Roburt

Got the WHAT & WINN ones ... have to check if I have the WWRL one. I love old US black radio stn charts ... so many obscure 45 tracks on many of them back in the 60's. ... The top 60's DJ on Philly based WHAT passed away just over 4 months ago ...

Coz Weldon Irvine was a famous jazz keyboard player & coz he'd written "Young, Gifted & Black" for Nina, they've made a documentary about him. This goes into all aspects of his life (which it seems was quite tragic) and the show uses lots of old clips & old paperwork ... this seems pretty conclusive to me ... Weldon's earnings in 1972 ... It IMPLIES (to me at least) that Getto Kitty was (MAYBE) a singer who Andy Stroud signed to STROUD and who Weldon & his band were paid $4000 to work with. Musicians were always paid for their studio work (playing, arranging, producing) even if the artist themselves was often not. So it seems Weldon (& his guys) were paid $4000 to play on the Getto Kitty session. The $1100 from 'Nina Simone' was probably royalties for past songwriting / performance duties paid out on Nina's RCA tracks that were still selling.

I don't believe so as Weldon Irvine seems to have broken with Stroud in / by 1972. The Stroud 45 was probably cut sometime in 1972 (or maybe in 71) & released at the start of 73. In 1970, Nina had left Andy Stroud & headed off to live in Barbados. She owed US taxes & was very unpopular in the US due to her Civil Rights statements / work. So Stroud's supply of money must have dried up (he was her manager / booker too). He'd got the recording deal for some acts with RCA and that must have brought enough money in to keep his recording sessions going. The Stroud label put out 2 x 45's + LP's on Nina in 72/73 but they must have been much earlier recordings (69 / 70 ?). She also had an LP out on RCA in 71 but Andy Stroud had nothing to do with that at all. Seems Stroud must have been trying to carry on with the remnants of Nina's entourage (except Sam Waymon, Nina's brother). Sam Waymon sang with Nina on some shows but he'd gone off with her, so can't have been a vocalist with Getto Kitty. The Ninandy label was shut down & Stroud started up, well she was no longer involved so the NINA / ANDY name was redundant. The Swordsmen stayed with Andy Stroud & I guess Weldon Irvine & his band did too. But Weldon Irvine & his group were releasing stuff on his own label in 72. So he'd obviously walked away from Stroud by then. His LP ('Liberated Brother') was laid down at a NY studio but the band line-up changes on some of the tracks. Perhaps that's coz of the changes that came about when he broke with Andy Stroud. Weldon had a 2nd LP out on his own label in 73 and sax Player James Stroud isn't on that (though Weldon thanks him for his past work on the sleeve notes). Two pictures; Nina & Andy together in the late 60's ... then Nina on stage with her quartet in 69 (I'm assuming the quartet are Weldon Irvine & his band) ...

I think it's almost certain that the Getto Kitty tracks were cut in late 1972, the song registered (copyrighted) at the very end of December 72 but the records pressed up in early January 73. Promo copies being sent out by Stroud in mid January & the 45 starting to get radio tips by early February 73. BACK TO PROBABLE INFO ON THE GROUP .... A show on Nina Simone's March 69 UK tour was reviewed by Melody Maker. See the attached (seems the reviewer misheard the backing singers name & noted her down as Doris Williams not WILLINGHAM). The advance notice info on the tour package refers to NINA, her quartet & trio ... I'd guess the quartet were the 4 musicians listed already above & that the trio were the backing singers (obviously 3 were expected ahead of their UK arrival but just 2 seemed to have come). With her show being 2 hours duration, I'd say the musicians would have opened (doing a couple of jazzy instrumental numbers), then the backing singers would have come on stage for a couple more songs (vocals this time) and then finally Nina would have come out -- probably sitting at & playing a piano.

Doris Willingham / Duke must only have stayed with Nina for around 9 months (Jan to Sept 69 ?), as by early 70 she was signed to Canyon & recording as Doris Duke. No doubt old B&S interviews with Doris (Duke) will have touched on the details of her UK gigs in 69 (as a backing singer for Nina). Mine are up in the loft, but guess someone else's will be available to check. It's a pity Nina / Andy didn't think to sign Doris to a Ninandy contract (but then, I guess, we wouldn't have gotten the great Doris Duke Canyon stuff from 1970 onwards).

Just checked & I have David Nathan's book on Nina. Nina had a UK hit in Oct 68 & came to the UK to do promotional work & to appear on T of the Pops. During that visit she met fans @ Soul City Record shop in London. She had 2 more UK pop chart hits in early 69 and so returned here to do a full tour (many UK venues). Weldon Irvine gets mentioned many times in the book. In 1969, Nina was touring the UK & so did lots of shows here. David Nathan reports on a London show & states ... Nina was aided by 4 most capable musicians; Weldon (Irvine -- organ), Gene (Perla -- on bass), Don (Alias -- on drums) & Al (Schackman - on guitar). None of the other 3 guys were still in Weldon's group in 72. BUT ALSO, she had Gena & Doris (Willingham) on backing vocals. But DORIS WILLINGHAM (DORIS DUKE) couldn't have been the singer on the Getto Kitty tracks as she'd left Nina by then (see below). But for certain, Doris toured the UK as a backing singer for Nina in 69. PERHAPS it was GENA (?) who was the singer on the cuts. Doris Willingham had her solo (Jay Boy) 45 released in the US in late Nov / early Dec 68. The 45 was doing well by early Dec on WWIN in Baltimore. She then hooked up with Nina in 69 BUT BY 1970, she was solo again as Doris Duke & recording for Canyon by Feb 70. On Nina's recording sessions at the end of the 60's, she used the Swordsmen as her backing singers. They also accompanied her on UK tours and opened the show before singing backing vocals when she performed. Her daughter Lisa & brother Sam Wymon sang back-up on other of her recording sessions. One of the Swordmens 45s (Oh, My Soul") was getting radio plays (& charting in Nov 68). It was getting spins on WWRL (NY), WEBB (Baltimore) & WENZ (Richmond). By early Dec it was @ #6 on WCHB's chart (Detroit) & ' #12 on WJMO (Cleveland).

Q 1969 New York club shows ... Nina & friends ... I guess the heading NINA SIMONE & COMPANY means NS + the Weldon Irvine Band. BTW, Montego Joe had been her drummer in the early / mid 60's.

The Telegraph did an article on their (Nina & Andy) relationship ... it's still up online ... www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/how-nina-simone-fell-in-love-with-her-abusive-husband/ EXTRACT ... Stroud could often be found at a Harlem bar called the Lenox Lounge, where he was friendly with the manager and his wife, a sometime nightclub entertainer named Becky Harding. One night while Stroud was drinking at the Lenox, Harding told him that she had just seen a fantastic singer named Nina Simone at a midtown supper club called the Round Table and that she was going to go back and he should join her. Stroud drove them down to the venue. Harding had introduced herself to the singer on her first visit, so after her set Simone came to their table to say hello. Stroud was eating a hamburger next to Harding. Simone playfully snatched up some of his French fries and, as he said later, “We got cute and whatnot.” Stroud was driving his friends home, so following her final set Simone joined them and they headed up to Harlem. She hung out for a few drinks at the Lenox Lounge, and then he dropped her off at her Central Park West apartment, just a few blocks from his police station. Before getting out of the car, she handed him the Round Table business card, which had a note on the back saying, “Nice to have met you—Nina,” and her phone number. The whole story & much more about her career & Stroud Productions are in her autobiography. Don't think Getto Kitty gets a mention but Weldon Irvine certainly will have.

Stroud & Ninandy were owned / run by Nina Simone & her then husband Andy Stroud. He also titled his work as STROUD PRODUCTIONS (based out of 507 5th Ave, New York). Andy Stroud was a musical kid who went into the Us Navy as a trumpeter in a navy band. He was stationed in Florida, He left the forces in 1946 & moved to New York. There he played in bands & was on an album recorded at the Apollo Theatre. He then joined the NY Police in 1948 & stayed there till 1961. In 61, he met & married Nina and quit the police to become her manager. Although he was abusive towards her they stayed together till 71. In late 1967, the Ninandy label was started & released stuff by Montego Joe, the Cashmeres, Roy Roberts, Sam Waymon & the Swordsmen. The Stroud label followed on. putting out mainly releases by Nina herself. Andy Stroud & Nina were divorced by the time the Stroud label started. Nina was the star that attracted acts to sign with Stroud / Ninandy -- she would take the acts signed to her labels on tour with her & have them as her support act on shows. Lots of shows in New York she did featured the acts as her support on the bill. She moved in NY jazz circles & that's probably why the like of Montego Joe link came about. The Roy Roberts 45 seems to have been an outside production & had been released on a local Nth Carolina label first (Bo-Ro). Sam Waymon was also from Nth Carolina, so there was obviously a connection with that area (+ Nina's real name was Eunice Waymon, so they were related). After 1 x 45 on Ninandy, his contract was picked up by RCA (though Stroud still produced his stuff). The Swordsmen were a duo from Cleveland. Strangely they weren't known under that name back in Cleveland but were known in the local clubs where both guys performed as solo acts. Seems Nina met up with them while doing shows in the Cleveland area. Perhaps Stroud put them together ( in a Sam & Dave kind of way) & signed them as a duo. Their contract was also picked up by RCA after 1 x 45 on Ninandy. They were active as a duo under that name from 68 to 71. Getto Kitty seems TO ME to be the name taken at the time by Weldon Irvine & his group (a member of which was a certain James Stroud). Weldon was Nina Simone's band leader at the time, so it only seems natural that the band would cut for Stroud Records. By 1972, he was cutting tracks (still with his band) under his own name ('Liberated Brother' for NOBLEW RECORDS -- thats WELDON backwards). He'd set up his own Noblew productions as early as 1968 but mainly worked with Nina till 72. So YES, they were session musicians who did studio work backing up other acts (I'd guess the likes of Sonny Til for RCA in 71. Also Percy Mayfield in 71, also for RCA). But they were mainly Nina Simone's touring band. Guess they were rewarded for their efforts with the Stroud 45. I'd GUESS, that they were the studio band on most of the Ninandy & Stroud recorded tracks. Weldon Irvine had a 2nd LP out on his own label in 73 and then signed a deal with RCA. I guess the Nina Simone & the RCA links make it highly likely that his band were in fact Getto Kitty. Weldon arranged their tracks & wrote the song. Sounds like the whole band singing on the chorus but no idea who the lead singer could be. Nina herself was signed to RCA between 1967 & 1974 ... so all the pieces seem to fall into place. Seem to recall posting up an ad for NY shows Nina Simone undertook around 1970 on which one of the Ninandy artists was the supporting act. Obviously (though not advertised in their own right) Weldon & his band would have backed up both acts on the shows.

Thanks for the very informative posts GF. It's interesting that Ed Wingate was running a numbers racket -- probably using his record label offices / studio as a front. The very same thing went on in Cleveland -- Way Out Records there came about the closest to becoming the established label from the city & their studio was really more of a front for 'number runners' than for recording acts. Way Out's owners kept their studio very busy -- they recorded around 10 tracks for every one that got released. The constant flow of singers, groups, musicians, pluggers in & out of the studio / office building helped 'hide' the many numbers runners also coming in & out.

Another Detroit stn ... a 1979 chart ... & a vid to go with it ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sn5XzMF2qA

Two more radio charts; one from 62, one from 72 ... Mary Wells, Barbara Lynn, Billy Stewart, Jerry Butler, Jive Five & more on the 62 chart ... Mel & Tim, Jerry Butler (again), J R Bailey, Millie Jackson, Tommy Tate & more on the 72 chart.

Wilmington based WWIL ... 1974 ... some goodies on the chart ... Curtom's Natural Four, Bobby Womack, Lamont Dozier, Tyrone Davis, Melvin Davis, Edwin Starr & Bloodstone's "Outside Woman"(recorded in the Cotswolds @ Chipping Norton Studios).

Welcome aboard Bill ... Anyone who had anything to do with Curtom, is mighty fine with me (& most others on this site). Jerry (& Billy) Butler are also held in very high regard. You may already know but Curtis's "MOVE ON UP" is a massive soul anthem here in the UK and was a Pop Chart hit in the UK when first released on 45. About 15 years ago, I worked on the team that put on the Prestatyn Soul Weekender and one year we had Don Gardner on as a live attraction (amongst others). Back in the 70's, he had given up performing himself & was working as a decorator. He was hired by Curtis to do some work & Curtis couldn't believe someone with his musical knowledge had turned his back on the business. So Curtis hired him to be his road manager. Don spent a few years on the road with Curtis and really enjoyed those times. I got to spend quite a bit of time chatting with Don over that weekend (I took him & another singer up to Liverpool to visit the Beatles museum there). ANYWAY, in passing I asked Don about Curtis and his song writing techniques. Got a fascinating reply and it just emphasised what a great human being Curtis really was. BTW, we like lots of Curtom acts here; the Impressions of course, Five Stairsteps, Major Lance, June Conquest & Donny Hathaway, Baby Huey, Holly Maxwell, Moses Dillard, Freddie Waters, etc.

Seen it on Facebook that Rueben Wilson also passed recently. BUT haven't been able to get confirmation of this fact; all web sites that refer to him still showing him alive.

Lots of live acts played both the Wigan Casino & the Bolton Casino in the 60's; some of them being top soul acts. For instance -- Ike & Tina Turner in August 1968 ...

It's hard to pin down exactly when things started to go wrong with US black radio (when the indie releases were all but excluded & central committees started to pick the 45's that would get played) ... BUT I'd place it somewhere in the period between 1974 to 1976. Of course, university based radio stns carried on as normal with regard to what was played but by the early 70's, most of those were playing mainly rock / blues rock / a bit of funk, jazz & 'black blues'. It was only really the black US uni's that stuck with soul. Here's 3 1970's charts from KSOL .... or K-SOUL as I think the stn's DJ's dubbed it. The 74 chart features Eugene Blacknell & The New Breed -- Get in a Hurry local funk .. . . . . //www.youtube.com/watch?v=El9Q3Lmt7BQ

KNOK charts from 1966 + some KNOK DJ reports from 64/65 (& other stns reporting at the same time) ... From the 3 DJ report sheets, it's evident just how different the 45's being played by each stn were back then.

Back in the 60's, DJ's on most black radio stations across the US could pick a lot of the 45 tracks they would spin ... of course, this left them open to 'financial incentives' but it also brought us loads of good tracks that otherwise would have been lost in the mix. A DJ would flip a 45 & spin the B side. They'd reactivate a track months / years after the original 45 had been released. They'd lift a track from an LP and the act's record label would have to put it out on a 45 if it took off. They pick up on a local recording, put out by a new little indie label; many times this leading to a national company such as Atlantic, Chess, Amy/Mala/Bell picking it up & releasing it nationwide. They'd go see a live show by an act that really impressed them & then go find an old 45 cut to play on their show. Of course, many times such tracks didn't catch on with the radio stn's audiences, but on lots of other occasions they would. But it all came to an end in the 70's when big corporations took over most of the black radio stns, strict play lists were introduced & very few indie tracks got much exposure after that. A montage of a few such radio stn's charts followed by two lists of radio stn plays from just one week back then ...

Original UK LP bought as a new release ... can't beat a bit of Fame (well you can; a lot of Fame).

Owned & ran the Gerim label (out of Chicago) in late 70's / 80's. Recorded Cleveland group 7 Miles High & put a 45 out on them ("She's Gone Away"). Seven Miles High had been the group that (when Lou Ragland was leading them) cut "Since You Said You'd Be Mine". When the 45 was picked up by Warners & released just under Lou's name, the rest of the guys were very pissed off & kicked Lou out of the group (though it was none of his doing). They kept gigging & eventually hooked up with Gerald & Gerim.

Lynne Randell -- A white lass born right at the end of 1949 in Liverpool. Moved with her family to Australia. Got into singing professionally aged 14 and was soon making records in Aussie. Returned to the UK to play a live gig @ the Cavern (1966). Then toured US with the Monkees, Ike & Tina + Jimi Hendrix in 1967 (aged 18). Married a Yank record exec & settled down in the States, but by then was an amphetamine addict. The addiction stayed with her for years & seriously effected her health. Came back to the UK with her record biz husband in 1976 but her drug habit led to the marriage breaking down. Divorced in 79, she returned to Aus in 1980. Went public about her drug addiction in 2004 & died in 2007 (aged just 58). About as soulful a soul as Pet Clarke, Helen Shapiro & Cilla Black.

I wouldn't be too sure that Sheldon wasn't involved with the group at the age of 15 / 16. He was a bit of a guitar prodigy, in the same way that George Benson was. In George's case, he had gone professional at age 10 and already had a music manager / booking agent (1953). Shortly after this in 1957 (so aged 14), he joined his first group, the Altairs. They cut a track with Anne Keith in 1958 which was released on Memo. In 1959, with George now in charge of the group (& their lead vocalist), they cut some tracks in their own right & had a 45 out on Amy. One of the tracks they cut (for Otis Blackwell) was the first recorded version of "Return To Sender". So, at age 16 George was a group leader & fully fledged recording artist. In 1960, he went solo and started forging his own music career. I'm sure Sheldon was equally capable.

Some gigs Ike & Tina did on that UK tour ...

Seems the piece I wrote & posted above has gone world-wide (via Yahoo News) ... https://uk.news.yahoo.com/seeing-tina-turner-live-concert-110600571.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2guYW9sLmNvLnVrL2NsaWNrL195bHQ9QXdyLmpuRU5ZbTlrX29VSHR3c0VDbVZIO195bHU9WTI5c2J3TnBjaklFY0c5ekF6RUVkblJwWkFNRWMyVmpBM055L1JWPTIvUkU9MTY4NTA0OTk5OC9STz0xMC9SVT1odHRwcyUzYSUyZiUyZnVrLm5ld3MueWFob28uY29tJTJmc2VlaW5nLXRpbmEtdHVybmVyLWxpdmUtY29uY2VydC0xMTA2MDA1NzEuaHRtbC9SSz0wL1JTPUVSR3g3Qkc2MUlUaTFiTS5nMTg3NzJpUkN0OC0&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFROhOBEKEPxvMA1Jbi6NBAB2Gwkopx7tfBBQAt8FWwB5uuGgvRCPsQj0wkSWN2-X1v2jFbg1bsq3W4UQ4xip69Vb_cMAPXGDtrchF38hu2oVQFMsXrUlTFefzrJSsuCkU1VcxzcsQo0Mnzezsjm4VbV5cbtX5cxnsv2VhNHBRvn A Wheel & Tina Turner inspired pic montage ...