Neil Rushton

Have just been told that John Smith from the UK has gone on to the Soulful Detroit site and claimed that our Precisions album is not a legitimate release. He is talking utter nonsense. Our release (which has been 6 months in the making) is licenced from the UK agent for Jet Eye Music from Detroit. Jet Eye is the owner of the Sidra/Drew masters and is owned by Johnny Powers, who was one of the original founders of Sidra. To be clear we have a licensing contract which gives us the right to release the new album and new Precisions EP in return for paying an advance against royalties. We also pay publishing royalties for the use of the songs. The Precisions and I believe Jerry Williams are putting out their own Precisions album which includes some (but not all) of the Drew masters, plus Precisions material from D-Town and Atlantic.To be clear,Jet Eye Music are 100% the owners of the Drew masters and the only deal they have done is with us. Our album includes a foreword by George McGregor, the famed Detroit songwriter, producer and musican, and he has helped us out with all kinds of information for this release. George was A&R man for Sidra/Drew, oversaw The Precisions career at the label and was involved in writing and producing some of their Drew masters (eg "Why Girl") He has seen our atwork and said he is thrilled by the way we have gone about things. Our sleevenotes could not be more respectful towards The Precisions and it is a real pity this situation has blown up. We also released a Precisions EP 2 years ago to tie in with their first appearance at Prestatyn and got in touch with the group - via Jet Eye Music - and they said they were happy to sign copies of the record at Prestatyn and they did so.I paid them for copies that were sold why they were signing autographs after their marvellous show and they confirmed that they were aware that Jet Eye had done the deal for the EP with us, and that they were happy with the release and that they understood a mistake crediting a Lou Ragland track (owned by Drew) to The Precisions was due to an innocent mix up in communications from Detroit to the UK. We have corrected that mistake on the new album. I understand the group are saying they own the songs and have not given permission for the tracks to be released. Not many of the song are written by the group and the ownership of the masters is a completely different copyright situation than the owner of compositions.Jet Eye Music's publishing arm owns some copyrights on the compositions anyway. Dave Rimmer has been on the Soulful Detroit site and defended Glenn Gunton and myself and we thank him for that. The last thing we want to do is crfiticise The Precisions or do something they find offensive, but we have acted 100% properly and with respect to one of our favourite artists. The Northern scene is so full of back biting that Glenn and myself thought it best to post this so anyone hearing rumours can hear direct from us what has really gone on. Neil Rushton

Yes, we will get it distributed wherever we can and will also be able to supply mail order via Pay Pal. I will get those details up tomorrow. Glenn Gunton has done a fantastic job with the graphics and getting Geroge McGregor to come up the foreword has worked really well....the man is a legend, as well as being a producer ad writer he was of the leading Detroit drummers in the 60's...it's him druming on "Agent O0 Soul" - Edwin Starr and he remembers it took him over 40 takes! He played on all Ollie McLaughlin labels sessions at Terri Shirma,and is co-writer and producer on one of the best records ever made - "Hit & Run" - Rose Battiste. He is behind "Happiness Is Here" - Tobi Lark and the other version by Barbara Mercer who he is married to. Cheers, Neil

The Joe Boy and Inferno labels are being revived to jointly issue an EP and CD album by The Precisions to tie up with their appearance at Prestatyn. The album tracks the complete Drew label single releases incluidng the withdrawn "Sugar Ain't Sweet". 1 - Such Misery 2 - A Lover's Plea 3 - Sugar Ain't Sweet 4 - Why Girl 5 - What I Want 6 - If This is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely) 7 - You'll Soon be Gone 8 - Instant Heartbreak (Just Add Tears) 9 - Dream Girl 10 - A Place 11 - Never Let Go plus bonus tracks 12 - I Do, Don't You 13 - Such Misery (unreleased Ist version, featuring Paul Merritt) 14 - Send Me A Sign - Roger Fluker 15 - Baby You're Mine - Lou Ragland George McGregor (Rose Battiste,Terri Bryant, Barbara Mercer, Timmy Willis etc) was A&R director at Sidra/Drew. He has written a foreword to the album in which he says The Precisions on stage dance routnes were so amazing they put everyone else, including The Temptations, in the shade. He says that if the group had been on Motown they would have been major stars. Turns out that George recorded "Mr Soul Satisfaction" - Timmy Willis at his own cost. He did it at Muscle Shoals to get the Southern Soul horns sound and then took the master to Sidra and did a deal with them for it. They subsequently licenced it on to Veep and the success of this meant George got the job as A&R director. He knew The Precisions from when they were on D-Town and he joined Sidra after "Such Miisery" had been released. He decided to base the sound of the group around Billy Prince as lead vocalist and co-wrote "Why Girl" to capture the sound he envisaged. At the time copies of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" c/w "What I Want" had been pressed as promos to be the second Drew single but were off centre. Rather than remaster them George took the chance to get rid of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" which had been put together by Dale Warren as the A side of the single and replace it with "Why Girl". I imagine any spare copies of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" were junked and this is why it is so rare. George was partners with Mike Terry at the time and got him in to arrange the recordings, most of which were done at Terra Shirma except for "If This Is Love" which was laid down at United Sound. He has revealed that the female intro to "A Place" was done by Sandra Neal, who was a secretary at Sidra, because no female vocalists were around at the time! The bonus tracks are recordings that never got released by Drew. "I Do, Don't You" was a massive tune at the Trentham Gardens al-nighters and has been the cause of speculation as to whether it is The Precisions or not. George still has the master tape and says it definitely is the group, he wrote the song and produced the track, with Mike Terry doing the arranging. Track 13 is the first version recorded of "Such Misery" and was tried using Paul Merritt on lead vocals. He left the group shortly afterwards and his version was not used for the first Drew 45.This version wes previously released on a Joe Boy single credited to Timmy Willis due to duff info. "Send Me A Sign" was thought to be The Precisions in the past but is in fact the group's choreographer Roger Fluker. His dance routine inventions were so important to The Precisions that Drew let him make a record! "Baby You're Mine" is another Drew recording credited to The Precisions in the past. It is in fact Lou Ragland. There is also an EP coming out Why Girl Instant Heartbreak I Do, Don't You Such Misery (Paul Merritt version) Both the EP and album will be on sale at Prestatyn. Any record dealers interested in buying stock at Prestatyn should PM me. All the Best, Neil

Yes it was Stuart Henry.I winced when he dropped the Darrell Banks demo and wondered if he was pissed...it turned out he had multiple sclerosis. Sad, he was a nice guy. I recorded I think maybe 4 or 5 shows, and they were all done in the same Friday afternoon in London but then got broadcast with a week's gap between them on a Friday night, with the station pretending they were going out live from the "the grand duchy". The first one was broadcast same night as Wigan Casino Oldies night and I had people coming up to me saying they had heard it in the queue and what was Luxembourg like as a place to go to! I should have been so lucky. The tape you have got sounds like all 70's, I would have been plugging The Ritz (!) and I think I played different genres each show.If you can find that tape and copy it for me I would be very grateful. And if anyone else has got any of the other shows the same applies. Thanks, Neil

Too many to mention - but - interviewing The Tammps in my first week and getting really fed up when they denied any connection with The Volcanos, same thing a few months later with Candi Stanton when she denied recording "Now You've Got The Upper Hand", amazing face to face interview with Lee Garrett when he was signed to Chrysalis but remembered all about Harthon and doing background vocals on "Shing A Ling", interviewing James Fountain by phone and feeling uncomfortable that he was so broke when "Seven Day Lover" at the time was the biggest priced rare Soul 45 (and no, he didn't have a copy), spending time on a coach with Junior Walker and all he wanted to do was talk about how much he loved Buses, interviewing Hal Davis in NYC about 2Ist Century "Tailgate" amd not knowing he had co-produced "Do I Love You" which was pressed as Eddie Foster at the time, going to the New York Disco Convention and hearing world wide premiers that night for "I Feel Love" - Donna Summer and "Dance Dance Dance" - Chic, getting white label upfront promos of Brothers Johnson and Bootsy Collins albums, doing a phone interview with Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire/Kalimba and feeling honoured, Millie Jackson getting X rated on a phone interview, the piece about Cleethorpes Pier which I thought was good, and lots lots more memories,including meeting Reggae producers in the office one week and the next they were on remand in Brixton Prison charged with murder, going on radio and being told it was wrong I was staff wrtier for Black Echoes and was white, doing Northern Soul shows for Radio Luxembourg with Stuart ?as the presenter and wincing when he dropped my London demo of Darrell Banks on the floor of the studio, meeting Van McCoy...... All the Best, Neil 4e All the Best, Neil

Black Echoes first issue cover date was January 30, 1976. I was first staff writer for the paper and that date was my birthday so I remember it will. Pete Harvey the editor know nothing about Northern Soul until he took the job but I soon got him converted and he was up for giving it maximum coverage and in return for him taking me along to all the record company "ligs" in London where I lived in the week I took him to a Cleethorpes Pier all-nighter and Manchester Ritz all-dayer.Pete was a lovely guy who sadly died in the 80's, much too young. Neil

Details of the Newquay Soul Weekender from April 3 to 6 have been announced today. This time around the music stays at the popular Griffin Hotel and value-for-money accomodation packages have been arranged at the nearby Cliffdene Hotel. For details of the friendly weekender go to ; - www.soulvation.biz Thanks, Neil

We are collectting that kind of info at the moment for a Sidra and assoicated labels compilation, but session would have been put together by Dale Warren who had a lot to do with Sidra at stage and actually signed The Precisions to Drew.Have found out that one of the owners of Sidra was father of Ronnie & Robyn! And interestingly, Timmy Wiillis "Mr Soul Satisfaction" was recorded by George McGregor at Muscle Shoals, that's where he got the sound of those Otis Redding style horns.

Yes we have been in touch with George McGregor about this. He has the multi track on "I Do,Don't You"and it was written and produced by him. Mike Terry is the arranger and George confirms it is The Precisions.. Turns out that the version of "Such Misery" that came of the Sidra acetate and credited to Timmy Willis is actually the first recording by The Precisions too, but never released at the time as it was laid down by Paul Merritt just before he quit the group and was replaced by Dennis Gilmore. The recording "Send Me A Sign" which was thought to be by The Pecisions is in fact by Roger Fluker aka Brian Stone who was the choreograopher for The Precisions. I spoke to Geoge last night and he says the dance routines on stage by The Precisions were by amazing and left even The Temptations in the shade. He believes if The Precisions had been on Motown (the Funk Briothers played on all the Drew sessions by the way) they would have been superstars. George also shed some light on why "Sugar Ain't Sweet" only came out on promo and was replaced as the flip to "What I Want" by "Why Girl". The copy I got off "Sugar Ain't Sweet" is pressed off centre and I believe all the other copies are too but that could easily have been remedied as Sidra owned their own pressing plant. However, the delay caused by the off centre copies meant that George, who ha just been installed as A&R director at Sidra, was able to switch it it for "Why Girl" which he had co-written based around the sound he envisaged for The Precisions, wtih Billy Prince on lead vocals and the rest of the group doing harmonies. I guess ther than have the wrong record lying around, the label would have junked "Sugar Ain't Sweet" - shades of Motown and "Do I Love You"?

Glenn Gunton and myself are in the process of reviving Joe Boy and Inferno. First releases will be a Precisions CD album of all their Drew releases plus some unreleased tracks, and a 4 track Precisions vinyl EP, as follow up to the one we released 2 years ago. As part of licensing deal with Sidra/Drew,we are going to release a seven inch of "Give Me Another Chance" bw "A Dream".George McGregor was a a&r director at Sidra/Drew and he is pretty certain that the vocalist is Pearl Jones, who was a secretary at Sidra/Drew and also recorded for The Embracables. He knows it is not Barabara Mercer as he is married to her! He says if it is not Pearl it is Micki Farrow, who used to hang about at Sidra with Mike Terry. Hopefully everything wll be confirmed in time for "Give Me Another Chance" to be a givaway limited edition 45 at the SOULVATION 3rd anniversary at Lea Hall Club, Rugeley on March 8. I used to hammer the track at the Trentham Gardens all-nighters and it deserves to be out as a single. Another one of our Trentham big tracks - The Precisions "I Do, Don't You" will be on their CD and EP.

Legendary 60's Soul journalist Norman Jopling licenced "So Soon" to Glenn at Joe Boy in good faith as being by Donnie Elbert. Norman was actually sold the master, on an acetate, by Donnie Elbert from the days when Donnie was based in London (doing A&R for Polydor I believe). Donnie told Norman the that he (Donnie) was the artist. Pete Lyster played the Aretha version at Soulvation on Saturday and it rocked the place.

Thanks to everyone who has ordered copies. I have a few left. Neil

Have just come back from seeing Chasetown humble Port Vale in the FA Cup - come on. Chasetown are in the 3rd round of the Cup and the Northern Soul connection is that in the the days of the Burntwood Northern all-dayers and all-nighters they were such a tiny club they played on the pitch next to the old Burntwood Baths venue ..so they have made good progress. Lots of fellow local Birmingham City supporters there - funny thing was even the Villa and Birmingham fans in the ground were on he same side for for once and having a laugh with each other. Nothing to do with the thread - BUT WHAT A RESULT. Anyway, I didn't mean that Barbara Mills herself made me cringe. What made me cringe and feel sorry for her was that she was captured on film when she defintitely didn't look at her best and I wondered if she would be happy seeing herself like that. When the footage came in I asked Ian not to use it and he thought about if for a millionth of second and decided he would anyway.Funny that. It's just a personal view and maybe it's the wrong one. I didn't look at my best when interviewed on the film either - I thought I'd get that in before someone else did - but I'm not an artist.

I haven't got access to the paperwork right now,but part of the the conract was reporoduced with an article I did about Inferno for manifesto. I think deal was for US 500 Dollars and for that they insisted I bought the rights outright - they would not do a licence that run out after so many years which was the normal deal. I still actually own worldwide rigths to the master recording. Neil

I didn't realise it was the aniversary but how spooky...I started reading "The Otis Redding Story" by Scott Freeman this morning by complete coincidence. To slightly deviate from the debate about whether he was the greatest Soul singer or not, I interviewed Dan Penn for manifesto amd he said he snuck into the "Sweeet Soul Music" - Arthur Conley recording session and that to his mind Otis was the best record producer he had ever seen in action. Dan has an incredible eye for details, he told me that what he remembers about the Wilson Pickett sessions with Rick Hall was how the very clean carpets at the studio were throwing up dust because Wilson was stomping his feet so hard while singing,and he can be quite a caustic critic too, so for him to say that Otis was the best producer ever is some compliment. Dan Penn wasn't exactly a slouch at making records himself was he? In the book Bill Graham, the famous San Francisco promoter, is quoted as saying that Otis was simply the best peformer he had ever seen on stage too.

These are for sale: TALKIN ABOUT MY GIRL - VIC & THE CATALINAS (US BAR CLAY) £70 THE REAL THING - TINA BRITT (US EASTERN WDJ) £30 I CAN'T DO IT - EDDIE & ERNIE (US EASTERN WDJ) £75 GET READY - ELLA FITZGERALD (US REPRISE WDJ) £30 TROUBLE - RONNIE WALKER (US IMPACT PIC BAG) £10 HANG UP YOUR HANG UPS - BOBBY LESTER (US COLUMBIA WDJ) £50 I FOUND A GOODIE - CHRIS BARTLEY (VANDO) £25 PICTURE ME GONE - MADELINE BELL (US PHILLIPS WDJ) £30 TOUCH ME, HOLD ME,KISS ME - THE INSPIRATIONS (UK POLYDOR) £250 EVIL ONE - THE SAPPHIRES (UK HMV RED AND WHITE DEMO) £300 WHOLE LOT OF SHAKING IN MY HEART - THE MIRACLES (UK TAMLA MOTOWN RED AND WHITE DEMO) £200 HURTING - ERIC 7 THE VIKINGS (UK KOOL KAT) £15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WILLIE TEE ALBUM - SEALED, MINT, UNPLAYED TEASIN' YOU - WILLIE TEE (US NIGHT TRAIN 12" VINYL - GREAT FRONT COVER DESIGN) GREAT COMPILATION DONE IN 2002. INCLUDES SINGLES FROM GATUR, NOLA, ATLANTIC, BONATEMP AND CINDERELLA... INCLUDES TEASIN' YOU, WALKING UP A ONE WAY STREET, THANK YOU JOHN, I WANT SOMEBODY, YOU BETTER SAY YES, PLEASE DON'T GO, TEASIN' YOU AGAIN,I PEEPED YOUR HOLE CARD, I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN. £20 INCLUDES POSTAGE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks, Neil

I might have sold the first £100 plus UK label record in the 70's ..at a Coalville all-nighter I flogged New Wherry a London demo of "Open The Door To Your Heart"/"Our Love Is In The Pocket" - Darell Banks for £125. The unique thing about it was that the titles and artist credits were TYPED ON...I kicked myself the second I sold it. And in 76 I sold "No One Else Can Take Your Place" - The Inspirations (Breakthrough) at a Ritz all-dayer for around £140, i can remember James Fountain going for a lot around the same time.

I am after Stateside demo BET YOU WIN - TYRONE DAVIS (UK STATESIDE 1967 RELEASE SS 2092) Thanks, Neil

I was involved with Ian on SWONS and whatever people might think of the film - personally I like Pat Brady's description of it as a "flawed masterpiece" - I can assure you that the amount of money Ian put into it meant there was no realistic chance of him getting his investment back, never mind making a profit. There would be nothing wrong with Ian making a profit from it by the way, but the more he ploughed on finding and filming artists (around 129 at the end) the more the costs escalated. I paid for the manufacuring and marketing of the video release and put some money into the actual filming and I got my money back.Ian invested a lot lot more than me and is well in the red on the whole thing. A lot of people find fault with Ian and we have some right rucks, but for SWONS his heart was definitely in the right place. Some of the clips like "I Have Faith With You" - Edwin Starr, "Reconsider" - Brenda Holloway, "I'll Be There"- The Gems are great. Others, like Barbara Mills, make me cringe. Having a go at Ian for the quality of the footage is fair enough, but it's really ignorant to say that he was out to make a fortune with SWONS. What happened that he got caught up in the romance of it and naively hoped that the sales would get him his money back, when I pointed out to him in the middle of the production madness that it he would be lucky to recoup his investment and was he sure he wanted to keep on spending he went on anyway. I got caught up in the romance of the project too, but i wouldn't have done that and I don't imagine many other people would either.. So give the guy some credit.The funny thing is that people go on about Ian exploiting the scene, but he is actually more in love with causes than money. We put the video out ourselves and did OK but nothing like enough to justify the time and expense,but we were determined to get it out come what may and the balance sheet was not our prioirty.The subsequent DVD rights were licenced to Wienerworld and yes we have had an e advance and subsequent royalties from them , but not enough to dent Ian's invesment. I'm not saying Ian is a Saint or anything for doing this. but fair's fair, the SWONS project was a heavy financial commitment by Ian plus month and months of hard work when he was doing 17 hour days. And it is the only film of many cherished Soul artists. Personally I think footage of the likes of Carl Davis is priceless and a lot of the interviews with the UK scene makers are worth watching. Even getting permission to "synch" all the songs with the film, which we paid fees for to the MCPS, was a logistical nightmare, the idea of being actually able to licence the original versions of all the tracks for the videos is and was a non starter, both practically and cost wise. The Levine bashers will probably have a right go at me for the above and I really don't give a shit what they say,but they should try and get their facts right. And before anyone pipes up that they have heard the arists have not been paid royalties that is correct - because the contracts agree all profts will be split with the artists on a pro-ratra basis, ie if there was say £100k profit then £50k would go to the artits on the videos, and as there are (I think) 129 of them, then they would each £50k divided by 129.As there isn't a profit then there is nothing to split with the artists. Some artits, like The Dells,actually got paid for their performances. One of the best things about SWONS on a personal level was meeting up again with Otis Leavill, who had put me up in his house in Chicago in the 70's. He died a year after being filmed and I will always remember how such a real life tough guy (he was a sharpshooter for Cicago police) was so thrilled at peforming at the SWONS premier at Blackburn. The funniest thing about SWONS was Bobby Paris at Blackburn ... but that's a whole other story.

KEEPING THE FAITH - BOX SET (CASTLE MUSIC) INCOPORATING 4 CD'S (100 TRACKS) PLUS ONE BONUS HIDDEN EXTRA TRACK AND 60 PAGE FULL COLOUR BOOK. RAVE REVIEWS FROM THE LIKES OF DAVE RIMMER...3,000 COPIES PRESSED UP AND THEY HAVE NOW SOLD OUT, CASTLE IS PART OF SANCTUARY WHICH HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY UNIVERSAL, AT THE MOMENT UNIVERSAL HAVE NO PLANS TO MANUFACTURE ANYMORE!! PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT - TRACKS INCLUDE CLASSICS FROM TWISTED WHEEL, TORCH, MECCA, WIGAN, RITZ ETC AND SOME OBSCURE IN-DEMANDERS FROM TODAY INCLUDING "I SAW YOU THERE" - APPOINTMENTS AND OTHERS. PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT. I HAD 100 OF THESE, ONLY TEN LEFT, SO FIRST COME FIRST SERVED...£30 EACH AND I WILL PAY POSTAGE. E-MAIL ME ON - neilrushton2@btinternet.com Thanks, Neil

Is the Dave Godin review for "Operator, Operator"? If so it would be because I supplied Dave with a copy. He was very good at supporting singles I imported and sent him, for instance he gave great support to "Don't You Leave" - Freddie Hughes. I just wish I had kept some of those copies of "You're Gone" - Celeste Hardie I had from Bob,a lot of the old crowd from Walsall/Wolverhampton/Dudley who I supplied records with had copies from me, there must be copies stuck in lofts and abandoned record boxes. All the Best, Neil

Is the Dave Godin review for "Operator, Operator"? If so it would be because I supplied Dave with a copy. He was very good at supporting singles I imported and sent him, for instance he gave great support to "Don't You Leave" - Freddie Hughes. I just wish I had kept some of those copies of "You're Gone" - Celeste Hardie I had from Bob,a lot of the old crowd from Walsall/Wolverhampton/Dudley who I supplied records with had copies from me, there must be copies stuck in lofts and abandoned record boxes. All the Best, Neil

I used to import lots of West Coast singles from Bob Cattaneo, 45's by Marvin Holmes, Celeste Hardie, Don Thomas, and loads more. Bob used to supply copies of "Shy Guy" - Johnny Baker and because he knew I could take quantity of a record (I remember having 500 copies of "Come On Train" and "You Better Keep Her" and flogging them upstairs at Wigan one night) he encouraged Johnny to make a track which would work for the UK Northern scene... one of the first "tailor-mades" I suppose. I had progress reports on how the recording ,spoke to Johnny while he was in the process of coming up with the track,and eventualy got from Bob a lovely looking 10" acetate which I road tested out and about and then ordered the first pressings of the record, asking (as you do) for a mixture of white label demos and red stock copies. There definitely was not a pressing with "Please Accept Me As I Am" as the flip in existence before I had my copies which had "Operator Operator" on both sides. I cannot remember the quantity,at least 1,000, maybe more, but I had trouble getting rid of them...I would say this was in 1975. All the Best, Neil

Paul, A friend of mine is after the Garnett Mimms, if still available can you please reserve it for me or better still send with the others and I will send you payment tomorrow - am going to be in London today working so wont be able to send it till tomorrow.. Thanks, Neil

NO RIGHT TO CRY - MAMIE P.GALORE (USA SACK) OFFERS Vinyl nice and clean, letters XCMD written on a side label. TOUCH ME,HOLD ME, KISS ME - INSPIRATIONS (UK POYDOR) £225 A few scuff marks on vinyl but plays perfect, a side label has small markings "A" and "23/3" in felt tip WHOLE LOT OF SHAKIN' IN MY HEART - THE MIRACLES (UK Tamla Motown TMG 569 Red and White demo) £220 Look great on red and white! Label perfect, no blemishes or marks. Vinyl few scuff marks but plays as new) FIRST TASTE OF HURT/FUNKY FUNKY TWIST - WILLIE TEE (GATUR 500) £170 Label perfect, no marks or blemishes few scuf marks on disc but plays as new) TRYING TO GET BACK TO YOU - JACKEY BEAVERS (UK JOE BOY) MINT/UNPLAYED £25 BABY I'M HERE JUST TO LOVE YOU - THE STAGEMASTERS (USA SLIDE) MINT £10 I will pay postage. PM me or e-mail neilrushton2@btinternet.com Thanks, Neil