno by mistake either .........

Gino & Dusty ....... on youtube ......... An e-mail address for Dusty is up on the clip. Get in touch with him & ask him the full story.

Rufus in his RCA days ..............

Rufus Lumley I'm Standing ........ This 45 was the very first record I paid £10 for - remembering my weekly wage in 1972 was only £8.00 ....... Wow, paying over a week's wages for a record made by a 'hillbilly' singer (who started out doing a cowboy song type show).

On Ebay at present .......... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PYE-record-maker-TYPE-1-/161026699816?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Turntables&hash=item257df07228

It was called the Pye Record Maker .... they were 'the most exiting development ever' ..... ...... you can still buy olduns on Ebay & the blank discs also turn up on there (& in charity shops). Pye was based in Cambridge back then, so I guess quite a few turn up in that area.

Not an expert on this 45 BUT the Jamie / Guyden guy's son was based in the UK in the 70's and told his dad all about NS interest in 60's Philly tracks. Coz of that loads of 45 on labels that Jamie Guyden controlled (Arctic / Phil LA of Soul) were pressed up for a 2nd time. Guess this was one of those singles.

John Gary Williams Documentary Film - I See Hope View full article

Its stated on the net that Rufus lived all over the US, though he never lived in Minneapolis (or Detroit). He was born in 1938, grew up & seemed to spend much of his life in Connecticut in the area bounded by New York & Rhode Island. He went To Lodge Professional School, a high school in New York that trained actors (a sort of 'Fame' type place). It seems his main 'skill' back then was his dancing ability. In 1957, he was based out of Bridgeport and was performing locally as a 'hillbilly' singer (doing a cowboy type song show). He then got involved with shows staged by the University of Bridgeport (around 1958/59). In 1959, he enlisted in the US Air Force and was sent to a base in Texas. No doubt his spell in the air force resulted in him 'living all over the US'. After his stint in the air force was over, he returned to Connecticut and he next turns up in the New York area trying to land a record deal. This he did, initially with Holton ( & then RCA). As by the mid 60's, soul type songs were dominating the charts, Holton seemed to have got him to record stuff in a similar mode. In summer 1966, he was holding down an engagement singing in a Norwalk, Connecticut restaurant (accompanying himself on the organ), so his Holton record deal doesn't seem to have raised his profile that much. When signed to RCA in 67, he was sent on visits to radio stns as far afield as Chicago to plug his records. He also had a spell in LA (1968) during which he played lots of live shows (perhaps he was trying to break into acting as well). In the mid to late 70's he was living in Baltic, Connecticut (a small place between Hartford & Providence). So by 1978, he would have been 40 years old and probably gave up his dream to make it as a recording star around then and took a 9-to-5 job.

Guess this is the same Ronnie McCain. In 1970, along with Sharon Redd (Gene Redd's daughter), he was down in Australia performing in 'Hair'.

I don't know if this is already common knowledge but long time stalwart of the Pittsburgh soul music scene Bobby Wayne passed away last year. Bobby was born Wayne Boykin, though for just about his whole music career he went by the name Bobby Wayne. After first establishing himself on the Pittsburgh club scene around the early 60's, he and his band (Bobby & the Vanguards) toured all over. They did gigs up in Ohio and across in Canada. While up in those parts he played shows backing Darrell Banks and the two guys got to know each other. Not long after this, Darrell had some shows in Pittsburgh (a week long engagement I believe) and Wayne went along to renew their friendship. Darrell hired him to open the show and the two became firm friends, Darrell made an effort & spent time schooling Wayne in stage technique. In the late 60's, Wayne went across to LA and cut some tracks with Arthur Wright. Two of these were leased by Atlantic and released on 45 (credited as by Wayne Boykin) around summer 1969. Another track cut at that time, "Gray Skies" remained in the tape vaults until discovered by Ace about 10 years back. Ady liked the track and included it on a Kent / Modern compilation CD. Wayne soon headed back to Pittsburgh and there he joined a group as their lead singer. He remained in the music biz right through the 70's, ending up in a local 'supergroup' Takin' Names. Wayne continued to play live gigs until the late 90's when a US based NS fan hooked up with him and signed him to his Bonedog Records. Some of his new recordings found favour with UK soulies and were licensed for release here by Grapevine. Two more decent CD albums followed after 2000 and both of these ('Hit That Thing' & 'Soul Station') enjoyed decent sale levels. Sadly Wayne passed away last year.

If you wanna make that prized 45 look just a little bit more special ............ ..... check out this site to see if there's a custom sleeve available ....... https://www.45rpmrecords.com/ms/index_list.php

Now you're askin sumat, after all it was over 40 years ago. As I recall, it was an electrical shop that had a record department rather than a dedicated record shop. It was about 100 yds down from the Town Hall on the west side of Pinstone St (before that becomes the Moor). But my memory could be a bit defective & I have no idea what its name was.