Roburt

Anyone here got much info on this late 60's LA based label ? They put out a number of great 45's, many of which go for money now. Viola Wills was just about their best known artist & she must have been signed between her stints on Bronco & Supreme (67 to 71). Other artists they cut included Kenny & Larry, Beulah Palmer, Prince Brownell, Victor Green & Willie Hotfoot and the Relations. As usual (when deep soul is involved) Sir Shambling has been there with regards to Beulah Parker's two 45's but again little artist or label bio info seems to be available. None of the acts, apart from Viola, seemed to appear again on vinyl (unless they did so under other names) and the parent music company's BMI registration has long lapsed, so little to be found on-line about the set-up.

Volcanic Eruption is, of course, Lou Ragland & friends. Tuva side of the 45 . . .

Anyone know the track on the Dynamite label from 1970 titled "If I Were A King" .... Joe Bataan ran this Dynamite label (there were quite a few labels that used this name, including other US soul labels). Seems strange that just months later, Joe cut a song under this title himself, though he's credited as the writer of it . . .

Just chatted with Lou and asked him to try playing the Youtube vids. They played OK for him & this was the 1st time he had ever heard either "Hey Soul Man (I Travel Alone) or Lil Rosey (not Big Wheel, Lou says it's the 3rd track he cut at that studio session). So he's a happy man now (but not a Travelin Man). A sample of "Lil Rosey" (Lou's track with his vocals removed and Al Serafini's sax added + a new melody developed by Tom Baker for the song) ..... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lil-Rosey/dp/B005DXHUC0/ref=sr_1_12?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1490716310&sr=1-12&keywords=Al+Serafini Lou listening to "Hey Soul Man" . . .

How did the set go down ?

I have no actual knowledge of it escaping on a 7" rekkid ... HOWEVER ... quite a few countries (France, Brazil, Argentina, etc.) were in the habit of putting out more EP's (4 trackers) then singles and lots of these EP's would include tracks that were LP only in the US / UK. I know Len Barry had at least 3 EP's out in France but to the best of my knowledge these all featured his Decca cuts. Maybe, an EP of his RCA stuff escaped in Brazil.

Neither of the videos plays . . .. is this a situation where they only play in the US but will not play if you're based in the UK (if so, I have 'location hiding' software on my other laptop).

Chuck was already racking up numerous hits as far back as 58 . . . . an ad from that year .. . .

Tommy Hunt & the guys @ 5minutes in . . . Harvey Fuqua @ 16 mins+ ... Jackie Wilson @ 47 mins

After Lou Ragland worked with Tom Baker (no, not Dr. Who) on his "I Travel Alone", Tom took Lou's songs and used them on tracks that were released as by veteran sax man Al Serafini. Lou has never heard the cuts and asked if anyone had the 45 and could forward mp3 copies to him. If anyone has the 45 and can forward sound files to Lou, PM me and I'll pass along his contact details. CHEERS . . .

BBC4 TV should screen this film from 1959 . . . no doubt the scripted bits are useless, but the musical parts should be great.

Here tis . . .

"Michael" ???

The word about those nights certainly got about. At the time, I was contacted by a young guy from Scandanavia who was attending a short course at Oxford University when they were running. He was a soul fan & asked if it would be possible for me to pick him up & take him along to the night being staged whilst he was in the UK. Being a northerner & friendly type, I did as he wished and he had a great time (he even bought a few rekkids).

Before UK pirate ship radio stns (AND many many years before NS), to hear soul + R&B 45's you had to either listen to Radio Luxemburg or AFN (pre 1964). The only time the signals from these stns were any good (here in the UK) was after dark. So many school kids (12 to 15) would listen to their transisters in bed (under their WHITE SHEETS) before they'd go to sleep. In many UK towns, you still needed to listen at night to get decent signals from many pirate stns. The people this outfit have interviewed seem to be the (still living) cream of the crop of early British soul fans. So I'd say, they're doing a decent job as long as they aren't trying to take their report beyond 1970 (which is around when the UK NS scene kicked in) without making reference to the northern clubs & what they played.

Billy Stewart was one of my fave singers (Love Me, Sittin In't Park, Summertime, I Do Love You, Exodus, etc). I lived in Donny & didn't go that night as I'd seen Jnr Walker so many times in the preceding 12 months. GUTTED. My mate Tom Sleight saw him @ the Wheel but I missed that night as well (a girlfriend in Hull -- a place with a great weekend club scene back then).

Giving in (so many times in the old days) to Paul Temple's constant bickering to sell him this or that 45 or UK LP . . . . it was easier in the end to let the rekkids go than to have to listen to him asking over & over again. NON REGRET . . . . being the age I am. This allowed me to be around 'on-the-scene' (mid to late 60's) in the golden age of UK soul (mod) clubs AND to see so many great artists live in their heyday.

Rick, many times ship loads coming back from the US were lighter than loads going west from Europe to the US. To ensure ships were safe in storms, ballast was loaded to make the ship heavier. I was told LP's were loaded into containers to add weight to 'light ships'. These made a bit more money for the shippers than just filling the ballast tanks with sea water. My bro sailed from Manc (ship canal) on freighters to the Great Lakes & Argentina for some years. I know importers bought cut-out LP's but lots of 'everyday' shops / record shops (in Notts outfits like Fords, etc) sold LP's for 10p / 19p each ... some of these had to be sold wholesale to these outlets for around 4 / 5p each, so I don't see how an importer could make money on them at that unit price.

Just read the book 'Once in a Great City -- the Detroit Story' and this show gets a mention (as do the preparations made for it in Detroit, getting the bus / stn wagons ready, etc).

Lots of times, back in the 70's / 80's, LP's were shipped as bulk ballast in cargo ship holds from the US to UK . . . . cut-out LP's were cheap to buy, heavy & easy to load.

Loads of great stuff on-line from Billboard, Cashbox & Record World + other mags & newspapers . . . . . . I posted dozens & dozens up on Dave Flynn's old site years ago (SOUL TALK -- that's gone though now) . . . . still paste a few up almost everyday on Facebook.

Done some checkin' & can answer my own question ... Yes they did press up 45's locally in the 60's / 70's BUT they seem to have been MAINLY of local product (local artists) ...

A company ad from the same period . . . .

With the One-Derful / MarVlus / M-Pac stuff all getting renewed interest via Secret Stash's activities, thought a few here might be interested in this old article . . .

Off to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I know it's now a part of the US but it didn't used to be. Any idea if they pressed 45's there back in the 60's ?? . . . . or did they just import them from neighbouring countries (US / Jamaica / Dominican Rep) ?? Don't suppose such a thing as a record shop still exists there but maybe I can find a thrift shop.