Still Diggin

Are, somebody with the same opinion on stafford plays as me!, now that's unusual. The 'no melody and poor lyrics bit' did ring a bell.

John Anderson had a bin back in the day, it was full of scratched 45's he would not even think about listing, with many titles fifty times rarer than the Constellations 45 being talked about, with many in considerably better shape as well. He sold mint copies of that for £15 to every man and his dog when I was going up there, so I have no idear who thinks it's a grade A rarity. I was looking on discogs the other night and was shocked at just how many different titles there were of 45's that were once easy to find, but only have one seller listing it at a crazy price. Given the number of US sellers on there, maybe we should think again at how cynical we should get with regards to how much others are prepared to pay for records only fit for framing on the wall.

I seem to remember reading some time ago that Bobby had infact passed away. However the obituary mentioned above has a birth date of 1947, however discogs has a birth date of 1954 which ties in a little better with the start of most artists recording deals, ie Mainline records ' This cant be happening to me' 1975, later picked up by Avco. Although discogs has no listing for the Mainline 45 only Avco, I am pretty sure it was his first as I have a copy. So maybe the obituary above is a different person? Andy

Not seen that before,nice little clip. Allways loved Wynne's voice, but as you say must of been real chalk and cheese after a Parliment show.

I am not sure where the book is now, but I remember seeing a member listing for the group on Kent, I believe one side was ' Freedom is justice' or something like that. Pretty sure he was in that group, not the Fantasy or Minit outfits. I will have a look over the weekend. Andy

Vivian Copeland ' Chaos in my heart' D'ora £500 vg++ SOLD Very indemand crossover with lyrics far superior to many big ticket items within the genre, few very light marks plays great. Coleus 'Wonder why' Bell tree £75 vg+ Excellent jazzy soul dancer from 77. plays great. Lena Mone' 'Hold me close' Asp £200 vg++ Excellent northern from Berkley Michigan that builds and builds, sounding remarkably like kim Weston. Chuck y Fernando & Spitfires ' Blue over you' Padisco £400 vg+ SOLD Perfect merger of low rider and crossover from Panama. Dyson's Faces & Hard times 'You and me' DRR £150 vg SOLD Very few light audible marks, but still plays nice. Iconic sweet soul in my little world. Peggy Young 'La La ooo Castle £100 vg Excellent Dancer from 78 , few light audible marks, but still plays nice. Tough to find now. Paypal for payment. full refund if not happy. If you need a clip just mail me. My vg's play great, no fried bacon. Cheers Andy

Hi All I was thinking of letting this one go, but I am a little unsure on current value. I know a few folks were chasing it so any advice on a asking price would be appreciated. Cheers Andy

That lady who suddenly appeared at 56secs can mess around in my record room any time!

Probably Chris, but I prefere the flip 'Ive been pushed aside'. Another good reason to stick to 45's, as I felt it would run on in my head forever. Definatly a good call, as I have a couple of spares on that title.

With the 45's i'm going with these, no particular order, but spreading across the artist roster. O'jays 'Summer fling' Stylistics ' We should be lovers' Jerry Butler ' Are you lonely tonght' Teddy Pendergrass 'It dont hurt now' Jean Carn 'Dont let it go to your head' Jones Girls 'Better things to do' Anthony White ' Yes you need love' Dexter Wansell ' Sweetest pain' Harold Mevin & Blue Notes ' Keep on loving you' (Jamaican 45) Silk 'I cant stop turning you on'. Andy

I have this 45 ' Stay away from me' was played to a friend at the weekend who also likes sweet soul. It would be great if you could let us know the members of the group. Is your uncle's full name Charles White? and did the group have another member by the name of Marzette Griffith?. The record was released in 1982, possibly Atlanta. Andy

If you have no luck with the 45 I have the LP here if you need it. Andy

There is a chap on Ebay, his seller ID is soundswholesale. He does 500 for £125, these are mixed colours or you can choose specific amounts of each, five or six different colours to choose from. I have seen them cheaper in the states, but you then have the postage. There are others in the uk, but I am sure at the time I checked them out they were more expensive, or more flimsy. I need some more myself, so I am waiting eagle eyed for someone else on here to come up with a cheaper source. Excellent for using different colours for a different genre or period and look great on the wall as opposed to just white.

I hear this lowrider scene being accredited to the price increase in group and sweet soul all the time, but that is far from the truth. I could quote finishing prices of that genre on american auctions prior to ebay really getting going and I can assure you the titles I failed to win went to Japan and in some cases for just as much as they fetch now, well over $500. Sure, after the yen when tits up 2001 ish they went a little slower, and I only recall a few of the older low rider collectors prepared to spend big money. Most of the big bucks being spent on the west coast at present is with younger guys who had little clue when the money was being spent in Japan back then. Mid 2000 was the best time to buy Sweet soul, or when it came out!.

Some very rare 45's that have had untracable group members and lable owners have in a few cases left collectors guessing the release date, only to find several years later a copy turns up with a hand written release date showing the exact date they were mailed to radio stations, this has to be one example that is of historical documentation interest and leaving some so called experts to realize they were 4 years out!. However I do agree hand writing in general is of little use to anyone and large amounts can look very ugly.

Good call on this one. It is a pity hip-o- select did not have a go at releasing this again like they did with the unreleased David Ruffin material, they managed to release it again in 2011 after the first run in 04, so demand for it must have been relatively strong, and as you point out a 45 would not go a miss from this unreleased material like Ruffin's brilliant 'I cant be hurt anymore'. I did mention a Dennis Edwards track on another thread from one of the Temp's solo cd's, but it was somewhat lost on those interested in the thread. Some fantastic unreleased music on cd, which unfortunatly gets forgot about far to soon because of the format. Andy

A good start could be 'When the lights come down on love', then listen to 45 on Soulville Int. I think most soul fans who listen to all genres rare or otherwise would agree the vocal on the 'Johnny' side is rather tired and safe, saved slightly by Joe hunter's arrangment, but then you could hear that on a thousand other Detroit 45's. Had it come pressed up in quantity on Ric-Tic or similar you would probably never hear it again. Or just check out some of his performances with the Contours or Temp's. Flip side's a tad better I suppose. Remember, there's no such thing as a bad soul record, it's just that some are better than others.

Have PM'D ya. Andy

i'm very much a fan of some of the releases on the Rosemont logo, favorites include Alex Speaman 'Stairway to nowhere' Eugene Gaspard 'On and on' Lombard 'On a beautifull day like this'. Also Family underground's version of 'For the love of you' on Powerfunksion records does it for me ,with almost a kick drum feel. All in the sweet to mid- tempo vain. Andy

Marvin's 'Whats goin on' being one of most well known multitrack recordings in soul music, however it was also claimed to not have been intentional at the time. Morris Bailey used this to good effect on Charen Cotten's 'A little bit of love' on the Art logo, this allowed her to hit notes that did not exist on the Philomega and Perception release. However as Dylan points out I do not think this has anything to do with what Edwin Star had eluded to, this being more related to group harmony vocal interchange.

With regards to ' Baby I need you', I dont believe I have a better deep soul double sider from Nashville, with I'm through with you' on the flip gets me every time. A similar scenario seems to exist with Roscoe Robinson's 'Dont pretend' on Fame, nice enough in that it fills the boots with the crossover brigade, but hardly his best. 'She wont choose me' on Gerri does it for me. Good call.

Dispite having seen this bird on numerous occasions, I would have never spotted the difference in colour between the legs and feet/claws. A great piece of photography. Thanks Andy

Some incredible selections. Thanks for posting this up. Those productions on Gwen Owens, and Eddie Parker are rather special. The Bart Jackson, William Bell and Valerie Simpson also sounded superb. Cheers Andy

I agree with what you are trying to say Dave, but in some respects I feel you are looking at this through rose tinted glasses. Tracks like Kim Tibbs 'Move' or Downings 'Since youv'e been gone' sound old, very old. Most of the Artists output mentioned above is without doubt amoungst the best contempory soul one could buy and much of that stuff I have purchased myself. However I fail to see how both musically or from a production perspective these tracks are in anyway showing any advanced status than much of the material I was buying in the mid 90's. Thanks for all the suggestions, some good ones I was not aware of. Andy