Roburt

Bob, Dave Godin 'told' you what you should be buying every time you went into Soul City Record Shop.

The Dakar 45 escaped in early December 1968, so I'd say a ABC 45 of "Can I Change My Mind" would have been put out around summer 68. So would have been somewhere around ABC # 45 11120 if it had gotten out (any missing ABC 45 numbers around that?). The 'ABC' Goldies 45 ................

I THINK that the 1st actual release of the ABC version of the Tyrone Davis track was on the Various Artist Dunhill LP 'The Big Hits Now' which escaped around September 1970 (though the album label attributes a 1972 release date to the LP). So the track was released by ABC in 1970 & so wouldn't have qualified as 'unissued' when the master tape cull was undertaken a while later. The cut later escaped on MCA, ABC Goldies & Roulette label 45's.

The initial Tyrone Davis version of "Can I Change My Mind" was a totally separate recording to the hit version put out a bit later on Dakar. I BELIEVE that the ABC version was licensed in by the label but not then released. A copy of the master tapes must have still been held by the 'outside party' and when a decision was made at ABC (around the early to mid 70's I believe) to belatedly put 'their version' out, they probably sourced the master from that 3rd party. I have that ABC 'reissue' 45 and its on a 'dedicated reissue label' I seem to recall (were promos of the single put out on ABC in 68 ?). By the way, going back to my original question ...... the label of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes LP (# 969) gives a 1976 release date ..... BUT ....... copies of the LP were only supplied to trade reviewers / radio stations at the end of Jan 77 (Billboard reviewed the LP as a new release in their 29th Jan edition. The Rufus LP - # 975 - was reviewed alongside the HM&BN's album).

Anyone know just what was going on at ABC / Dunhill Records in the mid 70's with regard to the label's LP releases ........ ............... A few of the labels LP releases in late 76 / early 77 were as follows ........... ABCD 968 .......... Catfish -- Four Tops ................................. 1976 ........ made the US LP chart in Nov 76 AB 969 ...... Reaching For The World -- Harold Melvin & Blue Notes.. 1977 ...... made the US LP chart in Feb 77 AB 970 ................... Susie Allanson -- Susie Allanson .........................Jan 77 release AB 971 ................ The Big Wha-Koo -- Big Wha-Koo ..................... 1977 ABCD 972 ............... Sweet Release.. -- Gabriel ............................... 1976 ABCD 973 .................. Hitchhikers -- The Hitchhikers ....................... 1976 AB 974 ............. Little Funk Machine -- Street Corner Symphony .......1977 AB 975 ................... Ask Rufus -- Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan .......1977 ......... made the US LP chart in Feb 77 I assume that those releases that were designated just AB were supposedly ABC label items, whereas those designated ABCD were really ABC Dunhill releases (though actually issued with the same ABC labels on the records as the others). BUT my main query is about these albums release dates, they seem to be all over the place at that time. I know that Otis Smith (later to run Beverly Glenn) was in charge of the ABC Black Music Division back then and no doubt he ran things his own way, so releases from his division may have easily been 'out of number order' to LP's put out by the label's other units ........... HOWEVER ..... that being so ..... how come the Hitchhikers LP (# 973) escaped prior to Xmas 76 (the group's tracks had been recorded some time earlier & licensed in by Otis Smith in November 76) whereas the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes LP (# 969) didn't seem to make the shops till late Jan 77. By all accounts, ABC (Otis Smith?) put some effort into promoting all their LP releases at the time. Trade ads were taken out for the main artists (Tops, HM & Blue Notes, Rufus, etc.) but even the releases by lesser known group's such as the Hitchhikers weren't neglected. I'm told that extensive radio station visits & record signing sessions were even organised for them and so a decent amount of radio airplay was secured for their tracks. 45's were also lifted from the albums to help in promoting sales and this effort even spread overseas, with different tracks being selected in foreign territories to try to catch extra sales by selecting cuts more likely to catch on in the other countries. ABC did loads of strange things down through the 70's ......... not the least of these being their decision to junk all master tapes of unissued tracks from the 60's (to save on storage space). So when the CD era led to many old cuts being released again, the company had no unissued stuff to beef up sales of the CD's by putting out 'expanded versions' of the original albums. Any explanations going for their haphazard LP release schedule back then ?

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