Roburt

In Jesse's first stint with 20th Century, he was initially handled by the label's west coast office (by Hosea Wilson). But the label closed down its west coast office and so Jesse was transferred across to be dealt with by the label's New York office. Things didn't improve though and he was left without a record deal when the label was closed down. They didn't really do right by him during his 2nd stint at the label either ..... talk about being jinxed.

Seeing as I posted up a Jesse James 45 in post # 10, I thought it might interest a few here if I put up an extract from my bio on Jesse James ............ ... the extract relates to his periods signed to 20th Century (+ the intervening years) .............. In May 67, Jesse came to the attention of 20th Century Fox Records' Hosea Wilson. Signed to a record deal with the label, money was advanced to allow Jesse to cut a full album. At Sierra Sounds Recording Studio (Berkeley) the whole project was quickly completed, with Willie Hoskins handling arranger’s duties. The two part “Believe In Me Baby” was the obvious cut to form his initial 20th Century single. With the labels promotions team on the case, the 45 took off immediately. In early September 1967 it entered the national charts where it stayed for 2 months, attaining a Top 50 placing. With a hit now under his belt, 20th Century released a (self titled) album and they also coupled “Thank You Darlin” with “Bring My Baby Back” (yet again) to form his next single. This outing failed to chart and so two further tracks were lifted from his album to form a third 20th Century 45. “Green Power” was the side of this record that was promoted, however it’s the flip, “If You’re Lonely (Take My Hand)”, that has really stood up to the test of time. By now Hosea Wilson had taken over as his manager and this led to a release on the Uni label prior to Hosea starting his own labels (Zea & Zay Records). Jesse’s first outing on Zea, “Don’t Nobody Want To Get Married”, returned him to the national charts in August 1970. The track rose to reach #18 on Billboard, so becoming the biggest hit of his entire career (its success resulted in the single gaining a UK release on Mojo). “I Need You Baby” (Zea) became Jesse’s next single and this classy ballad had him on the charts again in April 1971. Further chart success came with “At Last” (on Zay at the end of 1971) and “I Need Your Love So Bad” followed in 1972 (“I Know I’ll Never Find Another One” being used as the flip to both 45’s). A return to 20th Century Records occurred in summer 74 when “You Ought To Be Here With Me” was issued by the label. But it was Jesse’s next outing, “If You Want A Love Affair” (arranged by H B Barnum and produced by Ron Carson), that returned him to the charts in July 1975. Strangely, 20th Century didn’t issue a follow-up single and so it was left to Ron Carson to put out Jesse’s next effort on his Happy Fox label.

AN EXTRACT FROM THE BIO I WROTE ON TROY (KEYES) BACK IN 2005 ............. Born in Pantego, North Carolina in 1940 Troy’s love of music developed while singing in his local church choir. At age 10 he moved to Brooklyn, New York but continued to sing. During these formative years Troy would hang with the crowd developing Doo-Wop harmonies on street corners. In the mid 1950s he became a member of Brooklyn based group the Starlites. In no time they had entered and won a talent contest and this netted them a recording contract. The resultant single "Missing You" (Peak) has gone on to become a much sought after collectors item. From the Starlites, Troy briefly joined acclaimed New York outfit the Velours (who would evolve into the Fantastics). Troy got to sing lead on just one of their cuts, “I’ll Never Smile Again” (Cub; 1958), but made a good friend in group member Richie Pitts. Troy was introduced to Bob Crewe by the Starlite’s Clifford Rice and with Bob he cut “The World Without You” (Atco) and this was released under the name of Mitchell Keyes. With the multi-talented Bob Crewe encouraging Troy, his confidence grew and he quickly honed his vocal and writing skills. Troy then teamed up with Clifford Rice, Jimmy Williams and Bobby Hoggard to form the group the High Keyes and they hit big with their first release “Que Sera, Sera” (Atco). A top 40 pop chart hit across the USA in 1963, the track also charted in Canada and was issued in the UK on London. In addition to recording their own tracks, the High Keyes also provided backing vocals in the studio for artists such as Lennie O’Henry. Fate though took a hand and Troy was drafted into the US forces. However he still utilised his vocal talents, entering and winning the All Army talent contest as a solo singer. On his return from the forces, Troy reformed the High Keyes along with Jimmy Williams and new members Calvin Williams and Bubbles Moore. Under the supervision of George Kerr in 1965, they recorded their only Verve release, “Living A Lie”, but this failed to chart. Later however this would become a highly prized item with Northern Soul fans. Impressed with George Kerr’s studio skills, Troy kept in touch and this was to pay dividends. In late 1967, George oversaw a session at New York’s ABC studio at which the backing vocals and music track for a song he had written were laid down. All he needed now was the right lead voice to finish it off. Remembering Troy’s earlier efforts for him, George gave him the lyric sheet for “Love Explosion”. Troy learnt the song and just three weeks later he was in the studio completing the track in just one take. On its release in January 1968, the record instantly started to gain massive radio airplay and made it onto the US charts. Industry politics reared their ugly head though and this prevented the single from fully delivering on its true potential. ABC persevered but Troy’s follow-up 45 “No Sad Songs” (written by Sammy Turner) and a duet he cut with Norma Jenkins, “A Love Gone Bad” both failed to make any significant impact.

Not an EP but marketed purely for jukebox use .... hence it had to be a 7" and was designated as a 'Little LP' (some companies called them mini LP's). The evolution of these records is dealt with in some depth on the earlier thread (7" LP's). If you started talking about EP's with a US record collector, he would struggle to understand what you were on about. It was only in the UK, France & Europe that EP was a term that was in common useage.

Troy was on at Prestatyn and was convinced to come over here to perform by his old friend Richie Pitts. I spent some time chatting with Troy at the weekender and he never mentioned being Lenny O'Henry. Richie is on Facebook and knew Troy well back in the High Keyes & Velours period. Go on Facebook, pull up Richie's profile and ask him the question. I'm sure he'll say that Troy and Lenny are not one & the same.

A montage showing how the Record Company's label artwork evolved with time ............

I put up a thread on here about mini / little LP's last year. On that thread, I posted various ads for these 7" jukebox records. Amongst them was this ad for London Label 'Little LP's' that was in the music / jukebox mags back in 1968 ....... Amongst the releases available back then was the Willie Mitchell one that contained "the Champion". The outfits who pressed these records up & marketed them to jukebox renters seemed to do a number all at once, so the dates when the mini LP's became available didn't often tie in with the date the full LP had been released ............

"Use Your Head" was Mary's biggest seller on 20th Century Fox. It peaked at No. 13 on the (Billboard) national R&B chart and even managed to make it onto the national Pop Top 40 charts. It makes sense then that this 45 would have been pressed up on both the west & east coasts (to meet peak demand). Both R&B and Pop radio stations across the US would have been sourced with promo copies. ...... and thus there were 2 x demo copies PLUS 2 x issue copies of the 45 manufactured.

Guess the R.P.M Generation track ended up on Romar coz it was masterminded by John D'Andrea (who no doubt was the same guy as the 60's singer John Andrea).

Back to the Cornelius Dwyer 45 .... ...... is much of anything known about the guy ? .... was he white or black ? ..... was he west coast or east coast based (I'd guess at east coast, maybe the Philly area) ?? I know a fair bit about the guy who produced his tracks .... R. P. Marcucci. Bob Marcucci had started out managing 'manufactured' film / pop stars in the late 50's / early 60's. His biggest successes came with Fabian and Frankie Avalon. He had borrowed a wad of cash to start Chancellor Records around 1956. At Chancellor, his biggest success came with Claudine Clark though the likes of Josef Damiano & Fram Lori did little. He next signed the 'Fabian styled' Mark Valentino with Swan in 1962. He also signed Johnny Burnett to Chancellor that year. In 65 he was trying to get hits on a guy named John Andrea (guess Marcucci invented names for most of the artists he signed). The Chancellor label eventually collapsed and he moved on to form Robert P. Marcucci Productions. It must have been for that outfit that he cut Cornelius Dwyer and pacted him with 20th Century Fox. Fabian was signed as an actor to 20th Century Fox which is probably how Mancucci got close to the guys at the company. He reactivated Chancellor in 68 but it didn't last long. Then he started up the Romar label around 1970 and this enjoyed its biggest UK success with a (NS played) instro from the R.P.M. Generation -- "Rona's Theme". This had started life as a TV show theme & so his Hollywood connections probably helped land the 45 on his label). After Romar went under, he teamed up with Tony Camillo (Gladys Knight, etc) to manage the likes of Chelsea Records artist Ronnie Williams. He was still managing singers from his LA office in 1974 but without much success. The 1980 film 'The Idolmaker' was based on his life / career. He passed away in 2011.

Another question ..... ....... how many 45's were bought in from indie labels in 65 / 66 and released on 20th Century Fox's (TCF) Fox Family label ? .............. and were any of these soul tracks ???

Of course, the guys from the successful film division always kept an overview of things at the record label. Film execs knew the value of a star name and so decided to land one for the record label. Mary Wells was in dispute with Berry Gordy at Motown and so she was poached in summer 1964. She was tempted to the label by a large 'signing-on fee' plus the carrot of possible roles in films and so she duly joined the label. Though top record producers & songwriters were hired to cut tracks on her, none really repeated the level of success she had enjoyed at Motown (though she did have 2 R&B Top 20 hits early in 65 -- "Use Your Head" & "Never, Never Leave Me"). By the end of 1965, she had moved on to Atlantic and the label was left without a figurehead artist again.

The thread about the Cornelius Dwyer 45 got me thinking what a strange concern 20th Century (Fox) Records was. 20th Century Fox was (of course) originally a large successful film company. They had movie soundtracks & songs from popular films under their ownership plus of course they ran the 20th Century Fox Symphony Orchestra that provided the background soundtrack on films as well as playing a few live gigs in LA. The film executives wanted to exploit the music they had under their control more effectively and (as records were selling in much greater numbers by the mid to late 50's), they started a record company division in 1958 (20th Century Records). In 1963, this was renamed 20th Century Fox Records. Although the parent company was Hollywood based, they decided to set up the record labels HQ in New York (where many big record companies had their home base). Even though they set on an experienced team to run the record label, they struggled to make a massive impact (hit wise). So around spring 1966 they re-organised the management, the old guys moving on and a new team taking over. This didn't really seem to work and the label soon went into hibernation for a few months. However in July 1966 they re-established the record label's west coast office and poached Jackie Mills from Mainstream Records to act as A&R chief. At the same time, Seymour Poe (Exec VP of the film division) signed a deal for ABC Records to act as distributor for the label. Things got going again in 1967 with product being sourced by both the NY and LA offices of the label. Once again however, the label failed to make money and after initially closing the west coast office (which Calif's Jesse James had been signed to), in 1970 the parent company shut the label down again. But the record biz was very lucrative back then and so the film guys decided it was worth another try in 1972. This time, they did manage to get lots of success, mainly from April 1973 onwards with the likes of Barry White spearheading the hits they enjoyed. BUT back to 1966 ........ as the label was fading away back then, it's releases became more random. TV had become big and was having more impact than film, so I guess the film guys got involved again and as a result 'Batman' Adam West was signed to a record deal in March 66. A 45 followed around April and this had the Catalogue No. # 627. The Cornelius Dwyer 45 became 20th Century Fox 45 # 637 not too long afterwards ... this must have been one of the last 45 releases by the failing label (which probably accounts for its rarity .... does issue copies exist ??). Of course, with 20th Century being a strong international company, the label had numerous overseas licensing deals. So loads of stuff from the label escaped around the world, many via the deal they had done with EMI (who placed the releases on its Stateside label in various countries). Anyone here have a list of the last 45's the label released and when in 1966 these escaped ???

Deffo, some real duffers there.

Can't help with a large format 60's piccy of her (though no doubt there are decent quality photos of her in that era in an old Cleggy Weekender programme or in the CD booklet that goes with a Kent CD). Adey / Ace will certainly have one. I've dozens of decent photos of her takem at various UK shows but they're from a much later period than you require. HOWEVER ......... here's one of her when she signed to Jubilee in 1968 (when "The Hurt Is Just Beginning" was due out on Josie) ...... ........ in piccy with her is Jubilee's Tommy Smalls (ex NY radio DJ Dr Jive) ...............

I guess Keith Jones owned / ran Key -Jo Records. Did any other artists have releases on the label ? A less souful outing from Alvin ......

Was very popular (US R&B chart Top 20 / Pop Top 40) and sold (in US / UK) over an extended period. Guess it was pressed in more than one plant on a number of occasions, so it should be available in various incarnations.

I like (& have) all 3 versions ......... Dells is the best IMHO ...

His summer 1970 outing on Pin Point Records ...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZsFsLx-lQM

His Action(-Ville) Records outing from spring 1967 ......

Is much at all known about Alvin Christy who was active on the New York recording scene from the early / mid 60's through to the early 70's .... He made dance themed, northern & funk tracks for the Key-Jo, Action & Pin Point labels............

It ain't that rare on 7", there were quite a few copies about at the time of its release. Of course, most who now seek copies weren't interested in it back then. I got a couple of copies for just pence and also a 12" copy (though that mix is crap compaired to the 7" version). Still got 1 copy of both the 7 & 12 somewhere here.

Swamp got back to me with a quick piece of related info ............. He states that he worked quite a bit with Matt Parsons in the early 60's -- they wrote songs and produced tracks together. Sometimes Matt used Nostrap instead of his real name to ID some of that work. Some examples of artists they worked with were Little Jerry (Williams), J.D. Bryant, Freddie Houston, Tony Middleton, etc. ........... PLUS of course, Witches & the Warlock ...... below a scan of their BRA 45 ..........

I've asked Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams) to send his thoughts back to the 60's to try to pull up his recollections on the group & his work with them. ........ He says he's gonna get back to me & I'll pass along what he reports. As an opener, he tells me he has enough tracks (under his juristiction) to put out an album full of their (the Witches & a Warlock) tracks and has been considering doing this recently ...... SOUNDS MOST INTERESTING ......... Swamp was involved with the Miami based BRA label and so no doubt he had something to do with "Behind Locked Doors" appearing as a release on the label.

The live LP they made together didn't really capture the atmosphere of their live shows (or even the true sound of the songs they played). Together, they made great music. The Senate were massive fans of US soul singers and backed many of them on UK tours. I got the LP back when it was first released but have always been a bit disappointed in what it contains ......... but that's 'by the by'. I saw Garnett a few times back then live (1966/67). He toured at least twice (probably 3 times) and we caught him on the Saville Theatre show plus on club dates. My old Dony mate, Tom Sleight, even went to see him twice in 2 days (at the Nite Owl on Sat 23rd Sept 67 & at the Mojo on Sunday 24th Sept). Garnett had noticed him down front at the Nite Owl & pointed him out to the Mojo audience as being back to see him again so soon afterwards (it had been the 2nd last Mojo allniter ever on the Saturday night & I just coudln't miss that event, so only got to see Garnett on the Sunday show). I was one of the 'in crowd' at the Mojo (knowing Pete Stringfellow's brother Geoff well), so got to visit the dressing room before the show to chat with Garnett. He was a really nice guy but had no real idea about the UK soul scene or who his fans were or even how we got to know his tracks so well. ANYWAY, live he was great. "Looking For You" was just a 'throw-away' B side back then so he didn't perform it in his live show. He did however do great versions of "Its Been Such A Long Way Home" & "I'll Take Good Care Of You" + others I can't be sure of now (the LP isn't to hand to check what he sang). It was still very special back then to get to see one of our 'top idols' perform live and I'm just glad I got to witness him (in his prime) a couple of times.