Roburt

I'm chasing down (if poss) the date of a big show staged at the 2300 capacity Brevoort Theatre in Brooklyn in 1961 or 1962. To assist me in my task, I plucked out the name of one of the 'lesser' acts on that bill to search the web for info. Came up with quite a bit of info on this group, Brooklyn based doo-wop outfit, the Shells. This (what later became) R&B vocal group was formed in 1956. They were noted for their typical New York doo-wop stylings. The group cut their first record, "Baby Oh Baby", in 1957 and this did OK on its release on the local Johnson label. The Shells broke up, but the following year, lead Nathaniel ‘Little Nate’ Bouknight formed a new ensemble, bringing in Bobby Nurse (first tenor), Shade Randy Alston (second tenor), Gus Geter (baritone), and Danny Small (bass). Subsequent records did nothing. Then in 1960, with the help of Time Square based record shop owner Irving Rose, the 45 was re-released. "Baby Oh Baby" in 1960 made it as a Top 20 hit on the national pop charts (it went to number 11 on Cash Box’s R&B chart). The group re-formed and they started cutting some new sides. Two are now viewed as being excellent ones, both featuring new lead Ray Jones -- "Happy Holiday" (1962) and "Deep In My Heart" (1962). However, these later Shells cuts failed to reach the charts and they again broke up. In 1966, the group came back together for one last a cappella session using the four remaining members, without a lead. However, after "Baby Oh Baby" had made the charts, the group toured for almost two years on the back of the track. The reissued 45 escaped in late September 1960 and was on the charts by December. The group 'hit the road' in April 1961 and kept going through till around early 1963. I'm after info on when their gig at the Brooklyn theatre would have taken place. It must have been sometime between May 61 and about July 62 I would say. Anyone know much about the group & it's activities back then (a doo-wop fan such as Robb maybe).

Bettye just sang "Let Me Down Easy" ...... WOW, she's still got it at her age !!!

Jools Holland's NY's Eve TV show has just started and he's introduced Bettye LaVette & Bobby Womack who are in the studio. Don't know if they will both be singing or just chatting but guess they will both sing something.

I'd guess the same thing Steve. Mind you, if I'd been working for a record label and a few test pressings had crossed my desk, there's no way that they would have been thrown away.

When "Agent OO Soul" hit from day one of it's release ..... Edwin had to instantly get himself a backing band & start to play gigs .... ... so he went straight back to Cleveland and recruited some guys he knew from the Futuretones days. Here's the guys he got to back him ..... from left to right in the picture: Victor Stubblefield (trumpet; Cleveland), Tyrone Hite (drums), Anthony Hawkins (guitar), V.C. Veasey (bass) and Gus Hawkins (sax: Cleveland). This outfit backed Edwin during his Ric-Tic period (before the pair got homesick & heading back to Cleveland). Edwin's big hit was of course "AGENT OO SOUL", I've no idea how he came up with the name the SOUL AGENTS for the band !!!

Not long now till the 'Spyder'man hits these shores ............

CHEERS ...... so it seems that there must be copies of Test Pressing LP's of many UK London / Brunswick label albums out there.

Thought I would post up a thread to compliment the existing ACETATES thread ........... While we see many acetates / promo 45's / Disc Jockey 45's / 12" & LP white labels ..... ... I don't recall seeing album test pressings from too many UK / US labels (apart from white label copies that is). I'd be interested to see more LP test pressings such as those I've put on here .......... (Columbia one poor quality as I had to take a photo of it as scanner is kaput at present) .... Main label scan is taken from a 60's London LP (orig US album it is a version of being sourced from Hi).

Yep, they have lots of snow as well. But if it snows all night, the roads / footpaths will be useable by 9am (not like here).

Thanks for the tip. Just bought a copy from Amazon with my daughter's Xmas pressie gift voucher.

Think she's part of the big soul package that David Guest is putting on in Liverpool soon. Probably over here for the 'Guest Show' & has taken the opportunity of any booking. Last time I saw her, her voice wasn't in good shape but that may have been a health / UK climate problem at that time.

Mr. Fine Wine = S.Source member Weingarden His soul nite >>> Botanica, Wednesdays, NYC

Mr Fine Wine (he's on here I believe under his real surname I believe) always used to run a weekly soul nite down on West Houston (lower Manhattan) but don't know if it's still going. There's the soul nites in Brooklyn (live acts on) held every month or so (Dig Deeper ... they have a web site / Facebook page that you can check. The 'On Broadway' Motown musical may be doing 'pre-opening rehearsal' nights that the public can attend when you're there. B B King's Blues Club has soul acts on (its just around the corner from Time Square), check out their web site. Vinyl wise its a bit hit & miss ...... lots of NY based soul 45 buyers do all the usual places ... so you may find sumat these days but probably not. Loads of great restuarants but its been a while since I was a regular visitor to the city, so I'm out of touch. ONE TIP ......... catch the ferry across to Hoboken (just across the river to NU JURSAAAY). 2 locations to catch it, near mid town in West Manhattan (close to the aircraft carrier that's now a museum) & down by Battery Park (lower Manhattan). Hoboken is where Sinatra was born & where 'On The Waterfront' was filmed. The old docks are long gone & its now a residential area. Has a great 'village-y' feel & yet is only 5 minutes (on bus / ferry / subway if now running again). Main street is called Washington (100 yds off waterfront) & used to have a good record shop (may still) plus quite a few good eateries & a decent live music venue (can't remember the name but its just round the corner from where Greg Tormo lives and the likes of Betty Lavette play gigs there). Hope this helps.

Gospel groups / singers would tour all over the US playing gigs in local black churches. They would be 'paid' for these shows and usually 'put up' / fed in the homes of members of each church's congregation in turn. It was only the big gospel acts that played 'proper halls' / theatres, all the rest played most of their gigs in churches. Weird thing was (from my point of view), the male singers had many fanatical fans and even attracted a 'groupie following'. So they would leave a trail of babies behind them, hardly very church like.

A high proportion of non main label gospel cuts were vanity recordings. The group / singer would perform week in week out on the 'church circuit' and lots of times their manager / leader would arrange to go into a studio to allow them to cut a 45 / LP for them to sell at their gigs. Many were made at the same studios and released on the same labels (the studios house label; Designer, Champ, Rae Cox, Crown Ltd, Sound of Birmingham, Bright Star, Boddies labels out of Cleveland, etc). We've had a few threads on here about said studios / labels / records. Many are great and a few have been played on the soul scene.

Bob, Are internal US rates increasing by a similar % ....... ...my son has just bought a place in Florida & seems I'll be spending much of every winter there in future. So can take advantage of US rates for P&P plus buy stuff (books, CD's) from US Amazon (always cheaper for US sourced stuff than buying from same people via UK Amazon).

The yellow label 45's were NS, the red were MS ..... I bought a copy of all the MS 45's (red label) and loved em all. Left quite a few of the yellow Grapevines (even when I could get em for 10p or 25p) coz I wasn't into Wigan stompers or Casino instros.

Yes, if you're lucky or know where to go, you can still catch the odd soul show. But 20 years back you could go to 4/5 different places most nights of the week & see a decent soul act.

The Motown Cafes (all of them) are long gone now of course. The Vegas one was great (we were filmed there once for a US TV news report) & well worth a visit. We got shown around the VIP areas (backstage, where any visiting stars are smoozed ... .... plus we got invited up on stage to sing with the fakeroony Tempts & Supremes. When it was closed down, loads of great stuff was just dumped (all the menus -- pretend LPs, all the copies of vintage Motown show posters, etc.) I always wondered what happened to all the fake silver discs built into the stairs in the place ......

Of course, in the past you could just go across the strip to the New York, New York & visit the Motown Cafe ....

Bored at the moment (can you tell ?) ... so thought I'd re-activate this old thread ......... .......... here's a montage of loads of New York area shows from back in the day .... BTW, Blue Mitchell (jazz guy) was the brother of Ru-Jac's owner Rufus Mitchell.

Steve Alaimo on a local gig (for him) in March 1963 ..... (some fascinating musical facts on him on the 'Where The Action Is' thread)

Go to the thread on the 'WHERE THE ACTION IS' TV show ... ..... there's a clip on there on Bobby Moore (+ a Rhthym Ace) doing it live (well lip syncing to it really I guess). ........... BTW, the B side to the 45 is great as well ("Hey Mr. DJ").

'Where The Action Is' was another Dick Clark show. Steve Alaimo helped Dick out on a live presentation he put on early in his show promotion career & so Clark always owed Alaimo a debt. Because of this, when 'Where The Action Is' was broadcast, Alaimo was given a presenting role on the show. So got to perform most weeks for a large national TV audience, this did his recording career no harm at all. Steve Alaimo was the guy responsible for starting Sam & Dave out as a recording act. He had moved down to Miami and there began performing with his group, the Redcoats. One night their show was witnessed by Henry Stone who signed him to a record deal with his Marlin Record label (1959). A 45 was released but Alaimo went solo and then went on to sign with Checker Records. He had a number of hits with the label. He performed a lot around Miami, both in white & black clubs. While he was performing at the King of Hearts in the city, he watched the house act, Sam & Dave, perform. Alaimo went straight to the club’s owner and negotiated a deal to record the act. The owner of the club allowed this with the one stipulation that Henry Stone not be involved, so Alaimo lied and began recording Sam & Dave’s debut batch of singles with Henry’s facilities. Initially, the single “My Love Belongs to You” (with the Alaimo penned “No More Pain” on the B side) was released by Marlin Records, but then Stone placed a call to Morris Levy, and Sam & Dave were signed to Levy’s Roulette Records. Alaimo landed more recording deals and had 45's / LP's out on a few national labels, one of these being Atlantic. He retained his links with Henry Stone & cut a duet with Betty Wright that was issued on an Atlantic 45. Early on (around 1960) Henry Stone had given Alaimo a promotional job with his label / distribution company and the pairing continued to collaborate. With Brad Shapiro, Alaimo operated a record studio. In the 70's, Stone & Alaimo started Alston Records together. More of him on 'Where The Action Is' ............ with Jackie DeShannon on this clip ....

A review of the show ................ A Motown blast from the past By Jorge Labrador "Hitzville The Show" is a nostalgia-filled trip through the Motown hits of yesteryear. Vocalist Jin Jin Reeves, along with backup singers and the five-piece Hitzville band, fills Planet Hollywood's V Theater with an authentic Motown sound and experience that will have you clapping your hands and dancing in the aisles. "Hitzville" is a journey through the times and places that made Motown famous, opening up with The Pips' classic "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," and going through different acts, going from one influential Motown band to the next. Expect famous songs like "My Guy," "Natural Woman" and "What's Love Got to Do With It," along with a few rarer tracks that will make Motown fans very happy. Throughout the show, Reeves evokes the sound and character of Motown's most famous divas, going from Diana Ross to Gladys Knight to Tina Turner (and many others) without missing a beat. This comes as no surprise, as Reeves has shared the stage with many of the performers she covers in "Hitzville." Such energy in a tribute show is rare, but really makes "Hitzville" stand out among the rest. Reeves' backup singers in some of the songs will catch your eye when they come out dressed in red suits when they cover The Temptations, and will continue dazzle each time they come out in colorful attire and appropriate stylings for each new act. The group incorporates appropriate choreography into their acts, mimicking the original groups in both sound and showmanship. From their matching shoes to their side stepping and sliding across the stage, there are times when you'll truly believe you're in an authentic Motown show in the 1960's. This is further enhanced with Reeves' likeness to the divas she's covering. You're in for a treat when she gets to the Tina Turner segment of the show. Make no mistake: you will find yourself dancing along and having a great time at "Hitzville." .............. going from one influential Motown band to the next. Expect famous songs like "My Guy," "Natural Woman" and "What's Love Got to Do With It," along with a few rarer tracks that will make Motown fans very happy. Got to admit that "Natural Woman" + "What's Love Got to Do With It" are just about two of my all time fave Motown songs.