Roburt

db121 / Dave, you were right in a small way when you said that the Mojo club (Sheffield) moved away from soul acts in 1967, but only in a small way . I had 'blocked out' memories of an alldayer (7th May 67) when Pink Floyd were the live act -- I was down in London that weekend; buying records & watching Garnett Mimms at the Saville Theatre (+ Jimi Hendrix -- but we didn't go for him). Loads of other British groups played the Mojo club during it's existence; Small Faces (their 1st visit they played for free), the Who, the Move -- their big live act song back then was "Open The Door To Your Heart" if my memory ain't playing tricks on me --, Amen Corner -- they also did "Open The Door To Your Heart" and recorded songs such as Our Love (Is In The Pocket), Something You Got, Expressway (To Your Heart), Let The Good Times Roll / Feel So Good & I Don't Wanna Discuss It / Amen -- AND the Nice (though they had been P.P. Arnold's backing band up to that time). Sheffield's version of a Motown group; the Pitiful Souls (5 local guys of West Indian descent) used to practise at the Mojo in 1966 and they played an allniter session at the club before going off to play gigs all over the world. BUT to be fair, most clubs were booking UK beat groups back then -- Family were on at the Nite Owl on 24th June 67 (didn't go) and the night before Jimi Hendrix played the Mojo (7th Jan 67), Jimi & his group were busted at the Wheel allnighter for having drugs on them. On that night that Jimi Hendrix was at the Wheel, the Mojo allnighter featured Alvin Cash & the Crawlers. With Stringfellows work on RSG, he was well known to all the London based 'bookers'. Coz of this, he was always being offered 'the next big thing' for a gig at the Mojo.

RE: There was a big influx of Mojo people to the Wheel early 1967 I think that was mainly coz the allniter sessions were stopped at the Mojo. Our crowd never really fancied the Wheel, so we started going to the niters held at the Nite Owl in Leicester (whilst still attending the Mojo alldayers on the Sundays >> saw Temptations / Fantastics at Nite Owl on Sat 6th Sept & then at Mojo alldayer Sun 7th Sept !! -- Stringfellow became the group's manager not long after that gig). We were back at the Mojo allniters when they were briefly reinstated but did have to start attending the Wheel on 14th Oct 67 when we went to see Jnr Walker. But for a while we still preferred the Nite Owl (went there each weekend for rest of October & most of November) though did go to see Ben E King + Senate at Wheel on 25th November. Last niter at Nite Owl was Eddie Floyd on 2nd December (club closed by Council a couple of days later). Most of the ex Mojo crowd we knew (Hull, Scunny, Lincoln, Donny, Notts, Peterboro crowd) were also going to the Nite Owl throughout 1967. After Nite Owl closed, it was the Wheel or a niter put on by Stringfellow at Tin Chicken or similar Yorkshire club.

Getting way off topic now ..... but the Alan Bown Set was always a top draw at every mid 60's soul club in the UK (including Newcastle & Sheffield). The group really liked playing the Mojo & were 'affected' by the club's decision to feature a couple of 'flower power tracks' in 1967. Coz of the popularity of "My Girl The Month of May" at the Mojo, Alan Bown started to include the song in their live sets. The group went on to record their own version some months later (when they had evolved into a psychedelic group) ........ ... ...

RE: The Go Go did close in 68 but by early 67 it had changed to a more prog rock club like a lot of others including The Mojo Sheffield's King Mojo never gave up on soul, at least not for the alldayer / allnighter sessions (didn't go to the midweek normal disco night sessions as I wasn't from Sheff) The last ever session at the Mojo was Sunday 8th October 67 (alldayer) with Stevie Wonder on. The last allnighter had been a week earlier (Sat/Sun 1st October) with Jimmy Cliff & his Shake Down Sound on (Jimmy was still in his soul period). ..... Prior to those sessions, other live acts on there at niters / dayers were .......... Sat 15th April LAST ALLNIGHTER: Geno Washington & R.J.Band ..... ALLNITER SESSIONS SUSPENDED Sun 16th July dayer: Drifters (Invitations?) Sun 30th July dayer: Garnett Mimms Sun 20th Aug dayer: Alan Bown Set + Wynder K Frog Sun 3rd Sept Dayer: Temptations (Velours / Fantastics) Sun 17th Sept Dayer -- didn't note down who the act were. .... ALLNIGHTERS reinstated as obvious club wasn't going to be licensed by Council Sat 23rd September (niter): Drifters. Stringfellow did go along with the 'flower power' thing that summer. Mixed in with all the soul tracks, he would play Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco" and Dion's "My Girl The Month of May" (which had come out in the UK at the end of 66 but Pete didn't start playing it till spring 67). Pete did go all 'kaftan & joss-sticks' that year but I think he was just following the London fashion trend. Pete hit the road after the Mojo was closed, running the King Mojo Roadshow & playing nights all over Yorks & Notts. He ran soul nights in Castleford, Wakefield, etc. and then got his own replacement clubs in Sheffield. The 'Down Broadway' (titled after Johnny C's Boogaloo soul hit) and the Penthouse (that in the 80's would be used for NS / MS nights).

A live show Jesse Fisher + 9th Street Exit undertook back in 1974 ............

Two tracks destined to be on the album release escaped on this 45 ........

Back in the early 70's, Dunn Pearson & his group 9th Street Exit took Jesse Fisher into a Cleveland studio and enough material for an album was cut. The project was shopped around but no 'backer' / label instantly came forward to fund or release the proposed LP ('I Can't Stop Loving You'). To try to drum up interest, some 45's were released but the LP never did escape in 'commercial quantities' (though Dunn does seem to recall the tracks being finished and an album readied for release -- perhaps a 'test pressing' was made). Anyway, not too long after that, Dunn went on the road with the O'Jays and then Jesse passed away .... so the whole project 'withered away'. However, with all the current interest in the Cleveland Soul scene (60's / 70's stuff), Numero's recent-ish releases and Lou Ragland's proposed big live concert back in 'Cleveland-town', it seems that the guys have realised just what they had laid-down back then. Dunn Pearson (he's on Facebook) thinks he still has the old master tapes (he's currently searching them out) and it seems he is interested in licensing the tracks for CD (or vinyl) release. I'm sure the likes of Numero will show some interest in putting these Jesse Fisher (Way Out / So-Jamm) tracks out, maybe a UK label might also show some interest .....

Yes, I think you must be right. Loads of things connected to Boston are titled Beantown something or other ........ So I'd say that Beantown Records, Beantown International & Beantown Music were 3 different concerns.

Guess this is a different label (though the name is very similar) .... .. also available on 12" is a remix version of the track. BTW, Yvette was still performing (singing) as recently as 2010. From a similar period -- Hypertension's "Got This Feelin" also on a Beantown 12".

RE: Last laugh came out of Oldies Unlimited in Wolverhampton, as did that Happy Organ Studio One 45 I sold you Tone, I don't think they have had anything since! Didn't Oldies Unlimited (Telford) disappear many moons ago ?? I used to buy soul 45's from them (they always had some good 70's 45's on Italian pressed versions with piccy sleeves real cheap). Never bought any reggae bits off them as I'd long given up on collecting ska / reggae by the 80's. Did go down to Telford once & get 'locked in' at the old Chapel they had. Spent the day searching thru all the 'abandoned' boxes of 45's that had been stashed in there & found quite a few goodies. Picked up loads of US TK label 45's that were in boxes of 20 (25?). Only bought one copy of each that I didn't already know (the more obscure stuff as things stood in the mid 80's). With many of those 45's that proved to be the right decision (Mary Love, etc). With others, I always regretted not going back to pick up the rest of the full box.

This is just a TV show, can't we cut them a bit of slack. Back in the 90's I was on an MBA course in Oxford with a load of nurses. We had to work on various assignment projects in teams, so had to get 'friendly' to help the work progress well. Thought I'd help things along by mentioning that all I knew about medical matters came from watching shows like ER, Chicago Hope, St. Elsewhere, etc. All the nurses went mad, saying that they couldn't watch any of those shows because they were so far from the truth. When I asked what was so wrong with them, I was told that all those events / diseases wouldn't crop up in a real hospital in a 10 year period, never mind week after week as happened in those shows. They couldn't seem to get the fact that if the plots closely followed real-life, the ratings would be through the floor & the shows pulled instantly.

RE: Spyder Turner's "Stand By Me" is not particularly rare, but features a number of LP only tracks: .......... I believe most (non compilation) LP's feature LP only tracks.

Usually in ex Commonweath countries (India, Barbados, South Africa, NZ, Australia), the local branch of EMI would follow UK 45 releases rather than US releases ...... ... thus a mid-60's Motown track that had been re-issued in the UK would also be released in some / all of these additional territories. I don't think the local reps had much leeway in what tracks were usually picked to go onto new 45's, it was common practise to just replicate the UK 45 tracks. HOWEVER, I'm sure in some (rare) instances a different cut could escape as a 45 B side, though I don't actually know of any for definite. My guess would be that any (say) Indian Motown 45's would have escaped a few weeks / months after the UK version and not before .... but I await someone proving this guess to be incorrect.

There was certainly a mod / soul club scene in Newcastle in the mid 60's ..... but NS style clubs & NS dancers wouldn't have been about up there till around 1972/73 I would guess. With this episode being set in 1968, I guess they are stretching the truth a fair bit, but hell, in Heartbeat they played 1970/71 tracks for episodes set in 1966/67 ...... I think it's called 'artistic license'. Anyone know if Newcastle (Sunderland / Middlesboro) had a regular club venue back in 68/69 where the acts playing clubs such as the Wheel and London's Uppercut would get to perform on a regular basis ??

..... OFF THE NET ....... Earl Lett was born in 1945 and grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. He played the sax in Ike & Tinas Kings of Rhythm Band. Lett had won the spot in their band by chance when a musician in a barbershop told him Turner was auditioning prospective members. He played for three minutes and he said "You're the Man I'm looking for". Earl played on their live recording in Carnegie Hall "What You Hear is What You Get". He also was in their movie "Soul to Soul". He left Ike and Tina's band and studied sax for a while at the Berkeley School of Music in Boston. The Professor then headed to Nova Scotia for a few years and got a band together. He recorded this album at Audio Atlantic Studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1973 on Beantown Records BT105-14, a Boston record label. He also recorded three other 45's on the Beantown label: Born With the Feelings on Beantown B-103; Green Power on Beantown B-104; and The Funky Professor b/w We Outta Get Together on Beantown B-115, all of which have become highly collectable. He also recorded a single on Wild Records: Do the Thing b/w Now is the Time. The album Love Serenade features Earl Lett on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and lead vocalist; Sweet William on guitar and vocals; Grady (Youngblood) Lett on trumpet, cornet and vocals; Delbert Tipton on drums and vocals; and Nathaniel Humbert on bass and vocals. The album was produced and arranged by Earl Lett. Recording and mixing was by Al Feeney ......... the album was re-issued in 2008 in Japan on CD on P-Vine Records. You can listen to the tracks on his LP here (& that includes a quite decent vocal cover of Al Wilson's "Show & Tell") ........... https://www.mocm.ca/M...?TitleId=288017

So do the above PLUS Earl Lett's 'Love Serenade' LP and the 45 below make up all the releases on Beantown Records ?? .......... or is there also a Beantown B-102 ?

And this outing from Earl would seem to date from 1977 ....... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsoub41RSUM So was anyone else on the label, apart from Earl Lett & Doris Duke ?? ... and how did Doris come to hook up with Earl's label ?? ........ so many unanswered questions !!!

A later Earl Lett offering on Beantown (the 'opening' on this one is too gimmicky for me) ....

Can we also discuss Beantown Records on this thread ........... The label seemed to exist for around 10 years whilst only releasing a handful of records, so it must have been more of a 'hobby' for Earl Lett than a major business venture. Another Beantown cut .......... Earl had at least one other 45 on the label ("Love & Affection") after having sides issued in the 60's on Skippy White's Wild label. What were the other releases on the label & have any of them been found in quantity ??

As Doris has received a couple of mentions on here very recently (one being in the Top 20 LP's thread), thought I'd ask how her stuff is viewed by US collectors .... We 1st got to know her via her Doris Willingham Jay Boy (UK) 45 which got club plays here (67 onwards). Next we had her work with Swamp Dogg, that from 'Day One' was championed as being Deep Soul of the highest order here in the UK (Dave Godin rightly waxing lyrical on her 1st LP at every opportunity). The album ('I'm A Loser') spawned 2 hit 45's (both on Canyon) -- "To The Other Woman" which made the national US Top 10 soul chart and "Feet Start Walking" which only just made the Top 40. Her output after the first album suffered due to her strained relationship with Swamp (they didn't get on or like each other) but more releases followed from the pairing. After Canyon Records quickly 'crashed & burnt' due to problems getting money in from distributors, the RRG label was quickly set up & a 45 from Doris escaped on the label (the tracks also being lifted from her 1st LP). Next up, Swamp secured a deal to run the Mankind label & he again worked with Doris. But I believe this LP (1971) was only really rated (at the time) here in the UK. She moved on to cut for Mainstream & then with the British team that ran Contempo Records. In the US, her Contempo stuff was brought together for a LP release on Scepter (though "Woman of the Ghetto" had escaped on a US Sam 45). A quiet spell followed for her, this ending in the early 1980's when a 45 Escaped on Beantown Records from up Boston way. Her Beantown 45 (cover) track "What Will Tomorrow Bring" is not too well known (due to rarity I guess) but is again a gudun. .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgfo-mZzGXY So Doris was always highly rated by UK soul fans. Seeing how often she quickly moved on from record labels, perhaps she was a difficult artist to deal with (but many were). Perhaps if she had established a solid trusting studio relationship with a producer, we would have gotten to enjoy even more great cuts from her. ... ANOTHER QUESTION ....... I know she was in a few gospel outfits before recording as Doris Willingham. Did she handle lead vocal duties on any recordings by these groups / choirs ??

RE: Impressions 'Big 16' Vols1 & 2, Bell Cellar of Soul Vols 1,2 & 3, Billy Stewarts 'Teaches Old Standards New Tricks' ...... ........ HOWEVER a chart featuring hand picked records by well known RARE SOUL Collectors does not count in my book, I think that would be a separate chart and an almost impossible task, as hundreds of rare records have been made available since 1982 All the LP's I listed above date from the mid to late 60's, so don't fall within your definition .. they were some of the early albums I bought and shaped my taste in soul music. They were very influential releases (at least in m opinion).

Ian, my mate was Alan Omokhoje who was recruited by EMI after his Edinburgh based Move Records ran into money troubles. He was never really happy at EMI as he wanted to push jazz artists (& rap I think) + do something with the soul artists that EMI released records on. He never got the chance to work with any of the US artists & I don't think any of his projects were commercially successful. After a while, they shipped him off to work in their Nigerian branch (coz he was Nigerian by birth). He had a mortgage on a flat in west London & when the UK property crash hit in 1988, he stopped paying the monthly dues as the place was then worth less then he 'owed' on it. This caused him a few problems when he returned to the UK & moved on career wise. Daft thing was, my son went to Hatfield Poly just after the mid 80's & he got on well with Alan (having spent a summer helping out in Moves' Edinburgh office). One day, I arranged to meet up with the son & a couple of his student mates and then drop in on Alan. We turned up at EMI central (one old gibba with 3 young trendy lads) and had to wait a few minutes before being given permission to go up to his office. Everyone else in reception (with their 'house brick' mobile phones) assumed I was a 'manager' pitching a new boy band .... so we got lots of 'advice' about how to get a deal while we waited. The lads never were signed by EMI though !!!

RE: So does this thread make JACKIES LP, The #1 LP to own if there was a top 20 of must own LP's ........ wouldn't have thought so ..... many more in demand LP's instantly spring to mind . I would certainly place Sam Dees Atlantic LP, Mancha + Barnes 'Rare Stamps', Impression 'Big 16' Vols1 & 2, Bell Cellar of Soul Vols 1,2 & 3, Billy Stewarts 'Teaches Old Standards New Tricks', some early Kent LPs & many more above Jackie's LP .... and I like most of Jackie's soul sides.

Robb, I realise that ALL record companies have to have people to tackle all the tasks I mentioned above. It matters not how big or small you are, you still have to address every aspect of the biz. I would guess though that the likes of you had to take on many tasks that didn't come naturally to you, just because you were the only person who would take on those tasks. A major like ABC & the like would however employ a whole team of people to undertake various tasks. Thus, say A&R or PR guys would be selected for their skills in their own particular area of expertise ..... mind you (record companies being what they were back in the day), lots of square pegs were put in round holes just because the guy in questions 'face fitted' -- perhaps he was a club buddy / hanger-on of an exec in the company. Guess the only task that an 'indie' was forced to 'buy in' was their legal rep. In the mid 80's, I used to visit EMI's London offices (in Manchester Square if I recall the name correctly) & the place was full of 'jobs worths' .... guys who thought they were the 'bees knees' but really were wasters of the 1st order. I had a mate who worked there for 3 years or so and became a regular visitor to the offices but I can't say what I saw going on whilst there filled me with much confidence that many there knew what they were doing.

The Am-Par Record Corporation was formed in New York City in 1955, as a subsidiary of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters, Inc. Their record label was named ABC-Paramount. The President of the company was Samuel Clark and the National Sales Manager was Larry Newton. The heads of A&R for the label were Don Costa and Sid Feller, although Morty Craft, Johnny Pate and Creed Taylor also handled production for the company. ABC-Paramount had a subsidiary label called Apt. In the early 1960s, Impulse, a jazz label subsidiary, was established, and in the mid-'60s a blues label subsidiary, Bluesway, was formed. The Probe label was formed in 1968. In October, 1959, Enoch Light and his partners sold their labels to ABC-Paramount. These included Audition, Command Performance, Colortone & Grand Award. All of these labels were run by Light and were based in Harrison, New Jersey. Two of the labels, Grand Award and Command, continued to operate under ABC. Enoch Light continued as head of A&R for the Command and Grand Award labels. ABC purchased the Dunhill label from Lou Adler in 1966 and the Duke/Peacock labels from Don Robey in 1973. ABC-Paramount also distributed a number of labels, including Anchor, Blue Thumb, Chancellor, Colonial, Deb, Fargo, Hunt, LHI (partially), Royal, Shelter (partially), Sire (partially), Tangerine, Topsy, and Wren. So ABC ran a large organisation and were successful for quite a number of years, though their decision to junk 100's of mastertapes to 'save space' came back to haunt the owners of their back catalogue in later years. Is it documented anywhere just which artists / producers had lots of their work junked (surely it didn't include numerous Impressions cuts or Johnny Pate productions).