Chalky

The Chairmen Of The Board can trace its roots back to The Showmen, a group founded by “General” Norman Johnson in Norfolk, Virginia. The group are best remembered for “It Will Stand” and gave us other tracks such as “The Wrong Girl”, “Take It Baby” & “Our Love Will Grow” which although none where big hits in their native United States they found some success on the UK Northern Soul dance scene. Holland, Dozier and Holland having left Motown formed their own label Invictus and in turn formed The Chairmen Of The Board and recruited the post Showman General Johnson along Eddie Curtis, Danny Woods (Correct-Tone and Smash) and Harrison Kennedy. The group went on to score major hits for the Invictus label, memorable tracks such as “Give Me Just A little More Time”, “Everything’s Tuesday” & “You Got Me Dangling On A String”. However all things come to an end and the original line up of Johnson, Curtis, Woods and Kennedy went their separate ways, some recording solo material and writing for others. However come the mid to late ‘70s Johnson reformed the group along with Danny Woods and it is this incarnation that we are interested in. Danny Woods whilst looking for talent to make up the group was in a bar in Detroit where Ken Knox and his band were performing and the two immediately hit it off and Ken Knox became a member of Chairman Of The Board. The band was then initially made of the Funkadelics who were on a hiatus from George Clinton and Parliament. Members included Bernie Worrell on keys, Eddie Hazel on guitar, Tiki Fulwood on drums, Billy Nelson on bass, Ron Bykowski on rhythm guitar, Mckinley Jackson of the Politicians on trombone, Roland Christian on trumpet and Ken himself on saxophone. Ken Knox was born in 1954 in Charleston, West Virginia, one of nine children, six girls and three boys. His family would leave like many others from the South for Detroit when he was three months old. Ken grew up surrounded by music, his friends singing on street corners, Motown, Junior Walker, King Curtis and Boots Randolph early influences but one major influence would be his brother Leonard who played saxophone. Another influence was his sister Betty Martin who was in a gospel group with Kim Weston. When he was 11 or 12 years of age he would pick up the sax himself and he eventually taught himself to play. This led to Knox forming his own group and performing in clubs and bars around Detroit and subsequently the meeting with Woods in 1973 which finished up with Ken and his group dancing on the bar with Woods. Upon Invictus closing its doors the Chairman of the Board relocated to North Carolina for the Beach Scene and set up Surfside Records. The group would have a regional hit with Carolina Girl that was number one for 11 weeks. Ken would feature on vocals, saxophone, and drums. Ken would also be the Associate Producer in the studio. The group would perform regularly around the Carolinas becoming firm favourites and eventually earning a place inn the North and South Carolina Music Halls of Fame. Johnson died in 2010 from lung cancer. Ken and the other members continued to tour for a couple more years before retiring the name “Chairman Of The Board” and Ken now tours as Ken Knox and Company, KCO, with former members Thomas Hunter, Brandon Stevens and The Executives, Jerry Dee Washington, Jerry Midas Hardison, Jerome Joseph, John June Townes, John Page III, Doug McVey & Doug Burns. KCO continued to write and record as well as tour extensively, keeping alive the music of the Chairmen Of The Board whilst also promoting new material to packed clubs around the South East and this Autumn in the UK as the Chairmen Of The Board. They topped the Beach Charts with “You” in 2011. 2012 saw another regional hit with “Carolina Shuffle” and in 2015 the Group landed a # 5 record on the UK Soul Charts with " Reach Out 2 Me" on DSG Music written by Thomas Hunter and Ken Knox, Produced by famed Producer Nigel Lowis. 2017, will offer a new CD Project with songs from the Steals Brothers , writers of the a Spinners Classic "Could it be I'm Fallin' in Love" , Nigel Lowis, McKinley Jackson , Thomas Hunter and Ken Knox . Goldsoul are pleased to announce 70's Hitmakers CHAIRMEN of the BOARD featuring Ken Knox & Company are coming to the UK to perform 6 shows(September 16-25th). 
A legendary Soul group created by the late General Johnson, started out life as The Showmen( It Will Stand, Wrong Girl, 'Our Love Will Grow')in the early 60's before signing to Holland- Dozier- Holland's Invictus label in 1970. The relationship delivered some of the best hit dancers of the era with Give Me Just A Little More Time, You Got Me Dangling On A String, Everything's Tuesday, Pay To The Piper, Working On A Building of Love, I'm On My Way To A Better Place, Elmo James and many more plus New material from Ken Knox such as 'Reach Out 2 Me' A full live band accompany this great act. Limited availability! To book, choose your venue then contact the relevant box office to purchase. Forthcoming UK Tour dates: Friday, September 16th Chateau Impney, Droitwich Spa, Worcs
07976351377 or contact the venue. Tickets £15

 Saturday 17th Whitby Pavilion (Whitby Motown Weekender), North Yorkshire. Tel 01947-458899 www.goldsoul.co.uk / www.whitbypavilion.co.uk Weekend event £25

 Sunday 18th Mansfield Palace Theatre. Tel 01623-633133 www.mansfield.gov.uk/palacetheatre Priority front row and similar £17.50 or £15 other

 Friday 23rd Northampton, The Picturedrome, Kettering Road. Tel 01604-230777 Tickets £15

 Saturday 24th King George's Hall, Northgate, Blackburn. Tel: 0844-8471664
www.kinggeorgeshall.com Tickets from £10.

 Sunday 25th Rolls Royce, Moor Lane, Derby.
Tel 01332-248319/248027
www.goldsoul.co.uk Tickets £15 For show times and booking info contact the venues individually unless stated.

Betty Boo has been a household name on the Northern Soul Scene since the days of Wigan Casino but one who has always it seems remained a somewhat mystery figure. "Say It Isn't So" was massive back in the days off Wigan and saw a release on a 45 via Grapevine. Spellbound another scene favourite and a fabulous Popcorn Wylie production only ever made it as far as "The Talk Of The Grapevine" Lp has now belatedly been given a release on a 45 via Soul Junction. Read on for the story of Betty and her impact on the Northern Soul Scene in the UK and eventually further afield. Press Release: Betty Boo “Spellbound (Vocal & Instrumental) SJ1006 Release Date: Monday August 22nd 2016 Betty Boo, real name Betty Jean Winston was born January 22nd 1945 in Detroit. She was raised with her younger sister Jacklyn (Jackie) at the family home on Hazelwood Street on the Westside of Detroit. Betty began her early singing career as a backing singer at Motown and was later joined by her sister. While at Motown Betty was to meet Bob Hamilton (A.K.A Bob Recco). Bob was to be very influential in Betty’s early recording career, employing both her and Jackie initially as a session singers at Motown, then taking them with him when he moved over to Correctone Records and on to Continental Records. It was while at Continental that Betty first met up with Popcorn Wylie. When Bob and the other Hamilton brothers, Eugene (Ronnie Savoy) and Al (Kent) together with the late Hermon Weems joined Ed Wingate's Golden World Records, The Winston sisters found themselves being reunited with another pair of sisters, their fellow neighbourhood friends from Halewood Street, Pat and Diane Lewis. This reunion would lead to the formation of the all girl group ‘The Adorables’. At Golden World the two pairs of sisters recorded during an eighteen month period three 45 singles firstly in 1964 “DeepFreeze/Daddy Please’” (GW -4) followed by “School’s All Over/Be’” (GW-10) and finally during 1965 their northern soul tour de force “Ooh Boy/Devil In His Eyes” (GW-25). Although Betty sang on every recording session she wasn’t present on the group’s only TV appearance on the Robin Seymour Show as she was heavily pregnant with her second child at the time. Following Berry Gordy’s eventual buy out of Golden World, ‘The Adorables’ disbanded as a performing group with Pat and Diane going onto record as solo artists and later as a part of Isaac Hayes Hot Buttered Soul Project. The Winston sisters also briefly performed as a duo while continuing to do session work for Popcorn Wylie. It was during this period that Betty recorded several excellent unissued sides under the artist name credit of Betty Boo (T). The name Betty Boo arose from the nickname that Betty was given by her mother following her birth. Following her mother’s initial sighting of her newborn child she turned to the other assembled family members and announced that Betty’s posterior was the largest bootie she’d ever seen on a newborn baby !, so Betty’s Boo (T) she became ! Although credited as just the solo artist Betty Boo (the lead singer), all three of the other former Adorables actually feature as un-credited backing vocalists on both “Say It Isn’t So” and “Spellbound”. Following a licensing deal made during the mid 1970’s between Popcorn Wylie and Soul Bowl Proprietor John Anderson some of Popcorns unissued masters would eventually gain a belated release. Initially via advance acetates given out to the influential Dj’s of the time Richard Searling, Ian Clarke and Poke (Blair Haydn) two of Betty Boo’s songs would go on achieve cult status amongst the dancers of the northern soul scene. Firstly, “Spellbound” which gained its only release on the first Grapevine album “Talk Of The Grapevine” alongside Betty’s unissued cover version Of Jimmy (Soul) Clarks “(Somebody)Stop That Boy” during 1978 (this album also featured host of other excellent previously unissued Popcorn masters). Followed a year later by possibly the most popular of Betty’s songs “Say It Isn’t So” which appeared on a now highly collectable Grapevine 45 single as well as featuring on the second Grapevine album, ‘The Sound Of The Grapevine’. While a fourth unreleased track “My Man Flint” although never being released at that time did feature albeit as a shortened instrumental version of the backing track on the aforementioned ‘Sounds Of The Grapevine’ album under the fictitious artist and title of ‘The Motor City Shakers’ “Let’s Do The Duck” The 1960’s film industries obsession with cold war espionage would give rise to a plethora of super spy’s and secret agents films and TV series. The British had James Bond, and the Americans amongst many others had one Derek Flint, a suave and sophisticated Master spy (played by actor James Coburn) who featured in two spoof spy films “Our Man Flint” (1965) followed by “In Like Flint” (1967). Flint’s undisciplined philandering demeanour although causing great annoyance to his spy master boss Lloyd Cramden, played by Lee J. Cobb would always be outweighed by his ability to save the western world from being held to ransom by some evil clandestine organisation. Partners in crime metaphorically speaking Hester and Wylie hit on the idea of recording a theme song for the second Derek Flint film, so Betty Boo’s “My Man Flint” was recorded and submitted for consideration, but unfortunately never accepted. The big screens loss would eventually decades later become the Northern scene’s gain via Soul Junction’s eventual release of “My Man Flint”. Which featured both Betty and Jackie Winston on backing vocals, with Betty’s Lead vocal’s later being laid over the top. Betty continued to work for Popcorn singing commercial jingles through the now infamous riots of 1967 into 1968, after which time she took a job as a receptionist at Brodie Mufflers, a job which only lasted a year. When following a robbery at the store, the manager’s son accused Betty of being a party to the crime (which of course she wasn’t) while aggressively wagging his finger in her face. Betty was having none of this and subsequently took a bite out of his finger! The embarrassed store manager later apologized for his son’s outrageous behaviour, but Betty chose to move on. Following a five year stint working for the post office Betty arrived at General Motors in 1976, where she worked on the assembly line until her retirement during 1982, following injuries sustained during a workshop fall. Betty’s sister Jackie later moved to Ohio to run a nightclub and bar, but following a serious aneurysm later returned to Detroit in 1988, her final residence until her death during 1995. The Adorables in Detroit before setting off for Northampton (courtesy of Rob Moss) The girls on stage at Northampton. Betty by now had carved out a career for herself as a community care worker and Foster parent, during which time she lost touch with her former Adorables partners, that was until 2005 when Pat Lewis tracked her down and Betty along with Pat and Diane came to England to perform as The Adorables at the Northampton Weekender. Today Betty in her own words is still only 71 years young and continues to be heavily involved in the fostering service as a Foster grandmother. While still keeping audiences 3650 miles and beyond from her native Detroit “Spellbound” with her music. Words By: David Welding Acknowledgments to: Betty Winston and Pat Lewis. Photographs courtesy of: Betty Winton & Rob Moss. Tape box scans courtesy of: John Anderson SJ1006 - Betty Boo- Promo.mp3 SJ1006 - Betty Boo- Promo.mp3