Walter And The Admerations / Green Berets / High Society / Velvet Hammer Interview

[boba]

Hi. Today on my radio show I did a really cool interview with members of the Chicago group the Green Berets. The group originally formed in grammar school when 3 brothers and one other member, all from the South Side (around 55th and Lasalle), began singing together as the Four Gents. At the same time, Walter Smith, from the North Side of Chicago (from the Cabrini Green projects) was singing lead with the group the Admirations. Smith sang lead on the group's One-Der-Ful records "All for you", "Don't leave me", and "Wait till I get to know you", but left the group after the two records were released. At the time, Smith was attending Tilden Tech high school on the South Side, and was classmates with the three brothers from the Four Gents.

The Admirations' manager Ted Daniel approached Smith about forming a new Admirations group; Smith hooked up with the Four Gents and began performing at talent shows as "Walter and the Admirations". In about 1967, after performing together for a year, the group recorded their first record, "Life of Tears" / "Man Oh Man", released as "Walter and the Admerations" on the tiny La-Cindy label out of Chicago. The record received little radio play and distribution. The group continued to perform around the city in talent shows as "Walter and the Admirations" (to differentiate themselves from the other Admirations group that was still performing) for a few years. The group developed a tight harmony and did many shows acapella without a band.

In 1969, the group's manager hooked up with Andre Williams, who got the group signed to Universal Records, as part of a package deal with several other Chicago groups and artists (the Wasters, Darrow Fletcher, Garland Green, etc.). Williams had the group change their name to the Green Berets for the session. The Green Berets' first single, "(Lord) send me somebody", one of the great sweet soul records to come out of Chicago, became a national hit, reaching number 31 on the Billboard R&B charts. Unfortunately, most of the members of the group were drafted or entered different divisions of the military, so they were unable to tour to promote their single. The group travelled to Memphis to record their second Uni single, "Just an ugly rumor". The record had a unique psychedelic sound, due to the combination of the group's tight harmony and the musicianship of the Memphis players (including members of the Bar-kays). Unfortunately, due to a lack of promotion and touring, the record did not receive much radio play. The group's third single, "I've got to be loved" also had an excellent sweet soul sound, but as much of the group was still serving in the military, they still could not tour to promote their records.

After leaving Uni records, the group recorded a single as the High Society, produced by their guitarist Phil Davis. The High Society single, "I can't believe", had a nice Marvin Gaye-inspired sound, and received some radio play in Chicago.

The group soon reunited with Andre Williams, who renamed the group as the Velvet Hammer, and added himself and Karl Tarlton as vocalists. Andre attempted to create a more contemporary, funky sound, similar to the Ohio Players, for the group. The Velvet Hammer's first single, "I'm the rock", was financed by Ric Williams and released on Polydor records. The group then cut an entire LP for Soozi records, a label started by the owner of a chain of south side barbeque restaurants. Despite releasing a single and pressing the LP twice with two different covers, the record received little radio play. Guitarist Phil Davis released a remixed version of "I can't believe" as by the Velvet Hammer on his Chila record label (on both 45 and 12") in 1979, but failed to score a hit. The group continued to perform together through the mid-80s.

You can check out the interview at the bottom of my interviews page at:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

thanks,

Bob

[boba]

walter and the admerations:

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 The group then cut an entire LP for Soozi records, a label started by the owner of a chain of south side barbeque restaurants. Despite releasing a single and pressing the LP twice with two different covers, the record received little radio play.

 

 

Is the 'plain red' sleeve the first press, and the 'girl on the bed' the second press?

[boba]

Is the 'plain red' sleeve the first press, and the 'girl on the bed' the second press?

 

no the girl on the bed is the first press. it was ric williams girlfriend at the time and he got pissed off and they had to change it.

[Guest]

no the girl on the bed is the first press. it was ric williams girlfriend at the time and he got pissed off and they had to change it.

 

Interesting...the labels for that press were plain light-pink? Does that mean the plain light-pink labelled 45s of 'Happy' came before the multi-colured yellow/flower design (used for both the LP/45)?

 

[Soul Shrews]

 Does that mean the plain light-pink labelled 45s of 'Happy' came before the multi-colured yellow/flower design (used for both the LP/45)?

 

Yes I think it does Flynny. That seemed to be the conclusion after it was discussed on here a while ago.

 

Cheers Paul