Kenb

Northern Soul Connections #22 - Baltimore Site note - The most recent Northern Soul Connection of 2020, we are now at #22 in this long running series from Ken B aka Soul Source member @Kenb and this time around the focus is on Baltimore. Northern Connections #22 not just birthplace of the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" Baltimore and its close surroundings was a hotbed for music that became popular for our genre of Soul. The rosta of artists, songwriters, producers, labels, studios, recordings, and music business men and women is a long one and includes the likes of A&D Booking, Soul House, Horizon House & Knights of Maryland Klu Klux Klan, Bay Sound, Recordings Inc, Collection & The Civics, as well as not so many non-music entities such as and Some familiar-some lesser known. Rod H. Armstrong and Ernie W. Donaldson had started out by attending parties together, and quickly turned that love into a business when they threw a Christmas Gala party in 1970. The second party they put on netted them $1000 which they invested in promoting teenage dances at The Famous Ballroom, in the 1700 Block of N. Charles St. They were both in their mid-thirties, and both worked at The Prudential Life Insurance Company of America, each earning $12K to $1 SK p.a. In 1971 they took a chance and formed A & D Booking Agency. In 1972 they signed Elanor Mills, The Titans, and The Soft-Tones (managed by Roe-Don Management Company, as too were Chang or & Co) and put Ira Glover on a 10 week tour of Canada leaving July 23rd. In 1973 they brought First Class together, and by 1975 they were grossing .... You can check out Kens other quality 21 Northern Connections all available via his 'activity' profile page, the link follows below... More articles from KenB

Northern Connections #21 Alphonso Hamilton, Captain Soul, Teri Thornton, The Black Masons ... Site note - The first Northern Soul Connection of 2020, now at #21 in this long running series from Ken B aka Soul Source member @Kenb and it's a big one It was an impromptu look at the sleeve credits of a 1963 LP titled 'Adventures in Negro History', Highlight Radio Productions HRP-101 that started this articles journey. In 1963 Jerry Blocker a part-time DJ on WCHD-FM began producing... ...what became a search For the people cited on those LP credits; Burniece Avery, Carl L. Porter, Jerry Blocker, Fred Flowerday, Jiam Desjardins, etc, turned into an epic that linked back in to the work of Alphonso Hamilton, Soular Music, Theme Prod, Jingles men, WCHB and WGPR radio stations, the first black-owned TV station, Al Abrams Motown PR, a Japanese bankers son and Japanese construction company, and then some ... There is no big reveal here. Albeit i shine some light on unnoticed detail, now exposed and connections made. Each person is rich in history. Each is remarkable. And each deserves a fuller treatment than i give here. I encourage you to search for it. Any corrections, or further enlightenment is encouraged and appreciated. Sources, Acknowledgements & Credits: Discography Images at 45cat.com and Discogs.com. Burniece Avery 'Walk Quietly Through the Night and Cry Softly' ,Published 1977 by Bala mp Pub. in Detroit . Al Abrams Motown PR man possibly credited with the slogan 'The Sound Of Young America', Issues in African American Music: Power, Gender, Race, Representation edited by Portia K. Maultsby, Mellonee V . Burnim.Archer Record Pressing cat numbers https://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/2/4895.html?1086337968 March 2020 KenB

Northern Soul Connections #20 lesser known Jerseydelphians re-discovered Site note - hitting a landmark here as we have reached Number 20 in this long running series from Ken B aka Soul Source member @Kenb This time around the Northern Soul Connections author takes us on a detailed dig into the going on's New Jersey and Philadelphia way... A change in delivery - the pdf version of Northern Soul Connections #20 is available via our very own intergated views and have added a few plain text highlights as well... Highlights ...parts of New Jersey and Philadelphia are only separated by 6 miles. Between 1963 and 1969 in these places, the folks cited in this article must have been tripping over each other at school, church, street corners, recording studios, radio stations, music offices and venues, let alone formed aggregations as uncredited/unreleased vocalists. You could write the names of the folks cited here on 52 individual cards and toss them into the air - and when they land take 6 or 7 randomly as a grouping and find that there would be a real 45 release containing 'said' artist, producer, writer, label owner, arranger, musician, etc. Some listed here ... Kas-Mo, The Dynells, Selassie Pub, Ves-Thad Records, Rotations (Frantic), Le Tre Femme, Uptight Records, Marshall Verbit (Marnel), and so on. And yet they remained ... ...both us (Van McCoy & Kendra) . Actually, we called the group The Vanettes, but the company messed up and put the wrong name on the label". http://www.spectropop.com/SandiSheldon/ I'm also aware of the You Tube post (repeated at Soul Source) from Sandra McGregor. This latter post is interesting: as it is transcribed as Soul Source "Brenda McGregor was the lead singer, [SIC] Delores McGregor, and Shirley Cook (the other members), I know because I'm Sandra McGregor the younger sister of Brenda". Two noteworthy_Qoints: 1.Sheila McGregor, Brenda McGregor (of Franklinville) , Anthony McGregor, Lawrence McGregor & Otto Cook show up in a 1967... ...talented young ladies had formed a trio calling themselves The Mistiks. They were_Brenda McGregor, Denise Thomas, and Barbara Sullivan (Barbara went on to The Sweethearts & The Lovables). These three Junior High (16yrs-17yrs old) were at Delsea Regional High School, which served the Elk and Franklin Townships. They were under the direction of their Delsea vocal teacher Ms Maria Marcucci. There appearance at the Delsea assembly was Dec 1965. Dolores McGregor was the piano accompanist. Dolores and Brenda also put in another appearance at the same assembly with their 9yr old brother Anthony on Piano-this time under the name the Spiritual-ettes. ...the Rotations (Frantic) Albert DeMagnes, Leona Harden, Arlene Dixon, & Miriam Carter were the Rotations. Leona was a 1965 Delsea High graduate (17-18 yrs old}, Arlene was a 1962 (20-21 yrs old) alumnus (alumnus is used to refer to a male graduate}, and Miriam a Delsea Junior (16-17 yrs old). In Nov 1965 they had just cut '(Put A Dime On) D-9'. The publisher of this and 'A Changed Man' Frantic 202 was Dandelion Music owned by Harold Lipsius (Jamie/Guyden, Landa, Universal Distributors, the919 Sound Studio) In 1964 Johnny Caswell was 25yrs old and travelling as a passenger in a car driven by 17yrs old Palmer Rakes. Stopped by the police, Palmer was charged with driving after midnight on a junior driving licence when he was not accompanied by a parent or guardian. It's the same year 'My Girl/ Hot Dogs' on Smash S-1879 was released. In 1967 you could catch Le Tre Femme at Mar-Lo 24th & Penrose Ave, South Philadelphia. They were billed as the "Answer To Supremes". Their first 45 outing in 1968 was on Uptight Records UT-1002 'Open Up The Safe/ Better Get Back'. The songwriter credits for both sides is T. Luis. The interested parties (owners, etc) in Uptight Records was Marshall Verbit (PA) he of Marne[ Distributors, Frances Capitola (NJ), and Anthony Luisi (NJ).. Le Tre Femme The Rotations - (Put A Dime On) D9 Le Tre Femme - Open Up The Safe

Northern Soul Connections #19 - It's Easy The latest in our now long running series of infographics @Kenb This 'connection' is all about a hunt for a 45 titles 'it's easy' touching many genres, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Tennessee, a myriad of labels, studios and bands, some called Mark IV, V etc etc Read on below... Northern Soul Connections #19 - It's Easy

Black Panthers, The Lumpen, and Marvin Gaye When Bottom & Company and Redbone had finished as ‘openers’ at The Forum, Los Angeles in May 1974, Marvin Gaye came on stage to a 32-piece orchestra conducted by Gene Page together with the back-up quartet Ladies Choice(ii). Marvin started with ‘Trouble Man’ and finished with ‘What’s Going On’. Michael Torrance was one of those back-up singers in Ladies Choice, and also on the “Marvin Gaye Live LP” that was recorded live at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, California. He also became a writer at Motown during the late 70’s (ii). https://www.discogs.com/High-Inergy-Skate-To-The-Rhythm/master/559162 What follows is not a scholarly review of the political struggle facing the Black Panther Party. It is merely to highlight some of the musical association of those times with that Party. If not all, then some people who search out the history of Soul/Funk will already know much of this. However, perhaps those that follow R&B, Soul and Northern Soul, and other soul genres might be unaware and even surprised by it. Michael Torrance was also first and foremost a representative of the Black Panther Party, and in the quartet that was The Lumpen. The original members were Michael Torrance, Bill Calhoun, Clark (Santa Rita) Bailey-Santa Rita Jail is in Alameda County, and I assume Clark had spent some time there. The other group member was James Mott. The Lumpen was essentially the Black Panther Party Revolutionary Singing Group. The existence of which only really surfaced when Rickey Vincent(iii) learned from Walter Turner (a journalist at KPFA) that the Panthers had a band called The Lumpen.(iv) A year before The Lumpen’s arrival – 50 years ago in 1969, the Panthers' protest at Olympia mirrored one that had occurred in California's capital Sacramento in 1967 against a similar gun law known as the Mulford Act. Picture(v): February 28th 1969 Two Black Panthers, part of a group who marched up the steps of the State Capital building, Olympia, being confronted by Captain R.J. Ranney. Under such circumstances, it’s hardly surprising that the movement also “used music as a means to not only document their struggle but also to educate, motivate and inspire people to resistance(vi) - Michael Torrance. In Sept 1969 Vault Records(vii) took a project on to record Elaine Brown Deputy Minister of Information for the Black Panthers. Out of that came “Seize the Time” LP, and Jack Lewerke (Vault prexy) gave 500 copies to the Black Panther Party for promotion https://www.discogs.com/Elaine-Brown-Seize-The-Time-Black-Panther-Party/master/394499 . Proceeds from the LP went towards maintaining its program of providing free breakfasts for ghetto children. And again in 1973 Elaine Brown delivered “No Time” [‘One Time’ on “Seize the Time” LP] “Until We’re Free” - Black Forum B20000F. Black Forum recordings get scarce notice in any anthology of the Motown label. The Motown imprint released eight albums between 1970 and 1973, including a Martin Luther King, Jr. speech denouncing the Vietnam War. As for The Lumpen in terms of recording? - just one released single “Free Bobby Now” [refers to the plight of Black Panther leader Bobby Seale(viii) who was in jail] / “No More”, both on Seize The Time label ‎BPP-4501. They toured, singing at community centres, clubs, and rallies. Mostly in the San Francisco area like at Merritt College, Oakland. There are two never-released sides by The Lumpen that had been recorded at a 1970 concert at Merritt College(ix) - “Thomas Wallace and drummer Minor Williams anchored the song with a groove borrowed from (James) Brown's "There Was a Time." A version of Curtis Mayfield's 1965 freedom anthem "People Get Ready" followed, but instead of singing about not needing a ticket to board a train that's coming, as Mayfield had, The Lumpen substituted the lines revolution's come and your only ticket is a loaded gun”. Others played their part. As an inmate, Ike White was heading a committee which booked outside entertainment to play at San Quentin prison. In 1971 he helped organise “Soul [Consciousness] Day” (which became renamed as Malcolm X Day at San Quentin”). Curtis Mayfield, Muhammad Ali, War, Jimmy Witherspoon and Eric Burden were invited(x) (xi). It was a day-long event organised by the prisoners’ organisation, with the help of the newly formed San Quentin Prison Chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP). There is a further account that Curtis Mayfield was actually the headliner. What the prison authorities were unaware of was the supporting band was none other than The Lumpen and their band the Freedom Messengers(xii). The Lumpen had lasted a year and broke soon after in 1971. Curtis Mayfield also had sides like “Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey)”, The Impressions had “Choice of Colors”, The Temptations “Message from a Black Man”, and James Brown “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud”. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Note: I’m white. From the United Kingdom. And have no direct experience of what these times were like for America and its people. As an occasional music article submitter for https://www.soul-source.co.uk/ this short piece just brings together some interesting facts about the music associated with the Black Panther Party during this historical time in the late 1960’s early 70’s. Kenb – February 2019 References (i) CB 1974-06-01 Marvin Gaye (ii) Michael Torrance Motown Staff writer page 46 Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers' Band and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music" Rickey Vincent-published by Chicago Review Press. And see https://www.discogs.com/artist/1297456-Michael-Torrence (iii) Rickey Vincent author - Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers' Band and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music" -published by Chicago Review Press (iv) http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Our_Stories/The_Lumpen/the_lumpen.html (v) Washington Afro-American March 4th 1969. (vi) http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/Our_Stories/The_Lumpen/the_lumpen.html (vii) BB 1969-09-06, BB 1969-12-06 (viii) The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was founded in October 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale who had met at Merritt College in Oakland (ix) https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/rickey-vincents-party-music/Content?oid=3745240 (x) Discogs https://www.discogs.com/Ike-White-Changin-Times/release/1357219 and newspaper clippings uploaded by odub sometime in 2016. (xi) Record World July 20th 1974 page 327 account “A guy named Ike White, who is someone who is in prison. We found him about two years ago at a soul date at San Quentin. 'Spoon asked us if we wanted to go up there for the concert, so Steve and Eric brought the recording truck up-we have our own mobile system-and recorded the show. Curtis Mayfield and a few other people were there, like Muhammed Ali. (xii) http://www.dreamdeferred.org.uk/2017/07/attica-blues-prison-revolts-the-black-panther-party-and-muhammad-ali/ Pdf Version: Click to download/view

Time for the latest edition of our long running infographic series 'Northern Soul Connections'. As you may be aware these 'infographics' are produced by member @Kenb and each issue takes a possible item of interest from the soul world' be it an artist, group or even a term and then builds up an infographic 'connected' view. This issue is #18 and the connection this time around is titled 'Living Color - We were 3 different shades of black'. View it all below... Related Videos You can view all 18 (yep thats right we are now at #18!) of Ken's 'Northern Soul Connections' infographics via his activity feed list here... Kenbs Soul Source article list