Amsterdam Russ

Copyright Law is a very complex area with countless grey areas. As a loose guideline, you can take pictures in public places and use these for private and commercial use. There are exceptions. For example, you cannot take photos in Trafalgar Square and use them commercially - not without a permit. It is the same with the London Gherkin, which is one of the only buildings in the UK with copyrights relating to photography. This is similar to the absurd situation that prevents professional photographers from using images of the Eiffel Tower in Paris commercially - if they are taken at night, but not if they are taken during daylight hours. Back to the point, whilst in the UK you are free to take and make use of photos taken whilst in public places, the inside a building is not a public place. Therefore photographers looking to take professional photos (ie images for commercial use), ought to have permission from the management who have the right to refuse. Likewise, members of the public in private places have a clear right to refuse to have their photo taken - unless there is explicit agreement in the terms and conditions associated with entry to that private place. For example, when you go to a football match, the terms and conditions surrounding your purchase of a ticket explicitly state that you give your permission a) to be photographed and b) for those photographs to be used as they see fit, including commercially. At the end of that day, and relative to the issues being discussed here, if you want to take more than snapshots at a venue you should: a) get permission from the management, and b) at the very least, and as a matter of common courtesy, you should ask permission of the people you are taking photos of. It's the decent thing to do.

To the best of my knowledge it is unreleased except for an appearance on a CD comp. It is not for sale.

I've four or five acetates on78s, but that's all - and here's two of 'em... https://youtu.be/Nmx0FMionEs https://youtu.be/lgWWOfEj2Lk

A link to what I presume is the Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/groups/202691913127846/

Oh, it is exceptionally unlikely that any copyright owner would waste their time suing anyone on a forum, or elsewhere in the internet, because they'd used a protected image in or as an avatar. The context in which copyright infringement takes places is the guiding force behind nearly all judgely decisions. One of the prime motivating factors for a copyright owner suing is loss of earnings - or the earnings that the infringer is making through the illegal use of the copyrighted work. As no one here is using an avatar image for commercial gain, there would be no point (and nothing to gain) in suing. It just wouldn't be worth the effort.

If you were to turn the scans into 'works of art', ie, do something original with respect to how they were presented, but do it in an artist/creative way, then it is highly unlikely that you would be in breach of copyright and so would not run the risk of being sued. If you were sufficiently creative, you would then have something artistically unique that in turn would be automatically protected by copyright law as what you had made could be considered to be a derivative work. Here's a passage from a Wikipedia page about derivatives and copyright... Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work Do have a read. I hope you find it enlightening...

Linda Jones - with backing that included strings.

I presume every punter will be able to bring their 45s along and take turns at being a DJ. I presume it will be a case of All hands on decks!!!

Choice - such a terrible thing!

Yes, I'd gathered that...

The Red Saunders Research Foundation (RSRF) was my first port of call - as mentioned in my opening post - but I couldn't find anything specific either. And Robb, I know that you had to have had an interest in the tracks, otherwise I'm sure you wouldn't have put so much effort into digging. I'm certain that the singer & sax player is one and the same. The scribble on the disc reads: "Ronald Stack - Chesterton (something - can't make out the next word, but it looks as if it begins with the letter 'd'. I presumed 'drive', but the word ends with a long stem) - 9-6032" No, I've not called the number on the disc, but anyone, feel free to do so and let us know if someone is there! I did try to do some online digging using the name, but it led to nothing.

Thank, Robb

No need for capital letters, Robb. You've done way more than could have been expected already, and this I find exceptional. Apart from broadcasting unheard of or (personally) much-loved tunes to the world, one of the reasons I put stuff on YouTube is that it's almost inevitable someone will eventually come along and provide some sort of genuine insight. As much as I would love to find out more about the artist and session, I'd also like to find out more about the studio. Based on the information online, it appears to have been rather over-looked in many respects. And there's the rub: how can a recording studio operating in Chicago from (as far as we know) the mid '50s to the mid '60s - and so for at least a decade - be so poorly documented? On such a basis, surely they would have been part of the local musical tapestry?

Thanks for going to all that trouble! So, it's now reasonable to assume that the two cuts were not released. Doing my own little bit of digging, I've found references to Boulevard Studios that show it was still operating up to the mid-60s. Other names I can add to the list of acts to record there are: * Freddie Tieken & the Rockers: Sittin' here crying / Uncle John (Hit Records, 1956) * The Palms (1956 & 57) * Sparkle Moore - female rockabilly singer (1956) * The Knaves - garage band (1964) * The Crestones - She's a bad motorcycle / Grasshopper dance (Markie 117, 1964) Additionally, a young sound engineer by the name of Tom Pick worked at Boulevard Studios before moving to RCA where he went on to have great success with Elvis Presley. He also worked with Jerry Lee Lewis and Dolly Parton and has won something like seven or 11 Grammys (depending on which website you're on). So, Boulevard does seem to have a long and rich history, and one that is intertwined with the development of a variety of musical styles in the city.

Had a presence online for years. I recall coming across this site when I was still in London, so a minimum of six years ago. Great to see websites like this - well put together, lots of detailed info, and fantastic pics from the time!

I appreciate the effort you've taken, Robb. From what I can make out based on the little information I have been able to find, and exactly as you say, the studios were indeed pretty much second tier for the labels mentioned. Having said that, the studio was operational for at least four years, which means that they had to have been reasonably busy recording material, otherwise one presumes that they would have closed much sooner.

If anyone is interested, I've now uploaded both of these tracks to YouTube. Please do have a listen and see if you can identify the singer/sax player. It's someone well known, I'm sure, but who? [media=]https://youtu.be/25sD6-LHT70

Just because a record came on that you didn't know wasn't a reason to get off the dance floor - no matter the venue in the UK. With my match box sized knowledge of Northern Soul 45s, I'm still dancing to records I don't know over here in Amsterdam and will carry on doing so as long as my little legs will allow.

Always a delight to see that I'm not alone in appreciating this. One more time: 'Northern Soul' is not a musical genre - it's a youth cult approaching retirement age. It's a movement that began when people shared a broad common interest in certain styles of music. Now it's mainly full of ageing and cantankerous grumblies who either go on about how "it's not like the old days" or bemoan anything that's different or left of field of anything outside of their increasingly narrow and glaucomic vision. Not a single artist, group or label owner in the 60s ever recorded a song and said "let's do it in the Northern Soul style!" Why this desperate need to pigeon-hole and categorise - it's beyond me. Learn to see the bigger musical picture.

I hear exactly what you're saying there, Bob. I thought though that Pruter et al, were absolutely dedicated in their desire to comprehensively document the blues/R&B output of the city in the post-war years. If that were me and someone came along with tracks I'd never heard of, I'd at least have wanted to hear them - find out whether they were hitherto unknown. For if they were unreleased or unknown, then their discovery should surely be a welcome addition not only to the discography of the city, label and artist, but also to the repository of knowledge about Chicago's musical heritage that these guys have been building for years. The chances that both tracks got released is much more probable than them not having seen the light of day, but in looking at the wonderfully detailed discographies on the RSRF pages, I would have thought that even scans of both sides of the acetate might have been useful additions to their pages. Obviously, I expect too much of people. Ho-hum. Bob Stallworth - thanks for the tip. I see that he's also a member of the RSRF. Regardless, perhaps I'll drop him a line as well.

Just an update on this... I emailed Robert Campbell, Chicago blues & R&B expert and one of the leading lights of the RSRF, asking he might be able to help identify the article/label of release. I also offered to send soundfiles of both sides if wished. However, I received no reply. A couple of days ago, I emailed Robert Pruter and asked the same questions: could he identify the artist and label of release by the song titles; if not, would he like to hear the tracks? He was unable to offer any info and had no interest in hearing the tracks. Additionally, if I had not heard from Campbell, he said, then it was because he'd forgotten about my email or had nothing to say about the disc. For guys with a highly specialised and long-standing interest in the history of blues and R&B in Chicago, I had thought that a possibly unknown and unreleased recording from the city might have piqued their interest, even if just a little bit. But, it would seem not. So, the tracks, along with the identity of the artist, remains unknown. Think I'll stick it up on YouTube and see if anyone can identify it. The singer sounds incredibly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it, and I really have very little knowledge of the whole genre. If the tracks are performed by someone well known, then I'm sure someone will come forward and volunteer their identity soon enough.

Who are all these mystery bootleggers who seem to be continually flooding ebay and the like with their tainted wares? They're obviously people connected to the scene, otherwise they wouldn't know what to boot for starters. People on the scene must know who some of these unidentified characters are... It's improbably to think otherwise. Come on, step forward and shop a bootlegger today...

Just to clarify - WB released it. It didn't come out on Loma. And agreed, it is a rather good instrumental. Also got released in France with the instrumental on the flip.

Lena Zavaroni used to sing in what for a number of years was my local pub - The Britannia on Lever Street, London EC1. Happily, that was just a bit before I became a regular there. 'The Brit' is one of those old-fashioned boozers the size of a living room, but which has a long tradition of music entertainment. I'm sure they have live music there still. Being on the fringes of London's East End, it also had strong gangster connections (didn't they all?) with the Kray family (Charlie Kray) in particular, being something of a regular. The pub is just a couple of minutes away from the council tower block that Ronnie and Reggie moved their dear ol' mum to after it was built, and at which location they were arrested and eventually put away. The pub is very much one of those haunts were every punter has a story to tell about 'the good old days' when they were a 'tasty geezer' and a force to be reckoned with on the manor. How true those stories were is another thing, although many of them were undoubtedly based entirely on fact! Sadly, those characters passed away one by one and I doubt if any of the real old timers remain now. As well as Lena Zavaroni, the pub was also a favourite local venue of the duo Peters and Lee (remember them?). A guy called Johnny Day(e) also performed there frequently. He was a member of some group that charted in the 60s a couple of times, but I don't remember which group it was. In later years, a group called 'No Spring Chicken' played there for a while. Their repertoire included solid blues and R&B numbers. The band was made up entirely of seasoned session musicians. The white-haired keyboard player supported Tommy Hunt at the Wigan Casino and used to be in a Birmingham/Midlands R&B/Mod-type band in the 60s. Again, I can't remember his name or the name of the group they were in back then. About seven or eight years ago, a local guy, who also had had bit of a music career performed there a few times. His name - Moon Williams! The late Jim Demetriou and I did a few soul nights in the pub, but they didn't exactly go down a storm and our residency was short-lived! That would have been '92-'93 perhaps. Ah, the memories. Sorry to go off at such a tangent, but with Tommy Hunt, Moon Williams, Wigan Casino, and a handful of 60s gangsters all connected to Lena Zavaroni through a back street boozer, I hope it was worth it!

This is a different person all together. Leo Robinson, the Brazilian JJ Jackson, was born in Gillette, Arkansas, November 1942. He dropped the Robinson family name in 1982 at the behest of a Brazilian TV station for whom he'd written a theme tune to a successful TV show. Why they chose this name and why Robinson went along with it is unclear. Here's his website (in Portuguese): https://www.jjjackson.com.br The 'real' JJ Jackson heralds from Brooklyn, NY, and was born 8th April 1941. Remembering the 'real' JJ Jackson's immense size, a quick look at photos of the two performers makes it immediately apparent that they are different people (unless a stint at Weight Watchers proved to be an unparalleled success!). Also, listening to any song from both back-to-back is a dead giveaway that they really aren't the same people. Hope this helps clarify things.