"free At Last" The Unkown Story Of An Unheard Soul Classic

[Guest SpinningSoul]

Hey guys and gals,

Like some of you may know from my previous postings, I'm a good friend of Jock Mitchell's. We both had a blast meeting so many of you at the SoulTrip in Orlando last month. He still hasn't stopped talking about it.

But that's not why I'm posting.

Some of you may not know that Jock owned the small Golden Hit label in Detroit (the company that he released "No Mad Woman" on). The second release on the label was credited to James Barnes & the Agents and was entitled "Free At Last." I noticed the song was posted in the Refosoul section, but I bet no one knows the real story about it. Jake just recently told me about the tune... Turns out that's not Barnes' voice on the track, but it is Jock's. When you listen to it, then listen to "Not a Chance in a Million" it's obvious.

I did a write-up about the song with Jock's story on my website. I think you guys may enjoy it. You can read it and hear the song by clicking here.

Cheers and best of luck,

Ray

SpinningSoul.com

[Chalky]

Nice bit of info It was me who posted Free At Last in refosoul and I did ask at the time who James Barnes was, if it was JJ Barnes.

james barnes - free at last - golden hit

[Guest SpinningSoul]

It definitely wasn't J.J. Barnes. I'll get a better read on who he was when I talk with Jock tonight. I know that he only had the two records on Golden Hit (this one and "Good and Funky"). I'm not even sure what happened to him after that. The Agents, as you likely know, did the backing vocals on No Mad Woman.

[Chalky]

Let us know if you find out for sure who James Barnes was Just subscribed to your podcast, all downloaded so plenty of listening whilst at work next week