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World Of Happiness - New 45 - Remastered And A New version

World Of Happiness - New 45 - Remastered And A New version magazine cover

News all about an interesting release featuring both a  new reworked version and a remastered version from the original acetate, 

 

'Some fifteen years later, and taken directly from Shirley’s personal dubplate, Sonar Kollektiv were finally able to restore and remaster this rare take from that session plus a sophisticated, balladic reworking that respects the original but gives it a very different twist'

Sonar Kollektiv are very proud to present a sweet slice of obscure Philly soul with deep connections to our very own Berlin family. 

Shirley Turner’s 1965 recording of I Wish You A World Of Happiness has long been a crate digger’s delight and now receives a very special reissue, alongside a rather stunning cover version from Hamburg based quartet, The KBCS, featuring the vocal talents of Nora Becker.

Release Date: 24.11.2023

Label Release Notes

Shirley Turner’s 1965 recording of I Wish You A World Of Happiness has long been a crate digger’s delight and now receives a very special reissue, alongside a rather stunning cover version from Hamburg based quartet, The KBCS, featuring the vocal talents of Nora Becker.

Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and Virtue Records (headed up by musician and music producer Frank Virtue) had become prolific in releasing soulful underground hits like The Horse by Cliff Nobles & Co. and Boogaloo Down Broadway by Fantastic Johnny C. as well as producing a number of somewhat less popular, more low-fi soul and garage records that were slept on at the time but have remained highly sought after records to this day.

One of those records was I Wish You A World Of Happiness, which started life as a popular 60s instrumental cut Bird Walkin’ by Emanon’s Orchestra. The song was written by Weldon A. McDougal III and Johnny Stiles, with lyrics by Eddie Holman, of Hey There Lonely Girl fame. Virtue had been looking for someone to record a vocal version of the tune for some time, and having had a rough demo recorded by an uncredited singer, somehow said demo found itself in the hands of seventeen year old gospel vocalist Shirley Turner. The young, aspiring soul singer learned the lyrics from the dubplate by heart, and on the night she turned eighteen, went into Virtue Studios to record her version of the song. Several takes were laid down and three dub plates produced all on the same night, one of which was taken home by the eighteen year old hopeful, where it remained for years to come. 

The recording was largely forgotten about as Shirley grew up and had a family, that is until her son started playing with the dubplate as a child. Shirley's son is Sonar Kollektiv’s very own Hollis P. Monroe - now a producer, composer and DJ as well as being responsible for the late 90s hit, I’m Lonely. Hollis took an interest in the record from an early age with the dubplate being one of the first records he learned to scratch with!

Some years later, and with the help of the internet, Hollis’ continued interest in his mother’s recording led him to a number of specialist soul blogs and in particular to UK based DJ Andy Rix who posted about a dubplate he had found which sounded very familiar! The 45 was widely credited as featuring vocalist Ann Robinson, but Hollis was soon able to set the record straight which enabled him to tell the true story behind this fascinating recording.

Some fifteen years later, and taken directly from Shirley’s personal dubplate, Sonar Kollektiv were finally able to restore and remaster this rare take from that session. Not only that, we commissioned Hamburg four-piece The KBCS to deliver their own interpretation of this timeless piece of music. The result is a sophisticated, balladic reworking that respects the original but gives it a very different twist that should please lovers of modern and two-step soul alike.

A - The KBCS - I Wish You A World Of Happiness

B - Shirley Turner - I Wish You A World Of Happiness

 

Digital Bonus
 

Label: Sonar Kollektiv


CAT-No: SK454


Voice: illicity


Barcode: 821730045471


Formats: 7inch, Digital


Release Date: 24.11.2023

 

ShirleyTurner_IWYAWOH_Cover.jpg

The-KCBS_IWYAWOH_Cover-45.jpg




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Just a query but if Eddie Holman wrote the lyrics why is he not mentioned in credits on any of these labels?

& where does Harthon Music Publishing come into this as they are listed on the BMI data base as publishers for IWYTWOH &  Bird walkin  ?

 

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1 hour ago, Triode said:

Just a query but if Eddie Holman wrote the lyrics why is he not mentioned in credits on any of these labels?

& where does Harthon Music Publishing come into this as they are listed on the BMI data base as publishers for IWYTWOH &  Bird walkin  ?

 

I’d like to see the original acetate…..

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4 hours ago, Triode said:

Just a query but if Eddie Holman wrote the lyrics why is he not mentioned in credits on any of these labels?

& where does Harthon Music Publishing come into this as they are listed on the BMI data base as publishers for IWYTWOH &  Bird walkin  ?

 

 

2 hours ago, Chalky said:

I’d like to see the original acetate…..

I have passed on above requests to the promo guy behind the info, who is in contact with both Hollis and his mum Shirley, see what happens...

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10 hours ago, Triode said:

Just a query but if Eddie Holman wrote the lyrics why is he not mentioned in credits on any of these labels?

& where does Harthon Music Publishing come into this as they are listed on the BMI data base as publishers for IWYTWOH &  Bird walkin  ?

 

It's good to see the 'real' version getting a release .. as opposed to the 'edited' version that has been available previously

The same thought crossed my mind as the Library of Congess song registration records show the writers as below 

I WISH YOU THE WORLD OF HAPPINESS; w & m Eddie Holman & Saul Solomon (James Solomon) © Harthon Productions; 3Mar66; EU931585 ... it's not unusual to see songs registered some time after they were actually recorded

And I listened to my conversation with Shirley again who stated that she recorded the song on 19 Jan 65 .. she remembers it clearly because the next day was her 18th birthday 

Andy

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On 28/11/2023 at 12:04, Mike said:

 

I have passed on above requests to the promo guy behind the info, who is in contact with both Hollis and his mum Shirley, see what happens...

here's two images passed on from the promo team

on the credits etc question, here's the labels reply

 

Quote

 

So they’re credited on the B label for the original. Of course this is the same for the cover version. 

We haven’t found any information at GEMA or BMI about the publisher (at least it’s not registered at GEMA): 

 

 

 

acetate-woh.jpgacetate-2.jpg

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I never realised that first release was an edited version, so the Goldmine & Beatin Rhythm are the same ?

Ive always liked the “Harthon” sound as such & also like the totally new cover version.

hopefully the writing credits situation can be resolved👍

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Yes it was edited ... it was 'chopped' about with bits moved around

Here's the BMI entry for the song

https://repertoire.bmi.com/Search/Search?SearchForm.View_Count=100&SearchForm.Main_Search=Title&SearchForm.Main_Search_Text=i+wish+you+the+world+of+happiness&SearchForm.Search_Type=all

I WISH YOU THE WORLD OF HAPPINESS 696359

HOLMAN EDDIE

SOLOMON JAMES CAUDWELL

Publishers HARTHON ENTERPRISES

... and a scan of the 8" acetate I got from Eddie Holman

Andy

 

World of happiness.jpg

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Just listened to all three, and the Harthon 2000 release is indeed chopped around, and editied to be much longer (two inst breaks).

However the Beatin' Rhythm from 2012 and this new one both seem to be the same, just the new on being remastered and  slightly longer at the fade out.

Here's the Beatin' Rhythm for comparison.

Just noticed the full title has changed on the new one - "The World" becomes "A World".

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