British group from Oldham with a great taste in cover versions. The LP is from 69 on Fontana and features Looking For A Fox (Clarence Carter),Come Back Girl (Jackie Edwards),Open The Door To Your Heart(Darrell),Down In The Valley (Solomon Burke),Back Driving Beat (sic) That Driving Beat (Willie Mitchell) etc etc.Did anyone on here see them and can someone clear up whether the northern dj from the seventies who called himself Harlem Jonn was actually in this group.I was expecting weedy cover versions but they have a full brass section and Hammond unlike the other album with a northern connection which is the O'Haras Playboys recorded live at the Nite Owl in Leicester October 17th 1967.

Well you just told us everything so I can't add to that. Must have been quite popular because I remember hearing them on radio 1 when I was a kid. Used to have the live LP too, came in a collection, never played it though!

I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I found a copy of their version of "Let Love Come Between Us" on Oldham market as a youth and it was a few years before I heard the James and Bobby 45 and realised that the Harlem John's Reshuffle Version was a cover

Seems that lead Singer Stuart Widdall is still performing.

LINK to band's site

  On 09/04/2010 at 20:17, wiggyflat said:

British group from Oldham with a great taste in cover versions. The LP is from 69 on Fontana and features Looking For A Fox (Clarence Carter),Come Back Girl (Jackie Edwards),Open The Door To Your Heart(Darrell),Down In The Valley (Solomon Burke),Back Driving Beat (sic) That Driving Beat (Willie Mitchell) etc etc.Did anyone on here see them and can someone clear up whether the northern dj from the seventies who called himself Harlem Jonn was actually in this group.I was expecting weedy cover versions but they have a full brass section and Hammond unlike the other album with a northern connection which is the O'Haras Playboys recorded live at the Nite Owl in Leicester October 17th 1967.

the picture of the group performing live is the WIGAN CASINO stage i believe.

  On 10/04/2010 at 11:29, t.o.t.s.s.c said:

the picture of the group performing live is the WIGAN CASINO stage i believe.

Think you are right. I've seen pictures of the stage with the piano and its in exactly the same position.Picture was taken in 69.I wonder if any of the crowd came back a few years later when the Allnighters started.Will have to try and dig out the Blues and Soul with Harlem Jonn in it who was deejaying northern years later.SWONS

Although I remember Harlem Jonns Reshuffle I never actually saw them.

In total they released two singles and one album.

My elder brother was a big fan of theirs in the day and had that said album.

I had it in my posession for over 30+ years and treasured it.

When my brother took up sax, he lent it to his tutor who then passed it on to Stuart Widdall (Harlem Jonns singer).

Needless to say it's never been seen again!

Stuart Widdall went on to front Stax Of Soul in 89, or *The Soul Brothers as they're now called.

Musically they are brilliant with a full brass section but they should drop the Blues Brothers

look in my opinion, it's a bit too cabaret.

I've seen them about 6 times as Stax Of Soul.

*They were forced to relinquish the name STAX of SOUL because of legal and trademark implications.

That album is a great addition to any collection. Their version of Down in the Valley stands up well against the original. For me the best track on the album.

I saw Harlem Jonns Reshuffle at the Navada, Bolton in 1968/69. One of the best live bands I have seen and I have seen many top bands - Four Tops, Impressions etc..

I have seen Stuart Widdall a number of times in the Soul Brothers Band - absolute class. He should have been a household name - most "stars" are not fit to lace his boots. He has kept his voice, unlike Geno Washington, who was a big star in the sixties, but now a pale shadow.