Roburt

I've come across more info on when Virgie Till teamed up with Sonny Til. Seems that Sonny & the Orioles secured long tenure bookings in Miami in the summers of 1957 & 1958. On both occasions, the group were booked (for up to 24 weeks) to appear on Cab Calloway's Cotton Club Revue at a Miami Beach hotel. On at least one of these occasions, Virgie accompanied Sonny on the trip (well, she was born in Miami though both her parents had passed by then). If they first 'got together' in 1957, that would have made her just 16 years old !!!! No wonder, Sonny wanted people to think that she was his sister.

I know the project hasn't fully been 'put to bed' yet, but any hints going on how many tracks will be pure gospel & how many gospel-y soul. The likes of Charlie 'Cole Black' Brown's (lead singer of the Violinaires) soul outings certainly fall into the latter category. BTW, Gary Cape organised the release of his 2 cuts on the 'issue' 45. He has also stated in the past that "very very irritating thing is that they (the Jewel men) showed me their masters register. It showed 4 tracks by Charlie 'Cole Black' Brown - but in those days I was more interested in 45s than in masters and as they didn't have the audio readily to hand I never got to hear what the other 2 tracks were - but having been cut at the same session, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if they were pretty good ........ ................ OOOHHHHH, lovely unissued 'Cole Black' cuts ......... what could be better !!!!

... & two of these (at least) are pretty damn fine too .....

I bet these two proved popular .............

......... Crazy Chris Columbo -- in later life. He passed away in 2002 at the ripe old age of 100.

Come on train .........

Well if it's in the usual Harmless 2fer CD price range (£6 -7) ...... I 4 1 will be placing my order on day 1.

A De-Liteful single release ..........

That sounds good. Guess we can look forward to some Willie Morganfield, Bonner Brothers, Traveling Echoes, Mighty Stars of Harmony, Clarence Fountain, Violinaires, Morning Echoes of Detroit, Meditation Singers, Keith Barrow, Soul Stirrers, Bill Moss & the Celestials + Five Blind Boys of Alabama stuff then.

Hadn't checked out the track listing of the Fame Studios Story, so yep you have. Nice to see "Two In The Morning" on there but still woun't be buying the 3 CD set as I have too many of the tracks already (on vinyl) to spend £27.

It used to be Virgie Till's "I Didn't Steal Your Dog" that got the plays ........ now it seems to the the other side of her Glover 45 that gets the action .............

Russell, ... great info. I understand the Columbia gospel jukebox LP release now, though it still seems a strange business decision (the gospel EP & the club).

A 1960 show in Baltimore they both performed on ...........

Sonny Til, back in 1959.

Virgie Till wasn't her real name. She took the name from her 'mentor, the Orioles Sonny Til. She was born in Miami but brought up in Baltimore (where Sonny Til was from). Sonny was born in 1928, so by 1959 he was 31 years old & he had been married for a while. Virgie was born in 1941, so she was 18 in 1959 when she 'teamed up' with Sonny. Sonny was going through a bad divorce case in 1959, so Virgie became his 'sister' ........ and they toured / lived together (platonicilly of course) for around 4 years.

A lady who came to prominence after a 10 day stint at the club ........

An earlier relaunch of the club (in 1971) .....

Chris Columbo / Christopher Columbus also did some touring & made other recordings. In the mid 50's, after he was in Bill Doggett's band (their drummer), he went out on his own & started a group. It was only natural that Doggett's record label (King) would also sign up 'Chris' (real name: Joseph Morris). So a 45 came out on King -- "Oh Yeah" credited to Chris Columbo & His Swinging Gentlemen. Members of Chris' group included Gil Askey and keyboard player Johhny 'Hammond' Smith. When Johnny Smith quit, Chris hired a replacement organ player, Earl Van Dyke !!!

An old card from the club + an early shot of the house band ................. (then called Christopher Columbus & His Swing Crew) PLUS a copy of the 45 made by Chris Columbus & the Swingin' Gaites.

The club was relaunched around 1979, but its 'new' life was to be short .........

More info on a bad night at the club ............

A few shots outside & inside the club .......

Just about the most famous black nightclub in Atlantic City was the Club Harlem. The house band at the club was run for many years by a guy who took a few similar stage names ...... ...... all of these being derivations of Chris(topher) Columbus (Columbo). Anyway, first an introduction to the club ..........

CONNECTED THREAD .......... .... I'm just about to post a thread up about the main musician who ran the house band at Atlantic City's Club Harlem for many years. ....... The guy took several connected stage names ........... Christopher Columbus & His Swing Crew (early 50's) Chris Columbo & The Swinging Gentlemen (Late 50's / early 60's) ........... AND I DO BELIEVE .... in 1970 ........ Chris Columbus & the Swinging Gates !!!! He of "Tighten Up 70" on a private label 45. ^^^^ a current Soul Sam play ^^^^^

A personal message from Dee Dee's sister .......