Roburt

The trailer for the movie ........ The movie is available on DVD in the US ... https://www.thevideobeat.com/rock-roll-movies/blues-for-lovers-1966.html

Ray Charles made a movie in the UK in 1964 & it was released in 1965. I was titled 'Ballad In Blue' here in Europe (but 'Blues For Lover in the US). Scenes were shot in a movie studio in Dublin in June / July 64 & during live shows staged in London & Paris. It has a somewhat corny plot centred around Ray befriending a blind white English kid (both are blind so don't understand their racial / colour differences) ... it was a low budget effort but features some great live concert footage (& Ray + the Raelettes singing loads of songs). Here's one of the posters for the movie & a 'still' taken during one of the shows .... .... come in No. 18, you are Margie Hendrix (the small one in the pic back then was Gwendolyn Berry) .. BTW, it's worth knowing that a UK TV company now owns the UK rights to this movie & it seems to get shown about once every 18 months on that channel (Ch4 ?) in the afternoons.

Ray was performing in a Miami Beach Hotel in April 1969 ... .. but he had done shows down there (in the 'white audience' hotel show rooms) for a number of years .... so Margie knew the area & the local 'bookers' knew her from the Raelettes. In May 1968 she had secured a good solo gig at the Castaways Motel (see 'Old Miami Show Ads' thread for more info on hotel & its nite club) ...... I am only guessing this BUT Margie most probably went solo as a result of Ray's attitude to her having his baby (he just moved on relationship wise & got himself a new girlfriend) ... his treatment of Margie may well have been a major factor in the other ladies in the group breaking from him shortly afterwards.

Ray Charles had a big gig down on Miami Beach in April 1969 ... .... the Raelettes were part of his review show as they had their own 45's out a few months earlier (in 1968). Ray had a big bust up with his then Raelettes in 1968 and all the ladies quit overnight. He had shows coming up in days & so had to set up a new version of the group. For a few weeks, the 'new' Raelettes were Rita Graham (of Rita & Tiaras), Susaye Greene (later a Supreme) & Beverly LeShure. When things settled down & Ray got the opportunity to appoint permanent members of the group, Susaye Greene was joined by Mable John, Vernita Moss & Estella Yarborough. I'm not sure what the exact line-up of the Raelettes was for this show but believe it was the four ladies I name immediately above. Margie took time off from show biz to have her baby (not too sure when the baby was born but assume it was around 1967), so she wasn't performing with the other three ladies in the group in 1968 (see next ad).

The Raelettes again ...... ... it needs confirming but I think Margie is the small one (but it may be Gwen Berry).

The Raelettes up on stage with Ray ....

No.1 Super Gal, here you go ........ Ray & Margie together before a gig !!

The guy may be right about the original story being in the Hull Times ...... that also still exists & has a web site ......... .... https://hulltimes.com/ BUT the Hull Times is a weekly paper that does more 'general interest' stories rather than daily 'hard news'. I would have said that a story about a death from a fall happening at a major city night club would have been covered in a lot more detail in the Hull Daily Mail -- a report on the actual event; follow-up concerning H & S issues at Baileys; a report on the coroners court proceedings & determination, etc. Would still guess that an approach (e-mail) to staff at Hull City Library would elicit a positive response especially if the approx date of the death can be specified.

So London Fogg were also an Ohio group .... seems to fit in well with the other stuff she did that was Ohio related. Info (off the net) on them .... ... London Fogg and the Continentals appears to be two groups - the band London Fogg and the vocal group the Contintentals. They were a 'Salt and Pepper' band (black singers, white band). In 1969 the band released their one and only 45 on a local label, Gold Stars. The A-side, "Easy Mover", was written by Dayton's Brenda Lee Jones (Jean of Dean and Jean, of course), and it's possible she sings it, but that is unconfirmed. The song was a local hit and picked up by Imperial for national release, with the band name shortened to London Fogg. ..... MORE INFO ..... .... London Fog (one "G", the band) and the Continentals (the singers). These groups came together during high school in Dayton (unusual in that they were a racially integrated band), and recorded their single in 1969. The Continentals were Quinn Moorman, Bozie Black, Loretta Reid (lead vocal on 'Easy Mover') and John Mortimer. The London Fog were Gary Kaiser (organ), Bud Kraft and Ed Toll (gtr), Vince DiSalvo (dr), Dan Connaughton (bass), Tony Giambrone and Gary Moon (tenor sax), Robert Pennington (trombone) and Mike Riley (alto sax).

Working nights long term ain't too great for the body ...... ... but being on a changing shift pattern (mornings, then afters & then nights) for years is much worse for you.

RE: Margie Hendrix/Hendricks for years..... hardly any info at all I've got quite a bit of info on her (including photos) .... ... she was one of the Raelettes for well over 3 years & so got mentioned in dispatches quite a lot during those years.

Has Herb Reed & Sweet River's "Hung Up Over You" got a mention yet ??

But is there any 'light at the end of the tunnel' yet ?? Hope the release date ain't still (to quote Art Freeman) Slippin Around (or Slippin away even).

We don't even know who the members are of some of the groups that cut our fave sounds ....... ... HELL, with some, we don't even know which city / state they came from even.

RE: if I end up shuffling about to mid-tempo rarities with a zimmer at Happy Valley Rest Home some day then great. Perhaps one of NS's more business inspired guys (Robbing Keverts) will start a 'Retirement Home for the NS Afflicted' up in Lancs (or even better Yorks / Notts) and we can all move in there. Porridge for breakie, then a 'beat ballads' session in the communal lounge. A Light lunch & then the afternoon 'zimma' dance session to croossover tracks before we have evening live entertainment from Tommy Hunt, Jimmy James or Linda Lewis (MD'ed & DJ'ed by Soulie'Sam & Tricky Dickie Searling). ....... heck, think I'm drifting away towards that 'bright light' in the sky already .... well I'm flying anyway with posts at least .... just made it to (Boeing) 737.

Bob, RE: london fogg record you have listed above also came out on a local label I'd be interested to know where the local label was based out of ... NY state, Ohio , ??...

With regard to the Buckeye Politicians (who had earlier gone by the name of the Soul Partners) ...... they very nearly made it big ...... They were spotted in New York by a guy from EMI. He smooth talked them & flew em over to the UK. Sent em into Abbey Rd & a whole album was cut; tipped for the top. The group headed back to New York to promote the new stuff and a 45 was released here on EMI. The group's US management wanted the album master tapes so they were put on a plane to New York ... ..... ........ AND DISAPPEARED COMPLETELY. No backup tapes had been kept & so all their hard work in the London studio went to waste. The group got fed up & their career tailed off and the guys ended up heading home to Ohio for normal day jobs. .......... SAD TALE

Think quite a few Teds / R&R-ers & early mods have enjoyed similar times / scenes. ....... we are all just about baby-boomers though ...... .... if like me you are now aged around 60 to 66 ........ ... had it good in the 50's (school, etc), again in the 60's (easy to find decent higher education & jobs, brilliant night life ), more so in the 70's (cheap available mortgages, child allowance, decent NHS service for births), 80's (back on the scene with a soulful lean now the kids were off to Uni, etc), 90's (near the end of regular allnighter attendances but loads of soul weekenders so that was fine), Y2K -- still good ... (internet & yet more soul + decent (for some) pension, chance of early retirement). So we had it good in each decade ... but those that 'burnt the candle at both ends' for too long OR drank / ate too much OR didn't look after their health ........ WELL lots have fallen by the wayside way too soon. BUT I'd rather enjoy life while I can than last an extra few months (but check back with me in 10 years to see if I hold the same opinion) !!!

Another Motown group 'down on the beach' when the Temptations were playing there ...

BTW, in the above I have put a piccy of Balt's Brenda Jones next to a piccy of Dean & Jean, the duo that Ohio's Brenda Lee Jones got her start with. They do look similar (facially) to me.

Bob, that group were most probably the Buckeye Politicians (also from Ohio) ...

The 'Baltimore' Brenda Jones .......

Just getting around to listening to this show in full .... as always, Cliff plays numerous fantastic 'listening' soul tracks ..... I have some of em myself (the great O'Jays cut he plays early on) but haven't pulled that LP out in some years .... just goes to show; I listened to it (the O'Jays track) & instantly said ... I'll have to get a copy of this & then afterwards he announced who it was & what LP it was on ... DDOOOHHHH.

RE: the discoveries of the last 35 years represent obscurity for the sake of it and / or a celebration of the ordinary .... ..... Loads of great obscure sounds unearthed over the last 35 years so can't agree in the main .... ... but many 'ordinary sounds' are championed just coz they are SO RARE....... I'm much more of a SOUL FAN than a RARE SOUL FAN ....... give me a great William Bell Stax track over a messy obscure Detroit little label cut (substitute any other US city here) any day of the week.

As there's another current thread about a Brenda Lee Jones 45 & that 'style setter' Cliff Steele recently featured the Brenda Jones & Coconut Love track on his radio show, thought I'd bring her up ... This topic may well have been 'done to death' on here in the past ......if so, please feel free to point me in the direction of the best original thread ...... ....... BUT JUST IN CASE IT AIN'T ........ .... here are a few 45's by a / the Brenda (Lee) Jones ....... Brenda was recording from quite an early stage (1962/63?) as half of Ohio duo Dean & Jean (45's on Rust) ...... solo wise there was also ..... RU-JAC #08: BRENDA JONES -- Let's Go Back To School / Can't You See (1963; US) RUST # 5112; BRENDA LEE JONES -- Thread Your Needle / You're The Love Of My Life (1966; US) IMPERIAL # 66440: LONDON FOGG & THE CONTINENTALS FEAT. BRENDA LEE JONES -- Easy Mover/ Trippin' (1969; US) MERCURY # 73482; BRENDA JONES -- Super Stroke / Big Mistake (1974; US) MERCURY # 73645: BRENDA JONES WITH COCONUT LOVE -- I Am The Other Woman / Good Thing (What It Is) (1974; US) USA # 8 BRENDA LEE JONES --You're The Love Of My Life / Thread Your Needle (1975; UK) FLYING DUTCHMAN # 10671: BRENDA JONES WITH GROOVE HOLMES -- This Is The Me Me (Not The You You) / This Is The Me Me (Not The You You) (1976 US) The 1st 45 above, on Baltimore label Ru-jac, is by a lady who was a regular on the Baltimore club scene around 1963/64/65 & 'locals' there think of her as being Baltimore based but as she originally came from Ohio & seemed to end up in New York, I'm not to sure how everything fits together & if there was actually more than one Brenda Jones singing soul back then. As she recorded with Groove Holmes in 1976, you would have thought that there would be some info out there on her as jazz music people seem to research / document everything of interest. I have some club ad photos of the Ru-Jac / Baltimore Brenda Jones from around 1964 & she does seem to resemble the Brenda Lee Jones who started out in Dean & Jean. Anyone know for sure if all the above recordings are by the same lady ?