Roburt

Seems that by early 67, Mitch Ryder was far from happy with the tracks Bob Crewe was getting him to record …. he broke free from Crewe (having to loose the Detroit Wheels along the way) and started performing live with a new backing band. Seems he was still tied to Crewe & New Voice / Dynovoice Records as he cut more stuff with the teaming right thru till late 68 (unless Crewe had quite a bit of material in the can in late 67 / early 68). By 69, he'd switched to the distributing label (DOT) and was recording with the Stax crew down in Memphis. 1970 saw him rebadge himself & his band as Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder and cutting for Paramount. Mitch never really got back the commercial success he'd enjoyed with his early Bob Crewe outings though, but he toured the US performing live for a good length of time. This article captures the anger he felt towards Crewe after their initial period together … https://baltimorejam.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/the-mitch-ryder-show-courtesy-of-george-shuba/

More about Hot Rod … https://www.bluesaccess.com/No_29/rooster.html

The Vibrations toured the UK a couple of times in the 60's. They would always inspire Brit dancers with their stage moves …. (watch the vid from about 3m 30 secs in) ……

70's soul dancing (US style) …

So "Gonna Find The Right Boy" made some noise in Baltimore, got local radio plays and charted on WWIN. From the mag info, it seems Hot Rod was pushing Audrey's track from the date of it's release. Hot Rod had been an ever-present on Baltimore radio since 1951. He was the MC on many big shows staged at Baltimore's Royal Theatre and at Carr's Beach. Richie Barrett is listed as the tracks producer with Leon Huff writing the song. Richie did quite a bit of work with Swan (mainly 3 Degrees or 3 Degrees members cuts) on which he'd also worked with Leon Huff before Audrey's track. Norman 'General' Johnson also worked with Richie on 3 Degrees related tracks for Swan. In addition to these cuts, Richie & Leon had also co-operated on earlier Swan cuts by the likes of (Norman Johnson &) the Showmen and Locomotions. Richie had also worked with Norman Johnson on Eddie Carlton's Swan cuts. Obviously Richie Barrett was the 'elder statesman' in all these collaborations (he'd been involved in the recording biz since the mid 50's and had recorded himself since around 1958, cutting the Beatles fave "Some Other Guy" with Leiber - Stoller in 62). It would be great to learn something about the dynamics of the studio process on tracks like Audrey's outing.

As the Yank says … the V.I.P. guy is a Frenchman who recorded 100's of useless pop tracks (in France) …

An earlier outing by him …

Is anything known about this guy …….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFyaJiO35NI

It has been well known for years that "Green Onions was recorded in no time at all as it was just gonna be a throw away B side when the studio band had no 2nd cut to put on a proposed 45. ….. HOWEVER … the fact that the MG's name was originally inspired by the Abingdon built MG sports car brand is definitely a new fact to me. . . . . . ABINGDON ASS.

At home, I only play 60's rekkids on a 60's system … I've posted an ad that shows my system below … HOWEVER, my mate 'Snakehips' Temple tells me I should only play original US CBS 45's on this … when I fetch a Date home, I want to be able to play Epic stuff, not just Reffa, Spellbinders, Shirley Ellis, Rhetta Hughes, Mongo Santamaria, Gigi & the Charmaines, Dee Clark, George Carrow & Chambers Bros stuff. I'm not even sure if it's OKeh to play CBS Special Products releases … I think I need help !!

Seems the Boogaloo was still going strong in Philly in late 66 ...

Audrey, it would be good to learn anything at all about your recording session for "Gonna Find The Right Boy" (or any other of your studio sessions) … PLUS … what can you recall about that HOT ROD tour (what type of venues did you perform in & how long did the tour last) + what can you recall about the other acts (George Jackson is a bit of an undocumented singer apart from his earlier years in the Balto group the Plants). Did you get to meet the song's writer, Leon Huff ?? Your 45 has been known to sell for a lot of money … Many thanks for posting here.

They're just pulling the Skyline / Baileys / Romeo & Juliets building (the old Co-op) down …

It's been pointed out already that the 100 Club wasn't on too many 60's mod / soulsters radar back in the 'swinging decade'. This isn't too surprising as the club stuck with it's jazz band policy right thru to the end of the decade. It had tried to generate a R&B crowd following on some nights of the week in 1964 (temporarily taking up the Rhythm & Blues banner for those nights in Feb 64) but it seemed to slip quite quickly back into it's more normal jazzy ways a few months later and remained with (mostly) live jazz outfits till at least the end of the 60's. I was a 14 year old school kid up in Yorkshire in early / mid 64, so have no 1st hand knowledge of the club or it's music policies back then … anyone know why it dabbled with R&B for a few months and then went back to a (mainly) jazz diet … did the London mods not take to the club way back then ??

Johnny Otis also had his in-house backing singers outfit; the Otisettes …

Did Parlet or the Brides of Funkenstein ever sing behind Funkadelic or George Clinton on live shows ? I know that Parlet would open shows on tour with P-Funk and that the Brides started out as part of the P-Funk camp, so I guess at least the Brides acted as backing singers for George & the group.

So Motown had the Andantes, Stax / Isaac Hayes had Hot Buttered Soul, Philly had the Sweethearts of Soul, Atlantic had the Sweet Inspirations … … THEN … Ike & Tina had the Ikettes, Ray Charles had the Raelettes, Bobby Bland had the Blandolls (bad name that really, they were far from Bland), Joe Tex had the Texettes and James Brown had the Brownettes (& numerous solo femme / male singers who handled his backing vocals) … but which other artists had dedicated backing vocal groups for studio & / or live work. I know in later years, the likes of the Pips stepped out from behind Gladys Knight for some recordings of their own, lots of other outfits such as the Bluebelles and the Vandellas were backing vocalists but got a namecheck … HOWEVER … I'm really meaning singers who mainly stayed in the background and most of the time went almost unheralded.

Someone should do a book about the 1st incarnation of the Prestatyn Weekenders …. including both the NS event & the autumn Motown event … so many top acts came over here during those times & were interviewed about their 'lives & times'. Plus, all the details of their exploits here in the UK and the fantastic live shows they put on could also be included. There's certainly 1000's of photos around to perfectly illustrate such a book. Facts on the various rooms & their music policies, the use made of Pontin's on-site TV / broadcast facilities should also be included. What the DJ's got up to could also form part of a chapter too.

An upcoming book of interest ...

Interview on youtube about a book …

Seems these 45's dated from 68/69 … when … WOKS was going strong .. check the #59 on their Top 60 … guessing, but it's unlikely the label lasted much more than a year.

A lot of sellers are putting 45 company sleeves up on Evilbay these days … I don't know how well they sell as I haven't watched many such sales ending.

A few more from 1967 … It was in 1967 that Local Government got involved in club regulation in a big way. Many clubs went 'members only' to escape some of the regs but others (the ones that didn't have drinks licenses) came under scrutiny for the 1st time. It was the councils and their elected members that (listening mainly to their older constituents, who were voters) forced the closure of great places such as the Mojo and Nite Owl. In Manchester, they would also get involved in the early 70's to close down the Wheel (end of January 71). I believe they had less of a hand in the demise of the London soul clubs, which were strongly effected by changing musical tastes … lots of pop / soul outfits that had filled their live shows with soul track covers moved on to feature psychedelic rock / blues rock stuff instead.

US newspaper obit … https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/andre-williams-randb-singer-and-producer-known-as-mr-rhythm-dies-at-82/2019/03/19/1f3c466a-4a5f-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e665357fa88e

As you were so kind to ask … the Prince Harold and the Howard Tate pieces would be great too.