Everything posted by Roburt
- Gavin Christopher R I P
-
Anyone Who Had A Heart - Burt Bacharach - Book Review
BOOK REVIEW ‘ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART - MY LIFE IN MUSIC’ : BURT BACHARACH Like many on here, I enjoy reading a good soul music related book. Lots are great but many are a real disappointment. Too many artists gloss over the detailed information of their recorded work as they feel cheated / let down by the labels they were signed to. Many music related books fall outside the boundaries of what appeals to me, dealing mainly with none soul related matters. One such book was the biography on Burt Bacharach (written in conjunction with Robert Greenfield in 2012). Burt started out in the music biz writing R&B songs and cutting the songs on R&B artists. But by 1970, he had moved onto MOR material / singers and these are of no interest to me at all. However, things changed when I walked into the local Dollar Tree shop here in Florida last week (we winter in Florida these days). There I saw dozens of copies of the hardback version of the book for (strangely) $1 each. Needing something else to read while lying around the pool, I purchased a copy and headed home with it. The book runs to 280 pages but only around 70 of these detail R&B / soul related topics. Still that worked out at one cent per relevant page, so I deemed it a good purchase. The synopsis of the book on Amazon UK (where it can be bought -- new & used – new for under £3) states ... "Burt Bacharach is one of the most celebrated and legendary song-writers of the twentieth century. Throughout his sixty year career he has worked with artists from Dionne Warwick to Dr Dre, Marlene Dietrich to Elvis Costello. In Anyone Who Had a Heart, Bacharach steps out from behind the music to take an honest, engaging look at his life. It traces the life and times of the man who created the music that has become the sound track for the lives of his millions of devoted fans all over the world.” The book deals with Burt’s whole life (up to 2012 at least) and complete sections of it will be of very little interest to your average soulie. However, the parts that deal with Burt’s method of writing R&B songs and his studio work with singers such as Dionne Warwick, the Drifters, Jerry Butler, Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Chuck Jackson, the Shirelles, Tommy Hunt, Dusty Springfield and Leiber & Stoller are fascinating. The likes of Lou Johnson, the Coasters, Ray Charles, Booker T & the MGs, Natalie Cole, Dee Dee Sharp, Bill Cosby, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, Whitney Houston, Gloria Lynn, Gene McDaniels, Pointer Sisters, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson & Miracles, Luther Vandross & Stevie Wonder all also get a mention. Some of the detail Burt goes into in the book is really interesting (to me at least). He writes about his way of working when based in the Brill Building and 1650 Broadway. How he cut the demos he made of the songs he wrote (with various collaborators). The non-standard song structures he utilised and the unusual instruments he featured on some tracks. How certain songs sat in a drawer (“What The World Needs Now Is Love”) and some recordings in the tape vaults (“Walk On By”, “Make It Easy On Yourself”). Info on working at Bell Sound Studios, cutting his songs, with producers such as Leiber & Stoller. How many takes he would insist on before he was happy with the results (32 on one occasion) even though he would usually first get together with the singer (before going into the studio) to allow them to learn the song. So if the above sounds interesting to you and you enjoy a good read, then get hold of a cheap copy of this book from Amazon or the like and be prepared to learn many facts about how things were in the music biz back in the 1960’s. JOHN ‘Roburt’ SMITH Feb 2016
-
Sad News: Allen Toussaint R I P
It has been reported by WWL-TV in New Orleans that Allan Toussaint passed away on Monday ......... http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/2015/11/10/allen-toussaint/75500982/ It seems he passed away in Spain after doing a live show there. He was due to perform in London on Sunday. I love much of the stuff he was involved with in the 60's (Lee Dorsey, Betty Harris, Irma Thomas, Diamond Joe, etc.). In the 70's , he became an artist in his own right and made more great music. Sad news indeed. added by site Toussaint died about 2am on November 10, 2015, while on tour in Madrid, Spain. He was 77. He is survived by his two children, including son Clarence (better known as Reginald) and daughter Alison, and by several grandchildren. His children had managed his career in recent years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Toussaint
- James Lewis (Sho-Nuff) R I P
-
Mel Waiters R I P
The Boogie Report web site is reporting that Mel Waiters passed earlier today. I know he has been unwell recently and that all his live gigs had been cancelled. Seems things have taken a major turn for the worse....... R I P. added by site Mel Waiters died early Thursday (May 28) after a short battle with cancer, his booking agent's office confirmed. He was 58. http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2015/05/mel_waiters_southern_soul_blue.html
- Seven Days Of Loving You Author Article
-
Shelbra Bennett - Soul Children R I P
Shelbra Bennett (ex of the Soul Children) has passed away. This sad news has just been posted up on the Stax website ....... http://www.staxmuseum.com/video-images/videos/view/r-i-p-shelbra-bennett-of-the-soul-children I have loved the tracks the group made ever since I first heard one of their Stax 45 outings back in the day. They made great records for Stax till the company went bust and then moved across to CBS/ Epic where they made yet more goodies. My fave Soul Children track ....... added by site The group was formed in 1968 by Isaac Hayes and David Porter of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, after one of the label's top acts, Sam & Dave, left Stax to join the Atlantic label. As leading songwriters and producers for the label, Hayes and Porter put together a vocal group with two male and two female singers, all of whom sang lead on some of the group's recordings. The original members were Norman West, John Colbert (aka J. Blackfoot), Anita Louis, and Shelbra Bennett. Anita Louis was a backing singer on some of the records produced by Hayes and Porter. Shelbra Bennett had recently joined the label as a singer. The group's first record, "Give 'Em Love", produced by Hayes and Porter and released in late 1968, was a Bilboard R&B chart hit, as were two follow-ups. Their fourth single, "The Sweeter He Is", became one of their biggest hits, reaching no. 7 on the R&B chart in late 1969 and no. 52 on the Hot 100.The group also released their first album, Soul Children, in 1969. Musicians used on the recordings included Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr., of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, as well as Hayes. However, after the group had a minor hit with a slowed-down version of "Hold On, I'm Coming" in early 1970, Hayes left the project to develop his solo career. The group recorded a second album, Best of Two Worlds, at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, but their next few singles failed to make the charts. In 1972, they recorded another album, Genesis, arranged by Dale Warren and produced by Jim Stewart and Al Jackson, which produced another hit single, "Hearsay". Written by West and Colbert, it reached no. 5 on the R&B chart and no. 44 on the US pop chart.They appeared at the Wattstax concert in August 1972, and followed up with several smaller hit singles. In 1973, they recorded the ballad "I'll Be the Other Woman", written and produced by Homer Banks and Carl Hampton, and with lead vocals by Shelbra Bennett, which became their biggest hit, reaching no. 3 on the R&B chart and no. 36 on the pop chart.They also recorded a final album for Stax with Banks and Hampton, Friction. The Soul Children left Stax in 1975, and Shelbra Bennett left for a solo career. Shechanged her name to Shelbra Deane and under this recorded a few solo 45s for TK, Casino and Muscle Shoals Sound. Also a couple of tracks for Sound Town in Memphis in the early 80s which remained unreleased till recently
-
John Gary Williams Documentary Film - I See Hope
Another documentary of much interest to us soulies is in the making ......... ............ 'I SEE HOPE -- The John Gary Williams Story'. The makers need more funds to complete the project though ........ learn more here .......... http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2013299217/i-see-hope-the-john-gary-williams-stor added by site http://iseehopememphis.com/ clip from site belo In 1973, a subsequent self-titled comeback album featuring the acclaimed tracks “I Believe the Whole Damn World is Going Crazy” and “I See Hope”, among others, was mired in distribution troubles that ultimately led to the involuntary bankruptcy of Stax, one of the world’s greatest record labels. The padlocking of its doors separated Mr. Williams from other recordings he made, which remain unreleased to this day. And, as it did for all too many incredible soul artists, Stax’s demise also meant the end of Mr. Williams’ career as an entertainer. Since its closure, he has largely lived a life out of the spotlight.
-
20 Feet From Stardom - Film Info
Out in the US in about a months time this documentary features some of the greatest backing singers ever !!!! It concentrates on the careers of the likes of Merry Clayton, Darlene Love, Claudia Lennear (Ikette), Tata Vega, Lisa Fischer, etc. You can learn more & download the trailer for the film here ........... http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/twentyfeetfromstardom/ the trailer is exciting enough, can't imagine how good the film will actually be. added by site
-
Margie Alexander R I P
It has been reported on the SS forum that Margie passed away recently ...... An obit for her .................. http://times-georgian.com/view/full_story/22115066/article-Margie-Babbs
-
Bobby (Bobbie) Smith - Spinners R I P
The death of the Spinners Bobby (Bobbie) Smith has been flagged up on his page on Wiki. It states there that he passed last Wednesday (March 13th) Surely such a major happening on the soul music scene should have registered in the music press ? added by site Seems that this sad news has now been confirmed via various soul sites out there Title photo (l to r) Philippe Wynne, Billy Henderson, Pervis Jackson, Bobbie Smith and Henry Fambrough Wikipeda Link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Smith_(rhythm_and_blues_singer) Robert "Bobby" Smith (sometimes spelled Bobbie; April 10, 1936 - March 16, 2013[citation needed]) was born in Detroit, Michigan and was an American R&B singer, the principal lead singer of the soul vocal group, The Spinners, also known as the Detroit Spinners or the Motown Spinners, throughout its history. Smith had been the group's main lead singer since its inception, having sung lead vocals on The Spinners first hit record in 1961, "That's What Girls Are Made For" (which has been inaccurately credited to the group's mentor and former Moonglows lead singer, Harvey Fuqua). Smith also sang lead on most of their Motown material during the 1960s, such as the charting singles like "Truly Yours" (1966) and "I'll Always Love You" (1965); almost all of the group's pre-Motown material on Fuqua's Tri-Phi Records label, and also on The Spinners' biggest Atlantic Records hits, such as "I'll Be Around", "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", "They Just Can't Stop It the (Games People Play)", and the Billboard #1, "Then Came You" (with Dionne Warwick). With the death of Smith on March 16, 2013 as well as fellow Spinners members Billy Henderson in 2007, and bass singer Pervis Jackson in August 2008, Henry Fambrough is the last remaining original member still performing with the Spinners Blues and Soul Interview with Bobbie by Pete Lewis http://www.bluesandsoul.com/feature/384/spinners_reaching_dizzy_heights/
-
Jewel Akens R I P
It seems that we have yet lost another 60's soul singer. A posting on Southern Soul stated that Jewel passed away yesterday (1st March) in an LA hospital. There has been no media confirmation of this fact yet ... BUT if you scan down the posts on the attached youtube video there's an entry made 9 hours ago saying.... RIP Uncle Jewel ..... so it seems that the bad news may be correct .......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaaVbWD3USI
-
Andantes Article
This is quite long .... but it includes lots of info (some new to me) ....... ... GIRL GROUPS: the Grit, the Glamour, the Glory ..... http://metrotimes.co...glory-1.1443481 added by site Preview of Metro Times 3 page article full article link http://metrotimes.co....1443481?pgno=1 ...ultimately caught the ear of noted Detroit songwriter and record producer Richard “Popcorn” Wylie, who would take the girls to Motown to provide background harmonies for his songs. In those days, one could pay Motown $100 for a block of studio time and record anything one pleased. After several sessions, Marlene and Jackie literally tried to run from their eventual vocation. “Every time he would come over to teach us his songs, we would hide,” Jackie recalls. “We would say, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ but we dreaded it. Mama said, ‘I’m tired of that boy. Y’all tell him that you do not want to learn those songs and go over there and sing. But you’re not doing anything else, so what’s the problem?’.... Related Soundcloud Radio show Head Curator Lina Stephens joins Craig in-studio to discuss the latest exhibit, GIRL GROUPS: The Grit, The Clamour, The Glory. The new exhibit opens Friday , 2013 and features such legends as: The Supremes, The Vandellas, The Marvelettes, The Velvelettes, and the Unsung Vocal Heroes of Motown, The Andantes. photo: Andantes with Kim Weston
-
Cecil Womack RIP
It seems that Cecil Womack passed away earlier this week in Africa where he had been living with Linda (Womack & Womack) for the last few years. site note :added 06 Feb 2013 The info below was originally posted on the Southern Soul Yahoo group by various soul fans The author of this news item failed to give any credit to the original source You can read the original post here http://launch.groups...l/message/73096 please see comments for further explanation Both Bobby & Curtis have confirmed his death & Curtis has stated that Cecil wants his ashes spread over a river near where they have been living. (Photo courtesy of http://www.soulwalki...k & Womack.html) All 3 Womack brothers were in the early line-up of the Valentinos and after Bobby went solo, the other brothers kept the group going (though I'm unsure which of them sang lead on "Sweeter Than The Day Before". Cecil was married to Mary Wells & they had children together (who live in the US). ....... Another singer has left us... RIP Cecil.
-
Dunn Pearson & The 9th Street Exit
Dunn Pearson was around on the Cleveland soul scene from the late 60's through to 1980 when he relocated to New York. In that time, he backed up many local soul groups & singers, formed & led groups himself, toured (in backing bands) with top acts such as the O'Jays. He has also cut, arranged and produced his own group plus other acts on recording sessions and has generally become a 'jack of all trades' on the music scene in the city and beyond. He learnt to play instruments and sang some during his school years. The original group he helped form were known as the Shades of Soul who came together in 1969/70. Bobby English was also born in Cleveland and he was in the same home room in Junior High School as Benny Slocum. The two of then were talking one day and decided to become involved in music. Bobby had considered playing the drums, but when Benny made the drums his instrument of choice, Bobby quickly took up the saxophone. Bobby was inspired by the likes of Cannonball Adderley. Ironically, the pair started off playing in competing bands. Benny was with The Shades of Soul and Bobby with a group called The Citations. But when Benny & the other guys in Shades of Soul heard him play a solo from a Rare Earth album, they asked Bobby to join their group. The new ensemble started out as a self-contained group and they played local clubs and talent shows, quickly learning their trade. In the group's early they would play tunes by Booker T & the MG's and other instrumental tunes that featured Dunn. Kenny Red would sing lead on songs Isley Brothers cuts and pop songs such as "Midnight at the Oasis," and "On a Horse with No Name." Booby would take lead on "Ain't No Sunshine", "I Don't Want The Night to End" (a Phoebe Snow tune) and he was also responsible for getting the outfit to play a lot of jazz tunes (songs by the likes of Roy Ayers, John Klemmer, and the (Jazz) Crusaders). The group soon came to the attention of the manager of local boy band the Ponderosa Twins + One who had just made the big time (hitting nationally with a cover of Sam Cooke's “You Send Me” on Horoscope in September 1971). So they became that group's backing band and almost instantly went out on nationwide tours. The members of the band were Dunn Pearson (piano), Kenny Redon (guitar + vocals ; known as Kenny Redd but a different guy to the one who was in True Movement), Bobby English (sax + vocals), Benny Slocum (drums), Ernie Cary (bass), Booker Hollins (percussion) plus two brothers David (older) & Bobby Johnson (who were transitional members of the band as were some others). When they were touring with the Ponderosa Twins, they opened shows for Gladys Knight & The Pips, Kool & The Gang, Al Green, James Brown and many more top seeling acts. They toured right up and down the east coast but when the Twins' voices started to change, that was the end of them. After the Ponderosa Twins broke up, they became the Imperial Wonders backing band. They soon decided to go out on their own and were dubbed 9th Street Exit (the name being dreamed up by Lou Ragland & Walter Williams. 9th Street Exit being the slip road off the freeway that led into central Cleveland). With their connections to Bobby Massey and the other O'Jays, they soon landed a record deal with the locally based Solid Foundation label. Two singles soon escaped; “(Let's Make) Sweet Harmony” (SF 103) and “9th Street” (SF 107). The group got to play the songs they had recorded in local clubs and the tracks got limited local radio airplay, but significant numbers of the 45's weren't sold. Bobby didn't even remember playing on those tracks and thought that he may have been off at college at the time. They worked on tracks to form an album (to be issued under the title 'Be Happy' (B55101) but the cuts were never finished and no LP materialised. Benny, Kenny and Bobby did all the lead singing for the group and they were always competing with each another. Benny sang songs by the likes of Isaac Hayes and Barry White (he had a very nice semi-baritone voice). One of Bobby's favourite songs was Brook Benton's "Rainy Night In Georgia”. He also did a great version of "Sweet Thing" by Chaka Khan. 9th Street was regarded as a really class act. They performed all styles of music including soul, jazz, funk, r&b, rock and pop. They did a version of "Cloudy" (the Average White Band track) that included a section where the band would start swinging and Bobby would break into scat singing. One of their favourite groups was Sly and The Family Stone. When they performed at rock concerts in high school, Dunn would dress just like Sly and he would look exactly like him. Everyone acknowledged that Dunn was the most proficient musician in the group. He had complete command of his instrument and many times would play a red, white and blue Farfisa organ (just like Sly Stone). The group also acted as the studio band backing up the Imperial Wonders on the tracks they cut for Solid Foundation (as did some members of the O’Jays backing band). Bobby Massey had become the groups manager but unfortunately their releases failed to sell much outside of Cleveland itself. Dunn Pearson was learning all the time though, so he got more into song writing, producing & arranging. He picked up many 'studio skills' working on those Solid Foundation sessions. He also worked on tracks as the arranger for Way Out (Jessie Fisher “Mr. Super Nobody / Don’t Cheat On Me” in 1973), Miystic Insight Records (True Movement -- "Depression / What A Lovely Way To Meet" & Sonny Lovall —“Ghetto Boy” in 1974) Shaker Records ( Bobby & Cindy — “If This Ain't Really Love / I’ll Keep Coming Back” in 1975), CAM (Odyssey & Company — “Let Me Be / She’s Perfect”), Devaki Records (Truth — “Understanding / See You Later” in 1980) and he even got to co-produce “You’re The Girl Of My Dreams” for the O’Jays (a 1980 TSOP release). Another job he landed was the producer's role for Akron Ohio based female group M’Lady. This trio landed a deal with 20th Century Records and had 2 x 12” releases on the label (“Sweet Honey / Baby You Lied” being the 1st). By 1980, Dunn had become a 'big fish in a little pond' and so he relocated to New York but continued to work with Cleveland artists. Dunn also wrote the song “All I Want Is You” that he then cut on Four Flights (Almeria: 1978) and on Sly, Slick & Wicked (Sweet City / Epic: 1979). With their records not doing too well, the members of 9th Street Exit had become a bit disillusioned. Dunn left the group and went off to play in the O'Jay's tour band. That didn't immediately lead to the group's break up but it had a number of personnel changes. At one point they had two guitar players and then they added a piano player and two additional sax players. Bobby had just about left the group in 1977 when he was away in college, but he returned in 1978 after graduating. They played on for a little while but eventually disbanded. Bobby started playing with a jazz quartet in the early 80's and moved to Chicago in 1985 where he enrolled in graduate school. Here he studied for and was awarded a masters degree in entertainment management. While in Chicago, he continued to play and record, getting to perform all around Chicago itself plus across Indiana and Wisconsin. After 9th Street Exit had broken up, it's other members also moved on. After Dunn left the group had a number of personnel changes. At one point we had two guitar players and at another we added a piano player and two additional sax players. Benny passed away many years ago, he was shot and killed when someone attempted to rob him around 1982. Bobby himself had moved back to Cleveland from Chicago in 1990. There he started playing in a 'wedding band' with Kenny and Ernie. Ernie and Kenny were still playing together at the end of the 90's. While they were all in the wedding band they would play some of the 9th Street Exit songs. Amazingly, though many years had passed, Kenny still remembered every song and lick. When Bobby had auditioned for the wedding band (at Ernie's request) the leader of the band had asked if he sang. Kenny and Ernie immediately started playing "Sara Smile" and Bobby had started singing the song (which had been one of the songs he had sung with 9th Street). Back around 2000, Bobby English lived in LA. Ernie passed away, he died of a heart attack in the late 1990's. Dunn had teamed up with Bruce Gray (probably via his O'Jays Philly connection) and they formed Dunn & Bruce Street. As half of Dunn & Bruce Street he had a number of releases. “ If You Come With Me / The Moment Of Truth” (Devaki DK 4005) was issued in 1981, the A side being both written, produced & arranged by Dunn and Bruce (this also got a UK release on Satril in 83 with a different B side -- Satril SAT 503). Next up came “Shout For Joy / Yearnin & Burnin” (DK1009) in 1982 (both tracks being written, produced & arranged by Dunn & Bruce — this also escaped as a UK 12” release as SATRIL SAT 500 in 82). An album, 'Official Business' (Devaki DKI 30003), also came out in 82 and this featured 8 tracks (all being written, produced & arranged by pair). All the duet's tracks were recorded at Blank Tape Studios, New York and featured Bruce Gray on lead vocals. Dunn handled backing vocals along with Tawatha Agee, Fonzie Thornton, etc. The musicians on their recordings were Dunn (keys / synths), Bruce, Phillip Woo (drums), Yogi Horton, Woody Cunningham (bass) Raymond Jackson (guitar) & Doc Powell. From 1983, Dunn started to cut solo efforts while continuing to work in the studio with other artists. He cut “ Go For The Gusto” (Compose 9904-12) in 1989 that featured Jocelyn Brown on lead vocals. This was followed by a 10 track album (9904-1) on which all the songs were self written except Gary Glenn's “Caught Up In The Rapture”. He worked with musicians & vocalists such as Grover Washington, Noel Pointer, Bernard Watt, Doc Powell, Willie Ross and Benny Diggs. A good vocal track, “Most Definitely” was laid down at Hip Pocket Studio, NY and this came out on Bounce. Dunn also worked in the studio with Teddy Prendergrass, Stephanie Mills, Lou Rawls, Mtume, the Spinners, Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, LSG ( Levert, Sweat, Gill), Mary J Blige and others. He scored the Broadway musical 'Amen Corner' and films like “Native Son “ & “Head Office”. He also worked on the TV show ‘New York Undercover’ and composed dozens of commercials. He did other work for PPI and in 1999, the CD 'Under Cover Lover' (again for Bounce Records of Newark, NJ). This CD featured “Up All Night” cut with April Harris & Najee. Since then he has also worked with Grover Washington (again), Fred Watt, Marion Meadows, Freddie Hubbard, Freddie Jackson, Portia Martin, Voice of Harmony, Janice Dempsey, Gerald Albright and Patrice Rushen. So from his humble musical beginnings in Cleveland, Dunn has gone on to leave a lasting legacy in the recording & performing worlds. Many of his old recordings and production efforts are much sought after by record collectors, having stood up to the 'test of time' more than adequately. The "ALL I WANT IS YOU" Story Around 1978, Cleveland based Dunn Pearson wrote a song titled “ All I Want Is You”. It is just one of hundreds of songs that Dunn has written but apart from it being a classy composition, it also acts as a classic example of the good and bad events that can overtake soul recordings and the tunes involved. Dunn Pearson had started out in the music business in Cleveland backing groups such as the Ponderosa Twins + One and the Imperial Wonders. From there he progressed to leading his own group, 9th Street Exit and also writing for, arranging and producing other recording artists. He joined the O’Jays backing band, all the time expanding his musical knowledge and increasing his experience. His compositional skills were also becoming more widely recognised and soon his songs were being recorded by a number of other artists. Although still associated with the O’Jays, Dunn secured himself a recording deal with Almeria Records in New York and they issued his track “Groove On Down” in 1978. Just prior to this, Tony Richburg, the O’Jays tour manager had taken an interest in a group made up of four guys from Chicago, the Four Flights. The group were fetched to Cleveland and placed under Dunn’s supervision. He had written a song that he thought would suit the group and so “All I Want Is You” was cut on them. Today, Dunn can’t recall any names of the group’s members (their association being a one off affair), however his cousin John Wilson remembers meeting up with the group. He had met them at the Shaker Records (an O’Jays label) building in Miles Avenue in Cleveland and remembers one of the Four Flight members well. The member in question, an extremely stout guy had gone by the name of 'ROUND POUND' due to his weight and stature. Dunn really liked the resulting cut and decided to offer it to the people at Almeria Records. They were also impressed with Four Flights and Dunn’s efforts, so licensed the track for release. To everyone's relative surprise, the record was really well received and garnered some good radio exposure. Although the group's release had created some interest, the O’Jays and Dunn had careers of their own to sustain. So with no one really masterminding any future for them, the group gave up and returned home to Chicago . Just like Dunn, his relative John Wilson was also actively engaged in the music business. In the early 70’s he had formed the group Sly, Slick and Wicked and they had gone on to enjoy releases on the Paramount, People, Shaker and Ju-Par labels. The line up of his trio had changed with the passage of time but John had soldiered on. In 1978 he recruited two new members in order to keep the group going. Scott Pitman became ‘Slick’ and Jerome Pratt ‘Wicked’ (John obviously being ‘Sly’). At the same time that Dunn was working with the Four Flights, Carl Maduri, a veteran of the Cleveland recording scene (he had produced Lou Ragland’s 1973 WB 45 “Since You said You’d Be Mine”) was just setting up a new label, Sweet City. Carl obtained national distribution for his label via Epic Records. As John knew him well, he arranged a meeting with Carl with a view to securing his outfit a recording deal. At this meeting John played Carl the song Dunn had written and Carl liked the song as well. As he had also always liked John’s group, he signed Sly, Slick & Wicked’s new line-up to Sweet City Records. John called Dunn and asked him if he still had the master tape from the Four Flights session. Dunn confirmed he did and so a short while later, Sly, Slick & Wicked added their vocals (at the Painsville Studios) to the original musical track. John had developed an opening dialogue to precede the music track and he also handled lead vocals duties on the cut. Everyone involved liked the results of the session and the track was subsequently released on a Epic / Sweet City single (Epic 9-50758). Unfortunately once again, little or no promotion was put behind the release of the song on 45 and so it didn’t make any major commercial impact. Dunn’s links with Almeria lapsed and he struck up a new musical partnership with Philadelphian, Bruce Gray. The duo signed with Devaki Records as Dunn & Bruce Street and subsequently went on to enjoy both single and album releases on the label (some of these even gaining UK releases at the time). His old song had gained a few influential admirers along the way though and hadn’t been completely forgotten. Recording industry stalwart Greg Carmichael also had connections with Almeria Records at about the same time as Dunn was placing product with them. His New York based Red Gregg Enterprises had signed their artist Ben Wiggins with the label in 1978. Almeria had subsequently released Ben’s cuts "Its All Over / I Love You Too Much" as a single (Almeria 4003). In 1980 another version of “All I Want Is You” was released, this time on Sam Records. The group who had cut this third version going by the name of Convertion. A familiar figure was associated with their effort, it’s producer being none other than Greg Carmichael. Matters with regard to this release were not altogether straightforward though. The song had now been assigned to a publishing company that Dunn had no knowledge of and it had also acquired an extra writer along the way (a certain J Carter). In fact Dunn had only been made aware of the new version by accident. His attorney (at that time) was representing the composers of the song on the other side of the Convertion single and in passing had happened to notice Dunn’s name on the label of the record. As a result, he got in touch with Dunn and needless to say, legal action seemed appropriate. So this one song had, in a short space of time, managed to attract enough interest to gain three different released versions. All three of these recordings have stood the test of time well and are still much sought after today by soul music collectors from around the globe. Thus good things were achieved by the song, however the murkier side of the business had also been demonstrated by the third version of it that had been cut."¨ 4 Flights ….. Sly,Sl & W …. Convertion …..
-
Jimmy McCracklin RIP
We loose yet another old hero .......... Jimmy McC passed away yesterday .... R.I.P. ..... http://www.sfgate.co...eer-4136929.php added by site Jimmy McCracklin, one of the most prolific blues singers and songwriters of all time, with a recording career that spanned 1945 to 2010, died Thursday at Creekside Healthcare Center in San Pablo after a long convalescence. Read more: http://www.sfgate.co...p#ixzz2FkjMne2e Jimmy Mc Cracklin http://creativecommo...enses/by-sa/3.0)], by Lionel decoster (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons
-
Edwin Starr's Cleveland Years
Charles Hatcher (Edwin Starr) was born in Nashville in January, 1942 but his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio while he was still young. Here Edwin was educated at the city’s East Technical High School. Whilst a student at this school his interest in singing developed. This isn’t surprising as the school seems to have been a spawning ground for male vocal groups at the time. The likes of the LaSalles & Carousels, who were both to go on to secure recording contracts, started up while the members were attending the school. Edwin also became a member of a group formed at the school, his group adopting the name of the FutureTones. The group got its name by adapting the name of an established local group, the Metrotones. The Metrotones had started to come together as early as 1953 and they quickly built up a local following. Initially an all male outfit, the group's manager recruited Kim Tolliver to join them for a short period. The group's popularity led to them securing a recording contract and in 1958 they had enjoyed a release on the local Reserve label, “Please Come Back / Skitter Skatter”. The links between the two groups went further than just similar names though. They came from the same part of the city and the Metrotones leader, Sonny Turner, took Edwin under his wing and helped teach him to sing properly. The Reserve single was to prove to be the high point of the Metrotones career, however Sonny Turner was to go on to become lead singer with the Platters in the 60’s. Another member, Leonard Veal, ended up joining the Hesitations a few years later. The FutureTones consisted of Edwin, John Berry, Parnell Burks, Richard Isom and Roosevelt Harris. The group performed at school shows and set about increasing their profile locally after Edwin graduated from school in 1956. They became ground breakers on the Cleveland scene as they soon became the first local outfit to be fully self contained, having their own instrumentalists as members. The musician members of the group were Russell Evans (guitar), Pinhead (trumpet), Julius Robertson (bass), Brownie (drummer) and Gus Hawkins (sax). The group would enter local talent contests such as those that were held at the Circle Ballroom. At these they would be up against other aspiring groups of young hopefuls trying to get onto the bottom rung of the ladder they hoped would eventually lead to recording success. Group names that Edwin recalls are the Sahibs, the Monarks and the Crescents. The Sahibs had also been formed at a local school, this time though it had been Rawlings Junior High School. At the time one of their members was George Hendricks who was later to become a member of Way Out group, the Exceptional 3. A couple of years later Lou Ragland was to be co-opted into the group by its leader, James Dotson. Edwin acknowledges that the Sahib’s would almost always put on a fantastic performance, which his outfit had to strive to top. The FutureTones would usually perform the Metrotones song “Skitter Skatter” and they must have done it well as they won contests on 8 or 9 separate occasions. Edwin puts this down, in part, to his outfit’s better stage act as they were better dancers than most of their rivals. Edwin particularly remembers one contest though, at this the FutureTones and Sahibs were pitted against each other and their performances couldn’t be separated. As a result of this, the two groups were adjudged joint winners. The leader of the Crescents was William Burrell, who adopted the professional name of Billy Wells. Billy went on to enjoy a long and successful recording career both with the Crescents and later with the Invaders and the Outer Realm. Billy relocated to Florida in the 60’s and here he cut a track, “This Heart, These Hands”, that was to go on to find favour with UK northern soul fans. The Monarks, Edwin recalls, would perform mostly El Dorados and Spaniels type tunes. Other local outfits around at the time were the Fabulous Flames, Annuals and Cashmeres. The Fabulous Flames would enjoy releases in the late 50’s and early 60’s on Rex, Time and Baytone. Their line-up included Harvey Hall who would later go solo and record for Thomas Boddie’s Luau label. The group would alternate between having four and five members and so would always be taking on temporary members. One such member was Richard Fisher (Jessie’s brother) who was to relocate to New York in the sixties and join the Jive Five. The Annuals later secured a recording contract through their manager, Marty Conn, who started his own label, Marrconn Records. When the group broke up, members went on to join the Springers (Jeff Crutchfield) and Hesitations (Arthur Blakey). The Cashmeres, like the Sahib’s, never recorded in their own right, but the outfit’s Kenny Redd made it into the studio’s in the early 70’s when he was with Miystic Insight group True Movement. The FutureTones, along with the other groups mentioned, would do the rounds of all the Cleveland live venues. The Mercury Ballroom, the Lucky Strike, Gleason’s, the Che Breau Club, the Rose Room at the Majestic Hotel, the Cedar Gardens, Playmor and Chatterbox Club. Joan Bias, who recorded for Way Out in 1963, recalls watching a really good FutureTones performance at the Cedar Gardens in the late 50’s. The Majestic Hotel was at that time employing two émigrés from down south, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. Eddie was employed in the kitchen while Paul was a bell hop. The pair were using their positions at the hotel to good effect though. They would rehearse songs after work from around midnight to 3am along with the third member of their outfit, Kell Osbourne. They would also occasionally secure bookings to perform properly at the hotel. However the pair soon decided that Cleveland didn’t offer them the musical opportunities they were seeking and so they moved on to Detroit. Eventually the FutureTones got to appear on a local TV show, the 'Gene Carroll Talent Show' and not long afterwards they went professional. The first engagement they secured after this was at the Chatterbox Club (which was located on Woodland near 55th Street) as support act to Billie Holliday. Edwin was totally in awe of Billie and although he got the opportunity to visit her dressing room to speak with her he doesn’t think that his attempts at conversation would have been too coherent. Further successful engagements followed and in 1959 the group secured a recording contract with Tress Records. A single, “ I Know / Rolling On” was released and made a few waves locally. With a promising future in prospect for the group things appeared to be on the up for its members' but fate was to take a hand. In 1960 Edwin was drafted into the Army. Here his obvious talent as a singer was soon recognised and he got to perform for other servicemen at bases across the USA and Germany. Upon his discharge in 1962 he returned to Cleveland and attempted to pick up the reigns with the group again. In his absence, one of his old friends Demon (William Isom) had joined the group but they hadn’t been able to progress their career. With Edwin back in the fold they continued to perform locally but they had lost the impetus they had possessed a few years earlier. In 1963 Bill Doggett and his group swung through Cleveland and at the time Doggett was on the lookout for a new vocalist. Edwin caught his eye and so was offered the position. He accepted, quit the FutureTones and left town to tour with his new outfit. Bill Doggett had a great influence on Edwin, especially with regard to his professional attitude to the business. He didn’t drink, always expected good discipline and insisted that those associated with him were accessible to the people they came in contact with. After a couple of years on the road with Doggett, Edwin began to develop his song writing skills and inspired by a James Bond movie he wrote ‘Agent OO Soul’. He thought the song had commercial potential but knew that to tie in with the hype currently associated with the spy movie it would have to be recorded straight away. He took the song to Doggett but, obviously not wanting to lose his talented vocalist, Doggett suggested it was too early for him to be contemplating cutting a record. Luckily for Edwin one of their next live performances was at the Twenty Grand in Detroit. At this he was approached by Lebaron Taylor, which led to an introduction to Ric Tic Records and the rest is history. With an instant solo hit on his hands, Edwin had to immediately put together a backing band so that he could tour to cash in on his new found success. He didn’t really know too many available musicians in Detroit so it was only natural that he returned to Cleveland to recruit the backbone of his needed line-up. The FutureTones had soldiered on after Edwin had left them but the vocalist’s in the line-up began to loose interest and gradually drifted away into normal 9 to 5 jobs. In fact no other vocalist from the group would go on to forge a career in the music industry. The musician side of the group however had gone from strength to strength. They found employment around Cleveland backing up visiting acts such as the Temptations. The respect that they commanded locally also led to them being used on recording sessions, with work on O’Jays and Intertains sessions being amongst those secured. On Edwins return to scout out members for his tour band he sought out his old friends and in no time he had persuaded Gus Hawkins and Julius Robertson to go on the road with him. The pair stayed with him for some time before they eventually tired of living out of a suitcase and returned home to Cleveland. The pair’s departure with Edwin had finally signalled the end for the FutureTones and leader Russell Evans took a position in the O’Jays backing band. In the 70’s Gus Hawkins was to become a member of Musicor recording group S.O.U.L. and Russell Evans was to lead the backing band for Sounds of Cleveland / Devaki recording group, Truth. Edwin hadn’t finally severed his links with Cleveland though as in 1970 he returned to the city once again. This time he recruited local outfit, Mother Braintree, as his road band. After a year or so they also returned home where members were to merge with another local outfit to form the Dazz Band. Edwin’s many years of commercial world-wide success only took off after he had left Cleveland, however he had spent his formative years in the city. Without the grounding he gained there who can say how his career would have progressed. He was still certainly well remembered by many residents of the city in the 1990's. Among the old friends that were hoping Edwin would return to the city was William ‘Demon’ Isom, who at the end of that decade still worked at Republic Steel.
-
Charles Drain: Two Stupid Feet
Charles Drain was born in Eupora, Mississippi back in 1939. He began singing at the age of eight and formed his first group a couple of years later. After moving to St Louis, he secured work singing back-up vocals before joining the "Tabs" as their lead singer. The group back then consisted of Charles Drain, Sonny Robertson (1st tenor), John Hopkins (2nd tenor) & Lionel Stokes (baritone). All the guys were childhood buddies though a couple of additional members (Tuman Hughes & Leroy Terry) had dropped out down the years. Sonny Robertson had started out in gospel groups as a teenager and had sung in male gospel quartets back in St Louis with the likes of Mel & Tim. Although not actually a member of the group, Charles’ brother William (Billy) was influential in their development. Billy schooled the group, helping them develop their singing skills plus he wrote songs especially for them. The group were signed by Vee Jay in 1962 and they enjoyed two 45 releases. Their first single was issued in December 1961 and this coupled “Dance All By Myself” (written by Ollie Jones) with “Dance Party” (written by Charles Drain himself). The Tabs courtesy of "Doowop - Groups and Discography" http://www.blogg.org...rs-1310328.html Their 2nd 45 also featured a song that Charles had written; “Mash Them Taters” (c/w “But You're My Baby”) and this escaped in June 1962. They got to tour, playing shows with the Miracles, Flip Wilson, Redd Foxx, Moms Mabley and the Isley Brothers at venues such as the Apollo, the Uptown in Philly, the Howard in D.C. & the Regal in Chicago. For their show at the Apollo, they were backed up by a group of musicians that included Phillip Upchurch (guitar) and King Curtis (sax). Next, the group were signed to a deal by New York based Wand Records. Their initial outing for the label was “Two Stupid Feet” (written by Wand's Luther Dixon) which was backed with a Billy Drain song “The Wallop” (Wand 130; February 1963). Reggie Obrecht, who had earlier worked with Leiber & Stoller on tracks by the Drifters, was responsible for the arrangements on the tunes. This single got some radio airplay and so Wand got behind it's release and placed some ads in US music magazines. By April, “Two Stupid Feet” was popular enough to land the group a big theatre gig in Philadelphia and this was followed by a number of other theatre bookings on the east coast circuit. Another 45 came out that July; “Take My Love Along With You (William Drain) / I'm With You” (Ed Townshend, Alvin Stewart) but this didn't do as well. The group had cut a number of other tracks for Wand (“The Big Show”, “The Landlord” and “Laughing To Keep From Crying”) but these failed to make it out of the tape vaults and so their career began to drift. While Charles had been away from St Louis performing with the Tabs, his brother Billy had teamed up with Freeman Bosley and he did some work for Bosley's Teek label. Billy wrote some new songs and cut them on acts such as Billy James, the Ascots and the Petites (who included Barbara Carr in their line-up). Some of Billy's songs (written in conjunction with Reggie Obrecht) were also used on Scepter / Wand artists. “You Upset My Soul” was cut by Maxine Brown plus Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford in 1963 and “Put Yourself In My Place” by Azie Mortimer, Maxine Brown, Dionne Warwick & Big Maybelle. Around the mid 60's, Charles decided that his future career prospects would be improved if he went solo and he soon followed that route. Still working in conjunction with brother Billy, Charles cut “Stop And Think About It” which was written & produced by Billy. Backed with “So Glad”, this was issued on Top Track (part of L-G Record Company of 4200 Missouri Avenue, East St Louis). Billy utilised local female group the Petites to back up Charles on his Top Track recordings, the ladies (Barbara Carr, Pat & Dorothy Ewing) giving a good account of themselves. The 45 did little at that time but it has gone on to be a highly collectable single that commands a high price with collectors. Charles continued to lay down tracks, some of these being cut under the supervision of Oliver Sain and brother Billy. When shopped around, two were picked up by Chess Records and released in June 1967 (“She's Gone / Here I Am”; both songs being written by Charles). He must have traveled up to Chicago to help promote his new 45 as in August he was appearing at clubs on the city's south side. One such venue being The Club (formerly the Club De Lisa) on South State Street (where the likes of Alvin Cash & the Crawlers, Otis Clay & Josephine Taylor were also regular performers). While in Chicago, Charles found himself singing backing vocals in local studios in support of artists signed to labels based in the city. But his solo releases again dried up and by the 1970's, Charles was back in St Louis trying to once again resurrect his music career. "¨"¨A new studio (CMC) had been built in St Louis and Kent Washburn had been appointed to run it and cut locally based acts. The first acts he worked with included the Hypnotics (who included ex Voice Masters member James Thompson in their line-up) and Marcus Kelly and Westmoreland Co. Phil Westmoreland was the leader of Westmoreland Company and he already had some studio experience as he had worked with the likes of Oliver Sain plus Charles and William Drain (the team writing some songs together). Work commenced At CMC and a major label deal set up for the Hypnotics. Another local who Kent Washburn recruited was Michael (Love)Smith. Born in St Louis, Michael initially led, sang lead & wrote for the family based group the Smith Brothers> The group's first single was released on the Gold Future label, the house label for the St Louis based Gold Future studios. Later in 1970, the group hooked up with the Isley Brothers and had a 45 released on the brother’s T Neck label . Under the revised name of Smith Connection, they were signed to H-D-H's Music Merchant label in 1972. But Michael wasn't making enough to support his family and so he jumped at the chance to join the CMC team. However the studio needed to be busier, so Kent Washburn and Michael (Love) Smith let it be known that they were holding auditions to find other singers to record. It came as no surprise that Charles was one of the first to learn of this and turn up at the studio to try out. Kent & Michael were suitably impressed and he was quickly signed up. The auditions also resulted in the Love Set being signed to a contract. Kent (with Michael L Smith) immediately started work on tracks for Charles Drain and the Love Set which it was agreed would be released by RCA. "¨ Unfortunately just at that time, things were going sour for CMC. There were other studios in St Louis and these were still cutting tracks. CMC Studio was the best & most modern studio in town but unfortunately this made it the most expensive to run. The studio wasn't making money and the parent company's Board of Directors and shareholders forced its closure. Kent found himself out of a job but he was allowed to keep the rights to all the masters and artists that had been cut in the studio as his severance pay. But he had to find a new work base in St Louis, so he checked out what the other three local studios had to offer. Kent made use of the facilities at Professional Artists studio (owned by Parvin Tramell), Gold Future Studio (owned by Russ Lewis) and Technisonic Studios. He made a deal with Parvin to use Professional Artists studio to cut rhythm tracks. Working with Bill Olszewski, the pair would shuttle back and forth between Professional Artists and Gold Future depending on what they were doing and the budget that was available to them. They took on some outside projects cutting other artists for releases on local labels, but working with Charles Drain was their main task. The acoustics at both Technisonic & Professional Artists were far from perfect so Kent cut some lead / backing vocals (+ strings & horns) on Charles Drain in RCA Studios in New York. One of the outside projects that Kent had taken on was with Jamal Trice. Trice had taken the master tapes produced by Kent, headed off to LA and had landed himself a deal with Motown. Impressed by what she heard on the tapes, Gwen Gordy approached Kent and also offered him a deal with Motown. After meeting with Gwen, Kent decided that working for the mighty Motown gave him & his family much more security, so he signed with the company. His Motown contract was prepared and the fine points were settled with RCA to enable him to conclude the work required on Charles Drain’s album. With the last string and horn session on the Charles Drain cuts finished in RCA’s LA studio (this was the only LA based horn session that Kent would ever actually play on himself), Kent completed work on the album in St Louis (on his own) and turned the project in to RCA. Kent was allocated new Motown group Hi Inergy to work with, but back in St Louis Charles Drain found himself without the services of the producer of his new recordings. RCA having licensed Charles' St Louis cut tracks, they set about releasing them. First to hit the shops was the 45 “Is This Really Love / Only You” (PB 10186 — January 75). "Is This Really Love" had been written by Michael Lovesmith and produced by Michael in conjunction with Kent Washburn). Despite “Is This Really Love” being a great uptempo cut that should have sold really well, RCA didn't promote it correctly and it slipped between the cracks. Charles would have to wait almost a year before his next release came out. This, another 45, coupled “Lifetime Guarantee Of Love (a Ray Dahrouge song) and “Just As Long” (10521 — early 76). After that, RCA started pushing out Charles' releases at a hectic rate. His 9 track strong album, 'Dependable' (APL-1414), soon followed, as did his final RCA 45. “I'm Gonna Stay / What Good Is A Love Song” (10594) effectively ending his RCA career in March 76. Due to their quality, some of his cuts had also escaped outside of the USA. In the UK, “Is This Really Love” made it out on a 45 in October 1976. His final US RCA 45, “I'm Gonna Stay,”has gone on to become a favorite with soul fans around the globe. Also after his “What You Don't Know” was included on the Various Artist US RCA album 'Disco Express Vol.2' in November 76, this was also released in Argentina. Back in LA,, Kent got to use some of the best studio musicians (Ray Parker, Paul Jackson, Ray Edwards, Ollie Brown, etc) on his work with Hi Inergy. Kent's initial Motown contract had been signed in early summer 1976 and had only been for a 12 month period. By July 1977, just as he was ready to submit the Hi Inergy album for release, the contract expired. He received a letter sent out by Motown’s A&R Department stating that his contract wasn’t to be renewed, so Kent flew back to St Louis to see if he could resurrect his career back there. Still believing that he had submitted some great tracks to Motown, Kent just teamed up again with Charles Drain and they started work on four new songs. After having seen how good the likes of Syl Rivers, Ray Parker, Ollie Brown and Ray Edwards had been on the Hi Inergy tracks, Kent was keen to use the ‘Motown Boys’ again. So he got them involved with three of the tracks that Charles cut; “A Little Bit of You” (written by Ray Parker), “Who’s Gonna Love You” (written by Gloria and Richard Jones) and "You're In My Dreams". One finished track from Charles remained spare from the RCA deal, this being "I Could Stay All Night" which had been recorded in St Louis at about the same time as his tracks that RCA had put out. Kent's new work with Charles was progressing well and some weeks had passed since he had arrived back in St Louis. Then a call came in from Gwendolyn Fuller (Gwen Gordy’s close colleague). She said that Berry Gordy himself had heard the tracks Kent had laid down on Hi Inergy and was mightly impressed with them. When he had been told that Kent’s contract had been terminated, he had immediately issued instructions that matters be put right. So Kent was reinstated at Motown and he flew back to LA. This action though resulted in the new Charles Drain tracks being left incomplete. Kent's Hi Inergy tracks enjoyed instant commercial success (the group's 1st 45 “You Can't Turn Me Off” going to No. 2 on the US Soul charts). Following that, Kent entered into a working arrangement with the group that lasted for another two years. But in 1979, Kent Washburn quit his position with Motown and looked around for a new challenge. He still had the master tapes for some tracks he had cut in St Louis in the mid 1970’s that remained unissued and these would provide him with one opportunity. Almost immediately he met Tony Hart, the man behind the Hartsong Corporation that ran Spirit Records (a contemporary Christian rock label). The pair hooked up and Kent took the post of Vice President / General Manager of Spirit Records. The Hartsong Corporation had been set up in part to exploit a tax loophole. The Corporation produced and acquired masters that were then sold to investors to allow them to take advantage of tax credit rules. As long as records were pressed up and distributed, the product could be ‘sold on’ to investors who could then claim back more than they had paid as a tax write-off. Kent made the 'unused masters' cut in St Louis available and these were released on his re-activated Emkay label. A small number of each release was pressed up. These were ‘distributed’ as required under the tax laws but all that really happened was a few copies were sent to local DJ’s and industry people. Some copies were also passed along to the investors with the remaining stock going straight into a warehouse. So the public remained totally oblivious to the existence of these new Emkay records. In all there were 12 releases on the Emkay label in 1979; 10 No. 45’s + 2 No. LPs. One of the 45's (EM1008) featured Charles Drain's “I Could Stay All Night” (the song again being penned by Michael ‘Love’ Smith) which was coupled with a Westmoreland Co. instrumental (“Don't Suprise Yourself”). This action was taken as Kent only had one ‘finished’ track by Charles Drain that hadn’t already been released by RCA. No hope existed of any of the Emkay 45's resurrecting the careers of the artists involved and so Charles never got the chance to benefit from the release of the single. Things soon got worse however for the Hartsong Corporation. The company’s main funding came via the 'tax break' investments but the lawyer involved was getting a bit too creative in his tax write-off claims and Hartsong soon had major problems with the US government. The lawyer flew to Canada to try and es ape the consequences of his actions, but he was eventually rounded up and spent time in prison. Hartsong collapsed though and Kent had to move on, this time he embarked on a number of gospel projects in LA. Charles Drain was still 'out of the action' back in St Louis. Most St louis based soul acts left the city to make it big recording wise. Many went to Chicago or Memphis, but by the 1980's even this course of action was proving less successful. In any case, Charles was now in his 40's and the prospect of moving again in an attempt to further his music career wasn't a realistic prospect. He managed to stay connected locally and this resulted in his final record release. He cut some tracks that were put out by the St Louis based Professors' 50 / 50 label. This was run by Mitch Wadley (who wrote Charles' song & produced the track). “When You Say You Love Me” was a great deep soul cut which demonstrated that vocally Charles still had it. That was to be his last fling at reaching the wider record buying public and with Charles now being in his mid 40's, he drifted off the scene. About ten years later, Charles passed away in St Louis (March 1995) at the relatively young age of 55. He certainly had made his mark on the music business but with a bit more luck, he could have been up there with the most succcessful male soul singers. He was certainly equiped with the vocal talent to have enjoyed more fame and this fact was demonstrated when his RCA outing “Is This Really Love” was included on the Soul Brother Records CD 'the Wants List 3’ in 2007.
-
Let Our Love Grow Higher - Eula Cooper Biography
“I hope these dreams will come true”, so goes a line in the song “Let Our Love Grow Higher”. Well we often dream that rare soul icons such as Eula Cooper would be re-discovered and make a triumphant return to performing live. Of course it needs something to trigger such a process. Something such as a specialist record label licensing rare old 45 tracks from a long extinct outfit who never really managed to make much commercial impact. Well not too long ago, US based specialist label Numero added a new compilation to their well-respected ‘Eccentric Soul’ series — ‘The Tragar & Note Labels’. The publicity surrounding this release made Eula aware that there were still many fans of her music, spread right across the world, Not one to rest on her laurels, when offered a live gig in New York, she jumped at the opportunity. So last November, at the Five Spot in Brooklyn, Eula made her New York live debut 40 years after her first 45 was issued. Strangely, that first single had made such an impact in her hometown of Atlanta that New York colossus Atlantic Records had licensed the single for national distribution. Inspired by the reception she got from the New York audience, Eula has now bitten the bullet and agreed to head overseas to perform for the first time ever. There’s nowhere better for this debut to take place than the Prestatyn Weekender. Eula was born in 1953 in Opelika, Alabama (west of Columbus) but moved to Birmingham at an early age. The family moved again when she was 6years old, this time the destination was Atlanta. Here, she got into singing in church and it wasn’t long before she made her public appearance debut. At age 9 she entered a talent show held at the Magnolia Ballroom in Atlanta and on this she sang "What Two Can Easily Do" (in late 63 / early 64). Even at this young age, she was already displaying her considerable vocal abilities. Singing a cappella, she won the contest and her career was almost launched. A few years passed and Eula was only managing to impress her school friends with her vocal efforts. One day in 1968, she was entertaining her friends by singing a song she had written (“Shake, Daddy, Shake”) whilst they all tried clothes on in a shop in the city. The storeowner liked what he heard and suggested she head upstairs to the offices above the shop. Along with her friends, she took the advice and found Jesse Jones sitting at a desk in his Tragar Records office. She sang the song for him and was immediately sent home to fetch her mother. Jesse instantly recognized that in Eula he had probably discovered someone he could mold into a real star. In no time, Eula’s first 45 hit the shops. “Shake Daddy Shake” immediately made the local charts and was picked up for national distribution by Atlantic (they made “Heavenly Father” the plug side). So after spending her weekdays at Booker T Washington High School, the weekends would be devoted to spells in the recording studio or on stage. “Try” (arranged by Tommy Stewart) became the A side of her next 45 outing with her Motown connection being renewed on its flip with a cover of “Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things” (this had been meant for Richard Cook but he had failed to show up in the studio). “I Can't Help If I Love You” also escaped in 1969 on Tragar 45’s (twice). The label was however experiencing a major cash crisis and it soon lapsed into hibernation, but Eula’s crowning glory was about to take wing. Starting up the Super Sound label, Jones decided a more professional product was needed. So Eula was taken over to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio to work with the highly proficient in-house team there. The result was “Let Our Love Grow Higher”, a song written & arranged by Tragar stalwart Bill Patterson in 1970. It was to prove to be Eula’s finest hour. Funds were still short though and this deficiency meant the song was lost in the shuffle due to lack of promotion. The Super Sound label quickly sank without trace but was soon replaced with Note Records. “I Need You More” escaped in 1971 and this particular cut is Eula’s personal favorite (it was used again in 1972). The strings on the track were arranged by Wade Marcus who also worked for Motown, Atlantic, Stax and Chess. After the journey across to Florence (200 miles), she was so tired that she fell asleep in the studio. The backing on the track was finished while she slept; luckily she woke in time to add the lead vocals. When not studying at school, in the studio or on the road, Eula sang in the choir. She next teamed up with fellow choir members Shari Billingslea and Deborah Tolls to form Cherry Blend. The trio cut the fine “Love Is Gone” in Muscle Shoals and it was released by Note. King Records were impressed and so licensed it for release in 1972. But Eula was soon back to solo recording duties, this time at Fame Studios. The Sam Dees song “Beggars Can't Be Choosey” was laid down and coupled with “I Need You More” (being used once again) in 1973. This Note Records track became Eula’s first UK release when in 1979 it was issued here on the Grapevine label. Back in America, “Standing By Love” was re-cycled for her next and (unfortunately) last US 45 release. Eula went off to college, started a family and then followed Jessie Jones across to California. Here she continued to play live gigs and even hooked up with Jones to lay down more tracks (1984) but none managed to escape from the tape vaults. She even prepared to sing back-up for Chaka Chan but refused to go on the actual tour after getting the short end of the stick with regard to some songs she largely composed for Chaka. Eventually she moved back to the south and bought into the more mundane 9 to 5 lifestyle. Luckily, the reaction to the Numero CD changed that and she’s now ready to dive back into the entertainment pool. The appreciative reaction of the Prestatyn Weekender audience certainly guaranteed that she didn’t regret her decision. Dreams did come true for many people at the weekender, Eula being one of them. Details of the recent appeal and further links can be viewed at: Eula Cooper Needs Your Help
-
Marie Knight That's No Way To Treat A Girl
Marie Knight came into the world way back in 1925 and though she enjoyed a recording career that stretched over 61 years, she savoured little actual commercial record success. Born in Sanford, Florida in June 1925, she moved with her family while still young to Newark, New Jersey. She soon got into singing in church and was impressing members of the congregation with her singing from the age of 5. After starting out in the choir, she soon progressed to the role of soloist and went on to establish herself as a leading lady in the gospel world. By the time that she was 20, she was taking part in major tours across the US and she started recording in 1946. She cut gospel tracks for Signature, Haven (with the Sunset Four), Decca (1947 to 1955; some with Sister Rosetta Tharpe), Candy, Brunswick and Mercury (1956). She got her first R&B chart hit in 1948 with her Decca 45 cut “Precious Memories” and this was soon followed into the R&B top 20 by a duet she made with Rosetta Tharpe. Her last gospel hit to make the R&B charts came in 1949 when she enjoyed her biggest solo success ever with “Gospel Train” (Decca). In 1950, together with Rosetta Tharpe, she sang before an audience of thousands of gospel fans at a big show in Washington. She then teamed up with boxer Jersey Joe Walcott in 1951 to cut some tracks for Decca and the pair also did some live shows together. In the early to mid 50’s she started babbling in secular music and soon was cutting both gospel and non-gospel tracks. September 1951 saw her supporting the likes of Herbie Fields & his Band, Pigmeat Markham & Tommy Edwards on gigs at Washington’s Howard Theater. In August 1953 she was touring as part of a big gospel package that played the Lumberton Armory in North Carolina. In 1955, she had a secular 45 out on Mercury’s Wing label and this did well enough for her to be signed to top New York based booking agency, Universal Attractions. In 1955, she was also performing to rave reviews with Rosetta Tharpe in New York jazz clubs and a UK tour followed in 1958. She soon left the gospel scene behind altogether and cut R&B tracks for Baton and Carlton Records before the end of the 1950’s. Carlton Records teamed her up with Rex Garvin and their outing (“I Can't Sit Down”) was well promoted and managed to secure quite a bit of radio exposure. Of course, Rex went onto to find much UK mod adulation due to his fine US Like / YK Atlantic 45 “Sock It To Em, JB”. Next, she landed a deal with Addit Records and had “To Be Loved By You” out in 1960. Okeh came calling next and her first 45 release for them was “Come Tomorrow” in 1961. This track had found favour in British music circles by the mid 1960’s when Manfred Mann cut a cover version that triggered Marie’s version to be re-released by Okeh (as Okeh 4-7218). In 1962 she had a 2nd Okeh 45 release and although it’s “Come On Baby” that has been the popular side of this disc in more recent times, it was her version of “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” that was more popular in the US back then. She toured on the strength of her Okeh recordings, featuring on a top package tour of chitlin-circuit theaters in 1962. Along with Clyde McPhatter, Ben E King, Gene Chandler, the Tabs + Shep & the Limelites she played shows at the Royal in Baltimore in April 62. In early May 62, she was at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh (a concert venue) along with Brook Benton, Gene Chandler, the Impressions, Don Juan and Bruce Channel. Three singles followed on Diamond in 1963/64 before she was signed to Musicor Records later in 64. Her take on the standard “Cry Me A River” opened her account for the label and this became her only secular song to chart when in April 1965 it made the Soul 45 top 40. However it was to be the follow-up (“That's No Way To Treat A Girl”: Musicor 1106) that would make her name with UK based NS fans. Both “Cry Me A River” (Stateside; around May 1965) and “Come Tomorrow” (Fontana; January 1962) also escaped on 45’s in the UK. She wasn’t doing at all bad for a woman approaching her 40th birthday, however her age did soon begin to tell against her. After her deal with Musicor ended, she was unable to land another secular recording contract. Marie returned to the gospel world in the early 1970’s, though she did make occasional live appearances in non-gospel settings after that time (one such show being with John Lee Hooker at New York’s Hunter College on February 7th, 1976). She became a minister and held that position at the Gates of Prayer Church (New York) for some years. She continued to record (on & off) right through till 2007 and even performed on a radio show after that (in 2008). She passed away due to complications from pneumonia in Harlem at the end of August 2009 at the grand old age of 84. Before her death, Ace UK had topped off her long career by finally breaking some tracks she had cut (in 1960) out of the master tape vaults (“Better Wait And See” a duet with Junior Lewis + her original demo version of “Come Tomorrow”. Both released in 2002 on the CD "The Arock & Sylvia Story" CDKEND 212). She may be gone, but she certainly isn’t forgotten.
-
Barbara Stant: Unsatisfied Woman
BARBARA STANT / SHIPTOWN RECORDS Barbara Stant got into the recording business at the end of the 1960’s after she dropped in on the offices of Shiptown Records in Norfolk, Virginia. Just about anyone with talent was welcome to call by at Shiptown Records, which was based out of the Nimrod Record Store at 726 Church Street. The owner, Noah Biggs, was a man with good business acumen and a sharp sense of fashion. He encouraged all talented entertainers and signed numerous singers / musicians / groups (both black & white) to his booking agency, however a fair proportion of them would never manage to gain a release on his labels. His label’s base, Church Street was the hub of the black entertainment district in the city and was where the ‘Norfolk Sound’ first developed back in the mid to late 50’s. Norfolk has a long & distinguished history, being a strategic military and transportation centre that is the cultural heart of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. The city developed around its waterfront where naval bases, shipyards, docks, warehouses and railroad yards grew up. With all the military personnel based locally, there were always hordes of people looking to a have a good time and so a thriving entertainment scene had grown up by the 1950’s. Church Street, being situated just inland from the Elizabeth River waterfront was ideally located and it became the street where blacks in particular headed to enjoy themselves. American comedian, Tim Reed, spent many of his formative years living in or around Church Street. He remembers it as a bustling narrow thoroughfare lined with wooden framed three storey buildings. Life’s lessons were learnt as much on the street there as in school, but the strong racial divide that still existed then wasn’t always obvious to local youngsters. By the mid fifties, a street gang by the name of the Corner Boys stalked the junctions of the area. At night, lots of drunken sailors would stagger down the street and members of the Corner Boys took great delight in relieving them of their wallets or engaging in other acts of petty theft. Teenage boys were expected to join the gang and it was all too easy for them to slip into a life of crime, only the church or school was there to lift them above the fray. As time progressed, the character of the street changed, as the buildings on one side of the road were demolished to allow the highway to be widened. Though this started to change the local ambiance, Church Street was still a place where guys in zoot suits helped run bars and clubs full of revelers intent on eating, drinking, singing and dancing. The section of Church Street between Brambleton Avenue and Princess Anne Road was where most of the clubs, bars, restaurants and seedy boarding houses (plus some churches) were to be found. The focal point of this exciting district was Attucks Theatre (known locally as the Apollo of the south). Built in 1919, this impressive building hosted shows by the likes of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ruth Brown, the Flamingoes and Clyde McPhatter. Sadly it started to fall into decline in the 1950’s before ceasing to function as a theatre altogether. Luckily, after many years in disrepair, it was saved, renovated and reopened in 2004. However, the Attucks is just about the only building on Church Street in the 1960’s that is still standing. Just to the north of the Attucks (which is located on the corner of Virginia Beach Boulevard) was the church where cult preacher Daddy ‘G’ Grace held court. His House of Prayer congregation dispensed a fervent gospel soundtrack to ward off the Devil’s music escaping from rowdy bars such as the Congo Lounge, Jamaican Room, Queens Lounge and Mark IV Lounge. The ‘Norfolk Sound’ was born following Bronx born Frank Guida’s relocation to Norfolk. Initially he ran a record shop (Frankie’s Birdland) on Church Street but by 1958 he had also opened a recording studio and hired a house band which included Gene Barge on sax. The first success this outfit enjoyed was with an instrumental “A Night With Daddy G” credited to the Church Street Five. The tune basically formed the template for his 1960 Legrand label smash hit ”Quarter To Three” by Gary US Bonds. The Church Street Five would play live gigs all around the Tidewater area and a young Bill Deal would travel from his home in Portsmouth (across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk) to the Ebb Tide Club in Ocean View to catch the group’s show. Inspired by what he heard, along with many other young men he would frequent the Church Street record stores to buy new R&B 45’s. From there, he learnt to play the organ and with some friends formed Bill Deal & the Rhondells. With hit sounds now being recorded locally, a rival record shop made good business sense. Noah Biggs already had music industry connections, in the late 1950’s he managed local group the Humdingers. This group was led by ‘General’ Norman Johnson. Mr. Biggs organized a recording session for the group and then sent their demo tape to Joe Banashak in New Orleans. Joe liked what he heard and so signed the group to a deal with Minit Records, changing their name to the Showmen at the same time. In 1961 and 1964 the group enjoyed great success (with “It Will Stand”) and so it was a logical move when Noah Biggs opened Nimrod Record Store at 726 Church Street. The store soon became a focal point for local youngsters interested in music. Shortly afterwards, he started a booking agency that was also based out of the shop. The Showmen may have moved on (label-wise), but this didn’t curb Noah’s talent scouting activities. After Joe Webster and the Anglos made their mark locally, they headed off to New Jersey to record “Incense” which following an initial release on the Orbit label went on to gain national & international distribution. The track would be quite influential as it became a massive sound on the British mod scene of the mid 1960’s. Many of the guys on the Norfolk soul scene collaborated at times. So the likes of Lenis Guess and Jerry Williams worked with Frank Guida and later also with Noah Biggs. In fact, Jerry's brother, Wilson Williams, sang vocals on cuts recorded by the Positive Sounds (“Almost Blew My Mind” + “You’re The One I Need”) and later recorded for Noah's How Big label. The Positive Sounds were an ex jazz group that hooked up with Noah Biggs in 1963, not too long after he had opened his record shop. Noah soon set up a basic studio in the back of the shop (remembered fondly as “that little storefront studio”). Here, the Positive Sounds would back up other artists signed by Noah. A regular in Nimrod Records (in the bible, Nimrod was Noah's son!) was James Gregory. He was interested in a 4 strong girl group who had started out singing background vocals on recording sessions for Frank Guida. In 1964 this group, the Dream Team (managed by Noah Biggs & Mr Gregory), cut the song "Beg Me" for Epic in New York. However, the song became a hit for Chuck Jackson (on Wand) and it is unsure if the original by the Dream Team was actually ever released. The girls did however manage to get a 45 release in 1967, this being on the Gregory label ("I'm Not Satisfied"). This song was cut (with the Positive Sounds) in Nimrod Studio under the supervision of Norman Johnson & Joe Weaver (of the Anglos). The Anglos themselves were to record for Shiptown in 1967. Another local record store and label owner was Leroy Little. He had the Waxy Maxy Record Store on 35th Street and ran the Tri-It & Tri-Us labels. He was Wilson Williams’ first manager and Wilson would end up on his Tri-Us label in the mid 70’s. “Losing You”, a Tri-Us outing for Wilson, being produced by Lenis Guess (whose recording studio was also located on 35th Street)."¨"¨Shiptown releases are extremely hard to track down because most had very limited pressing runs (sometimes 200 or less) and the majority of copies never made it any further than the shelves of Nimrod Record Store. Here, the staff would push each release & with plays on local radio shows, most would be sold to locals or servicemen based in the area. Noah really only pressed up enough copies of each 45 to generate interest from a larger label (in either signing his artist or in using the actual song on one of their acts). After Noah found ‘Little” Ida Randall, Norman Johnson took her up to Cameo Parkway’s studio in Philadelphia to cut his song “Lets Get Married” (sometime around late 1964). Noah decided to release the song on his own record label, under the name of Ida Sands. With Norfolk’s strong maritime connections, he named his new label Shiptown Records. In summer 1965, Little Ida (Ida Sands) & Little Daddy (Joe Webster of the Anglos) were teamed up in Virtue Recording studio (1618 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia) to record under the supervision of Jerry Williams. Shiptown’s connections with Philadelphia were to be continued, the strings on some of their later cuts being handled there by the likes of Leon Huff. "¨"¨The 1st 45 on Shiptown to make any waves was Ida Sands "Rescue Me"; this being licensed to Chief Records in New York. Other 45's came thick & fast; the Idets "Look My Way / Doggie In The Window" also in 1967, plus the Anglos "Since You've Been Gone / Small Town Boy" (again in 1967) which were picked up by Scepter for national distribution. Flip Flop Stevens "Let's Do That Thing Part 1 / Part 2" followed in 68 with the Soul Duo's (Ida & Joe Webster) "This Is Your Day / Are You Lonely For Me Baby" following in 69 (this was licensed by Jubilee Records & released in mid 69 as Josie #1007). The same pairing's "Can't Nobody Love Me / Just A Sad Xmas" came out a little later. Noah started a second label in 1969, the How Big label being named after his son Howard Biggs. The first 45 release on his new label featured Ida Sands (Noah’s wife and Howard’s mother) on “Start All Over Again”. Anothr How Big 45 was "Too Many Skeletons in my cupboard" by Nat Fross (How Big 202936). Noah realized that, with Shiptown 45’s limited pressing runs, he had to get some exposure for his releases to stand any chance of them making any impact. So he cultivated radio DJ’s on black stations within easy reach of Norfolk. Thus, not only would he make certain that copies of his label’s 45’s were sent to these guys, but he would ensure his artists dropped in on them to plug their wares. The prominent radio stations in Norfolk itself were WGH, WRAP & WHIH and so Shiptown’s artists would visit the likes of DJ Jack Holmes (WRAP), Scotty Andrews (WHIH) and Gene Loving (WGH) for on air chats and these guys soon became close friends. Some farther flung stations were also supportive, DJ Hot Dog at WOOK in Washington being one of these. When Ida Sands’ “Start All Over Again” was released in late summer 1969, as well as getting good exposure on the above stations, the likes of Maurice 'Hot Rod' Hulbert (WWIN, Baltimore), Bob Hatten (WEHW, Hartford), John Lee (WAUG, Augusta) Lannie Kaye (WYNN, Florence) and Charles Johnson (WCEC, Rocky Mount) also got behind it. With the prospect of a first hit for one of his labels, Noah gave the track every change of breaking out nationally by placing an ad in Billboard magazine. This was quite a bold move for a label that hadn’t even attempted to secure a national distribution deal for their sought after record (perhaps Noah had been ‘short changed’ in earlier licensing deals). It would be Noah’s insistence on going it alone, and not seeking bigger label’s help with reliable distribution, that would hold back greater commercial success for his releases / artists. Nimrod Studio was quite a basic place. It started out with just rudimentary 4 track equipment but was then upgraded to an 8 track. By the early 1970’s it was only really used for rehearsal purposes and to make in—house demos. Just about all the tracks cut there were done live, the singer/s and backing band all laying down their efforts at the same time. Nevertheless, Noah and his set-up soon become well known around the Norfolk area. His policy of giving local talent a chance brought many aspiring singers to his door. Barbara Holmes was born in Petersburg, Virginia (1947), but her parents moved back to Norfolk when she was an infant. She started singing in her church choir when around 10 / 11 years old. About a year later, she was asked to join a gospel group (6/7 strong) made up of pre-teens from the same church. Although they sounded good, there was a certain spark missing and wanting to improve, the girls were always trying to find the ‘missing piece’. One night, they were down to perform on a program with other groups and decided to watch their rivals. One of the other groups consisted of a bunch of adults with one young lady. This ‘youngster’ both played the piano & sang. Knocked out by her abilities, they made it their mission to get her to join up with them. This young ladies name was Maddie (better known now as Debbie Taylor) and luckily they succeeded in getting her to join their group. The girls were soon very close friends and they have remained so ever since. Norfolk had a thriving gospel music scene back then and other acquaintances also followed a similar career path. Both Debbie Taylor and Wilson Williams had sung in the group, Gospel Union. Shirley Johnson went from gospel singing to signing with Shiptown before she eventually moved to Chicago where she has established a successful career singing the blues. Anyway, time past and after Barbara Holmes finished high school, she took a job in a theatre on Church Street. About a year later (1967), Debbie Taylor (who cut demo’s for Shiptown and then went on to record for the likes of GWP and Arista) told Barbara about Shiptown Records. Intrigued, the girls went to see Mr. Biggs to determine if they could get themselves a shot at fame. Luckily the day Debbie and Barbara turned up at Shiptown, Noah was in his office and he asked them why they had come to see him. Barbara spoke up, saying that she had come down to sing and so she was asked to perform a song. Not one to pass up a chance, Barbara sang an Aretha Franklin number, perhaps not the easiest choice a young singer could make. However before she had even finished the song, Noah hired her and asked if she was ready to work. The next thing she knew, she was under contract and singing with the Idets on backing vocals for several other artists. Noah was really impressed with Barbara and soon decided that her vocal talent was not being fully realized in a group setting. He decided that she should be developed as a solo artist and Ida came up with her stage name, Barbara Stant. So by 1971, in addition to her starting to record as a solo singer, Barbara had begun to perform live in her own right alongside her label mates. In conjunction with the likes of the Showmen, Ida Sands, the Anglos, the Soul Duo, the Idets, Wilson Williams, Shirley Johnson, Nat Fross, Little Scotty and the Positive Sounds band she was soon learning her trade on numerous live shows. The Shiptown artists made a formidable team that easily rivaled any other local touring company and so their concert packages were always a popular draw. Noah didn’t just promote Shiptown artist packages; he also fetched many top live acts to the area for concerts. He promoted local shows, which were headlined by the likes of Al Green, the Supremes, the Stylistics, the Delfonics, James Brown, the Mighty Clouds of Joy and the Isley Brothers. Of course, he ensured that some of his own artists would be the support acts at these concerts. These shows would be staged at venues such as the Norfolk Scope Arena (which opened in 1971), the Hampton Coliseum, Old Dominion University (ODU), Longshoreman’s Hall, the Monticello Hotel, the Golden Triangle and the Nansemond Hotel (Ocean View). Appearing on shows with such accomplished artists, it wasn’t suprising that the Shiptown acts swiftly became quite proficient and were soon sought after artists on the local soul scene. Barbara was one of those who learnt quickly and after a few sessions in the studio, she was soon delivering tracks that warranted release. Most of her recording work was undertaken in Norfolk but she would also travel to New York, Philadelphia and Maryland for some sessions. Her first 45 release coupled “That Man Of Mine” with “Shadow In Your Footsteps” both of which had been laid down in July 1972. “Shadows In Your Footsteps” is an uptempo item on which the backing band’s brass section plays a major role supporting Barbara’s strong vocal performance. This 45 launched Barbara’s recording career and paved the way for a follow-up (also recorded at the same session); “My Mind Holds Onto Yesterday”. This song was written by Charles Hunter (the drummer in Positive Sounds) and Barbara herself and it was laid down at Track Studios in Silver Spring (a northern suburb of Washington DC). Produced by Charles Hunter in conjunction with Noah Biggs, it was initially released as a ‘normal’ Shiptown 45 (catalogue no. 203276). However a second version of this release is much more widely known and this features a completely remixed version of the track. From information detailed on the label of the second version of this 45, the remix appears to have been undertaken in New York with the additional strings being handled by Robert Banks. In summer 1972, the Positive Sounds (now managed by Ruth Brown) had been employed as the house band at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre. Whilst based in New York they hooked up with A Dish-A-Tunes Productions for whom they recorded “The Creeper” which was licensed for release on Chelsea Records in 1973. The main creative forces at Dish-A-Tunes were J R Bailey and Ken Williams and their team wrote songs recorded by the likes of the Superiors, Troy Keyes, the Spellbinders, Lenny Welch, Donny Hathaway, the Main Ingredient, Four Tops & Ace Spectrum. Around the same time that the Positive Sounds were cutting for A Dish-A-Tunes, group member Charles Hunter must have presented them with the original master tapes for Barbara’s two tracks. In no time a new version of “My Mind Holds Onto Yesterday” with Dish-A-Tunes name attached to it had been issued on Shiptown under catalogue no. 70822. Robert Bank’s efforts on the strings really give this outing a touch of class and sophistication that fully compliments Barbara’s great vocal performance. It would be hard to find a better example of pure Northern Soul than the second version of this tune. Unfortunately Shiptown’s lack of an effective distribution network meant that this record remained just a Tidewater area favourite, until discovered by UK soul fans years later. It would be two years before another single featuring Barbara would hit the record shops. Recorded in the summer of 1974, the coupling of “Baby I Love You / I’m Going To Outfit You” formed it. “Outfit You” is again uptempo but with a more funky feel. The song was written by Noah Briggs and the track was arranged by Wilson Williams. The 45’s catalogue number would imply that it was actually Barbara’s first release, but Howard Biggs (& Barbara herself) assure me that it wasn’t (Shiptown’s numbering system has to be just about the most confusing ever devised). For her next release, Shiptown went outside their team of in-house and associated local writers. Sam Dees “Unsatisfied Woman” was selected and cut with Charles Hunter (in conjunction with Noah) again handling production and arranging duties. A reworking of “Shadow In Your Footsteps’ was teamed up with “Hung On” (another song on which Noah collaborated with Lenis Guess and Dorsey Brockington) to form yet another single. Though Barbara was the best served Shiptown artist (release wise), other artists still managed to secure releases on the label (white outfit Art Ensley & Fabulous Echoes cover of "Open The Door To Your Heart" being one of these). By the mid 1970’s, the original shop premises had seen better days and with demolition threatened to allow road widening, Noah (now getting on in years) relocated across the road. He set up his new base at 707 Church Street and hired Martin Culpepper as his new studio engineer. Culpepper had worked on a couple of gospel 45’s that had been released on the Jobs label (which had ties with Leroy Little’s Tri-Us Records). This deal also brought the Grooms into the Shiptown (Jobs) family. For Barbara’s last release in 1977, Noah handed the reigns over to Lenis Guess. Cut at Guess studios, “(I Found Me A) Real Man” was part written, arranged and produced by Lenis. He remembers Barbara as being very pretty, a pleasure to work with and that she could sing like an angel. Test pressings of “(I Found Me A) Real Man” (c/w “You've Got To Try Again”) were made up at GRT Records and these were (mostly) retained by the engineering staff who worked in the label's studio. But the days of little independent labels securing national breakouts had come to an end. The record business was by now dominated by the big labels and disco sounds now monopolised the charts. The more soulful sounds that the Shiptown team was still turning out found themselves out of favour and securing sales became difficult. The label’s activities may have slowed anyway, but Noah Biggs death in 1978 signalled the end of the line for the organization. The office was closed almost immediately and all the label’s current acts were left high and dry. The local soul scene in general was struggling by then. None of Frank Guida’s roster was still enjoying hits, Jerry and Wilson Williams had moved on to progress their recording careers and even Lenis Guess was ready to up sticks and head out to New York. The ‘Norfolk Sound’ had run its course. With Shiptown in disarray, Barbara took a break. After this, she teamed up with a jazz band and started to sing again on a few local live shows. But things just weren’t the same for her and so she went back to her roots in the church. Control of the label’s catalogue slipped away from the family and that could have been it for Shiptown. But record collectors started to unearth the label’s old 45’s and those that found favour were soon commanding high prices. Howard Biggs moved on in life and pursued his own career path but 25 years on, he discovered the unending interest in his father’s record label. Encouraged, he managed to get control of the label back after realising that it was still something worth owning. With many of the old Shiptown artists prepared to support Howard, he set about re-establishing the label. Deals have been done to get some of the old tracks re-released and this resulted in “Superman” by Raw Soul (also known as the 35th Street Gang) featuring Barbara on vocals being issued on 45 in the recent past. This track being another that was produced by Lenis Guess and he also wrote the song. Still singing in church, Barbara decided the time was now right to stage a come back. Plans were made for her to record again and the master tapes for previously unreleased tracks such as “What Goes Around’ & “Stay’’ have been unearthed. Today, Church Street is a wide dual carriageway road that speeds high volumes of traffic past large warehouse type commercial buildings and newish public housing estates. It is totally unrecognisable as the street that was once the heart of Norfolk’s lively entertainment area. Thankfully Attucks Theatre has been brought back from the brink and now stands as a monument to what used to be. Interest from around the world in the music released on Noah Bigg’s record labels has sparked resurgence for some of his original artists. I’m sure Noah would greatly approve of his son’s efforts to resurrect the Shiptown / How Big concern. A major first step in these efforts occurred on the 1st November 2009 when a big reunion show was staged at the Broadway Club on East Virginia Beach Boulevard in Norfolk (a road that intersects with Church Street). Barbara Stant was amongst the label’s artists who participated in the show and her vocal efforts were very well received.
-
Sonny Childe / R B Greaves Rip
It has been confirmed by a family member that R B Greaves (age 68) has passed away. R B Greaves spent much of the 1960's in the UK where under the name of Sonny Childe he fronted the TNT who were a top live mod / soul act in clubs here. He returned to the US around 1969, changed he performing name to R B Greaves and had a couple of big hits ("Take A Letter Maria" being the biggest of these).
-
Roger Hatcher
An old article (now updated) that I wrote about 16 years back ................. Roger Hatcher was a member of a very musical family, apart from his brothers Will and Roosevelt, his cousin was of course the most famous Hatcher, Charles (Edwin Starr). Roger had been involved in the music business for many years without ever having enjoyed the level of success that Edwin gained. However in 1996, he did get to enjoy the most comprehensive release of his entire career when the U.K. CD 'The Roger Hatcher Collection' (16 tracks) was released by Expansion. Roger was always a very difficult guy to deal with and this fact must have been a major reason why he jumped from label to label throughout his career. No doubt, if he had established a more trusting relationship with some of the people who signed him to record contracts, he would have been more successful. Roger was born in Birmingham, Alabama on September 29, 1946. His brothers were his inspiration and he wanted to follow in their footsteps, playing sax as Roosevelt did or singing like Will. He was brought up in an area that was a musical hotbed. Other gospel / soul singers from the area included Alex Bradford, Mitty Collier, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Kell Osborne, Frederick Knight, Barbara Joyce Lomas (of B.T. Express), Bill Spoon, Richard and Jessie Fisher. At Butler Elementary School his music teacher, Mrs Cullum, complimented him on his fine voice and gave him a lot of encouragement and help. He continued to develop his singing technique in the choir at Healing Spring Baptist Church in East Avondale and at Hayes High School. Roger wrote his first song, "I Need Someone", at high school where after lessons had finished for the day he would go to the music room and develop tunes on the piano. Roger wrote by ear as he couldn't (and indeed never learnt to) read music and the song was inspired by his girlfriend, Linda Doyle. At times, he would get together to write songs with his neighbour, and long-time friend, William Bell (Bill Spoon). Roger had great ambitions but unfortunately he didn't yet realise that you had to rehearse a song many times before you became proficient at performing it. He entered a high school variety show and decided he would sing Jackie Wilson's "Work Out" but his performance was a disaster. He messed up so badly his school sweetheart, Linda Doyle, said if he ever tried to sing on a show again she would leave him. It took quite a while for him to live the experience down but it taught him a lesson. Before the next year’s show he rehearsed James Brown's "Please, Please, Please" with a band. His girlfriend’s threat was still hanging over him but he went ahead and performed on the show and his improvement pleasantly surprised quite a lot of the audience on the night. Roger’s favourite singers at the time were David Ruffin, Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and Johnnie Taylor in that order. After completing school in 1964, Roger moved to Detroit. Here he went straight to Golden World Records to try to land a recording contract. The folks there liked what they heard and told him to come back the following week. But the following Monday it was snowing heavily and his girlfriend talked him out of going downtown to the studios. Roger always said this was the biggest mistake he ever made. Golden World signed a lot of artists in the 1960’s (including Edwin, the Holidays and Shades Of Blue) and lots of them had big national hits. Even more of the singles the company released in that period went on to become local hits. As Roger had missed out at Golden World, he had to sign with a much smaller (and not as well financed) label. He had written "Get A Hold Of Yourself” and “I Need You”. After he had signed with Clifford ‘Sonny’ Marshall’s Dotty's Records, these were recorded and released as by 'Little' Roger Hatcher. Copies of the track escaped on the Del-La-Northern label but Roger always contended that it was Dotty’s that he was signed to (Del-La-Northern was co-owned by Clifford Marshall; so he could well have arranged with Johnnie Mae Matthews for it to escape on that label instead). Whatever was the case, the 45 was only promoted in Detroit and even there it failed to break through. Strangely, a miss-pressing of the tracks came out on the Ten High label, whilst a Lee Jennings track (“I Been A Fool” - which used the backing track to Roger’s "Get A Hold Of Yourself”) exists on a Dotty’s 45 miss-press. Anyway, Roger cut a new self-written song; "Party Over Yonder". This track was used as the flip to "I Need You", which was released again becoming his follow up single. Dotty's didn't have the necessary resources or expertise to promote their releases effectively and so Roger’s records failed to make the impact he had hoped for (It mattered little after Sonny Marshall was arrested, tried and jailed in the summer of 1968). Roger had travelled home to Birmingham for Christmas (1967?) and as his bus journey took him through Nashville he made the decision to call in on Nashboro Records while he was there. His visit proved successful and he was signed to a record contract by Shannon Williams. When he returned to Nashville for his first recording session with Excello, Bob Holmes went through Roger's file of self-written songs (about 300 in all) and selected two of them for him to cut. So "I'm Gonna Dedicate My Song To You" and "Sweetest Girl In The World" were recorded and a single was released in June 1968 (Excello 2297). Bob Holmes did the musical arrangement for the songs and the backing singers on the session were another Excello group, the Avons (of "Since I Met You Baby" fame). Roger had again written "Sweetest Girl..." for his high school sweetheart, Linda Doyle. The A side,"Im Gonna Dedicate My Song To You" sold well and became a hit in various regions. However due to the company’s lack of co-ordinated national promotion, this success occurred over a period of some months. By the time the record was becoming popular in one major market, it was going down the local charts in others. Because of this, it never made the Billboard national soul chart. Its sales in America did however lead to a U.K. release for the track (b/w a Freddie North track) on President. However "Sweetest Girl In The World", which wasn't issued here, was the side which was to go on to become a favourite with U.K. NS fans. Roger wasn't happy that he had missed out on a national hit and wanted to be with a bigger label and so he asked for (and was granted) a release from his contract. At Nashboro he had got to know Bob Holmes and although Roger moved to Cleveland in 1968, the two kept in touch. Eventually they managed to get back together, again this being down in Nashville. Bob was developing a tune, the melody of which Roger thought was perfect for a love song. But Bob had written lyrics for it on a sexual theme, the title being "Looking For Some Quick Action". Roger worked on Bob and was allowed to come up with an alternative set of lyrics, the result being "I Dedicate My Life To You". The pair then amended the melody slightly to suit the new lyrics and Roger went into the studio to cut it. As he didn't have a record company at the time, Roger financed the recording session himself. He invested everything he had except for $200 to fund the studio session. In all four songs were cut, "I Dedicate ...", "Gonna Make Love To Somebody’s Old Lady", "Call Mr Sweetback" and "You Got The Wrong Number". Bob was a music lecturer at the local university and used to get a large number of his students to help him out on sessions. As a result of this Roger was backed by 21 instruments on the tracks; strings, flutes, horns, etc., everyone playing live with no overdubbing being used. It was essential that Roger sold the tracks to a label to get his money back so instead of returning to Cleveland he went down to Memphis. His first port of call there was Hi Records, but the song wasn't to Willie Mitchell's liking. Moving on, he next visited Stax Records. The company's A & R man, Carl Smith listened to the tape but also wasn't impressed enough to buy it. However (Stax engineer) Henry Bush had also listened to the tape and he thought the tracks had commercial potential. So Henry advised Smith to sign Roger. Smith wouldn't change his mind but Roger had mentioned that he knew Don Davis, so he was advised to go and see Don. Don was in the McLemore Avenue studio doing some work for the company, so Roger immediately went to see him. Roger had earlier written "Girl, Come On Home" which Don had cut on Major Lance in Muscle Shoals (Major insisting on having half credit for writing the song before he would cut it). Major's track had been issued in October 1971 (Volt 4069), so Don was already familiar with Rogers work. The two talked and Don took his tape to listen to along with a number of others he had to assess. After keeping Roger waiting for 30 minutes while he played the other tapes, he got around to Rogers and was shocked to find himself listening to fully completed tracks and not just sparse demo versions. He was very impressed with "I Dedicate My Life To You" and so he signed Roger to his Groovesville Productions company. The song was leased to Stax who released it in June 1972 (Volt 4084) backed by "Gonna Make Love To...". However Don wasn't infamous for his business wheeling and dealing without cause. His major act at the time was the Dramatics (also signed to Stax) and Don played them Roger’s song. Like Don they thought the song would be perfect for them and so Don swung a plan into action. Roger stated that Don arranged for Stax to stop pressing up copies of his single when the initial stocks had sold out. Within no time the company's warehouse ran out of copies, orders were left unfilled and the record died on its feet. The Dramatics worked on the song and in 1973 Don cut an alternative version of it on the group and this was released on their 'Dramatically Yours' L.P. (Volt 9501). Needless to say with a big groups name now attached to the song, it promoted itself and went on to gain wide radio exposure. (the above is purely Roger's version of events and he was notorious for his deep felt opinions and disputes with his record companies). Deeply hurt, as he thought that the proceedings had robbed him of the chance of breaking through with his song himself, Roger had a big row with Don. As a result, no more product on Roger himself was released by Stax and the two men became enemies for many years. [Don must have thought it was a good ploy though and he used it again at times. Another example of this being in the 80's when he signed Ronnie McNeir so he could cut some of his songs on L.J.Reynolds for Capital]. Don had also wanted to add his name to Roger's tracks as co-producer, which he obviously wasn't (the tracks being complete when Don first got to hear them). Roger was so disgusted at all Don's actions that he asked (yet again) to be released from his contract with the record company. After this had occurred, Roger cut another of his songs back in Nashville. "Caught Making Love" was intended for release on a small label Roger had set up himself in Cleveland, Black Soul. Roger pressed up 1000 copies of the single in 1973 ("Do Not Disturb" being the B side), the majority of which were sent to radio stations and shopped around major labels. Bob Holmes was responsible for the arrangement on the track and it also featured Virginia Davis, who made noises appropriate to the song’s theme halfway through. Roger went to New York to try and land a major deal on his single. Columbia Records weren't interested but Scepter Records liked it and said they would get back to him. Two weeks passed and Roger was contacted back in Cleveland and told that the company had changed its mind and wouldn't license the record. So Roger pressed up another 5000 copies (Black Soul 101) and started to promote it; in no time it was selling really well locally. He returned to New York with the sales figures and Mickey Eichner at Columbia Records was so impressed by the figures that he picked up the record for release by the label. They issued it, as Columbia #45993, in February 1974. Unfortunately Virginia's performance on the track was just too life-like for the radio stations and it was banned by many, so killing its chances of reaching a wider audience. The song's potential wasn't lost on those people who did get to hear it though and one such person was Clarence Carter. He added a rap to the lyrics and under the revised title of "I Got Caught" cut it for ABC Records in 1975 (ABC-12130). Clarence acted as producer on his own version, using Mike Terry as the arranger, and with ABC promoting it correctly it became a big hit. Undaunted, Roger got on with his life and career. The next thing he wrote was "We Gonna Make It". When it was cut, Roger co-produced the track with Bob Holmes and Ted Jarrett. Because he was broke at the time, they arranged for Audio Media to pay for the Nashville recording session. However, when the record was released in the U.K., Roger wasn't credited on the label for his production work and Bob Holmes' name had mysteriously appeared as co-writer. That’s the record business for you; it isn't what you do that you get paid for, it's what you can get credited with. In the U.S. the track was released on the Brown Dog label, backed with "High Blood Pressure which Bob Holmes had helped Roger to write. As stated this single gained a U.K. release, coming out in February 1976 on Mint (Chew 5). With the song being published by Holmes Publishing Company, Roger stated that he never received any royalties for all his efforts. The experience taught him a lesson and Roger decided not to co-produce anything again, to help ensure he retained control over his work. Roger's career went through a quiet period but in 1986 the Platters version of his old song "Get A Hold On Yourself" was released in Europe by Deluxe Records. In 1987 he released "I Want Your Love" c/w "Let Your Love Shine On Me" on his Superbad Record label. The former track being cut at Boddies Studio, with the later at Snyders (both in Cleveland). His labels base was Suite 8, 4768 Walford Road, Warrensville Heights, Cleveland and from here Roger had plans to record both himself and other artists (Sugar Taylor being one of these). He would also try to promote the product himself to try and thus increase its chances of finding success. His personal life was however in turmoil as, at the time, he was going through a divorce from his second wife, Janice. So his labels (Black Soul, Black Magic) and career weren't the most important thing to him at the time. When he did get back to his career he went into Boddies Studio again and cut 3 self-written songs; "Disco Queen", "Gonna Rock You Like A Baby" and "The Baby Woun’t Go To Sleep". These tracks were the first that Roger had arranged himself and marked the point at which he assumed total control over his recorded work. "Gonna Rock You Like A Baby" was intended to be the title track of a proposed L.P. but unfortunately the project was never completed and so the song remained unissued. Roger continued to create product and he shopped it around in an effort to get a deal. As part of this process he would send out master tapes of his tracks and on many occasions he wasn't aware what became of these. This situation resulted in Roge’rs most infamous release, his ultra-rare and collectable Guinness L.P. This record was totally unofficial and was released without Rogers permission or knowledge. In fact it was only a number of years later, when contacted by British collectors trying to obtain copies of the LP, that he became aware of its existence. Amongst the tracks included on that album were "You Must Have Come From Heaven", "Your Love Is A Masterpiece" and a reworking of "Let Your Love Shine On Me". The illegitimate origins of the L.P. are betrayed by the lack of background information included on the sleeve and also by the inclusion on it of 2 non Roger Hatcher tracks. Later in 1987 Roger relocated to Los Angeles and the area was to be his last home base. He continued to record after moving there (using studios like Hit City) but didn't have the necessary finances to release much of the product. He worked with other artists and one of these was a group named Black Pepper (about who very little is known. Roger had written a song that he thought ideal for them; “You Keep Running Out of Gas”. He produced and arranged the risqué song on them and it escaped on the Golden Wax label. In 1991 he pressed up some 12" copies of one of his songs, "Stormy Love Affair", and shipped these over to the U.K. to sell. In 1995, he landed a deal which resulted in "The Best Of Roger Hatcher" C.D. (containing 13 tracks he had cut over a period of years) being released in Japan. He followed up in 1996 by signing a deal with Expansion Records here in the U.K. They released the most comprehensive collection of his recorded work, putting it out on the CD, 'The Roger Hatcher Collection'. This included tracks such as "She’s All I Got", "Stormy Love Affair", "Warm And Tender Love", etc. with some of the tracks being previously unissued. Roger hoped to use the release to re-launch his career back in the U.S. and so asked for many copies of the CD to be sent to him (posting them out as promo items to US contacts). He continued working with other artists in addition to recording new tracks himself. He was desperate to come over to the UK to promote his CD and to repay his loyal U.K. followers by performing live here. Unfortunately this never occurred and Roger's career began to slip away. He died in 2002 in San Bernardino, California and is now just a distant memory to everyone except members of his family and the most ardent of soul fans. Perhaps if his demeanour hadn't been so combative and he had teamed up with supportive music biz people in his early years, things would have turned out differently. Unfortunately, now, we will never know what he could have achieved given a more settled relationship with a major record company J 'Roburt' S
-
The Billy Nichols Story
Billy Nichols has now been involved with the music biz for about 50 years and he's still going strong. Down the years, he has sung gospel, soul and blues plus played the guitar and drums. He's worked for Motown and played on Chess recording sessions. He's been in house bands in Cleveland and New York plus played most of the top chitlin circuit venues of the 1960's. He's produced and arranged numerous tracks for other artists and cut tracks in his own right. However it's for his song writing that he is best known and which has given him his biggest successes. Born in the south, he has had spells living in Connecticut, Detroit, Cleveland and New York and it's the Big Apple where he is based today. William was born in 1940 to Laura Bell and Tom Sanders Nichols in a small town called Carrollton in the northern hills of Mississippi. Eventually he was one of the younger ones of nine children, his father being a farmer. Though Billy’s father worked the fields by day, in the evening after supper he would pick his guitar up and all of the family would gather on the front porch to hear him play the blues. His father was a talented blues musician and Billy would always try to stay up as long as he was allowed, listening to his dad play and sing the blues. Back then, there would always be a radio playing in the house and the sounds Billy would hear really inspired a deep fascination within him. He soon developed a strong interest in blues, big band, country and gospel music. Being one of the younger of the children in the family, he did not get much opportunity to learn first-hand from his father. His older siblings did enjoy that privilege, however it wasn’t until Billy was around ten years old that he was even allowed to touch his father’s guitar. But when most of the family were off working together in the fields and Billy was home baby-sitting his little brother, he would sneak into the bedroom where his dad's guitar was kept and try to mimic the sounds he heard on the radio. His favourite artists back then included Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Louis Jordan, Hank Williams and the Blind Boys of Mississippi. Shortly after Billy’s fourteenth birthday, the family left the South and moved to Springfield in Massachusetts. It was here that Billy began to hone his skills as a musician. Initially he joined his high school band and on the weekends he would play in a local band with his brother Ernest, Lyn Perry and Bob Burgess. After he graduated from High School, he joined a gospel group; the Bells of Harmony and they would perform in local churches. Billy did get himself a nine-to-five job but his heart was still totally into the music. Luckily, that Spring, the opportunity to join an established local band presented itself and Billy jumped at the chance of forging a career in the music business. The group was called Jimmy Vick and The Victors and its members were Curly (the organist), Buck (the drummer), Jimmy Vick (vocalist), William 'Billy' Nichols (bass) and Charles Ramsey (guitar) — left to right in picture shown on record ad In summer 1963 they recorded some tracks and had a 45 released. "Take A Trip With Me" & "I Need Someone" were the songs the group cut and Billy played bass on both tracks. Seeing this as an important milestone, Billy quit his day job. The group's 45 had been cut at Chime Recording Studio in Hartford (Connecticut) and the studio had its own in-house label; Cherry Records. As the label was quite new and hadn't yet forged links that could ensure the group's record got noticed (& radio airplay) outside their home area, ads for their 45 were placed in Billboard Magazine in September & October 1963. The record did get a decent amount of radio airplay on one radio station; WALT getting behind the release. But it failed to break through anywhere else. By November the group had broken up and this left Billy jobless. He was somewhat discouraged but wasn't yet willing to give up on a music career. So Billy got his mother to arrange for her brother (who lived in Detroit) to give him a place to stay. With $20 to his name, a guitar, a bag of clothes and an amp, Billy Nichol set out for Detroit in January 1964. He soon introduced himself to local musicians and after a few months he was able to move out of his uncle’s house. He was now sharing a place with one of his musician friends, Tony Newton (bass player). The pair managed to get an audition as 'road musicians' at Motown Records. They went over to West Grand Boulevard and found around fifteen to twenty musicians waiting outside the front of the Hitsville buildings. They were ushered inside by Henry Cosby (who told them to call him Hank) and taken downstairs into the recording studio. In the studio there were chairs and music stands set up for all of them & Hank Cosby then went through to the control room (separated from the studio by a shield of clear plexiglass). Each of the musicians had microphones placed near their instruments and sheet music had been placed on the music stands. The music was mostly Motown songs. Next, Choker Campbell came in and after briefly speaking with Hank told the assembled musicians that those selected would be going on the road to back up Motown acts or going out on a upcoming Motown Revue tour. They were told that they must be able to stay on tour for at least one month. The music they played that day was the music that they would perform for the artists on the tour. The order of the songs was established and the audition commenced. By the end, the musicians had played through the full list of songs, this taking about forty five minutes. Hank then came out of the control room and started pointing at particular guys, "you, you, you". Tony and Billy were the first two chosen and they were hired on the spot. Some rehearsals with Choker's band were organised for them and after a few of these, they were deemed ready. Billy's first Motown job was with Martha and the Vandellas, whilst his friend Tony got a job with the Miracles. Billy's first gig was in Cleveland at a club called the Music Box. The package was a Motortown Review and on the show were the Four Tops, the Spinners, Martha & The Vandellas, the Marvelettes, the Temptations, Shorty Long plus Willie Tyler & Lester. The ensemble played at the club for 10 days before moving on their next booking. After the tour, Hank hooked Billy up with the Martha & Vandellas and they played the Howard Theater in DC (on a bill that also included the Impressions, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Freddie Scott, the Isley Brothers and Moms Mabley). While Billy was with Choker Campbell's band he also played the Apollo Theater with the same line-up except that Smokey & the Miracles plus Marvin Gaye were added to the bill. Billy toured with the Vandellas for about a month and Martha was very much in charge of all things with regard to the shows. He already knew all the songs,, so little or no rehearsals with the group needed to be undertaken. Billy himself was made responsible for the band's sheet music and he led any rehearsals the musicians thought necessary. The group's newest hit record at the time was “Dancing In The Street” and that had to be learnt and included in the live shows. Billy was also in charge on the sound checks undertaken ahead of all their live shows. After that engagement, Hank hooked Billy up with the Marvelettes (that posting also lasting for about a month). Rehearsals were needed to learn the Marvelettes songs though and these were held in the basement at Wanda & Roger Moore's home. Billy's friend Tony Newton had gotten the best deal of the two of them; Hank had hooked him up with The Miracles and he stayed with them for about twelve years. Billy had to be more versatile as he got to back up many different Motown acts (Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, etc). Members of the Spinners really loved Billy's playing and wanted him to become a more permanent fixture with them. However at that time the Spinners had only the one hit, "That's What Girls Are Made For" and that had been some time earlier. It was Billy Henderson of the Spinners that named him 'Billy' as he had been known as William (Nichols) up till then. But Billy Henderson thought that far too formal and insisted he call himself Billy Nichols. But this then caused confusion, there now being two 'Billys'. So their names within Motown circles then became 'Billy Guitar' and 'Billy Spinner'. Next Billy became Marvin Gaye's band leader around late April 1965. He got to rehearse with Marvin Gaye at the Motown studio itself, this being a kind of audition for Marvin's benefit. Woody, who had till then been Marvin's band leader had suffered an accident which left him unable continue in the job and Marvin selected Billy as his replacement. Billy's initial gig with Marvin was in Bermuda in May, where Marvin had been booked for a ten day stint at the Forty Thieves Club. When the ensemble returned to the USA, they played gigs at the Apollo Theater (NYC), the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia, the Regal Theater in Chicago and many other major city venues. One gig Billy remembers playing was in Atlanta Ga. at the Peach Tree Lounge. He also got to meet Colonel Sanders (the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy) at a gig in Louisville Kentucky. However, Billy wasn't allowed to record in the studio with Marvin Gaye, but he did play on a couple of live gigs that were recorded. He found Marvin Gaye to be very intelligent, with a great sense of humor and a fully rounded musician. Strangely, their relationship was actually better before Billy had become his bandleader. Billy wasn't fully satisfied though as he wanted to get more into writing songs & studio work. This wasn't going to happen with Motown as they already had an embarrassment of riches on their books. So he left Detroit after a last Marvin Gaye gig to take up a new opportunity in Cleveland. Billy had received a call from Gerry Baxter in Cleveland, Ohio. Gerry remembered him from the Choker Campbell band and offered him a gig playing at a Cleveland club. So Billy moved to Cleveland. The club was the Music Box (located in a basement) and many R&B act played there at the time. Billy can't actually remember the name the band went by but it was 4 strong; Joe on bass, Stanley on tenor sax, Gerry on drums (sometimes on guitar) with Billy on guitar (sometimes drums). They started the house band engagement in August 1965 and Billy recalls that the O'Jays were in the club almost every night at that time. The outfit played six nights a week backing up all the acts that came to perform at the club. These artists included Mabel John, Fontella Bass, The Toys, Sam & Bill, Johnny Nash, Kim Tolliver and many others. Although they were the house band, some acts came in with their own band & then Billy and the others didn't work. In December 1965 Billy Stewart came to the Music Box with his own band and so Billy and the guys were off. Billy was at home when he got a call saying that Billy Stewart needed a guitar player, so could he come straight down to the club. When he arrived there, Billy Stewart was already on stage playing the piano and singing. His band were hot and Billy loved what he was hearing. At break time, the two Billys had a meeting in Mr. Stewarts dressing room, his band leader Raggs (the bass player) also attending. They talked and went over a couple of his songs before Billy went on stage with the band to play the next set. The show was funky and Billy loved being a part of it. He thought that their drummer Beau James Wright was great, there were two horn players (trombone & tenor sax), Raggs on bass, Billy Stewart on piano and Billy himself on guitar. The next day the band called for a rehearsal and when Billy showed up, they offered him the job as their band leader. Billy was a little reluctant at first but Billy Stewart promising that he would record some of Billy's songs 'tipped the scales'. Billy Stewart's booking at the Music Box lasted for ten days. After it ended, Billy was on the road with 'Fat Boy' Stewart. It was now January 1966 and Chicago was to their first stop. After they arrived in the 'Windy City', Billy got to go into Chess Records, this for him was like entering heaven. He walked down a long hallway which was lined with gold records by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Etta James, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and the experience really brought home the opportunities that now lay before him. They stayed in Chicago for two weeks and during that time Billy participated (playing guitar) on a recording session for three songs. Billy had written two of them; "To Love, To Love" (this was utilised as the B side to Billy's massive hit “Summertime”) and "Why Am I Lonely". Another song that was recorded at that time was "Love Me" and Billy with the rest of Stewart's road band also played on that track. With Billy, he basically toured the same R&B circuit (theatres and clubs) that he had played with the Motown acts. However Billy was soon disenchanted with roadwork again. One night after a show at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, a gentleman approached him and asked if he would like to form and lead the house band at the Crystal Ballroom (which the guy owned). To Billy this was just the chance that he had been waiting for; an opportunity to get his music heard. The band was named Billy Nichols and the Soul Swingers and they played at the ballroom for around three years. During that time, many top artists performed at the ballroom with his band; Otis Redding, Al Green, Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex and Bobby Womack. It was during his stint at the ballroom that Billy first met up with Flame N King & the Bold Ones. The group were impressed with Billy’s musical abilities and they wanted to cut some tracks with him. They did get together and recorded a song called "Big Bad Shing a Ling” but it failed to gain release. However, Billy and the group were to team up again in the 1970’s. Billy also met up with another set of musicians who worked mainly as ‘session players’. This set had played on hundreds of soul 'hits' cut in New York City and they opened his eyes to yet more opportunities. Billy soon became acquainted withJuggy Murray, the owner of Sue Records, who operated out of a two story building on 54th Street (between Broadway and 8th Avenue). On the second floor of the building was his recording studio, which was 8 track at the time. It was there that Billy got to meet Inez & Charlie Fox, Baby Washington, the Soul Sisters, Jimmy McGriff and many others. Juggy gave him the chance to write songs and also taught him how to produce records. During the day, they would work in his office and around 7pm they would head up to the studio and would work there right through the night. They got to record many songs, with Billy usually playing his guitar on them (sessions with Tina Britt, the Soul Sisters & Joe Ponds being some he recalls). Billy also got to lay down some tracks of his own; "Shake A Leg" and "Can't Fool The Fool" being two of these cuts. Billy's confidence had been bolstered by all this work and this helped enhance his song writing efforts. He moved on, commencing recording work for other companies and submitting his compositions for consideration by other recording artists. Towards the very end of the 1960's, he wrote & recorded a song titled "Treat Your Neighbour” and this was picked up for release by Mercury Records. Coupled with the old Soul Survivors hit "Expressway To Your Heart" (which Billy picked and arranged himself), "Treat Your Neighbor” was issued by Mercury on 45 in February 1970 (credited to Billy Nichols & Funk). Around the same time, he wrote "A Little Bit Of Something" and it was recorded by Millie Jackson for MGM Records. On one of his recording sessions Galt MacDermot approached Billy. Galt, the composer and writer of the hit musical 'Hair', asked Billy if he would be interested in working with him on a new musical being produced by Joseph Papp. It was to be staged at the Shakespeare Theatre in Central Park and was titled 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'. Having no experience in musical theatre (or any other theatre for that matter), Billy took the job. His task was to rehearse the fledgling actors and to get them accustomed to singing to the sound of an electric guitar instead of a piano. The actors involved were Clifton Davis, Raul Julia, Jonelle Allen, Diana Davila plus a cast and ensemble of singers and dancers, which included such people as the then unknown Jeff Goldblum. To this day Billy has no idea why Galt entrusted him with the job, but he will be eternally grateful for the opportunity that he was given. The play opened in Central Park in the summer of 1971, from there it went on to Broadway in the fall and it won the 'Tony' in 1972 for best music in a play. Billy played guitar on the show and during the run, he developed a strong friendship with Louie Risbrook (a/k/a Jamal Rasool) who was also involved (playing bass). In 1971, he also got to play with a number of well-respected jazz musicians; Pretty Purdie and John Hammond being amongst these. Even while 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' was running, Billy continued writing songs. He got to enjoy his first hit song in 1972; “Ask Me What You Want”. Recorded by Millie Jackson, this reached the Top 10 soul and Top 30 pop charts in March 1972. Not one to ignore a talent that had brought her a big hit, Millie was soon cutting more of Billy's songs. She had already cut “I Just Can't Stand It” and this was followed by “Good To The Very Last Drop”, “Close My Eyes” and in 1976 “I Can't Say Goodbye”. Billy joined a local group, the Invaders that played cover songs in clubs around the New York area. Willie Collins was the lead vocalist with the group which stayed together for a couple of years. During that time they were signed to Brunswick Records and changed their name to B.W. & The Next Addition. They cut "Stay With Me Baby” & “Peace Of Mind” and these tracks were released back to back on a Dakar 45 in 1973. “Work, Work, Work” (which Billy also arranged) followed on Dakar in 1974. Billy & Willie would continue to work together on & off through to the mid 1980’s, after which they drifted apart. Billy’s friend from the play, Louie Risbrook was a member of a similar group; the King Davis House Rockers (they had earlier cut for Verve). Both groups played on the same local circuit and were even on the same bill one night at a show held in a local ballroom. Billy hadn't given up on his own recording career and he cut the song "Do It (Till You're Satisfied)" and shopped this around but was unable to land a record deal. Early in 1974, Louie called Billy to ask if he had any songs available because a doctor (Abie Bay) had offered to put up some money to record the House Rockers. Louie lived in Brooklyn at the time, whilst Billy lived in Manhattan. Billy confirmed he did have some songs, so Louie came over and Billy played him four of them; "That's What I Want For You Baby", "If I Don't Turn On", "Do It" and “Turn On”. Louie loved the songs but he thought that "Do It" didn't have enough lyrics. Billy explained that the song originally had more lyrics but that he had taken some out. Billy told him the song's full lyrics and Louie was suitably impressed. He performed the songs and they were recorded onto a cassette. About a week later, Louie called Billy and told him that the doctor loved "Do It". Next, he got a call from the doctor himself and the guy was really excited. He said that he was convinced "Do It" was a hit song and that he was going pay for studio time to allow the King Davis House Rockers to record it. Everyone, including Billy, Allan Williams (who co-wrote songs with Billy), the group's manager King Davis & the doctor, went into the studio (in Hemstead, Long Island) in 1974 and two songs were recorded; "Do It" and "Everything Good To You". Billy got to meet Jeff Lane (the group's producer) and he played lead & fuzz guitar on the session. Group members involved that night included Barbara Joyce (who played the tambourine), Dennis Rowe (conga) and their keyboard player Michael Jones (later to be better known as Kashif), everyone in attendance being called upon to provide hand claps. The tracks were shopped around and Scepter picked them up for release. For the record's release, the group were re-named B. T. Express and the 45 did really well from day one. The single entered the national soul charts in August 1974 and it rose to reach No.1 on 19th October. It also made No.2 on the US pop charts and the success of the 45 resulted in more tracks being cut and an album getting released. Billy was upset to see that his name was only mentioned on the album as a song writer and that his efforts on some of the actual tracks hadn't been acknowledged A big party was given to celebrate the group's success but both Billy and the doctor found themselves left standing outside as their names hadn't been put on the invite list. Though never actually a member of the group, Billy had contributed in a major way to their success. Chastened by the experience, he had no input at all on the tracks laid down for the group's second LP. He got on with his life and by 1976 (with the success of lots of his songs) he had been appointed a staff writer with Blackwood Music. That year, B.T. Express got back in touch with him. Putting past events behind him, Billy let the group cut (at Ultra-Sonic Recordings Studios, Hempstead) his song "Can't Stop Groovin Right Now". He again played lead guitar on the track which was released on 45 and also included on the group's 'Energy To Burn' LP. In 1977, Billy got a call from Fred Frank, the owner of Road Show Records (the label B.T. Express had always been signed to). The group’s records (& the Road Show label) were now being distributed by Columbia Records and the group needed an album asap. By then Billy had become an accomplished producer and as the group knew all about his capabilities , Fred asked him if he was available to work on the new album. Billy had some songs that he thought would prove suitable and so was invited down to the record label’s office where Fred listened to his songs. He liked the songs and so Billy was appointed producer and work on the album commenced straight away. Studio time was booked at O.D.O. Recording Studio on West 54th. St in NYC and the first song to be recorded was "Shout It Out". Five other songs were quickly written as collaborative efforts and three further songs were sourced from the group itself. With everything in place, the album project was soon finished. Titled ‘Shout It Out’, the LP was released in the fall of 1977 but received little promotion. Fred and Billy were in dispute anyway; cash advances for Billy's work had proved a big problem and publishing percentages on the songs Billy had penned was also a big issue. "Shout It Out" was however released on a 45 and this track sold well enough to take the group back into the US soul singles Top 20. With the success Millie Jackson was having with Billy’s songs in the early to mid 70's, Spring records had also been cutting other artists on his songs. Act 1 had cut “Party Hardy People” which escaped on both 45 & LP in 1974 and Garland Green recorded “You And I Go Good Together”. Other labels had also followed Spring’s example; “I Don't Know What's On Your Mind” was used by Spiders Web in 1976. 1977 proved to be a productive year for him; “Out Of Work” was cut by Jesse Gould & “Do Bad” by Donny Burks (Billy producing & arranging both of these), “It's In Your Blood” was done by Linda Hopkins and “So Far Away” by Willy Bridges. Billy also produced Reality who cut his songs “Standing Beside You” & “Make Love, Not War”. JuggyJones came back into his life and recorded “Come On Do It Some More” along with ”I'll See You Through” (1978). Billy also worked again with Flame N King & the Bold Ones. He produced “Ho Happy Day”for them, the track being coupled with his composition “Ain't Nobody Jivin” on release. Billy was also reunited with Willie Collins in 1976. They collaborated on “Don’t Fight The Feelin” (also produced by Billy) which escaped on Mercury credited to Will Collins & Willpower. Ten years later (1986) the partnership was renewed yet again when Billy produced 6 tracks that were included on Willie’s Capitol LP ‘Where You Gonna Be Tonight’ (Willie was singing gospel last Billy heard). Billy also worked with a number of other artists, one of these being Eddie McLoyd. Eddie and Billy had known each other for many years. In the 1950's, they had attended the same junior high school; Buckingham Junior High in Springfield. At that time, they were both in a do-wop group called the Satellites. Eddie didn’t only sing, he also played the piano. Billy produced his “It’s Good To Me” (a song he also wrote) that was issued on the Panic label. He also wrote and produced Eddie’s “Baby Get Down” released by Spring. The partnership continued and in 1975 Brunswick picked up “Once You Fall In Love” which Billy again had written and produced (they are still good friends today and talk on a regular basis). Billy also produced some tracks on L J Waiters & the Electrifiers. “If You Ain’t Getting Your Thing” was initially released on La Shawn before being picked up by Phi-La-of-Soul. “Can You Deal With It” came next, this again being issued by Phi-La-of-Soul. In 1977, Billy produced “Chase Your Blues Away” by Funkhouse Express which was issued on Roxbury. Disco was now in full swing and Billy decided to return to the recording studio himself to see if he could get some personal success in this field. His first outing was “Give Your Body Up To The Music" which West End Records put out in 1979. The track, which was was also released in Italy, enjoyed a good degree of club success (making it onto the Top 50 of the US disco chart that August). West End wanted a follow-up and so in 1980, “Diamond Ring” was released on 7” & 12” singles, Billy having played bass and guitar on both the songs. “Diamond Ring” didn't prove as popular with US club goers but it was played on the UK Modern Soul scene. Sensing a change in the music field, Billy moved on. He produced two rap records that have gone on to be recognised as hip-hop classics. “The Adventures of Super Rhymes” by Jimmy Spicer and “Rhythm Rap Rock” by Count Coolout (issued on Billy’s own Boss Records before being picked up by WMOT) are now acknowledged as being pioneering rap tracks. Other artists he worked with in the 1980’s included Full Force (“Turn You On”), Mary Clark, Mel Sheppard, Rena Romano, Jesse Gee (Gould), Paul Ives, P.C. Crew, Fantasy Force and Charles T Hudson. His musical talents, experience and knowledge of the music industry helped keep him busy through those years. Billy next re-embarked on his own solo recording career. In the middle of the decade he re-activated his Boss Record label and issued the 12” “Whip Your Body / "Never Get Enough" The business had changed by then and the record got no radio play but was promoted via the clubs. Again, as well as singing, Billy played on the cuts which were recorded at Right Track Recording Studio in New York. Things went quiet for a few years before he released a CD album entitled ‘Love Stuff’ in 2003. For this 13 track album, Billy reworked “Never Get Enough”. A second CD album followed on Boss Records in 2007; ‘Same, Same Game’. This also contained 13 tracks; “Take Back Your Life”, “Sho Nuff Man” & “Step To The Jam” being amongst these (all the songs on both the CD's were self-penned by Billy). Today, he is still writing, singing and recording. He has recently been working on tracks to go on a proposed new CD release; the man certainly has got staying power. J.Roburt.S. -- September 2012
-
The Escorts: All We Need Is Another Chance
THE ESCORTS are the subject of a new documentary that should be worth watching ....... Reginald Hayes, Bill Martin and LaGrant Harris, The Escorts, who recorded their debut album, All We Need Is Another Chance, while doing time in prison. More funds are urgently required to complete the project. Video link: http://www.kickstart...-another-chance The unsung story of The Legendary Escorts is that of the musical group, formed behind bars in the early 70s at Rahway State Prison. It carries the weight and wisdom of both their tumultuous and celebratory experiences from the past decades up to modern day. Through their successes, trials, and tribulations, the storyline will explore the soul generation, civil rights movement, and penal reform from the inside.