George G

Thanks a lot for sharing this info.... A bit more about Terry Knight. He was from Flint, MI and fronted the group Terry Knight and the Pack who were all from that area. Yes, this the same Flint made (in)famous by Michael Moore and most recently by poisonous drinking water. Anyways, Knight and the band recorded most of their records at Cleveland Recording. The band was really popular in Northern Ohio and performed on the Upbeat show in Cleveland several times. In early-mid 1967 (April 1967 is cited by one source), not long after the release of "I..." and a couple of follow ups, he and the Pack split. It was then that Knight formed the Terry Knight Revue. He contacted Clevelander Tom Baker, a near musical genius who could play numerous instruments, write, arrange, engineer - Baker had worked with Knight on Upbeat and at Cleveland Recording. Knight asked Baker to help put together the Terry Knight Revue, so he asked Lou and a few other locals - the most noted being sax player Ernie Krivda, who was at the beginning of a career as being one of Cleveland's greatest jazz musicians. According to Krivda, the group would travel around to different cities with their core group and would add players as needed. This lasted until late 1967 (I don't know if Lou had bailed earlier) when Knight did a complete 180 degree turn to perform as a solo hippie type busker. During this time, Knight released 2 45s on Cameo Parkway - Lizbeth Peach / Forever and a Day (CP 482) and Come Home Baby / Dirty Lady (CP 495). Dirty Lady was produced and arranged by Baker. I don't have any idea (besides Baker) who was involved in the recordings. Leos Casino had a mostly black audience, but there were a handful of young white Clevelanders who attended and saw the groups. Ernie Krivda (who is white) was one of musicians used by the club. The main band aka the O'Jays backing band during the early-mid 1960s was Jerry Baxter on drums, Russell Evans on guitar, Richard Shann on keyboards. All three are on numerous Cleveland soul and funk records. Baxter, a black albino, spent time in LA (I think he went out there with the O'Jays) as a session drummer. Here's a pic of him, one of the only ones I've seen.... https://photos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2015/02/jimmy_baynes_collection_2.html From the same source, Lou with the Bandmasters https://photos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2015/02/jimmy_baynes_collection_7.html

Yes, I for Indianapolis, H for Hollywood, R for Rockaway, NJ. So RCA was pressing vinyl on both coasts and middle America.

Most of the Mercury family pressings were done by Richmond Plastics (I think that's the name) in Richmond, Indiana. The same place also did custom jobs, the Vondells on Airtown would be one of them, a record that has the same problems as Mercury related records like Kenny Carlton on Blue Rock. The Richmond plant, together with the CBS/Columbia pressing plant in Terre Haute on the other side of the state means Indiana was the Styrene State of record pressings - balanced out by the huge vinyl pressing plant for RCA in Indianapolis.

the Moroccos from Dayton, aka Morocco Muzik Makers aka Little Woo Woo, they were the Moroccos in Dayton but because of the other groups you cited they were not able to use that name on records.

Donnie Murphy and the Ambassadors were from Dayton, OH. No connection to the Cleveland Ambassadors, or any other Ambassadors record. Donnie died of a heart attack not long after the record came out. Either he, or some one(s) else in the group were related to member(s) of the Moroccos.

Symphonics on Dee Jon were from Akron, OH. DeBose has no connection to the DeBrossard label.

Uptown managed to last for 60+ 45s and a few LPs without having any real big hits...I suppose Gloria Jones was their most successful artist, considering all her records turn up pretty often. The strangest Uptown release is the Shotgun Express 45, I think that might be their only non-US artist.

Ian, Arnie Rosenberg the audio engineer is not the guy you met, for what that's worth. George

If you want to know about Arnie Rosenberg I can ask a friend who worked with Arnie for several years. Arnie passed away some years ago. Agency Recording burned down in 1984.

Ambassadors on Uptown were from Cleveland. Same group later released a 45 on DeBrossard that got some local sales. Not sure where it was recorded, my source for info on the group didn't bother to answer that question, but it was far more likely recorded in Cleveland or Detroit. Cleveland had a couple local Capitol sales reps/A&R types so many local artists (not just soul) put out records on Capitol and other labels.

Gloria and the T-Airas

Steve Karmen contributed the music to this movie. The title song (with vocals) came out as a 45, I remember seeing the record when it was released. I've seen the film, it's really an interesting snapshot of cultural norms (and not so norms) of the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Do_You_Say_to_a_Naked_Lady%3F

I meant to say was it ever released on a 45 for the DJ market, a normal 45, not a carver, sorry. The answer then is no, looks like. I prefer Dusty to Nancy, but Nancy is a nice jazzed up version.

RE: above comments - Supremes on Ace were from Columbus, OH, amazingly they continued to use the name into the 1970s! There was another non-recorded Supremes from another Ohio city. The Originals (Suspension) from Cleveland not related to the Detroit group. A couple former members of the Outsiders were in the group.

I heard this for the first time yesterday thanks to the Sirius/XM radio show "Chris Carter's British Invasion". Looks like it recorded for the Saturday Club TV show and only available on a CD - was there ever a 'carver' or such made of this? I would like one, think it would go over well at the soul nights here in the US.

yes, "That's Alright" is a hard record to get, even though there was two pressings. It's the same song the O'Jays recorded, written by Walt Williams and Jerry Baxter

the most overplayed record at our US soul nights, been hearing it at parties, etc since the 1980s, when you all in the UK complain about tired overplayed oldies, I get it, mainly because of this record.

the Ice on Great Northwest were Americans relocated to France, not the same band as "Reality". It's a mystery to us here in Seattle how they were released on this local label, but the record is still pretty easy to find around here. There is a custom label sleeve that is white with the label logo printed in green. (edit) I see the origin of this band was already mentioned above

Emanons is a good instrumental from c. 1960 - but repressed a few times, the copy pictured here looks like a repress. Cory Glover was (is?) the lead singer for the US band Living Colour. If this is really him, it's probably a recent recording.

thanks for the replies but I am after the original blue GB, amended my list, sorry to have wasted your time.

After some classics, must play well and have presentable labels, don't care about demo/issue, cheapest way possible George Blackwell - Can't Lose My Head - original blue label only Devotions - Do Do Dee Dop Appointments - Steppin Closer (either label) Mystiques - Put Out the Fire (either label but prefer Twinight) Martha Starr - Love is the only solution Minits - Still A Part of Me PM or email buckeyebeat@hotmail.com

Three wanted: TNT Flashers - Doin a Thing With My Folks - Artco Doobie Angela Alexander and JD Saddler - Don't Make Me Kill You - Soul Kitchen Ricky Hodges - Smoking Rhythm - Music Flow don't have to be mint, in good playable condition with presentable labels - PM or email buckeyebeat@hotmail.com thanks!!

Yes, most or all of the 1968 OP / Brantley stuff (including the Observations in Time LP) was done in NYC. Brantley was definitely in the NYC area. You can probably count on two (maybe one) hands the total number of soul records recorded in Cleveland in 1968. From Fremont, OH, 70 miles west. The only soul record I recall on Courier was by Ike Perry and the Lyrics who were from Cleveland.

You're kidding, I hope. There are 7 cities in Ohio (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo) that produced more soul (Northern and general soul) than Seattle. At least we can partly claim Quincy Jones, although he had to leave to make it big. In general, you can take the largest metropolitan areas in the US during the mid 1960s and 1970s, rank them in population, and that would be the list.

Eula Cooper - Try ????