Roburt

Arc Records (who released the Eddie Spencer 45) were well established in Canada by the 60's. They seemed to specialise in Country music releases though they also put out polka & ethnic music recorded by Canadian artists. They made a big push in 1967, putting out 20 albums to help celebrate their centennial year. See here for info on some of their 45 releases ............ https://www.45cat.com/label/arc-ca By 1969 they were getting more into contemporary pop & rock, having had hits on such acts as the Paupers, Sugar Shoppe & David Clayton-Thomas. Seems that their Eddie Spencer signing was part of a start in that direction that they had taken in 68 ......... Don't think the Arc Eddie Spencer 45 can be that rare though no doubt most copies disappeared straight into Canadian homes in the late 60's, never to reappear.

Yes, you're right. Seems that Lambert & Stamp hit on the idea themselves. They wanted Track Records to rival the Tamla Motown & Atlantic labels in the UK as a major R&B source back in 1967. It never really worked out, sales wise for them. Nancy Lewis was still in the same job in summer 1970 (a member of the Who's management team). She accepted a gold disc from Decca Records (US) on behalf of the group in early August 1970

Polydor just distributed Track Records. The label was run by the Who's management team ..... Kit Lambert & Chris Stamp. The pair were mates of RSG's Vicki Wickham, who in 1970 became Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles manager. Wickham renamed the group LaBelle & they moved to the UK. They signed with Lambert / Stamp at Track and recorded some cuts here in the UK (these weren't released till 76). LaBelle opened some shows for the Who but in late 70 returned to the US. LaBelle eventually hit big in 1974 & had 6 hits in all thru to the end of 76 (it was those hits that prompted Lambert & Stamp to release a couple of the group's earlier UK recordings on a Track 45 in 76). Not sure who hooked Lambert & Stamp up with their Detroit connection; could well have been someone at Polydor.

Track Records deal with their Detroit contacts seemed to be over in 3 months (Nov 67 -- Jan 68), though their licensing deals obviously lasted longer as some of their soul releases were reissued later in the 60's (the Debonaires single escaping on 45 very early in the 70's). The label's last soul release in 1976 featured two LaBelle UK recorded cuts.

November 67 ..... ......... see here https://www.45cat.com/label/track

My fave Margie cut ..................

Sir Shambling's web site gives a good rundown on her recording career ................. https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/A/margie_alexander/index.php

A very sad loss ..................

Margie Alexander R I P View full article

Quite a few El Caminos in fact ..... ..... a southern suburb of San Fran is called El Camino and a major highway, El Camino Real, runs through it. Then up on the San Fran northern shoreline there's another road that uses the name (El Camino Del Mar). Guess the label was really named after one of those (though the mountain range makes a much better visual to put on the label).

Song written by group member Charles Dyall. He also wrote their biggie from that period ("Safari" -- released in the UK on Epic & also in the US). "Dancing Feet" was put out on a 7" promo single in Sweden; the only copies being given away to people in the audience at a Stockholm club the group played back then.

Been in touch with the current license holder in the US & he's quite happy to grant the rights for "You Belong To Me" & any 2nd Earl Gains track for release on 45 if anyone here's interested.

The shows stars on US TV ........... ....... you have to sit thru a commercial 1st ........... https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/motown-musical-cast-preview-ready-dancing-streets-performance-18879821

Another sought after 45 from guys out of the team that cut the Troy Dodds tracks .......... This (demo) 45 features Walter Hawkins (Edwin's brother) & his sisters. It wouldn't be a bad guess that the El Camino cuts were also laid down at Studio 10 in SanFran.

The HBR 45 (the one with & without the mis-press) ........... he only had 2 x 45 releases on the label (+ the mis-press version of this un) ............ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkSvRKcc_1M

The US 45 version .............

Yep, numerous different Jamaican Stax 45 label colours exist ............ here's just a few ............ https://www.45cat.com/label/stax-jm

Probably a multitude of reasons. The uva side of this Sam & Dave 45 ("It Was So Nice While It Lasted" -- US) 1st gets a mention in Billboard mag in March 1963 when it is noted that Roulette's Bud Katzell had cut the song on the duo -- BTW till their 1st 45 release in 62 they were still known (for all their live gigs) as Sam Moore & Dave Prater ...... The track was released again in March 66 but with a different tuva side ("It Feels So Nice") and not "You Ain't No Big Thing Baby". "You Ain't No Big Thing Baby" escaped in the UK (on King 45 + LP) in 1966 .......... both the 2nd US 45 & the UK 45 being put out to 'cash in' on the duo's Atlantic / Stax success. My guess is that the tracks they had cut for Roulette in 62/63 were remixed for their 1966 outings, to make them sound more like the duo's Stax tracks. The uva side of the UK King 45 -- "No More Pain" -- was the duo's 1st release on Roulette in 62.

..... and if you don't know the cut ............... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBs_zfsLLE

The 45 itself .............

This Guess Records 45 has been getting plays for some years now ......... So I thought I'd get in touch with Ishola to ask him what inspired him to make the track. ........ I got this reply ............ I got the idea of trying to make "Open Up Your Heart" sound like a live recording from Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" which, incidentally, is one of my all time favorite recordings. At the time I did the track (my first recording) I was only performing live occasionally, with a couple of jazz acts. During that period, I had been in and out of the Air Force and had re-enrolled in college. Ishola also sent me the piece attached below ............

..... AND ......... a piece from the New York Times on the Andantes ......... https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/04/04/arts/ap-us-music-motowns-unsung-singers.html?ref=arts&_r=0

A 6 page long piece from Vanity Fair (mag) that mainly consists of quotes by people involved with Motown back in the day ..... https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/12/motown200812

Recently Melba has been doing gospel shows in the US (I believe she's also working on her biography at present). She's doing a gospel show just outside Albany (New York State) in a fortnights time ....